Chapter 203
Chapter 203
“Miss Xia?”
Ren Fengjue’s voice pulled Xia Ximo from her trance.
She looked up at him. “What is it?”
“Nothing. You were staring at the ground, so I thought you might have found something…”
There was nothing on the ground but gravel and patches of snow.
Xia Ximo’s expression had already returned to normal. She answered simply, “No.”
Ren Fengjue was keenly observant. He knew she had to be hiding something.
But if she did not speak of it, he naturally would not press her.
“As long as you’re all right.”
Not far away, Yan Zhengchu’s expression was also grim.
Yu Lang asked him, “Daoist Master, can you tell what sort of being this so-called Ghost God was?”
“No. Too much time has passed. Not a single trace remains.”
Yan Zhengchu went on to explain, “But this is a place where baleful yin energy gathers and never disperses.
“I suspect the people of Beiding County once worshiped a Vengeful Ghost, not any kind of god…”
Yu Lang was puzzled. “Even if it was a Vengeful Ghost, why would it help the people of Beiding County? Did it truly think itself a god?”
“Absurd.”
Daoist Yan refuted him irritably. “Vengeful Ghosts are bloodthirsty and brutal, filled with baleful yin energy and malice. They care for nothing but killing. It is already a mercy if they refrain from slaughtering the innocent. Why would they ever help anyone?”
“It probably used some sinister method to deceive these people.”
Hearing his explanation, Yu Lang found it perfectly reasonable.
After all, the terrifying spectacle created by those Vengeful Ghosts on Mount Yunhe remained fresh in his memory.
As they spoke, Ren Fengjue and Xia Ximo came over to join them.
Yu Lang asked Lord Ren, “We’ve asked questions and searched everywhere we could. Do you suspect Minister Zhong’s death was connected to this so-called Ghost God?”
Ren Fengjue nodded slightly. “Not only that. I suspect it was also connected to Zhong Yi’s death thirty years ago.”
“That will be difficult.”
Yu Lang rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. “Those two incidents happened far too many years apart. Even if Uncle Ah Wu can prove that Zhong Ming never visited the Ghost God Temple, what does that have to do with the deaths of Minister Zhong and Second Young Master Zhong?”
Ren Fengjue smiled instead. “They may seem unrelated, but if we dare to speculate and switch their identities, everything becomes much easier to understand.”
“What do you mean?”
Yu Lang and Yan Zhengchu asked almost in unison.
Ah Wu, the cook standing beside them, was even more bewildered. He could not understand a word of what they were discussing.
Only Xia Ximo remained calm, her clear eyes suggesting she already understood everything.
Ren Fengjue turned to Ah Wu. “I recall you saying at the academy that Minister Zhong’s temperament changed after he became an official at court.”
He continued, “You lived alongside him day after day. You would not have formed that impression without cause. What exactly was it based on?”
The question caught Ah Wu off guard.
Back at the academy, he had indeed held back because the steward was present and had not dared say too much.
But now that they stood in the deserted wilderness, the question made him cast those misgivings aside.
“After Brother A-Ming passed the metropolitan examination, he returned home and stayed at the academy for several days.
“During those days, his expression and tone of voice when he spoke were completely different from before.
“He even smiled much less often.
“I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Others at the academy quietly spoke of it among themselves as well.”
“The headmaster explained that Brother A-Ming had gone to the capital and even stood before the Emperor, so naturally he would have become more composed.
“He also said Brother A-Yi’s death had been a severe blow. Returning to a familiar place would inevitably stir painful memories and make him quiet.
“But only a few months had passed. I felt Brother A-Ming had changed too drastically and far too quickly.”
Having finally voiced years of doubt, Ah Wu grew increasingly talkative. He continued, “There were other things I found very strange…
“Brother A-Ming always liked sleeping late. When he studied at the school, everyone else would already be awake before he leisurely rose to wash. In all three hundred and sixty days of the year, I never once saw him rise early.
“Yet during those few days after he returned from Shangjing, he was up before five every morning.
“One morning, I saw him walking around the academy at that early hour and greeted him from behind. But though I called ‘Brother A-Ming’ several times, he never answered.
“The way he acted as though he hadn’t heard me was almost as if… the name I was calling wasn’t his at all.
“It wasn’t until I walked in front of him that he slowly reacted.
“I remember his face looked terrible. His gaze was even stranger. He warned me never to call his name from behind again…
“After that, I no longer dared call him Brother A-Ming. I addressed him as Lord Zhong instead.”
The instant Ah Wu finished, Yu Lang became excited.
He turned to Ren Fengjue. “I understand what you mean now. You’re saying the man who returned from Shangjing wasn’t Zhong Ming at all, but… Zhong Yi?”
Ren Fengjue replied, “It is only a theory. Zhong Yi visited the Ghost God Temple to seek the Ghost God’s protection, so he might have survived when the bandits attacked on the road to Shangjing.
“As for how he survived and how he came to live as Zhong Ming, that will require further investigation.”
Ah Wu’s face went deathly pale. “You mean the real Brother A-Ming is already… dead?”
Ren Fengjue reassured him, “It is only a bold conjecture. Uncle Ah Wu, you needn’t take it as fact.”
But Ah Wu shook his head. “No… It isn’t that I don’t believe you. Something similarly strange once happened here in Beiding County…
“There was a loving couple on the western side of the city. When the husband died of illness, his wife went to the Ghost God Temple and begged in tears…
“The next day, her husband truly came back to life. But not long afterward, they left Beiding County for no apparent reason and were never heard from again.”
Yan Zhengchu frowned deeply. “If this Ghost God truly possessed such power, it would be terrifying…”
Ah Wu shuddered at the thought. “I only heard the story before and never dared believe it, but now…”
He left the rest unsaid.
Yet his expression made it obvious that he believed the story more than any of them did…
Xia Ximo suddenly spoke. “If what happened back then was real, the present Minister Zhong would not die so easily.”
Ren Fengjue added, “Miss Xia and I are of the same mind.”
Yu Lang thought back on everything and felt a chill crawl through him.
“There was something very strange about his corpse. If he isn’t dead, then…”
Yan Zhengchu said gravely, “The last person he came into contact with was First Young Master Zhong.”
Yu Lang’s eyes widened. After turning the matter over in his mind for some time, he felt the truth was on the verge of revealing itself.
“In other words, the current First Young Master Zhong might no longer be Zhong Dingyan, but… Zhong… Zhong Yi from thirty years ago!”