Chapter 250
Chapter 250
Sure enough, things unfolded exactly as I had guessed the night before.
The next morning, Wang Dachun and Zeng Jin “blocked” me at the three-way intersection where Lianghe Town’s main street met Lianghe Bridge.
The difference was that Yao Nan was with them this time!
She usually walked to school with several close girlfriends, but today she had come with Wang Dachun and Zeng Jin. She probably wanted to meet me early and hear last night’s story as soon as possible.
Judging by her expression, she seemed even more impatient than the two boys!
“Deskmate, hurry and tell us what happened afterward last night. Wang Dachun already told me what happened when you went to Wang Xinren’s dorm room together. I want to hear the rest.”
The girl normally looked quiet and delicate, but deep down she yearned for wonders beyond ordinary life. Otherwise, she would not always secretly watch Hong Kong horror films at home!
She loved watching them even though they frightened her…
Wang Dachun and Zeng Jin said they could not wait either and urged me to start talking as we walked. They had even sent away the “underlings” who normally waited for me at the intersection so the others would not follow us today.
I spread my hands helplessly and joked,
“Fine. There are more of you, and you’re threatening me. If I don’t start talking, are you going to beat me up?”
Yao Nan lightly punched my shoulder.
“Stop fooling around! Hurry, tell us!”
So I described in detail all the bizarre and dangerous events that followed our departure from Wang Xinren’s dorm room and exploration of the abandoned grave behind the school.
They kept drawing sharp breaths, clapping in amazement, and marveling at every turn!
“That was exciting–way too exciting. Boss, teach me magic. I want to enter your world so badly. It’s just like the movies we watch! Life like this is unbearably boring.”
Smack!
I slapped the fellow on the head and scolded him with a laugh.
“Even if you want to learn magical arts, I wouldn’t dare teach you. I’m only half-trained myself! If Master doesn’t permit it, how could I pass these things to outsiders? I had to beg her for ages just to teach you the secret of the horse stance in internal martial arts.”
“Besides, most people in our line come from poor families. Your family is well-off and your parents have respectable jobs. There’s no reason for you to wade into these muddy waters and constantly walk the edge of life and death.”
As I spoke, I kept watching Yao Nan from the corner of my eye.
Longing had appeared on her face too. By saying all this to Wang Dachun, I also hoped to dispel any thought she had of learning magic…
I smiled bitterly to myself.
“These people only see how impressive and interesting magic looks. They think dealing with demons and ghosts ordinary people can never encounter must be cool. Until they’ve lived through the danger themselves, they can’t understand that fear.”
Whatever the case, the incident kept the three of them talking endlessly for a long time.
As for Wang Xinren’s death, it had been a pure accident from beginning to end!
It merely involved supernatural events beyond ordinary understanding. The police station could never uncover any clues.
The case could only remain unsolved and mysterious.
I had considered writing the truth on letter paper, then using the paper-man art Old Cao had taught me to send a paper figure flying to the police station with the letter late at night and leave it outside their office.
In the end, I decided against it. There was no need!
What good would knowing the truth do?
They could hardly send the police to kill flying-head creatures!
Besides, we had already destroyed the creatures under the grave. I later found time to enter through the abandoned grave again and kill the final two that had escaped us in the first underground chamber.
From that perspective, I had at least avenged the poor student from the class next door.
After school on Friday, I visited Li Miao’s home.
I took the mysterious black iron token we suspected was a River-Warding Token back to Wujia Village, showed it to Master, and asked what it truly was.
The moment I produced it, surprise flashed across her beautiful, delicate face.
Her first words were,
“Little Wu, where did you find this now? I sent you to Lianghe Town to study properly. How do you manage to attract so much trouble?”
I was speechless.
I pouted and protested, feeling wronged.
“Master! What do you mean, I attract trouble? I study obediently and occasionally help Old Cao carry coffins. Strange things come looking for me. What can I do?”
I told Master about Wang Xinren’s death and everything Old Cao, Roundy, and I had experienced.
Naturally, I gave her far more detail than I had told Wang Dachun and Yao Nan!
That included some of my own theories.
When I finished, Master nodded. Toying with the black iron token in her slender white fingers, she said,
“Not bad. That youngster Li Miao has some genuine training and knowledge. This is indeed a River-Warding Token! I don’t know Lianghe Town well, and its River-Warding Iron Stele had already vanished by the time I arrived. So I can’t determine with certainty whether this token came from that stele, but it probably did.”
Her words convinced me completely!
Li Miao’s master had seen both the River-Warding Iron Stele and its River-Warding Token, so the information he passed down could not be wrong. In particular, the fish-shaped relief on the bottom, as tiny as a mosquito, was the best evidence…
I had brought it home only to ask Master for further confirmation!
“Master, if this is the River-Warding Token from the iron stele, why did someone put it in an underground Yellow Springs pool? What was the purpose? Li Miao said it should be a powerful ritual implement, but I can’t sense any magical fluctuations or qi from it. Apart from being heavy, it’s completely unremarkable. Why is that?”
She reached out, patted my head, and chided me with a smile,
“Do you really think your master is an immortal? How would I know…? Wait!”
Master’s brows suddenly drew together.
She seemed to have thought of something.
I hurriedly asked what was wrong.
“The Eight Baleforces Yellow Springs Formation… nourishment from earth baleforce… and three forms of yin converging… Using the River-Warding Token as a medium to connect with this stretch of the Chuan River once suppressed by the River-Warding Iron Stele. It’s clearly a ritual implement, yet it produces no sensation. This object was most likely refined specifically into a single-purpose ritual implement.”
A single-purpose ritual implement?
What was that?
I was utterly confused, questions written all over my face.
Master explained,
“Under normal circumstances, ritual implements may be divided into offensive, defensive, comprehensive, and other types, but they still have many ways of being used.”
“Take the ritual blade I gave you. With the blade in hand, your own qi, and your experience, you can attack in many ways. You can thrust, chop, or flick it upward. And as long as your target is an evil creature–whether a corpse-fiend, a ghost, or even a demon–the ritual implement can wound it.”
“A single-purpose ritual implement is different! It can produce only one single effect against one specific individual or object!”
Perhaps my expression still looked blank and bewildered, because Master gave me a concrete example.
She had once refined a modest single-purpose ritual implement herself: a bamboo flute.
Its sole function was to bewilder one fat panda demon she “knew” when played, making it stand up and dance. It worked on that one panda demon alone, and dancing was the only effect it could cause.
Against any other panda, animal, or monster, the flute did absolutely nothing. It was merely an ordinary flute.
And unless it was played to tease that panda, it showed no supernatural quality at all. Even Master herself could not have recognized it as a ritual implement if she had not refined it personally!
I was speechless after hearing that.
Master certainly knew how to amuse herself!
She had once known a panda that had become a demon through cultivation and had even made a ritual implement specifically to tease it!
At the same time, realization dawned. I finally understood what she meant by a single-purpose ritual implement.
I looked at Master.
“So this River-Warding Token was refined into a single-purpose ritual implement? It will reveal its effect only when used against the one specific person or object that evil cultivator wanted to deal with. Otherwise, it’s no different from an ordinary iron token!”
Master smiled.
“Correct. My disciple is quite clever.”
Her praise filled my heart with sweetness, sweeter than honey!
But after speaking, Master’s smile vanished and her expression turned slightly grave.
“If my guess is correct, the purpose of this River-Warding Token as a single-purpose ritual implement… is to target the Chuan River God! In other words, someone intends to use it at a moment he considers right to deal with that great fish River God!”
What?!
I was stunned.