Chapter 67: White Bone Hairpin 22 The Truth (End)
Li Xuanhe raised his chin slightly, looking down at the Taoist priest before him as if he were looking at an insignificant person. His tone was flat, and though there was a faint smile at the corner of his lips, his brows were still cold. "Tell the truth."
The Taoist nodded hurriedly, his heart and eyes filled with a longing for life. He uncrossed his legs and instantly knelt, sitting on his heels. He straightened his crooked crown before speaking, "My name is Wuweizi, a name derived from the homophone of wuwei erzhi (ruling by inaction). Two years ago, I entered the Changsheng Palace and was subsequently sent by the Palace Master to Ningyuan Village to guard the nearly-finished snakehead fish. The Palace Master was particularly fond of this fish, hoping to use it to achieve immortality." He added stealthily, "I heard the Palace Master has been in poor health this year, often confined to his home due to illness. I was counting on this fish for promotion and wealth, so I naturally didn't dare slack off. Every few days, I visited the pond behind the shrine. Who could have imagined that after a few days of laziness, you would kill this fish..."
Seeing him ramble on, Ge Qi behind him couldn't help but interrupt: "Stop rambling and get to the point."
"Yes, yes." Wuweizi paused, then spoke again. "Before I came to Ningyuan Village, a friend told me some stories about the village's past. It said that decades ago, a disciple of the Sitian Pavilion discovered this snakehead fish. Unable to stay for long, he wanted to know if the legend about the snakehead fish was true. At the time, the village was short of people, so he came up with the idea of the saint's blessing. Fearing that a simple blessing ceremony wouldn't be enough to convince the village chief to send the girl to the pond to feed the fish, he fabricated the story that the snakehead fish was an auspicious beast, and that the bones it gnawed carried auspicious meanings, so wearing them on one's body would help women have children soon. After entrusting the matter to the village chief, he left Ningyuan Village without worry, returning every few years to check on the situation.
"But the fish cultivated too slowly, and by the time the man died, it hadn't yet reached maturity. Later, our Palace Master learned of this and personally came to Ningyuan Village to investigate, discovering that the fish was almost fully grown. The Palace Master was kind and felt that he couldn't let so many innocent girls die in vain, so he decided to fulfill the wishes of the Sitian Pavilion disciple and find out if the legend was just that. Since then, the Changsheng Palace has continuously stationed personnel nearby. They didn't interrupt the village's Saint Maiden's blessing ceremony, but simply watched over it silently, fearing that something might happen to the fish and waste the lives of so many people."
Wuweizi spoke with sincerity and passion, as if what the Lord of the Hall of Eternal Life had done was a great deed, but the people around him sneered.
Li Xuanhe and his companions were quite familiar with the Lord of the Hall of Longevity. They felt that given that man's personality, his reluctance to see the young girl sacrifice was fake, and his real desire was to take the nearly-cultivated snakefish for himself. Wei Wulang hated everything related to the Temple of God, so naturally, it was impossible for him to have any admiration for it. As for Xun Shu, ever since he mentioned the Si Tian Pavilion and said that everything here was planned and arranged by the people of the Si Tian Pavilion, she became so angry that she wished she could jump up and tear his mouth apart.
How could a disciple of the Sitian Pavilion do such a heinous act? It must be someone from the Changsheng Palace who is slandering them!
Seeing that the crowd showed no admiration, Wuweizi became even angrier. He shrank back and continued tremblingly, "What a coincidence! Not long after I arrived in Ningyuan Village, I saw Wei Wulang wandering near the shrine. I saw that he looked unfriendly, so I took the initiative to approach him and spoke to him. Sure enough, I found out something! He really wanted to harm the shrine! I want to protect the shrine and the snakefish, so naturally I have to make him give up his plan to blow up the shrine, so I offered him the Yin-Yang Reversal Formation. I don't know if this formation is real or not, I just hope she can find something to do and not be so impulsive. There are many ways to take revenge, why must she blow up the shrine? Don't you agree?"
Seeing no one answering, Wuweizi felt a little embarrassed and lowered his voice. "I'm really just a small fry, my job is to protect that demon fish. The Saint's blessing plan was not my suggestion, and these murders have nothing to do with me. I've told you everything I know, please help me!"
Xun Shu was a little confused: "You keep asking us to save you, but we don't know you, let alone your Palace Master. How can we save you?"
Wuweizi's eyes lit up. "It's very simple. Just say that when you were killing the fish, I fought hard to protect it, but you killed me with a single blow! Since then, I've changed my name and fled to the mountains. The people in the Hall of Eternal Life will certainly not care about the mistakes of a dead person. I've regained my freedom!"
He danced and gestured as if he were in the pool behind the shrine, experiencing the desperate struggle firsthand. He even arranged for himself a scene of fighting to the last, burning his boats and breaking his pots, and finally sacrificing his life heroically and falling down weakly.
Xun Shu watched from the side, frowning slightly, unable to bear to watch. He thought he and Li Xuanhe would make a good pair, as they both had a talent for acting. Li Xuanhe, standing by, frowned slightly, pinched his nose as if he had a headache, and suddenly asked, "How often do you get a communication from the Changsheng Palace?"
"I send a pigeon back to the capital every fifteen days, and the news is personally received and reviewed by the Palace Master. After that, the pigeon returns to Ningyuan Village, sometimes carrying instructions from the Palace Master, and sometimes from other disciples of the Changsheng Palace, who are also my best friends, about the latest happenings in the Changsheng Palace."
"When was the last time you sent a message to the capital?"
"Ten days ago. The pigeon just returned yesterday, bringing back the latest secret report from the Hall of Eternal Life. It said that someone in the hall had found a remnant of the Hall of Eternal Life near Jade Mountain—a disciple of the Hall of Eternal Life. He has been invited to the capital to meet with the hall master. The hall master seems to value this person very much and is beaming with joy every day."
The remnants of Changsheng Pavilion? Jiangnan Road?
Xun Shu's heart was pounding and her mind was racing. She went through all the senior brothers and sisters who were still alive and was almost certain that she was the only one left near Yushan and on the Jiangnan Road.
But she has not been captured and invited to the capital, so the person who was invited there can only be Jiang Zheng who was suddenly kidnapped.
It was Jiang Zheng who moved the mirror with the seal of Sitian Pavilion into his bedroom, and then replaced her identity. That was why he was captured by the thieves from Changsheng Palace and suffered for her... She was sorry for Jiang Zheng. She had brought him nothing but trouble and danger in the past few years... She must rescue him, and then ask him if the coffin shop still needed a carving boy.
Wuweizi saw the gloomy and strange expressions on the faces of the people opposite him, and wondered if he had said something wrong again. He became even more trembling and cautious, "Is there something wrong with this? Or do you know the man we captured?"
Li Xuanhe looked at Xun Shu with concern. Seeing her pale face and furrowed brows, he knew she must be blaming herself for Jiang Zheng's misfortune. He felt pity for her, but then he remembered that Jiang Zheng was in the capital, and Xun Shu would definitely accompany him north. He couldn't suppress his unbridled excitement, and even his attitude towards Wuweizi softened a bit. "Just proceed as usual, and pretend the monster is still alive and in the pool."
Wuweizi was stunned: "Assuming that the monster is not dead?"
Li Xuanhe said briefly, "Tomorrow's Saint Maiden Blessing Ceremony will require the Taoist priest's cooperation. After the ceremony, you can send a message to the people at the Hall of Eternal Life, reporting everything truthfully, except for the fact that the snakehead fish is dead. Tell them that you orchestrated all of this to prevent the villagers from discovering this secret and harboring evil intentions. You have prepared the young girl to feed the snakehead fish. Just wait a while, and the fish will turn completely black."
Li Xuanhe's words were vague, causing Wuweizi to frown. He asked tentatively, "What will happen tomorrow? What if the Palace Master hears about this and wants to come to Ningyuan Village to investigate personally?"
"He won't come," Li Xuanhe said calmly. "Next month, Mount Qishan will hold the Fengshan Ceremony. As the Imperial Preceptor, the Palace Master of the Changsheng Palace has been very busy these days and doesn't have the time to travel a thousand miles to Ningyuan Village to personally inspect a fish that cannot be seen by others. This matter is a secret. If others knew about it or saw it with their own eyes, it would easily give rise to greed. Given that person's personality, he would definitely not dare to let anyone else do it, even his closest confidants. You stay in Ningyuan Village and play this scene well. I will leave someone in Ningyuan Village to protect you. Wait for me to send you a message and tell you what to do next."
Wuweizi felt a little frightened, vaguely feeling that the man opposite him seemed to be planning something big, and stammered, "What are you going to do?"
Li Xuanhe glanced at him, and Wuweizi was so cold that he froze in place. He shivered and didn't dare to say anything.
Li Xuanhe turned and looked at Shou Zhiyue.
Shou Zhiyue looked nervous and bit her lips tightly, as if she was waiting for the verdict from Li Xuanhe and others, or as if she was waiting for the moment when she could turn defeat into victory.
Li Xuanhe didn't let her worry for too long. "You said you were going to blow up the shrine in front of everyone during the Saint's blessing ceremony. What was your reason? Was it just for revenge? Or did you have another purpose?"
Shou Zhiyue frowned, feeling impatient: "What exactly do you want to say?"
Li Xuanhe didn't answer directly, but turned his head to look at Xun Shu. He wanted to help her get out of the haze and self-blame, so he simply threw the question to her: "What do you think, Shu?"
Xun Shu was stunned for a moment, his toes unconsciously rubbing against the stone surface of the altar. He went over what he had just heard in his mind again before he replied, "Just blowing it up is far from enough."
"What?" Shou Zhiyue still didn't understand. He just felt that these two people were more weird than each other and could only say things that people couldn't understand.
Xun Shu said slowly: "Since entering Ningyuan Village, we have encountered many strange things. I didn't know the reason at that time. I just felt that there seemed to be many secrets in the village. Everyone in the village, young and old, male and female, is helping to keep this secret... For example, the hairpin." She walked to the side of the altar and looked down. As expected, she did not find the hairpin on the bun of the woman in Wei's house. "The village chief and the head of the village said that this hairpin was a gift from God, but there are so many people in the village. After so many years, even if they are slow, they should have touched the edge of the secret. Everyone is secretive, but everyone knows that this hairpin is made of human bones, the bones of the saint. But every married woman still longs for such a hairpin, really hoping that this hairpin can bless them to have a son soon.
"Everyone here is numb, like a ball of dough that has been kneaded too much and has completely lost its toughness. Everyone thinks all this is reasonable and has never had the heart to resist." Xun Shu looked at Shou Zhiyue with a hint of pity in his eyes. "Dealing with such a group of people, even if you put the truth and the facts in front of them, they may not believe you. Instead, they will trust the village chief and the head of the village. Even if you blow up the shrine during the blessing ceremony, the village chief and the head of the village will come up with new ways to dig through the cave, create a new saint to pray for, and continue to make money.
"The tragedy of Ningyuan Village will only repeat itself in a new way, over and over again, without end."
Shou Zhiyue naturally wanted more than just revenge. She had done so much and planned for so long, naturally wanting to save more girls like her sister.
My sister can't come back, but if I can protect more people, she will be very happy when she knows it, right?
"Then how should we do it..."
Xun Shu pointed to the Taoist priest standing nearby. "Third Brother just mentioned this person, who can help you. The villagers trust the village chief and the village head more than you do. So whatever you say could become the village's new 'unspeakable' secret, another secret guarded by the entire village. But there's one person who stands above them all. All the villagers trust him unconditionally, even more than the village chief and the village head.
"That person is God."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
