Chapter Thirty-Four: The Taoist Nun

The young man, drenched in sweat, rose from the ground and slung the long sword onto his back. He clasped his hands respectfully toward us and said, "I am Lu Li from Mount Shu. May I ask the distinguished names of you two gentlemen?"

Hearing his tone, both Wang Feiyang and I were taken aback. The young man looked heroic, but his manner of speaking was oddly naive.

"Is this a film shoot?" Wang Feiyang frowned.

Lu Li hesitated, clearly unsure what Wang Feiyang meant. I was at a loss as well; though I was grateful for the rescue, his demeanor made me uncomfortable, as if he had watched too many martial arts movies.

"Mount Shu? Is that the Sword Sect from 'Legend of the Immortal Heroes'? The kind that can fly on swords?" I asked, puzzled.

Lu Li smiled and replied that television exaggerated things. Mount Shu was indeed renowned for its swordsmanship, but it was all about using the sword to eliminate evil and uphold justice. In today's Daoist world, there were three major sects dedicated to subduing monsters and demons: Mao Mountain, Dragon-Tiger Mountain, and Mount Shu.

His face shone with pride as he spoke, while mine was full of confusion. I had heard from my grandfather that where there were monsters and spirits, there were Daoists to vanquish them. The Daoist sects did exist, but not as fantastically as portrayed on screen. Looking at Lu Li now, he seemed to be a genuine Daoist from Mount Shu.

I thanked Lu Li for saving us and introduced myself and Wang Feiyang. Finally, I asked why he had appeared so suddenly in Dongmen Village.

Lu Li hesitated, then replied, "My master instructed me not to reveal the purpose of this training journey. Just think of me as here to rid the world of evil."

"Can you stop speaking so archaically?" I couldn't help but protest. "It's 2017, but you sound like you're from 1017."

Lu Li gave an embarrassed smile and explained that he had spent his life training in the sect and rarely ventured out, so he asked for our understanding.

Very well. I gave up trying to argue with this naive fellow. Since he wanted to vanquish evil, let him do so. Besides, Wang Feiyang and I desperately needed someone to protect us against malign forces.

By now, the remaining dozen or so corpses had disappeared into the village, hiding from sight. I looked at Wang Feiyang with seriousness and said, "We must return to that courtyard."

"For what?" Wang Feiyang asked, puzzled.

"Perhaps there, we can uncover the truth behind everything we're seeking."

So I recounted everything I had seen inside that room to Wang Feiyang. He was astonished, and immediately agreed to go back to the courtyard with me. Lu Li accompanied us, and along the way, we encountered a wandering corpse, which he dispatched with a single stroke.

As soon as I entered the courtyard, my mind plunged once more into chaos, as if I were about to slip back twenty years. I hurriedly said to Wang Feiyang and Lu Li, "This time, I must uncover the whole story. Don't let the corpses outside disturb me."

"Don't worry, Brother Wu Dao. With me here, nothing will get in! But what exactly are you two trying to discover?"

I didn't have time to answer. In a flash, the scene shifted, just as before, and I found myself once again atop the dam at Dongmen Reservoir. The woman in Daoist robes was holding the infant high, chanting ceaselessly: "The Nine Yin descends, blood sacrifice to the Yellow Springs!"

From the reservoir came a bubbling sound; soon, bubbles rose from the depths, and the water seemed to boil. The three hundred people who had jumped into the reservoir began to surface and sink. Some, not yet dead, seemed to regain consciousness and struggled fiercely in the water.

But their efforts were futile. It was as if countless hands beneath the water were grabbing their ankles, pulling them relentlessly down.

Soon, the reservoir returned to its original calm. After uttering an eerie string of incantations, the woman prepared to jump into the water with the infant.

My heart tightened. At that critical moment, two figures dashed out from the dam, racing toward the woman at incredible speed. When I saw their faces clearly, I was stunned—they were my grandfather and Zuo Daoyin, twenty years younger.

The woman noticed them as well. Her expression darkened, full of murderous intent.

But as she turned to face my grandfather and Zuo Daoyin, the murderous look faded, replaced by grief and helplessness.

Grandfather rushed forward, snatching the infant from the woman's hands, his face filled with sorrow. He stared blankly at the reservoir, muttering again and again, "Too late, still too late!"

Zuo Daoyin stood silently beside him. Grandfather suddenly turned to him and said mournfully, "Zuo Eight Characters, since you predicted calamity for Dongmen Village, please calculate for me—who could be behind such a cruel deed?"

Zuo Daoyin looked troubled. "Brother Wu, there are too many variables in Dongmen Village. This is all I can divine, I cannot see further."

Only then did Zuo Daoyin notice the woman nearby. He frowned and asked coldly who she was.

The woman was silent for a moment before replying, "I presume you are the Coffin True Dragon of Baijie Town and Zuo Daoyin, the Sage of Divination. I am but an ordinary Daoist nun, long have I heard your names."

"Why are you here?"

The Daoist nun sighed. "I wandered here by chance and saw the overwhelming dark energy. Suspecting the presence of evil spirits, I hurried over. But upon arrival, I saw villagers jumping one after another into the reservoir. I tried to stop them, but lacked the power, and in the end could only save this newborn child."

Watching this, my heart sank. Clearly, my grandfather Wu True Dragon and Zuo Daoyin were famed in the region in those days. Otherwise, with the Daoist nun's abilities, she would have already attacked them. She must have been wary of confronting my grandfather and Zuo Daoyin, and chose to conceal her identity at this critical moment.

I desperately wanted to warn my grandfather and Zuo Daoyin that this venomous woman was responsible for the slaughter of Dongmen Village, but this was only an illusion left from twenty years ago. I could do nothing but fret.

At that moment, I finally understood the true identity of the infant—it was me, just born twenty years ago. The man who looked exactly like me and the woman surnamed Zhou were my biological parents.

Twenty years ago, my Nine Yin fate was not formed because my mother gave birth to me in a grave during the Yin year, month, and hour, but because this woman murdered my mother and orchestrated a ghost marriage, so that my dead mother would give birth to me in a coffin during the Yin year, month, and hour!

I was a child born of the dead, and at the moment of my birth, all three hundred villagers of Dongmen Village plunged into the reservoir. The woman’s ultimate goal seemed to be to use my Nine Yin fate to complete a blood-sacrifice to the Yellow Springs.

But at the most crucial moment, my grandfather and Zuo Daoyin arrived and foiled her plan.

Perhaps my grandfather and Zuo Daoyin were too grief-stricken to doubt the woman’s story; grandfather merely thanked her and left with me and Zuo Daoyin.

As they turned away, the woman tried several times to attack, but ultimately restrained herself and called out loudly, "May I say a word to you two?"

Grandfather and Zuo Daoyin stopped and turned to face her. "What is it?"

"If my guess is correct, this infant is your grandson. He was born with the Nine Yin fate. If nothing is done, I fear he won't live past a hundred days."