Chapter 174
Chapter 174
The storm did not finally subside until well after midnight.
Even though it was the dead of winter, I was drenched as if I’d been dunked in water, my whole body slick with sweat.
Liu Junyan carried me into the shower.
Amid the hazy steam, he examined the burn mark on the inside of my left arm and the character on my cheek.
He showed no trace of surprise and asked no questions.
It felt as though he had known about all of this for a long time, and everything was still under his control.
I couldn’t help wondering why.
Once we were back in bed, I nestled into Liu Junyan’s arms and tentatively asked, “I heard from Fifth Master Hui that you went to Mount Song.”
“Mm,” Liu Junyan replied. “I remembered some things connected to Mount Song, so I went there to take a look.”
“Were they your memories, or the Copper-Coin Figure’s?”
My question plunged Liu Junyan into silence.
He seemed to be considering it very seriously.
After a long while, the large hand cradling the back of my neck brushed against my earlobe. “Xiao Jiu, if I told you I think I am the Copper-Coin Figure, could you accept that?”
Liu Junyan was the Copper-Coin Figure?
I sat bolt upright and told Liu Junyan everything about how I had met Fang Chuanzong, an administrator with the Special Affairs Office, at the foot of Niuhu Mountain.
“Elder Fang suspects that the Copper-Coin Figure is the reincarnation of the legendary Chan Master Dahui from all those years ago. Chan Master Dahui passed away at Great Dharma King Temple on Mount Song. If you believe you’re the Copper-Coin Figure, then there’s a real chance you might be Chan Master Dahui’s reincarnation. If that’s true, then when you went to Mount Song this time, did you go to Great Dharma King Temple?”
I fired off the entire string of questions in a single breath, then stared intently into Liu Junyan’s amber slit pupils.
His pupils contracted sharply before he shook his head. “Xiao Jiu, I did go to Great Dharma King Temple, but I had never heard of Chan Master Dahui. I went there because…”
He trailed off, but I refused to let the matter drop. “Because of what?”
“I offered a lamp at Great Dharma King Temple.” Liu Junyan raised a hand and stroked my cheek. “That Buddhist lamp was offered in your name. Great Dharma King Temple was one of the earliest places in Huaguo to be built as a Buddhist Temple after Buddhism was introduced. Its Buddhist foundations run deep, and it offers salvation to all living beings. I helped forge a karmic bond between you and the Temple. It will benefit your health.”
Realization dawned on me. “So that Buddhist lamp is what stabilized the character on my cheek and the burn mark on my arm?”
Liu Junyan nodded gently. “After the upheaval at Niuhu Mountain, I realized the forces lurking behind it would also be affected. That could very well harm your body. So when my memories of Mount Song resurfaced, I decided to visit Great Dharma King Temple.”
“Ah Yan…” My heart swelled, and I couldn’t help wrapping my arms around his neck. Deeply moved, I exclaimed, “How can you be so good to me?”
Liu Junyan held me close. “Xiao Jiu, I won’t let anything happen to you. If the day ever comes when I can no longer protect you, then that can only mean I’m dead too.”
I lifted my head and sealed his lips with mine, drawing him into a lingering, tangled kiss.
I didn’t want him saying such ominous things.
We would both be fine.
When the kiss ended, I took a moment to steady my breathing. Then I told Liu Junyan everything about Jiang Yingxue, as well as my conversation and agreement with Teahouse Proprietress Gu Yan, without leaving out a single detail.
“Gu Yan has already set out for Xiangxi, and I have Jiang Yingxue’s Bronze Bell in my possession now,” I concluded. “Liu Junyan, meeting me may have gotten you into some serious trouble.”
Liu Junyan pinched my cheek and smiled. “Xiao Jiu, my only regret is that I wasn’t powerful enough back then to channel the waters of Linghai into Cangwu Mountain. Otherwise, I would never have lost you for so long!”
“Cangwu Zheliu, Lingshui Tangtang. Not until the Yellow Springs shall we meet again…”
Those were the cruelest words Ah Li had spoken when she parted from Liu Junyan for good.
And Liu Junyan remembered them for the rest of his life.
He never hated Ah Li for her heartlessness. He only hated himself for being powerless back then.
In this life, he was doing everything he could to treat me well and plan for my future.
How could I not be moved?
I practically threw myself into his arms, my eyes welling with tears.
Liu Junyan gently stroked my long hair and said, “Xiao Jiu, don’t rush, and don’t be afraid. Let’s focus on the road beneath our feet. Only when our footing is firm can we withstand whatever storms come our way.”
What I didn’t expect was for a storm to arrive quietly the very next morning.
As usual, Li Qingying opened the Pawnshop bright and early.
The moment she opened the door, something fell inside.
It was a bloodstained envelope.
Li Qingying opened it, and her expression immediately changed.
Inside was a letter… and a severed finger.
The finger looked like it had only recently been cut off. When Li Qingying called me over, I recognized whose it was at a glance.
It was a middle finger with dry, dull skin and a callused fingertip, clearly belonging to someone advanced in years.
There was also a copper ring around its base.
Rings like that were made by melting down old fifty-cent coins. They looked a little like gold rings.
I remembered my grandmother wearing one just like it.
She hated me to the bone.
Almost every time we met, she would raise her hand to slap me. That copper ring on her middle finger had once cut my face, so I remembered it vividly.
I never imagined I would see it again under these circumstances.
“Give me the letter,” I said at once. “Throw the rest in the trash.”
Li Qingying handed me the letter, then thoughtfully fetched a thick black garbage bag. She put the envelope containing the finger inside, wrapped it up securely, and tossed it in a perfect arc straight into the trash can.
Dusting off her hands, she said, “Better wrap it tightly. We don’t want some old lady collecting recyclables to dig it out and get the fright of her life.”
The corner of my mouth twitched as I opened the letter.
The message was simple: Jiang Wantong, it’s time for you to return to the Jiang Family! Otherwise, next time, it won’t end with just one finger.
Li Qingying craned her neck to take a look. “Xiao Jiu, they’re threatening you with your grandmother’s life.”
“Then they picked the wrong hostage.”
I took out a lighter and casually burned the letter.
Something had already happened in Tafeng Village, and now they were trying to force me back. Had they been driven into a corner?
Would everything in Tafeng Village suddenly be fine if I really went back?
Would my grandmother be spared?
If anything, I suspected they would all die even faster if I returned now.
As for my grandmother’s finger… she could consider it atonement for all the sins she had committed over the years.
Back when Feng Lishu suddenly appeared at Qilin Temple, I had thought it strange.
Looking at it now, what was happening in Tafeng Village might very well have something to do with Feng Lishu.
She might even have been one of the people pulling the strings behind the construction of Qilin Temple.
The only thing I still couldn’t figure out was what that dark shadow inside the temple, with a wingspan of two or three meters, actually was.
And what sort of relationship did it have with Feng Lishu?
Could it be the legendary Qilin Deity?
I knew the other side wouldn’t give up. I had even considered the possibility that they might send me one of my grandmother’s hands next, or perhaps my father’s crippled leg.
But the one thing I never expected was to receive a piece of candy the following morning…