tailor

Chapter 8

"Do you remember how you got to this temple?" the old woman finally asked, having calmed down.

"We..." Old Fu was thinking about how to answer her question.

"Is it hard to answer? Then let me answer it for you!" the old lady said decisively.

Old Fu remained silent, waiting for her answer, wanting to know how she would respond.

Xu's mother remained silent, and he was also waiting for her answer, wanting to know if it would align with theirs.

Mo Bai remained silent, waiting for her answer. He wanted to know what her answer would be.

"Let me tell you a story," the old lady said softly.

25. The Story the Old Lady Told

Twenty years ago.

The temple was an ordinary one. Although some worshippers came to pay their respects, all the monks lived a life of poverty. The abbot, whose Dharma name was Xu Neng, was an upright and generous man, renowned for miles around. His fame didn't stem from his character, but from his craftsmanship. He possessed unparalleled skill and a unique craft. It was this skill and craft that gave the impoverished temple a glimmer of hope, supporting more than a dozen monks. All the monks deeply respected and respected him.

Jingren, Jingzhong, and Jinghai suddenly appeared. They were originally three homeless beggars. Master Xuneng took them in and gave them three very beautiful names. Jingren, Jingzhong, and Jinghai were grateful children who diligently did everything in the temple, which made Master Xuneng very gratified. Jingren, in particular, was intelligent and sensible at a young age, so he was deeply loved by Master Xuneng. For this reason, Master Xuneng passed on all his skills to Jingren. From then on, Master Xuneng had an extra helper, and Jingren had a master who was like a loving father to him.

The temple had a rule: everyone could go anywhere except the ancient pagoda. Master Xu Neng emphasized this on the very first day Jingren, Jingzhong, and Jinghai arrived. Unfortunately, the three were only fourteen or fifteen years old, their curiosity still burning brightly, so they decided to risk entering. After several days of observation, they figured out when Master Xu Neng entered and left the pagoda, and also discovered his method of entry. He didn't directly unlock the pagoda; instead, he would go around to the back, move a seemingly heavy stone, and follow a secret passage to the base of the pagoda.

They chose to enter at night because it was the best time to do anything; no one would notice, no one would discover them, and it would also add to the mystery. So one night, after Master Xu Neng left, Jing Ren, Jing Zhong, and Jing Hai quietly circled around to the back of the ancient pagoda, moved the stone, and entered the pagoda.

The old lady's story was difficult to tell, and her emotions seemed to fluctuate constantly, but fortunately everyone understood, especially Kong Bei, who listened carefully the whole time. He knew some of the things that happened back then, including how Jing Ren and the others came to the temple, which he had seen. However, he didn't know why Master Xu Neng didn't allow everyone to enter the ancient pagoda. None of the monks in the temple knew the answer, including Kong Bei.

Old Fu remained silent, waiting for the old woman's story to unfold; he knew she would continue.

Sure enough, the old lady only rested for a short while before continuing her story.

The three entered the ancient tower out of curiosity. They had forgotten to bring candles or anything like that. They were still children and not used to being in complete darkness, so they decided to leave first. Just as they were about to leave, someone else came and entered the tower. This person was carrying a lantern, so when they came face to face, they recognized each other.

Master Xu Neng looked angrily at Jing Ren, Jing Zhong, and Jing Hai. He was heartbroken because these three children, whom he loved most, had disobeyed his orders and trespassed into the ancient tower.

Jingren, Jingzhong, and Jinghai were frightened because they had never seen Master Xu Neng with such a serious expression before. Only then did they realize the seriousness of the situation.

Master Xu Neng angrily reprimanded them and ordered them to be expelled from the temple. Jingren, Jingzhong, and Jinghai were frightened. They didn't want to leave the temple; they had food and clothing there, and while not exactly wealthy, they were quite content. They had no desire to return to their days as beggars; they couldn't bear that life of wandering anymore. So they knelt down and pleaded with Master Xu Neng, almost licking his toes. But Master Xu Neng was furious. He no longer wanted to tolerate them and ordered them to leave the ancient pagoda and the temple immediately.

The old lady finally couldn't help coughing again, and the two men quickly supported her, saying, "Mother, please stop talking and rest for a while!"

"No, I must make this clear today, I must!" The old woman pushed the two men aside, stood up abruptly, and said, "It was you, you killed him! Because Master Xu Neng told you to leave, you killed him!"

Kong Bei trembled slightly, looked at Lao Fu, Xu Mama, and Mo Bai, and said, "You...you are Jing Ren, Jing Zhong, and Jing Hai? How is that possible? You should be you, no, I mean, aren't you Lao Fu, Xu Mama, and Mo Bai?" Even Kong Bei felt that his words were somewhat incoherent.

Old Fu kept smiling, his eyelids twitching incessantly, his gaze never leaving the old woman. He asked quietly, "Who are you?"

“I…I am the wife of the Void, and they are the Void’s children! They are just over twenty years old this year. I was pregnant with them the year the Void died!” The old lady could no longer hide her excitement and exclaimed.

"Master Xu Neng has a wife? Children?" Kong Bei stared wide-eyed at the old woman in front of him and the two men behind her. He could hardly believe his ears, nor could he believe anything he was seeing.

"How do you know these things?" Old Fu was still laughing, but the laughter felt somewhat eerie.

"Someone told me," the old woman said, her words seemingly hesitant.

"Who is that person?" Old Fu pressed on.

"I don't know, I've never seen him," the old lady said helplessly. "He just left me a letter, and all these things are written in the letter." As she spoke, the old lady took out a yellowed letter from her coat.

"Hmph!" Mrs. Xu snorted in disgust, saying, "Who's spouting nonsense here!" He reached out to take the letter.

"No need to look." Old Fu stopped Xu's mother's hand and said, "The person who wrote the letter will definitely not let us know who it is, so it's useless for us to look." After saying this, Old Fu looked at the old lady and said, "The story you told seems to be incomplete. I think I should help you continue the story. Perhaps you will have more 'surprises'."

The old lady looked at the old man with surprise, waiting for his story.

26. The Story Old Fu Told

Jingren, Jingzhong, and Jinghai were adopted by Master Xu Neng, and the three of them were extremely grateful. They regarded Master Xu Neng as their father. Jingren, in particular, was moved to tears when Master Xu Neng passed on his unparalleled skills to him and vowed to repay Master Xu Neng for the rest of his life.

Although Jingren, Jingzhong, and Jinghai were only teenagers at the time, and full of curiosity, they obeyed Master Xu Neng's words without question and never thought of disobeying him, let alone entering the ancient tower without permission. There was only one exception, and that one time changed the fate of Jingren, Jingzhong, and Jinghai.

Jingren, Jingzhong, and Jinghai inadvertently discovered that Master Xu Neng had entered the ancient tower in the dead of night, acting suspiciously and carrying a rather large object on his shoulder. Initially, this didn't tempt them to enter the tower, but they witnessed Master Xu Neng's actions every subsequent night, which piqued their curiosity and interest. However, due to Master Xu Neng's orders, none of them dared to sneak into the tower. Until one night, they saw Master Xu Neng again. This time, they saw him clearly because they were very close, and thus finally saw what he was carrying: a bloodied person. The three were simultaneously shocked. They didn't know what had happened, how it had occurred, or what Master Xu Neng was doing, but at that moment, they resolved to follow him and find out.

They were very careful, not wanting Master Xu Neng to be discovered. Fortunately, Master Xu Neng had no idea someone was following them, so he didn't look back at all. Jing Ren, Jing Zhong, and Jing Hai followed Master Xu Neng to the bottom of the ancient tower. There were many rooms there, but one room was the cleanest. The entrances to the other rooms were covered in dust, while this clean room was empty except for the snow-white walls and two broken chairs. But Master Xu Neng disappeared as he entered this clean room.

How could someone disappear right under the noses of three people? Was he a ghost? Or perhaps a highly accomplished monk with extraordinary magical powers? Jingren, Jingzhong, and Jinghai made many wild guesses, but none of them seemed plausible. Finally, they decided to thoroughly search the room. Initially, they found nothing, but when Jingzhong discovered that one of the chairs couldn't be moved, the three of them knew something was wrong. So they tried various methods to manipulate the chair's parts, hoping to find something unexpected.

Old Fu glanced unintentionally at the chair the old lady had just been sitting in.

"Is that the chair you're talking about?" the old woman said with a sneer, pointing to the chair next to her.

Old Fu nodded slightly.

The old woman gave another cold laugh. She said, "I've lived in this room for a long time, and I've sat in this chair for a long time, but I haven't found that it can't be moved, nor have I found anything special about it!"

Old Fu ignored her and continued telling the story.

The three of them were very excited. When the chair could finally be moved, another underground passage was revealed. They happily went down and followed the stone steps to a red door. The door was very large, like the gate of a temple. Jingren, Jingzhong, and Jinghai had never imagined that they could find such a large door under the ancient pagoda. So, almost simultaneously, the three of them looked inside through a small crack in the door. There were many candles inside, enough for the three of them to see the situation inside clearly.

Old Fu's eyelids were twitching again, and now even Xu's mother and Mo Bai's bodies were trembling slightly.

Influenced by the three of them, Kong Bei's heart was in his throat. Although he didn't know what they had seen, judging from their expressions, they must have seen something terrifying.

Old Fu sighed softly, and finally mustered up the courage to continue his sermon.

Jingren, Jingzhong, and Jinghai could not believe what they were seeing; they almost cried out.

Master Xu Neng was sewing beautiful clothes for the person he had just carried in. This was all quite normal, but the room contained hundreds of corpses, each dressed in matching new clothes, and most importantly, their facial features were stitched back together with red thread. Jing Ren knew what that meant, but he didn't know how these people had died so violently, or how Master Xu Neng had brought them here. The three of them were simply shocked. Suppressing their fear, they looked again through the crack in the door. Master Xu Neng had finished the new clothes sometime earlier and was now sitting at a table in the corner of the room, writing something. The distance was too great, and the light too dim, so the three of them couldn't see clearly.

After Master Xu Neng finished writing, he left, but Jing Ren, Jing Zhong, and Jing Hai secretly stayed behind, intending to see what Master Xu Neng had written. So they pushed open the door and went straight to the table. Although the stench around them almost made them faint, they persevered and looked at the table.

It was an account book, a black account book with white writing. The three of them felt uneasy the moment they saw it, but Jingren eventually mustered up the courage to open the eerie account book.

The three of them shouted almost simultaneously!

27. The Secret of the Ledger

Zhang Fugui, a resident of Shangfang Village, was killed by an axe on the third day of the first lunar month. He struggled as he died, and 327 taels of silver were found. His facial features were stitched up with red thread.

Xu Zhongshan, a resident of Shangfang Village, was killed halfway up the mountain on the eighth day of the first lunar month. He was found to have 112 taels of silver and had his facial features sewn up with red thread.

On the fifteenth of January, a man from Shangfang Village, Wang Shoufang, strangled someone with a rope and received fifty taels of silver. His face was stitched up with red thread.

Xu Erman, a fisherman from Guanyu Village, was killed by stone on the tenth day of the second lunar month. He was given one tael of silver and his face was stitched up with red thread.

On the 18th of the second month, a fisherman from Guanzhu Village died by forking a tree branch; he was found dead with 500 taels of silver and his facial features were sewn up with red thread.

Li Tangzhong, a fisherman from Guanyu Village, was killed with stones on the seventh day of the fourth lunar month. He was given 1,000 taels of silver and his facial features were stitched up.

Jinghai gasped. He didn't know what he was seeing, but he found that the ledger was filled with the smell of blood, and the bloodstains on the pages of the ledger almost drove him to a mental breakdown.

"Who? Who killed these people?" Jingzhong's voice was somewhat hoarse.

"You really were following me!" A familiar voice suddenly came from behind, but now it sounded cold.

“Master…” Jingren called softly. He suddenly noticed that Master Xu’s eyes had become terrifying, so terrifying that it filled him with fear.

"You three have quite the nerve, daring to disobey my orders!" Master Xu Neng glanced sideways at the black ledger in Jing Ren's hand and said, "You all saw it?"

"Master, these..." Jingren swallowed hard, finally mustering his courage to ask, "These people all died violent deaths, so how did they all die?"

"Didn't you see it?" Master Void said with a forced smile.

"Who...who killed them?" Jinghai finally couldn't help but ask for confirmation.

"Haha..." Master Xu Neng laughed, a sinister laugh. His former kind and gentle face was gone, replaced by a gloomy and cunning expression. Jing Ren suddenly realized he didn't recognize the person in front of him. He truly hoped it was just a dream. He couldn't believe his master was a murderer, but...

Xu Neng admitted that he was the murderer.

Xu Neng admitted that these were pilgrims who came to the temple to offer incense, and that he had intercepted and killed them on their way in order to obtain their money.

Xu Neng understood the principle of Yin and Yang transformation, so he used his knowledge to quell the 'anger' of these wronged ghosts.

Jingren, Jingzhong, and Jinghai understood. They realized that Master Xu Neng was just a hypocrite who appeared kind on the outside but was wicked on the inside. They suddenly felt disgusted; they had actually thought he was a good person all along.

"Why would you do this?" Jingren still couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"What people in this world pursue is nothing more than power and gold and silver, but I love gold and silver the most." Master Xu Neng no longer concealed his hypocritical heart and said, while raising his hand and flipping over his huge sleeve to reveal a gleaming axe.

Jingren, Jingzhong, and Jinghai knew their fate would be to add three more corpses to the pile, but they were unwilling to accept it. They were still children, how could they become innocent victims of someone else's axe, especially those they once respected and loved the most? So they rebelled, rebelled like never before.

Old Fu paused again at this point, looking at the old lady. Although he couldn't see her face clearly, he was sure her expression would change after hearing what he said.

"I remember there used to be a theatrical troupe staying at the temple," Xu's mother suddenly blurted out.

"Yes, yes, I remember too. I used to secretly watch them rehearse back then." Kong Bei seemed to have forgotten his earlier fear and became excited again.

“That opera troupe often sets up a stage in the nearby villages to perform, and they stay overnight in this temple.” Xu’s mother ignored Kong Bei and continued, “That opera troupe has a very popular leading lady, and the people here love to watch her performances.”

"Yes, you're talking about Xue Qiuqiu, Lao Fu's wife, right?" Kong Bei said, glancing at Lao Fu, but then suddenly paused. He wasn't Lao Fu, nor was he Xu Mama, nor was he Mo Bai. They... Kong Bei suddenly realized how foolish he was, unable to understand the relationship between them.

"I suddenly feel like telling you a story about the opera troupe," Mrs. Xu said with a smile.

28. The Story Told by Xu's Mother

The opera troupe had been living in the temple for some years, and although they were staying there, they still had to pay some incense money.

Xue Qiuqiu was the most popular leading lady in the opera troupe. She was only in her early twenties at the time, with a sweet face and a charming figure, making her very endearing. Unfortunately, she married a plain-looking, wealthy old man, which always gave people a sense of injustice. Fortunately, the old man was the owner of the opera troupe, which allowed Xue Qiuqiu to regain some dignity. They had a child, who was still young at the time, but this didn't prove they loved each other. The old man always kept a close eye on everyone who interacted with Xue Qiuqiu—more like surveillance. Xue Qiuqiu was very unhappy about this, and they often argued about it.

Besides them, the only other members of the opera troupe were Mama Xu and Mo Bai. They were in charge of the troupe's logistics. Although they weren't high-ranking officials, they held considerable influence within the troupe due to their relationship with Lao Fu. The younger members were always eager to curry favor with the two, and the two lived a carefree and comfortable life. Lao Fu, Xue Qiuqiu, Mama Xu, and Mo Bai were the central figures of the troupe. No one in the troupe dared to disobey their orders. Originally, they were just staying at the temple, but they were uneasy. Uneasy about what? Uneasy about why they couldn't enter the ancient pagoda. They weren't children, nor were they monks, and they weren't exactly good people. They didn't need to abide by monastic rules or human morality; they just wanted to know what they wanted to know. So they had been secretly observing the ancient pagoda, and that's how they discovered Master Xu Neng's actions. When Jing Ren, Jing Zhong, and Jing Hai entered, Lao Fu, Xue Qiuqiu, Mama Xu, and Mo Bai also quietly entered. Like the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind, they effortlessly followed them into the ancient pagoda.

They were initially just curious, but they witnessed Xu Neng's hypocrisy, which shocked even the four of them. When Xu Neng swung his big axe at Jing Ren, Jing Zhong, and Jing Hai, Lao Fu, Xu Mama, and Mo Bai rushed over out of sympathy and joined in the fight with Xu Neng.

Mrs. Xu stopped talking at this point, and her face looked very pale.

"What happened next?" This time, it was one of the old lady's sons who asked the question. Xu's mother knew that he must be very curious about what had happened, so he continued, "Things should have ended smoothly. Everyone should have worked together to subdue Master Xu Neng. If that had been the case, the story should have had a good ending. Unfortunately, things don't always go as people expect."

When people are desperate, they're capable of anything. Xu Neng was like that; he relentlessly swung his axe, hacking at anyone in sight. Jing Ren, Jing Zhong, and Jing Hai also went mad, desperately fighting back to protect themselves. They inadvertently picked up scissors and needles nearby, frantically stabbing the figures moving before them...

Silence fell. Xu Neng was dead. He was finally dead. Jing Ren, Jing Zhong, and Jing Hai felt no relief. They all felt an indescribable oppression because the bodies of Lao Fu, Xu Mama, and Mo Bai lay beside them. They had come to help Jing Ren, Jing Zhong, and Jing Hai, but they had died at their hands. Although they hadn't done it intentionally, they had only killed in self-defense, their eyes bloodshot. But Lao Fu, Xu Mama, and Mo Bai had indeed died at their hands.

Blood was still dripping from the three men, and they looked incredibly terrifying. They hadn't fully recovered from their bloodlust, so when they saw Xue Qiuqiu hiding to the side, Jingren picked up the axe on the ground. He had decided not to let any outsider go.

When Xue Qiuqiu looked at Jingren, she was surprisingly calm, as if she wasn't the one who was about to die.

"You killed my husband and my friend," Xue Qiuqiu said calmly.

Jingren raised the axe.

"I thank you." Xue Qiuqiu's words made Jingren's raised hands freeze in mid-air; he didn't understand what she meant.

Xue Qiuqiu slowly walked to Lao Fu's side, squatted down, and gently stroked his blood-covered face, saying, "He's finally dead. I've been waiting for this day." After saying this, she suddenly stood up and kicked Lao Fu hard, saying, "You're finally dead! I wasn't happy at all with you!" Then she let out a happy smile.

Jingren, Jingzhong, and Jinghai didn't understand what she meant, but they didn't intend to let her go.