The Tale Never Ends Chapter 147 Real Deal

Lu Shengnan shrugged her shoulders, saying, "Well, I'm not from here, but my grandma was. It was after getting married to my grandpa, then they moved away from Wu Zhong later. But when I was very young, she had been telling me stories. Some old wives tales or fables that I used to find entertaining. But as I grew up, I began to dismiss them as mere fairy tales and myths, and before I know it, I have had the whole thing tossed at the back of my head. But now that you mentioned it, I began to remember that among all the stories that Grandma used to tell me, the exploits of the Triune of Wu Zhong were the ones she repeated the most!"

As it turned out, the Triune of Wu Zhong from Lu Shengnan's grandmother's stories did not comprise of the usual crew of Old Men Xie and Chen, and Shang Pei. The story originated from Lu Shangnan's third-great-grandmother long, long time ago that there was no way for anyone to ascertain any truth. In the stories, the Triune of Wu Zhong was a trio of three mysterious deities who would appear to anyone in need of help, providing aid and advice to the common people. Slowly, as the fame of the deities grew, the name "the Triune of Wu Zhong" became synonymous to generosity, kindness, and benevolence.

Then again, very much like the lost monastery of Shangri-La from James Hilton's 1933 cla.s.sic, the Lost Horizon, the myth of the three deities might only be mere objects of fantasy and imagination; a means to satiate the people's craving for a Messianic figure in troubled times. There has been no lack of forklores or heavily-fictionalized renditions of historical figures such as Robin Hood and King Arthur of England, Hua Mulan of China or even Momotaro of j.a.pan throughout history, all ill.u.s.trating the very same longing that people in need share all around the world. But Lu Shengnan's story of the Triune of Wu Zhong was quite ill.u.s.trative about the three deities. One of them was said to be tall and warrior-like, another was a short and stunted, and the last a gaunt and feeble man that looked like a scholar. They were all skilled in magic and sorcery; all capable of any fantastic and unbelievable feats. But if one were to think closely, the physical descriptions of the deities were hardly remarkable, ambiguous even. Any other Tom, d.i.c.k, and Harry from the streets could easily be any one of the Triune from her story.

By now, I too, was beginning to feel convinced that Lu Shengnan's fairy tale as a mere fairy tale with no factual basis. But it was nevertheless news to me that the "Triune of Wu Zhong" t.i.tle now shared by Old Men Xie and Chen and Shang Pei was not original, but rather, a name based from a folklore story. Their exemplary services in defending Wu Zhong County has earned them the t.i.tle of Triune of Wu Zhong by colleagues as well as the Underworld as a tribute to the original folklore. In some ways, they might even be the "second-generation of the Triune of Wu Zhong".

I jerked myself back to the dinner table where my former schoolmates were still clinking gla.s.ses with broad smiles and cheering at the top of their voices in merriment. The subject of their banter had wandered to the other paranormal cases they had heard or handled by me and for some reasons unknown, we went back to the case of the mysterious disease. "Truth be told," I muttered, "The pathogen that caused the disease came from the tomb that was freshly excavated, or more accurately, the ancient zither." Halfway through the story, Lu Shengnan interjected with a question, "Wait, does that mean that you have the sight to see ghosts? Can you see the aura of these spirits? This sounds like those ghost stories I read online!"

That made me giggle. "Well, there are certain things from these stories that truly exist. Just not exactly the way as to how you've seen in movies and TV. What I have is not the usual Yin-Yang Sight we know. I was born with a gift called the Spirit Sight. The Yin-Yang Sight, which is clear as day by its name, is a group of two different sights, the Yin Sight and the Yang Sight. The Spirit Sight which I have is better, and is essentially different. It's not that I was born with a special set of eyeb.a.l.l.s per se, but an ability to perceive and detect an aura. The aura of Yang Energies that we humans exude, the Yin Energy that ghosts and spirit give off, the sanctified aura that hallowed and consecrated grounds have, and the ominous and dark aura that lingers around cursed places and so forth..." I noticed that everyone was staring blankly at me. Su Yixuan cut in, "So, Senior, you said that you saw Yin Energy seeping out from the ancient zither? T-then... W-will it hurt us?"

I shook my head quickly. "No. The zither should not have caused such a pandemic in the first place. I'm guessing it's because of our lecturer's singular skill and talents, hahaha. Wait, where's the zither now?"

"Forget about it," Su Yixuan answered, "Everyone's focus was on us during the crisis that n.o.body thought anything about the zither. By the time we remembered about it, it was already missing. It might be in some museum or some dusty cabinet in somebody's home." But that was almost impossible. The zither was an item of intrinsic historical value which was just recently unearthed. It was illegal for an individual to keep something like that privately. That would only mean that it was most likely delivered to a museum for keeping.

The two dinners in tandem lasted until it was ten. I was beginning to think if we were eating at a banquet instead. I watched my schoolmates out the door and they went straight home that night. They had come back to Wu Zhong just for this dinner with me.

I went back to rejoin Zheng Shuang and the others. They were almost done too, with Chongxi not forgetting to have some remaining food stored in some to-go boxes for him to bring home. Despite his usual banter with Old Man Xie, he was actually a filial son to his foster father.

We reached home at eleven that night. The cold of the night was enough to discourage me from showering, so I drifted sleepily to my bed and collapsed into a slumber.

I awoke to the sound of my handphone ringing the next morning. I swiped it off the table and yawned into the mouthpiece. It was the same man from before who had challenged us to a fight! After the thras.h.i.+ng Chongxi gave him, it seemed that he would never dare come to our Center again. On the phone, he challenged us to another duel at an empty field in a farming village just north of Wu Zhong city. I smirked and ended the call, and drove back to the Center with Edelweiss. The first thing we did was to discuss our battle plans. We know that luck would never be forever in our favor. Hence, we needed to recon the venue before the fight. The duel was set in two days. That would mean that our challenger and his cohorts would surely be making preparations today. Hence, we came to a unanimous decision of first reconnoitering the movements of our adversaries today!

It was perfect; the weather was misty and cold, and this would be a perfect a.s.signment for the Seven Sisters! They have not been at the Center for quite a few days. So I picked up my phone and called Xiao Qi. After a few dial tones, someone answered the call. But there was nothing but a noisy blur of garble from the other end. I let my shoulders fall helplessly and said into the mouthpiece, "Listen up Xiao Qi! I know you're there, but I can't hear you! So just listen to what I say..."

I told her my instructions as simple as possible. But the call had barely ended for 10 minutes when the six ghosts of the Seven Sisters flew through the doors of the Center, looking exuberant and excited! They were very anxious to get out to help us and have some fun while they were at it. Should we teach them a lesson, Xiao Si first asked and I stopped her. "No. We don't want to rattle their cage too early. This is only a recon mission. Go in, look at what they're up to, and get out. Simple as that." The six ghosts squeezed into Lin Feng's car along with me, Lin Feng, Chongxi and Edelweiss. We drove out of town immediately towards the village, as we did not need to worry about the sun during a cloudy day. We left them somewhere before the village, but not before I reminded them that this is only a recon mission. The plan was for them to look around and we would return in the night to fetch them. Edelweiss was sn.i.g.g.e.ring all along. Without the gift of sight, she could not see the ghosts of the Seven Sisters. But she was amused by me leaving instructions to the Sisters that looked as if I was talking into the air.

After dinner that night, we rushed back to the same spot we agreed to rendezvous. We waited until it was 9 before Xiao Qi and her sisters reappeared. We went back to the Center and debrief them about their findings. "They have prepared two large woks of boiling oil, a charcoal stove as if they're going to forge a sword, with a large millstone. There's a bunch more of items that we cannot remember. But they're all wacky if you ask me. But there're seven guys loitering around. They were drinking liquor when we left, with a row of sabers they've freshly stoned and sharpened." Yuan Chongxi listened and cackled suddenly, repeating what Xiao Qi just said in between his fits of laughter, "Huh?! Two woks of boiling oil... Oh my G.o.d, I can't take this anymore..."

Chongxi's eyes and mine met and I burst into peals of laughter too! We laughed so hard that we fell back into the sofa we were sitting on, clutching our stomachs. But Lin Feng and Edelweiss were confused. What's wrong, they asked and Chongxi began explaining, "As you well know, there are two types of soothsayers and fortune-tellers in my line of business. Charlatans and actual seers. The same can be said for mediums like s.h.i.+yan! There are true conjurers; true students of arcane magic, and the other kind: swindlers and fraudsters. The items that Xiao Qi had seen were merely props for a freakshow!" – Another fit of laughter gripped him again before he could go on – "Charlatans like this might be able to hoodwink common people but not the real deal like us! What's worse, they even enlisted the help of some thugs in case things go south for them. It's stupid! Our win tomorrow is as good as certain! We might as well begin planning on how to mop them up tomorrow! No, wait. Leave this to me. I daresay I have some amount of expertise in this!"

The next day came swiftly in antic.i.p.ation. We journeyed to the empty field as agreed. It was a flat ground, now bare and barren, once used by farmers to thresh wheat. With the introduction of combine harvesters, the grounds have been enclosed and left abandoned. Immediately once we reached, I opened the door and released my spirit wolves. They sniffed into the air and looked around warily. Xiao Qi and her sisters flew out before us and we disembarked the car. Then I saw him, our challenger! There he is, I said to my companions. My spirit wolves scattered and surrounded the grounds from the other side in a hunting formation. The man was thrilled to see us. "I've enlisted the help of the elders from the order I'm in! They are powerful people, I warn you! You should kneel down and beg for mercy!"