Chapter 36: The Case of the Stolen Baby

  "Hmm, was the vegetarian dish delicious?" After dinner, I didn't go to bother Shifu Ying and Shifu Ming. I let them be there, whispering and muttering to each other. I walked over to the teapot and poured myself a cup of hot tea, holding the teacup and drinking it to aid digestion. Suddenly, Shifu Ying appeared beside me, gently lifting my chin with her fragrant breath and asked me.

  It's hard to admit, but a man being too handsome isn't necessarily a good thing. He can easily become the object of women's flirtation. Especially those women whose real age you can't quite put your finger on.

  "Good heavens! Oh, Master...!" I almost knocked over the tea bowl in shock and sat up straight, saying.

  "Others' vegetarian meals aren't eaten for free, what do you think?" Cold and detached, these words came out of Shifu's mouth, could it be that he has come to ask me for meal money?

  "That's natural, that's natural!" Given Master Shifu's explosive martial arts skills, I could only nod repeatedly and echo in agreement.

  "Sit back a bit!" Master Shiying's uncle elbowed me with his arm, and sat down beside me.

  Before arriving, my Shifu and I passed through Wudang Town. We heard some strange rumors! Ah? I said, why didn't you ask me what the strange rumors were? When chatting with people, you need to know how to cooperate with others, especially women, you need to learn how to spark their interest. This child, being so wooden, how will you flirt with girls in the future?

  The powerful Shifu's words struck me like thunder, leaving me stunned!

  "Alright, what's going on in Wudang Town?" I just followed her lead and pretended to be curious. This performance made her feel very satisfied.

  "There were several families, who in the past few days, coincidentally lost their children. Don't you think this is strange?" Shī Yǐng Shī Shū stretched out her slender fingers to play with the hair on my forehead.

  "There's something strange, probably was kidnapped by human traffickers. Just report to the police, the earlier the better!" I was expressing my own views, when suddenly I remembered that the person sitting next to me wasn't a good guy. This outburst of mine made me feel relieved, but what about her?

  "Hmm! Yes, this is indeed a strange thing! How do you see it, Master?" As expected, I stole a glance at Master's face and saw that her expression had turned gloomy. In an instant, I changed my tone and cleared my throat to steer the conversation in the direction she desired.

  "Hey! Doesn't that seem strange to you? Think about it, human traffickers wouldn't be so bold as to commit crimes in the same place every day. And besides, Wudang Town only has two exits, and neighbors usually know each other well. If someone's child was being carried by a stranger, wouldn't someone have seen it? None of these children were seen being carried by a stranger. They just disappeared out of nowhere." Master Shiying took down the judge's pen shaped like a green bamboo from his waist and slapped it against his palm repeatedly!

  "What's this, Master Shu preparing?" I shifted my body to the side and secretly wiped the cold sweat from my palm on my pants.

  "I reckon it's those evil cults causing trouble, the villagers have all come to Wudang for help. Now, every family with children in the town is on edge. They're afraid that if they're not careful, their child will disappear." Master Shadow said, his eyebrows furrowed in concern, seemingly very worried about the safety of those children.

  "But when it comes to fighting with others, you are not a match for Wudang. However, when it comes to driving out ghosts and evil spirits, Wudang is no match for you." Shifu and Shishu gave me a nod, and from this nod, I knew what they were thinking of. They just wanted me to go to the town and investigate the matter.

  "So, in the end, this matter still falls on your head. Saving a life is like building a seven-story pagoda, Master Nephew, your merits are great! As expected, I knew that there's no such thing as a free lunch or flattery without reward. Now, their true face has been revealed."

  "What can I do? I'm just a half-baked goods, what if it's something that can't be dealt with, and I end up harming the child's life. Don't even mention the merits, my sins will be greatly increased. Master uncle, you'd better find someone else for this matter. Or, make a phone call to my master, let him come over too.

  I don't want to get involved in this muddy water, who knows what kind of backstage black hand it is? What if they're an old monster who has been practicing for decades? Then I'll not only fail to gain merits but also risk losing my life. I still want to marry a beautiful wife and have children!"

  "Hmph, I've already agreed on your behalf. And I praised you to the skies, just short of saying you're a god who can do anything. If you dare not agree, and make me lose face in front of those people, believe me, I'll castrate this little troublemaker of yours!" Master Shiying was shamelessly threatening me.

  "Boundless longevity, Three Pure Patriarchs, Three Ancestors! No matter who it is, please hurry up and take away this demon!" I muttered to myself with a pale face. Now I understand why Master and the others would avoid this uncle as if he were a plague god.

  "How about it? Are you going or not?" Master Shiying grabbed my collar and drew a judge's pen on my waist, asking.

  "Ah..." I let out a long sigh of relief, relaxed my limbs and stretched my body into a 'T' shape. Finally!

  "If you had listened earlier, there wouldn't have been any trouble! Hahaha!" Master Shi and Master Shu stood up, adjusting their clothes while looking at me cowering in the corner, shivering with fear, and burst out laughing!

  Under the intimidation and temptation of this seductress, I finally accepted the task of investigating the disappearance of infants in Wudang Town! Of course, the intimidation is not false. As for the temptation, let's just say that I'm flattering myself, ah! From then on, I was no longer willing to call Shifu as Shishu, and instead replaced it with the word seductress.

  "Big Brother, in such a big Wudang Town, where should we start searching?" Lamp Grass was absolutely an innocent victim, because I couldn't just leave him alone on Mount Wudang to enjoy himself, right? So under my strong recommendation, this monk also had no choice but to succumb to the powerful combat value of the female demon and accompany me on this trip.

  "Let's put it off for now and talk about it later. According to that woman, the town has lost many children, it's impossible not to have any news at all." Anyway, I've already taken on this matter, what I need to do now is calm down and gather information.

  When the news spread that two Taoist priests from Wudang Mountain had come to help, the townspeople felt much more at ease. Of course, Wudang didn't reveal my and Lamp Grass's identities, only saying that two Wudang disciples had descended the mountain. To ordinary people, it doesn't matter if you're from Wudang or Maoshan - as long as you wear Taoist robes, you're all considered priests. And those who wear monk's clothes like Lamp Grass are all considered high monks.

  "It's all set, I heard that the Wudang Sect has sent a Taoist priest to capture that evil spirit that's been harming children." My friend and I sat down at a small tofu shop, listening to the hushed conversations of the only two or three customers in the store.

  "Hey, let's take a look first. What if the demon is as powerful as the old black mountain demon? I'm worried that the Taoist priests of Wudang won't be its match!" Recently, the movie "A Chinese Ghost Story" has been popular in theaters, and this person must have seen it too.

  "Maybe this time the Taoist priest who came down from the mountain is a great master like Yan Chixia?" As expected, more than one person had seen him. Just as the previous person finished speaking, someone immediately picked up where he left off.

  "You guys said, is Yan Chixia a monk or a Taoist?" It's clear that the movie character is much more attractive than the real Wudang master. As they chatted on and on, the old men started discussing Yan Chixia's identity again.

  "Must be a monk or something, haven't seen anyone with the Diamond Sutra on them?" Someone took a sip of tofu brain and reminisced about the movie plot there!

  "No, it should be a Taoist! He recites incantations like this, Tian Di Wu Ji, Qian Kun Jie Fa. After finishing, an Eight Trigrams comes out, aren't Eight Trigrams loved by Taoists?" Someone raised a different opinion!

  "That's right! Is this thing about Buddhist and Taoist dual cultivation?" As they spoke, the old men became confused. If they continued to talk, they would get stuck on the topic of Buddhist and Taoist dual cultivation.

  "So, damn it, I don't even know if that Autumn guy is a Buddhist or a Taoist! You say he's a monk, but he's reciting 'Divine Army, Urgent as Law'. You say he's a Taoist priest, and then he comes out with some 'Mani Mani' nonsense!" And so, several people completely fell into the bug in the movie.

  Staring blankly and continuing to wait wouldn't yield any results. I decided with Deng Cao to go out onto the streets and take a look around, see if there's anyone who knows what's going on inside. After all, a child going missing isn't a pleasant thing, and we can't just drag others into it to ask them questions in detail. Who knows, if we were to ask the victim's family, they might vent their anger on me.

  "I'm telling you, just the other night, I was leaving Zhao's house after drinking. From a distance, I saw a black shadow flash by on the street, and it seemed like they were holding a child in their arms. At the time, I was wondering who would be out on the streets with a kid at such a late hour. And then the next day, I heard that Old Li's grandson had gone missing." A middle-aged man with a hint of drunkenness walked up to a beef noodle stall and started bragging to the people eating there, spitting as he spoke.

  "Don't talk nonsense, you're already drunk early in the morning, be careful or the police station will take you away for questioning." A kind-hearted aunt said to the man while waiting for the noodles in the pot.

  "Zhang's aunt, I didn't lie to you. Let me tell you, that black shadow now that I think about it, doesn't look like a person at all. What does it look like? Ah, yes, just like a fox." The man said with conviction, tapping his hand on the table.

  "Early in the morning, all nonsense is spoken here. Don't blame Fox Fairy, don't blame Fox Fairy!" The aunt saw that the man was becoming more and more unscrupulous, so she hastily joined her hands together to make a fourteen-sided ring and bowed!

  Hearing this, I exchanged a glance with Deng Cao, thinking to myself "We have a lead now!"