Chapter 26 Xiangweng Temple ①② · Blue Morpho Butterfly looks at his WeChat Moments. ...
Buzz.
The phone that was charging on the bedside table suddenly vibrated.
Lan Shuyin took it and saw that it was a WeChat message from Wei Li:
Have you rested?
"Not yet." she typed in reply.
Kui Li quickly asked again: "Which hotel are you staying at?"
Lan Shuyin paused slightly, hesitated for a moment, and then sent the hotel's name.
Kui Li: [Great! I plan to see those cute things tonight, if they appear.]
Lan Shuyin looked at the screen, and replied thoughtfully, "Then you should go to Xiangweng Temple; the volunteers there are very lovely."
Kui Li: [The temple is closed.]
He then added, "We came from the back of the mountain, so we just missed each other."
Lan Shuyin already knew about this.
She replied: "Yes, the lockdown was very sudden."
The conversation fell into a brief silence.
At the top of the chat interface, the message "The other party is typing..." is repeatedly displayed, as if the person on the other end is carefully considering their words.
A moment later, a new message finally popped up:
Get some rest. I'll find out about what you're concerned about as soon as possible.
This sentence signifies the end of the chat.
Although she only received an abrupt ending, Lan Shuyin felt inexplicably at ease.
Kui Li's profile picture is a landscape photo with a gradient retro filter, a silhouette of a person facing the rising sun with outstretched arms, exuding a carefree and independent spirit.
With nothing to do, she casually clicked into Wei Li's WeChat Moments.
There's no signature, no access restrictions, and the content is endless. Everyone says handsome guys don't like posting on social media, but he's different. He updates almost every two or three days, sharing, forwarding, and reposting everyday tidbits... If someone didn't know him, they would definitely think he's a chatterbox with a leisurely life and an overflowing desire to express himself.
She thought for a moment, then opened the video in her album that hadn't been deleted yet, and entered the phone number the young man in the video had given into the search bar.
The result showed it was the same account.
Lan Shuyin couldn't help but chuckle at her own overthinking. Since she couldn't sleep, she simply lay on the bed and started scrolling through his WeChat Moments.
The content mostly consists of popular science about plants, birds, and animals, interspersed with music sharing, and occasionally a few scattered reflections on changes in mood. The language isn't fancy, but it's genuine enough.
Lacking in mystery and profundity, he seems to be just an ordinary young man who loves life in his daily life.
Although these fragments were not enough to fully understand him, Lan Shuyin had a strange feeling, as if she had touched a vivid and warm soul through these scattered pieces.
Suddenly, a photograph inadvertently caught her eye.
It was a book he had shared, "The Snows of Kilimanjaro." The book itself was nothing special, but when the photo was enlarged, the golden nanmu bookshelf serving as the background made Lan Shuyin's pupils widen slightly.
That's... the bookshelf in Boss Wei's reception room?
Because of the exquisite materials and workmanship, she was particularly impressed by this bookshelf.
He did indeed know Boss Wei.
Just as I was thinking this, suddenly—
Thump, thump, thump.
Three clear, slow knocks sounded at the door.
It's finally here.
This time, Lan Shuyin was invigorated. Without hesitation, she sat up in bed, put on her shoes, grabbed the tactical pen from beside her pillow, and ran over.
She excitedly flung open the door, and almost instinctively threw a straight punch that whistled through the air!
However, it only hit the air.
Instead, she staggered forward due to the excessive force, almost losing her balance. Fortunately, she managed to brace herself against the door frame with her other hand, preventing her from falling flat on her face.
...That's a bit embarrassing.
Lan Shuyin quickly looked around to make sure no one had seen her embarrassing state before muttering, "...Was I really hallucinating?"
The corridor was empty; there was neither the "cosplayer" humming the eerie nursery rhyme from last time, nor anything else unusual.
She didn't believe it and raised her arm to feel it.
Her skin was smooth, without any goosebumps or blisters. The body is often the most honest alarm bell, and at this moment, the signals seemed to clearly tell her that everything was normal.
Lan Shuyin was a little annoyed and was about to retreat back to her room when her gaze suddenly stopped, and she let out a soft "Eh".
A caterpillar was perched on the doorframe. It wasn't the kind you usually see; instead, it had a dreamlike, crystalline luster, as if it were cast from topaz and ruby, refracting a soft and strange halo under the light.
"What a beautiful insect..." Lan Shuyin couldn't help but exclaim, and couldn't resist reaching out to gently touch it.
However, the moment her fingertips touched the caterpillar's cool body, the crystalline creature trembled slightly and instantly formed a translucent cocoon. Then, the cocoon broke open, and a butterfly resembling a blue morpho butterfly emerged.
This morpho butterfly is very beautiful. Its wings are not the usual blue, but have a deep blue luster like quenched metal, with dark gold lines outlining the edges. With each flap, it scatters specks of light.
The blue morpho butterfly circled her lightly once before flying to the open window at the end of the corridor and disappearing gracefully into the night.
This dreamlike little episode dispelled much of the gloom in Lan Shuyin's heart. She retreated back into her room with a look of surprise and closed the door.
Lan Shuyin was unaware that at that very moment, a completely different scene unfolded in the emergency exit at the corner of the corridor.
A long-haired woman in a red dress was pressed firmly against an old wall by an invisible force, her limbs unnaturally spread out, presenting a twisted posture.
Upon closer inspection, the force holding her down was not truly invisible. Dozens of dreamlike, crystalline caterpillars were tightly attached to her wrists and ankles, just like the ones that had appeared on Lan Shuyin's door frame earlier!
They were like living amber rivets, pinning the woman firmly to the wall, so that no matter how frantically she struggled, she could not break free even a fraction.
Before her stood a handsome young man, calm and composed. He raised a long, slender index finger and elegantly brought it to his lips, gesturing for her to be quiet.
Only after he clearly heard the sound of the guest room door closing did he look at the disheveled woman on the wall with great interest, and said in surprise, "Ghost wife Nanmei? The famous ghost of Siam, what's she doing here?"
He tilted his head slightly, as if reading some kind of information. "Oh, she escaped from Ghost Cave Dream Garden... but why follow her?"
The woman on the wall made no sound; her struggling movements slowly ceased, and a venomous glint appeared in her eyes beneath her disheveled black hair.
Kui Li seemed to hear a silent answer, a knowing glint in his eyes, "You said she has a secret? I know that."
He paused, his tone tinged with a helpless reproach, as if advising a child who had gone astray, "The person who harmed you has changed from a woman to a man, and he's right next to her? The grievances have their perpetrators, the debts have their debtors. What's the use of bothering an outsider?"
The woman remained silent, but Wei Li seemed to understand the screams behind every twisting movement she made.
After a moment of silence, as if hearing some final statement, Wei Li waved his hand gently, "I have no intention of judging right and wrong. Go, the 'Temple of Truth' will judge justice for you."
As he spoke, he slowly took a step back.
At the same time, a dark figure broke through the void and appeared out of thin air in front of him.
It was not an illusionary shadow, but a man dressed in black with his face completely covered. A wide bamboo hat concealed his features, and two long weapons tightly wrapped in black cloth were crossed on his back.
The man in black extended his hand, gloved in black, and lightly touched the woman in red's shoulder. The two vanished silently into the air, like marks erased by an eraser.
Kui Li straightened his perfectly wrinkle-free sleeves, pushed open the emergency exit door, and walked out.
Just then, the door to a guest room across the street was gently opened.
A woman in a plain white dress, with a beautiful face, walked out gracefully. The door closed silently behind her. She stopped in the middle of the corridor and turned to look at Wei Li at the other end.
She seemed somewhat frail, and coughed lightly twice, covering her mouth. "Autumn on the plateau is as cold as winter. My heart is always uncomfortable, and I can't sleep well at night." Her tone was as if she were talking to herself, but her gaze was steadily fixed on the young man over there.
Kui Li paused slightly, then said calmly, "That's right. It's common to wake up in the middle of the night. But sometimes, it's not necessarily altitude sickness; it could be because I've done too many bad things and my heart is uneasy."
The woman was momentarily speechless at these words, then chuckled, "Who exactly spread the rumor that you are gentle, polite, and have the demeanor of a gentleman? I think you're just asking for trouble."
"Speak your mind." Wei Li glanced at his watch, his calm demeanor revealing a clear boundary. "My time is precious."
“Since she left, seeing you has become incredibly difficult. But I know that you will appear whenever there is any movement at Xiangweng Temple.” The woman gazed deeply at him. “I chose to stay by the side of the person she cared about most, while you, under the guise of treasure hunting, search for her. We have the same goal, just different methods.”
The usual smile on Wei Li's lips finally vanished, replaced by a clear hint of impatience. "Get to the point."
Seeing this, the woman scoffed and stopped beating around the bush. "I don't have much time left, but there's a clue that might lead us to her. I need your cooperation."
...
Back in her room, Lan Shuyin had lost all interest in scrolling through her phone.
She lay on her back on the bed, her experiences in the temple replaying in her mind like a revolving lantern—the silent statue, the encounter of Chen Yi's squad, Yao Huaiyu's scheming... all these images intertwined, making her restless.
I simply sat up and opened my laptop.
She sent an email to the mysterious benefactor:
The mummified statue inside the tower is still there. I will organize and send the relevant video materials after I return.
Her fingertips paused on the touchpad for a moment, she hesitated briefly, and then added another message:
I met another group of people at the temple who were interested in the mummified remains and claimed to have been hired. Did you contact anyone else?
Lan Shuyin's question was indeed tinged with a probing tone. If the other party was indeed from the Jiang family, perhaps she could use this opportunity to uncover some clues related to the Feng Zhi family.
However, she didn't receive a brief response until the next morning:
【No. 】
The other party directly distanced themselves from Chen Yi's group.
But then a second email followed:
[Also: Are there any reliable high-ranking monks or Dharma masters you could recommend?]
High-ranking monks or Dharma masters?
Lan Shuyin subconsciously typed out, "We must uphold science and break down feudal superstitions...", but deleted it word by word halfway through.
She rubbed her sleepy eyes and patted her face to clear her head.
What's with the clever tricks?
The other party is a generous spender; we can't afford to offend them.
Did something happen?
The message was sent almost instantly, and the other party replied with a photo.
The photo shows a section of an arm, the skin flushed an unnatural red. On the reddened skin, a bluish-black pattern is faintly visible, with complex and intricate lines, many circles and straight lines intertwined, resembling a tattoo of some kind of scripture or incantation.
Lan Shuyin didn't immediately understand the meaning behind the photo, and hesitantly asked, "[Skin allergy?]"
The sponsor's explanation came quickly:
No. A friend of mine went to Siam before the Lunar New Year to have a Takrut tattooed on his arm by an Ajarn, supposedly to bring wealth and good fortune. But after returning, not only did he not attract wealth, he experienced a constant stream of bad luck. He went back to the Ajarn, only to be told that no such person existed, as if he had entered a ghost temple that never existed. Now he's too scared to leave his house and is desperately seeking out masters to remove it.
Siamese tattoo?
Lan Shuyin zoomed in on the photo, carefully examining the lines on that arm.
Although nothing was clearly discernible, Lan Shuyin had indeed heard of Sak Yant (tattooed tattoos) while in Siam. Legend has it that it dates back to the Khmer period a thousand years ago, initially a ritual for warriors to pray for protection and courage on the battlefield. Later, it was integrated into the local religious system and evolved into a form of spiritual practice.
Some people firmly believe that the patterns and inscriptions tattooed on the skin possess mystical power. Therefore, many believers travel to Siam specifically to seek out masters known as "Ajarn" or "Luang Phor" to receive Sak Yant tattoos. The content of these tattoos is diverse, ranging from images of deities and Buddhas, secret mantras, to portraits of revered monks. The requests also vary, including peace, wealth, and popularity, and this practice is quite prevalent within certain circles.
"Sorry, I don't know any masters." Lan Shuyin replied truthfully.
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