Incense smoke curled through the Buddhist hall. On the enormous mural, a lovely face mirrored withered bones, while the gaunt old monk seated on the Lotus Seat recounted his tale in a low, unhurried voice... It all seemed like a dream, steeped in a soothing atmosphere.
Tanlin's aged voice, as still as an ancient well, echoed through the hall, drawing his listeners into memories from forty years ago.
"Chen Shigu spared my life for the moment and instead imprisoned me in a ruined temple. Before the Buddha stood a brand-new, empty coffin. I guessed he had prepared it to take Yuan Xu back to Luoyang.
"Chen Shigu wanted to force me to calculate the depth of the silt left by the flood, the original riverbed's location, landmarks, and other details, hoping to deduce the underground position of Yuan Xu's grave through numbers. At the slightest objection or delay, he sliced flesh from my arms to torture me. He frightened me so badly that my heart and courage shattered, and I had no choice but to obey.
"The short sword he wore every day had originally been a rusty iron rod. After it took countless lives, the rust slowly flaked away, revealing the faint Bronze Script characters 'Fish Intestine.' I realized it was the famed ancient sword Zhuan Zhu had used to assassinate King Liao, and suddenly understood where the antiques he had handled over the years came from.
"Yuan Xu first met him on North Mang Mountain, that auspicious burial ground emperors, generals, ministers, and high officials of successive dynasties had flocked to like ducks. He said his home was nearby. Perhaps he merely prowled beneath the earth nearby.
"For the next month, I calculated vast quantities of numbers while wracking my mind for a way to survive. I exhausted