A drunk woman managed to climb halfway up the mountain safely in the middle of the night, only to lose consciousness upon reaching the temple—it wouldn’t be strange if it happened once, but every time? There had to be something more to it.
Probably only Buddhist disciples with pure hearts would believe it.
“Listen to me now,” Xu Hang lowered his voice and whispered in the little monk’s ear, “If she comes to see your master again in the future, you should stop her if you can, and don’t let your master see her as much as possible.”
“Why?”
“She is a woman, and she goes in and out of the temple late at night. Those who know will say that your master is kind, and those who don’t will say that the temple is dirty. Besides, that woman has some status, and I’m doing this for your master’s good. Just listen to me.”
The young monk thought it made perfect sense, but soon he started to worry again: “But what if she comes drunk? We can’t just leave her alone.”
Xu Hang was silent for a while, then said, “Write a couplet. The first line writes, ‘I mistakenly played the zither for Zhou Lang’s concern’, and the second line writes, ‘filial piety, brotherhood, loyalty, faith, propriety, righteousness, and honesty’. Then secretly hang it at the temple gate at night. If she sees it, she will never get drunk here late at night again.”
The young monk was not familiar with poetry and literature and was so shocked that he could not close his mouth: “How can this be a couplet… is it some kind of spell? Is it really so effective?”
Of course, Xu Hang would not tell the young monk that this couplet was a satire on Kuromiya Keiko’s wishful thinking and shamelessness. Kuromiya Keiko was once a lady from a noble family, so she would definitely understand this riddle and leave in shame.
It’s not that he truly believes Kuromiya Keiko’s situation is so unbearable. If both sides are willing, then it’s something beautiful. Even if the world gossips and judges, what does it matter as long as they shut the door and live their lives undisturbed?
After all, he himself is not a clean person either.
It’s just that the falling flowers have intentions, but the flowing water is heartless; the goddess has dreams, but the Buddha has no intention.
Rather than getting into big trouble in the future, it would be better for him to be a bad guy today and put an end to her thoughts.
Only in the play will it be said that love allows the living to die and the dead to live. Only those who have experienced life and death know that being alive is precious.
He has seen too much killing in his life, and in the future, he hopes there can be one less, just one less.
————
When Xu Hang returned to Jinyan Tang, Chan Yi said that Yuan Ye had been waiting for him in the hall for a long time already. Xu Hang did not look strange at all but said, as if he had predicted something, “Oh? He finally came.”
In the hall, Yuan Ye stood in front of the painting of a swallow emerging from a fire, and now he understood the deep meaning behind it.
Hearing Xu Hang’s footsteps, he pointed at the painting and said, “…You left a foreshadowing so long ago, but I was a little stupid and didn’t see through you.”
Xu Hang was just two steps behind him: “What are you talking about?”
“We are the only ones here, why not speak the truth?”
“What do you want to hear?”
Yuan Ye turned around and said straight to the point, “I know you did all this. The one who turned Hezhou City upside down and disappeared without a trace is you, Xu Hang.”
Xu Hang raised his eyebrows slightly, found a stool to sit down on, and straightened his clothes: “It seems that you are here to interrogate me today?”
“You won’t acknowledge it?”
“You’ve got to say something that’ll leave me speechless.”
Yuan Ye nodded and slowly sat down on the stool opposite him, his eyes never leaving Xu Hang’s: “… Ever since you made a stunning move in the black arena, I felt that you were not an ordinary person. To be honest, I have always been conflicted. I treat you as a friend, but I also think you are very dangerous. I even despised myself at one point. But every time there is a bloody case with the golden hairpin, I can’t help but pay attention to your movements.”
When he talked about the past, both of them felt a sense of regret that things and people have changed and times have passed. Thinking back to when they first met, they had a very pure friendship, but now there is a blood feud between them.
It was just their fate. There were so many people in the world, but they were the ones who happened to be the same.
After a moment of silence, Yuan Ye continued, “In Wang Ronghuo’s case, you used time as a barrier to make Fangfei and the goldsmith testify for your absence! I wanted to ask you and hear your explanation, but you saved my life at the Japanese consulate, so I thought I was being too mean! I didn’t expect that I was careless after all.”
Xu Hang’s hand touched the corners of the tea table, rubbing it back and forth: “Yuan Ye, I didn’t expect that you started to doubt me so early. Just now you said that you were stupid, which was too modest. But, to catch the thief, you can’t just say it without any evidence.”
“You want evidence, right? Good!” Yuan Ye was waiting for Xu Hang to say this. He took out a notebook from his arms and threw it on the ground. “I have checked all the gold mines in Hezhou City. I have tested all the suspicious people one by one and recorded them all in the book. Surprisingly, there is no flaw. Until one day, I suddenly realized that I had missed something, that is, the medical store! Gold foil is also a medicine. Among all the medical halls in the city, only you, Physician Xu, will go to the back mountain to collect medicine in person, and over there is—the gold mine.”
What’s more, the owner of the gold mine has changed. The previous owner died of illness, so it is impossible to find out who has done business with him. The only thing he knows is that the previous owner of the gold mine was treated in Heming Medicine Hall during his serious illness.
Connecting all these things together, it can be said to be a coincidence, or it can be said to be too appropriate.
Xu Hang asked back, “Then have you ever seen me come back from mining?”
Yuan Ye gritted his teeth and said, “No, I’m just proving that you have the conditions. You are very smart. You can kill people without a trace and even disappear in front of pursuers. You played the trick of time very well, but you still exposed yourself in the end.”
This is about the mysterious disappearance of the dark alley.
“Tell me about it.”
Yuan Ye stood up and walked closer to Xu Hang. “In the alley, the murderer opened the manhole cover, got into the built underground warehouse, and fled along it. But he had no tools. How could he break the thin steel pin with his bare hands in an instant? Others may not understand, but I know it very well now.”
He had already walked in front of Xu Hang, with his hands on the tables on both sides, looking down at him from above, his sharp eyes sweeping from top to bottom.
“I once gave you a fountain pen. The huge diamond inlaid on the fountain pen is the hardest thing. A mere piece of steel will, of course, break into pieces with one blow! When I gave it to you, I never thought that you would use it here. Of course, it may also be that I am overthinking. So… do you dare to take out the fountain pen and let me see it to prove that I framed you?”
Even though diamonds are strong, but pens are very fragile. After being tossed around like that, they are bound to break.
The pen now lies in Xu Hang’s drawer, with its body bent, the surface decoration peeling off, and covered with scratches. Even if he wants to repair it, it can’t be repaired either.
The whole hall was as silent as a cemetery.
This silence is like a pair of large scissors, cutting and peeling off the two connected vines without caring about the pain of the vines. The scissors are called truth.
