The Tale Never Ends Volume 3 Family Feuds --- Chapter 52 Jousting With Jiangshis

Despite bestowing me with a booklet complete with a set of ill.u.s.trations of a fantastic discipline of swordplay, Father had only demonstrated it once to me. I could still remember the sword coming alive, flying in the air without being wielded when Father had shown me the swordplay that evening. For an entire year, I pored through the book, looking for answers that might have eluded me before, still, none of my attempts to pattern what he had displayed that night bore any semblance to his. But just then, the police officer named Zheng Shuang, had come back to us, seeking help from Yuan Chongxi, Lin Feng, and me. There was a very case so sensitive and critical that he needed our help with.

As Zheng Shuang was already a friend of ours, he cut right to the chase: a child was reported missing in Wu Zhong County and news of the child's disappearance had been spreading on the Wechat like a flame in the wind. A police task force had been set up to specially handle this case with Zheng Shuang in charge, who was chosen due to the many treacherous cases that we had helped him solved which had earned him substantial influence within the upper hierarchies of the local force.

Due to the need of haste, there was no time for us to look for somewhere to sit and talk. I ushered him in and extracted a can of c.o.ke from the refrigerator. I lighted a cigarette for him and sat down. "Can you elaborate more on this incident?" I asked. Zheng Shuang released a puff of smoke and took a swig off the can of c.o.ke. "The child is 5 years of age, the offspring of a divorced businessman with his new wife!" "Was the child taken from a kindergarten?" I asked again. "No," said Zheng Shuang. "That is why I myself am in a loss. He had left his house to his ex-wife and son when they divorced, and had bought a new bungalow for his new wife. The door was locked from the inside, and the mother and child were inside. No one else was in the house. There should have been no way the child could be taken in the first place!"

So the child was taken before the very eyes of the mother, I pondered. "How many men do you have in your task force?" I asked Zheng Shuang after my brief reflection. "7 men, with me included, and 5 cars!" he said. "That would be enough. Summon your men. We'll have a look at the scene," I said, my eyes squinted as I made due calculations on how to proceed. "I have virtually the entire force at my disposal. Do we need any officers to be armed?" Zheng Shuang asked. "I'll leave that for you to decide. Bring any if you want, as long as there's enough room in the cars! We'll rendezvous at the front of the bungalow!" This was partly the reason I liked Zheng Shuang; the man was a straightforward person who hardly pelted me with questions that might inconvenience me.

Zheng Shuang made a call to the station to a.s.semble his team, while I called for Lin Feng to load any tools that we might need unto the car. With Yuan Chongxi joining us, we followed Zheng Shuang's vehicle from behind. It was evident that this time, he had no reservations about working with us, not especially since spending much time with us, he began to realize ways to traipse along the lines about our involvement. He could easily pa.s.s us off as consultants or freelance investigators, more so since his present status as the rising star in the force allowed him many perks.

Without further ado, we headed straight for the bungalow. The mother of the child had been crying; her eyes were badly swollen, reddish and moist with anxiety and fear. The house looked like a war zone; everything was in shambles and were strewn all around and the same went for almost all the rooms in the house. The intruders had virtually flipped the house upside down and ransacked it in order to look for the child! Zheng Shuang was with the parents of the child. "These three young men are specialists that we've enlisted to help us with this case. Have no fear. I'm sure they'll be able to point out any clues that will be helpful to the case. I ask only for your full cooperation!"

I almost burst out laughing when I heard Zheng Shuang referring to us as "criminal specialists". Did he seriously expect the husband and wife to believe a bunch of twenty-year-olds were criminal specialists? Then again, we decided to remain in character to spare ourselves from having to explain ourselves. We gave a friendly smile to the husband and wife. But the husband seemed to surmise that we were, in fact, paranormal investigators. He held my hand tightly and shook it profusely. "Please Young Master! Just tell us if you need everything! Money, cooperation! Anything!" I tried my best to maintain my smile, although I was beginning to feel tensed by his contagious jitters. "Can you provide me with an item that the child was playing with or wearing before the abduction?" I asked. The husband's and wife's eyes grew large with bewilderment. A brief and awkward silence pulsed by before the husband shook himself awake from his stupor. "Yes! There is! Right away!" He screamed. The husband and wife must have been shocked by my question; an investigator who had asked for no details of the incident but instead requested for an article of the child's belonging!

The mother of the child went inside and came back moments later with a s.h.i.+rt. She tried handing it to me, although I ignored her action. Instead, I said, "Follow us! Both of you!" We walked outside, where the 5 patrol cars, with their lights flas.h.i.+ng, were already waiting for us. Some of the officers in the cars were holding rifles and donned helmets as if they were going to war! I slipped an instruction to Zheng Shuang, saying to him, "Have your cars turn off their flas.h.i.+ng lights and follow my car!" I turned to the husband and wife. "Both of you, into my car!" The couple sat in the back with Yuan Chongxi while I sat beside Lin Feng who was at the wheel. "Give me the clothing," I said to the wife once we were in the car. I took the clothing and took out my Spirit Gourd. Holding the s.h.i.+rt to the mouth of the Gourd, I muttered an incantation and out came a little bee. The sky was darkening then. To lead us, the little bee emitted a distinct spark of light as it began flying, charging ahead with us closely behind like moths drawn to a burning candle. The bee was called a "Bee Scout", one of the skills of controlling insects that my father taught me when I was young. I was p.r.o.ne to losing my way home when I was a child, even in the small town of Wu Zhong; hence Father had taught me the skill of the "Bee Scout" so that I could find my way home.

The bee flew at a snail's pace before of us and began flying over a river. Quickly, I told Lin Feng, "Use the bridge in front. But there's no need to rus.h.!.+" Still, we overtook the bee and was at a junction before it, waiting for it to come our way. The bee glided over the river and continued flying for two hundred meters until it disappeared into the undergrowth of an elevation before us. The ground was not overly high and steep, only slightly higher than surrounding areas, but from where we stood, we could see that it was a graveyard! We stopped immediately and I barked to Zheng Shuang. "Send 3 of your cars to the opposite side of the elevation. A ditch just nearby and the river circling at the edges of the elevation have helped us so that we only need to cover these two exits to prevent the abductors' escape! Tell your men to switch on their spotlights when they see lights from the gra.s.ses up there! We'll just need to cover all exits for now! The three of us will go in for a recon!" I waved to Lin Feng and Yuan Chongxi and we began moving towards the spot where the bee had disappeared.

As we waded through the thick undergrowth, the rhythmic clickings of insect reminded me of a saying I saw from an old engraving, "Oh, the intolerable clickings of insects in the night!" Indeed, the noises were unbearable! I extracted two talismans, Bug-repelling Charms, and gave one each to my companions for them. They kept the charms in their pockets to ward off the incessant mosquitoes buzzing around us. At length, after about a 150-meter hike, I could vaguely see the glowing luminescence of the bee just ahead of us. I held out an arm and signaled to my companions to hide. The bushes here were so thick and tall that stooping down would conceal us completely. With a finger, I held aside the long stalks of the bushes and peer ahead. There it was! The bee was circling in the air! Before long, we heard a screeching noise from the bushes ahead and a figure rose up. From the pale moonlight, we could see the figure, with a bony skull as a head, rose up from within the bushes. It was covered heavily with thick hair from the neck down like a broom but we could not see what color was the hair in the dark! Then another figure rose up! Being slightly shorter than its partner, its body was also covered with hair! But instead of a skeletal skull for a head; its head was covered with lots of wildly strewn hair that covered its face.

I had guessed rightly! These were Jiangs.h.i.+s! The two Jiangs.h.i.+s stood up and began looking around, as if searching for a scent! I gripped the two talismans in my hand and prepared myself, making quick plans and calculations. Behind me, both Lin Feng and Yuan Chongxi were already s.h.i.+vering in fear, for I could feel their bodies trembling in the midst of the undergrowth around us. Then again, despite the preparations I had made when I predicted that this case might involve Jiangs.h.i.+s, I myself could hardly quell the fear creeping up my spine at the sight of the two hairy Jiangs.h.i.+ which could only spell woeful omens! For countless times I had read about them, but this was the first time I had set sights upon such grotesque abomination!

The two Jiangs.h.i.+ surveyed their surroundings and stopped in their tracks suddenly. They had picked up a scent, I surmised. Our scent. For the Jiangs.h.i.+s were now coming towards us. But they were not hopping, unlike the Jiangs.h.i.+s from Hong Kong horror movies! They were walking, as I clearly saw! I waited and got ready to pounce. When Jiangs.h.i.+s came close, I leaped out of hiding and slapped the two talismans on their forehead with blinding speed! The two Jiangs.h.i.+s froze and stopped. I let out a heavy breath. "It's fine now! Up you get, you two!" I barked to Lin Feng and Yuan Chongxi. It was the first time I had used these Talismans of Sealing Undead myself, but everything seemed to turn out just fine. But my companions had barely straightened up, when the two Jiangs.h.i.+ shared a look and tore off the talismans before reducing them to shreds! They lunged at me, their fangs and claws bared hungrily. With a quick leap, I evaded their attack! Lin Feng and Yuan Chongxi, almost frightened to tears, collapsed backward and tumbled out of sight! I took a handful of glutinous rice and threw it into the air, scattering the rice at the two undead! But with a simple sidestep, they avoided my gambit! Realizing that my move had failed, I drew my peach wood sword with my left hand while my other hand dug into my pouch and extracted a large wooden nail. I braced myself and prepared. The tall Jiangs.h.i.+ came at me again, and I swiftly pierced forth! But the Jiangs.h.i.+ made no attempt to evade my stroke; the tip of my wooden sword dug deep into its flesh as it groaned in pain but losing no strength despite its injury! I threw the wooden nail like a dart at the shorter Jiangs.h.i.+, only to have it struck harmlessly upon its chest and fell on to the ground! Lin Feng and Yuan Chongxi, in the midst of their indescribable panic, were so petrified that they could do nothing to help. I grimaced with both confusion and horror made my stomach turn. Even the peach wood sword and glutinous rice were useless against them! How was this possible! I had never dealt with the undead myself before! Should I have brought along the hooves of a black donkey (mentioned in Zhang Muye's fantasy novel Ghost Blows Out the Light)?

But I realized that the sword still managed to inflict some pain to them. I leaped aside and rushed at the shorter Jiangs.h.i.+, hacking at it furiously with my sword! All of a sudden, the short Jiangs.h.i.+ drew something from its robes to parry my blow! With a loud "Crack!", my wooden sword was splintered into two! I was stunned, before my confusion was overwhelmed by a surging fury. "D*mn! These are not Jiangs.h.i.+! They are humans in disguise!" I roared in disgust.