The Tale Never Ends

Big Sister looked morosely at the retreating back of the old man as he disappeared into his hut. She gave me a look that seemed to say a thousand words and I knew what she was thinking. I raised a hand, indicating my understanding of her notion.

I panned my gaze unto Chongxi again who understood me and took out his slingshot. He spoke to it, saying, “Would you girls be willing to accompany the old man for the rest of…” “No need,” the raspy voice of the old man came suddenly from inside the hut, “I refused to leave, partly due to you people. Somehow, their long watch for your arrival has become something that we shared. Whoever it was they were waiting for had become whom I was waiting for too. For tens of years, we would wait together and finally, you’re here and the long watch has come to an end and this is where I should bow out.” He came out from the hut, carrying a bundle on his shoulder reminiscent to how travelers in ancient times carried their belongings.

“Old man, th-this… you’re…” I stuttered and he grinned, “Well, my children are too busy for me. But my grandchildren are all grown up now. It’s time I join them.” He paused briefly to look at the house which had seen many a great springs and winters coming and passed, and sighed, saying, “And it is time for this old house to be demolished to make way for the new.” He hung his bundle off the end of a stick and hoisted it over his shoulder and began walking away. “But old man, do you even know the address of your grandchildren’s home?” “I’ll find out!” He called out without looking back. I ran to him and stopped him. “Wait, old man. We’re not in the 19th or 20th century now. It’s a ruddy sea of people out there. How’s this? We can let the developers build you a new home. Once it’s ready, you can come back here to stay.”

The old man cast a bemused look at his back and pointed his finger in the same direction. “What of the alleyway that runs through my house? The people to the Northern side use this lane quite frequently…” “Rest assured that I’ll have them build it into a proper one with stones and mortar path.” At last, the old man nodded, satisfied.

A long, muddy path ran through the center of the compound of the old man’s residence where the main hall was supposed to be and the old man had kept his compound open so that travelers could use the path freely. We were all surprised to hear that despite his own plight, the old man was still concerned about the welfare of others, worried that others might need to detour a longer distance if the muddy path was closed off after the courtyard was demolished.

The old man narrowed his eyes at me suspiciously, “Really? You’d ensure everything will be done as you just said?” “Course! Of course I would!” I said hastily, nodding profusely, “I, I have money!” It was the only pretense that I could come up for now. But while he was wizened and frail, his mind was still as keen as a whetted blade. He looked at Lin Feng, Chongxi and everyone else, asking, “Really? He’d do as he says?” “Of course!” Came a roar from them. “Very well then,” the old man grinned at last although it subsided just as quickly as it came as something came to his mind suddenly, “Urm… So… Now that my house’s being demolished, where shall I put up for now?” Blinking my eyes blankly for seconds, I was lost for words. Then I thought of the Taoist priest. I quickly threw a look at him and he quickly caught the unspoken gist and declared aloud, “You can stay at my place! My place will work just fine!” “But where are you staying now?” The old man asked him, watching him incredulously.

The priest slapped his chest lightly, saying, “The developers gave me a hotel room when they hired me. You can stay there with me for now until your new home is ready then you can come back here again!” “Oh, that seems to be quite an imposition, Master Priest,” the old man grinned again and the priest immediately clasped his hands together, saying humbly, “Certainly not! Please come with me, old man!” And he led the old man away.

We saw the old man out of the compound of his old house. He took my hand and shook it, saying, “Thank you so much, young man. You’re even helping me with the money for a new house and a new path for everyone…” “It’s nothing, old man,” I beamed at him, saying, “You have taken care of our trees for so many years. This is the least we could do for you.” “These trees…” He sighed with a tinge of melancholy. “If only you could see them in spring… The blossoming buds in all their splendor… Now that’s a sight to behold!” “It must be, old man,” I agreed, saying, “It must be quite a sight indeed.”

Leading at the front, the Taoist priest beckoned, “We’ll take a ride with my car, old man.” “Wow, I thought you came riding on an ox, just like the founder of your order,” Lin Feng quipped to which the Taoist priest could find no words to respond. His reaction showed that he must have read the famous story of Water Margin before.

By now, the crowd of onlookers had expanded with half outside and the other half inside the compound and a chorus of chatter and whispers rose. “Look, the old man is leaving,” one man said. “Yeah,” another answered, “It has been days since I saw him outside.” “Then what has he been eating then?” “I don’t know. There were rumors about young girls making food for him. But no one knows from which family did they come from?” We listened to the exchange quietly, smiling as we watched the priest ushered the old man into his car before he came back to us. “My apologies for the rudeness just now,” he said and I replied, “It’s fine. Just a small misunderstanding.” The priest bowed. “I heard your conversation with the Celestial Master. He called you…” “Shiyan,” I continued as he broke off, returning the bow, “Murong Shiyan, at your service.”

He inhaled heavily with the distinctive hint of recognition. “You’ve heard of me, Master Priest?” “Your surname’s Murong, so Murong Hai’s your…” “Father. He’s my father and this is my elder sister, Murong Qinglan.” I gestured at Big Sister behind me. The priest gave an apologetic bow to her but Big Sister merely snorted with scorn and ignored him.

“I see, I have been a fool. My apologies, truly,” the priest said again. I gently held up a hand, indicating that everything was fine. But he reminded me of something. Something that I had to ask, “Ah, yes, Master Priest. That Talisman of the Celestial Master you used earlier. That’s not your own conjuration, wasn’t it?” The priest blushed and responded diffidently, “No, I’m afraid. The seal for the Talisman was written on talismanic strips by one of our earlier Celestial Masters. I had only three of them.” I nodded quietly, feeling slightly sorry for him. So he had had to use up two of his remaining three heirlooms and now he had but only one left, all because of Big Sister and me. The Celestial Master Zhang who had appeared just now must have sensed the commotion here the moment this Taoist priest had used his first Talisman. Otherwise, I could think of no other reason behind his timely advent. There was no way the immortal would make such a rare appearance only because I apologized to him for any rudeness to his student beforehand.

“It’s true,” the priest heaved a long breath, saying, “My school of magic originates from Mount Longhu, even though we have long left Jiangxi.” “I know,” I nodded and said, “Mount Longhu is only a tourist attraction now instead of the sacred sanctuary for Taoist magecraft it was once.” The priest gave a nod at that

The priest turned to leave. But before he did, he wished to confirm with me, saying, “So you’re sure you would handle things on this end with the developers?” “Leave it to me,” I said. He must be referring to the matter of the new house for the old man. The priest looked uncertain even when he was getting on his car. Nevertheless, he decided to trust us and he drove off with the old man.

After they had left, I turned to the crowd and yelled, “All right! Show’s over! Scram! Scram!”

The onlookers dispersed and Edelweiss asked, “So, what now?” I looked at her and smiled. I spun around and signaled to Chongxi and Lin Feng who gestured their understanding. The rest, including Big Sister, watched us with puzzled frowns, not knowing what mischief we were going to concoct this time.

We went to the builders of the demolition team and I asked, “Who’s in charge here?” A short, stocky man wearing a safety helmet emerged, stretching his sinewy neck churlishly and answered in a gruff voice, “I’m the foreman here. Who’s asking?” I stared at him and rolled my eyes. So this is the fool behind this fiasco. Yet here he is, acting like a big honcho, I mused and scoffed. “You can start demolishing this house and its compound now. But we’ll need you to build him a new house nearby so that he can come back to stay. Do we have a deal?” I asked the foreman.

The foreman gave me a look as if he was looking right into the face of a madman before he burst into fits of guffaws. “Who do you think you are?” He blurted and I replied placidly, “I’m asking if we have a deal and if you’re authorized to sanction it.” “Of course, I can,” he gasped between fits of titters, “But why should I? No, I will not!” I breathed an “Oh?” and swung my arm, smacking the foreman precisely on his cheek, and repeated my question again in the same still voice as he reeled with the shock and pain, “I repeat, do we have a deal and would you sanction it?”

The slap came as a shock, and the foreman rounded on me, his mouth opened, his nostrils flaring, and fire building in his belly. “GET THEM!” He roared and a bunch of burly men, each heavily-muscled and clad in safety helmets, surrounded us menacingly. Lin Feng looked around us and asked indifferently, “Ever seen a pileup in American football?”

Twenty minutes later, after a purgatory of cheap shots and quick punches and kicks into the groin, Lin Feng sat atop the pileup of badly-beaten and heavily-bruised men, casually lighting himself a cigarette as he stared down the now-frightened foreman. The chunky and corpulent man shuddered with fear and his lips quivered as he mumbled an unworldly litany of garbled sounds. What a far cry from the proud and aloof man he was a half-hour ago. “So, do we have a deal? Will you authorize it?” I asked again. The foreman fished out his cellphone and fumbled with it as he tapped on the screen, hissing sinisterly, “I’ll have your hide for this! I swear! Let’s see what the cops have to say about this!” Chongxi yawned lazily and quipped, “Go on ahead then. Save us the trouble. Remember to tell them we’re part of the Criminal Investigations Division.”

The foreman shivered again when he heard who we were. But that did not stop him from tapping on the “Call” button. A young, exuberant voice answered the call, saying loudly, “Hello, this is the Wu Zhong County Police Department.” The foreman was about to speak when I chipped in, “Tell’em I’m Murong Shiyan.” The foreman obediently nodded and spoke into the mouthpiece, “Hey, is this the police station? I’m calling from the demolition team outside the city. We’re being mobbed by a bunch of guys. Their leader’s name is Murong Shiyan!” A beat of silence came over the line before the officer on the line began saying something long and windy to the foreman. He froze and slowly handed his phone to me. “He, he, he wishes to speak to you.”

I took over the phone, trying to suppress my snigger when the young voice yelled my name. “Hello? Is that Shiyan?” I acknowledged with a curt “Hmmm” and the officer continued saying, “This is Wang, Shiyan. What’s happened there?”