Chapter 23

All of Xiagui had been thrown into a seething uproar by Wei Xun and the others, and even the magistrate's private residence had suffered. Several women in Wu Zhiyuan's household had fainted in terror at the white snakes. With the Prison Ward broken open and its prisoners freed, no one had any attention to spare for the Yang father and daughter under house arrest. Leading the donkey, Yang Xingjian took his daughter Yang Fangxie away, quietly and without fuss.

They found a small, out-of-the-way inn to stay in for the time being. Following Baozhu's instructions, Yang Xingjian went out and bought a large jar of good wine. By then, rice prices in Xiagui County had risen to an incredible level, and many of the poorest residents were going hungry. After listening to the talk in the streets for a while, Yang Xingjian felt certain that Wu Zhiyuan could not keep the city sealed much longer. Otherwise, official oppression might drive the people to revolt.

Dawn had yet to break, but no one could sleep. People gathered to discuss the strange apparitions in the city, all saying the same thing: "The snake demon manifested its power and became a flood dragon! It's come to Xiagui to reclaim its pearl and take revenge. The city gates can't hold it back!"

Others mentioned that someone in the County Yamen had gone mad from fright at the snake demon, drawing his saber and hacking at people, injuring quite a few.

Before long, Wei Xun, Huo Qi, and Thirteenth Son climbed through the window one after another. The three who had stirred up wind and waves throughout Xiagui that night were now gathered in a single room, all in high spirits, their faces full of the mischievous delight of a prank well played.

Baozhu made a point of examining Thirteenth Son closely. His upper body was bare, and he wore only a pair of close-fitting drawers, with his monk's robe tucked under one arm. The little boy's skin was torn all over, covered in lash marks, and the blood on his face had already dried. Her nose stung and her eyes burned at once. Choking back a sob, she opened her arms and pulled him into her embrace.

Caught off guard by the hug, Thirteenth Son felt only how soft and fragrant she was. He became mortified, blushing red right up to his scalp, and hurriedly wriggled free. Retreating into a corner to put on his monk's robe, he said over and over, "I'm filthy. I mustn't dirty your clothes, Ninth Lady."

Huo Qi doubled over with laughter, then turned to tease Wei Xun. "Regretting that you never worked harder on your external training, senior brother? If taking a beating could earn her tender-"

Before she could finish, Wei Xun cast her a sinister look, a smile still on his face. Knowing she would surely die if she went on, Huo Qilang rubbed her nose and cut herself short.

Baozhu saw that although Thirteenth Son had been tortured, there was no weakness in his movements. He could still scale walls and climb through windows, as lively as a dragon and vigorous as a tiger. He was only a few years older than her younger brother Li Yuanyi, she thought, yet his muscles were distinctly firm and his sinews and bones well defined. He truly was different from ordinary boys, and she gradually felt reassured.

She broke the clay seal on the wine jar herself to celebrate their safe return.

Wei Xun and Huo Qilang both had bottomless capacities for drink, emptying every cup poured for them. Yang Xingjian, however, became thoroughly drunk after only two cups. Red-faced, he got up and launched into a whirling Hu dance. His skill was astonishing: he spun and swept about like the wind. Though he knew not a scrap of martial arts, he was truly a master of the dance floor.

Yang Xingjian's official rank was too low to enter the palace hall and meet the emperor, so Baozhu had always assumed they had never met before. Only now did she recall a minor official in green who had attended last year's Mid-Autumn moon-viewing banquet with her elder brother, Prince Shao. His low status had placed him far from the seats of honor, and she had paid him no attention.

At banquets in Great Tang, professional musicians were not the only ones who performed. Guests of every rank sang and danced to enliven the occasion and display their talents. Without dancing, there was no banquet; without music, no feast. The emperor, the crown prince, dukes, ministers, and chancellors would all perform a piece when the mood took them.

That day's banquet had been especially lively. Halfway through the drinking, many officials raised their cups in toasts and began dancing and singing, until the palace hall resembled a wild revel of demons. Baozhu remembered that the minor official in green had danced with particular exuberance and grace, rivaling the foreign youths who performed Hu leaping dances professionally. For a time, he had stolen the entire show, and everyone present had applauded and cheered him.

Seeing his dancing again now, Baozhu remembered at once. Understanding dawned on her. "So it was you!"

They drank while admiring Registrar Yang's superb dancing. When they spoke of how the jailers had been frightened out of their wits by the white snakes, everyone clapped their hands and laughed.

Although Wu Zhiyuan, the magistrate of Xiagui County, had imprisoned the Yang father and daughter under pressure from Bao Lang, he was still guilty of serving as the tiger's accomplice. Baozhu had not wanted to use anything of his, but then she reconsidered and gave all the gold and silver jewelry he had offered as a bribe to Huo Qilang, as payment for helping with the prison break. Receiving her money so quickly, Huo Qi was naturally overjoyed and repeatedly praised Lady Yang's generosity.

As for the set of Hu Garments commissioned when they left Green Micro Temple, it had torn while she was climbing the wall. Baozhu would never wear clothes that had suffered even the slightest damage, so she kept the two sets of blouses and skirts given to her by Wu Zhiyuan's wife.

After they had enjoyed a round of drinking, Baozhu said, "I think I've worked out how that lame tombstone carver stole the White Snake Pearl. I just need to compare it with his account to confirm it."

Wei Xun raised his eyebrows in puzzlement. "You mean he did it himself?"

Baozhu nodded. "My thinking was wrong from the start. When I saw that the lacquer box was like the things I used before, I never considered that there might be a substitute."

Everything used in the palace, large or small, heavy or light, was a unique treasure painstakingly crafted by skilled artisans. If something was accidentally damaged, there would be nothing identical anywhere in the world unless another was specially commissioned. It never occurred to anyone that a replacement might exist. Beautiful as such things were, they were far less convenient than goods sold in shops. But Changzhou's craftsmen were renowned throughout the land, all skilled enough to serve the imperial household. Making another identical lacquer box was entirely possible.

"I copied the handwriting on the note and had you put the counterfeit back, playing a trick of swapping the beams and replacing the pillars. What if the lacquer box itself was a counterfeit too?"

Wei Xun immediately understood what she meant.

Everyone had assumed that a master thief like Wei Xun, capable of soaring through the heavens and burrowing into the earth, had climbed into the pagoda to steal the treasure. Even his own junior sister had suspected as much. The authorities had followed the same line of thought in seeking suspects, arresting even street performers who trained snakes and monkeys. None had imagined they had been wrong from the very beginning.

Baozhu said, "If the lacquer box was replaced before it entered the Many-Treasures Pagoda, then however tight the security or sturdy the structure, the tombstone carver never needed to go inside. Whether he was lame or blind wouldn't matter. The craftsmen traveled with Bao Lang and entered Xiagui with him. They had every opportunity to act."

Wei Xun reflected that if her guess was right, it would resolve his greatest uncertainty. Perhaps the imagined master of lightness skills had never existed at all. It had merely been a group of ordinary people with no martial arts, committing the crime through trickery.

After considering it, he said, "That explanation makes sense, but surely Bao Lang, Wu Zhiyuan, and Liaoru wouldn't merely inspect the outside of the box without opening it to look at the White Snake Pearl? Didn't they notice it was empty?"

Baozhu shook her head. "That's the part I can't understand either. We might as well ask Chen Yu directly."

Wei Xun tilted his head back, drained his cup, and rose to leave.

Baozhu quickly called out, "I'm coming too!"

Huo Qilang said, "How could I miss something this entertaining?"

Still drunk, Yang Xingjian also shouted, his elderly face flushed, "Don't think you're leaving this old man behind this time!"

Everyone wanted to go, but Baozhu refused to let Thirteenth Son accompany them. She told him to stay in the room, clean and bandage his wounds, and get some proper rest.

They set off for the empty house where the tombstone carver was being held. Riding the donkey, Baozhu was overwhelmed by a sense of familiarity. She had always scorned its ugliness before, yet after so many days apart, she had actually missed it a little. She rubbed its shaggy head twice, and the donkey immediately answered with a bray.

Looking down at Wei Xun, who was leading it by the reins, she noticed a large hole worn through his boot. A moment's thought told her he must have kicked it apart while wreaking havoc on Xiagui County's rooftops earlier. She took out her purse and tossed it to him. "Go buy a new pair of boots."

Wei Xun seemed not to have noticed it himself. He glanced down and said indifferently, "I'll mend it myself when I have time. There's no need to buy new ones."

Baozhu was deeply displeased. Frowning, she said, "How can someone in my company wear torn boots? It's unbearable. Go buy some!"

Wei Xun looked back at her strangely. "They're on my feet. What's unbearable for you?"

Baozhu said indignantly, "It would be one thing if I hadn't seen it, but now that I've noticed, I won't be able to stop looking at that hole. How can I endure that?" She thought for a moment, decided she must not favor one over another, and added earnestly, "Remember to buy Thirteenth Son a new pair too."

After she urged him several times in sharp, stern tones, Wei Xun had no choice but to agree to buy them shortly. He inwardly sighed that her extravagant spending would leave their travel funds even more stretched, but it was her money, and she had the final say.

When they reached the abandoned house, Wei Xun sprang up onto a beam. The tombstone carver was indeed still lying helplessly where he had been left, so Wei Xun reached out and hauled him down.

Chen Yu remained resolute, insisting that he had acted alone and refusing to implicate his accomplices. Wei Xun said, "Although I swore never to dig up another grave, my junior sister made no such oath. If we open the coffin, will we find the White Snake Pearl, or another identical lacquer box? You didn't bury it very deep, so it should be easy to check. Let's all go and have a look right now."

At those words, cold sweat broke out on Chen Yu's forehead, and his breathing grew rapid.

Seeing his reaction, Wei Xun knew Baozhu had most likely guessed correctly. He looked at her with wholehearted admiration.

Yang Xingjian said sternly, "Since this White Snake Pearl came to light, it has already caused many deaths. It truly is an ill-omened thing. If you don't want to implicate anyone else, tell us the truth at once. There may still be room to maneuver. Stories of the white snake seeking redress are spreading wildly among the people. Don't expect such a demonic thing, which brings calamity to the country and its people, to be presented to the emperor."

Hearing him repeatedly disparage the pearl as a "snake pearl" and a "demonic thing," Chen Yu felt his heart twist with pain. Grief surged within him until he could no longer contain it. Suddenly, in anguish, he threw himself to the ground and burst into tears. "That wasn't a white snake! It wasn't a demon! That was my daughter Yingniang!"

The heart-rending cry echoed through the night, sending a shudder through them all.

Chen Yu was so overcome with grief that he could barely breathe and nearly fainted. He cried out, "There was never any white snake! Bao Lang killed my Yingniang, took the Luminous Pearl from her hands, and then slandered her as a snake demon! I only hate that I'm not dead already. Once I die, I'll become a vengeful ghost and drag him down to hell with me!"

At the mention of Bao Lang, Chen Yu's eyes strained as though their corners might split. Despair and fury filled his face, his graying hair fell loose, and his fingers hooked like claws, digging deep into the earth. He looked as terrifying as a fiend from Avici Hell.

They exchanged glances, all thinking that there truly was an injustice behind this pearl theft.

Once he began, Chen Yu's defenses collapsed entirely, and he could no longer keep concealing the truth. Through his sobs, he said, "When my daughter Yingniang was born, her skin was snow-white all over. Her hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes were white too. Only her eyes were red. The midwife was frightened and advised us to drown her immediately.

"My wife and I had been together for years, and this was our only child. Looking at that pitiful baby, we couldn't follow her advice. We took her to every famous physician in Changzhou. They said she was born an albino, with white skin and red eyes, and no medicine could cure her. Children like her lived twenty-odd years at most. She was destined to die young; we couldn't keep her for long."

At the words "destined to die young," Huo Qilang could not help stealing a glance at Wei Xun. He showed no reaction, merely listening intently.

"I'm from Shijing Village in Yongyang County, Changzhou. Everyone in the village makes a living through one craft or another. I learned to carve stone and engrave tombstones, and my family had a few mu of poor farmland that we rented out. We weren't wealthy, but we had enough food and clothing. So I didn't abandon the child. I named her Yingniang and raised her.

"She could cry and laugh, and she was as lovely as carved jade and fresh snow. Only her mind didn't work very well. No matter how old she grew, she remained as innocent as a small child, skipping about all day and thinking of nothing but play. Since she wasn't going to live long, I never intended to marry her off. I wanted to keep her with me and spare her the hardships a husband's family might inflict.

"When my late father was alive, he didn't want to make his living as a craftsman, so he went away to trade. Once, he spent all his capital buying a Luminous Pearl from a foreign merchant, but he couldn't readily sell it on, so he brought it home. Later, my father died of illness. I knew nothing about business, so I placed the pearl before our ancestral tablets, intending to keep it as a family heirloom.

"In daylight, the Luminous Pearl had the smooth luster of a white pearl, and at night it gave off a glow. It truly was a rare treasure. Yingniang's name came from that glow too. She loved the pearl from the time she was little."

Hearing the tombstone carver describe the Luminous Pearl's appearance, Baozhu looked thoughtful, but said nothing.

"When Yingniang was eight, her mother died of illness. I had a disability in my leg. I wanted to remarry, but no one would have a cripple, so my daughter and I depended on each other. She helped with the housework while I carved tombstones and copied sutras, and somehow we stumbled along. Sadly, just as the physician had said, Yingniang's health gradually worsened, and her sight began to fail. We depended on our neighbors' care to have hot soup and warm meals.

"The year before last, Yingniang turned fifteen. She could no longer make out anyone more than three paces away. She could only faintly see the Luminous Pearl's glow at night, so she became even more attached to it. I thought, how many more years does the child have? And I let her play with it at home."

Weeping, Chen Yu said, "On the fifteenth day of the sixth month that year, I went out to take a job. When I came home, Yingniang wasn't there. I thought she'd gone out to play as usual and didn't worry. But I waited until it was completely dark, and she still hadn't returned. I searched the house and found the Luminous Pearl missing too. Although she was old enough to marry, her mind was still as innocent and carefree as a child's. No matter how often I taught her, she never understood that wealth must be kept hidden, or that human hearts could be wicked."

By this point, they could dimly guess what had happened next, and pity showed in all their eyes. Baozhu kept wiping her eyes with her handkerchief. Yang Xingjian's tears and nasal mucus streamed down, soaking his beard and the front of his robe.

The tombstone carver sobbed, "Leaning on my crutch, I searched with the neighbors for half the night. At last, we found her lying on the road outside the village. Her body had been cut diagonally in two, from her right shoulder to her left ribs. My poor, ill-fated child! Like a pig or sheep slaughtered at a butcher's stall, she lay dead in the open wilderness. The murderer had even wiped his blade on her clothes!"

Wei Xun suddenly asked, "From her right shoulder to her left ribs, with a single stroke?"

The tombstone carver nodded and continued, "Of course, the Luminous Pearl was gone too. I cried for days and nights, but I couldn't find the murderer. I reported it to the authorities, but no one paid any attention. All I could do was wipe away her blood and prepare her for burial. If Yingniang had died when her allotted lifespan ended, I was already prepared for that. But Heaven was blind, to let her die so horribly beneath a blade!" His whole body shook, and he collapsed on the ground, sobbing again.

Huo Qi frowned. "It sounds like an expert using Immortal Crane Descent."

Wei Xun sneered. "Testing a blade on a little girl whose mind never developed? What sort of expert is that?"

Yang Xingjian had been drunk, and thinking of his own daughter, who had likewise died of illness in her early teens, he wept torrents of tears and sighed endlessly. He had long since cast aside the idea of handing the thief over to the authorities.

Choking back sobs, he asked, "When did you learn that Bao Lang was the real murderer?"

Chen Yu's eyes strained with fury, and his clenched teeth ground audibly. "He kept it hidden for an entire year. All that year, I went from place to place beating the grievance drums, but once the officials heard that Yingniang was a short-lived albino, none of them cared. They simply dismissed me. Just when I was about to despair completely and give up pursuing her killer, someone in the village heard a rumor from Xuzhou.

"They said a soldier of the Wuwei Army had slain a snake and taken its pearl while traveling, then presented it to Military Commissioner Cui. When I heard the description in the story-a great white snake, red eyes, a Luminous Pearl embedded in its head-everything became as clear as a mirror. This was the man who had killed my daughter and stolen the pearl, then invented a wondrous tale to gild his own reputation!"

Chen Yu cried, "How could anyone in this world be so cruel and vicious? If he wanted the pearl, all he had to do was reach out and take it. Yingniang was nearly blind. She couldn't even see his face clearly. How could she have pursued him?"

Baozhu and the others understood at last. They had never imagined that such a vicious hidden meaning lay buried in the story.

An innocent albino girl had been coveted by an evildoer and sent to her death simply because she possessed a treasure and looked different from ordinary people. Even after killing her, he had fabricated a tale branding her a demon. Bao Lang must never have regarded Yingniang as a normal human being, which was why he had killed her and stolen her treasure without the slightest restraint.

In a single night, Chen Yu had lost not only his family's treasured pearl, but also the precious pearl of his own flesh and blood, his beloved daughter. Under such a blow, how could he possibly remain composed?

After replacing the Luminous Pearl, he had been unable to resist leaving the eight characters "Heaven knows, Earth knows, you know, I know" inside the lacquer box. It was a warning to Bao Lang that someone knew the truth about his grave crime. With a guilty ghost haunting his heart, Bao Lang had not dared let anyone learn of the note.

Chen Yu said savagely, "I went to Xuzhou several times to follow Bao Lang. By then, presenting the pearl had already sent him soaring to success. From an ordinary halberd bearer, he had risen to Defense Commissioner, with over a thousand soldiers under his command. Adjutants and guards followed him whenever he went out. How grand he was!

"Even if he had gone out alone, how could an old cripple who only knew how to carve tombstones fight a warrior as skilled as he was? Every attempt came to nothing, and I could only swallow my tears and return home nursing my hatred. Then, early this year, the Military Governor's residence sent down an assignment, and I knew my chance had come."

Baozhu said, "Cui Keyong wanted to present the Luminous Pearl to the emperor and needed an ornate container for it. Is that right?"

Chen Yu nodded. "Craftsmen have gathered in Shijing Village for generations, and many renowned artisans have come from there. The authorities often assign us commissions as labor service, so we're accustomed to it. Yingniang had lived in the village since she was little, and the neighbors had helped us a great deal. They all felt sorry for her terrible death.

"So I devised this plan. I asked the lacquer craftsman who accepted the commission to make two identical boxes, and intended to find a way to exchange them along the journey. Although I couldn't take revenge on Bao Lang directly, at least I could reclaim our family treasure."

Baozhu asked, "This is the only part I don't understand. Wouldn't they notice immediately if the box was empty?"

Chen Yu gave a miserable smile. "Naturally, I prepared for that too. The Luminous Pearl had been in my family for over thirty years. I knew its size, shape, and color by heart. Of course I couldn't afford to buy another inch-wide pearl, but I could use something else to fill its place. I searched the markets for a month or two and found a vendor at the vegetable market selling a clutch of white eggs, exactly the same size as the pearl. He said they were bird eggs. I couldn't identify them either, but I spent a few copper coins and brought them home to experiment.

"If a chisel slips while carving a tombstone and leaves a chip, you can fill it with stone powder mixed with tree resin. I used that method, mixing pearl powder into the resin and spreading a thin layer over a bird egg to give it a pearly sheen. So long as it wasn't placed beside the real thing for comparison, I could pass a fish's eye off as a pearl for a while. As for what happened after Bao Lang presented the false pearl to the emperor, that was none of my concern. Ideally, he would be convicted of deceiving the emperor. Then my wish would be fulfilled."

Understanding dawned on Baozhu. She praised him. "What a clever idea!"

Wei Xun asked, "Bao Lang left the Luminous Pearl in the Many-Treasures Pagoda at Lotus Flower Temple. Had you already acted before then?"

Chen Yu said, "I had. Although I racked my brains to devise the plan of exchanging the lacquer boxes, I never knew how to carry it out under the Military Governor's tight guard. I thought all my efforts would fail at the final hurdle. Then, unexpectedly, Princess Wanshou passed away two months ago, and the imperial household began recruiting craftsmen everywhere to build her mausoleum.

"The Military Governor urgently conscripted craftsmen of every trade in Shijing Village, ordering us to ride hard and catch up with the party delivering the pearl so we could all be sent to Chang'an together. Wasn't that a Heaven-sent opportunity? The craftsmen had reason to approach the carriage carrying the lacquer box, and I was a cripple who wouldn't arouse the guards' suspicions. That made the exchange possible."

Never having imagined that she herself would unexpectedly play a part in this case, Baozhu felt a little awkward.

Chen Yu continued, "I thought, at worst, they would discover along the way that the pearl was false. I never expected the false pearl to disappear mysteriously too, creating this major theft case and trapping all of us Changzhou craftsmen inside the city. Though I'd made up my mind to reclaim our family's Luminous Pearl, I never intended to implicate other innocent people. The dead cannot return to life, and I truly have no face left to go on living. What's buried in the grave at the camp is the original lacquer box. The Luminous Pearl is still on me."

He lifted his trouser leg. On the inner side of his disabled left thigh was a large wound three inches long, stitched twice with coarse thread, resembling a hideous centipede. To conceal the treasure, he had actually hardened his heart and mutilated his own flesh, burying the pearl inside it. In the hot weather, the wound had rotted, giving off a foul stench like gangrene.

The tombstone carver exhaled, as though the entire burden had fallen from his shoulders. "I've told you everything I know. You may hand me and the Luminous Pearl over to the authorities for a reward, or kill me now as a sacrifice to Heaven. I deserve my punishment. I only beg you not to investigate what's buried in that coffin any further."

Wei Xun's expression was grave, and a chilling aura radiated from him. He said coldly, "If anyone deserves punishment, you're nowhere near the first in line."