With a scream, Granny Yan collapsed on the mat. "Leave,” snapped the widow. “Granny Yan needs to rest."
The widow was just about to drag me away when Granny Yan ordered, "Cui Huan, leave us!"
When the widow left, Granny Yan sighed, "I thought I would bring this secret with me to the grave, but I never imagined it would be discovered by you. You’re right, God is watching. Even after death, I will not be at peace. Come back tonight after the you hour and I will tell you what you want to know."
I breathed a sigh of relief and bowed, "I apologize for the offence."
"No, it’s not your fault. It’s the guilt speaking." Granny Yan fluttered her sleeves, “Go!”
Upon exiting Granny Yan’s home, Song Jie looked at me in shock, "How the hell did you do that?"
Keeping mum about the Eyes of Yama, I carelessly replied, "I blew it out."
"I'm not talking about the candles. I mean the words..."
In fact, I wasn’t sure at the time, but I did notice Granny Yan dipping her finger into that little bottle. My guess was the mystery lay in there. Thus, I ventured and succeeded.
Some time later, I read about this trick from a book about the mystic arts of the Jianghu. The sandalwood incense was actually specially made. Upon burning, it released tiny water droplets while the little bottle was filled with putty. The principle behind this miraculous phenomenon was similar to rain condensation. The tiny droplets of water automatically condensed on the putty particles so writing in incense was made possible.
Eventually, I used this little trick against a charlatan.
After the you hour meant 8:00 pm. There wasn’t much to do during the day so I stayed in the old manor reading and had dinner with the family at night. Song Xingchen and Song Jie insisted on joining me but I argued, "She said to go alone!"
“We’ll just wait for you outside," persuaded Song Xingchen.
"Alright then!" I nodded.
When we arrived outside Granny Yan's home, I knocked on the door several times but received no reply.
"Could she be asleep?" asked Song Jie.
Right then, smoke drifted out the gaps around the door. "Oh no!" I shouted.
Song Xingchen kicked the door down and what we saw was a mess inside. When I broke into the back room, I found a pile of straw burning, the smoke making it hard to keep our eyes open.
Song Xingchen grabbed a piece of cloth to put out the fire but it burst into flames. The arsonist was insidious, having buried flammable materials under the straw and poured combustible liquids onto the beams. Flames grew at the slightest ignition which soon set the beams and roof on fire.
Song Xingchen dragged me out of the house while Song Jie was nowhere to be seen. Panicking, I scrambled to save her but Song Xingchen assured me, "She will be fine."
Just then, Song Jie leaped out of the window, coughing vehemently.
"Ahh, fire!"
"It's Granny Yan’s home!"
Alarmed, the neighbors ran out one after the other. The three of us standing in front of the burning house were conspicuous to say the least. "Did you do this?" accused one of the villagers.
It suddenly dawned on me that someone had deliberately set us up.
"That’s not important now. Put out the fire first!"
"Song Lao’er, watch these three arsonists. Don't let them get away."
Some of the villagers went to fetch water while others came to monitor us. Song Xingchen stopped them, “You don’t have to do anything. We’ll stay right here."
Song Jie's face was gloomy as a bitter smile rose to her lips, "If my mother finds out about this, she’s going to kill us..."
I looked up, only to see the old manor still brightly lit. There was no way Song Heting would miss the blazing flames in the village.
The villagers transported water in barrels and put out the fire. In the blink of an eye, all that was left of Granny Yan's home was a pile of wooden frames burned into charred ashes and a few earthen walls. There was a sudden commotion in the crowd before someone cried, "The village chief is here!"
Upon noticing the three of us, the village chief exclaimed, "Aren’t you Song Heting’s nephew? What are you doing here at night?"
Someone immediately came up to him and explained, "They were the ones who set the house on fire. This boy has been strolling through the village for the past two days and he looks like he’s up to no good..."
Before the man could finish his sentence, Song Jie kicked him in the butt and chided, "Song Lao’er, watch what you say. My cousin is here to investigate a case."
The villager named Song Lao’er immediately stopped talking. At the time, I thought perhaps Song Jie was too unrestrained. Later on, I learned of the disorderly lineage of the Song family in the village. The middle-aged man's seniority was actually lower than that of Song Jie’s so she had every right to teach the younger generation a lesson.
"Investigation?" The village chief asked, "What case are you investigating?"
By this point, there was no need to keep the case under wraps so I came clean to the villagers. "Ladies and gentlemen, in fact, I was ordered by the elders to investigate an old case. I am a criminal consultant of the Public Security Bureau. There’s a body hidden in the sacred tree in the village."
Discussion rang out among the villagers. "Are you kidding? How can there be a dead body in the sacred tree?"
"Even if there is, how do you know?"
"Hmph, a young one like you? How dare you lie without blinking! Don’t you think we’d know if someone in the village died?"
"You’re all part of the Song family. Even if you’ve not seen much, you should know the unique skill of Organ Echolocation!"
The villagers stopped talking at once, though some of them whispered of their doubts in the crowd. Because they were descendants of the martial Songs, no one had ever studied Organ Echolocation.
The village head cupped his fist towards the mountain, much like the ancients when they mentioned the holy land. "Since the elders have ordered it, we should support him. But can you explain the fire?"
"I don't know anything about it. The house was already burning when we arrived," I said.
"I saw the three of them come out of Granny Yan's home!" shouted one of the villagers.
"If we were the ones who set the house on fire, would we be stupid enough to allow witnesses and risk our lives?" My lips broke into a bitter smile.
"Who knows what the hell you’re thinking? Anyway, you’re covered in soot and the last ones to leave this house are the three of you," retorted the man.
"It takes fifteen minutes to get here from the old manor. My aunt, Song Heting, can prove that all three of us were at home at 7:45."
The village chief offered to compromise, "Let's not talk about this first. We’re all descendants of the Song family. If you have something to say, there’s no need for anger. Now the key isn’t the fire, but Granny Yan? Where is she? We can confront her and get to the bottom of the matter. Have the three of you seen her?"
I shook my head.
A thought suddenly struck me–perhaps Granny Yan set the fire and fled from the village because she didn't want us to know the truth.
Right then, a woman suddenly exclaimed, "Sir, there’s blood in his pocket!"
I looked down, only to see my trouser pocket stained with blood. There seemed to be something inside. Wrapping my hand with my sleeve, I removed the contents and found a blood-stained iron walnut.
At that moment, the world seemed to spin around me. Wasn't this the inheritance token of the shaman that Song Jie mentioned? It should have been in Granny Yan's stomach!
The villagers broke out in a frenzy and someone screamed, "Oh my God, he killed Granny Yan!"
5-7 pm (in the system of two-hour subdivisions used in former times)