“Speak up! Speak up! My daughter was perfectly fine, so how could she hang herself?” A rasping, broken voice wailed, accompanied by several others trying to intervene, creating a chaotic uproar that shattered the deathly silence in the room.
Shi Mengzhu sighed again and led Mei Qing into an adjacent room. There, they saw an elderly man with bloodshot eyes being restrained by several people as he desperately tried to charge at a young man cowering in a corner of the kang bed.
Mei Qing had seen this young man the previous day—he was Dashan, the groom. Now, Dashan’s eyes were wide and vacant, showing no reaction as the old man lunged at him, punching and kicking. He stood there like a lifeless corpse, completely unresponsive.
“Enough! Even if you beat him to death, Tian Niu won’t come back. Don’t ruin your own health over this,” Shi Mengzhu said, motioning for the others to pull the old man away. Then, looking at Dashan crouched in the corner, she spoke sternly, “Dashan, you’ve always been a good boy. After something this serious has happened, can you just stay silent? Calm yourself—we’re all here. If there’s anything you want to say, tell us anytime.”
The old man, clearly Tian Niu’s father, collapsed onto the ground after being restrained. Gazing at Tian Niu’s body lying in the hall, he burst into loud sobs. Those around him tried to comfort him, but couldn’t help shedding tears themselves.
Watching this scene, Mei Qing felt both shocked and puzzled. He had only met Tian Niu twice, but she had seemed cheerful and happy, showing no sign of distress. Yesterday at the wedding banquet, Dashan had also been smiling and joyful. From what he’d heard, the two had grown up together since childhood, childhood sweethearts with no hint of discord between them. So how could it be that after their wedding last night, Tian Niu had hanged herself so suddenly the very next morning?
Suddenly, Mei Qing’s mind snapped to something. Last night, after finishing his cultivation, he had sensed an unusual fluctuation in the ambient spiritual energy within the village. Although his experience was limited, he knew such fluctuations were extremely rare under normal circumstances. The most likely explanation was that someone had performed magical rituals or engaged in a fight here, disturbing the balance of the five elements and causing the disturbance.
If that were the case, could it be that someone had done something to Tian Niu or Dashan, leading to her suicide?
A sudden thought struck Mei Qing. He turned to A-San beside him and asked, “A-San, what about that yellow-faced magician who stayed at the manor last night—did you see him this morning?”
A-San shook his head in confusion. “I didn’t pay attention. This morning, as soon as we got up, we heard about what happened here. No one at the mansion was paying attention to him. Who knows if he left or not?”
Mei Qing didn’t respond. He quickly took Hou Shen with him and rushed to Shi Mengzhu’s mansion. Upon entering the gate and inquiring among the servants, they were told that no one had seen the magician, and the room where he had stayed remained locked.
Mei Qing ordered a servant to lead them to the room. Hou Shen pushed the door, surprised. “Master, the door was bolted from the inside.”
“Open it,” Mei Qing commanded. The servant was about to fetch tools to break the lock when there was a loud crack—Hou Shen had forced the door open.
Mei Qing entered, followed by Hou Shen. The two stepped inside and froze.
The room was completely empty—there was no trace of the magician.
The servant behind them came in as well, exclaiming in shock, “How can the door be locked from the inside, yet the man is gone? Could he have flown away?”
Mei Qing and Hou Shen had both encountered people with extraordinary abilities before, and they themselves possessed unique skills. They weren’t particularly surprised to find the room empty. However, they had seen this magician multiple times along the way and had never suspected he was a cultivator. When they had first seen him following them to this small village, they had felt suspicious, but hadn’t looked into it further. Now, with a death having occurred in the village and the magician having vanished mysteriously, the situation was highly suspicious.
“Master, look,” Hou Shen pointed to a small wooden box by the wall. “This box was used by the magician in his tricks. He left it behind. Could he have left in a hurry due to some unexpected event?”
Mei Qing pondered for a moment and replied, “He might have left in a hurry, or he might have already achieved his goal, no longer needing to use the magician persona as a cover. Either way, he had no reason to take the box with him.”
Hou Shen asked, “So you think this magician is connected to Tian Niu’s death?”
Mei Qing nodded. “I suspected it yesterday. This is a small fishing village. If it weren’t for someone guiding us, we wouldn’t have found our way here. Why would a magician leave the bustling cities and come to such a remote place? At first, I thought he might be after us. But now, thinking back, two days ago when Tian Niu went to deliver the crabs, this magician was already performing downstairs. He must have seen her. I don’t know what his exact intentions were, but it’s very likely he followed her here. Tian Niu died last night, and the magician disappeared around the same time. These two events coincide too closely for it to be a coincidence. He’s the prime suspect.”
Hou Shen nodded repeatedly. Indeed, after hearing Mei Qing’s analysis, the yellow-faced magician was clearly full of suspicious behavior and must be involved in some way.
“But now, he might already be long gone. How can we catch him?” Hou Shen asked.
Mei Qing was momentarily at a loss. If there were more experienced cultivators here, they might have ways to track him down. But Mei Qing himself lacked that ability.
The servant who had been listening to their conversation suddenly exclaimed, “What? That magician isn’t a good guy? Hmph! In our little corner of the world, he won’t get far. Let me go call people to chase him!”
Mei Qing quickly stopped him. “Hold on. First, our suspicions are only based on speculation and can’t be taken as fact. Moreover, if he really is the culprit, he likely possesses unusual abilities. Even if ordinary people caught up with him, they wouldn’t be able to do anything. In my opinion, you should quickly report this to your master, and Hou Shen and I will go investigate on our own.”
The servant thought this made sense and immediately ran off to inform Shi Mengzhu of Mei Qing’s deductions.
“Master, where should we go to look for him?” Hou Shen asked as they walked out.
Mei Qing slowed his pace, thinking for a moment before replying, “Honestly, I’m not sure. If this man is indeed involved, I don’t know what he did to Tian Niu or what his goal was. If he’s already far away, we’ll be too late no matter how hard we chase. But if he has other intentions, I think there’s one place we should check out.”
“Where is that?”
“The Fishbone Temple.”
Ever since A-San had mentioned the strange occurrences at the Fishbone Temple, Mei Qing had been suspicious.
The pattern was all too familiar—strange phenomena appearing, followed by a so-called immortal claiming that the gods were punishing the people for their disbelief and immorality, followed by rituals and prayers, and the people believing and following the advice. In Mei Qing’s mind, this was a classic template used by heretics and evil cults—so standard it might as well have been pre-programmed with no customization.
Therefore, when he first heard A-San’s account, Mei Qing had already grown suspicious of the temple. Even if it wasn’t a deliberate scheme to deceive people, there was likely some hidden, illicit activity happening there, requiring a secluded environment. Given that this magician was also acting suspiciously, if he had come here with a plan, whatever his purpose, it was likely connected to the previous strange occurrences. The Fishbone Temple would naturally be the most likely place for him to stay.
Of course, Mei Qing didn’t yet know how completely off his deductions were. Hou Shen, standing beside him, was still looking at him with admiration, repeatedly praising, “Master, your insight is truly unparalleled. I could never match your brilliance.”
—Even a fool can find another fool to cheer for him.
Later, when Mei Qing thought back on this, he could only smile bitterly in self-mockery.
“Eight winds arise, the crane dances in the sky, so it is commanded!” Mei Qing flicked his hand, and a giant white crane materialized before them.
“Master, this is…” Hou Shen’s eyes widened in astonishment as he saw the crane talisman Mei Qing had summoned.
Mei Qing had barely finished crafting the crane talisman before they departed; it was still somewhat crude. Since they needed to cross the seven-mile-long Ming Hai to investigate the Fishbone Temple, using a small boat would not only be time-consuming and exhausting but also risk alerting whoever might be there. Moreover, neither of them was particularly skilled at rowing.
The flight was bumpy—swaying and tilting, nearly plunging into the water one moment, soaring too high into the clouds the next, leaving the two utterly bewildered. Mei Qing, who had initially tried to look cool by glancing around as he mounted the crane, was now drenched in sweat, clinging tightly to the crane’s neck as he desperately tried to steer it forward. Behind him, Hou Shen clung to the crane’s tail, dangling precariously as he shouted, “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine soon, soon!”
As soon as they had mounted the crane, it had taken off, but with too much force. It shot straight up into the sky, and Hou Shen had instantly transformed from a passenger into a decoration.
Finally, as the crane flew more steadily, skimming the surface of the water, Mei Qing and Hou Shen let out a sigh of relief. Suddenly, a fierce gust of wind blew, and they felt a sudden drop beneath them. In an instant, the giant crane shrank into a small paper crane and flew back into Mei Qing’s bosom. The two cried out in unison as they plummeted toward the sea below.
“Villain! You dare to flee in broad daylight after committing a crime? Surrender your life to this Taoist priest!” A thunderous shout rang out, followed by a streak of light hurtling toward them.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage