Chapter 57

Jin Wuya spoke the word "admiration," but his gaze toward me held pity.

He walks this path too; as my senior, how could he not know its dangers?

And how could he not see that I'm merely a sacrifice?

We met by chance, and he's willing to tell me these things; I feel grateful.

I gave a wry smile and said, "Boss Jin, you're joking—who would willingly sink into a mire if not compelled by dire necessity?"

Jin Wuya took a sip of tea, seeming to ponder something, and after a while said, "Actually, a formation like this must have an eye; if Xiao Jiu Zhanggui finds the eye, there might still be a way out."

The eye?

As soon as he said that, I immediately thought of the well under the big scholar tree in the front yard of Dang Pu—the Eight Trigrams well.

If I must point out where Dang Pu's formation eye is, it's definitely this well.

After all, the well's mouth bears such an obvious seal.

I fell into thought, and Jin Wuya chuckled, saying dismissively, "I was just speaking offhand; Xiao Jiu Zhanggui needn't take it to heart, after all I'm only a dabbler—don't drag Xiao Jiu Zhanggui down."

I shrugged, unbothered: "If Boss Jin is just a dabbler, then I can barely count as having just entered the door; even if I found the eye, I lack the ability to break it, right?"

"That's not wrong," Jin Wuya said. "Dang Pu concerns the safety of all Wufu Town; once broken, Wufu Town will surely face catastrophe—this is a major matter, not easily spoken of."

With that topic exhausted, Jin Wuya and I each lowered our heads to sip tea, fell silent, and then I shifted the subject: "Boss Jin, the two items I showed you at Gui Shi that day are still here; if you're interested, we can close the deal today."

"Actually, I've been hesitating these past two days," Jin Wuya sighed deeply, as if making a great resolution. "I could have traded you various pure yang or pure yin items, but the matter of the Golden Scale has weighed on my heart for over twenty years; perhaps, with Xiao Jiu Zhanggui, I can find a breakthrough."

My mind turned over and over—Jin Wuya's words had hidden meaning.

I probed, asking, "Do you really have news of the Golden Scale?"

"Over twenty years ago, my master died over this matter," Jin Wuya said slowly. "Xiao Jiu Zhanggui should know I'm a deceitful craftsman, and I relied on my master for many years."

"My master once enjoyed great fame on this path, with countless people seeking his help; around sixty years ago, he was invited to a temple to help inlay a piece of Golden Scale into a temple bell. Twenty years ago, the temple's abbot personally sought my master, saying the Golden Scale had slightly chipped, and asked him to redo the inlay."

"But after that occasion, my master fell gravely ill, hastily handed over the family business to me, and then… passed away."

How could this happen?

Jin Wuya gripped his teacup so hard his knuckles whitened: "This is a knot in my heart; I feel my master must have encountered something in that temple, otherwise his constitution wouldn't have succumbed so suddenly, yet I've visited that temple countless times over the years and found nothing suspicious."

He paused, lifted his eyes to me, his gaze filled with pain: "Xiao Jiu Zhanggui seeks the Golden Scale, and I too hope to find clues about my master's death on that piece; I think this deal can be done."

Of course it can be done!

I immediately responded, "Fine, let's set a time—I'll accompany you back to that temple, and of course I'll also give you the pomegranate carving and the 'Jie Lie' plaque."

Jin Wuya declined: "Xiao Jiu Zhanggui, you're being polite; since we each have what we want from this trade, I shouldn't take more of your things."

I laughed, "Jin Zhanggui and I hit it off at first sight; I'll surely trouble you in the future, so you must accept these two items."

As merchants, we value reciprocity.

I even entertained the idea of poaching Jin Wuya to work at Dang Pu—how could I be stingy?

Jin Wuya thought, then said, "All right, I'll take those two items; after remodeling and selling them, we'll split the proceeds fifty-fifty."

I nodded in agreement.

Afterward, Jin Wuya told me the temple's specific details in full; I returned to Dang Pu, fetched the two items for him, and agreed to meet again in two days.

The reason I set it for two days later is that I wanted to wait for Li Qingying.

Today is already the second day since she left; if nothing unexpected happens, she should be back by tomorrow night at the latest.

Last time she was badly injured, I'm uneasy; I need to see her return safely in person before I can relax and attend to other matters.

After seeing Jin Wuya off, I returned to Dang Pu and began searching on my phone for information about that temple.

This search actually turned up quite a bit of information.

That temple lies at the border between Jiangcheng and Huicheng, and is called Jiyu Si.

Jiyu Si was originally just a small temple; its fame rose sixty years ago when a great drought struck the region—supposedly no rain fell for three years, and the fields yielded nothing.

At that time, the abbot of Jiyu Si set up an altar to pray for rain, but to no avail for months.

Unable to bear the people's suffering, the abbot sat upon the altar in flesh and blood to offer sacrifice to heaven, moving Shang Cang, which brought a great rain that saved the masses.

From then on, Jiyu Si's incense flourished, and it remains so to this day.

Everything seems quite normal and also moving.

At least, I see no problem for now.

It seems we still need to go to Jiyu Si to find out.

On the second night, Li Qingying indeed returned.

She looked quite fatigued, bearing many wounds, but she was much better than last time.

I prepared food, letting her eat her fill before washing up and resting.

At breakfast the next day, I told Li Qingying about our plan to go to Jiyu Si.

She immediately said she wanted to go with me.

I shook my head: "It's fine; I'll go with Jin Zhanggui, just to have a look—we'll be back by evening at the latest. You stay home, rest well, and I'll talk to you when I return."

Li Qingying, however, refused: "I'm fine, I've recovered; I'll drive you there."

I couldn't argue with her, so I agreed.

We met Jin Wuya at the edge of Wufu Town, and by noon we had already arrived at Jiyu Si.

That day happened to be a weekend, and quite a few people were coming up the mountain to offer incense at Jiyu Si.

What surprised me was that a large proportion of them were young people.

Jin Wuya had been there many times and knew Jiyu Si well; he led us straight through the front hall to the rear, into the large courtyard behind.

In the center of the courtyard stood a large bell, its frame wrapped in red and gold ribbons, from which hung countless wooden plaques.

Each wooden plaque bore a wish.

Around the bell burned much incense; obviously, it had been turned into a wishing bell.

I also bowed to the clock tower, then examined it closely, feeling it tall and heavy, with a faint aura of Merit surrounding it.

I found nothing unusual.

I shook my head at Jin Wuya; a flicker of disappointment crossed his eyes, but perhaps he hadn't held high hopes for this trip either, so he quickly composed himself and said, "Since that's the case, let's go down the mountain."

I was about to respond when a noisy clamor came from nearby, as if two girls were arguing over a lot.

One girl wore a red dress, the other a smoke-gray sports outfit.

A little monk beside them bowed to the girl in red and said, "At Jiyu Si, lots are drawn three times a day; first come, first served. If you sincerely seek a lot, please come early tomorrow."

Saying that, the little monk tried to take the lot cylinder from the red-dressed girl's hand and give it to the girl in smoke-gray sportswear.

But the red-dressed girl was haughty: "I have to work tomorrow; the lot cylinder I got, I must draw first."

The smoke-gray girl didn't back down, reaching out to snatch it.

In this back-and-forth struggle, a lot flew out of the cylinder and shot straight toward me...