Chapter 164
Chapter 164
So the eminent monk who had laid down the Dragon-Locking Formation, sealing away a current of Dragon Aura to suppress the Qiongqi Evil Formation, was Chan Master Dahui.
Unfortunately, more than a thousand years had passed since the Tang Dynasty. Chan Master Dahui had most likely entered nirvana long ago.
“Chan Master Dahui entered nirvana at Dafawang Temple on Mount Song during the final years of the Tang Dynasty.”
As if he could see straight through my thoughts, Fang Chuanzong continued, “According to the Unofficial History, Chan Master Dahui left behind a prophecy before entering nirvana. He said he would return to Niuhu Mountain after a thousand years to reinforce the Dragon-Locking Formation.
“Judging by the techniques employed in tonight’s battle on Niuhu Mountain, the practitioner carried much of Chan Master Dahui’s legacy. My people’s investigation indicates that this master likely came from the Wufu Town Pawnshop. So, Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu, would you grant Fang the honor of an introduction?”
All right. As expected, he was here for Liu Junyan after all.
Hui Moqiong and Li Qingying had handled all the cleanup. Hui Moqiong must have already clashed with Fang Chuanzong in the process, which was why he had known to make himself scarce beforehand.
In that case, I…
After a moment’s thought, I said, “I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint Elder Fang. There are no Chan masters in our Pawnshop. I’m sure you’ve already investigated the Wufu Town Pawnshop, so how should I put this? Aside from the pawnbroking business, our Pawnshop is more like a spirit-medium hall. All we have are Immortals and their human Medium.”
The moment I finished speaking, Fang Chuanzong burst out laughing.
The sound made my scalp prickle.
“Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu is still young and unaware of many things. If you’re interested, you can visit our office when you have the time. You’ll certainly find a great deal of information there that you’d like to know.”
Fang Chuanzong was extending an olive branch to me.
If I were still in school, I would have been beside myself with joy at such an offer. I probably would have wished for wings so I could fly straight there.
But now, I understood one simple truth: there was no such thing as a free lunch.
Fang Chuanzong kept dangling bait in front of me, waiting for me to bite.
His true interest lay neither in the wine nor in me, but in Liu Junyan, who stood behind me.
I simply smiled again.
When I had no idea how to handle a situation, smiling was always a safe choice.
Fang Chuanzong paid no mind to my reaction and continued dangling more bait. “An eminent monk once lived at the Wufu Town Pawnshop. He came and went without leaving a trace, commanded the Five Blessing Immortals, and protected the peace of the region. Our office also has records concerning Wufu Town’s past.
“Those records even speculate that the eminent monk may have been the reincarnation of Chan Master Dahui. Later, for reasons unknown, the Pawnshop closed for many years, and the clans of the Five Blessing Immortals gradually dwindled.
“We’ve been waiting all this time for the Wufu Town Pawnshop to reopen. I can only blame myself for being too busy over the past six months to pay you a visit. To think I would meet Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu here on Niuhu Mountain instead. It truly must be fate.”
Fate?
I doubted this had anything to do with fate. More likely, the timing was finally right.
They had probably begun watching the Wufu Town Pawnshop the moment it reopened. They had simply held back and observed from the shadows.
It was only after the commotion on Niuhu Mountain became too big to ignore that Fang Chuanzong finally stepped forward.
No wonder Liu Junyan had been so reluctant to interfere with either Grand Formation in the first place. Well, look at that. Trouble really had come knocking.
The old man before me was over seventy and held a position of great authority. He had probably crossed more bridges than I had eaten grains of salt. Trying to outmaneuver him would be like showing off a broadsword before Guan Yu himself.
So I chose to lay my cards on the table. “Elder Fang, if you wish to meet our Immortal, I can go back and ask on your behalf. If you’re here to hold us accountable for the incidents on Niuhu Mountain and at the prison, I’ll cooperate with that as well.”
“Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu, you jest. You resolved such a major crisis and prevented a catastrophe that had long been brewing. We haven’t even had time to commend you yet, so how could we possibly hold you accountable?”
Fang Chuanzong continued, “That said, if the opportunity arises, I truly would like to meet this immortal master of yours. As for Niuhu Mountain and the prison, leave everything to me from here on out. I guarantee not a single word will leak.”
For some reason, I felt a weight lift from my chest, and I lowered my guard against Fang Chuanzong a little.
Even so, I gave him a reminder. “We uncovered something at the prison. It concerns the Birth Date and Time of several death row inmates.”
Fang Chuanzong nodded. “We’re investigating that as well. In the course of our investigation, we crossed paths with a young man from the Pawnshop. Unless my eyes deceive me, that young man is no ordinary person either.”
He smiled. “Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu’s Pawnshop truly is home to crouching tigers and hidden Dragons.”
That phrase-“crouching tigers and hidden Dragons”-inexplicably put me on edge again.
I was still far too inexperienced to contend with an old fox like Elder Fang.
That day, my tea went completely cold without me taking so much as a sip.
Fang Chuanzong, on the other hand, had his cup refilled twice. He said so much to me that my mind remained unsettled for days afterward.
The affairs at Niuhu Mountain and the prison were handed over entirely to Fang Chuanzong.
When we left, Fang Chuanzong specifically had someone bring me a badge.
It was rectangular and made of silver, with a Dragon and a tiger engraved on the front.
A string of numbers was engraved on the back, with the office’s address and telephone number beneath it.
Elder Fang told me I was welcome to drop by the office anytime.
When I returned to the Pawnshop, Liu Junyan wasn’t there.
I asked Hui Moqiong about him, and he replied, “Seventh Master? He went out.”
I was speechless. Slightly irritated, I said, “Of course I know he went out. I’m asking where, exactly, he went.”
Hui Moqiong blinked twice and played dumb.
Li Qingying spoke up from the side. “Now you’re going too far, Old Fifth Hui. Xiao Jiu is Seventh Master’s Person of the Chamber. Are you guarding against her, or are you guarding against me?”
“Yingyingzi, are you trying to sow discord?” Hui Moqiong slung an arm over Li Qingying’s shoulder.
His words sounded fierce, but he ultimately failed to keep the secret. “Fine. For the sake of preserving the unity of our big family, I’ll make the noble sacrifice. If Seventh Master blames me, my hide is thick enough. I’ll take it.”
He went on and on.
Growing impatient, Li Qingying pinched the flesh of his arm.
Hui Moqiong let out an exaggerated howl. “Seventh Master seems to have gone to Mount Song. When he fought the Fake Ascetic Monk, the man scratched him and left him tainted with a little corpse qi. Seventh Master said he was going to Mount Song to get some incense ash to purge it.”
Li Qingying immediately grew anxious. “Seventh Master was tainted by corpse qi? Why didn’t you tell us about something this serious sooner?!”
“It’s only a little corpse qi. Is there any need to make such a fuss?” Hui Moqiong said as he dodged her pinching fingers.
“Yingyingzi, have you forgotten what Seventh Master’s true form is?”
That was true. It was only a little corpse qi, and there were plenty of ways to draw it out.
Which raised the question: why had Liu Junyan gone to Mount Song?
Surely he hadn’t really gone all that way just to ask for some incense ash.
Wait… Mount Song?!
I suddenly remembered what Fang Chuanzong had told me. He’d said Chan Master Dahui came from Mount Song and later passed into nirvana at the Dafawang Temple on Mount Song.
He had also said that Liu Junyan’s method of suppressing the Qiongqi Evil Formation closely resembled the method Chan Master Dahui had used back then.
I didn’t actually suspect that Liu Junyan might be Chan Master Dahui. His true form was a flood Dragon!
But as for the Copper-Coin Figure in the West Room…
Whether that was Chan Master Dahui’s reincarnation, I couldn’t say for certain…