Chapter 202: Masked Beast

Not long after the tough lass named Han Duo left, Pangzi burst out laughing and walked over to me.

"Damn it, you heartless bastard, you just watched me get beaten and didn't even help!" I shoved away the hand that was helping me up and cursed.

Pangzi spread his hands, shrugged, and replied in five words: "I don't hit women!"

Regarding this chauvinistic display of Pangzi's, I looked down on him severely. It's a bad habit… but I don't need to change it.

"By the way, what's that lass's background? I feel afraid of her for some reason, and I don't know what kind of thing that long whip of hers is—just looking at it makes my heart race."

Although we had only been sparring with martial force earlier, without using any magic, for some reason Han Duo gives me a feeling of fear, as if her body possesses an innate suppression of my aura. Even so, I feel that even if I used my magical power, I might not gain an advantage over her.

Pangzi pondered for a moment, then said: "Her body carries the aura of witchcraft! And it's very pure witchcraft!"

Daoist practitioners are never strangers to the term "witch"; any Daoist doctrine is inseparable from witchcraft. But Pangzi said that Han Duo's aura of witchcraft is very pure—could she be from the Plowshare Witch Sect?

Pangzi laughed: "Never mind which sect she's from; in short, this lass is no ordinary person, and she's also quite lovable in temperament!"

"Holy shit, you can actually say something so against conscience! I think you're trying to say this lass is as money‑crazy as you are." I gave him a sideways glance.

Unlike Pangzi's view, I can't help but wonder what's really going on in Han Duo's mind. She's clearly strong in ability, her martial and mountain arts are on par with ours, yet why does she love money so much? It's as if she never saw money in her past life, and in this life she can't open her eyes at the sight of it.

"Sigh, I think you shouldn't get hung up on Han Duo's identity and personality; we should instead figure out how to deal with this situation!" Pangzi raised his head, gazed at the empty, ruined temple, and sighed: "Do you think we should still investigate?"

"No need to investigate; we can't find anything now, let's go back." In this empty ruined temple, there's nothing obvious except a broken Buddha statue—no trace of any monster, not even a snake, insect, rat, or ant.

"Well, that's all we can do," Pangzi said as he led the way out of the ruined temple.

……………………

On the way back, Pangzi and I felt somewhat heavy‑hearted. Our heaviness wasn't due to the monster's eeriness, but because we didn't know how to face Old Lady Huang—how could an elderly person bear the cruel reality of a white‑haired person sending off a black‑haired one?

"You two little masters, are you back? Have you found my son Biao?" As soon as we stepped inside, Old Lady Huang leaned on her cane and hurried anxiously toward us.

"Uh… we didn't find him; Chen Biao must have wandered off far!" After stammering out that line, Pangzi and I made up an excuse and ran into the room.

But secrets can't stay hidden forever. Even if we didn't say anything, someone would still tell Old Lady Huang. Chen Biao's corpse lay dead under the big banyan tree at the village entrance—given such a serious case, how could the villagers possibly not know?

The next morning, villagers going to market discovered Chen Biao's corpse and recognized him. Early that day, the bustling villagers knocked open the door of Old Lady Huang's house.

Finally, the elderly lady couldn't bear the grief of losing her son, she fainted from tears, and the villagers eventually sent her to the town hospital.

Watching this scene, Pangzi and I felt even worse! If everything is predestined, then aren't we the source of this misfortune? If Pangzi hadn't placed the watch‑grass on the windowsill, and if Chen Biao hadn't been called back last night, would none of this have happened?

"Since you know that even eating and drinking are fated, why blame yourself? Even if I hadn't called Chen Biao back last night, he would have died just the same. He's committed too many sins and errors; even at death's door he shows no remorse—death is merely an inevitable outcome for him. The ending was already decided." Although Pangzi was the initiator of the whole affair, he is clearly more able to let go than I am.

"I suspect that the monster is hidden in the gold and silver Chen Biao brought back!" Before I could recover, Pangzi threw another bombshell at me.

"What are you saying? The monster is hidden in the gold and silver? Then how did we not notice it last night?"

Pangzi didn't answer me; instead, he sat in his chair, head lowered, deep in thought.

"Actually, when I divined yesterday, I discovered that the Gate of Death had entered the palace, indicating Chen Biao's days are numbered. Of course, life and death are heavenly secrets, and I also didn't want Old Lady Huang to be so heartbroken. That's why I kept it to myself."

"You called Chen Biao back last night to see if there was a chance to spare him from calamity?" I asked in surprise.

"Yes," Pangzi nodded heavily, then slowly shook his head. The meaning was ambiguous.

"If that's the case, why didn't you drag him back? Instead you helped me beat him and just watched him run away?" I was even more puzzled.

"Sigh..." Pangzi rubbed his temples, weary: "It turns out I did have that idea, but as soon as I saw Chen Biao, I began to hesitate..."

"Why hesitate?"

"Because Chen Biao isn't a good person. His hands are stained with the lives of many innocent girls; I see many resentful spirits lingering around him, and I hear many voices full of hatred swirling around him." Pangzi loudly interrupted my words. Then he slowly rose, walked over to me, and patted my shoulder.

"Actually, I didn't mean to keep it from you on purpose. This divine ability is something I only came to understand later; even my father never told me." Pangzi patted my shoulder with an apologetic smile.

"No need to say more, I understand." I replied with a smile.

The divine ability Pangzi spoke of is likely related to Huaguang Ancestral Master's Third Dharma Eye. Perhaps the reason he stood by and watched was because he saw something on Chen Biao.

Perhaps all of this can only be explained by the saying that everything is predestined in the dark.

"Let's get back to the matter at hand." I took a drag of my cigarette, scratched my forehead, and said: "You say the monster is hidden in Chen Biao's gold, silver, and jewelry? How did you come up with that idea?"

I looked at Pangzi, puzzled.

Pangzi said: "Actually, the reason I can be so certain is that after I returned, I carefully pondered the words of that red‑clad beauty—that is, what Han Duo said."

"What did she say?" I scratched my head, utterly confused. My impression of Han Duo is just three words—tomboy. To put it more deeply, it's only seven words—money‑grabbing tomboy. Thinking of her makes my heart feel like it's being cut by a knife.

"Still feeling sorry for your money? Give it a rest!" Pangzi looked at me, who was in mental anguish, and rolled his eyes.

He took a cigarette from my pack, lit it, took two puffs, then asked me: "Do you still remember what Han Duo said the moment she walked in?"

"I remember, I'll never forget." I recalled in a deep tone: "She said 'Auntie, my mother,' then kicked me in the stomach with her boot."

Thinking of her, besides my heart feeling like it's being cut by a knife, my stomach hurts too!

"Damn, can you be serious?" Pangzi smacked my head hard and said: "I'm asking, do you still remember what Han Duo said she had been chasing for several days after she came in?"

"What thing? The Masked Beast, of course!" I blurted out without thinking.

At that moment, the atmosphere in the room suddenly turned eerily quiet. After a spell of silence, Pangzi slowly replied to me: "Perhaps the mastermind behind all this is the Masked Beast."

"What the heck is this Masked Beast? Is it related to Thailand's masked amulets?" I kicked at my curiosity and stared intently at Pangzi.

"No," Pangzi shook his head: "The masked Buddha is the masked Buddha; the Masked Beast is the Masked Beast."

"Then what exactly is it?" Seeing Pangzi's expression, I felt the origin of the Masked Beast was far from simple.

"Ahem," Pangzi straightened his posture and said: "First, you can understand the relationship of the three words 'Masked Beast' literally. The premise of a Masked Beast is that there must be a beast. Yet the act of masking the face is something only a person can do. From this you can infer that the origin of the Masked Beast is something that shuns the light. You can also imagine why a Masked Beast would have to mask its face from birth." Pangzi leaned toward me, his eyebrows lifting on both sides, revealing a meaningful smile.

I hardly had to think before four huge red characters appeared in my mind.

"Man‑beast xx"

By the time I reacted, all I saw was Pangzi's lecherous grin—damn, I felt an urge to beat him to death.