Chapter Seventy-One: The Temple Completed

I went to the village committee to find Fatty, who was already waiting for me. When he saw me rushing over with a worried look on my face, he stood up and asked, “What’s going on? Why are you in such a hurry? Did something happen to that girl?”

I nodded. “Yeah, you actually guessed right this time. Chen Stone and his eldest son disappeared together with that girl.”

“Where did they go?” Fatty asked.

I shot him a look. “If I knew, would I be so anxious?”

“Don’t worry,” Fatty said, sitting back down. “In my opinion, Chen Stone wouldn’t harm her. Besides, getting anxious won’t help right now. Let’s wait for Chen East to come back; they’re the ones who should be worried.”

“That makes sense, but the thing is, I absolutely won’t accept anything happening to her,” I replied.

Fatty looked at me and said, “You’re really meddling. You don’t want anything to happen to her? Fine. Go out, turn right, and save her however you want. It’s time to show off your heroics.”

“Fatty, how can you say that?” I stared at him.

Fatty shrugged. “Leaf, it’s not that I want to say this, but you always lose your composure around women. Think about it: if the girl were really in mortal danger, that old man would’ve killed her already, given his temperament. Do you really think a few words from Chen East make it urgent? Listen to me, we'll just sit tight and watch the show. Chairman Mao himself said, ‘Keep your cool and you’ll harvest more grain.’ Before you went back, you wanted me to wait here—what did you want to tell me?”

Though I still felt uneasy, both my big brother and Fatty said there was no need to rush for now. Besides, there was no good solution to my worry. It really had nothing to do with whether she was a woman or a beauty; deep down I felt responsible for her because she came here due to my post.

Fatty saw how restless I was and tossed me a cigarette. “Here, smoke and calm yourself. Think about it: she didn’t disappear earlier or later—Chen Stone took her away right now, which means what we're doing is making people nervous. Chen Stone is nervous, and with that girl gone, Chen East is nervous too. When people panic, they make mistakes, which is all to our advantage. Just wait and watch the drama unfold.”

I lit the cigarette, trying my best not to let my anxiety overwhelm me. After a while, I said to Fatty, “No need to investigate Chen Jin now; my big brother already told me.”

Then I relayed everything my big brother had told me to Fatty. The reason I told him directly was because I sensed my brother was well-versed in these matters. Before telling me, he had even said Fatty was trustworthy. Maybe he meant for me to pass it on to Fatty. As Fatty himself said, each expert has their own specialty; perhaps my brother hoped Fatty could help unravel why Chen Jin could fuse himself into the Dragon Head Stele.

After listening, Fatty’s expression was indescribable; he looked utterly disturbed. He stood up and said, “A person fused into a Mount Tai stone—it’s almost impossible. No, it’s absolutely impossible.”

“But the ancestor of the Leaf family, the housekeeper, saw it with his own eyes. Chen Jin was already halfway inside!” I replied.

Fatty shook his head. “They say seeing is believing, but sometimes the eyes deceive. Let’s think about that night: the housekeeper was terrified out of his wits and it was late, so he couldn’t see clearly. He did see Chen Jin halfway into the Dragon Head Stele, but what if there was a mechanism—a door—on it, and Chen Jin was just halfway through? That could’ve given the housekeeper the illusion of him fusing in. To put it plainly, what if the Dragon Head Stele is just a coffin shaped like a dragon’s head, and Chen Jin was climbing inside?”

Fatty’s explanation made sense. If it were me in that situation, I might have misjudged too.

“Fatty, if it’s really as you say, what do you think Chen Jin was after? Why sacrifice Leaf family members, and why climb into the Dragon Head Stele himself?” I asked.

Fatty frowned and shook his head. “Hard to say. It seems he was after the feng shui of Fudi Ditch, but it doesn’t quite fit. According to you, he’s a renowned master of yin and yang; Fudi Ditch’s meager earth energy wouldn’t be worth such trouble. Besides, let me tell you, outsiders are big on karma; killing so many of the Leaf family would be a huge sin. Even if he found a dragon’s lair, it wouldn’t help—he’d have lost too much virtue.”

I hesitated, but finally decided to tell Fatty Chen East’s secret. Though I felt guilty for betraying Chen East’s trust, I reasoned that their ancestor wiped out my whole family and I didn’t seek revenge—what’s this compared to that?

After telling Fatty about the scene I witnessed with Chen East that night, he glared at me. “I knew you were hiding something from me that night!”

“Never mind that. Putting these two together, do you see anything?” I asked, full of hope.

Fatty looked at me. “Honestly, nothing. But you mentioned paper men, paper horses, and stone coffins. I might be able to find out what that’s about.”

“Who will you ask—your scholar Wu? Please, don’t,” I said.

“No, I’ll ask the City God. Don’t forget, he’s the judge of this area. He’s got the inside scoop on all things ghostly. Something this big, I’ll ask him why he’s neglecting his duties,” Fatty replied.

I actually trusted Fatty’s methods, especially his use of talismans and consulting the City God. It fascinated me, so different from my brother and Li Qing’s martial skills—like two worlds apart.

Fatty was a man of action. We left the village committee and headed straight to Lady He’s house. When she saw us, her face paled, thinking Fatty was here to cause trouble again. Fatty said, “Don’t be afraid. I just need to borrow your altar to summon a deity and bring you some luck.”

Lady He looked at me, troubled. I told her, “It’s fine, Fatty’s just going to summon the City God. Don’t worry, just step outside.”

Lady He said, “Alright, go ahead.”

With that, she glanced at Fatty and closed the door. Fatty took out some talisman paper, drew symbols with cinnabar, and followed the same ritual as before, burning it before the City God’s statue and offering incense.

I thought the City God, if he didn’t appear, would at least respond as before by sending a gust to form words for Fatty. But after Fatty finished the incense offering, the statue suddenly cracked. In moments, it shattered into a pile of rubble.

“What’s going on?” I asked Fatty.

Fatty, pointing at the broken statue, cursed, “I’ll report you to Master Zhang someday!”

Then he slammed the door and stormed out, clearly furious. I hurried after him, asking what happened. Fatty angrily replied, “That bastard is dodging me—doesn’t want to meet. He shattered his own statue. Coward!”

He continued, “Once the Martial Sage Temple is finished, I’ll report him to Lord Guan. A local judge who ignores local matters—Lord Guan’s temper will see him cut down with a single stroke.”

For a whole week, there was no news from Chen Stone, his eldest son, or the girl. It was as if they had vanished into thin air. Just as Fatty predicted, I called Chen East several times, and he always said he’d return soon, but never did. It seemed Fatty was right; everyone knew the girl wasn’t truly in danger, and I was the only one panicking.

A week later, Lord Guan’s Martial Sage Temple was finally completed.

On the day of its completion, Fatty painted the finishing touch on Lord Guan’s eyes.

Nothing else mattered—Lord Guan, holding the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, even as a statue standing there, was majestic and awe-inspiring!

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