Chapter 9: The Frightful Temple of the Stove God

  These three days, apart from playing around, I wasn't idle. Because my grandfather mentioned before his death that my great-grandfather Wang Sigou was a great hero, this inadvertently evoked the heroic complex of my youth. In the past, when I went to school, I didn't have time to ask about this, but now we have time, and can't miss it.

  But who to ask? Of course, it was my grandmother. I thought that apart from my grandfather, the only one who knew about my great-grandfather would be her. As expected, this old lady indeed knew about my great-grandfather, but she just wouldn't tell me. Later, after being worn down by me and having no other choice, she let out a sigh, patted me on the head, and said: "You child, you're just like your grandfather, so mischievous! Alright, I'll tell you..." And that's how I finally found out about my great-grandfather, Wang Sigou.

  Originally, my great-grandfather Wang Sigou, whose real name was Wang Xishan, was the last generation of executioners in the Wang family. By his generation, the Wang family's craftsmanship had a good reputation, until later, due to a combination of circumstances, he was favored by Zhao Shuqiao, the then Minister of Justice and Grand Councilor, and was brought to the capital with a single transfer order. The irony is that after arriving in the capital, Wang Xishan received a sixth-grade imperial salary, but still did the work of an executioner.

  At that time, the executioner was no longer just a simple beheader. In certain specific situations, there was also a performance significance. Sometimes when executing, various ministers would come to watch, and even some foreigners would come to observe. At this time, the executioners had to show off their skills. With one knife down, they had to make the whole audience cheer, otherwise, in a few days, they would have to leave with a slap on the butt!

  Wang Xishan had a unique skill, and it was this skill that caught the attention of the Minister of Justice. In the profession of executioner, Wang Xishan was a figure to be reckoned with, and there was a saying that went: "Quick knife touches the ground, blood doesn't flow," which referred to him. What does this mean? It refers to the speed of Wang Xishan's knife, which sliced through the convict's neck all the way to the tip touching the ground before retracting into his hand, and only then did the convict's head fall to the ground.

  Wang Jishan's life was originally very flat, until Liao Tianyin and others launched the Hundred Days' Reform, which ultimately failed. The Wuxu Coup led to the capture of the Six Gentlemen of the Wuxu Year. Empress Dowager Cixi issued a proclamation announcing their execution by beheading on September 28, 1906, at Caishikou in Beijing's Xuanwu Gate.

  This had nothing to do with Wang Xishan, but the Ministry of Punishment sent a document specifically asking Wang Xishan to take up his knife! After receiving the order, Wang Xishan was in intense inner turmoil. Not for anything else, although Wang Xishan didn't read many books, he knew characters and understood reason, he wasn't an ignorant person. He deeply knew that Tan Sitong, Liu Guangdi and others were reformist martyrs, precious jade. If he really took action and beheaded the six of them, then he would be a sinner for all eternity!

  After careful consideration, he made up his mind and found two trusted friends, Zhang Yin, a coroner from the Ministry of Punishment, and Song He, an officer in charge of guarding the city gate. Together they hatched a plan to fake his own death. Under the cover of night, he escaped from Beijing with his entire family and returned to his hometown of Chaoyang. From then on, he changed his name to Wang Sigou, bought a house and land, and opened a small pharmacy called Longshan Medicine House in Chaoyang town, relying on his limited medical skills.

  Up to this point, Wang Xishan had been living a relatively peaceful life. Later, news came from the capital that Tan Sitong and others were still unable to escape death, and in the end they were beheaded on September 28 at Xuanwu Gate, and the person holding the knife was his arch-nemesis Zhao Jia in the capital!

  Upon hearing the news, Wang Xishan let out a sigh of grief. Afterwards, his whole family abstained from meat for a month and strictly forbade anyone in the household from mentioning the name "Wang Xishan" again, as a sign of respect for the Six Gentlemen of the Wuxu Year. And with that, the matter was considered closed.

  One day, Wang Sigou was idle and took out the ancestral treasure knife to wipe it at home. Suddenly, a string of bells rang outside the courtyard, and someone loudly chanted Buddha's name: Boundless Heavenly Lord! Wang Sigou was puzzled in his heart, walked out of the courtyard gate, and saw a young Taoist priest standing at the door with his hand holding a dustpan. Wang Sigou thought he was there to beg for alms, so he casually took out a few old coins and handed them over. Unexpectedly, this Taoist priest didn't even look at the money, but stared at Wang Sigou, chanting Buddha's name: "Boundless Heavenly Lord, this little Taoist is here to beg for alms, but not for copper coins or rice, what I'm begging for is a glance of fate!"

  Wang Sigou was curious in his heart, so he put away the copper coins and asked with a smile: "May I ask, little Taoist priest, what is 'a destined encounter at first sight'?"

  Only listening to this young Taoist, he opened his mouth and laughed: "The little Taoist just passed by here, suddenly saw that in this courtyard, the evil light burst out, and the murderous aura filled. I guessed that there must be a world-class evil device in this courtyard, so I came forward to resolve this fate, and I hope the host will grant me permission."

  Wang Sigou was shocked in his heart, he didn't expect this little Taoist to be so young and have such discerning eyes! After a moment's thought, he stepped aside, smiled slightly: "Since the young Taoist has such keen eyesight, I should naturally agree. Please come in!" He said, gesturing with his hand for him to enter.

  The two walked in unison, entering the house. The Taoist priest caught sight of the precious sword inside and hastily took a few quick steps forward, coming closer to take a good look. He bowed his head, examining it carefully, and after a while, he let out a long sigh: "Infinite Heavenly Lord! I thought this sword was just a rumor, but unexpectedly, such a vicious sword really exists in the world. What a fine treasure!"

  After hearing this, Wang Sigou was puzzled in his heart. Then he heard the little Taoist priest ask again: "Excuse me for being rude, dare to ask, is the host's surname Wang?"

  King Si Valley was even more suspicious, and he secretly became more cautious. He nodded and replied: "That's right, my surname is Wang, and my name is Wang Si Valley." As soon as the words fell, the Taoist priest clapped his hands and laughed loudly, looking like a madman.

  Wang Sigou didn't know what he meant, just about to ask, when he saw the Taoist priest bowing deeply towards Wang Sigou: "Brother Wang please come up, I am Fang Qinghe, and have been waiting for you here with courtesy!" Wang Sigou hurriedly helped him up with his hand, asking how he knew so much in detail. Then he heard Fang Qinghe say: "Brother, you don't know that I was originally a wandering Taoist priest, and a few days ago at the Songxiang Temple outside the city, I saw a knife diagram hanging on the wall, which was identical to this precious knife of yours. The diagram depicted a dragon dancing in the wind, with great momentum. On top of the diagram were written four big characters: 'Precious Knife, No Questions Asked'!"

  As soon as Wang Sigou heard the two words, he was shocked in his heart. He didn't expect such a thing to happen! Hurriedly brewing fragrant tea, pulling Fang Qinghe to sit down together, the two of them started chatting. Fang Qinghe then told Wang Sigou about the story of Lao Feng Shan that he had heard at Songxiang Temple. After listening, Wang Sigou looked at the precious sword "Buwen" on the table and thought to himself: It's really unexpected that this family heirloom has such an experience, but why didn't his ancestors ever mention this matter?

  The two brothers became more and more congenial as they chatted, and their eyes met in agreement. This young Taoist priest, Fang Qinghe, was erudite and knowledgeable, with extensive experience and insight. Wang Sigou was quite fond of his character, and thus the two brothers rushed to the north, knocked their heads together eight times, and became sworn brothers. From then on, Fang Qinghe stayed at Wang Sigou's home, and this stay lasted for many years.

  Fang Qinghe spent his days in meditation and helping Wang Sigou with the pharmacy business. Fang Qinghe's medical skills were far superior to Wang Sigou, and it could be said that he had a magical touch, curing diseases with just one dose of medicine, earning him the reputation as the number one divine doctor among the surrounding villages within a radius of ten miles from the city!

  On this day, Wang Si went out to buy medicine and left the pharmacy in charge of his brother Fang Qinghe. Around noon, two people suddenly came to the pharmacy. Before they arrived, their voices were heard: "Fang Shen Yi, save us quickly!"

  Fang Qinghe was picking medicine from the cabinet when he heard someone shouting, and he was stunned. He saw an old man supporting a young fellow walking into the house. The old man was crying with tears all over his face, while the young fellow looked stupid and had no expression in his eyes.

  Fang Qinghe was taken aback, and hastily invited the two men to sit down. He examined the young man's pulse again, but after finishing the examination, Fang Qinghe furrowed his brow because he couldn't determine what illness the young man had with his medical skills! As he was puzzled, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him. He quickly re-examined the young man and saw that he had a stupid expression, empty eyes, and no reaction to pain. Fang Qinghe pricked the young man's arm with a silver needle, but he didn't flinch at all, just like a wooden or clay statue.

  Fang Qinghe hastily lifted the young man's hair, and indeed found two small red rashes at the base of his brain. It wasn't until then that Fang Qinghe let out a long sigh. Turning to face the old man, he said in a low voice, "Old sir, I think your son has contracted an illness, but it's not quite an illness!" The old man was perplexed and quickly grabbed Fang Qinghe's hand, crying, "Divine doctor, please save my son no matter what! He's my only child, the last of our family line!" Fang Qinghe comforted the old man, patting his hand as he said, "Old sir, please follow me." As he spoke, he led the two into the inner room.

  After entering the inner room, Fang Qinghe said to the old man: "Old sir, your son's illness is called 'lost soul syndrome' in medical terms. But I observe his symptoms, it doesn't seem like ordinary lost soul syndrome. Forgive me for speaking bluntly, your son has encountered a ghost or monster and was frightened out of his wits, causing his soul to wander outside his body. I think there must be a reason behind this?"

  The old man didn't listen at first, but after hearing the whole thing, he suddenly knelt down with a thud and cried out: "You're really a divine doctor! Doctor Fang, please have mercy and save my son's life. I'll be your cow or horse and repay you for sure!" After saying that, he started knocking his head on the ground.

  Fang Qinghe hastily pulled the old man up and said, "Don't worry, sir. The world's people take care of the world's affairs. Since I've encountered this today, how can I not take care of it?"

  So, the old man told the story of what had happened before. It turned out that his surname was Zhao and he lived in Erma Ridge outside Chaoyang City. Yesterday, his daughter and son went out to play but didn't come back until late, so his wife got anxious and asked him to go out and look for them. The old man searched everywhere without finding any trace of them, until he finally arrived at the Huowang Temple on the mountain, where he found his own son, but his daughter was nowhere to be seen, and his son had become like this.

  Er Ma Ling, Zao Wang Temple! Fang Qinghe silently thought in his heart, and after a glance, he had an idea. He casually opened a prescription for calming the nerves and sent the old man and his daughter back first. That night, after Wang Sigou returned, Fang Qinghe told him about this matter. The two brothers discussed it and were afraid that if they delayed any longer, the old man's daughter's life would be in danger. After some discussion, the two brothers decided to rush to Er Ma Ling Zao Wang Temple overnight.

  Upon arriving at this place, the stove king temple was in a state of disrepair. Just as Wang Sigou was about to enter, Fang Qinghe grabbed him and said, "Brother, I see that this place is filled with smoke and dust, and the yin energy is heavy. Let's be careful." After speaking, Fang Qinghe took out a black charcoal stick from his bosom, which was as long as a finger. Wang Sigou was puzzled, and Fang Qinghe told him that it was an incense stick used for searching for things.

  Then Fang Qinghe lit the incense, and with a few circles of his body, the incense suddenly emitted blue smoke. The two brothers followed the blue smoke and finally found a dry well behind the temple. Just as they were about to take a closer look, the wellhead suddenly spewed out waves of black smoke!

  Two people hastily hid behind a broken wall, peeking out to watch. The black smoke was getting thicker and more intense, and before long, it transformed into a black donkey! Wang Si and his brother were amazed, but when the donkey turned around, they were shocked to see that it had no head! A thick neck ended in empty space. Suddenly, a loud bray was heard, and the headless black donkey galloped away towards the temple gate, leaving behind a trail of dark wind.

  The scene before him was one that Wang Sigong had rarely seen in his life. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and turned to look at Fang Qinghe, only to see that Fang's eyebrows were tightly furrowed and his eyes were tightly closed. Wang Sigong was shocked, thinking that his brother had been frightened, and quickly patted him on the back. Fang Qinghe waved his hand and said to Wang Sigong, "Big brother, if we're not mistaken, this is Tou Shan Kui!"

  Mountain ogre, mountain evil spirit, * transformed. At first, it was only an evil mist and miasma, without wisdom or soul. Once refined, it would find a host to possess, so this thing has the same essence but no fixed form. This thing is yin evil and toxic, specializing in feeding on the souls and flesh of boys and girls, to the point where in some remote feudal areas, people would worship it as a mountain god. Offerings of large numbers of boys and girls were made to feed it!

  The two brothers knew that time was pressing, and before the headless donkey monster returned, they hastily lit torches and ran to the well mouth to check. As soon as they looked, the two were frightened and took a cold breath! It turned out that at the bottom of the well, there were piles of broken clothes, and as far as the eye could see, there were only broken bones and corpses!