Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The four of us followed behind him, slowly descending the steps until we arrived before the vermilion gate.

The gate stood open inward. The temple beyond was pitch-black, without even a single lamp lit.

Song Tianming acted all sneaky, lowering his voice as he told us to go in. He even reminded us to make as little noise as possible, so we wouldn’t wake the monks in the temple.

Lu Lingzhu was the first to follow him and was just about to step inside when I grabbed her and signaled for her to look above Song Tianming’s head.

All of us stared at Song Tianming. The beams from four flashlights converged together like a searchlight, so bright that he instinctively squeezed his eyes shut.

With his eyes closed, Song Tianming spoke, his whole face scrunched up.

“Can you guys turn off those lights?”

As he spoke, a green leaf on top of his head wobbled along with his movements, trembling in the light.

Lu Lingzhu’s eyes went wide.

“Hiss-he-leaf?”

I nodded, my expression grave, already slowly backing away and hiding behind Hua Yuling.

According to Huahua, the person before us might no longer be Song Tianming. He could be a puppet after being parasitized by Wriggling Grass.

The next second, Song Tianming suddenly reached out toward Lu Lingzhu.

Lu Lingzhu had been prepared. She planted her feet firmly in a horse stance, her entire upper body leaning backward to avoid Song Tianming’s strike.

Once Song Tianming pulled his hand back, she sprang up and slammed a hard punch into his head.

Song Tianming cried out, “Ow!” and was sent flying to the ground by her punch. The grass on his head flew off with him.

Hua Yuling was shocked. “Why are you hitting him?”

I pointed at the blade of grass, then at the top of his head. “He’s not-”

Hua Yuling said, “Of course he’s not. I can sense Wriggling Grass. What on earth were you all thinking?”

Song Tianming climbed up in tears, his eyes watery and his face full of accusation.

“Why did you hit me out of nowhere?!”

In her desperation, Lu Lingzhu had a flash of inspiration and put on a stern face.

“Hmph. I am the grand disciple of Maoshan, and my friend is the Earth Master successor. Yet you still refused to trust us. I had to teach you a lesson!”

Song Tianming:

“Are you insane?!

“Song Feifei, what kind of ridiculous friends have you made? You people are sick. Get lost, all of you. I’m not taking you inside anymore.”

In his anger, Song Tianming stopped keeping his voice down. We were making such a racket that we soon drew other people over.

Two young monks arrived. Both had round heads and large ears, and the kasayas they wore were quite unusual. The collars hung low, and wide ribbons were tied across their chests, making them look very much like Buddhist statues from the Yungang Grottoes.

The moment Song Tianming saw them, he was like a mouse meeting a cat. He stood at attention, his expression especially respectful.

“Master Fayuan, I-”

The older monk raised a hand, smiling.

“No need to explain. I already know.

“Your younger sister and her friends wish to stay here for the night, yes? Benefactors, please follow me.”

Song Tianming’s eyes widened.

“How do you know she’s my sister?”

Fayuan chuckled. “As the Buddha says, it must not be spoken.”

Song Tianming nodded obediently, then turned and left on his own.

Fayuan gestured for us to follow him. We went around the main hall. On either side stood a row of meditation rooms. Fayuan brought us to the row on the right, pushed open the innermost door, and told us we could rest there tonight.

The room wasn’t large. Along the far left was one long shared platform bed, very much like a northern kang bed. On the right sat a square Eight Immortals table and several chairs.

Lu Lingzhu stretched, kicked off her shoes, and climbed onto the bed, flopping down sideways like a spread-out pancake.

“Those two monks are something, huh? They actually guessed our relationship at a glance.”

I plopped down beside her.

“No kidding. Song Feifei looks a lot like her brother around the brows and eyes. Who wouldn’t be able to tell?”

Lu Lingzhu said, “No way. Her brother isn’t good-looking at all. Our Feifei is way prettier. How do they look alike?”

“And you call yourself a Maoshan Daoist? You’re supposed to read faces. The shape of their brows and eyes, even the curve at the outer corners, are exactly the same. You didn’t notice that?”

Lu Lingzhu said, “Bullshit. You’re making that up.”

After arguing for a bit, I refused to accept defeat and dug Song Tianming’s photo out of my bag, pointing it out to Lu Lingzhu.

“Look. And you still say they don’t look alike!”