Parents' Shrine (6)

Originally, Yan Fei thought they would go out with Dasamara to visit the families where the incidents had occurred. Unexpectedly, Tan Yangzi had no such intention at all. He simply gave Yan Fei some silver, told him to go play on the streets by himself, and then sat cross-legged on the bed, cultivating the Art of Longevity for the whole day. Mysteriously given a day off, Yan Fei wandered around Xiangyang City, eventually making his way near the Xiang River.

Many boats were moored by the dock, some carrying cargo and others passengers; the constant flow of people made it very bustling. Yan Fei ate some raw marinated crab at a crab vendor's stall. As he was comfortably watching two white gulls gracefully skimming the water on the emerald green river, he suddenly heard a commotion erupt from a passenger boat docking not far away. Many passengers rushed out of the cabin in a panic, causing the small boat to rock unsteadily under their trampling feet. The boatman poling the boat shouted loudly for everyone to stop moving around blindly, but no one listened to him at all. Someone yelled loudly, "Murder!!!" and then jumped into the water regardless of everything else. Other passengers who were good swimmers also jumped in. Unfortunately, a young master who did not know how to swim was also squeezed off the boat, thrashing about in the water continuously, crying for help.

Seeing this, Yan Fei didn't have time to think. He rushed to the edge of the dock and jumped into the water, extending his arm to grab the thrashing young man by the waist. However, the young master was quite strong; his survival instinct made him grab onto Yan Fei tightly, refusing to let go, and he nearly dragged them both under. Yan Fei hurriedly activated Red Impermanence's Soul-Capturing Technique. Grabbing the young master's face with one hand, he forced the terrified eyes to meet his own slightly glowing red ones. Soon, the endlessly struggling person miraculously quieted down. Yan Fei grabbed his waistband, dragged him to the side of the boat, and with the help of the people on board, pulled him up.

The young master's clothes were completely soaked, and his handsome face still bore unresolved terror as he curled up in a ball, shivering violently. Looking up, he saw Yan Fei grabbing the edge of the boat and nimbly pulling himself out of the water. A set of red clothes wrapped around his slender yet powerful figure. His black hair made his skin look even whiter, and his facial features appeared as if painted with thick ink and heavy colors. For a moment, the young master stared blankly. Yan Fei, however, completely ignored who he had just saved. He grabbed a passenger crowding outside the cabin and asked, "What happened?"

"There's a man inside who suddenly pulled out a knife, trying to hack his father to death!"

Upon hearing this, Yan Fei knew that the once-every-three-days patricide incident was occurring. Pushing through the crowd, he rushed into the cabin, only to see it in utter disarray. People's personal belongings and goods were scattered all over the floor. A middle-aged man, around forty or fifty years old, was cowering in a corner in terror, holding up a rattan basket with both hands as a shield. His arm was bloody, clearly having already been slashed. The other person was a youth who looked to be around Yan Fei's age, with red eyes and a face twisted by bone-deep hatred. Seeing someone enter, he paid no heed. He just gave a loud yell, raised his knife, and pounced again, displaying a ferocious determination to put the middle-aged man to death.

Yan Fei hadn't brought any weapons, so he had to rush forward barehanded. With a flying kick, he deflected the knife, plunging it right next to the man's cheek. The burly man was so frightened that his face turned deathly pale, and his crotch was soaked. If it hadn't been for Yan Fei's kick, the knife would have opened a bloody hole in his face by now.

The youth viciously swung at Yan Fei. However, Yan Fei had been trained by Tan Yangzi, after all. Leaning back, he casually grabbed the incoming fist, leaped backward, and kicked the back of the youth's knee. The moment the youth lost his balance and fell to his knees, Yan Fei forcefully twisted that arm backward. The youth let out a cry of pain and struggled desperately. Strangely, though his build was visibly larger than the red-clothed youth behind him, he couldn't break free no matter how hard he tried. With his foot stepping on the youth's calf and his hands ruthlessly twisting the youth's right arm, Yan Fei suddenly leaned close to his ear and whispered a string of words he couldn't understand. Yet, this string of words seemed to possess a strange, calming power, causing the boiling hatred and murderous intent in his heart to gradually settle. Panting heavily, the force of his struggles finally lessened bit by bit.

With a thud, the boat finally docked. All the passengers fled in a panic, clamoring that they were going to report to the authorities. Yan Fei's eyes shifted slightly as he suddenly looked down at the youth and said, "You don't want to go to prison, do you?"

The youth hadn't expected him to suddenly ask this, and reason seemed to be slowly returning to his mind. He looked back at his still-terrified father, then at the knife embedded in the cabin, and his face instantly paled. Shaking his head, his body began to tremble, as if he couldn't believe he had actually tried to kill his father just now.

"If you don't want to get caught, come with me," Yan Fei said. He pulled him up roughly, grabbed his arm, dragged him ashore, and then bolted.

Cries of alarm arose from the crowd, but no one tried to stop them. Instead, the handsome young master who had just been saved by Yan Fei gazed somewhat foolishly in the direction Yan Fei had left. It wasn't until he heard groans coming from the cabin behind him that he suddenly seemed to realize something. He hurriedly returned to the cabin, found his medical box, and crouched beside the man whose arm was still bleeding. "I am a doctor. Let me take a look."

Meanwhile, Yan Fei led the youth through various alleys, dodging the patrolling guards on the streets, and returned to Dasamara's house.

Tan Yangzi had just finished his cultivation and was about to brew a cup of tea to refresh himself when he suddenly heard a loud bang from the courtyard gate outside, followed by another bang. It was clearly someone coming in and shutting the gate behind them, followed by rustling sounds, likely the dropping of the door latch. Holding his teacup, he walked to the door, only to see a dripping wet Yan Fei pulling an unfamiliar, honest-looking youth over.

Tan Yangzi's eyes widened. "I told you to go play on the streets. I didn't tell you to go swimming in the Xiang River!"

Yan Fei, out of breath from running, abruptly pulled the youth in front of him. Grinning with a proud look on his face, he said to Tan Yangzi, "Didn't you say it wouldn't be easy to sneak into the prison? Here's a fresh one!"

The youth was clearly bewildered, but the panic deep in his eyes remained plainly visible. Tan Yangzi suddenly understood what Yan Fei meant. "You mean, he..."

"Yeah! I saw it with my own eyes! If I hadn't stopped him, another life would have been lost!"

Counting the days, it had indeed been about three days. Tan Yangzi examined the youth and said to them, "You two, come inside."

Once the two had entered the room, Tan Yangzi closed the door and quickly brought out the Corpse Candle, rice, chopsticks, and other items. He said to Yan Fei, "Set up the Corpse Candle Array."

While Yan Fei busied himself setting up the array, Tan Yangzi carefully scrutinized the restless youth. The youth didn't know where he was, nor did he know what this ageless, white-haired man dressed like a Daoist priest intended to do. He sat stiffly in his chair. "You... Who are you people?"

"Not the authorities, that's for sure," Yan Fei chimed in from the side. "We won't send you to the court officers, don't worry!"

Tan Yangzi asked, "What is your name, and how old are you this year?"

"Chen Xujiang, sixteen years old."

"What does your family do for a living?"

"My dad catches crabs." Speaking of his father, the youth shivered again. Seeing this, Tan Yangzi easily guessed who he had tried to kill just now.

"Why did you try to kill your father?"

Tears suddenly flowed from the youth's eyes. His lips trembled, but he kept them tightly shut, refusing to speak.

Tan Yangzi asked softly, "Did a voice tell you to do it?"

The youth frowned, seemingly confused. "A voice?"

"Don't you frequently hear a voice in your head telling you to kill your father?"

"...No... I'm not crazy..."

Seeing him uncooperative, Tan Yangzi recalled what Dasamara had said earlier: these murderers seemingly refused to speak after committing the crimes, and no useful information could be gleaned from them. Although this youth hadn't succeeded yet, perhaps his situation was similar. It would be impossible to get anything without some coercion and bribery.

Thus, Tan Yangzi said, "If you don't speak, I have no way to help you, and I'll have no choice but to send you to the authorities."

Upon hearing the word 'authorities', the youth trembled even more violently. Yet, he still kept his mouth tightly shut, unwilling to divulge half a word.

Could some force be preventing them from speaking? Was it something similar to the red light that burned Kumamara? Thinking of the information he had gathered yesterday, he decided to change his method of questioning. He pulled up a chair and sat in front of the youth, looking him evenly in the eye. "Have you been having frequent nightmares lately?"

The youth raised his head abruptly in surprise.

"You don't need to say anything; just nod or shake your head. Nothing will happen."

The youth stared at him blankly. After a long moment, he finally gave a slight nod.

"Did you see a red lotus flower in your dream?"

The youth looked even more surprised and nodded again.

"Was that lotus being held by someone... or perhaps some god or Buddha?"

The youth nodded repeatedly, his expression growing increasingly agitated. He leaned forward, as if he had found a savior.

Tan Yangzi roughly formed a guess. It seemed that no matter who this ghost was, they had already obtained one of the Four Holy Lotuses, the red lotus—Padma. Moreover, this ghost seemed to be connected to people's dreams, as the culprits often complained of nightmares before committing their crimes.

This matter was becoming more and more bizarre.

A fishy-smelling fragrance quietly drifted into his nose, and the youth in front of Tan Yangzi began to gradually distort. His face became covered in overlapping scars and wrinkles, even his facial features drowning in the layers of folds. The scars looked very fresh; some had not even healed, and white maggots squirmed in the festering flesh, devouring the flesh and blood of his Life Soul. It seemed this youth had suffered quite a lot of trauma in his life. Although most of the scars weren't extremely hideous and weren't very large, they were deep and difficult to heal, looking more like the result of psychological trauma than physical injuries. Of course, there were also obvious scars of terror caused by physical harm.

Were these scars related to the boy's father?

Tan Yangzi tried various methods to coax more information out of the youth, but the youth refused to speak again. Tan Yangzi had a feeling that the youth wasn't unwilling to tell him, but rather that some force was preventing him from doing so.

If only Red Impermanence were here right now...

However, Red Impermanence couldn't enter these people's consciousnesses either; after all, there was still that peculiar red light.

Seeing the boy suddenly clutching his head and crying bitterly, Tan Yangzi knew he wouldn't be able to ask anything else. Tan Yangzi decided to let him off the hook, having Yan Fei take him to another empty guest room to rest. Meanwhile, he set up an Illusion Spell at the main gate, hiding the courtyard door from the eyes of mortals. Not long after, Dasamara returned. When he puzzledly asked why an Illusion Spell had been set up, Tan Yangzi told Dasamara about Chen Xujiang.

After hearing this, Dasamara said, "Incidents like this are increasing, and the internal conflicts between parents and children in many families in the city are becoming more and more intense. As far as I know, many children and teenagers have fled from their homes because they couldn't bear being imprisoned in cellars by their parents. Some parents have even banded together to gather all their children into a martial arts school, claiming it's for easier management. The most terrifying thing is that the authorities are now considering this approach."

Yan Fei happened to overhear this and asked with a hint of sarcasm, "Considering what? Locking up all the young people? But children aren't just the young; why not isolate everyone?"

"Perhaps it's because young people have more strength, making the chances of a successful murder higher?" Dasamara shook his head.

Tan Yangzi sneered. "Or perhaps the panic just makes them want to pin the blame on the young people, giving them the illusion that they can control the current situation. Anyway, I'll investigate further once I get into the Judicial Commissioner's Office's prison tonight."

"Oh, Master. Actually, I might have caught a cold jumping into the river to save someone earlier, and my head hurts a little now. Can I sit out tonight?" Yan Fei suddenly asked.

Tan Yangzi found this strange the moment he heard it. Usually, this kid would clamor to go out with him even if he had a fever, yet today he was actually behaving. Then, noticing that Yan Fei still hadn't changed out of his wet clothes, he secretly felt angry at himself for focusing solely on interrogating Chen Xujiang just now and neglecting Yan Fei. Although he was angry at himself, his tone became stern. "If you know you're cold, what are you still standing here for? Hurry up and take a hot bath, change your clothes, and then obediently lie down in bed!"

Yan Fei agreed with a grin and was about to go boil some water, but Tan Yangzi stopped him. "Go take off those wet clothes first, and find a towel to wipe yourself dry. I'll go boil the water."

Yan Fei gave an 'oh' and went to change his clothes. In that brief moment, Tan Yangzi had already heated up a whole tub of hot water, clearly having used a Fire-Borrowing Talisman to quickly heat it up. By the time Yan Fei finished his bath and came out, Tan Yangzi had already left, but he had left a piping hot bowl of ginger soup on the table in the bedroom.