Chapter 38: Red Wedding Dress, Black Hemp Rope

Cai Bin said this much, even the usually bold Li Qingying couldn't help but glance at him from the rearview mirror.

But Cai Bin's following words were even more horrifying: 'Actually, if my wife were merely obsessed with that painting and happened to love singing that song, I could still accept it, but about half a month ago, she bought some fabric from somewhere and started sewing a wedding dress at home in silence.'

Cai Bin paused, took out a tissue to wipe the sweat from his forehead, then opened a bottle of mineral water and gulped down a few sips, after which his tense mood eased considerably.

He continued: 'That wedding dress is bright red, embroidered with large patches of lotus flowers using gold thread, but my wife never knew how to embroider before—she could barely thread a needle—yet suddenly her embroidery became superb, the stitches so neat they seemed worthy of heritage listing; she embroidered for half a month, finished the dress, and then began twisting rope…'

Squeak…

A sharp screech of brakes suddenly sounded; Li Qingying pulled over, turned to face Cai Bin, and asked, 'What did you say? Twisting rope?'

'Yes, it's twisting rope.' Cai Bin kept wiping his sweat, 'Two hands twist the black hemp strands together into a rope as thick as a thumb; when I slipped out today and took a secret look, it was already this long.'

Cai Bin gestured with his hand, conservatively estimating it to be about fifty to sixty centimeters long.

Red wedding dress, black hemp rope…

Li Qingying and I exchanged a glance, both of us having the same suspicion: 'Your wife has finished the red wedding dress and twisted the black hemp rope—is she preparing to hang herself on the fifteenth night of this month?'

Cai Bin nodded directly: 'That's exactly what I fear—it's too eerie. Earlier I tried to take down that painting and burn it, but my wife cried and carried on with me until I finally got her to sleep; when I went to light it, the painting… the little pilgrim figures on the stairs seemed to have come alive, twisting and screaming incessantly; the painting wouldn't burn, and it scared me half to death.'

Even though many days have passed since the incident, whenever Cai Bin brings it up he still feels a lingering fear.

'I also had people come look at it before, but since family disgrace shouldn't be aired publicly, I kept it quiet; the few I consulted were all charlatans, wasting a lot of money for nothing. Later Tang Xun somehow heard about this and had me come to you, saying you might want to collect this painting.'

According to Cai Bin's description, this painting must be a heavily yin and evil object, so of course I want to collect it.

But I'm also uncertain whether I can collect it with my own abilities, so I said, 'Mr. Cai, I can come to your house to have a look, but I can't guarantee I'll be able to collect the painting; I've just left my thatched cottage, my abilities are still shallow, so please bear with me.'

'No problem, I trust Xiao Jiu Zhanggui.' Cai Bin said firmly, 'I also trust Tang Xun's judgment; anyone she recommends is sure to be reliable.'

All right, I inexplicably feel the pressure is a bit great.

Upon entering Huicheng's territory, I was drawn in by the local distinctive architecture; the beautiful scenery soothed my uneasy feelings.

Cai Bin lives in a half-mountain villa in the suburbs of Huicheng, luxuriously decorated, showing that his family is wealthy.

As soon as we entered, Cai Bin asked, 'Where is the wife?'

A man dressed as a butler replied, 'The wife is still upstairs, she hasn't left her room.'

Cai Bin nodded, signaling the butler to serve tea.

After taking a few sips, I suggested we first go upstairs to see the painting, and Cai Bin immediately led me up.

In the small sitting room off the master bedroom on the second floor, Cai Bin led us over, and we happened to see his wife holding the black hemp rope with both hands, measuring it against her neck.

We were so frightened we nearly lost our souls; just as we were about to rush forward to rescue her, the woman shook her head, apparently feeling the black hemp rope wasn't long enough, sat back down, and continued twisting the rope.

She kept her head lowered, expression focused, while we three able-bodied people stood at the doorway of the sitting room, as if she hadn't noticed us at all.

The painting hung on the wall of the small sitting room; I leaned forward to look, but couldn't make out the image, so I said, 'Mr. Cai, could you please ask the wife to leave the sitting room for a moment? I want to examine the painting closely.'

Cai Bin responded, and shortly afterward he brought over a cup of tea, coaxing his wife to drink it sip by sip.

After she finished drinking, she soon collapsed onto him and fell asleep.

Li Qingying and I walked up to the painting and looked at it.

The whole image pretty much matched Cai Bin's description.

I had thought such a heavily yin and evil object would at least show some yin evil qi swirling around it, but to my surprise, I not only failed to see any yin evil qi on the painting, instead I saw a faint golden light glowing around it.

It was actually the power of merit!

How could this be?

I moved in closer and examined the painting more carefully, yet I still found nothing amiss.

Recalling Cai Bin's account of having burned the painting, I took out a lighter and directly set fire to the lower right corner of the scroll.

No matter how hard I tried, the flame wouldn't catch; but just as Cai Bin had previously said, the little figures on the stairs in the painting seemed to come alive, and a chorus of sobbing came from within the picture.

They were all the sobs of young women!

When I moved the lighter away, the image instantly returned to calm.

Cai Bin sent his wife back to the bedroom to lie down, then approached and whispered, 'Did Xiao Jiu Zhanggui notice any problem?'

I shook my head and told him truthfully, 'No.'

Cai Bin felt a bit disappointed, but out of respect for Tang Xun's face he didn't press the matter.

I kept staring at the painting, and the longer I looked, the more puzzled I became.

Why are all the little figures on the stairs in the painting dressed identically in red wedding dresses, kneeling?

Why do they all appear here in unison, and what are they supposed to do in that palace?

Red wedding dress, black hemp rope, fifteenth night, hanging in a row…

Hanging in a row!

My heart gave a sudden jolt—could it be… could these little figures have agreed to enter the palace together to hang themselves?

No.

Impossible…

It seemed I had thought of something; I turned to Cai Bin and said, 'May I borrow your wife's red wedding dress and black hemp rope?'

'Of course.'

Cai Bin said that and went to fetch the red wedding dress, while I bent down to pick up the black hemp rope that had fallen to the floor.

I had Cai Bin step aside, had Li Qingying stand in the corner, and instructed her to keep a close watch on me from now on, and to wake me immediately if she noticed anything abnormal.

Once everything was arranged, I put on the red wedding dress Cai Bin had produced, tightly gripped the black hemp rope in my hand, and stood again before the painting.

I slowly raised my hand and reached toward the building depicted in the painting.

Almost in an instant, the scene in the painting seemed to be infused with life and came alive.

The brilliant sunlight above the palace turned into a full moon hanging high.

Candles lit up inside the palace, and faintly one could see a shadow hanging high from the beams, swaying with the wind.

And at the palace entrance, three girls in large red wedding dresses stood side by side, each with a black hemp rope as thick as a thumb hanging from her neck!

They all stretched out their hands toward me in unison, grabbed my right hand that lay on the painting, and pulled me as we walked toward the palace……