The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 164 Ksitigarbha Hall

Shenghui said "Amitabha" and said, "More than forty years ago, a donor came here and asked many questions about Xu Chunxia. So many years have passed, and when you mentioned this person's name, I remembered her."

"Is this person called Ye Ming?" Qi Fei asked immediately.

"He came to the Glazed Pagoda just like you, but he didn't explain his purpose. He simply stood atop the pagoda and watched the wind chimes for a long time. You all know that on the first day of the lunar month, at the hour of Yin, the Glazed Pagoda will have a spectacular spectacle of projecting a precious orb. This donor, Mr. Ye, came on the first day of the lunar month. I remember it so clearly because the monks at the temple had advised him to leave the mountain after dark, but he waited until the hour of Yin for the 'Heavenly Talisman to Suppress the Night' to appear.

At that time, I was not the abbot of Da Baoen Temple, but just a guard at the Zen gate. I was worried about him staying alone in the courtyard, so I had to stay by his side.

He moved with the moonlight, recording the trajectory of the runes landing on the square.

At that time, Da Baoen Temple did not have the good street lighting conditions like it does now.

I remember that I was holding a lantern to help him light up the notes in his hand, and I saw him take out a map and circle and draw on the notes.

As daybreak approached, he seemed to have gotten the answer and pointed to the northeast corner and asked what was over there.

The poor monk replied that it was the Ksitigarbha Hall.

After hearing this, he asked me to take him to see it.

I still remember that the two of us were standing here just as the day was getting light.

At that time, the Ksitigarbha Hall had just been built and there were not many spirit tablets enshrined.

He found the tablet of Xu Chunxia among them and asked who she was.

"Then who is this person?" Qi Fei asked immediately, as if he was taking over Ye Ming's investigation.

Master Shenghui shook his head slightly. "I was only told of this person's origins before the old abbot passed away. This Xu Chunxia is the ghost wife of Wuyin Bai."

"What do you mean?" Qi Fei didn't understand at all.

However, a hint of understanding appeared on the stiff face of Grandma Meng beside her - she knew.

Zhong Kui said, "Those without a registered residence in life will be consigned to the netherworld after death, and the King of Hell will not investigate their deeds in the mortal realm. It seems this Xu Chunxia is an unregistered resident. No wonder you couldn't find her after searching for so long." Zhong Kui said, looking at Sheng Hui, "So, the legend about the Eighteen Gates of the Mist is true?"

"Back then, I was just a small patrol officer. I only knew that Xu Chunxia was a worshiper at Baicong Mountain, but I don't know anything else."

Zhong Kui looked at Shenghui with a hint of contempt in his eyes, as if to say that the monk was no better than this, and he was always careful to protect himself when encountering problems.

Qi Fei looked bewildered, and asked Zhong Kui as if he had seen a savior: "Are you playing dumb? Why don't I understand anything?"

"I don't blame you. If it weren't for my fortune-telling career and my research on the customs of Nancheng, I wouldn't have known about the Bai family. At the end of the last century, this notorious family was finally wiped out in the campaign against evil forces." The familiar words "evil forces" finally activated Qi Fei's related knowledge: "Bai family..." He muttered, and suddenly realized, you are talking about the Baicongshan criminal group, the famous village tyrants back then. These people built their own strongholds and had homemade firearms. It caused a sensation when they were wiped out. How could this Xu Chunxia be related to this gang?" His head buzzed. He didn't expect that the already confusing "Demon Mirror Case" would be related to Baicongshan.

He suddenly realized one thing - why Ye Ming suddenly stopped synchronizing information with Li Jianjun after tracking down Xu Chunxia.

If it was the Baicongshan criminal group, he knew very well what it meant to Nancheng in the 80s. After the fall of this local tyrant that had been entrenched in Nancheng for many years, it brought out a lot of trouble and brought down a lot of protective umbrellas.

Ye Ming must have realized at that time that things were not simple. In order to protect Li Jianjun, he decided to take on everything alone.

"Baijiazhai is the only village in the mountains in Nancheng. It is said that the Bai family is the descendant of pirates who rose during the Yuan and Ming dynasties. They fled to the mountains and became kings. The lanes in the village are arranged according to the "Qi Men Dun Jia" and have eighteen stone gates. Due to the special terrain, it is shrouded in thick fog all year round, so there is a saying that the eighteen gates are hidden in the fog. It's quite interesting..." said Zhong Kui.

Shenghui said, "The temple doesn't know much about the whole story. We only know that Xu Chunxia was a patron saint of the Bai family. She repaid Donor Ye in the same way back then. After that, he never came back."

"Ha, it seems I'm destined to take advantage of this beautiful weather to travel." Zhong Kui looked at the sunlight filtering through the window lattice and said with a smile, "When I was reading the local chronicles, I was very interested in the Eighteen Gates of the Mist. It seems this time I'll have the opportunity to visit them in person."

Qi Fei immediately opened his phone and searched for information about Bai Congshan. "Bai Congshan was killed during the roundup and standoff. Aside from a few core gang members who were imprisoned, most of them should have served their sentences and been released."
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After noon, Qi Fei and his group walked over the broken leaves under the bluestone archway. Below the mottled words "Wuyin Baishi" was a new antique wooden sign from the Cultural and Tourism Bureau.

Unlike the mysterious scene imagined, the Eighteen Gates of the Mist are now very lively.

The mountain breeze carried the electronic commentary from the tourist loudspeaker through the forest. Qi Fei looked up at the top of the seventh archway - there was originally a defensive net woven with caltrops, but now there was a sign hanging with red letters on a white background that read "Century-old Ancient Village Teahouse 200m away."

The blockhouse where the homemade cannons were once mounted has been given a new coat of paint, and the eaves are crowded with tourists holding selfie sticks. Only the bullet holes in the stone wall are circled in red paint to mark the "Education Point for Combating Organized Crime and Evil."

"Make way! There will be a Nuo opera performance at 10 o'clock!" The porters shouted and pushed through the crowd. The mugwort sachets and broken fog bells dangling from the ends of the bamboo poles looked like rough wholesale goods at first glance.

When Qi Fei dodged sideways, the bronze Taotie door knocker brushed against the back of his neck. The jack gate mechanism that was used to strangle intruders was now stuck with an acrylic warning sign to prevent children from climbing.

After passing the stone gate covered with wild ferns, the real core area of ​​the ancient village is revealed.

At the entrance of the Bai family ancestral home, which is listed as a cultural relic, the couplet on the stone pillar is still there, which reads: "Cypress is inherently strong, and wind and snow cannot destroy its will; the family members share the same heart, and never Don't forget their common roots throughout the ages."

The legendary thick fog was not even seen, perhaps because of its popularity.

In the square, a middle-aged woman in a jacket walked towards us.

"You must be Officer Qi, right? Hello, I'm Chang Ying, director of the Wuyin Baijiazhai Cultural Relics Protection Center and inheritor of intangible cultural heritage."

"Hello, Director Chang. I've already told you the general situation on the phone. We just want to find out about the people involved in Xu Chunxia's ghost marriage around December 1983," said Qi Fei.

(End of this chapter)