Chapter 66: Wu Laosi
Clang! Clang! Clang!
After three rounds of gongs and drums, the grand performance began.
Troupe Master Luo Shihai truly deserved his reputation as an opera fanatic. Even a play created purely to mock and curse people in veiled ways had been properly structured and crafted with flair.
The story told of a vile scoundrel in Xianyang who tyrannized the people. In the end, he had fathered a foolish son who secretly molested one of his father’s concubines and was crushed to death in a fit of rage by the scoundrel himself. The fool’s resentful spirit then drifted aimlessly before possessing a monkey. Thereafter, it transformed into a demon ape, stirring chaos everywhere and bringing disaster upon the land.
Upon hearing it, a righteous hero climbed the mountain drunk, beat a troop of monkeys until they screeched in agony, and finally slew the demon ape.
The story itself was simple, even somewhat crude. The performers were not famous actors either; some were even newly accepted apprentices. Yet they displayed an impressive number of signature skills.
The youth playing the foolish son had white paint between his brows and across his nose. He wore a red bellyband, and performed the balancing lamp while singing vulgar little tunes. An oil lamp rested atop his head while he rolled, flipped, and swayed left and right. The lamp remained steady as a mountain, its flame never extinguished.
The fool’s mother, driven to death by anger, stepped onto a stool, slipped a white silk noose around her neck, and kicked the stool away. Her entire body hung suspended high before the stage, a stunt known as great hanging.
Then there was the actor portraying the demon ape. Three pairs of fangs flipped and shifted inside his mouth, constantly changing position as his face twisted into something savage and terrifying. It was the famed fang juggling.
“Excellent! Excellent!”
“Another one!”
The endless display of tricks and stunts drew wave after wave of applause from the audience.
That was how jianghu performers took revenge. Even if they couldn’t truly do anything to you, they could still invent all sorts of stories to ridicule and humiliate you. If they weren’t allowed to criticize openly, then they would mock you in secret.
This play never once mentioned the Zhou Family by name, yet every scene pointed straight at them, insulting them in the most vicious ways possible. The common folk didn’t care. The Zhou Family already had a terrible reputation to begin with, and with all these entertaining stunts, the audience watched with relish. Once they returned home, they would surely spread the story everywhere.
No wonder the White Ape Gang had tried to blockade the theater before. What was the difference between the play and the troupe cursing the White Ape Gang to the face?
While the audience’s attention remained fixed on the protagonist, Li Yan spent the entire performance watching the martial clown actor portraying the old monkey, his brows occasionally furrowing.
This was Wu Laosi. He looked utterly ordinary, and his stage presence was unremarkable. More importantly, Li Yan couldn’t smell the slightest trace of anything unusual from him. Hadn’t Shopkeeper Wan said the man specialized in traversing the nether?
Wang Daoxuan had once explained the profession of Yin Crossing to him. Ordinary people couldn’t do it. One had to possess a proper lineage and open one’s Intent Root before the soul could leave the body and enter the underworld.
Such people usually carried lingering Yin qi around them. Simply approaching them made others feel uneasy. However, Wu Laosi didn’t seem like that at all. Just as Li Yan was feeling puzzled, the servant from earlier approached carrying tea and melon seeds.
He respectfully placed them on the table and lowered his voice. “Brother Li, once your business here is concluded, our troupe master wishes to meet you.”
As he spoke, he gestured upward. Li Yan followed the direction of his gaze. An elderly man was leisurely drinking tea on the second floor of the opera hall. Though dressed modestly, his bearing radiated wealth and status.
It was none other than Luo Shihai, the master of the Eight Trigram Sect in Xianyang. Li Yan immediately cupped his fists in greeting. He could roughly guess what the man wanted. Now that the Zhou Family had fallen into misfortune, everyone wanted to strike while they were down and wipe this blight from Xianyang.
Li Yan was naturally willing to assist them. The only thing was, saving Wang Daoxuan mattered more. He simply didn’t have that much time...
***
With a final crash of drums, the play at last reached its end.
By that point, the audience had become fully immersed. As they watched the righteous hero pin the demon ape to the ground, raining punches upon it before driving a spear through its chest, everyone felt deeply satisfied and rose to their feet cheering.
“Bravo!”
“Kill Monkey Zhou!”
The Zhou Family had committed no shortage of evil deeds. The White Ape Gang and the Iron Blade Gang had long run rampant throughout Xianyang, and there were clearly many victims within the crowd. Some gritted their teeth in hatred, tears filling their eyes.
Up on the second floor, Luo Shihai nodded in satisfaction. Wild geese left cries behind when they passed; men left their names behind when they died. The Zhou Family not only had to fall; its infamy had to remain for a hundred years before the hatred in his heart could finally be eased.
Meanwhile, Li Yan and Sha Lifei had already been led away by the servant through a side door, bypassing the backstage area and entering a large courtyard behind the theater, where the performers normally lived.
Luo Shihai was wealthy and generous toward his people, so a spacious residence had been built. In the courtyard, young boys practiced child martial arts techniques. Inside some rooms, performers could be heard vocalizing and training their voices.
The servant led them to a secluded room near the woodshed and smiled. “Master Wu likes peace and quiet. He’s also handy with tools and often repairs stage props for the troupe, so he lives here alone.”
Then he stepped forward and knocked on the door. “Master Wu, they’ve arrived.”
If Li Yan was personally visiting, carrying an invitation signed by an elder of the Xianyang Artisan Guild, even a fool would realize that the old man, who usually kept silent and unnoticed, was no ordinary person.
Naturally, the servant’s attitude had become far more respectful.
The wooden door opened with a creak. The man who appeared was a thin elderly figure with plain features, yet he possessed a remarkable physiognomy. His forehead was broad, with two raised bulges.
He had a massive forehead, and according to physiognomy texts, he possessed both the Hidden Rhinoceros Bone and the Giant Tortoise Bone, a sign of immense wealth and high status.[1]
Such a person was said to possess great ambition, unwavering resolve, and iron determination. Even if he failed to become a pillar minister of the state, he would still become an important regional authority. There was surely a story behind why a man like this would end up in such circumstances.
The old man looked at the two of them and sighed softly before turning and walking back into the room. “Come in.”
Li Yan and Sha Lifei exchanged glances before following him inside. Though the servant burned with curiosity, he remembered Luo Shihai’s instructions and the rules of the jianghu. Respectfully shutting the door, he left the group alone to talk.
The moment he turned around, a young woman suddenly appeared before him. She wore green robes and possessed a beautiful face tinged with heroic spirit. Her eyes sparkled with lively intelligence.
Curiously, she asked, “Zhuzi, those two are bladesmen, right? One of them even fought a life-or-death match recently. What are they looking for Uncle Wu?”
“Oh heavens, Miss Lu!” The servant nearly jumped in fright and hurriedly dragged her farther away. “You should stay out of jianghu matters. Troupe Master Luo already knows about it, so stop asking questions.”
“Fine, fine...” Though she verbally agreed, the curiosity in her eyes only deepened.
***
Inside the room, silence filled the air between the three men.
Li Yan finally could not help but ask, “Senior Wu, is this matter difficult to deal with?”
He had already explained everything, yet after hearing the story, Wu Laosi had done nothing but sigh repeatedly, his expression shifting unpredictably for a long while.
“Difficult?” Wu Laosi finally let out another long sigh. “It’s far worse than difficult. When I first fell into misfortune and wandered into Xianyang, it was Shopkeeper Wan who saved me. I never expected the day would come when I would have to repay that debt with my life.”
Sha Lifei was deeply worried about Wang Daoxuan’s safety. Already anxious, he immediately grew dissatisfied at Wu Laosi’s behavior.
“I say, Senior, if you have conditions, just spit them out. We’re in a hurry to save someone and don’t have time to...”
Before he could finish, Li Yan grabbed him. Turning toward Wu Laosi, Li Yan spoke in a solemn voice, “If there’s some difficulty, please speak openly. If you fear exposing yourself and attracting enemies, I’m willing to draw my blade and settle the matter for you.”
“A blade?” Wu Laosi chuckled bitterly. “A blade won’t help much.”
He slowly stood up, picked up a small hoe beside him, and crouched beside the bed, digging beneath it for a while before pulling out a wooden box. The box was clearly an antique, with fine lacquerware from the Qin or Han era. Though ancient, it remained remarkably well-preserved.
Wu Laosi’s hands trembled as he wiped away the dust coating its surface. Then he removed a key hanging from his neck and slowly opened the box.
The instant it opened, Li Yan’s expression changed slightly. He could smell a frosty yin qi similar to that of ghosts, yet it carried an overwhelming sense of authority. Inside the box were dense coils of red string, along with yellow talismans folded into triangular shapes that had been placed at the four corners and center, representing the Five Directions.
At the very center lay a small rectangular wooden token. It had been carved from Sinking Yin Wood. It was black and glossy, covered in intricate blood-red markings.
Just looking at it caused Li Yan and Sha Lifei’s hairs to stand on end.
Sha Lifei swallowed hard as he asked, “T-this... What is this thing?”
Wu Laosi sighed, “Since you are both people of the mystic path, I’ll stop hiding it. This object is called a Summoning Writ.”
Sha Lifei’s eyes widened in shock. “A Summoning Writ?!”
Even Li Yan frowned deeply, finding it hard to believe. “That thing actually exists? You’ve got to be kidding!”
According to old folk tales, when someone’s lifespan had already ended yet they stubbornly lingered in the mortal world, underworld officials would appear carrying a warrant and drag them down into the netherworld.
That warrant was called a Summoning Writ.
1. This refers to a combination of noble bone structures in Chinese face reading, specifically the 'Hidden Rhinoceros Bone' (a straight, prominent bone from the nose bridge to the forehead) and the 'Giant Tortoise Bone' (thickened bones behind the ears extending to the back of the head). In traditional belief, it indicates a born leader, supreme authority, and immense success. ☜
