Chapter Twenty-Three: The Reincarnation of Xunzi (II)

After Wan Yongkun finished recounting his ordeal from the previous night, everyone looked at each other in astonishment. There was no doubt that Wan Yongkun wasn’t making things up, but such bizarre events were truly unheard of. Science cannot explain everything, especially in places untouched by civilization—Luoshui Village was certainly one of those places.

Li Qisi’s expression shifted between gloom and uncertainty, his thoughts unreadable. At first, he was squatting and smoking, but when he stood up, he was unsteady on his feet and nearly stumbled. Li Qihua, who stood beside him, quickly reached out to steady his elder brother. In all these years, the eldest had always been the unshakable pillar among their brothers; it was the first time he’d seen his brother so disheveled.

After a long silence, Li Qisi finally let out a heavy sigh, “Second Brother, if fortune is meant to come, it will come; if disaster is to fall, there’s no hiding from it… What must come will come in the end. So be it, so be it!”

Li Qihua couldn’t understand why his usually robust elder brother was suddenly so despondent, so he tried to reassure him, “Big Brother, don’t lose heart. Perhaps Fifth Brother’s fate was simply sealed, just an unfortunate accident…”

Li Qisi’s body trembled, as if suddenly awakened. He glanced at Li Qihua, his expression quickly regaining its usual determination. In a low, resolute voice, he said, “You’re right, Second Brother. Whether it’s a natural or a man-made disaster, we brothers should not fear. Still, we must be cautious. With more than half of our six brothers lost or wounded, from now on, our three families move forward together—no one is to act alone… And also…” Li Qisi motioned for him to lean in.

The two exchanged a few words in hushed tones, during which Li Qihua nodded repeatedly, indicating his agreement. After their discussion, Li Qihua pulled Li Yiting aside and quietly gave him instructions.

When he was finished, Li Yiting said gravely, “Dad, do you think we could let Fourth Brother come with me? Maybe he can help. My mind’s a jumble right now…”

“Well, he’s still an outsider…” Li Qihua hesitated. “These things—believe them, they exist; don’t, and they don’t.”

Li Yiting was undeterred. “Let me ask him,” he insisted. Li Qihua nodded.

Li Yiting hurried back to convey his father’s thoughts to Chen Tianyu. It turned out that the Li brothers wanted to quickly seek a divination to ask the heavens for answers, and the person they intended to find was none other than Xun Yuanchun.

Chen Tianyu pondered for a moment before speaking. “Didn’t Qiuxi say that Xun Yuanchun hadn’t been seen for days?”

Li Yiting gave a wry smile. “Qiuxi doesn’t know the right way to find him. Xun Yuanchun isn’t an ordinary man. Ever since he became a ‘god,’ he never enters or exits through his own front door. If villagers want to see him, there are only two ways: one, bring enough offerings and money, write down what you wish to divine, and leave it at a designated spot, then wait for him to come to you; or two, rely on luck—stake out the gambling den and wait for the day his urge to gamble draws him there, when he’ll appear as if out of thin air.”

“I see,” Chen Tianyu nodded slightly. “No wonder Qiuxi couldn’t find a way in.”

Li Yiting teased, “That kid is still too green.”

“Such a remarkable individual—I must meet him, no matter what. It’d be best if we could bring Jiudao along; he’s quite knowledgeable in these matters,” Chen Tianyu mused.

Shen Mingyue, who had been listening with great interest, piped up eagerly, “Fourth Brother, I want to go too! Take me with you!”

Li Yiting shook his head helplessly. “Too many people won’t do. Besides, you’re a girl; they won’t let you in.”

Shen Mingyue fumed, “What kind of ridiculous rule is that? Such inequality between men and women—I can’t accept it! I must go!”

Li Yiting looked to Liu Zichen for help—she was the only one who might persuade Shen Mingyue—but to his surprise, Liu Zichen sided with her.

“Mingyue isn’t wrong. Your Li Village really does have too many rules. Women can’t enter the temple on New Year’s Day, can’t enter the ancestral hall, and now even a fake ‘godman’ makes such a fuss, blatantly discriminating against women. It’s unheard of,” Liu Zichen said, frowning.

Li Yiting was left speechless. He’d lived here for over a decade, never really questioning these customs—they were simply a part of life.

…

Chen Tianyu waved his hand. “Now’s not the time for arguments. When you’re on someone else’s turf, you follow their rules. Let me go first and we’ll see what happens.”

In truth, everyone was just venting; there was no real anger. At his words, no one protested further.

Outside, the rain poured down in torrents. Within the dense bamboo grove, little streams were already coursing underfoot, murmuring loudly.

At that moment, Qiuxi hurried over, anxious. “Fourth Brother, the rain’s too heavy and there’s too much traffic—the county road is jammed. The criminal investigation team is stuck halfway…”

Li Yiting frowned. “Did they give any estimate of when they’ll arrive?”

Qiuxi shook his head helplessly. “Can’t say for sure. It won’t be soon…”

Chen Tianyu wasn’t impatient. He suggested, “Yiting, waiting around won’t help. The roads are slippery in the rain—even when the detectives reach the village, they won’t get here quickly. Why not split up and tackle this from two sides? Officer Qiu and Jiudao can handle things here.”

Li Yiting glanced at the two women. “What about them?”

Liu Zichen laughed. “Yiting, you’re flustered over nothing. We were pulling your leg. Have we ever given you cause for worry?”

Relieved, Li Yiting quickly went to report to his father and relay Chen Tianyu’s suggestion.

Without further delay, the four of them split up. After brief instructions, Li Qihua led his son home to make preparations, while Chen Tianyu accompanied Li Qisi straight to Xun Yuanchun’s residence.

Soon, a uniquely crafted wooden house appeared before them.

The main door was tightly shut.

Without a word, Li Qisi strode to the front, grabbed the two metal rings on the door, and knocked in a rhythmic pattern.

Bang… Clang-clang-clang… Bang-bang… Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang… Bang… Bang-bang-bang… Clang-clang…

The door creaked open a sliver, but beyond the gap, all was darkness. Yet, in Li Qisi’s eyes, a subtle smile flickered.

Suddenly, Chen Tianyu understood—the door required a password to open!

---

Upon entering, they found themselves not in a living room, but in a small courtyard, unlike any ordinary home. In the center stood an incense burner and an offering table, on which were neatly arranged fine brushes, an inkstone, and a stack of yellow talisman paper.

Li Qisi stopped. Though he appeared a rough man, he bent down and began to write with a brush. Chen Tianyu silently observed and was surprised to see that Li Qisi wrote in traditional script, his hand steady and skilled.

It was said that in Li Village, only Li Qiwen could write with such mastery, yet Li Qisi was clearly just as adept. Why, then, did he keep his abilities hidden? Unless this puzzle was solved, the case would only become more entangled.

After ten or so minutes, Li Qisi finished writing their request. The two men waited, smoking, for Li Qihua and the others to bring offerings. Chen Tianyu pondered where to begin uncovering the truth.

Only now did he realize how much he had underestimated Li Qisi. In truth, he knew almost nothing about the man—nor had he ever truly spoken with him. Even though Yiting’s father had allowed Chen, an outsider, to accompany them, Li Qisi had raised no objection. This either meant he didn’t care, or he was fully confident in his control of the situation.

Given his status as clan leader and his obvious capability, it had to be the latter—he understood everything, and simply hadn’t spelled it out.

Faced with such deliberate reserve, Chen Tianyu found himself at a loss for an opening. Say too little, and he’d be ignored; say too much, and he might provoke unnecessary suspicion or hostility.

So the two men simply smoked in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

By coincidence, a young man hurried in at that moment, panting heavily when he spotted them standing in the courtyard. It was the village Party Secretary, Li Fuqi. He’d been busy non-stop for days—organizing Li Qiwen’s funeral, delivering government aid to the needy at year’s end, and scheduling village officials’ holiday shifts.

After hearing of Li Qiumao’s unexpected death, everyone else rushed to the scene out of curiosity, but Li Fuqi knew better. He had to stay at Li Qiumao’s house to handle logistics and comfort the family—there were two women at home, their world collapsed.

Onlookers never realize the difficulties of those working behind the scenes, but as village chief, he had no choice. To ensure the criminal investigation team could conduct a proper on-site investigation, he’d argued and pleaded, finally persuading Aunt Five and her daughter to wait until the detectives finished their work. Exhausted, he headed to the mountain factory, and upon seeing the tragic state of Uncle Five, this burly young man couldn’t help but weep.

After speaking with Beiting and the others, he learned that his elders, in a moment of confusion, had gone to consult the ‘godman’ Xun Yuanchun about the murder—a notion he found preposterous. So he hurried over to see for himself.

Catching his breath, Li Fuqi spoke up, “Uncle… do you really believe Xun Yuanchun can find out what happened to Uncle Five?”

Li Qisi shot him a cold glance and spoke after a long moment, “This isn’t your concern.”

Li Fuqi grew anxious. “The detectives will find the truth. If this charlatan starts spouting nonsense, who are we supposed to believe?”

Chen Tianyu silently approved—this Party Secretary was a man of principle.

But Li Qisi was unmoved. “Justice is in the heart of the people. Whoever makes sense, we’ll listen to them.”

Li Fuqi pressed, “Uncle, this is a nation of law now. That old ‘spirit medium’ routine is outdated. Uncle Five died so horribly—we can’t let him die in vain!”

“What do you know?!” Li Qisi’s temper flared, his face growing fierce. “Village matters can only be solved by our own. Counting on outsiders? You’re too naïve, Fuqi. You’re still young—there are things you won’t understand yet…”

He paused, then added, “I don’t know if Xun Yuanchun is a fraud, but he certainly knows more about Luoshui Village than you, a recent graduate.”

Li Fuqi had no rebuttal—he knew it was true.

---

Li Fuqi ultimately couldn’t stop the divination, but he had at least tried. Some things can’t be forced. Chen Tianyu was content with this; if Li Qisi had given up, he might have tried to persuade him otherwise—Xun Yuanchun was simply too intriguing.

Especially after Li Qisi’s final words, Chen Tianyu was even more determined to meet the man. Xun Yuanchun might be the only person besides Li Qisi who knew the whole story of Luoshui Village.

That could be crucial to uncovering the truth. As Chen Tianyu’s mind raced, the inner door of the courtyard suddenly opened, and an elderly man, white-haired and bearded, stepped out.

Without a word, the old man lit a water pipe and puffed away, hunched and thin—a bit older than Li Qisi, perhaps.

Unexpectedly, Li Qisi grinned and approached. “Yuanchun, the offerings will be here soon.”

Xun Yuanchun glanced at him coldly, exhaling a thick cloud of smoke before breaking into a coughing fit.

“Qisi, it’s been over twenty years. This is the first time you’ve come to my door, isn’t it?”

Li Qisi smiled awkwardly. “This door isn’t easy to get through…”

Xun Yuanchun said no more, his face twisted and strange, and after a long pause, he muttered, “As the saying goes, there’s no visiting the temple without a reason. After twenty years, everything has changed—monsters and demons, who can tell the difference? Come in.”

He rose slowly, set his pipe aside, and pushed open a small side door barely a meter wide. Being small himself, he only needed to bend slightly, but for the nearly two-meter-tall, two-hundred-pound Li Qisi, entry was a struggle. He squeezed through, awkward and clumsy, feeling a strange sadness—hadn’t Yuanchun also been living in hiding all these years?

Chen Tianyu followed, but his impressions were quite different. First, he noticed that although Xun Yuanchun looked frail, his eyes were clear, and his movements sharp and precise even as he smoked. Second, the place where Xun Yuanchun came out and the place he entered were two different locations—subtle, but telling. Third, it seemed Xun Yuanchun had been waiting for Li Qisi; his words were laced with hidden meaning, but he clearly knew why they’d come.

Chen Tianyu grew wary—this house was surely full of tricks. If Xun Yuanchun harbored ill intent, the two of them had walked right into a trap, their fates uncertain.

As soon as Chen Tianyu stepped through the little door, there was a snap, and the world went black. He broke out in a cold sweat. There was no sound ahead—where was Li Qisi?

He reached out, feeling nothing but empty air. Unsure whether to proceed, a deep voice spoke by his ear: “Don’t worry, just walk straight ahead.”

It was Li Qisi. Chen Tianyu quickly replied, “Alright.”

He began counting his steps: one, two… fifty-seven, fifty-eight… one hundred twelve, one hundred thirteen…

It was incredible. Even taking careful, short steps, he’d walked over fifty meters with no obstacles. Could he have left the house entirely?

He walked a few dozen more steps before spotting a faint light. Instinctively, he quickened his pace. As he approached, he saw Xun Yuanchun lighting a candle, with Li Qisi standing at his side.

As more candles were lit, their flickering light revealed a small chamber of about twenty square meters. Where the light fell, there was an altar with a statue and incense burner.

How had he entered? Chen Tianyu was perplexed.

He looked closer at the statue—it was fierce and terrifying, the image of Zhong Kui, the demon queller!

---

Xun Yuanchun’s demeanor was solemn, his lips moving in silent prayer, his face deeply devout. Compared to the “official” temple keepers, these so-called spirit mediums perhaps believed in miracles even more fervently. In the candlelight, Xun Yuanchun seemed both strange and unyielding—contrary to the stereotype of the fraudulent medium, who is merely a clever liar. Call it self-deception or supernatural charlatanry, but these people truly believed themselves possessed, and only this faith allowed them to fully immerse themselves in their supposed trance.

Sometimes people can deduce things through statistics, probability, experience, and observation; this cannot be denied. The degree of such ability varies, and mediums may be those who achieve sudden insight.

Chen Tianyu dared not move, except with his eyes. By now, he’d grown accustomed to the darkness, and could make out the general layout of the room by the flickering outlines. Li Qisi, seeing Xun Yuanchun entering a trance, quietly stepped back to stand at Chen Tianyu’s side, clearly more at ease here.

In Xun Yuanchun’s hand was an oddly shaped tortoise shell and some other unidentifiable objects. With a casual wave, something bizarre happened—

Everything in the room began to rise slowly!

Chen Tianyu rubbed his eyes hard, but saw no trick—there was no sound, nothing to explain it, yet all the objects floated upward.

The tortoise shell left Xun Yuanchun’s hand, hovering over his head by more than a meter. Before Chen Tianyu could react, it dropped to the floor with a crisp crack—it had shattered!

Xun Yuanchun bent to examine the fragments for several minutes. Meanwhile, smoke thickened in the room, and the candlelight began to waver and fade.

Suddenly—all the flames went out, and darkness returned. He couldn’t see his own hand before his face.

A low, indistinct but clear voice spoke, “You may leave.”

A patch of white light appeared ahead. Chen Tianyu, almost involuntarily, walked toward it, pushed open a door, and found Li Qisi and Xun Yuanchun already outside. He stepped out as well.

Looking back, the door had closed silently behind him.

Everything felt mysterious and strange, yet unexpectedly calm. Li Qisi’s expression was serene, as if he had achieved a sudden peace of mind.

Li Fuqi was nowhere to be seen—likely, he’d left after failing to dissuade them. Li Qihua and the others had yet to arrive, so little time had passed.

Chen Tianyu wondered—could such a brief session really produce any answers? It seemed too miraculous.

He glanced around. The courtyard was unchanged, even the yellow talisman paper Li Qisi had written on still fluttered gently in the wind.

A chill crept down Chen Tianyu’s spine—the stillness here was unsettling.

Xun Yuanchun spoke first. “The will of heaven cannot be revealed. Qisi, you should go.”

Li Qisi replied unhurriedly, “You went through all that just to give me this answer?”

Xun Yuanchun forced a laugh. “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you—the omen is dire, disaster is unavoidable. Nothing I say will help.”

“As for what happens next, to be honest, I don’t know myself,” Xun Yuanchun added, uncharacteristically candid.

Li Qisi said nothing, lighting a cigarette with perfect composure.

“You don’t have to say it—I know. We brothers are fated for calamity. If you reveal it, you’ll shorten your own lifespan. But if you remain silent, aren’t you afraid you can’t escape fate yourself?”

Xun Yuanchun’s face changed dramatically. He raised a trembling hand to point at Li Qisi, stammering, “You mean… you mean…?”

Li Qisi exhaled a thick cloud of smoke and threw the cigarette stub to the ground. “What do you think?”

Xun Yuanchun’s lips turned pale as he froze, then suddenly crouched, holding his head and muttering, “No wonder! No wonder!”

Chen Tianyu couldn’t help but interject, “There’s no need for riddles. If you really want to speak in riddles, you ought to ask me to leave first. I’m curious: what is your true intention here?”

Xun Yuanchun remained crouched, silent. Li Qisi answered calmly, “To be frank, I came here simply to confirm one thing. Then, I want Yuanchun to tell you a story personally…”

Xun Yuanchun, head bowed, grumbled, “Why does it have to be me, Qisi? Are you just trying to make things difficult for me? And who is he, anyway?”

Li Qisi replied coldly, “He’s the only one who can help us resolve this.”