532 Name (1/2)
”How is it going? Any new discovery?”
Jiese watched as Fang Yuan used his Fiery Golden Eyes to scan the surroundings.
”No! It's all clean!”
Fang Yuan shook his head and turned to face the village chief.
”Is this really the temple?”
”Sir...my ancestors are all here? Why would I lie?”
The village chief replied hurriedly upon noticing Fang Yuan's scowl.
Fang Yuan could tell from his reaction that he was telling the truth.
”Is there nowhere else other than this place?”
”Yes, there is nothing else!”
”Strange!”
Fang Yuan shook his head.
”Let's go! We'll go look for Madam Donghua!”
”Amituofo!”
Jiese has a grave look on his face.
”Could it be...that you want to receive that 'thing''s curse and try to save Goudan's life?”
”Things probably can't get any worse, am I right?”
Fang Yuan nodded and took Jiese to Madam Donghua.
”What is this about finding out about something and being cursed as a result?”
The woman was bewildered.
”What are you even talking about?”
”We monks never say frivolous things!”
Jiese looked very serious.
”I can read fortunes. Your child has a black mark looming over him. He might experience a calamity tonight!”
Since Madam Donghua did not appear to know anything, Jiese guessed that they probably came into contact with the curse after entering the village. He wanted to observe any new developments from up close.
”You are crazy! How dare you curse our Goudan!”
Madam Donghua would have stared daggers at Fang Yuan if not for his burgeoning notoriety in the village.
”Alright, we are going to board at your house. From this very moment, you and your child will not leave my line of sight, is that clear?”
Fang Yuan could not be bothered to listen to her protests and handed her a wad of banknotes upfront.
”If you can follow my instructions, this money will be yours. If you don't…”
He pressed his palm on a nearby wall and gave it a little push.
Boom!
The entire wall fell backwards with a resounding crash. Goudan was so afraid that he burst into tears.
”You people…”
Madam Donghua lowered her head and look as though as she was about to cry
”Are you kidnappers? No! Goudan is more important than anything in the world. Over my dead body!”
”Enough, I've made myself clear enough. If you continue to make noise, I'll tie up the two of you!”
Fang Yuan's gave her an icy stare.
The villagers nearby were terrified and pretended to go about their business. Madam Donghua had no choice but to wipe her tears and agree.
Fang Yuan and Jiese followed the arrangements of the previous day and moved into Madam Donghua's house. All that was left to do was to wait for nightfall.
This time, though, the mother and son pair would not leave their line of sight.
”Amituofo…”
Other than to utter the occasional chant, Jiese sat there silently without drinking or eating, and kept his eyes fixated on Goudan.
According to their earlier investigations, this adorable boy was about to die.
But he was confused all the same.
The boy looked very much alive to him, as did the other villagers!
'I wonder how Mister Tantai and Miss Chen are? Given Mister Tantai's abilities, he would have no problems linking up with us…'
Jiese could only gaze at the rising moon and wonder.
....
Meanwhile. Outside of the village.
”Brother Tantai...what do we do?”
Tantai Guihu had found Chen Xin. She had left in a fit of anger but still returned to him when he came looking for her.
”This fog is unnatural!”
Tantai Guihu's mask had turned blood red and his voice was sombre.
It was not that they did not want to link up with Fang Yuan. They had just realised that they were...lost!
When they had walked out of the fog, they found that they were travelling along a mountain ridge.
The cold wind blew on mercilessly.
Tantai Guihu took off his outer jacket and pulled it over Chen Xin. He then focused his efforts on sizing up the terrain.
”The footprints on the ground are disorderly. A large number of people must have walked past here not too long ago. We can't be too far away from the village!”
Tantai Guihu made his guesses and followed the footprints. He came to a cave shortly after. The ground around them had been turned over, leaving the soil from the lower layers and plant roots exposed.
”Is this...a tomb?”
Tantai Guihu thought back to the words of the village chief and understood.
”There are many tombs in the vicinity of the village. This ancient tomb must have been exposed due to a landslide. The villagers must have gotten to it and taken away the buried treasures. No wonder the village chief wanted to show us antiques and even hinted to us that he wanted to do business. It seems like he wanted to dispose of the stolen goods!”
Tantai Guihu did not think much of this discovery though.
It was only right that inhabitants in this area rely on the mountains for their livelihood. It was not his responsibility to worry about the conservation of cultural relics.
”Brother Tantai...I am scared!”
Chen Xin shivered when she looked into the gaping entrance of the cave. It looked like the open mouth of a huge beast.
”Mm, let's get out of this place now. We'll come back with Fang Yuan tomorrow.”
Tantai Guihu was not a reckless person and immediately turned around to leave.
Crack!