Chapter Thirteen: Letting Things Take Their Course

After Uncle Zhuzi finished speaking, I looked at him and asked, "Uncle Zhuzi, what I don't understand is this: from what you've said, it doesn't seem like this person did anything wrong. For example, he didn't fail to save my father, or accidentally light Auntie's lantern because of a misunderstanding—there's nothing wrong with that. So why is he so insistent that you can't tell anyone?"

Uncle Zhuzi shook his head and replied, "I don't know. But I guess you can figure it out yourself—this person is someone from the village. Yet not a single villager knows his true identity. If he hadn't come to me back then, I wouldn't have known he was someone who could perform the strange arts."

"If you haven't done anything shameful, you don't have to fear ghosts knocking at your door. He must have a guilty conscience," I said.

Uncle Zhuzi gave a wry smile. "Who knows?"

After a while, seeing that Uncle Zhuzi had nothing more to say, I asked, "So you haven't actually entered the Twelve Ghost Caverns? You just fished the fool's body out from outside the caverns, right?"

Uncle Zhuzi nodded. "You could say that."

Having said this, compared to my brother, Uncle Zhuzi was already very forthcoming. Though he stubbornly refused to reveal the person's identity, I could understand—after all, he had made a promise.

After a moment, I asked, "So you really can't do anything about the fool's situation, can you? Did my brother send me just to test you?"

"Yes and no. The fool coming back this time is actually—" Before Uncle Zhuzi could finish, he suddenly clutched his chest, cold sweat streaming down his forehead, his face turning deathly pale in an instant.

I rushed to support him and asked, "Uncle Zhuzi, what's wrong? Why did the fool come back this time?"

Uncle Zhuzi looked at me in terror and said, "Yezi, don't ask anymore. Someone doesn't want me to tell you. Go home, stay out of this!"

"What exactly is going on? Who doesn't want you to tell me?" I pressed, grabbing his arm. Just now there were only the two of us in the room, and his sudden outburst unsettled me. Could someone have been secretly listening, or perhaps casting a spell the moment Uncle Zhuzi tried to speak?

Uncle Zhuzi pushed me out of the house. "Go home, Yezi. Find your brother. This is much more complicated than you think!"

With that, he shut the door behind me, leaving me outside.

—

When I stepped out of Uncle Zhuzi's house, the sun was shining brightly, but I felt colder than ever. Uncle Zhuzi had only told me one story, but it had completely overturned my view of the world. I realized that my childhood village was hiding so many secrets. And all of it seemed inextricably linked to my father's death.

I lit a cigarette, went home, got on my electric scooter, and hurried once more to Sanlitun to find my brother. If it were anything else, maybe I could let it go, but when it came to my father's death, I had to get to the bottom of it.

When I arrived at my brother's house, he was sitting there as if he had been waiting for me. I walked over, downed a glass of water, and asked, "Are you investigating Dad's death?"

My brother looked at me, neither nodding nor shaking his head. Instead, he asked, "So you went to see Zhuzi."

I nodded. "Yeah. He knows you were testing him. He also asked me to tell you that he had nothing to do with Dad's death."

My brother glanced at me, leaned back on the sofa, and asked softly, "What did he say?"

I recounted Uncle Zhuzi's story as best as I could remember, then added, "I've told you everything. See how honest I am? So whatever you know about Dad's death, don't hide it from me."

But my brother once again ignored my last sentence and stared at me. "Do you believe Zhuzi's story?"

I was about to say yes, since Uncle Zhuzi had sounded sincere, and after nearly twenty years of knowing him, I didn't think he was the type to lie. But with my brother's question, I couldn't be entirely certain.

Seeing that I was hesitant, my brother stood up and smiled. "A careless lie is easy to spot. The highest art of lying is when eighty percent is true and only twenty percent is false—only then will people believe you."

"So where did he lie?" I asked.

My brother shook his head. "I don't know. It's just a feeling."

I rolled my eyes. "You're just suspicious by nature." But as I said it, I realized I was wrong. Actually, my brother was right. I was often too emotional. So I quickly added, "Let's drop it. Brother, even though we only recently reconnected, we're real siblings. Since you're investigating Dad's death, you should at least let me know, so I can help. If Uncle Zhuzi hadn't let it slip today, how long were you planning to keep it from me?"

"I didn't tell you because I never intended for you to get involved," my brother replied.

"I know what you want to say—it's dangerous, and you're doing it for my own good, right?" I said, annoyed.

"As long as you know." He actually nodded.

I knew my brother's temperament. If he didn't want to talk, no amount of questioning would change his mind. I didn't press further. Honestly, I'd learned more today than in the past twenty years. I needed time to process it all. So I stood up and said, "You wanted me to test Uncle Zhuzi, and I've done it. He can't solve this. What do we do now?"

"Let things take their course," my brother said softly.

"Come on, you're really just going to ignore it?" I protested.

"Don't worry. It'll only be good for you, not bad," he said, looking at me with a strange expression.

For a moment, I didn't understand what he meant, but then it dawned on me—he must be referring to Han Xue. My face flushed, and I was too embarrassed to argue. I could only mutter to myself, "Am I really that kind of guy?"

—

After leaving my brother's place, I arrived at the entrance of the village committee and saw Uncle Zhuzi squatting there, smoking a cigarette. He looked troubled, and when he saw me, he waved me over. "Yezi, come here."

All day, it seemed I was shuttling between my brother and Uncle Zhuzi, back and forth, as if my life had become a straight line between two points. Still, I walked over. "So, have you made up your mind?"

"The fool's return is connected to Chen Shitou buying that woman. Yezi, that's all I can tell you." He left immediately after saying this, glancing around as if afraid someone might see him.

Back at the village committee, the more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed. Uncle Zhuzi's words were surely a crucial clue, but what did they mean? The fool's return was linked to the woman Chen Shitou bought—so, as I saw it, there were only two possibilities. Either the fool came back to prevent the Chen family from committing more wrongdoing, or he returned to offer congratulations. But one thing puzzled me: why had the fool gone looking for Han Xue in the middle of the night?

To be blunt, it would make sense if he came to find me, since I was involved in her fate before she died. But Han Xue was an outsider, a kind-hearted girl—why her?

I pondered for a long time before deciding to see Chen Qingshan. Since my brother had said to let things take their course, I'd act as if he didn't exist and handle this myself.

When I explained the situation to Chen Qingshan, he was startled at first, then cursed, "Damn it! Even a big temple like the Taiji Monastery has swindlers?"

"The more sophisticated the swindler, the harder it is to spot. It's no wonder we were fooled," I replied.

"You actually saw the fool go to find Teacher Han? Why would he look for her?" Chen Qingshan was as puzzled as I was.

"If I knew, who would I ask? I can't make sense of it either. Why would he go after Han Xue, of all people? Chief, we've only got one teacher in the village. If she leaves, what will happen to the kids?" I said.

"That's a real problem. Yezi, you're usually the one with the best ideas. What do you think we should do?" Chen Qingshan asked me.

"I want to go check out Chen Shitou's house. All these strange things started after he bought that girl. Even if it's unrelated, we need to sort this out quickly," I replied.

"I thought you didn't like dealing with the Chen family?" Chen Qingshan looked at me.

"Well, the situation's different now!" I answered.