What Lu Shengnan said piqued my curiosity. "Huh?" I looked at her, confused and dazed, while scratching the back of my head. "Tell me more."
Lu Shengnan shrugged her shoulders, saying, "Well, I'm not from here, but my grandma was. It was after getting married to my grandpa, then they moved away from Wu Zhong later. But when I was very young, she had been telling me stories. Some old wives tales or fables that I used to find entertaining. But as I grew up, I began to dismiss them as mere fairy tales and myths, and before I know it, I have had the whole thing tossed at the back of my head. But now that you mentioned it, I began to remember that among all the stories that Grandma used to tell me, the exploits of the Triune of Wu Zhong were the ones she repeated the most!"
As it turned out, the Triune of Wu Zhong from Lu Shengnan's grandmother's stories did not comprise of the usual crew of Old Men Xie and Chen, and Shang Pei. The story originated from Lu Sha
It seemed that our challenger had made quite a fanfare in his preparations, for he had attracted quite a crowd of people watching from the edges of the field. Man and women, elders and children, all huddled by the fields to see what we were up to, murmuring among themselves excitedly. I stepped into the fields which would serve as the arena for our duel and raised an arm, motioning to the crowd for silence, "Enough with the theatrics. Get him out!" I barked at the man. He turned to a helper who was near a little cabin, "Have the Elder out please!" A man emerged almost immediately and his appearance almost made me burst with laughter! Of all my experiences in dealing with charlatans and fraudsters, this must be my first! The man was dressed up in a set of old Taoist frock, holding a hossu in his hand, while cradling a fish drum in another! The fish drum was exactly identical to the ones we usually see in the illustrations of Zhang Guolao, one of the Eight
On a flashback on the second day after Zheng Shuang arrested our challenger, the fraudster, and the seven young thugs he enlisted for help, we decided to return to the abandoned warehouse to release the weasel demons. Despite their wrongdoings, it was only right to release them lest they starve to death. As we forced through the rusted doors of the warehouse, we were aghast to discover everything in disarray inside. The evil spirits I had stationed at the entrance to seal the entrance were gone and the ground was strewn urine and feces as well as stubbles of fur from the weasels. The air was thick with an acrid stench of something being burnt, laced with the telltale aroma of wood chips. We covered our noses as we walked slowly deeper into the warehouse and examined the aftermath. Someone was here to help the weasels! My companions came back to me after clearing the rest of the warehouse, indicating that they have found nothing. But they stared at me wordlessly, as if
I had thought that my companions and I were the only ones who were aware of the weasels' escape from captivity. So we were beyond shocked when the young hireling confessed that he too knew about what happened. Rather, he even knew who it was who had helped them. "So who was that?" I pressed immediately. I could feel the sinews on my neck taut anxiously. He looked at me, his eyes steady and firm, saying grimly, "My teacher!" I lighted a cigarette for myself and took a puff. "Do you mean to say that your teacher has communicated with you via dreams again?" "No," he answered to our amazement. "Then how could you be sure that it was your teacher who had helped the weasels?" I asked again, the hint of apprehension clear as day in my voice. The man revealed that he came here with the weasels from Yizhou City in search of a suitable hideaway here. But the name of Yizhou City did ring a bell; Zhang Zhigui and his companions were all natives of Yizho
"What the hell is this?!" Chongxi gasped again with shock before a musty stench of alcohol burped out of his mouth. Sitting at the entrance of the Center was a row of short, shadowy figures obscured by the darkness of the night. They sat motionless on the ground like a line of hunched gargoyles, but we could see the steam jetting from their nostrils as they breathed in the cold weather. I took two careful steps nearer, hoping to catch enough light to see them. But much to my dismay, they remained steadfastly immobile. Clinging to hopes of any reaction, I ventured another two steps ahead. Still, the figures did not move. Only this time, I got annoyed. I marched brusquely towards the door, only to realize that they were not hounds or dogs, but a row of foxes! I almost laughed out loud. What is this? First, weasels, now foxes?! In my exasperation, my head shook as I chuckled weakly. Chongxi knelt them before one of the foxes and giggled, "So wh
I was no nearer to understanding what he was trying to say. But unlike his usual proclivity of speaking in riddles, he began to explain everything patiently. "You may know that some people will leave their physical bodies when they achieve immortality. By shedding off their physical chrysalis, they do not have to endure a hit by a stroke of lightning, the Crucible of Heaven. But beasts are different. They can assume human form once they achieve higher powers. But to climb even further, they would need to suffer the Crucible of Heaven, with or without their physical bodies." Father paused to light himself another cigarette. "There are five different Elements to the Crucible of Heaven: the Elements of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. We'll not delve into that for today. But simply put, the Crucible of Heaven is one's final test; a test of righteousness. If one has committed sacrilege or sin during one's lifetime, the person would be judged and the Crucible of Heaven
What I said seemed to have struck a gong in him. He was beyond shocked to hear me and pressed frantically, "So, that means that you'll be able to help?" I drew another breath. Then I noticed the boy was eyeing my cigarette. I chuckled and offered him one from my own. "I'll have to first meet your friend—The one who did the ritual—before I can be sure," I said. The young lad took my cigarette with a blank look in his face. He looked at it and asked, "How do you know I smoke?" "Because we're the real deal," I muttered, handing him a lighter, "Your teacher might not know. But nothing escapes my eye." "What a simple lad," I mused, "He's fallen for it." There was no longer any doubt or suspicion in his eyes. There was no need for magic to know that the boy was a regular smoker; one simply had to observe how hungry he looked when he eyed my cigarette. But with a smoke, the boy seemed more relaxed and at ease. "My friend returned to his dorm that n
The gnarly old man who was an ancient weasel demon heard me. It scoffed. "Humph. Why should I answer you? Your cat has caused enough damage to countless of my kin. Come at me if that's you want. Here I am!" I chuckled. "I always try to be just and forthright in everything I do. I will not blindly listen to his story only because he's of my kin. Rest easy." But my endeavor to make truce hit a brick wall; the old weasel raised a suspicious eyebrow and sneered. "We've come all the way from Yizhou City, doing nothing but good and helpful to everyone we've encountered. It was the boy's mother who came to me for help. She told me that her boy was sick. As a master of healing myself, I decided to help. But when I came, I saw this fox wrecking the boy's life. Here I am, trying to help. Am I to be blamed?" "You? Good and helpful? Seriously? What about the farmer and his chickens?" I shook my head, exasperated. "Leave the boy and his family out of you
I had but the deepest loathing for such ways of tormenting people ever since our last bout with Bai Chuanwei, one of the Thirteen Apostles of the Creed. That was because ways to cause pain to people could only be concocted by those with the vilest and most insidious of intents. Moreover, I detested troubles that were messy and required a lot of grunt work. But everything hinged on the answers that the boy would give us. Bewildered, he scratched his head. "Urm... I bought this small cauldron from a stall at the market. It's a long time ago. But the methods to use it were taught to me by an online friend I met through Internet forums." Rubbing my chin, I uttered an "Oh?" with interest as he continued again, trusting us fully, all thanks to our small-time fame, "Most, if not all, of the discussions at the forum, is about you. The things that you all do. Of course, most of us are merely amateurs in such matters. There have been fellow users who claimed to be mediums or sha