When we went back, we began discussing the possible places that Zheng Tong might have escaped to. But the surrounding regions were nothing but a desolate no man’s land; miles and miles of barren wastelands where no one could survive. An urgent call for help would also require at least a day or two for the police to arrive from the nearest station.

I shook my head helplessly, looking at Yuan Chongxi, who looked at me too. I could see that he too loathed Zheng Tong very much, since his teacher had suffered a tormenting ordeal at the hand of Zheng Tong’s father. “Zheng Tong’s father, Zheng Haoshan, was the one that had caused great pain to my teacher!” he muttered bitterly, “The suffering that he bears even to this day, was also that evil monster’s handiwork! But I do not think Zheng Tong is an overly smart and careful man. He was hardly careful enough when he thought he had us.” I nodded in agreement. “He would not have been in such a pitiful state now if he was careful enough. From the story he told us about his father, my father might not even be the one who dealt the killing blow. All my father did was only a few instructions to stop the corpse from reanimating. He should have realized that, if he is intelligent enough. He should know better than to antagonize anyone who is capable of putting his father to death with such ease.”

Lin Feng came over, interjecting with a cup of kumis clasped in his hand. “So, you mean that not only Zheng Tong did not flee far away, but he is also lurking around, waiting to strike?” I nodded. “A man of such intellect like him would never appreciate that slow vengeance is never late. I’d hazard he is lying in hiding somewhere, biding his time to strike at us with the suddenness of a lightning bolt. We must be careful and be well-prepared, lest his attempts might succeed.”

We awoke in the middle of the second night following our return to Aunt Ulan’s encampment to the shots of gunfire. Clambering out of our beds and struggling against the drowsy lethargy weighing heavily on us, we heard the cries of “Fire” in the air. The frantic cries of warning helped shake off whatever sluggishness as everyone rushed to help put out the fire after a great effort. The next morning, Aunt Ulan brought us to the site of the fire: the granary of the camp. We inspected the site and found no reason for a fire to break out. That would only mean that the fire was an arson. But there were dogs and sentries manning the boundaries of the camp. How did the perpetrator slip in unnoticed? The granary was rarely opened, yet all signs indicated that the fire began inside the shed. How on earth did the perpetrator slip in? It was a mystery yet to be solved, but I could not help wondering if this was the work of Zheng Tong, even though we did not know what his true purpose of setting off the fire was.

On another note, Lin Feng received attention from several girls, due to his valor and gallantry during the battle at the Black Dragon Keep. A flock of girls swooned around him, begging to see the weapon that was witnessed by many to look like a silvery serpent during the battle. It was his chain-whip; in the heat of the fighting, Lin Feng was dancing around like a ballerina among the enemies that tried to attack him, while his silver whip lashed furiously around him, keeping a protective berth around him while doling out damage with the viciousness of a seething pit viper. But he has the prerequisite skillfulness to wield his whip, injuring only his foes while sparing their lives. I could vaguely remember the gracefulness of his movements as screams and howls of pain wafted into the air around him. Yuan Chongxi and I were so far behind of him in the adroitness of wielding weapons; we were so crude and sloppy that we had killed. Dulled by our churning adrenaline during the fight, it was only when the battle ended, we truly realized that we had killed somebody. Our hands were trembling non-stop at the horror of what we had done. Aunt Ulan came to me after the battle, clearly not noticing my dread, and said, “You did well yesterday, my son. I was worried that you might be panicked at the sight of blood. But it seems that my concerns were misplaced.” Spoken like a true mother, I mused. It seemed a tad disturbing to me that my mother-figure was hardly perturbed over the fact that I had killed someone. Enemy or not, that was a human life nonetheless. The sloppiness of Yuan Chongxi and I had caused ourselves to be tainted by the sin of murder! And our souls were tormented by what we had done.

In the afternoon, Edelweiss, as directed by Aunt Ulan, brought us along in her interrogation of the enemy captives, the bandits of the Black Dragon Keep that survived the invasion. A good number of them had been badly injured by Lin Feng to the point that they would have to suffer disabilities for the remainder of their lives.

Edelweiss dragged one of the prisoners to us, a man whose arms hung loosely by his sides. I gave the man a slap on his face to rouse him from his trance. “Where is Zheng Tong?” I barked, only to have the man stared at me dreamily for a few seconds before he murmured incomprehensibly, “I have had lunch…” Edelweiss shook her head in dismay, and pulled the man up to his feet before tossing him aside and went off to fetch another prisoner. The man was also dazed and lost, similarly in shock to the first prisoner. I gave him a slap on his face and asked also the same question. But the prisoner cried out loud in a streak of insanity, “For the public and community!” I too shook my head with exasperation. “What is wrong with them all?” Edelweiss asked me. “The fire last night is only a diversion; Zheng Tong had caused the commotion so that he could come and turn the prisoners insane so as to keep their lips tightly sealed.” Edelweiss could hardly believe what I said that she turned to the tens of the captives with her mouth agape in shock. “How about expelling their souls from their bodies before questioning them?” Yuan Chongxi asked from beside. “Look at them,” I gestured towards the prisoners, shaking my head and said, “It’s obvious that part of the seven fragments of their souls has been forcibly torn away, hence they have all lose their wits. There’s nothing you can do.” “I can divine the truth with my skills!” Yuan Chongxi raised an arm to suggest like a student in a classroom. “You don’t even have Zheng Tong’s birthdate and time of birth!” I replied, my head still shaking. “I can divine his whereabouts and timing!” He interjected again, and again, I shook my head. “Do you think he knows nothing of your skills? Surely he already has measures that prevent him from being easily traced.”

The following morning, we were awoken by another bout of gunshot noises! But unlike the day before, we heard a cascade of rapid gunfire that came from indoors! I bolted out of my room and heard that the gunshots came from Aunt Ulan’s chambers! This was bad, I thought frantically. Aunt Ulan was in danger! The three of us sped towards Aunt Ulan’s room where chaos and pandemonium overspread the entire building: guards were filing in and out anxiously without revealing to us what happened. We rushed into her room and found Edelweiss coming out. She saw us coming and screamed, “I was just about to look for you! Come at once! The chief is stricken with a sickness!” “Did you notice any symptoms?” I asked. “She’s been possessed! She was screaming and howling like a rabid dog, throwing things around and destroying them! She’d even fired her gun and one of the girls was injured! No one dares to approach her now! It’s fortunate that her gun has only a few bullets in its magazine, and the rest of the girls rushed in to restrain her when her bullets were finished!” I hurried inside. Aunt Ulan looked as if she was just out of bed—her messy and disheveled hair tumbled over her shoulders, and the clothes she wore were terribly rumpled and unkempt. The whole room looked like a battlefield and it still was, for a girl was wrestling against her, trying her best to pin her down! Aunt Ulan screamed wildly like a beast, her eyes blood-shot and maniacal that I even felt myself shuddering when I looked at her!

I went forward and caught her arm to examine her pulse, and found that her heartbeat was erratic. Another check with her middle finger confirmed my findings. Taking out my Spirit Gourd, I took a mouthful of water and spat at Aunt Ulan, who immediately froze before white foams began sprouting from her mouth and she fell unconscious. I muttered an incantation and aimed the mouth of my gourd at her, but nothing! Nothing was expelled from her body! She was not being possessed by any foul spirits or ghosts! Then I remembered, my Spirit Sight had not noticed any foul energies radiating from her when I came. She was possessed, but not by ghosts or foul spirits. I examined Aunt Ulan’s pulse again; this time, her heartbeat had returned to normal. A few more minutes passed, and she finally woke up. One of the girls came hastily with some water for her while another helped Aunt Ulan up and the two girls led her off to wash up. I waited for Aunt Ulan who came back after her belated morning rituals. A girl came to her, bringing a cup of Mongolian suutei tsai (Mongolian milk tea) for her; Aunt Ulan took two small gulps from her cup and I took her hand. “How are you feeling now, Godmother?” I asked, “Do you feel uncomfortable or unwell?” “Just a little wheezy,” she said, “But I’m feeling better now!” I took my leave and asked my companions to come with me for breakfast we would discuss after eating, I told them. But before leaving, I told Edelweiss to give me a call if anything went wrong and we would be back after our eating.

Yuan Chongxi snapped suddenly once we left Aunt Ulan’s room, “Why the rush to have breakfast? Why can’t you just eat with your godmother? She just comes her sense and needs you by her side!” Lin Feng and I traded weird looks. In most times, Yuan Chongxi was dull and dumb, if not a complete blockhead. Yet now, here he was, chastising me for not being filial! Still staring at each other, Lin Feng and I murmured in unison, “Is he truly dull or not?” Then we burst out laughing.

We laughed and laughed at the sudden change of Yuan Chongxi’s demeanor, much to his chagrin. We went back to our rooms, which were similarly constructed to the dwellings of northern China, and I extracted my phone from my pocket and clicked on my father’s number. I waited as a tone beeped and barked to my father about Aunt Ulan when the call was connected; I elaborated to him everything about the similarities between her symptoms and that of a ghost-possessed person, and the fact that I had found no ghosts or spirits present in her. What this could be, I said at the end. There was a beat of silence over the line until Father spoke, “Have you examined her pulse?” “I have. It was unstable and volatile that even her middle finger was throbbing wildly. She was restored after I spewed a mouthful of consecrated water from my gourd, the same as how ghost-possessed patients are cured!” From the other end of the line, my father’s voice came again, “Have you ever heard of the Venomous Curse of Yunnan?” The name surprised me. “You’re saying that Aunt Ulan’s been cursed?” I asked and Father, confirming my question, said, “But the caster of the curse have to physically perform the spell upon the victim in order for the magic to take effect. He has to be around.” “I understand now, Father!” I said at once. With my search for inspiration complete, I ended the call and turned to Yuan Chongxi. “Tell me, my dull brother, what do you think my father would do if I were to call my father in front of Aunt Ulan?” I asked him, “Do you think he would speak to her if Aunt Ulan takes my phone from me? You know as well, that my father is an extremely shy person. Father would surely have my head if things were to go south!” Yuan Chongxi looked blankly at us following my explanation. “Leave him be, Brother,” said Lin Feng, “It’s already a great improvement for him to notice that we should not have left your Aunt Ulan…”

We finished our meal and returned to Aunt Ulan’s room where we enjoyed some suutei tsai and we discussed the recent mysteries. “Godmother,” I asked Aunt Ulan, “Who is able to have direct contact with you when you sleep? Wait, I’ll rephrase: who is able to come into your room when you sleep?” “This…” she thought and answered, “the girls attending me all can.” Immediately, I called loudly, “Edelweiss! Please come in!” Hearing my voice, she came into the room. “Can you tell me, who are the ones who had come into this room yesterday night?” She gave a moment of thought and replied, “I was sleeping at another room just outside. I am sure no one came in!” I paused and pondered. “The enemy still has yet to achieve his goal,” I said to Aunt Ulan, “He will come again tonight! We will set a trap for him and wait!” “What should we do?” Aunt Ulan asked. “Have two lambs slaughtered. We need lambs with no horns,” I said, “Skin them both and chop off their legs and ears. Stuff them with hay and shape them into mannequins like scarecrows, complete with legs and arms, before dressing them up with you and Edelweiss’ clothing. We’ll hide them in your beds tonight, wrapped in your blankets as if you are sleeping there while both of you will sleep somewhere else tonight. Assign some of your girls to us who are strong enough to ride the horse with each one of us. Have the girls armed as well and instruct them to rest now, for we need them at their best tonight!” Aunt Ulan directed Edelweiss to make the preparations quickly and quietly without causing much alarm. I took out two talismans and handed them to Edelweiss, instructing her to paste the talismans one on each of the mannequins once the decoys were ready.