Parents' Shrine (2)

In the month since Dasamara left Xiangyang, ten more cases had occurred in the city in succession. Five of them were attempted parricide, obviously because some parents had already become wary of their children. The culprits had all been controlled by the authorities and locked in the prison of the Xiangyang Judicial Commissioner's Office. If one wanted to see them, they either had to have Red Impermanence bring them into the person's dream, or wait until nightfall to sneak in quietly.

The route through Red Impermanence was definitely unfeasible. Even though Yan Fei volunteered himself, Tan Yangzi firmly rejected him without hesitation.

"No."

"But I am already very skilled at using the Dream-Entering Spell!"

"No! The reason why Kumamara was severely injured is still unverified. It's too dangerous!"

Yan Fei persisted, "You guys said before that it was very likely a magical artifact that hurt Sister Kuma, but only ghosts are afraid of magical artifacts, right? I'm a human, so I shouldn't be afraid, right?"

Dasamara's eyes lit up upon hearing his words. However, before he could speak, he heard Tan Yangzi say, "I said, we still do not know the reason behind Kumamara's injury, and we cannot be sure if it was because of a Heavenly Court artifact. If I say you can't go, then you can't go!"

Tan Yangzi's expression and tone became increasingly stern. His sword-like eyebrows were tightly furrowed, and his whole body exuded a layer of chilling, awe-inspiring aura. Clearly, there was no room for negotiation. Dasamara also felt that there was no need to take such a risk before figuring things out. After all, considering how important Yan Fei was in Tan Yangzi's heart, if any accident were to befall this youth, it was hard to say whether Tan Yangzi would lose control and take lives as he did three hundred years ago.

Seeing that Tan Yangzi was about to get angry, Yan Fei, though unwilling in his heart, had no choice but to yield for the time being and fall silent.

Tan Yangzi said to Dasamara, "Do you have any connections in the Judicial Commissioner's Office?"

"I do, but these cases have already alarmed Bianliang. Therefore, the prisoners are heavily guarded, and my informant has no way to let anyone inside."

"He doesn't need to let us in. You just need to ask him for the guards' shift schedule and a map of the prison layout."

"That should be easy to handle. I'll contact him tomorrow."

Tan Yangzi nodded and turned to look at Yan Fei. Seeing that he looked somewhat dejected, he sighed softly and softened his voice, "Go to sleep early tonight. We still have things to do tomorrow."

Yan Fei asked in puzzlement, "What things?"

"We need to first pay a visit to the households where the incidents occurred."

......

This series of bizarre parricide incidents began in a small town at the foot of Mount Xian on the south bank of Xiangyang, in an ordinary family that was neither poor nor wealthy. The deceased was a fifty-year-old woman, known as Granny Ding. And the one who murdered her was her daughter, Su Liangdi. Dasamara had long since found out the list of the culprits and victims of the first eight cases, along with their residences. Tan Yangzi and Yan Fei got up early in the morning and rode their horses to that beautiful town nestled between the mountains and the water.

The morning air still carried the damp, cool scent of dew, and the stone-paved road was dotted with moss, making it slightly slippery to walk on. It was currently the season for turning the soil and sowing seeds. Many people had already gotten up and were carrying their hoes to the fields. Suddenly, the clattering of horse hooves came from the end of the road. A tall, handsome, yet slightly gloomy-looking white-haired Daoist arrived leading a horse. Beside him was a youth in red clothes with a face as beautiful as peach blossoms, holding an umbrella in his hand. They drew many second glances from the townspeople.

Sleepiness still lingered on Yan Fei's face as he let out a huge yawn. Tan Yangzi glanced at him and said as they walked, "Watch and learn carefully later. This kind of intelligence-gathering work has always been done by Red Impermanence."

Yan Fei flashed a big smile at Tan Yangzi, "Yes, Master!"

The two stopped in front of a courtyard shared by several families and tied their horses to a magnolia tree outside the gate. In the courtyard, two children were crouching together playing marbles. There were three rooms; the one on the east side had a seal affixed to it, presumably the room where the Su family lived, where the incident occurred.

Tan Yangzi stood at the doorway and knocked his hand on the open door panel. The two children in the courtyard turned their heads to look at him.

Tan Yangzi didn't smile either, simply asking coldly in his usual deep and rich voice, "Where are your parents?"

The two children were frightened stiff by his solemn and gloomy appearance. After a while, one of the children, who was about seven or eight years old, finally said, "They are... at the neighbor's house next door."

"Please inform your mother that I am Tan Yangzi, a Daoist priest from Bianliang, and I have matters I would like to seek guidance on."

The two children couldn't understand what he was saying at all. They were just intimidated by his imposing manner and stood frozen in place. Tan Yangzi wasn't very good at coaxing children either, so he frowned and asked, "Do you not understand?"

Tears were already welling up in the terrified children's eyes, their mouths pouting as if they were about to cry at any moment. Beside them, Yan Fei suddenly burst into laughter, covering his lips with his hand and whispering, "Master, this won't work... let me do it." After saying that, he took a few steps forward, squatted down beside the two children, and smiled gently. When he smiled, it was as if faint peach blossoms were blooming on his face, revealing a shallow dimple on his cheek, truly exceptionally beautiful.

Children are the most susceptible to beauty. Upon seeing such a good-looking face, they momentarily forgot their fear and stared blankly.

"Don't be afraid. Big brother and uncle are here to catch ghosts," Yan Fei said in a clear, ringing voice.

The younger child asked innocently, "Are there ghosts here?"

Yan Fei shook his head and said, "As soon as big brother arrives, the ghosts run away. But the uncle over there wants to see your parents to find out where the ghosts went, so we can catch them. Can you help big brother call your family?"

The older child quickly smiled and nodded, "Wait a moment, I'll go call my mother." Saying that, he ran towards the door. He paused when he reached Tan Yangzi, cautiously glanced at the scary white-haired uncle, and then scurried away hugging the wall.

Watching Yan Fei walk back to his side with a somewhat smug look, Tan Yangzi felt a bit embarrassed. He coughed softly and switched his horsetail whisk to his other hand. "Good job."

Before long, a woman in her late twenties hurried over. Her honest and simple face carried a trace of hesitation as she looked at the two strangers.

"You are..."

Tan Yangzi gave a slight salute and said, "This poor Daoist and my unworthy disciple have come from Bianliang. We heard that strange things have been happening here frequently, possibly caused by evil spirits, so we have come specifically to investigate."

Upon hearing this, the woman's expression changed, and she immediately curtsied. "So the Daoist master is here to catch ghosts?"

"Exactly."

"Amitabha! Finally, an expert has come!" The woman seemed to breathe a huge sigh of relief, clasping her hands together as if thanking the heavens. She then looked at Tan Yangzi earnestly and said, "Daoist master, you must think of a way. Right now, the entire Xiangyang City is in chaos! To tell you the truth... I barely dare to come home now... If it weren't for the fact that my family owns land nearby, I would have wanted to move away long ago..." As she spoke, she quietly glanced at the two children playing in the courtyard.

Only then did Yan Fei realize why the courtyard gate was wide open with only two small children inside. Weren't they afraid the children would be kidnapped? It turned out that it was the mother who was intentionally avoiding her own children, afraid of being killed by them.

Tan Yangzi did not show any particular expression. He just glanced at the sealed room and said, "Is there a convenient place to talk? This poor Daoist still has some questions regarding the Su family and would like to seek your enlightenment."

The woman then remembered that she was still standing at her own doorstep, visible to passersby, which was indeed not a good place to talk. She hurriedly invited Tan Yangzi and Yan Fei into the house and served them hot tea.

The woman's name was Xu Shaolan. She was the cousin-niece of Su Tianlei, the husband of the deceased Granny Ding of the Su family. Her husband was currently in the fields, and there were two children at home. Another family of five had originally lived in another room in the courtyard, but after the Su family incident happened, coupled with the subsequent cases in Xiangyang, they moved away.

Tan Yangzi asked, "Are you familiar with Su Liangdi?"

Xu Shaolan said, "Very familiar, we grew up together since we were little!"

"How is her temperament?"

"Very introverted, very gentle. She always spoke softly, but sometimes she could be quite assertive." Xu Shaolan sighed as she spoke, "To be honest, even now I can't believe she would do such a thing. She must have been possessed by a ghost. She was the most filial person. Granny Ding had been having back and leg pain in recent years, and she would massage her back and legs every day, massaging for a full two hours. There were no men in her family either, so she did all the heavy and tiring work. Even when Granny Ding scolded her, she never talked back."

Tan Yangzi slightly raised his eyebrows. "Her mother would scold her?"

"Sigh... Granny Ding actually wasn't bad at heart, but she didn't have a very good mouth, and sometimes she spoke a bit harshly. Especially later, after Liangdi came back from her husband's family..."

"Her husband's family? She was married?"

"Yes, she got married five years ago. Her husband was a servant in the Zhu Family's large mansion in Xiangyang City, which was considered quite a good match. But for some reason, she suddenly came back two years ago. I tried asking her a few times, but she wasn't willing to say what exactly happened. However, with her return, her reputation was naturally ruined. Many of the neighbors gossiped, saying she had lacked womanly virtues and was divorced by her husband's family. Granny Ding probably felt disgraced, and from then on, she never gave her a good look. Every other day, she would scold her for being a money-losing burden and complain to everyone she met that she was unfilial. Actually, I have truly never seen anyone more filial than her. Sometimes it was just that the old lady wanted to eat something and she was momentarily too lazy to make it, or she didn't serve her comfortably enough somewhere, or she complained that she didn't talk to her, just grumbling over nothing. Granny Ding herself should also know that the daughter she raised cared for her very much."

"Are there only the two of them, mother and daughter, left in the Su family now?"

"No, Granny Ding also has a son, Liangdi's younger brother, named Su Fusheng. It's just that he got married in recent years and rarely comes back. But Granny Ding often talks about him. Sometimes, during the holidays, he would bring back some New Year goods, which would make her so happy she didn't know what to do with herself, and she would show off to everyone she met."

Liangdi... 'Good Brother'... Looking at this name, she was likely hoping to quickly have a son after giving birth to her first daughter. Yan Fei sneered inwardly. He bet that in Granny Ding's heart, she actually doted more on the younger brother who rarely came back.

"Before the incident, did Su Liangdi have any unusual behavior or remarks?" Tan Yangzi continued to ask.

Xu Shaolan thought for a moment and suddenly remembered something, "Ah, right. About three or four days before the incident, her mental state was exceptionally poor. She said she was always having nightmares at night and couldn't sleep well. Also... her cycle was delayed, and she even asked me for some folk remedies to induce bleeding..."

After chatting for a while, Tan Yangzi got up and took his leave. Stepping out the door, Tan Yangzi saw Yan Fei's gloomy expression, which was unlike his usual self, so he asked, "What are you thinking about?"

The moment Yan Fei heard Tan Yangzi's voice, his expression softened slightly. He sighed, "I was thinking, this Granny Ding is really strange. She scolded the daughter who took care of her every day, yet she placed the son who hardly cared for her at the tip of her heart."

Tan Yangzi chuckled dryly, "What's so strange about that? The mediocre and foolish people of this world have always been so unable to distinguish right from wrong. Blinded by worldly illusions, they believe that only men can continue the bloodline. Therefore, as long as it's a boy, they just like him better."

"Master, what should we do next? Are we going to look for Su Liangdi's husband?"

Tan Yangzi gave a "Mhm," but his footsteps suddenly paused. He looked toward a place not far ahead, his sword-like eyebrows furrowing slightly.

Yan Fei followed his gaze and saw an elegant young gentleman dressed entirely in white sitting at a nearby tea stall. He was waving a feather fan in his hand and curling up a smile as light as the wind right at Tan Yangzi.