La Mariée aux Yeux Fantômes 2

Chapitre 8

"Come on," Xu Lijie threw the file in her hand in front of him. "Take a look, is this the person?"

"You've found it?" Zhou Ping exclaimed happily, taking the file in his hand.

In the upper right corner is a close-up black-and-white photo of a man around 40 years old, thin but looking very vigorous. The file label next to him reads:

Name: Wu Jianfei

Date of birth: November 9, 1934

...

“That’s right,” Zhou Ping said excitedly, “It should be him!”

Xu Lijie, however, poured cold water on his enthusiasm: "Don't be too happy yet. Look carefully, this person died in 1978. How could he have ended up on Nanming Mountain and been a monk for so many years?"

Zhou Ping looked at where Xu Lijie was pointing, and sure enough, the record showed it. He scratched his forehead: "How could this be? Is it such a coincidence that these two people share the same name and were born on the same day?"

"Let's check his immediate family members first to get some information before confirming if this is really him." Xu Lijie seemed more experienced in handling files and documents.

"Hmm... It says here that there is a daughter named Wu Yanhua, but how do I find her? By the address on this document?"

Xu Lijie rolled her eyes at him: "Those are records from more than 10 years ago, of course they won't work. Her daughter should be able to find them in the computer's database. Come with me, the computer is in the office across the street."

Sure enough, Zhou Ping quickly found Wu Yanhua's information on the computer. Looking at the photo in the file, Zhou Ping suddenly let out a strange "Huh?"

Xu Lijie turned to look at him: "What's wrong?"

"Could it be her?" Zhou Ping frowned, tapping the screen with his finger. "Scroll down, scroll down, let me see her detailed file."

Xu Lijie was scrolling the page with her mouse when Zhou Ping suddenly shouted, "Stop!"

"Look here, it really is her!" Zhou Ping could hardly contain his excitement at the unexpected and significant discovery.

Xu Lijie looked at the spot he was pointing to: "Direct family relationship... Father: Wu Jianfei... Mother: Wang Mingfang... Husband: Hu Junkai... Son: Hu Xiaohua, what's wrong? Oh dear, tell me quickly, what happened?"

“This Hu Junkai was one of the three who went up the mountain, the one who passed away today. This woman is actually his wife…” Zhou Ping looked at the photo and file carefully again, “She’s already 43 years old? She looks really young.”

"So, Hu Junkai is Wu Jianfei's son-in-law? There seems to be more to this than meets the eye." Xu Lijie discerned the intricacies of this relationship in the case. "It seems we're looking for this Wu Jianfei, but why does the file state that he died in 1978?"

“There’s definitely something fishy going on here, and that’s exactly what we need to investigate. I need to make a phone call first.” Zhou Ping said as he picked up the receiver and dialed the reception room number.

The call connected, and Jiang Shan's voice came from the other end: "Hello, Nanmingshan Police Station."

"This is Zhou Ping. Are those family members from this afternoon still here?"

"Yes, I'm here. When are you coming back?"

“I’m heading back right now. Tell that woman named Wu Yanhua to wait for me at the station and not to leave.”

"Don't worry, you can't get rid of her even if you want to."

"Okay then, I'll hang up now."

After a brief exchange, Zhou Ping hung up the phone, then looked at Xu Lijie somewhat apologetically: "Look, I have to go now..."

Xu Lijie curled her lip: "If you want to leave, then leave. Anyway, I'm no longer of any use to you."

Zhou Ping chuckled and said, "You've done me a great favor today. I'll never forget it. I'll repay you even if I have to be your ox or horse in my next life."

"Alright, stop being so cheeky and get back to your work."

"Hmm." Zhou Ping put away his smile and nodded. He suddenly remembered that the People's Hospital was not far from the Municipal Public Security Bureau, so he decided to go there first to check on Zhang Bin's situation.

Twenty minutes later, Zhou Ping arrived at the hospital ward. Zhang Bin was half-lying on the bed talking to a young man next to him, and he looked to be in good spirits.

Upon seeing Zhou Ping enter, Zhang Bin leaned forward in a welcoming gesture, and the young man also stood up.

"This is my son, Zhang Feng, and this is Officer Zhou, who took your father to the hospital," Zhang Bin introduced the two men to each other.

Zhang Feng kept thanking Zhou Ping, who chuckled and exchanged a few polite words before turning to Zhang Bin: "How are you feeling?"

"Nothing's wrong, just resting. What's the situation up the mountain now?"

The perilous situation at the scene was clearly not something Zhang Bin should know, so Zhou Ping gave a vague and perfunctory answer: "The heavy snow has blocked the mountain roads, so we can't go up now. The search operation can't be carried out either."

Zhang Bin responded with an "Oh," appearing quite worried.

Zhou Ping didn't want to waste any more words and cut straight to the point: "Do you know Wu Jianfei?"

"Wu Jianfei?!" Zhang Bin looked at Zhou Ping in surprise. "Of course I know him!"

"You're quite familiar with him?" Zhou Ping was slightly surprised. Judging from the timeline, both Wu Jianfei's becoming a monk and the date of his death on his file were before Hu Junkai's marriage, so it was highly likely that Zhang Bin didn't know his colleague had such a father-in-law.

"He is my mentor."

Seeing Zhou Ping's confused look, Zhang Bin continued to explain: "In the past, there were no art academies. Children learned to paint by being apprentices under the names of the older generation. Hu Junkai, Chen Jian, and I were all Wu Jianfei's apprentices back then."

"Oh?" Zhou Ping hadn't expected there to be such a connection, and his interest was piqued. "As far as I know, this Wu Jianfei is Hu Junkai's father-in-law?"

"Yes. Hu Junkai later married my master's daughter." Zhang Bin scratched his head, somewhat puzzled. "Why are you bringing this up?"

"This Wu Jianfei is the monk Kongwang you mentioned."

Zhang Bin stared blankly at Zhou Ping, his mouth agape in disbelief. After a long while, he finally came to his senses and muttered, "So it was him. No wonder, no wonder. Such profound painting skills, who else could it be..."

Don't you find this strange?

"Of course it's strange. I never expected him to become a monk on Nanming Mountain, and what a coincidence that we would see his work. And that 'ominous painting' he painted..."

“That’s not what I meant.” Zhou Ping shook his head. “What I meant was, don’t you think this is simply impossible? Don’t you know he was registered as dead more than 20 years ago?”

"Oh, I know that. But it wasn't a confirmed death; it should be considered a disappearance."

"Missing?"

"Yes. For more than 10 years, no one has known Wu Jianfei's whereabouts. According to the law, if someone is missing for more than two years, they can be recorded as a deceased person."

So that's how it is! It seems Wu Jianfei reported his disappearance in 1976, and two years later, legally he was considered "dead." If Wu Jianfei secretly became a monk, then the two situations match up.

The information Zhou Ping had obtained from Zhang Bin far exceeded his expectations. He continued to pursue this clue, hoping to make more discoveries: "What was the reason for Wu Jianfei's disappearance? Or rather, what happened before his disappearance? Are you aware of these circumstances?"

Upon hearing this question, Zhang Bin, who was usually quick to speak, hesitated. After a moment of silence, he turned to his son and said, "Xiao Feng, wait outside for a bit. Officer Zhou and I need to talk about something."

Zhang Feng agreed, walked out of the ward, and gently closed the door.

Zhou Ping looked at Zhang Bin, waiting for him to continue.

Zhang Bin sighed, leaned against the edge of the bed, and stared at the ceiling. "Speaking of this, I feel guilty. Sigh, so I'm ashamed to mention it in front of the younger generation. But then again, who hasn't done one or two foolish things when they were young..."

The situation was getting more and more interesting. Zhou Ping leaned forward and said, "There may be things I can't ask, but these are very likely related to the case on the mountain."

"Is it related to the case?" Zhang Bin looked at Zhou Ping with suspicion.

"Don't overthink it. You don't know the current situation on the mountain. Just tell me what you know now."

“Alright.” Zhang Bin let out a leisurely sigh and began to reminisce about the past. “That was during the Cultural Revolution. Although you didn’t experience those days, you should know a little about them, right?”

Zhou Ping nodded.

“My master was seen as a corrupt feudal intellectual and was a primary target of criticism and struggle sessions. Several of us participated, especially Chen Jian and I. During that period, we…we did many things against our conscience, the specifics…I don’t want to go into them anymore…”

Every Chinese person knows about that period of history. During those absurd days, many absurd things happened.

Seeing Zhang Bin's remorseful expression, Zhou Ping couldn't help but comfort him, "You don't need to blame yourself too much. In that kind of environment, it's hard for an individual to distinguish right from wrong."

Zhang Bin sighed, "Yes, society at that time distorted people's normal personalities, and the dark side of human nature was exposed without restraint. Chen Jian and I were only sixteen or seventeen years old then, still children. Our master had scolded us a lot before, so we took the criticism sessions as a good opportunity for revenge. What we did to him can only be described as 'torture.'"

Describing. Looking back now... it's truly unbearable to recall.

"What about Hu Junkai?" Zhou Ping noticed that Zhang Bin hadn't mentioned him. "Isn't he like you guys?"

"Hu Junkai is our senior brother. Although he was also a young revolutionary, he always tried his best to protect his master when it came to criticism and struggle sessions. Perhaps it was because he was older and understood things better, or perhaps it was because his master was usually very kind to him."

"So, your master treated you disciples differently?"

Zhang Bin nodded: "My master was very strict, even harsh, with his other disciples, but he was very caring towards Hu Junkai. In my memory, Hu Junkai never seemed to be scolded by him. If you knew my master's personality at the time, you would understand how incredible that was."

"Why?" Zhou Ping couldn't help but wonder.

“Because Hu Junkai’s talent is higher than ours,” Zhang Bin answered without hesitation. “Only he can understand the level that Master has reached. Perhaps from a very early time, Master had already decided in his heart that he would be his son-in-law, so of course he treats him differently.”

"Then what happened to your master's disappearance?" Zhou Ping realized that the topic had gone a bit off track and quickly brought it back on track.

“Back then, we would drag our master out for criticism and struggle sessions during the day, and lock him in the cowshed at night, with everyone taking turns guarding him. Later, one night when Hu Junkai was on night duty, our master disappeared.”

"Did Hu Junkai release him?" Zhou Ping guessed.

"That's right. The next day, he was suspected by everyone, and he didn't deny it himself. He suffered a lot because of this, but no matter what, he always insisted that he didn't know his master's whereabouts. After a while, the matter was dropped."

"Could it be that Hu Junkai hid your master in the Kumu Temple? Then he should know that Kongwang is Wu Jianfei." Zhou Ping frowned, pondering the mystery.

“No way?” Zhang Bin recalled the events of last night, then said decisively, “No, he definitely didn’t know that Kong Wang was his master. At the time, he was so excited that he asked Shunde to send him his business card, insisting on meeting this ‘Kong Wang’.”

"After that period of time passed, did no one go to look for Wu Jianfei?"

"After Hu Junkai and Wu Yanhua got married, the two went to look for their master, but they couldn't find him. Since then, my master has become a missing person."

"Hmm." Zhou Ping lowered his head and thought for a while, then asked, "What happened to Hu Junkai's relationship with you guys later?"

"A relationship? That's great." Zhang Bin paused for a moment, seemingly not understanding what he meant.

"Didn't he blame you for Wu Jianfei's disappearance? And you also said that he suffered a lot because of this."

“No.” Zhang Bin shook his head. “As the senior brother, Hu Junkai has always treated us like younger brothers. He never held a grudge against the mistakes we made when we were young. Perhaps it is because of this kind of magnanimity that he has been able to achieve such great success in art.”

It's clear that Zhang Bin had the respect and trust a younger brother would have for an older brother when it came to Hu Junkai. If he knew that Hu Junkai had already passed away on the mountain, what would his feelings be? And what connection did the grudges and grievances between the master and apprentice during the Cultural Revolution have with the series of events that occurred on the mountain?

The day's investigation seemed to have revealed some clues, and Zhou Ping was eager to relay these developments to Luo Fei, who was trapped on the mountain. However, his location was now beyond the range of his walkie-talkie, and he needed to return to the mountains as soon as possible to contact Luo Fei. Meanwhile, Wu Yanhua, another important figure connected to Wu Jianfei, was waiting for him at the police station at the foot of the mountain.

At noon, while Zhou Ping and the others were still trekking down the mountainside through wind and snow, Luo Fei was enjoying a steaming lunch at Kumu Temple. Although it consisted mostly of unappetizing vegetables, at least he managed to fill his stomach in time.

For the monks in the temple, the midday meal was a daily routine, involving collective chanting and meditation before and after the meal. Not wanting to disturb them, Luo Fei brought his own food and ate in a side room. Kong Jing had Shunde take care of Luo Fei's meals, and Shunde became his devoted follower, practically becoming Luo's little sidekick.

Luo Fei had already noticed that although the young monk was clever, he was quite timid. Coincidentally, he knew all about the series of strange events that had occurred in the temple. Having suffered several frights in succession, Shunde appeared absent-minded and terrified while eating face-to-face with Luo Fei. Later, he even shed tears as he thought about it.

"What's wrong with you?" Luo Fei put down his chopsticks, feeling a little puzzled.

Shunde began to sob softly: "I didn't listen to... my martial uncle's words, and now I've caused a huge disaster..."

"Your martial uncle? Kong Wang? What did he say to you?" Luo Fei frowned; he wouldn't let any hidden clue slip by.

Shunde wiped his eyes, trying to stop sobbing: "Last night when I delivered food to Uncle Kongwang, he specifically instructed me behind the window to tell the guest staying in the small house not to open that sealed 'ominous painting'."

"Isn't your uncle supposed to be staying indoors all the time? How did he know someone was living in the small house behind the temple?"

“I told him. Those guests had seen my uncle’s paintings and were very impressed. They wanted to meet my uncle. Hu Junkai even gave me a business card and asked me to give it to my uncle.”

"You didn't listen to your master? You mean you didn't tell Hu Junkai and the others?"