Chapter 82: Hex (II) part 1
Through the mediation of the Huaxia Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the request from the Dongying side for the immediate repatriation of Gong Tianye had been repeatedly delayed. It wasn’t until the Gong family agreed to return several stolen cultural relics that the matter was finally put back on the agenda.
Jiang Si was quite pleased when he first heard the news, offering his congratulations over the phone. “Thatâs wonderful. Everything is going quite smoothly.”
Shen Hu, however, did not share his joy. “The Gong patriarch said he would personally travel to Huaxia to transport these relics. The Gong family has at least seven or eight juniors; why would they place such importance on a great-grandson who lacks the abilities of an Onmyouji? I feel like something isn’t right.”
“Isn’t he over a hundred and twenty years old? He can still handle such a long journey?” Jiang Si asked, surprised. “That old man must be in incredible health.”
After a moment of thought, he put down his pen. “Can I see Gong Tianye again?”
Shen Hu naturally agreed and provided an address, telling Jiang Si to drive over himself.
Checking the GPS, Jiang Si realized the location was in a new development zone in Rongcheng. It was quite remote, likely chosen to keep the prisoner’s location a secret.
After over an hour of driving, he finally arrived. This was a newly developed industrial area; he had heard that several large internet companies planned to move in, though it didn’t appear fully completed yet. A few scattered pedestrians walked along the road, and directly in front of Jiang Si’s destination was an unremarkable residential building.
The security guard didn’t even make him register; after a quick glance, he let him inside.
After parking, Jiang Si climbed out and looked around, utterly perplexed by Shen Huâs choice of location.
What kind of secrecy could this place provide?
Just as he was about to call for someone to pick him up, he saw a young man waving at him from a distance. Jiang Si paused, put away his phone, and walked over. “You must be Shen Huâs apprentice.”
“Thatâs me.” The young man greeted him warmly. “Mr. Jiang, long time no see. My master sent me to lead the way. My surname is Zhang; you can just call me Sanfeng.”
“Coughâcoughâ” Jiang Si nearly choked on his own saliva, looking at him in disbelief. “What did you say your name was?”
How dare he share a name with the Grand Patriarch of Taoism? If he remembered correctly, Shen Hu belonged to the Wudang Sect and carried a Wudang Xiaoyao Fan as a weapon every day.
“What does your master usually call you?” Jiang Si asked curiously. Knowing Shen Huâs personality, he probably couldn’t bring himself to say his apprentice’s full name; saying it would feel like an insult to the Grand Patriarch.
Zhang Sanfeng answered without hesitation, “He calls me San-zi! Iâm the third child in my family, which is why Iâm named Sanfeng. My eldest brother is named Da Shan (Big Mountain), my second sister is Er Yu (Second Rain), and my little sister is Si Xue (Fourth Snow).”
“…” Jiang Si gave him a thumbs-up. “Great names.”
Jiang Si had finally met someone whose names were even more perfunctory than his own. Feeling a pang of sympathy, he changed the subject.
“Why did you bring Gong Tianye here? Is there something special about this place?” Jiang Si looked around. No mountains to the back, no water in the frontâthe feng shui was mediocre at best. The occupancy rate was low, and it lacked any sense of vitality.
“Oh, this is where the Rongcheng branch of the Celestial Masters Association is located. We couldn’t keep him at the police station forever, so this was more appropriate.” Zhang Sanfeng held up two fingers. “Most importantly, the housing prices here are cheap. Only this much per square meter.”
“Eighty thousand?”
“Eight thousand!” Zhang Sanfeng said. “And that was when we bought it during the market peak. Prices have dropped a lot in the last two years; I heard theyâve gone down to six thousand now.”
Jiang Si was even more baffled. “But why put him in a residential area? With people coming and going, isn’t it inconvenient?”
“As the saying goes: ‘A great hermit hides in the city’âalright, fine, it was to take advantage of the housing subsidy and lower our expenses.” Zhang Sanfeng scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed. “Our association looks glamorous on the outside, but in reality, we can barely make ends meet. They have to pay our salaries and won’t let us take private jobs, and any spare cash goes into research. Being able to afford an apartment at all is lucky.”
Now that was a convincing reason.
Jiang Si was thoroughly impressed.
The place where Gong Tianye was held was in an unremarkable building deep within the complex. These were high-rises with dozens of floors; the elevator took about a minute to reach their destination. Once inside, Jiang Si realized there was more than met the eye.
Two apartments on one floor had been purchased simultaneously, with the partition walls knocked down to create a workspace for the Celestial Masters Association.
As they pushed the door open, a girl in her early twenties was laughing at a screen while eating potato chips. Seeing someone enter, she instinctively hid the chips and put on a serious face.
“Who’s this?” The girl turned her face. She wore heavy smoky eye makeup and a shiny lip piercing, which actually looked quite good on her.
“This is my master’s friend, Mr. Jiang,” Zhang Sanfeng said testily. “I only left for a moment, and youâre already sneaking snacks.”
“So what? Snacks are meant to be eaten.” The girl took a tissue to wipe her fingers and leaned in curiously, sizing up the handsome stranger. “Are you a Taoist too?”
“Iâm not,” Jiang Si denied with a smile.
“Tsk, whatâs the harm in admitting it? I can smell the scent of incense and offerings on you from ten meters away. And you still say you aren’t a Taoist?”
Zhang Sanfeng chimed in, “Ha, Mr. Jiang really isn’t a Taoist. He runs a paper effigy shop; itâs only natural for him to smell of incense.”
“Alright then.” The girl extended her hand. “Luo ShannĂź. Thatâs my name.”
Hearing the name clearly, Jiang Si’s expression went blank for a second. “Luo ShannĂź?”
What was with the strange names today? Was that even a human name?
Likely because his emotions were too obvious, Luo ShannĂź immediately guessed he had misunderstood. She shot him a sidelong glance, pressed her palms together, and formed a hand seal.
Her long black hair instantly turned white. Her young, beautiful skin seemed to split at the neck; the skin above her collar became incredibly withered and pitted, like century-old tree bark.
As she spread her fingers, her skin seemed to melt away like water, revealing the ghastly white skull beneath. A pale skull rested atop a normal human neck, its hollow eye sockets staring straight at Jiang Si.
Suddenly, she split her mouth into a grin.
Jiang Siâs eyes widened slightly as he watched her revert to her previous appearance as a girl with smoky eye makeup. “Youâreâ”
“Sheâs a Rakshasa (Luocha). She gave herself the name ‘Luo ShannĂź’ because she thought it sounded domineering,” Zhang Sanfeng mocked. “As a result, everyone who hears it misunderstands, so she has to show them her true form one by one. She really doesn’t mind the trouble.”
“Hmph, dead Taoist.” Luo ShannĂź couldn’t be bothered with him. She shoved Zhang Sanfeng aside and affectionately linked her arm with Jiang Siâs. “I just love men who aren’t Taoists. Whatâs so good about Taoists? All they do is chant scriptures and meditate all day. Theyâre stiff as boards.”
She widened her eyes, her long, thick lashes fluttering like tiny fans. In Jiang Siâs vision, her pitch-black pupils, which lacked any hint of light, grew larger and larger, with faint glints of gold floating within.
“Little brother, your surname is Jiang, right? I really like you!”
Luo ShannĂźâs voice grew deeper and lower. Her dark brown lips moved, yet it didn’t sound like she was speaking; it sounded like she was chanting.
The sandalwood beads on his wrist suddenly became scorching hot, snapping him back to reality. Jiang Si regained his clarity and shoved her away, asking coldly, “You actually used an illusion on me?”
“It was just a joke.” Luo ShannĂź smiled brightly, looking at his ‘vessel’ with increasing fondness. “I really didn’t expect you to be so capable.”
“You wanted to kill me.” Jiang Si didn’t miss the glimmer of murderous intent in her eyes. He glanced at the nearby Zhang Sanfeng. “Was this your idea, or are you in this together? Does Shen Hu know?”
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