Chapter 202
Chapter 202
Though many years had passed, Ah Wu’s eyes brightened as he spoke of the past.
He pointed toward the moat outside the courtyard. “That scholar’s surname was Zhong, and his given name was Yi. His family lived just ahead, in Liuhua Alley…”
Ah Wu remembered that the academy gates opened at a quarter past five every morning.
Yet Zhong Yi would always be waiting outside before five.
Whether in the scorching heat of summer or the bitter cold of winter, he was the first to arrive at the school. He would review his lessons or practice his calligraphy and was more diligent than anyone.
Zhong Ming, however, was entirely different.
He always slipped quietly into the school after morning recitations had begun. He was hardly diligent in class, but fortunately, he was quick-witted and had an excellent memory.
And yet, despite their utterly different temperaments and habits, the two became the closest of friends in private.
Inside the classroom and out, they were practically inseparable.
Since they shared the same surname, outsiders thought them as close as brothers, even though they were not related.
“I remember one night when Brother A-Ming climbed over the academy wall to find Brother A-Yi in Liuhua Alley. The two of them even snuck off to the western side of the city for a drink.
“When the headmaster found out, he summoned them to his room. He struck Brother A-Ming twenty times with the disciplinary ruler but only scolded Brother A-Yi a little.
“Brother A-Ming wasn’t upset at all. He just grinned and took all the blame upon himself.”
Hearing Ah Wu describe this version of Zhong Ming, Ren Fengjue and Yu Lang exchanged a puzzled glance.
The Zhong Ming of those days was nothing like the later Minister Zhong of the Ministry of Justice.
The academy steward could not help correcting him. “Uncle Ah Wu, you can’t call him Brother A-Ming anymore.”
Ah Wu paused, then scratched his head with the same sheepish grin.
“That’s true. Minister Zhong changed so much after entering officialdom. Back in the old days, he certainly wouldn’t have minded…”
The steward raised an eyebrow and lowered his voice. “A man who rose to become a second-rank official at court must have been through a great deal. How could he possibly remain the same as before?”
Yu Lang asked Ah Wu, “I heard people in the county say the two of them once arranged to visit the Ghost God Temple together, but the scholar from Liuhua Alley never went. Uncle Ah Wu, do you know the details?”
At this, Ah Wu’s back visibly stiffened. Just as he was about to speak…
The academy steward warned, “No one in the county is allowed to mention the Ghost God Temple anymore.”
Ah Wu hesitated, caught between speaking and remaining silent.
Ren Fengjue could clearly see his reluctance. “I take it you know a version of the story different from the one everyone else tells?”
Yu Lang played along. “We’ve heard this Ghost God Temple was remarkably efficacious. Did Minister Zhong truly escape danger on his journey to Shangjing for the imperial examination because he prayed to the Ghost God?”
Ah Wu glanced out the window. His expression was complicated as he said, “I’ve kept this buried in my heart for years. I was young then. I tried telling people once, but no one believed me…”
Even the academy steward was startled by this.
Yu Lang immediately asked, “Then what actually happened?”
Ah Wu searched his memories. “The two of them agreed to visit the Ghost God Temple together on the night before they left for the imperial examination in Shangjing. I heard them with my own ears.
“People went to pray at the Ghost God Temple around midnight…
“But Minister Zhong never went that night.”
The academy steward could not resist interjecting. “Didn’t the rumors say someone saw a scholar outside the Ghost God Temple that night?”
Ah Wu shook his head. “Perhaps it was a coincidence. I don’t know whether Brother A-Yi went, but Minister Zhong absolutely did not.
“I remember clearly that around ten that night, he still hadn’t finished packing…”
Halfway through packing, Zhong Ming suddenly felt hungry. He was about to go out in search of food when he spotted Ah Wu returning from the rear kitchen.
He beckoned to him and asked with a smile, “Little Wu, is there anything left to eat in the kitchen?”
Ah Wu replied, “No. I just checked.”
Zhong Ming pulled out a handful of copper coins and gave them all to him. “Go… to that flatbread seller on the western side of the city. They should still have some left at this hour. Buy ten for me, and keep the change.”
Ah Wu did not bother counting the coins. Delighted, he immediately made the trip.
When he returned, Zhong Ming gave him one flatbread, then wrapped five more in oiled paper and asked him to deliver them to Zhong Yi’s home.
Ah Wu remembered that it was nearly midnight. Unable to suppress his curiosity, he asked, “Brother A-Ming, didn’t you arrange to pray at the Ghost God Temple with Brother A-Yi? It’s already this late. Aren’t you going?”
Zhong Ming waved a hand. “I was going to, but after thinking it over, I decided against it. Man proposes, Heaven disposes. I was lucky enough merely to pass the provincial examination. I’ll treat this journey as a chance to accompany A-Yi to Shangjing and broaden my horizons.”
Ah Wu nodded without fully understanding, then followed his instructions and delivered the flatbreads to Liuhua Alley.
The lamp inside Zhong Yi’s house was burning at the time, but no one answered even after Ah Wu knocked for ages.
With no other choice, he pushed the flatbreads through the window…
“By the time I returned to the academy, midnight had passed. The light in Minister Zhong’s room did not go out until then.
“I remembered this clearly for many years. Later, when Brother A-Yi met with disaster on the road to Shangjing, everyone said he had been unable to escape calamity because he failed to seek the Ghost God’s protection before leaving.
“I told them Minister Zhong hadn’t gone either, but they refused to believe me. They insisted he must have gone…”
Yu Lang conjectured, “So Minister Zhong didn’t go, but Zhong Yi might have?”
“If that’s the case, the Ghost God Temple could hardly have been very efficacious.
“No wonder they refused to believe you. Wouldn’t accepting your story be the same as admitting they were wrong?”
Ah Wu naturally understood that. He merely smiled. “That was precisely it.”
Everyone fell silent for a moment.
Xia Ximo, who had not spoken until now, suddenly asked Ah Wu, “Where was the Ghost God Temple back then? Can you show us the way?”
Ah Wu replied, “That place was a graveyard to begin with. There’s even less to see now. It’s completely desolate.”
“That’s fine. Just tell us how to get there.”
Ah Wu hesitated briefly before saying, “The rear kitchen has finished for the day anyway. Why don’t I take you there myself?”
As Xia Ximo rose, Ren Fengjue and Yan Zhengchu stood as well.
Yu Lang wondered what they hoped to accomplish by visiting such an eerie place after dark.
Reluctant though he was, he still had to follow them.
After leaving the academy, Ren Fengjue quietly pressed his last small piece of gold into the hand of a boy by the gate. Only after watching the boy give it to the steward did he follow Ah Wu away.
They continued east along the bank of the moat for roughly fifteen minutes. By then, there were no signs of habitation anywhere around them. As far as the eye could see, solitary graves stood among the barren hills beneath the cold moon.
Ah Wu pointed at an open patch amid the neglected graves. “The Ghost God Temple once stood there…”
Xia Ximo took a few steps closer. The wind seemed to brush past her ears, and that strange yet familiar feeling welled up in her heart once more.
For one disorienting instant, she seemed to see corpses strewn across the ground…