The Uninvited Hedgehogs

Zu Ye experienced a rare lapse in judgment—the “Tiansheng Dao” was unusually calm. A few days later, Zhang Jiyao’s eldest disciple, Zuo Yongchan, ascended to the throne and became the seventh-generation master of “Tiansheng Dao.” He continued to preach about the end of the world, but this time the slogan was somewhat different from before. Previously it was: “Heaven and earth face great calamity, the end times are upon us, Tiansheng saves all beings, each shall obtain an immortal body.” Now it was: “Heaven and earth face great calamity, the end times are upon us, blessings come from the East, Manxin saves all beings.”

Zu Ye fell into deep contemplation. Such an important figure had died just like that, died without any clarity—who had such great power to cover up the death of a generation’s grandmaster so quietly?

Mei Xuanzi’s ascension to immortality, Zhang Jiyao’s sudden death, the coffin covered with hair, the uninvited Jia Si Ye—all of this seemed to connect into a single thread. Thinking of this, Zu Ye felt cold all over.

The scheme with Boss He’s daughter still had to continue. Zu Ye knew that there was no turning back now; only by continuing forward would the truth reveal itself. But how to proceed required careful consideration.

According to the plan, they would definitely have to perform a soul-summoning ritual first, appease the departed spirit, conduct some ceremonies, then declare that the girl’s resentment had dissipated, and persuade the groom’s family to marry the girl according to the previously agreed arrangement for a ghost marriage. If the groom’s family disagreed, it didn’t matter—Er Batou could casually use some sleight-of-hand techniques to create ghostly shadows and fox spirits in their house at night, claiming the girl had come looking for them, and if they didn’t agree, the entire family would die—things like that would work.

None of this was important. What was important was that Zu Ye always felt there was a pair of eyes watching him from behind it all, as greedy as a wolf, ready to pounce and bite him at any moment!

Zu Ye spent the entire night pondering bitterly.

The next day after dawn, Zu Ye arranged for Er Batou to lead the way to Boss He’s house. Zu Ye would personally perform the soul-summoning ritual!

Zu Ye had Boss He tear up lots of white cloth and hang it from the roof beams—the main room, south room, east wing, west wing—the entire courtyard was hung with a circle of it. In the middle of the courtyard, they placed a table with an incense burner, candlesticks, three offerings, and yellow paper all complete.

Zu Ye took a handful of millet and a narrow-mouthed jar, placed the millet into the jar, sealed the jar’s mouth with red paper, picked up yellow paper with his sword, burned talismans and recited incantations, paid respects to the Three Pure Ones above and made offerings to the underworld judges below, then pierced a hole in the red paper covering the jar. Following a loud shout, the ghost spirit drilled into the jar.

Then Zu Ye ordered Er Batou to take out the millet from the jar and place it into the deceased’s mouth. The corpse’s mouth no longer had any flesh, it was all skeletal. Er Batou directly poured the millet into the skull’s crevices.

Zu Ye then pasted a soul-settling talisman on the female corpse’s head, thus anchoring the girl’s spirit and soul.

Afterward, according to plan, they persuaded the groom’s family to bury the two together.

Everything seemed to go so smoothly—so smoothly that it terrified Zu Ye. In the dark recesses of his mind, Zu Ye always felt something was wrong, but he couldn’t articulate it.

The date for the joint burial was chosen by Huang Farong. Even swindlers pay attention to auspicious days—Huang Farong used the Mysterious Gate Escape Armor technique to divine and set a good date.

On that day, Zu Ye personally came to the scene, directing a group of people to carry the big red coffin into the pit.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the grass, like rain hitting lotus leaves, approaching from afar. Everyone froze, turned their ears to listen, and wondered where this sound came from. Abruptly, a group of whitish things emerged from the grass nest—no one knew when they had mobilized, a whole pile came rushing out. Everyone looked carefully and saw they were hedgehogs! These little creatures, supporting their bodies with white quills, their bellies bulging, charged directly toward the coffin, as if something in the coffin was attracting them. Hundreds of hedgehogs quickly surrounded the coffin, squealing eerily like phantoms.

The laborers were all terrified. A few of the bolder ones used wooden sticks and pickaxes to drive them away, but unexpectedly these hedgehogs seemed cursed and weren’t afraid of people at all. One by one they stared with scarlet eyes, leaping up and down, their little mouths bright red, ready at any moment to launch an attack. This frightened those men so much they threw down their tools and ran far away.

Then the hedgehogs launched an attack on the coffin. Hundreds of hedgehogs instantly submerged the coffin, their teeth chattering as they gnawed at the coffin boards. The red lacquer on the coffin was quickly gnawed off, revealing fresh wood. From the looks of it, even if they had buried the coffin before the hedgehogs arrived, these hedgehogs would have dug holes to unearth it and would have continued gnawing until they opened the coffin.

The White Immortal’s “Possession”

Zu Ye’s face broke out in cold sweat, his brows tightly furrowed. The old ancestor’s saying suddenly floated before his eyes: “When dark hair covers the coffin, do not meddle, resentment and malevolent energy tangled like hemp…”

Boss He asked tremblingly, “Zu Ye, what’s happening?”

Zu Ye said with feigned composure, “…It may be that the yin energy is too heavy, attracting the White Immortal. Let me perform a ritual…”

At this moment, Huang Farong, standing behind Zu Ye disguised as a Daoist priestess, quietly walked to his side and whispered, “Zu Ye, this is ‘Little Ghost General’! This place is not suitable for staying long—we should leave first!”

Zu Ye glared at her: “In this situation, how can we leave?”

Huang Farong saw through Zu Ye’s thoughts and also lowered her head, nervously thinking of a solution.

At this critical moment, a slight breeze passed by and the tree branches began to sway. Immediately after, a muffled thunder sounded in the sky. During the dog days of summer, wind and thunder were common occurrences, but Huang Farong seemed stimulated by something. Her eyes rolled back white and she collapsed.

Zu Ye was stunned, and everyone present was shocked.

Zhang Zizhan was standing right behind Huang Farong and hurriedly supported her.

Huang Farong’s eyes were tightly closed, her whole body convulsing, making groaning sounds from her mouth. Then her tightly shut eyes suddenly opened, releasing two fierce beams of light as she shouted loudly, “The White Immortal has arrived—why aren’t you all kneeling?”

Zhang Zizhan didn’t know what was happening and anxiously shouted, “Farong! Farong!”

Huang Farong pushed Zhang Zizhan away forcefully and continued shouting, “I am the White Immortal! I am the White Immortal!”

Her voice trembled eerily, making everyone around shudder. At this time, dark clouds slowly rolled in, the sky gradually darkened, and the wind blew even more fiercely, as if it wanted to shake off the trees’ heads. Huang Farong stood in the wind, continuing to emit trembling “eh… eh” sounds from her mouth.

Zu Ye saw through the situation and said to those around, “The White Immortal has possessed her body!”

In feudal society, there was always hearsay—immortals and ghosts could possess people’s bodies, even dead people could possess the living. Such things happened frequently, and common people deeply believed in them.

With Huang Farong’s commotion, plus Zu Ye’s reminder, everyone believed it.

Zu Ye lifted his long robe and knelt down, saying, “White Immortal above, this disciple is performing a ritual today to jointly bury a new couple. I didn’t know the White Immortal would grace us with your presence—my apologies, my apologies!”

Huang Farong said, “I am a white spirit from the foot of Huang Mountain. Five hundred years ago, I was almost cooked by an evil person, but fortunately the young lady saved me, which is why I have my Dao body today. Now that I have achieved righteous fruition, I came here to repay the young lady’s life-saving grace from years ago. I didn’t expect the young lady had already departed this world. You people—before I even arrived, you were about to bury the young lady. Fortunately I came quickly and can see the young lady one last time…” As she spoke, she glanced at those around, “Why aren’t you all kneeling? Are you showing contempt for this immortal?”

The people around finally came to their senses and hurriedly knelt down.

Boss He was the most sincere, prostrating on the ground saying, “I didn’t know the White Immortal was arriving—my apologies, my apologies!”

Zu Ye laughed inwardly: This Huang Farong is resolving an urgent crisis—let’s hear what she says next.

Huang Farong said to everyone, “You all listen to my command—quickly fetch a basket of mugwort. I want to perform an evil-dispelling ritual for the young lady to ensure that she and her husband won’t be entangled by little ghosts on the Yellow Springs Road.”

Zu Ye glanced at Boss He, signaling him to hurry and fetch it.

Boss He hurriedly ordered his servants to drive to a nearby medicine shop and bought several packages of mugwort to bring back.

Huang Farong took the mugwort and scattered it around the coffin, then lit it with incense fire. The mugwort burned, thick medicinal fragrance dispersing into the air. Huang Farong took the opportunity to sing loudly: “A thousand kinds of suffering, ten thousand kinds of suffering, the six paths of reincarnation are the most bitter; why grieve in life, why fear in death, in life and death there’s nowhere to go; today I bring my child to send you off, in the next life we’ll gather with the young lady again; gather then scatter, scatter then gather, five hundred years of cultivation to achieve myself; young lady, one cry decides yin and yang, this immortal repays your grace with mutual promises…”

The hedgehogs around the coffin, upon smelling the mugwort, immediately scattered. Some ran toward the depths of the grass; some ran toward the distant pond.

Seeing that the hedgehogs had all dispersed, Huang Farong’s eyes flowed with two lines of tears. “My benefactor has already taken the Yellow Springs Road, this immortal should also return. I go! I go!” As she spoke, her body stiffened and with a thud, she fell straight to the ground.

When everyone helped her up, she looked at everyone with a dazed expression: “What happened? What just occurred?”

Zu Ye said, “Just now the White Immortal possessed your body.”

Huang Farong wiped the sweat from her forehead, looking very weak. When the wind blew, she nearly fell again, fortunately Zhang Zizhan was behind her for support.

Zu Ye gave the order: “Cover the grave!”

The suona horns sounded in unison. Everyone lifted the coffin into the grave pit and erected the burial mound.

Ghost General Technique

That evening, returning to the headquarters, Zu Ye convened an emergency Council Meeting to specifically analyze the day’s events.

Zu Ye said, “This scheme had its dangers but no mishaps, entirely thanks to Farong’s quick thinking. All brothers of the headquarters should carefully consider this and study it earnestly.”

Huang Farong was ice-snow clever and quickly stood up saying, “It’s all due to Zu Ye’s excellent guidance in ordinary times.”

Zhang Zizhan on the side chuckled continuously.

Zu Ye had heard of “Ghost General Technique” before, but had never studied it closely. Today when Huang Farong suddenly mentioned at the scene that this was “Ghost General Technique,” it still made Zu Ye’s whole body tremble.

“Ghost General Technique” was witchcraft from some Southeast Asian countries, divided into “Little Ghost General” and “Great Ghost General.” The saying goes: Little Ghost General controls things, Great Ghost General controls people. This means “Little Ghost General” controls animals, while “Great Ghost General” controls people.

According to the “Miao-Xiang Gu Technique” records, “Ghost General Technique” was a type of gu witchcraft. Gu witchcraft originated in China—during the Spring and Autumn period there was already the saying: “When grain accumulates for a long time, it transforms into flying gu, called gu.” This “Ghost General Technique” was invented by the Miao tribe’s gu goddess Miss Alei during the late Ming Dynasty.

During the late Ming Chongzhen years, Li Chuangwang led the masses in uprising. The Miao people responded strongly, and for a time there appeared the phenomenon of “Hunan Miao tribes all belong to Chuangwang.” To help Li Chuangwang deal with the imperial court’s troops, Alei used ground dragons from the Tianshan snow peaks as host bodies, implanted extremely fierce horsefly gu into the ground dragons’ bodies, and after several months, perfected the “Ghost General Nether Gu.” This type of gu insect could lurk in people’s and animals’ bodies, capture souls, and control minds.

In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng bloodily battled Ningwu Pass. Alei placed this gu in the government army’s drinking water. After the imperial troops drank it, the entire army became mentally confused with no fighting spirit. Li Chuangwang captured Taiyuan in one stroke and embarked on his eastern campaign.

On March nineteenth, Li Zicheng entered Beijing through Zhengyang Gate. Chongzhen hanged himself, and the great Ming Dynasty fell. Li Zicheng awarded merits, and Miss Alei, considering her contributions great, was smugly proud. Unexpectedly, Li Zicheng issued an execution order for Alei—this was called “killing the hounds after the rabbits are caught.” When he needed you, you could shine brilliantly, but now that the realm was settled, who would dare keep such a dangerous gu goddess by their side?

Huang Farong said, “Capturing souls and controlling minds are all deceptive claims. ‘Ghost General Technique’ is nothing more than using the principle of yin-yang combination. All things are divided into yin and yang, and gu insects are no exception. First, yang-natured gu insects are placed in food or water. The gu insects are extremely small, invisible to the naked eye. After people or animals eat them, the gu insects lurk inside the body and reproduce in large numbers, entering the brain through the bloodstream. Yang governs movement, yin governs stillness. Once people and animals have these yang-natured gu insects in their bodies, they become restless and agitated. At this time, the gu master releases another portion of yin-natured gu insects onto the target object. The yang-natured gu insects smell the opposite sex’s scent and become even more restless, drawing the people and animals to rush toward the opposite-sex gu insects to achieve the purpose of yin-yang union. Once people or animals are subjected to ‘Ghost General Technique,’ they lose control of themselves and are at the mercy of others. Later, some Miao-Xiang women, to deal with heartless men, would put gu on their husbands—if they couldn’t keep his heart, they would at least keep his person. This is the legend of Miao-Xiang demon women that appeared in history.

“When I saw a group of hedgehogs rush out and discovered they weren’t afraid of people at all, I knew someone had applied ‘Ghost General Technique.’ Years ago when I accompanied Fifth Mistress (Qiao Wumei) to visit a gu master in Hunan, I had seen this kind of ‘Ghost General Technique.’ Some were applied to hedgehogs, some to locusts, some to rats… After these animals were controlled, they became abnormally excited. Skilled gu masters could mobilize them to do anything.”

What Huang Farong said was true. After Japan launched its full-scale war of aggression against China, Japanese military shamans widely collected “Ghost General Technique” in Southeast Asia. During the construction of the anti-Japanese lifeline “Yunnan-Burma Road” in 1938, Japanese ground forces couldn’t enter Yunnan’s rear area to sabotage, so they dropped bombs from airplanes. Besides conventional bombs, they also dropped many bacterial bombs with gu insects hidden inside. After exploding, the gu insects scattered into the local forests. Some pangolins ingested the gu insects and were manipulated by Japanese shamans to attack the road under construction. These pangolins frantically burrowed into the roadbed, riddling the road with holes. The Nationalist authorities urgently mobilized local gu masters to burn large amounts of mugwort at the construction site to drive away these small animals, ensuring the smooth completion of the Yunnan-Burma Road.

Gu insects most feared mugwort—mugwort had been an excellent evil-dispelling medicine since ancient times. When mugwort burned, it emitted smoke that entered animals’ bodies through their respiratory tracts. The medicinal properties dispersed, permeating the heart and spleen, and the gu insects in the animals’ bodies would dissolve upon smelling it. Of course, this was for not-so-powerful gu masters and gu insects. If encountering a shaman with profound Dao cultivation who applied “Great Ghost General” on you, relying on mugwort alone would be far from enough—certain Buddhist mantras would be necessary to cleanse the victim’s mind.

After hearing Huang Farong explain the origins of “Ghost General Technique,” everyone deeply felt the magic of gu witchcraft and began discussing it with great animation.

Zu Ye fell into contemplation. Who had applied the “Little Ghost General,” first sneaking into the coffin to tamper with it, creating the false appearance of a hair-filled coffin, then applying “Little Ghost General” again to sabotage the ghost marriage scene?

While deep in thought, Xiao Jiao came to report that a friend from Shanghai’s newspaper industry had come to visit. Zu Ye took out his pocket watch and saw it was already midnight at the zi hour—there must be something urgent. He quickly said, “Please show him in! Have him wait for me in the study!”

The visitor was a deputy editor from the newspaper, surnamed Wu, given name Junran. He was an inside contact at the newspaper that Zu Ye had bought with heavy money. Zu Ye’s major newspaper manipulations were all done with Wu Junran’s help.

Wu Junran dispensed with pleasantries and directly took out a piece of paper. “Zu Ye, look at this!”

Zu Ye took it and was greatly shocked! It was a news article with the headline “Ghost Marriage Fraud Exposed, Iron Fortune-Teller’s Successor Meets Waterloo.” The content roughly said that Zu Ye and his group had been swindling in the Jianghuai region for many years. Recently they had been playing ghost tricks to arrange ghost marriages for people, which angered heaven and man. On the burial day, the White Immortal came to disrupt the scheme—the coffin was bitten through and the skeletal remains were scattered all over the ground.

“When was this news piece made?” Zu Ye asked Wu Junran.

“It was originally supposed to be published tomorrow, but tonight before printing it was suddenly pulled. This matter was personally arranged by the editor-in-chief—even I didn’t know about it. The newspaper’s rule is to prepare the next day’s news the day before, then print it overnight and distribute it to the streets the next day. The editor of each section is responsible for collecting and supplying articles for their own section. Articles that are pulled at the last minute must all be recalled and destroyed. Fortunately I have someone in the recall department who passed this article to me. I felt there was something fishy about this and specially rushed over to tell Zu Ye,” Wu Junran said.

After hearing this, Zu Ye let out a long sigh: “It seems this was premeditated.”

Wu Junran said, “Premeditated?”

Zu Ye said, “Today I performed a ghost marriage for someone, and indeed a bunch of hedgehogs came to disrupt the scene, but I resolved it. So this report was pulled. Who submitted this article to the newspaper? Can you find out who this person is?”

Wu Junran said, “I asked—supposedly the editor-in-chief personally submitted the article!”

“Submitted it personally?” Zu Ye felt the matter was becoming even more serious.

After giving Wu Junran several dozen silver dollars, Zu Ye whispered a few words in his ear. Wu Junran quietly returned to the newspaper.

The Three Divination Methods

After calming his mind, Zu Ye returned to the Council Meeting and said, “Everyone be extra careful lately—someone is making trouble behind our backs.”

Er Batou said angrily, “Damn it, if they have the guts, they should fight us openly!”

Zu Ye said nothing. Looking at the batou leaders seated there, he thought: guard against everything, but family thieves are hard to prevent. Something like the hair-covered coffin was clearly someone leaking headquarters secrets, which allowed the opponent to set up this coordinated internal-external trap. Now the batou leaders were still sitting here looking dignified—each one looked human, yet each one wasn’t human!

The “Jiang Xiang Sect” had many taboos, all recorded in the “Zha Fei Secret Manual”—these were the headquarters’ top secrets. There were three major prohibitions and five minor prohibitions. The “major prohibitions” were things that would cost you your head if you did them. The “minor prohibitions” were things you absolutely couldn’t do unless the headquarters was so poor it couldn’t make ends meet, but even when doing them you had to be extremely cautious and afterward do many good deeds to seek disaster relief.

The three major prohibitions were: coffins covered with dark hair must not be touched, thousand-year-old trees must not be moved, temples and Daoist platforms must not be destroyed.

Dark hair covering coffins was the situation Zu Ye was encountering now. After a person dies, their hair continues to grow—this was a manifestation of the deceased having great injustice or great resentment. Such coffins absolutely must not be touched, or else unexpected disasters would be invited.

Thousand-year-old trees—generally trees that had reached a certain age all had spiritual nature and were often occupied by certain things. Such trees absolutely must not be touched. This was also why sometimes the authorities, when building roads, would rather go around than cut down ancient trees. Back in the day, the awe-inspiring Cao Mengde didn’t believe in such things and swung his sword to chop down a century-old pear tree, but ended up sprayed with a forehead full of blood and later died of stroke.

Temples and Daoist platforms must not be destroyed—temples and Daoist monasteries were all places of pure cultivation. Those who left home to become monks or priests revered the Three Treasures, worshipped the Three Pure Ones, and regarded all beings under heaven as parents—this was great goodness. If you dared to trample such places, you were truly courting death. So the “Jiang Xiang Sect” never destroyed religious buildings and even less dared to destroy Buddha statues or spirit shrines.

The five minor prohibitions were:

First prohibition: no ghost marriages when dark clouds cover the moon. When dark clouds covered the moon, if cats and dogs came to make trouble, corpse-reanimation phenomena would occur, so A’Baos would pay special attention to this situation.

Second prohibition: no dragon cave pointing when thunder and rain intersect. When A’Baos looked at feng shui for people, they would run all over the mountains holding compasses, called “seeking dragons and pointing caves.” If at this time the weather suddenly turned overcast, they had to stop immediately and not look anymore, because the ancients believed rain was related to the Dragon King. Dragons move and rain falls—the Dragon King has arrived, and you’re still pointing at its cave? Isn’t this courting death?

Third prohibition: no groundbreaking on Tai Sui’s head. The ancients called the current year Tai Sui. The current year was composed of Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, which combined with the Five Elements, Eight Trigrams, and directions, so in different years Tai Sui belonged to different directions. When A’Baos adjusted feng shui, they must never break ground in Tai Sui’s direction, or else offending Tai Sui would bring catastrophic disasters.

Fourth prohibition: no mass slaughter of living beings in one scheme. When A’Baos set up schemes, sometimes they would kill living things—needless to say killing chickens and slaughtering dogs, but sometimes for major schemes they would kill many animals at once, such as “blood sacrifice” schemes. This was a very taboo matter because those who killed lived short lives, and A’Baos also feared they wouldn’t live long. Qiao Wumei’s fish-summoning grand scheme had the suspicion of violating this taboo.

Fifth prohibition: no action the next day if lamp flowers extinguish themselves. In ancient times there were no electric lights—people used oil lamps or candles for illumination. When A’Baos plotted schemes, if on the evening before taking action the oil lamp on the table suddenly went out, or the lantern at the door extinguished for no reason, these were all inauspicious omens. The ancients had the saying “lamp flowers extinguishing themselves foretells loss and death.” At such times, no matter how important the scheme was or how much money could be made, it would no longer be pursued.

The “Zha Fei Secret Manual” was the headquarters’ treasure of the house. A’Baos of different levels obtained different content. Xiao Jiaos only knew some superficial knowledge. Batou leaders could access taboo-level content and some superior sleight-of-hand methods. Only Zu Ye and Zhang Zizhan had read through the entire manual. Huang Farong was a special case—because when she was at “Yue Haitang” she was already the headquarters’ “spirit medium,” specifically responsible for matters of spirits and ghosts. So after marrying into “Mu Zilian,” these matters couldn’t be hidden from her. Zu Ye let her and Zhang Zizhan jointly be responsible for the improvement and revision work of the “Zha Fei Secret Manual.”

Looking at these batou leaders, Zu Ye thought again of Zhang Jiyao’s death and couldn’t help but shudder. He had to consider his own safety now.

Zu Ye glanced at Er Batou, then turned to Qi Chunfu and said, “Old Four, what’s your opinion?”

Qi Chunfu said, “Zu Ye, according to the information we currently have, Mei Xuanzi’s ascension to immortality is false, Zhang Jiyao’s death is real. In the Jianghuai region, the realm is divided into three parts. Zhang Jiyao is dead—Mei Xuanzi’s suspicion is greatest.”

Huang Farong raised her head wanting to speak. But she was a Xiao Jiao—without Zu Ye’s command she couldn’t speak casually. Zu Ye observed in all six directions and of course saw this detail, but he just wouldn’t let her speak.

San Batou spoke up: “If Mei Xuanzi wanted to unify the realm, that doesn’t make sense. The hall master of ‘Tiansheng Dao,’ Zhang Jiyao, died but it didn’t cause great chaos in ‘Tiansheng Dao.’ Mei Xuanzi didn’t take advantage of the opportunity, and Zhang Jiyao’s eldest disciple Zuo Yongchan naturally succeeded to the great position. The two families seem to have some kind of tacit understanding.”

Zu Ye smiled: “You’re never confused.”

Da Batou interjected, “That is to say, Zhang Jiyao himself died without any clarity, but his disciple Zuo Yongchan is the one who understands most clearly.”

Huang Farong wanted to speak again, but Zu Ye still didn’t give her the opportunity.

Zu Ye looked at Wu Batou: “Old Five, what do you think?”

Old Five was Liang Wenqiu, like Qi Chunfu, an old subordinate of Zhang Dancheng. Liang Wenqiu shook his head: “Zu Ye, it’s confusing and complex. Forgive my poor eyesight—I can’t see through it.”

Just when things were confusing and complex, the “Meihua Hui” launched a new round of publicity campaigns. Mei Xuanzi claimed he had completely mastered the “Three Divination Methods.”

The Three Divination Methods referred to “retrieving objects through space,” “passing through walls and traveling underground,” and “the method of avoiding grains.” Since ancient times, these had been the highest level techniques in the mystical arts field and were essential studies for Daoists. Throughout history, countless cultivators seeking immortality and enlightenment pursued these techniques, but those who truly achieved mastery were very few.

According to Daoist historical records, the most complete demonstration of the “Three Divination Methods” occurred during the Three Kingdoms period.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a cultivator from Lujiang named Zuo Ci. Cao Cao heard this person was very formidable but didn’t believe it. One day he held a banquet for civil and military officials and sent someone to summon Zuo Ci.

During the banquet, Cao Cao deliberately wanted to test Zuo Ci’s techniques and said to him, “Today I’m hosting a great gathering of guests. All the world’s delicacies are here, but we’re only missing perch from the Wusong River. Sir, do you have a way to obtain it?”

Zuo Ci laughed heartily: “Prime Minister, what’s so difficult about this? Let me perform the method of retrieving objects through space—with a wave of my hand I can take fish from rivers a thousand li away.”

Cao Cao was stunned.

Zuo Ci took out a copper basin, raised it high, chanted incantations, then flipped it over. A one-chi-long perch leaped out, fresh and lively.

Cao Cao clapped his hands and laughed heartily, then said, “Although the perch is delicious, it lacks ginger seasoning from the land of Shu!”

Cao Cao thought Zuo Ci had just been performing magic tricks and must have hidden the fish in his sleeve beforehand. You conjured up the fish, didn’t you? Well, I also want ginger from Shu as seasoning—let’s see how you conjure that!

Zuo Ci stroked his long beard and said, “Prime Minister, please wait a moment. I’ll go to Shu right away and return shortly.” As soon as he finished speaking, dust and wind suddenly arose. With a whoosh, Zuo Ci escaped underground, passing through mountains and caves, shifting forms and changing shadows. In an instant, he returned from Shu, holding ginger in his hands and presenting it to Cao Cao: “Prime Minister, please!”

Cao Cao was dumbfounded. All the guests were shocked.

Cao Cao immediately ordered someone to tie up Zuo Ci and throw him into prison. Even then he still believed this was all just an illusion Zuo Ci was using to mock him, so he confined Zuo Ci in the dungeon, sending only two cups of water each day. Cao Cao said to his subordinates, “I’ve heard that people who know the method of avoiding grains can live three or five years without eating.” He wanted to see if there truly was such a grain-avoiding method in the world.

Two years later, Cao Cao released Zuo Ci. Zuo Ci’s complexion was ruddy, his physical appearance unchanged, showing no signs of illness or pain whatsoever.

This time Cao Cao was thoroughly convinced. He said to Zuo Ci, “Sir, Aman wishes to learn these skills.” At this moment Cao Cao referred to himself as “Aman”—his cunning nature was truly astonishing.

Zuo Ci laughed heartily: “The Prime Minister is a man of wealth and honor, bound by fame and profit—how could you study the Dao?”

When Cao Cao saw this person could not be used, he could only kill him, so he issued an order to execute Zuo Ci. Zuo Ci had long seen through Cao Cao’s inner malice and escaped using the underground escape technique. He then lived in seclusion in Jiangnan and later took Ge Xuan as his disciple. Ge Xuan became the famous Taiji Immortal Elder in Daoism. Zuo Ci lived to 134 years old and ascended to become an immortal.

This was the most complete historical record of the “Three Divination Methods.” Now Mei Xuanzi was using the “Three Divination Methods” as a gimmick to widely recruit believers—who knew what medicine he was selling in his gourd.

More importantly, the “Meihua Hui” had been causing such repeated disturbances that “Mu Zilian’s” business was increasingly withering. The common people all believed in Mei Xuanzi now—no one came to Zu Ye for fortune-telling anymore. If this continued, the “Jiang Xiang Sect” would have no foothold left in Jianghuai.

Zu Ye knew Mei Xuanzi was a cautious person, but recently he had been too abnormal. Zu Ye needed quiet, needed to reorganize his thoughts. After the Council Meeting dispersed, Zu Ye had everyone withdraw. He entered the study himself. The butler brewed him a pot of Longjing tea, and he drank while contemplating.

At the second night watch, the butler came to report that Huang Farong requested an audience.

Zu Ye expected she would come. The only surprise was that Zhang Zizhan hadn’t come with her.

After greeting him, Huang Farong sat down and said to Zu Ye, “Zu Ye, I have some humble opinions that I didn’t have the opportunity to express during today’s Council Meeting.”

Zu Ye said, “It’s not that you didn’t have the opportunity—I didn’t let you speak.”

Huang Farong smiled: “Zu Ye, I feel the most important thing right now is to clarify the situation on Mei Xuanzi’s side. I wonder what’s happening with the spies we planted there?”

Zu Ye said, “No news has been passed back. We’ve planted informants in their ranks, and they’ve also planted informants in our ranks. Over all these years, everyone has been fighting openly and secretly—this is no longer a secret. What’s important is who first discovers the mole in their own ranks and eliminates or turns them—whoever does this first gets ahead. Over these years, we’ve already lost three informants because of this. I think the fourth one won’t last much longer either.”

Huang Farong said, “Zu Ye, do you mean our spy planted in their organization has already been turned? Become a double agent?”

Zu Ye looked at her: “What do you think?”

Huang Farong looked at Zu Ye and said, “There are two possibilities. One is that our spy has been turned. The other is that we have a mole internally. Otherwise, things wouldn’t be this coincidental. The dark hair coffin matter is taboo for the ‘Jiang Xiang Sect’—which means they clearly know we’re reluctant to do such a scheme, yet they deliberately poke at our soft spot, forcing us to make a move. Then on our ghost marriage day they use ‘Little Ghost General’ to disrupt the scene, while simultaneously publishing news in the newspaper to completely ruin our reputation in one stroke! This way, the common people of Jianghuai would think Zu Ye has no real ability, greatly reducing ‘Mu Zilian’s’ prestige in people’s hearts. At the same time, the batou leaders within the ‘Jiang Xiang Sect’ would think Zu Ye violated the taboo rules established by the ancestors, angering heaven and making the headquarters struggle at every step. Looking at it this way, this move really killed two birds with one stone. What they didn’t expect was that we discovered the tricks with the hair and saw through their ‘Ghost General Technique.’ So in the first step, they lost.”

At this instant, Zu Ye suddenly felt this girl before him had grown up—her thinking was so meticulous! Zu Ye couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: by arranging this marriage, he had lived up to Zhang Zizhan’s parents’ spirits in heaven. With Huang Farong taking care of Zhang Zizhan, Zhang Zizhan would surely be happy in this life. Thinking of this, Zu Ye smiled with relief.

Zu Ye said, “What do you think we should do next?”

Huang Farong said, “‘Tiansheng Dao’ and ‘Meihua Hui’ are both widely recruiting believers. We can take this opportunity to arrange some new faces to infiltrate their internal ranks. At the same time, when the headquarters holds important meetings, we need to streamline the participants, because right now we can’t figure out if there’s a mole in our ranks or not.”

Zu Ye smiled again. From the beginning, Zu Ye had looked at this girl who married over from “Yue Haitang” with new eyes. Over the past year or so, she and Zhang Zizhan had given Zu Ye many ideas. Zu Ye had even more intention to promote this couple.

Seeing Zu Ye smile, Huang Farong knew she had spoken to his heart and smiled sweetly as well.

Zu Ye’s tone suddenly shifted: “What is Zizhan busy with?”

Huang Farong said with a smile, “He’s doing moxibustion.”

Zu Ye asked puzzled, “Is he sick?”

Huang Farong said, “No. Just hypochondria. The other day when he went with Second Master to investigate the matter of the female corpse’s body covered with long hair, he secretly took two strands of hair back. Now that we know the other side used ‘Little Ghost General,’ he’s afraid they placed gu insects in the coffin and that touching the hair would infect him.”

Zu Ye said, “Didn’t you explain the other day that ‘Ghost General Technique’ uses the principle of yin-yang opposite-sex attraction? What’s on the hedgehogs is yang-active gu, so what’s in the coffin must be yin-static gu. Yang gu won’t settle without union, yin gu won’t activate without collision. As long as yin-yang union isn’t triggered, the yin gu won’t work.”

Huang Farong smiled with pursed lips: “He’s timid. Even after I explained, he won’t listen. Right now he’s at home using mugwort moxibustion on his Zusanli acupoint.” As she spoke, Huang Farong sighed, “Ah, when will he be as bold as Zu Ye.”

Zu Ye chuckled and said, “If the husband doesn’t teach, it’s the wife’s laziness—this depends on you.”

Huang Farong was about to respond when unexpectedly Zu Ye’s tone shifted again: “You’ve been proficient in mystical arts since childhood. I ask you, do those mystical Daoist techniques truly exist in the world? Like retrieving objects through space, wall-passing technique, underground escape technique, grain-avoiding technique, and so on?”

Huang Farong’s big eyes blinked. Just as she was about to answer, the butler suddenly ran in saying, “Someone outside is requesting an audience, saying he’s Ninth Master’s man!”

Zu Ye was startled and quickly said, “Please invite him in at once!” After speaking, he gave Huang Farong a meaningful look. Huang Farong slipped into the study.

Zuo Yongchan Appears

When the butler respectfully showed the person into the room, Zu Ye looked and saw—this wasn’t Ninth Master’s man at all, but clearly a coach from the “Jingwu Athletic Association.” This coach was surnamed Zeng, given name Jingwu, who had come many times to exchange dart-throwing techniques with Zu Ye.

Zeng Jingwu cupped his fists toward Zu Ye: “Zu Ye, visiting late at night—please forgive the disturbance.”

Zu Ye said with a smile, “Coach Zeng has always been one to ‘visit the temple only when there’s business’—what advice do you bring this time?”

Zeng Jingwu said to Zu Ye with a grave expression, “Zu Ye, the matter is urgent, so I won’t beat around the bush. I’m one of Ninth Master’s (Wang Yaqiao) men. The ‘Jingwu Athletic Association’ coach is just my external identity. My purpose in being undercover at the ‘Jingwu Athletic Association’ is to develop more Jingwu Association members to join the anti-Japanese ranks. Of course, we’ve also selected some hot-blooded patriots to join under Ninth Master’s command. Right now both the Nationalist Party and the Japanese are looking for Ninth Master. Ninth Master’s situation is very difficult—he needs to leave Jianghuai for a period of time. In the future, if Zu Ye has any matters, you can go directly to the Jingwu Athletic Association to contact me.”

As he spoke, Zeng Jingwu took out a letter from his bosom: “Ninth Master instructed me to personally deliver this to you.”

Zu Ye was stunned. So this Coach Zeng who often exchanged martial skills with him was actually Ninth Master’s disciple. It seemed Ninth Master was helping him on one hand while also observing him on the other. Thinking of this, Zu Ye felt a chill at the back of his head.

Zu Ye opened the letter and read it carefully.

This reading was no small matter—Zu Ye immediately broke out in cold sweat! This was a matter of enormous magnitude. If this matter succeeded, it would surely shock the entire world! Wang Yaqiao’s own handwriting:

“My younger brother Guansheng, for your review:

This foolish elder brother was born into a poor family, a mere commoner, yet though my position is low I have never dared forget concern for the country! Since raising the flag at Xinhai, I’ve only seen the Western rivers weep with smoke and rain, the Northern lands have no rivers and mountains, magnificent China cannot hide the wolf-pack of Japanese invaders! Looking across China, tears fall in sorrow. I vow to give my body to the country, with my scholarly weak frame to shoulder the path of vicissitudes and justice. Thus, assassinating Song at the Northern Station, assassinating Chiang at Lushan, the Songhu War of Resistance, crushing Shirakawa’s corpse—sacrificing life and forgetting death, in the blink of an eye twenty years have passed, without resentment or fear! Cowardly people cannot understand a tough man’s bones; those high in the temple halls don’t perceive the situation of national destruction. People all say the world fears ghosts, but ghosts fear Yaqiao. This foolish elder brother spent his life wanting to awaken the blood nature of China’s sons and daughters, but in the end fell to the same rank as ghosts. How painful! How sorrowful!

In the sixth year of the Republic, when I first met you, younger brother, you came from a military family. Falling into the Jiang Xiang school also belongs to heaven’s mandate. Worthy brother carefully follows human ethics, acts on behalf of heaven, knows gratitude and reciprocates—truly a real man! You and I share the same fallen fate, though the horizon is but an inch away, our unwavering friendship is unforgettable!

Today the invaders press urgently, national territory is lost, the authorities are obsessed with civil war. Actions against heaven will surely face nationwide condemnation. Elder brother, not measuring his own strength, wants to carry out a great deed again in Nanjing, to behead the three traitors and vow to wash away national shame, to manifest righteousness clearly throughout China! If this matter doesn’t succeed, I’ll become a martyr. If this foolish elder brother meets with misfortune, younger brother should restrain your grief, carefully inherit my will, only then can you thank the nine springs!

Jingwu, my younger brother, has liver and gallbladder righteousness. All news from the northern front comes from his hands. When war is about to begin, you should maintain regular contact!

Raising chopsticks and lifting the brush, tears fall in sorrow. The affection between brothers, never forgotten day or night! Take good care of yourself!

Your foolish elder brother Yaqiao

Gengzi Day, Hai Hour”

After reading, Zu Ye’s mood was extremely heavy. Zu Ye greatly respected Wang Yaqiao. Now Wang Yaqiao was forced into hiding with nowhere to go, yet he himself was powerless to help. Thinking of this, Zu Ye felt a wave of self-blame. What was even worse was that Wang Yaqiao was going to assassinate Chiang Kai-shek and others again. If he failed, the consequences would be unimaginable—perhaps he would never see this Ninth Master again!

Over all these years, Wang Yaqiao had taken great care of Zu Ye. Whenever Zu Ye encountered difficulties, Wang Yaqiao would extend a helping hand. The magnitude of his kindness was beyond words!

Zu Ye hastily ordered the butler to grind ink. He dipped his brush and wrote a reply. Zu Ye detailed his own predicament and almost in a pleading tone hoped Wang Yaqiao could act cautiously. Finally, he sealed the letter with the line: “Among the world’s countless heroes, Guansheng only recognizes Wang Yaqiao. Ninth Master, take care—fortunate for China!” After writing, tears dripped down. He then handed the letter to Zeng Jingwu. Zeng Jingwu bowed and took his leave.

Zu Ye sat dejectedly in his chair, his mind in chaos. This truly was brothers sharing the same fate—Ninth Master was forced by the Japanese with no way out, and he himself was made to struggle at every step by Jianghuai’s “religious sects”…

Huang Farong walked over carrying a cup of hot tea. Zu Ye hadn’t noticed at all when she came out and hurriedly wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes.

Huang Farong extended her hand and passed over a handkerchief. Zu Ye didn’t think much of it and wiped once, then suddenly felt something was wrong. This handkerchief was fragrant—it was Huang Farong’s. Zu Ye paused for a moment, then waved his hand and said, “You may withdraw.”

Huang Farong said, “Yes.” She turned and left. Just before reaching the door, she turned back and said, “It’s no harm for Farong to see Zu Ye in this state, but don’t let the other brothers see you like this.” After speaking, she quickly left.

Zu Ye watched her retreating figure, his expression becoming grave.

Not long after Huang Farong left, knocking sounds arose again. Zu Ye thought she had returned, but soon the butler came in to announce that “Tiansheng Dao’s” newly appointed master Zuo Yongchan had come to visit. Zu Ye’s heart thumped! How did he come here?!

Zuo Yongchan was a few years younger than Zu Ye, small in stature, with a weasel-like face and rat-like eyes, sporting a long handlebar mustache. From afar, he looked like a big rat. But this fellow was exceptionally clever, with outstanding eloquence. As the “Chief Staff Disciple,” he commanded over a thousand disciples in Jianghuai. Zuo Yongchan was Zhang Jiyao’s eldest disciple, the first among ten staffs, hence called “Chief Staff.” Coming along with him were also two “Blue Robes.”

Zu Ye ordered someone to serve tea. After some pleasantries he asked, “Master Zuo visits late at night—what advice do you bring?”

Zuo Yongchan smiled and said, “My master ascended to become an immortal. Yongchan, though untalented, was honored by the brothers to inherit my master’s mantle. During his lifetime, my master had a deep friendship with Zu Ye. I should carefully follow my master’s command to constantly cultivate good relations between our two houses. This visit is precisely to resolve Zu Ye’s urgent crisis!”

Zu Ye’s heart trembled, but his expression remained unchanged. He chuckled: “Not at all, not at all. Master Zhang cultivated the Dao and became an immortal—everyone rejoices. May Master Zhang not abandon all living beings, and when ascending to heaven fulfill his vows to bless both ‘Tiansheng Dao’ and ‘Mu Zilian’ with prosperous incense offerings! Master Zuo is Master Zhang’s accomplished disciple—being able to take charge of Tiansheng is even more fortunate for the common people of Jianghuai!”

Zu Ye was playing tai chi, avoiding the important and dwelling on the trivial.

Zuo Yongchan laughed heartily, “Everyone says Zu Ye handles matters calmly and fearlessly faces danger. Observing today, your reputation is well-deserved! Does Zu Ye know who set up the dark hair coffin scheme?”

Seeing that Zuo Yongchan had already revealed it, Zu Ye no longer evaded. He put away his smile and said, “There are many Daoist sects in the Jianghuai region. This humble person doesn’t know which deity I’ve offended to have such discourteous things done!”

Zuo Yongchan looked at Zu Ye and said, “It was Mei Xuanzi.”

Zu Ye lowered his head and said, “Please enlighten me, Master Zuo!” The meaning was: you say it’s Mei Xuanzi, so it’s Mei Xuanzi? How do you know, and what’s the whole story?

Zuo Yongchan looked at the people around. Zu Ye waved his hand. Zu Ye’s butler and the Blue Robes beside Zuo Yongchan all withdrew. Zuo Yongchan spoke in a low voice while Zu Ye listened carefully.

Lanterns on the Wall

At the third night watch, Zuo Yongchan’s party left. Zu Ye lay in bed, thinking about Zuo Yongchan’s words, tossing and turning, unable to sleep all night.

The next day, the “Shanghai News” issued an announcement: The fifteenth day of the seventh month Ghost Festival was approaching. Master Mei Xuanzi would light ghost lanterns on the night of the full moon at the Huangpu River to deliver all the wandering spirits of the Jianghuai region. It also claimed: Throughout all history, aside from Master Zhang Daoling of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, only Mei Xuanzi alone has this ability!

“Throughout all history”—what grand words! From Pangu’s creation of heaven and earth to the twenty-third year of the Republic, how many grievances and disputes, rights and wrongs had there been on Chinese soil—wars, killings, assassinations, wrongful killings, suicides, crime of passion killings. If all these ghosts gathered at the Huangpu River’s edge, wouldn’t they squeeze everyone into the river?

Mei Xuanzi, oh Mei Xuanzi, even if someone’s backing you up, you don’t need to be this insane! Zu Ye ground his teeth in hatred.

“He’s gone mad! Gone mad! Truly mad!” San Batou cursed loudly.

Zu Ye’s thoughts were grave. Then he whispered a few words to San Batou, and San Batou left to carry out the orders.

A few days later, on the evening of the fifteenth of the seventh month, after disguising himself, Zu Ye brought four people—Er Batou, San Batou, Zhang Zizhan, and Huang Farong—to Mei Xuanzi’s ritual platform at the Huangpu River’s edge. The riverside was crowded with common people, packed densely. The Garrison Command and the police station had also sent people, along with some government officials. The formation was very grand!

At the xu hour, the sun set and the pale moon rose in the east. The river water reflected the moon—what a beautiful moonlit night scene!

After several drum beats, Mei Xuanzi’s eldest disciple shouted loudly, “The vast heavenly gates have been open since ancient times, how many have returned and how many have come? The Guiyou Taisui pardons the netherworld, Meihua eliminates karma and crosses the sea of suffering. Open the altar—”

The crowd immediately quieted down. The bright moon in the sky silently passed through the clouds. All was silent—only the surging Huangpu River water slowly churned in the moonlight.

Mei Xuanzi slowly walked out from behind the curtain, holding a whisk, wearing Daoist robes, hair disheveled, muttering incantations. He ascended the ritual platform, burned incense and prayed, paid respects to heaven and bowed to earth.

On the ritual platform was built a white lime wall, about three zhang long, one chi wide, and two zhang tall. The wall surface was pure white with nothing else on it. Mei Xuanzi prayed for about one incense stick’s worth of time, then took down a red candle from the incense table, held it in his hand, walked toward the white lime wall, knelt under the wall, raised the candle, and circled it around the wall surface. With a whoosh sound, dozens of lantern-shaped marks actually appeared on the pure white wall surface, glowing bright red, flickering as if burning! The crowd immediately burst out with exclamations!

Immediately after, Mei Xuanzi knelt and chanted the deliverance text:

“The Supreme One commands, deliver your lonely souls;

All ghosts and spirits, the four births receive grace.

Those with heads shall ascend, those without heads shall be reborn;

Shot by guns, killed by knives, drowned in water, hanged by rope.

Died clearly, died darkly, wronged and unjustly deceased;

Vengeful creditors, sons demanding life.

Kneel before my platform, the Eight Trigrams emit light;

Stand at the Kan position and emerge, ascend to rebirth in another place.

Whether male or female, bear it yourself;

Wealth or poverty, you invite it yourself.

Command all these people, urgently ascend to rebirth!

Command all these people, urgently ascend to rebirth!”

After finishing the chant, he rose, took the whisk, swung it a few times at the lanterns on the wall. The lantern light gradually dimmed, then he pointed the whisk at the Huangpu River and shouted loudly, “Rise!”

Instantly, countless lanterns rose from the river surface, one by one, like wandering spirits, flashing red light, ascending into the sky. The crowd erupted. The common people could no longer restrain themselves and knelt down one after another—those bearing grievances, those carrying sorrows, suffering people at this moment let their tears flow freely, constantly kowtowing, constantly bowing. Their wrongfully dead relatives had finally been delivered!

In the crowd, Zu Ye watched with cold air rising from his back. Zhang Zizhan’s brows were even more tightly furrowed.

“Disastrous!” Zu Ye cried out inwardly. With this scheme revealed, there would be no second master in the Jianghuai region! “Mu Zilian’s” three-hundred-year foundation was about to be ruined before his eyes! Sleight-of-hand, sleight-of-hand—”Mu Zilian’s” strong suit, yet now the entire headquarters was squeezed by others until there was no standing room! Zu Ye had always been self-confident in his intelligence, yet he couldn’t compete with this younger generation! Seeing the general situation was lost, what use was there in staying in Jianghuai! Thinking of this, Zu Ye felt a tightness in his chest and with a puff sound, actually spat out a mouthful of fresh blood!

“Zu Ye!” Jiang Feiyan was right behind Zu Ye and immediately supported him.

“Zu Ye!” Er Batou, San Batou, and Zhang Zizhan also crowded over.

Zu Ye looked at his brothers. These people all followed him to make a living, ordinarily calling “Zu Ye” constantly, working before and after, without complaint or regret. Yet he, as the master of the hall, had led everyone to such a miserable state! Zu Ye felt deeply ashamed, only feeling the world spinning, his eyes going black!

During that period of frequent setbacks and unbearable pain, Zu Ye lost his confidence for the first time.

Zhang Zizhan’s brows were even more tightly knitted, while only Huang Farong remained calm and composed.

That night when everyone returned to headquarters, Zu Ye lay weakly in a chair. The batou leaders were all silently speechless. After a long while, Huang Farong said softly, “Zu Ye, eat some nourishing medicine.”

“It’s no matter.” Zu Ye said wearily, “You should all go back and rest early.”

Everyone wanted to speak words of comfort to Zu Ye. Zu Ye waved his hand. Everyone looked at each other and all silently withdrew.

Zu Ye dragged his weary body and lay on the bed. He was too tired. Hazily, he dreamed of his parents, dreamed of his younger brothers and sisters, dreamed of the familiar walls of his home, dreamed of the gardenia flowers in the corner.

Suddenly, the thumping sound of knocking woke him, though it was very light, it still woke him. It was the butler. The butler really didn’t want to wake Zu Ye, but the matter was urgent—he had to knock. San Batou had important matters to report.

Zu Ye asked, “How did things go?”

San Batou looked at Zu Ye and said in a low voice, “The two newly arranged people have already entered the ‘Meihua Hui’… Wuzi is dead.”

Zu Ye froze, his heart pierced as if by a knife. “Wuzi” was a Xiao Jiao from the headquarters, a spy planted in the “Meihua Hui” last year. A few days ago, Zu Ye had issued a secret order to San Batou to notify Wuzi to find out in advance the inside story of Mei Xuanzi’s ritual at the riverside. Whether Wuzi was too hasty and revealed himself, or the other side had discovered Wuzi long ago, in any case, Wuzi was eliminated before the other side performed their scheme and didn’t pass back any information.

The two spies just planted in the “Meihua Hui” were new people from headquarters. San Batou had also changed their appearances, so the other side wouldn’t discover them for a while.

The art of disguise was an ancient secret technique. There were many methods and schools. Since ancient times it had been passed down as miraculous, but the basic techniques were actually just three types.

The first type was human skin masks. This method originated from Zhang Jiao of the Eastern Han. Cut off a person’s facial skin, wash it clean with medicinal water, apply it to the face to create an “immortal body.” But this method could only be used for a relatively short time—after all, human skin would eventually rot.

The second type was needle piercing. The acupuncture method, following meridians and pointing at acupoints. The facial acupoint channels each had their own attributes. One cun below, circulating qi and blood; three cun below, meridians could be reversed. Find the right acupoint channel, with precise technique—one needle insertion could cause the mouth and eyes to become crooked. After the five features were displaced, it would be difficult to recognize. Afterward, find the corresponding relieving acupoint, recuperate for a week, and it could be restored.

The third type was the ruthless method—everyone knew it, which was disfigurement. Give yourself a slash on the face, create a big scar, and ordinary people wouldn’t recognize you. In 1932, when Wang Yaqiao was surrounded by secret agents at Hurd Road Building, he had no choice but to use this method and barely escaped the calamity.

This time, San Batou used the needle-piercing method on the new people. He learned it from the “Zha Fei Secret Manual.” After San Batou entered the profession, Zu Ye saw he was clever and cunning, skilled in scheming, so he transmitted this method to him and had him be responsible for arranging and contacting informants.

There’s an Internal Traitor

Zu Ye had originally wanted to use Wuzi to gather some intelligence, but unexpectedly Wuzi was eliminated by the other side. With Mei Xuanzi’s scheme revealed, his prestige rose greatly—even government officials began to believe in him. The situation was becoming increasingly severe. The “Jiang Xiang Sect” faced an unprecedented survival crisis in the Jianghuai region!

After Zu Ye and San Batou discussed some code words for making contact with informants, he let him go back to rest.

Zu Ye brewed a pot of tea, slowly drank it, and contemplated. Over these past few months, too many things had happened, especially the words Zuo Yongchan spoke that night—just thinking about them was frightening. During those days of intertwined mysteries and utter confusion, Zu Ye felt tired.

Early the next morning, the butler came to report that Huang Farong requested an audience. Zu Ye nodded in approval, and Huang Farong entered.

“Is Zu Ye’s health better?”

“It’s no matter, no matter.” Zu Ye looked up and saw tears hanging on Huang Farong’s face. Not knowing why, he quickly asked, “What happened?”

Huang Farong said in a low voice, “We quarreled.”

Zu Ye smiled slightly: “Hehe, husband and wife quarrel—fight at the head of the bed, make peace at the foot. What was it about?”

Huang Farong lowered her head and said, “After he returned from the riverside yesterday, he hasn’t spoken. He said if he couldn’t break the other side’s scheme he wouldn’t eat. I made soup noodles for him, but he knocked them over onto the floor…”

Zu Ye sighed: “Zizhan is a very strong-willed child. You see, knowing his temperament, I didn’t dare force him either. Mei Xuanzi has an expert guiding him from behind. This kind of grand scheme even alarmed the authorities—if it could be broken just like that, what would that mean? Go back and have a good talk with Zizhan. Tell him Zu Ye doesn’t blame him.”

Huang Farong wiped away her tears and continued, “That’s not the most important thing. What’s important is, I said I know the method to break it. I told him and asked him to come with me to tell Zu Ye. Unexpectedly, after hearing it, not only was he not happy, he cursed himself for being talentless, beat his chest and stomped his feet, saying something about how a dignified seven-foot-tall man couldn’t match a woman! He’s even more ashamed to come see Zu Ye now!”

“Wait…” Hearing this, Zu Ye quickly interrupted Huang Farong’s words. “You said you know the method to break it?”

“Yes.” Huang Farong glanced at Zu Ye and broke into a smile through her tears.

Zu Ye’s eyes stared at her, signaling her to speak quickly.

Huang Farong pursed her lips and squeezed out two words: “Stink balls.”

Zu Ye was stunned: “What stink balls?”

Huang Farong continued, “That wall surface must have been smeared with stink balls!”

“Speak properly!” Zu Ye was confused by what he heard.

Huang Farong paused, finally understanding—Zu Ye didn’t understand her dialect. “Stink balls” was Shandong dialect. She quickly explained, “It’s camphor balls. When I was bored as a child, I would use stink balls to fight insects. I’d draw a circle, put the insects inside, and the insects would frantically turn round and round…”

Zu Ye was getting anxious to death. This girl was rambling on and still hadn’t gotten to the main point. But thinking that he had arranged this marriage and that Zhang Zizhan had a bad temper, making this girl suffer grievances, he could only listen patiently.

Huang Farong finally got to the point: “One time, my parents both went to the fields to work, and I stayed home to watch my two-year-old sister. To coax my constantly crying sister, I used camphor balls to draw a lamp on our earthen wall. After drawing it, I used a match to light it. Originally I just wanted to make my sister laugh, but unexpectedly that lamp actually lit up! When Mei Xuanzi’s wall was built, camphor powder must have been mixed in. They prepared the grass drawings in advance, outlined the lantern shapes on the wall, scraped out the white lime, filled in camphor powder, then manually polished it. As for the lanterns’ flickering brightness, that’s a matter of mixing proportions. Zizhan initially considered that the other side used yellow phosphorus, but immediately negated it—yellow phosphorus ignites instantly and couldn’t last that long. As for the Kongming lanterns rising from the river surface, there must have been people underwater. At that time, people’s attention was all on the ritual platform, the sky was dark, the river was wide—no one noticed the movements in the water…” Huang Farong said.

Zu Ye let out a long breath, his body leaning back as he lay in the chair, relieved. Then he said, “This matter must be kept strictly confidential. Go back and tell Zizhan, after he studies it thoroughly, to record this method in the ‘Zha Fei Secret Manual.'”

Huang Farong walked around to behind Zu Ye, picked up the teapot, filled a cup of tea for Zu Ye, and said, “Zu Ye has been working hard recently and his health is poor. Years ago when Fifth Mistress (Qiao Wumei) was alive, she taught me traditional Chinese medical massage. I know the twelve meridians, and I’m proficient in all the techniques of pressing, compressing, pushing, rubbing, and pecking. Ordinarily when Fifth Mistress was tired, I would massage her. Shall I massage you a few times too?”

Zu Ye froze, turned his head and said, “No need. You may withdraw.”

Huang Farong smiled sweetly and said, “Yes. Zu Ye should rest early. No matter how many matters there are, they must be handled one by one. If Zu Ye exhausts himself, Farong will be distressed.”

After speaking, she moved her body gracefully and slowly withdrew.

Zu Ye watched her retreating figure and fell into contemplation again. Just as Huang Farong was about to walk out of the courtyard, Zu Ye suddenly said, “Farong, come back!”

Huang Farong paused, smiled secretly with pursed lips, and quickly walked back.

Zu Ye pointed to the chair opposite the table: “Sit down and speak.”

Huang Farong sat down lightly, her two big eyes blinking as she looked at Zu Ye.

After contemplating for a moment, Zu Ye said, “I want you to help me eliminate the internal traitor!”

After hearing this, Huang Farong’s body trembled.

“Zu Ye, why do you only trust Farong?”

Zu Ye said, “Are you the internal traitor?”

Huang Farong immediately said, “Of course not!”

Zu Ye said, “Then who else in the headquarters do you think can be trusted?”

Huang Farong said, “Zizhan, and also, uh… also…”

Zu Ye’s thinking was exceptionally clear. Huang Farong came from South Guangdong and had no roots in the Jianghuai region—it would be impossible for the other side to develop her as an informant in such a short time. Aside from her, anyone could be unreliable. In underworld headquarters, loyalty and treachery were hard to distinguish. The closer someone was, the more likely they might stab you in the back. Zhang Dancheng was a precedent. Under Zu Ye’s command were countless brothers, yet in times of crisis, he could only trust one woman. The sorrow of being the boss could be seen at a glance.

Zu Ye said, “What if Zizhan is also an internal traitor?”

Huang Farong’s face turned completely red with anxiety: “This… impossible…”

Zu Ye smiled and said, “I also know it’s impossible. It’s just that having you cooperate with me in this scheme is best. Generally speaking, internal traitors try their utmost to conceal themselves, cautious in every place, careful in every matter. Tomorrow I plan to suddenly issue a ‘Food and Reward’ summons, using the pretext of rewarding you for your merit in breaking ‘Little Ghost General,’ to have all the batou leaders come to eat. During the banquet, you just toast freely—the more the better. Those who decline to drink, or drink but don’t get drunk, must be suspicious!”

Huang Farong was stunned: “How does Zu Ye know the internal traitor is among the batou leaders and not among us Xiao Jiaos? Although on the surface only batou leaders are qualified to know about things like ‘dark hair coffins cannot be touched,’ who can guarantee the batou leaders don’t tell their trusted subordinates?”

Zu Ye said, “Not long ago, ‘Tiansheng Dao’s’ Zuo Yongchan came to visit and revealed everything about the dark hair coffin matter, hinting that the internal traitor is among the batou leaders.”

Huang Farong said, “How does Zu Ye know Zuo Yongchan isn’t using a borrowed knife to kill?”

Zu Ye increasingly felt this girl was formidable—everything he thought of, she had thought of too. Zu Ye smiled and said, “Just do as I say.”

Huang Farong said again, “Why was Zuo Yongchan so kind-hearted to tell Zu Ye these things? How does he know these things?”

Zu Ye smiled without speaking.

Huang Farong pouted, “Zu Ye still doesn’t trust me. But I don’t hold my liquor well. What if others haven’t fallen yet but I fall first?”

Zu Ye laughed heartily, turned around and took out a packet of medicinal powder from the drawer: “Tomorrow, a quarter hour before the meal, take this medicine—a thousand cups won’t make you drunk!”

Huang Farong took it, opened it and looked—it was yellow powder. She wrinkled her brow and said, “This won’t damage the body, will it? Farong still needs to carry on the family line for ‘Mu Zilian’!”

Zu Ye shook his head: “Of course not. Whenever I encounter a major banquet scheme, I must take this medicine—otherwise how could I deal with those Nationalist Party dignitaries and underworld figures? This medicine was obtained by Master Zhang Dancheng from a Qing Dynasty prince. It’s a palace secret method, prepared with kudzu flower—protects the liver and neutralizes alcohol!”

Huang Farong blinked her big eyes and said, “Could this be the ‘Thousand Cups Without Intoxication Powder’ rumored in the martial world?”

Zu Ye nodded.

Huang Farong smiled. Suddenly she said to Zu Ye, “Zu Ye’s scheme is brilliant, but still not stable enough. I have a plan that’s even more stable!”

Zu Ye paused, then leaned to the side. Huang Farong came closer and explained in detail. Zu Ye kept nodding.

Knowing the Person’s Face Also Means Knowing Their Heart

Early the next morning, Zu Ye suddenly issued a “Food and Reward” summons. All the batou leaders came.

Zu Ye said, “Regarding the dark hair coffin matter, fortunately Farong and Zizhan were broadly knowledgeable and quick-witted, preserving our ‘Mu Zilian’s’ reputation. Today’s Food and Reward is to celebrate their achievement!”

Huang Farong and Zhang Zizhan hurriedly stood up and bowed: “It’s all thanks to Zu Ye’s excellent guidance and the generous promotion from all the masters present.”

Er Batou laughed heartily: “Zizhan, work hard—Zu Ye won’t treat his brothers poorly.”

Da Batou also said, “Initially when I risked my life to rescue Zizhan and lost one brother, I felt resentful. Now seeing this young couple is quite capable, I feel much more at peace!”

Zhang Zizhan quickly said, “Your life-saving grace, Da Ye—Zizhan will never forget it for his entire life.”

San Batou said with a smile, “Zizhan is extremely clever—in the future he’ll also be top talent!”

Si Batou Qi Chunfu and Wu Batou Liang Wenqiu exchanged smiles: “The younger generation is formidable! With ‘Mu Zilian’ gaining these two great talents, we old folks have no worries!”

Huang Farong took the opportunity to raise her cup and said, “First I toast Da Ye. Da Ye risked life and death to rescue my husband—otherwise where would Farong go to find such a worthy husband!”

Da Batou laughed heartily: “Thinking of that night makes me so angry. I’ll drink it all!” After speaking, he drank it all in one gulp.

Huang Farong raised her cup again and said to Er Batou, “Er Ye, Zizhan is under your tutelage. Thanks to Er Ye’s care, Zizhan has made progress in many areas. I toast Er Ye a cup on behalf of my husband.”

Er Batou was a crude person. Grinning widely, he said, “Back when I wanted to take Zizhan to visit the flower houses, Zu Ye stopped me. Turns out it was all saved for you—sister-in-law is much prettier than the brothel girls…”

Zu Ye shouted angrily, “Second Brother!”

Er Batou gave a wicked laugh, tilted back his neck, and drank the liquor down.

Huang Farong said to San Batou again, “San Ye is learned and reasonable, full of knowledge, proficient in Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. My husband and I look up but cannot reach you—we hope San Ye will give us much instruction. I’ve long heard San Ye has great capacity—please drink a few more cups.”

San Batou said with a smile, “Zizhan is highly talented, but his alcohol tolerance isn’t good—unexpectedly sister-in-law is so formidable.” After speaking, he drank three cups in succession.

Huang Farong raised her cup again and said to Si Batou and Wu Batou, “Si Ye and Wu Ye are Jiang Xiang predecessors, veteran officials of two reigns. Farong is untalented—when I was at ‘Yue Haitang’ I had long heard the two predecessors’ great names. After marrying into ‘Mu Zilian,’ I feel even more that the two predecessors’ artistic mastery is profound, their swords not dulled by age—Farong truly admires this! Please drink this cup to the full, both masters!”

At this time Zu Ye also spoke up: “I’ll also drink a cup with you! Old Four and Old Five are both Master Zhang’s accomplished disciples—humble and modest, yielding to the worthy. After I took the throne, you two masters assisted from left and right without relying on seniority—truly admirable!”

Qi Chunfu and Liang Wenqiu hurriedly stood up: “Zu Ye, we dare not, we dare not! Zu Ye favors us and doesn’t abandon dead wood—we vow to serve you to the death!”

Both Qi Chunfu and Liang Wenqiu were older than Zu Ye. Qi Chunfu was thirty-five, Liang Wenqiu was already over forty. But this was useless—the “Jiang Xiang Sect” didn’t arrange seating by age, but by ability.

Qi Chunfu’s specialty was making paper figures. The paper figures he made were better crafted than those of paper effigy shop owners. Making paper boys and girls, making ox-headed and horse-faced figures—mixing red and green, painting eyebrows and eyes, placing them in front of coffins, lifelike.

Liang Wenqiu’s specialty was carpentry. People called him “Ink Line King.” The ink line was an ancient carpenter’s tool for hanging lines and drawing lines. Liang Wenqiu’s ancestors for three generations were all carpenters with considerable research into “Lu Ban techniques.” In the thirtieth year of Guangxu, Liang Wenqiu’s father was framed and drawn into palace power struggles for making a “Hundred Treasure Pavilion” for Empress Dowager Cixi, resulting in his entire family being executed. After hearing the news, Zhang Dancheng spent heavy money to appeal to a prince and saved Liang Wenqiu. From then on, Liang Wenqiu followed Zhang Dancheng.

When Zhang Dancheng was young, he was very capable. Of the four great headquarters, his was the most active. He often used sleight-of-hand methods to create grand feng shui schemes, and Liang Wenqiu’s Lu Ban school feng shui techniques naturally came into use.

After Huang Farong finished toasting around the table, her face had already turned flushed red. Although the “Thousand Cups Without Intoxication Powder” had an effect, pouring down this burning yellow liquor one after another inevitably made her somewhat dizzy.

According to etiquette, the batou leaders all had to toast Zu Ye in turn, then the batou leaders would toast each other. After several rounds like this, aside from Zhang Zizhan, everyone at the table had drunk over a dozen cups. The wine cups of that era were all very large—each cup was at least one liang. After a dozen cups, it was equivalent to drinking a jin of liquor.

Taking advantage of the wine’s excitement, Zu Ye said again, “Today there’s another joyous matter!”

All the batou leaders turned their gazes toward Zu Ye.

Zu Ye said, “Mei Xuanzi’s riverside ghost lantern lighting scheme has already been broken!”

Everyone was shocked. Just yesterday Zu Ye had been so angry about this matter that he vomited blood, and today the scheme was already broken?

Huang Farong pretended to ask in confusion, “How was it broken?”

Zhang Zizhan glanced at Huang Farong, thinking to himself, “Just keep acting.”

Zu Ye laughed heartily and said, “Mei Xuanzi, oh Mei Xuanzi—only knows how to deliver ghosts at the riverside, doesn’t know there’s a ghost right beside him!” After speaking, he laughed loudly again. “Old Mei’s next actions are all within my grasp! I’m going to beat Mei Xuanzi back to his original form!”

Er Batou anxiously asked, “Please enlighten us, Zu Ye!”

Zu Ye put away his smile and said, “You all just do as I instruct. ‘Mu Zilian’ will take Shanghai Beach in one stroke and stand firm throughout Jianghuai!”

The batou leaders looked at each other in confusion.

Zu Ye raised his cup: “Drink! ‘Mu Zilian’ will certainly triumph!”

Everyone raised their cups and said in unison, “Zu Ye’s wisdom! We vow to serve to the death!”

After Zu Ye drank, he suddenly changed the topic and said to Zhang Zizhan, “Zizhan, what are the three great taboos of the martial world?”

Zhang Zizhan paused, not knowing what medicine Zu Ye was selling in his gourd. Yesterday after Huang Farong returned home, she told him that today Zu Ye would set up a scheme to force out the internal traitor, telling him not to speak too much on the scene. So although Zhang Zizhan clearly knew it was Huang Farong who broke the ghost lantern lighting scheme, he didn’t reveal it on the spot. Unexpectedly, at this moment Zu Ye suddenly asked this question.

Zhang Zizhan said softly, “Seducing second sister-in-law, colluding with external thieves, selling out brothers.”

Zu Ye asked again, “According to the ‘Jiang Xiang Sect’s’ rules, what should be the punishment for committing these three offenses?”

Zhang Zizhan lowered his head and said, “Death by a thousand cuts, kill without mercy.”

Zu Ye gave a cold laugh: “Hmm, death by a thousand cuts. In the next few days I’ll root out the internal traitor. Brothers present should prepare yourselves, lest you can’t bring yourselves to act when the time comes.”

When the batou leaders heard this, they were all frightened. Who was being targeted? Originally they had all been drinking in a daze, but now they were completely sobered up.

Zu Ye looked at everyone and said, “Dismiss!”

Everyone looked at each other, then all silently left.

Zu Ye had a pair of keen eyes. Over the years, Zu Ye was confident in his eyesight. He just wanted to use the “Food and Reward” pretext to have all the batou leaders frantically pour down liquor, then when they were about drunk, suddenly employ the “Yingyao” method—feinting east and striking west, observing words and expressions—perhaps he could find some clues.

“Yingyao” was the culmination of deception psychology. The psychological probing techniques in the “Yingyao Chapter” were all top-level psychological warfare tactics, of course also including some genuine physiognomy knowledge—externally it could conquer marks, internally it could settle family thieves. This method was created by the ancestral heroine of “Yue Haitang,” Tang Yonghe. Later, as the four great headquarters gradually merged and combined, many techniques were shared among all headquarters, becoming common teaching materials for A’Baos. But the top-level techniques remained in the hands of successive “Yue Haitang” masters! Because Zhang Dancheng had a close relationship with Qiao Wumei, Qiao Wumei privately shared this method with Zhang Dancheng. Before Zhang Dancheng died, he transmitted all techniques without reservation, so Zu Ye also mastered the Yingyao absolute learning.

The “He Zhi Chapter” in the “Yingyao Chapter” recorded methods for observing people’s hearts:

“How do you know a person is good?

Their spirit is clear, eyes not chaotic.

How do you know a person is treacherous?

Sidelong glances that suddenly shift.

How do you know a person is foolish?

Dead fish eyes that don’t turn.

How do you know a person is loyal?

Silent, not contending for credit.

Sitting opposite, hands have no peace,

Mouth says yes but heart says no.

Eye contact cannot last long,

Chattering is all false words.

The mountain root with both eyes,

Loyalty and treachery hidden inside.

One shout shakes Li and Kan,

Second shout stretches brow and face,

Third shout decree trembles,

Both cheeks turn red in patches.

Doing physiognomy is doing faces,

Setting schemes should be dangerous,

Seeking victory from danger,

Gold and silver pile up like mountains.”

The entire “He Zhi Chapter” revolves around the human face, collecting many physiognomy essences. Ancient physiognomy particularly emphasized examination of the face, especially the eyes. “Xu Fu’s Physiognomy Record” says: “A seven-chi body is not as good as a one-chi face, a one-chi face is not as good as a three-cun nose, a three-cun nose is not as good as a one-cun eye.” The essence of the entire human body converges in the eyes.

The eyes are the windows to the soul. No matter how one hides, inner thoughts will more or less be expressed through the eyes—it’s just a matter of whether you can capture it. The so-called “joy and anger not showing on the face” only means this person reveals less information, making it less noticeable, but it’s still revealed.

The first line, “How do you know a person is good? Their spirit is clear, eyes not chaotic,” means how to judge whether a person is kind? Look at their demeanor and eyes. The entire person’s demeanor is clear and pleasant, the face has no extraneous energy, the eyes are steady, black and white distinct, the eyes don’t have drunken light, dim light, lewd light, or wandering light—this is the appearance of great goodness, which is consistent with what physiognomy says.

The second line, “How do you know a person is treacherous? Sidelong glances that suddenly shift,” to see whether a person is cunning, also look at the eyes. If a person likes to look sideways, often using peripheral vision to scan back and forth, eyes drifting uncertainly, eyeballs constantly rolling around—this is a manifestation of treachery.

The third line, “How do you know a person is foolish? Dead fish eyes that don’t turn,” how to know if a person is dull? Still look at the eyes. If this person’s eyes are like dead fish, both eyes spiritless, wooden and slow, not moving the eyeballs for a long time, they definitely have a brain problem. Not only that, dead fish eyes are also greatly inauspicious in physiognomy. The “Physiognomy Collection and Investigation” says: “Fish eyes mean short life, sheep eyes mean early death.”

The fourth line, “How do you know a person is loyal? Silent, not contending for credit,” how to know if a person is loyal and devoted? Look at their daily performance. Not contending for merit, not wearing fame, working silently, steadily and practically—this is a loyal and righteous person.

The fifth and sixth lines, “Sitting opposite, hands have no peace, mouth says yes but heart says no. Eye contact cannot last long, chattering is all false words,” talk about how to judge through daily conversation whether the other party is lying. If two people sit face to face talking and the other person’s hands move around, not knowing where to place them, and their eyes don’t dare meet yours, or as soon as they meet they immediately look away—this means this person’s mouth says yes but heart says no, speaking all falsehoods.

Lines seven and eight, “The mountain root with both eyes, loyalty and treachery hidden inside. One shout shakes Li and Kan, second shout stretches brow and face, third shout decree trembles, both cheeks turn red in patches”—these lines are absolute techniques for reading people’s hearts. Those proficient in this way can observe minutely, discerning loyalty and treachery at a glance! These lines have transcended simple physiognomy examination—they encompass the inevitable laws of the human body from surface to interior, including yin-yang, Five Elements, and Chinese medicine. As long as one is human, one inevitably follows these laws.

The starting position of the nose is the mountain root. On both sides of the mountain root are the eyes. The left eye is yang, the right eye is yin. Eyes belong to fire in the Five Elements, connected to the liver. The liver belongs to wood, connected to the kidneys. The kidneys belong to water, in the Eight Trigrams it’s Kan. A person’s seven emotions and six desires are intimately related to the five internal organs and six bowels. The saying goes: “Fear injures the kidneys, anger injures the liver, sadness injures the spleen, joy injures the heart.”

So if a person has done something against their conscience, the five internal organs and six bowels will be restless and uneasy. If they’re an internal traitor, they’ll inevitably be afraid, anxious every day, their kidney water rising and falling. At this time, if an outsider suddenly shouts loudly, “You’re the internal traitor!”, then this person’s kidney water will churn and roar. Water roaring extinguishes fire. Fire governs the heart, and the heart will also pound rapidly, so it’s called “one shout shakes Li and Kan.” At this time, if you shout again, even someone hiding very deeply will, following the Five Elements’ generation and restraint transmission rules, display their inner matter from inside to outside—either revealing fear in their eyes or their eyebrows trembling. Shout a third time, and this person’s decree will tremble. The decree refers to the grooves on both sides of the nose—here referring to facial muscles. Immediately after, blood and qi surge upward, both cheeks will also turn red. At this point, the hidden matters of the heart are already clearly revealed!

The last few lines are summary words: “Doing physiognomy is doing faces, setting schemes should be dangerous, seeking victory from danger, gold and silver pile up like mountains.” The meaning is that when A’Baos commit fraud and “do physiognomy,” in the final analysis they rely on observing words and expressions. Whether dealing with marks or one’s own people, “setting schemes should be dangerous”—the more high-difficulty dangerous schemes, the greater the returns. The so-called “seeking wealth and honor from danger”—once a major scheme is settled, then gold, silver, and treasures will subsequently arrive, piling up like mountains.

Zu Ye had originally wanted to use the drinking opportunity, while the batou leaders were half-drunk and half-awake, to suddenly employ this technique to test their depths! But Huang Farong said, “This method isn’t stable enough. Rather than directly catching the ghost, it’s better to force the ghost out of the palace. Zu Ye might as well set another trap—say that Mei Xuanzi’s riverside ghost delivery scheme has been broken, hint that the news came from someone beside Mei Xuanzi, and hint that there’s a ghost inside ‘Mu Zilian,’ that Zu Ye already knows who it is. This way, if there really is an internal traitor among the batou leaders, they’ll inevitably be anxious and uneasy, and will inevitably send out the message within a few days to seek an escape strategy. The more urgent they are, the easier it is to reveal their fox tail. Zu Ye can send people to strengthen surveillance and capture them alive.”

After Zu Ye heard this, a great net slowly wove itself in his mind.

Tomorrow Behead the Internal Traitor

To prevent internal traitors, Zu Ye had gone to great pains over the years. First, he firmly controlled the headquarters’ secret manual, the “Zha Fei Secret Manual.” Additionally, he didn’t allow batou leaders to raise dogs or pigeons—both dogs and pigeons could transmit information. When batou leaders visited brothels, Zu Ye had them go in groups to prevent any batou from flying solo or leaking information. Besides this, Zu Ye also arranged his own informants around each batou leader. Therefore, to act as a spy right under Zu Ye’s nose was not something an ordinary person could do.

An internal traitor must absolutely display loyalty internally, remaining calm and composed, but at critical moments they must send out messages, so making contact with the enemy was unavoidable—it was just that the methods of contact each had their own tricks.

After the dark hair coffin incident, Zu Ye became even more cautious. But the informants planted around each batou leader hadn’t transmitted any valuable information. It seemed this internal traitor was hiding very deep.

Zu Ye used the drinking opportunity to beat the grass and startle the snake. Seeing Zu Ye so confident, the internal traitor would inevitably become fearful.

After that banquet dispersed, when the batou leaders returned home, they all knew what they had to do next. The more critical the moment, the more they had to maintain their daily unchanged lifestyle and rhythm. Whatever they usually did, they still had to do now—otherwise it would show a guilty conscience and would more easily arouse Zu Ye’s suspicion.

Da Batou liked drinking and often bought several jin of roasted meat and bottles of liquor to drink alone at home. Er Batou liked visiting brothels and frequently went in and out of flower districts. San Batou would go along with Er Batou. Si Batou and Wu Batou liked researching mystical arts—making wooden oxen and flowing horses, making paper figures that could fly—older people had their own pleasures.

Besides this, San Batou had another hobby—he liked fishing. Two li south of the headquarters was a fish pond that drew water from the Huangpu, with dams and embankments. San Batou always compared himself to Jiang Shang and Zhang Liang, calling himself “Old Man of Misty Waters.” When headquarters wasn’t busy, he would go fishing for a few hours, bringing along a Xiao Jiao to help hang fish bait and collect fishing equipment. That Xiao Jiao was actually an informant Zu Ye had arranged.

The batou leaders all knew in their hearts that their attendants were all personally selected by Zu Ye, so whenever they did anything, they would deliberately bring along this attendant to avoid suspicion of being an internal traitor.

That evening, Zu Ye disguised himself and brought two personal Xiao Jiaos to the “Jingwu Heroes Association.”

The “Jingwu Heroes Association” had a very high reputation in the martial world, founded by the great hero Huo Yuanjia. Wang Yaqiao had instructed in his letter: if there’s any matter, you can find Zeng Jingwu.

Zeng Jingwu was Wang Yaqiao’s brother. Not only were his martial arts skills formidable, he was also an expert at being undercover. Over these years, using his identity as a coach for cover, he secretly developed anti-Japanese organizations. His dormancy techniques were supremely masterful, his methods of maneuvering were brilliant beyond what ordinary people could achieve.

That day at the banquet when Zu Ye spoke boastfully, observing in all six directions, he had already locked onto one or two suspects from the batou leaders’ various expressions. This secret meeting with Zeng Jingwu was to ask Zeng Jingwu to help him nail down the internal traitor. Seeing that the informants beside the batou leaders had been unable to send out any information for so long, Zu Ye worried that those Xiao Jiaos had also been turned by the batou leaders. Relying on his own people, he could no longer discover the internal traitor.

Three more days passed. Shanghai Beach was overcast with fine rain weaving slantwise.

San Batou, wearing a straw raincoat and bamboo hat, went to the fish pond. He liked fishing in the rain. He didn’t lack fish to eat—what he enjoyed was the feeling of fish taking the golden hook. Each time he caught a fish, he would remove it from the hook and throw it back into the pond.

The fishing bait was ground dragons—in other words, earthworms. The night before, he would first dig out earthworms, mix them with silkworm pupa powder, and place them in a basket. During fishing, the Xiao Jiao beside San Batou would help him hang the fish bait, then sit on a nearby bluestone smoking while watching San Batou fish. After the bait was eaten by fish, or after too much time had passed and it had been soaked tasteless by the river water, he would change it to new bait for San Batou.

That day San Batou was in an excellent mood, catching big fish from time to time, smiling so widely his mouth couldn’t close.

Another day passed, and the two Xiao Jiaos just planted in the “Meihua Hui” transmitted news saying that Mei Xuanzi urgently convened a Council Meeting, and his several major disciples all had faces ashen as death. When Zu Ye heard this, he smiled. This was “Mu Zilian’s” internal traitor transmitting to the other side what Zu Ye had said during the “Food and Reward” that day. Zu Ye’s heart was clear as a mirror. The riverside ghost lantern lighting scheme was broken by Huang Farong, and he knew nothing of Mei Xuanzi’s plans, yet he deliberately spread the word, showing that he had everything under control, precisely to force the internal traitor to quickly send out messages—this way the internal traitor would reveal their fox tail.

This was also what Huang Farong wanted. Huang Farong had her own calculations—helping Zu Ye set up the scheme to quickly capture the internal traitor so that her husband Zhang Zizhan could stand out.

After several days of intensive scheme-setting and surveillance, Zu Ye already had a clear idea, but he didn’t stop the internal traitor from sending messages, nor was he in a rush to root out the internal traitor. This was where Zu Ye was more brilliant than Huang Farong—he would turn the scheme against the schemer!

This “discord sowing stratagem” really worked. Mei Xuanzi had originally thought that after eliminating Zu Ye’s informant “Wuzi,” the “Meihua Hui” would be peaceful. Unexpectedly, Zu Ye spread the word hinting that there was a ghost beside him. The people around him were nothing more than these several major disciples. Mei Xuanzi began to suspect his own disciples. This disrupted the normal order of Mei Xuanzi’s headquarters and his subsequent plan arrangements. Because of this, the two Xiao Jiaos Zu Ye newly planted in the “Meihua Hui” were relatively safe. This was Zu Ye killing three birds with one arrow.

Zu Ye’s thinking was very meticulous. When Huang Farong came up with the plan, he had already thought several steps ahead, so Huang Farong understood at first but later couldn’t comprehend. She didn’t understand why Zu Ye had remained silent these past few days, so she couldn’t help but come to ask Zu Ye.

“Zu Ye, the internal traitor has already been found—why not act?”

Zu Ye smiled and said, “How do you know he’s been found?”

Huang Farong said with a smile, “The quieter Zu Ye is, the more it shows everything is under control. Moreover, these past few days Zu Ye’s expression hasn’t been as grave as the previous days—Farong could tell at a glance.”

Zu Ye laughed heartily: “Tomorrow behead the internal traitor!”

Huang Farong was stunned: “Ah?”

“Ah what? Are you worried it’s Zizhan?”

Huang Farong lowered her head and smiled: “It won’t be. Will Zu Ye really behead the ghost tomorrow?”

Zu Ye said, “Can’t I?”

Huang Farong contemplated for a while and said, “If Zu Ye really wanted to behead the ghost, he wouldn’t make such a big fanfare. In Farong’s view, Zu Ye beheading the ghost is false…”

Huang Farong was Huang Farong after all—exceptionally clever. These past few days, seeing Zu Ye had no movement, she had been constantly thinking about what was really happening. Today hearing Zu Ye so easily speak of beheading the ghost, she knew Zu Ye was deliberately not killing the internal traitor.

Zu Ye once again carefully examined the girl before him. She was so clever, clever to the point of being frightening. Zu Ye was considering whether to tell Huang Farong more things, especially those things “Tiansheng Dao’s” master Zuo Yongchan had said that night—those things weighing on Zu Ye’s heart, making him unable to breathe.

Earthworm Message Transmission

The next day just past noon, Zu Ye convened a Council Meeting.

This time it was an expanded meeting—besides batou leaders, there were also some prominent Xiao Jiaos.

Zu Ye said with a grave expression, “You can paint a dragon or tiger but not their bones; you can know a person’s face but not their heart. I, Zu Ye, have treated my subordinate disciples well—why would you still act as an internal traitor?”

Everyone looked at each other, hearts pounding.

“San Batou!” Zu Ye shouted loudly, “Why don’t you confess truthfully!”

San Batou was stunned: “Zu Ye, what does this mean?”

Zu Ye roared toward the sky: “I wasted my painstaking efforts cultivating you, never expecting you would eat inside but crawl outside!”

San Batou shouted loudly: “I’m wronged, Zu Ye, wronged!”

Zu Ye gave a cold laugh and took out a thin reed stem from his sleeve. “Such superior technique! Carving imitation Song characters on oiled paper, rolling it up and inserting it into the reed stem, then stuffing the reed stem into an earthworm’s belly. The earthworm flows downstream, at the pond’s outlet a fine net is set, the earthworm carrying the reed stem is intercepted, the informant gets the earthworm, the message can burst out from the belly—oiled paper doesn’t get wet in water, imitation Song characters make handwriting hard to trace. Using fishing as pretext, carrying out internal treachery in reality—seamless, seamless!”

San Batou was greatly shocked: “Zu Ye, I’m wronged! I don’t know about any of these things!”

Zu Ye shouted loudly: “Drag him out and behead him!”

San Batou cried out loudly: “Zu Ye, investigate clearly! Wronged, wronged!”

All the batou leaders were covered in sweat. “Zu Ye, has this matter been investigated clearly?”

Wu Batou Liang Wenqiu stood up and said, “Zu Ye, since San Ye has followed Zu Ye, he’s been loyal and devoted, never acting abnormally. This matter must be thoroughly verified before punishment can be carried out!”

Zu Ye looked at San Batou and said, “First throw him in the dungeon. After I beat Mei Xuanzi back to his original form, I’ll kill you to offer to heaven!”

Several Xiao Jiaos trussed up San Batou and shoved him out.

That night, San Batou curled up in the dungeon, constantly sighing, thinking what was going on? Just as he was hesitating, a Xiao Jiao came to deliver food.

“San Ye, eat!”

San Batou shouted loudly: “I’m not fucking eating!”

The Xiao Jiao pushed the food in and said in a low voice, “Zu Ye instructs that you must eat!”

San Batou looked at the Xiao Jiao with puzzlement, took the food—it was a bowl of rice noodles and several slices of salted fish. After the Xiao Jiao left, San Batou sat on the ground, grabbed a few mouthfuls of rice noodles, and bit into the salted fish. He felt something between his teeth. Inside the salted fish’s belly was an oiled paper packet. San Batou quickly opened the oiled paper. Inside was a note in Zu Ye’s own handwriting: “The bitter meat stratagem births from bitterness; after bitterness comes sweetness, brotherly affection.” After reading, San Batou ate the note, then laughed heartily.

All of this was arranged jointly by Zu Ye and Zeng Jingwu. That day when Zu Ye went to find Zeng Jingwu, he explained the ins and outs of the Food and Reward banquet one by one.

Zu Ye said, “During ‘Food and Reward,’ I employed the ‘Yingyao’ method, observing words and expressions. I felt there were several batou leaders…”

Zeng Jingwu said, “Spies transmitting messages are all very cautious—every action could be a signal, but all signal contacts are ultimately completed by people. The reason the informants Zu Ye planted beside the batou leaders cannot discover anything is because they’ve become accustomed to the batou leaders’ behaviors. Zu Ye need not rush. Since you’ve already beaten the grass and startled the snake, the internal traitor will inevitably send out messages as quickly as possible to seek an escape strategy. I’ll arrange several people to secretly tail them. These people are all carefully cultivated brothers, deeply versed in spy methods. After Master Huo (Huo Yuanjia) was poisoned to death, all our reconnaissance work for assassinating Japanese people was done by these brothers. If the internal traitor sends out messages, they’ll definitely discover it!”

So several veterans from the “Jingwu Association” began setting up defenses at locations San Batou, Si Batou, and Wu Batou frequently appeared. As a result, the person monitoring San Batou, while disguising himself as a boatman fisherman to spy, discovered the mystery in the fish bait.

That day San Batou fished all afternoon. When the sky was getting dark, San Batou got up to go home. After the Xiao Jiao responsible for fish bait looked around in all directions, he dumped all the remaining earthworms in the basket into the fish pond. The earthworms flowed downstream and were intercepted by a fine net at the pond’s outlet. The people from the “Jingwu Association” fished out the earthworms and carefully observed them, only then discovering the secret in the earthworms’ bellies!

Following Zu Ye and Zeng Jingwu’s instructions, the “Jingwu Association” people didn’t intercept the message in the earthworms but returned them to their original position, waiting for the other side to retrieve them. After dark, the other side’s informant disguised as a fisherman retrieved the message. The next afternoon, the other side used the same method to tie Mei Xuanzi’s reply to the fine net. That night, the Xiao Jiao beside San Batou dove underwater and retrieved the reed stem.

At first, Zu Ye really thought San Batou had betrayed them. He thought this was bad—the two new informants planted in the “Meihua Hui” were arranged by San Batou. If San Batou really was an internal traitor, those two brothers wouldn’t live long either.

Fortunately, Zu Ye was deeply calculating and didn’t rush to act. After the Xiao Jiao beside San Batou retrieved the reed stem, he didn’t go directly back to San Batou’s residence but came to Si Batou’s dwelling. After looking around the house, he stuffed the reed stem into the drainage ditch at the corner of Si Batou’s wall, then quietly withdrew.

Only then did Zu Ye understand the truth of the matter. The internal traitor was Old Four Qi Chunfu. This fellow was truly treacherous to the extreme—using San Batou’s hand to send out messages. Once discovered, San Batou would be the scapegoat!

Most hateful was the Xiao Jiao beside San Batou. He was originally an informant Zu Ye had planted beside San Batou—not only did he not serve as eyes for Zu Ye, he had actually colluded with Si Batou to act as a ghost. Zu Ye was grieved and furious to the extreme!

Anger was inevitable, but where did the grief come from? Because Zu Ye had treated this Xiao Jiao like his own son—never in his dreams did he think he would be an internal traitor!

This Xiao Jiao’s name was Sun Yexing. For Zu Ye to make him an informant, there was actually a good story behind it.

Who was Sun Yexing? People didn’t know, but his father was indeed a famous figure. Back when several batou leaders under Zhang Dancheng “climbed the incense,” the leader was Sun Yexing’s father—Old Four under Zhang Dancheng. Sun Yexing’s father was called Sun Kao. This person was ruthless and vicious. The scheme of killing Zu Ye’s younger brother and sister with the upstream flowing corpses was led by him.

Sun Kao and other batou leaders joined forces to “climb the incense.” Zhang Dancheng and Zhou Zhenlong were fortunately saved by Zu Ye and avoided death. Later, Zu Ye helped Zhang Dancheng get reinforcements from Wang Yaqiao, which finally quelled the rebellion.

After the rebellion was quelled, Zhang Dancheng wanted to clean up the remaining evils in the ranks. Sun Kao’s one-year-old son Sun Yexing was also implicated. At this critical moment, Zu Ye came out to plead: “Master Zhang, disaster doesn’t extend to wives and children. Although Sun Kao is unforgivably evil, his son is young and ignorant of worldly matters. Please Master Zhang show mercy!”

The reason Zu Ye pleaded was still based on that trace of kindness at the bottom of his heart. Seeing the child, he thought of his own younger brother and sister. Putting himself in others’ shoes, he didn’t want to see another child killed. Moreover, this child’s father was burned to death by sky lantern by himself. His father was already dead—to kill his son as well, Zu Ye really couldn’t bear it in his heart.

Thus, under Zu Ye’s protection, this child grew up day by day. Zu Ye taught him the Four Books and Five Classics, taught him the way of being human. Gradually he became a close person. Later, after recruiting San Batou, he arranged for him to be beside San Batou as his own informant.

Sun Yexing didn’t know Zu Ye was his father-killing enemy. Everyone at headquarters kept their mouths tightly shut about this matter. Zu Ye had issued a death order—whoever dared reveal this matter would be killed without question!

The turning point came in 1932. That year, Zu Ye personally “did physiognomy,” arranged for Er Batou to drive corpses, helping Jia Si Ye transport opium, leaving headquarters for nearly a month.

It was during this one month that headquarters’ Old Four Qi Chunfu found Sun Yexing and revealed everything.

Why did Qi Chunfu reveal this matter? What was his relationship with Sun Yexing?

After Zu Ye discovered Qi Chunfu and Sun Yexing, he held back from acting, because Zu Ye didn’t know whether Qi Chunfu had any accomplices. Especially whether Liang Wenqiu, who like him was a veteran from Zhang Dancheng’s era, was a fellow conspirator was still unknown. So he turned the scheme against the schemer, imprisoning San Batou—first to paralyze Qi Chunfu, second to delay time and test Liang Wenqiu.

At that time Qi Chunfu was already panicking! He didn’t know how Zu Ye had intercepted the message—was it discovered when Sun Yexing sent the message, or when retrieving the message? Or was it neither, but rather news transmitted from an informant beside Mei Xuanzi? During the “Food and Reward,” Zu Ye had spoken boastfully. Qi Chunfu could no longer distinguish truth from falsehood.

Qi Chunfu nervously analyzed: if it was intercepted when sending the message, then Zu Ye wanting to kill San Batou was logical. However, Sun Yexing couldn’t escape involvement either. But Sun Yexing could protect himself for now—he could just say he only helped San Batou add and hang fish bait, knew nothing of other circumstances. Dumping the remaining earthworms into the pond after fishing was also human nature. Without evidence, Zu Ye couldn’t randomly kill people. Moreover, Sun Yexing was an informant Zu Ye had planted beside San Batou—his credibility was relatively high.

The spy method lay in sending and receiving. Both sending messages and receiving messages had to be safe. If the two couldn’t both be achieved, you must ensure 50% safety, otherwise you were just throwing yourself to death. “Intimate Knowledge of Spies” says: “Equally divide two to protect one makes the matter fifty percent; borrowing a corpse to return the soul adds to sixty percent.”

The meaning was: if you wanted to be a spy, the danger was relatively great, yet you had to do it anyway, then divide the danger of the matter in two. If you could ensure one channel was safe, the matter had 50% feasibility. Borrowing a corpse to return the soul meant pulling outsiders in to disturb hearing and vision. If you could find a scapegoat, the matter had a sixty percent chance.

If the headquarters boss wasn’t Zu Ye but an impulsive type of master, they would very likely intercept the message Sun Yexing sent that very day, then interrogate Sun Yexing and San Batou together—this would fall right into Qi Chunfu’s scheme.

But the actual situation was: Zu Ye only said he would behead San Batou and didn’t interrogate Sun Yexing!

Qi Chunfu’s mind was already in chaos! He guessed Zu Ye already knew everything, but didn’t dare confirm it. The channel for contacting Mei Xuanzi was cut off—he knew nothing of the situation there. He was anxious and uneasy, unable to sleep all night!

Just at this moment, Zu Ye employed another “creating something from nothing” stratagem, creating a fake message. Early the next morning, he had two “Jingwu Association” people disguise themselves as marks to go fortune-telling. One went to Qi Chunfu’s storefront, one went to Liang Wenqiu’s storefront. During the fortune-telling process, when people weren’t paying attention, both took out a note from their sleeves and separately passed them to Qi Chunfu and Liang Wenqiu.

After the two batou leaders received the notes, Qi Chunfu kept it secret, but Liang Wenqiu urgently came to visit, saying that just now when fortune-telling at the storefront, a mark had slipped him a note, hoping Zu Ye would investigate clearly and so on.

The note read: Tonight at the third watch, at the left wing of the fish pond by the riverside there’s a boat. Call the code three times, someone will respond. Flee quickly!

A huge stone in Zu Ye’s heart fell to the ground. He patted the trembling Liang Wenqiu and said, “Master Liang is loyal and righteous—accept my bow!” As he spoke, he wanted to bow in salute.

This frightened Liang Wenqiu who quickly helped Zu Ye up: “What’s this for? I cannot accept this!”

This was Zu Ye’s sincere respect. Liang Wenqiu was fifteen years older than himself. Over these years, working before and after, bearing hardships without complaint, and in this time of internal and external troubles, still unchanging in loyalty and righteousness—Zu Ye performing this grand salute came from his heart.

Zu Ye sighed: “Master Liang, return to rest early. Do not speak to others of today’s matter.”

Liang Wenqiu looked at Zu Ye with puzzlement, said he obeyed the order, and turned to leave.

At the third watch, heaven sent down great fog. The river surface was a mass of chaos.

Qi Chunfu packed up his gold, silver, and valuables, brought Sun Yexing, and cautiously came to the riverside. After looking around in all directions, he called out clearly three times: “Paddle ten characters! Paddle ten characters! Paddle ten characters!” “Paddle ten characters” was underworld slang, meaning chopsticks—here secretly referring to boat oars, meaning to flee.

A white sail was raised on the small boat. Qi Chunfu and Sun Yexing crawled out from the grass pit and jumped onto the small boat. Lifting the curtain to look, they were instantly frightened out of their wits.

“Zu Ye!”

Immediately after, the two were trussed up and brought back to headquarters.

Headquarters was brightly lit. Qi Chunfu and Sun Yexing knelt on the ground as Zu Ye looked at them coldly.

“Why did you betray me?”

Qi Chunfu raised his head toward heaven and wept, crying out: “Enough, enough! Heaven has no eyes, letting my entire family perish at your hands!”

This shout from Qi Chunfu also confused Zu Ye.

Zu Ye felt Qi Chunfu’s words had hidden meaning, so he had everyone withdraw.

Only three people remained in the room. Qi Chunfu tearfully revealed fifteen years of love and hatred.

Back when Sun Yexing’s father Sun Kao rebelled, also killed by Zhang Dancheng was Sun Yexing’s mother—Sun Kao’s wife.

Sun Kao was a lustful and promiscuous person, unrestrained and romantic, constantly seeking flowers and asking willows. His wife advised him many times to no avail and became cold-hearted. But as a female A’Bao, she had unspeakable suffering. This swindler identity—officials dared not be reported to, reason had nowhere to be spoken. She could only swallow the bitter water into her belly. This state was discovered by a small “Juren” under Sun Kao—this person was Qi Chunfu. At that time Qi Chunfu was seventeen or eighteen, clever and handsome. Seeing his master’s wife wiping tears every day, he developed compassionate feelings for this rather attractive master’s wife. He knew paper-making craft. Sometimes when Sun Kao was whoring, he would make paper lanterns and paper mandarin ducks and run to the master’s wife’s place to make her happy.

Women are made of ice, naturally loving to melt; women are also vicious, naturally loving revenge. Coming and going like this, the two developed feelings over time. Finally one day, the two couldn’t restrain themselves and performed the rites of Duke Zhou.

Afterward, the woman feared Sun Kao’s suspicion and hurriedly had intercourse with Sun Kao repeatedly.

Later, the woman’s belly grew large. Sun Kao was very happy, but the woman knew in her heart—this child was Qi Chunfu’s.

After the child was born, the woman feared that when he grew up Sun Kao would discover the truth, so she secretly discussed with Qi Chunfu to flee together. Right at this critical juncture, Sun Kao “climbed the incense,” headquarters was in great chaos. Zhang Dancheng was furious and ashamed. Based on the principle of rather wrongly kill a thousand than let one escape, he killed Sun Kao’s wife too. If not for Zu Ye’s bitter pleading, Sun Yexing would have died in swaddling clothes.

Zu Ye protected Sun Yexing. Qi Chunfu didn’t flee either, because his flesh and blood was here. But he didn’t dare acknowledge him. He hated Zhang Dancheng, hated Zu Ye even more, hated this headquarters. If not for Zu Ye saving Zhang Dancheng, Sun Kao wouldn’t have died, Sun Kao’s wife wouldn’t have died—in his eyes, she was even more his own wife. Now the person he loved was killed, his own son was controlled by Zu Ye. The angry fire in his heart couldn’t help but burn fiercely. He blamed all of this on Zu Ye! So later when Zu Ye “released military power over cups of wine,” he strongly requested to continue assisting Zu Ye. He knew he absolutely couldn’t retire to the second line—he had to control all the movements of headquarters. He bitterly concealed this past, just waiting for an opportunity to eliminate Zu Ye, achieve father-son reunion, and destroy the entire “Mu Zilian”!

During that period in 1932 when Zu Ye went out to South Guangdong, Qi Chunfu found Sun Yexing and revealed this matter. Sun Yexing didn’t believe it at first. Qi Chunfu then took out the blood letter he had treasured for fifteen years to show Sun Yexing. It was Sun Yexing’s mother’s last words. Afterward, Qi Chunfu also pointed out that on Sun Yexing’s back was a triangular brand mark, burned by his mother with a branding iron while alive, to serve as evidence for future father-son recognition. After hearing this, father and son embraced and cried out loud. From then on, father and son began secretly plotting rebellion.

After Mei Xuanzi gained momentum, Qi Chunfu felt the opportunity had come. Qi Chunfu was very clever. He knew that with Mei Xuanzi making such a big show this time, he must have received support from an expert. He felt Jianghuai’s history was going to be rewritten, so he secretly contacted Mei Xuanzi and told the other side about the “Jiang Xiang Sect’s” ancestral taboos. Only then did the other side set up the dark hair coffin scheme, intending to completely ruin Zu Ye’s reputation in one stroke!

After hearing all this, Zu Ye felt a wave of desolation in his heart. Two generations of grievances, deep father-son affection—who was right, who was wrong? Zu Ye’s heart was full of confusion.

Zu Ye didn’t want to kill. One was a veteran from Zhang Dancheng’s era, one was a baby he had watched grow up, but these two people had to be killed.

On the execution day, Zu Ye shed tears. Especially seeing Sun Yexing lying under the blade, head tilted, staring with angry eyes—it stirred waves of heartache in Zu Ye.

After the two died, Zu Ye issued an order for lavish burial. The batou leaders all didn’t know why Zu Ye was so good to these two internal traitors. Zu Ye said, “They were also misled by Mei Xuanzi before taking the wrong path! My hatred with Mei Xuanzi is irreconcilable!” Zu Ye’s intention was to divert the conflict, making everyone transfer their hatred toward the Meihua Hui, so the entire headquarters could twist into one rope to battle Mei Xuanzi.

On the “Jiang Xiang Sect’s” genealogy, Zu Ye personally added the names of the two: Fifteenth generation descendant Qi Chunfu, Sixteenth generation descendant Sun Yexing. This represented that these two were still people of the “Jiang Xiang Sect.” After death they could still enjoy the incense offerings of Jiang Xiang descendants. After writing, he burned three incense sticks, then silently shed tears, sighing endlessly.