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墨書 Inktalez
I hurriedly got out of bed and packed my luggage. Zhou Daming, having gone through a tumultuous relationship, decided to take this opportunity for some adjustment. We hit it off immediately and arrived at Rongcheng Train Station by eight or nine o'clock to meet the old man.
The train journey lasted twenty hours, and it was a bumpy ride all the way. Bored out of my mind, I took out "Mausoleum Secrets" and flipped through it occasionally. To be honest, I always felt that books like this lacked soul and had many puzzling aspects. The next day, we arrived in Nanjing shortly after five in the morning. After exiting the station, we had a simple breakfast. We took a taxi to the Nanjing Passenger Station, and by six o'clock, we boarded a bus heading to Jurong. After about an hour's drive, we finally reached Jurong Station. I heard that there were tourist buses that could take us directly to the Maoshan Scenic Area, so we transferred to a rapid transit bus and endured another bumpy ride for over an hour before arriving at Damao Town.
"Old man, the expert we're looking for is the Taoist from Maoshan's Yuanfu Wanning Palace?"
"He's indeed a Taoist. However, he doesn't reside at Yuanfu Wanning Palace; he lives at Wuyun Temple. His Taoist name is Qingyunzi!" The old man chuckled and gave a thumbs-up. "Twenty years ago, Qingyunzi was quite a famous figure in Maoshan." The old man had visited Maoshan two decades ago, but with time passing and changes occurring, he found it hard to navigate the now unfamiliar landscape.
"Brother, could you help me inquire about someone? Do you know Master Qingyunzi?" The old man asked an elderly man tending to cattle by the roadside. "Which one? What was his name again?" "Qingyunzi!" "Oh! That's a cowherd; I don't know him!" He then asked a young man nearby, but the young man also claimed never to have heard of him. After asking five or six people in succession, none knew of Qingyunzi.
"Old man, weren't you saying he's quite famous?"
"He used to be!" The old man was reluctant to elaborate.
"My uncle is a monk at Wuyun Peak's Taoist temple; if there's such a person, he must know!" For the first time, I felt Zhou Daming was onto something and quickly nodded in agreement.
We hailed a car and drove near Wuyun Peak. The mountain was shrouded in mist; although it was midsummer, it felt cooler than early winter in Rongcheng.
After getting out of the car, we walked for half an hour along the mountain path until we reached a depression surrounded by tall green trees. On a southern slope of earth stood a Taoist temple built with blue bricks and earthen tiles, but it had no name. Only a couplet hung on the main gate: "To cultivate the path of immortality, one must first cultivate humanity." The second line read: "If humanity is not cultivated, immortality is far away."
Though this Taoist temple wasn't very large, it was tidy and well-kept, with many flowers and plants growing in the courtyard. In front of the courtyard stood a side room with large windows. Inside sat a neat and tidy middle-aged Taoist priest holding a bound book in his hands, reading with his head nodding rhythmically. He didn't even notice us as we entered the temple.
"Uncle!" Zhou Daming called out three or four times before the middle-aged priest finally set down his book. He adjusted his Daoist robe's folds, took out a wooden comb to tidy his hair, and slowly walked out.
"Oh! It's you?" The priest greeted Zhou Daming coolly without even glancing at us. Standing at the door of the side room, he gestured for us to come in. We felt somewhat awkward—neither moving forward nor retreating seemed right. Upon entering the room, we found it spotless; in the center stood a large square table adorned with wildflowers.
The priest brought over several cups of tea and rinsed them with spring water multiple times before pouring each of us a cup. Coldly he said, "In this remote countryside with nothing much to offer, please excuse this humble tea!" Both the old man and I were easygoing people but felt as if we were being scrutinized from head to toe at that moment. I frowned slightly, took a sip from my cup only to put it back on the table again. Unsure whether to speak or not, I could only frequently signal Zhou Daming with my eyes; Zhou Daming wore an expression of bitter amusement as well.
"Uncle! Do you know a Taoist priest named Qingyunzi?"
"How could I not know? He is a well-known figure from Maoshan!"
"Do you happen to know where Qingyunzi lives now?"
The Taoist's expression darkened, his face stretching long like a donkey's. He picked up his tea and loudly rinsed his mouth, then walked to the window and spat. Returning to his seat, he suddenly glared with wide eyes, "This person is not just famous; he is infamous! Even I find his words filthy!" With that, the priest turned his back, signaling that it was time for us to leave.
Zhou Daming, feeling embarrassed, pressed on with the Taoist. The priest, still looking disgusted, scribbled an address on a piece of paper, crumpled it up, and threw it out the window. We hadn’t walked far when we heard a clatter; he had also tossed three tea cups into the yard.
The old man and I exchanged awkward glances while Zhou Daming looked helpless. Following the address given by the priest, we exited Wuyun Peak and arrived near the Expressway. By then, it was already three or four in the afternoon. Exhausted and unable to walk any further, we squatted by the roadside and waved for a ride. Upon hearing our destination, drivers hurriedly avoided us. Finally, we managed to flag down a three-wheeled motorcycle driven by a man in his fifties.
We showed him the address, and his face immediately changed; he shook his head repeatedly and tried to kick us out of the vehicle.
"The price doubles; are you coming or not?" The old man was direct. The driver exclaimed, "Fine! I'll risk my life to take you!" "Are you going there to find Zhou the Great Eight?"
"Zhou the Great Eight?" All three of us looked confused. "You don’t know? That Zhou the Great Eight is utterly depraved; everyone wants him gone!"
"No, no! I'm looking for Qingyunzi!"
"Oh! That Qingyunzi? We secretly call him Zhou the Great Eight!"
"I don't think you look like bad people. If you're going to find Zhou the Great Eight, be careful of this plague god!" I thought to myself, "What kind of scoundrel is this Qingyunzi?" "You don’t seem like accomplices!" I cursed inwardly, "How powerful must Zhou the Great Eight be?" The old man remained silent with a dark expression. Zhou Daming joked, "Could it be that Zhou the Great Eight is some perverted voyeur?"
"Much worse than that! What he does is utterly insane!" The uncle's nostrils flared as he spoke, his teeth grinding audibly.
"What kind of things?"
"Child mutilation."
"What? Child mutilation?!" The old man and I exclaimed in unison as if struck by lightning. "Good grief! This Zhou the Great Eight deserves nothing less than being fed peanuts!"
The so-called child mutilation refers to a cruel practice that has circulated in Chinese underworlds for hundreds of years. They would deform children's limbs or even amputate them, leaving them disabled and abandoned on the streets to beg. They profited by exploiting these beggars.
"This Zhou the Great Eight was originally a priest from Wuyun Temple but committed sins that led to its destruction; now only one priest remains!" Now I finally understood the strange behavior of that middle-aged priest and why he had been so furious. It was mild compared to what he could do; if angered enough, he might even draw his sword!
The old man kept repeating "Zhou the Great Eight," and it was clear that this "Qingyunzi" was not just a thug; he was downright scum. Not only did he exploit beggars, but he also extorted money from students. He was involved in all sorts of shady activities, including stealing and molesting women and children. My face shifted from anger to disbelief.
Damn! I was really curious about what kind of person this "Qingyunzi" was! As we neared our destination, the old man took the money and pointed to an alley ahead, repeatedly warning us, "That Zhou the Great Eight knows some dark arts, so watch yourselves!" He then turned the vehicle around, revving the engine as we sped off on the three-wheeled motorcycle with a rush of adrenaline!
"Are we still going?" I looked at the old man, feeling quite frustrated.
"Let’s see as we go!" The old man snapped back, clearly unwilling to say more.
"Haha! If this guy's story were written down, it would definitely go viral and become an ultimate hit!" Zhou Daming suddenly blurted out, leaving both me and the old man speechless.
Following the address, we pulled out our phones to navigate. Guided by the GPS, we entered an alley. Deep inside, we could make out three figures—an adult and two children.
"Friends! I, Qingyunzi, need to borrow some money from you; I’ll pay it back!" The adult spoke up, causing the two students to cry out in fear as they hurriedly fished out their meager change from their pockets. The adult took the money and stuffed it into a bag before slapping each of the students across the face. "Is this all you’ve got? Get lost!" The two students ran away wailing, even losing their shoes in the process. My heart sank; I felt utterly disappointed. "Could this really be Qingyunzi?" I began to believe what the three-wheeled uncle had said even more.
"Stop right there! How can you extort students at your age? Don’t you have any shame?" I shouted at Qingyunzi. He turned around; he looked to be in his thirties with messy blonde hair and a sleazy demeanor. Spitting on the ground, he yelled back, "Who dares meddle in Qingyunzi's business? Are you tired of living?" Then he squatted down and picked up a brick, smashing it against his own head until blood flowed freely! He rolled on the ground, shouting, "Someone's attacking me! Someone's attacking me!"
"What the hell is going on?" We were all stunned, thinking to ourselves that Qingyunzi couldn’t possibly be such a coward. "Hit him!" The old man jumped up in anger and kicked Qingyunzi hard in the rear.
Zhou Daming and I rushed forward as well and gave him a good beating. Surprisingly, this guy showed some backbone; he didn’t fight back at all!
I had initially thought that although Qingyunzi was a villain, he should at least have some skills. But this coward before us was indeed Qingyunzi, which made my anger boil over! I kicked him hard again. "Damn it! This kind of trash can scare people?"
"I'll die if you keep hitting me! I'm telling you; even I’m scared when I get serious!" Qingyunzi cried out while covering his head.
"Keep hitting him!" The old man seemed ignited by some inner fury as he kicked Qingyunzi several more times, making him scream loudly.
"Please spare me! I admit defeat; Qingyunzi shouldn’t have extorted students!"
"Keep hitting!"
"Please, gentlemen, spare me! It's our first meeting; there's no need to beat me to death, right?"
"We're hitting you!"
"Three gentlemen! No, ancestors, I beg you to let me go! As the saying goes, leave a line for others; we can meet again in the future! If you need my help, just ask!"
In truth, reasoning with these kinds of thugs is useless. They only fear fists; whoever has the stronger fist is the one they listen to. When encountering such people, the only option is to catch them and beat them mercilessly!
"Then take me to your home!"
The yellow-haired thug looked cowardly, scrambling ahead to lead the way. We followed him through a maze of turns for about ten minutes before arriving at an alley. He stopped in front of a two-story building with a courtyard. Peering cautiously out the window, he straightened up when he spotted a figure in the yard, suddenly adopting a cocky demeanor.
"Big Brother! These guys don't respect you, so I brought them here!"
"Yellow Hair, you're always getting into trouble for me..."
A deep male voice scolded from inside the building... After a while, the gate of the courtyard slowly opened. A man dressed in a water-blue Daoist robe stepped out, his face clouded with gloom...
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