I leapt off the horse and hurried to Zhang Zhigui. He was overjoyed to see me, "GOD! SHIYAN?! Are you here to save me?" But just as quickly, his joy disippated when he saw Edelweiss, who was still on the horse.
"Release him, quick!" I bellowed to the two foxes. Despite their flabbergasted and unconvinced looks, my command as the lordling of their kind, were enough for them to trust me fully, as they untied Zhang Zhigui. He got up, flexing his arms, although he still had a skeptical and dull look. Still, he bowed to me, "It has been quite some time since we've met, Brother Shiyan." "I'm sorry for all these, Zhigui," I muttered, with an embarrassed look myself, "Had I known that you are the help that the weasels have sought, I would have stayed my hand." I gestured towards Edelweiss, "This is my girlfriend, Alatan Qiqige. Please forgive us for any dissatisfaction that you've felt." Considering Edelweiss' propensity for aggression, I was almost certain that he must have h
One way or the other, Yan Jishi was not only a talker, but also a curious one, albeit with his regular bursts of expletives. What he pointed out quickly piqued the interests of Lu Bugong and Zhang Zhigui, all of whom began to stare at me strangely. I merely smiled and slowly reached for my glass, and called for another toast. Another quiet round of cigarettes ensued before I finally began my tale, "I think Old Man Xie might have forgotten to tell you that my father, Murong Hai, is not my biological father. Of course, my mother is not my biological mother as well." All three of me fixed me with a dumb and bewildered look. But a dawning expression formed on Lu Bugong's face, then he asked hesitantly, "Shiyan, are you... are you a fox demon in human form?" "Cough!" I almost choked from the fumes of my cigarette when I heard him. "What in the world had led this dumb fool to think of this?" But Yan Jishi and Zhang Zhigui wore the exact same expression as Lu Bu
Edelweiss and I were equally confused when Zhang Zhigui pointed at his own nose, grimacing with a smile. Suddenly, a rosy-red patch blazed on his cheeks and suddenly he was silent, giving only a tacit response. "Come on, Zhigui," Yan Jishi, the expletive-vending machine roared with laughter, "Did you not always brag about how strong your sense of smell can be? How did you fail this time?" As it turned out, that was Zhang Zhigui that we saw from the top of the hill, reaching a hand into the noxious and miasmic haze before he took out some face masks and applied some medicine on it. From atop the crest of the hill, that was all that we saw. What we did not know was, Zhigui had sniffed at the smell of the haze, hoping that he might know something about it. Unlike the conventional methods of "Watching, Listening, Inquiring, and Examining" of traditional Chinese medicine, the healing skills Zhang Zhigui learned included smelling, which ironically
Zheng Shuang's superiors must have been pressing down on him so greatly that he immediately brought us to his station without question. The Deputy Director was also overjoyed and relieved when Zheng Shuang reported to him that I have come up with a way for them to explain the incident. "Personally, I myself failed to make out why was this incident related to the police? Since when does "natural phenomenon" like this fall under the jurisdiction of the police?" Then I heard how serious this matter had become: the higher-ups of the authorities had deemed this case so serious that this task force involved not only the city police forces but also the county-level headquarters. But I was too young to understand the significance of this. It was only when I was reminiscing this incident with an older Zheng Shuang many many years later, when I finally got it. It was only human behavior. Fear and panic would sweep a community when faced with the inexplicable and in
The sudden question caught every one of us unawares that even Professor Zhang awoke from his torpid stupor. He slowly plucked off the glasses, as if to speak something, but upon finding that he could not see the ghost without the glasses, he put them back on. He peered at the ghost hesitantly and said, "Er... I have to ask... Are you human or...?" The ghost tossed a funny look at him. "Of course I'm a ghost. You think I'd like to be one?!" And that almost made us all cackled. "It's all right," I cut in, saying, "This old man does not believe in ghosts. So I'm only trying to demonstrate to him the existence of ghosts. It's all right now. You may go." Despite showing its annoyance, the ghost would never dare to do anything; not when I'm here. But when it was about to leave, Chongxi took out a stack of joss papers and went to the balcony of the room and burned them. "Here's for your trouble." That seemed to have swayed the ghost's mood somehow and it left jovially in the
Chongxi grimaced, clutching at his head as he looked back and saw Father standing right behind him, grinning widely. "Talk if you will, but nice of you to toss me into the fray, are you?" He chuckled. Chongxi's mention of Godmother had inadvertently grazed the surface of Father's stack of former dalliances, and as if the timing could not be worst, Father must have wandered out of the kitchens to take a brief cigarette respite from his cooking and that was when he heard Chongxi saying, "You can too, if you have a Godmother who can save you!" "Heh heh heh, Uncle Hai," Chongxi giggled as he rubbed his head and said, "Surely your heroics in your heydays have won you scores of many admirers..." Only to have his head banged again. The rest of the table, Xiao Yu included, were snickering quietly, although there was an unmistakable hint of concern in her eyes. She was a more introverted girl, a stark contrast from Yuanyuan, whose temperament was colloquially labe
Aunt Ulan was a stranger to the Labyrinthian Canyon. Part of it was due to Godmother not telling her before about our experiences there. But it was not without reason; knowing Aunt Ulan's temperament, Godmother understood that she would surely insist on a visit to convey her thanks for their help in saving her. More so, the two of them were friends of Father. However, Shang Pei and Zhu Mei were not only near-immortals, but they chose to live as hermits, who never enjoyed the company of others but preferring only to keep to themselves. Hence Godmother had decided not to spare her the details of the Canyon. But Aunt Ulan's love for her surrogate son, me, was as great as Godmother's love for me; she did not ask much about my decision, only reminding me to come back early. Godmother, on the other hand, said nothing; she must have guessed my reason for visiting the Canyon. Edelweiss and I went back to the same way we rode back to Aunt Ulan's camp from the Cany
There was hardly anything much in my recollections of music students' varsity life aside from the habitual eating, sleeping, and repetitive practice sessions, although much of it was bedewed with the occasional truants, and dates. But there was something that set me apart from your usual university undergraduates: a hidden talent called "Ghost-hunting." Of course, dating was a necessity of varsity life. Besides, as the only little brother who played the Chinese zither, I surely had several female fans. But I never dared to tell Edelweiss about that. Readers please kept this secret for me. Thanks a lot! It was only the third day of the military exercise. I was still not used to waking up even before the rooster's crow, although I would continue the first jog of the morning with half-opened eyes and a still-dozing mind. We would be drilled into running lap after lap. Rest would only come when we could finally run no more. But we had neither any complaints, considering th
I was annoyed. Honestly. The girl was too direct and blunt for my liking and I retorted coldly, "I am my father's son and this is the name he has given me. The name which I am proud to bear and I am not pleased with what you said about my name." The girl merely shrugged her shoulders at my reluctance to banter. "Moreover, I don't know that girl and I don't know that she's a friend of yours. Is it wrong to look at them and just grin?" I continued viciously. I didn't know what this girl was thinking; either to try to talk to me or she was approaching me only for some other motives. But most girls would have immediately left indignantly after such sharp words from me. But instead, she giggled. "Come on, there's no need to be so serious! I'm just trying to chat! There's no need to demonstrate to me your close father-and-son love!" I did my best to keep my face straight, staring at her with hardly any more words. But the girl seemed rather impervious to the te