Volume 1: Divine Crow's Birth Chapter 8: Black Heart and Black Liver

  After putting away that piece of paper, the abbot of Qingfeng Temple rested. She needed to conserve her energy and wait until dawn to restore her master's grave to its original state.

  "Yoshiko!"

  She had just fallen asleep when she felt someone calling her "Meizi". She was taken aback, how could she be called Meizi? From what she remembered, she had neither father nor mother since childhood and grew up in the Qingfeng Temple. If she were to mention a mother, it would be Qingzheng Shifashi. However, in the temple, one couldn't call someone who raised them from infancy "mother", but rather "Shifu" like the other nuns did. The abbot had once called Qingzheng Shifashi "mother", but was later corrected by Yan Shi and started calling each other "Shifu".

  "Yoshiko, come with me."

  She floated lightly out of the temple, as if her hands and feet had turned into wings, flying all the way in the air, with famous mountains and rivers flashing by below. In front of her was a vast expanse of whiteness, but she didn't see Master's shadow anywhere. She flew for a while before arriving at a completely unfamiliar world. Faintly, she saw the words "Cui Fu"

  The abbot shuddered, thinking to himself, isn't this the legendary ghost town? Why is Master leading me into a ghost town? She subconsciously turned around, wanting to leave this eerie place immediately. Just as she turned around, Master's voice appeared again.

  "Meiko, go on in. Didn't you want to see your brother? Tetsugoro is inside."

  Zhùzhái yòu yī ngàng, zěnme zìjǐ yòu gēn Chǔjiāng chě zài yīqǐ le? Hǎoqíxīn cùshǐ tā jìnrù Cuīfǔ, mùduìle yī chǎng biéchū xīncái de tángxún.

  A golden light flashed, and a monkey-faced Tianfu official sat on the case, presiding over the trial. The assistant judge was a black-faced Qing dynasty official from the underworld. Her own master, Yan Shi, and an underworld officer were sitting in the spectator's seat, not paying attention to her arrival.

  Four Japanese soldiers were on trial, one of whom was an officer. Each had a placard hung around his neck with the words "Japanese War Criminals" written on it.

  The judge with a monkey face slapped the shock wood and then shouted loudly at the four men: "Four defendants on the court, do you know what crimes you have committed?"

  The four "Japanese war criminals" were startled by the sudden loud noise, and they all shrugged their shoulders and lowered their heads. After calming down, no one spoke up, and none of them wanted to confess and receive leniency.

  The black-faced, blue-clad official flashed a cunning smile, and it was unclear whether he looked down on the heavenly official's ability to preside over the trial or if he had his own trump card for dealing with "Japanese war criminals". After collecting himself, he smiled obsequiously at the heavenly official and said: "The Golden-Robed Heavenly Envoy is asking you, have you all become mute? One by one, confess your crimes to this official!"

  The Monkey King slapped the wooden tablet again and pointed at the military officer-like prisoner of war, saying loudly: "Starting with you, name, former position, current occupation, one by one, give old Sun a statement."

  "I am Kawaki Ichiro, Lieutenant of the 21st Logistics Unit, 5th Division, Imperial Japanese Army."

  The officer-like "Japanese war criminal" opened his mouth, and the other three also followed suit. They were Sergeant Yamamoto, Corporal Tengawa, and Corporal Miyauchi, all serving under Lieutenant-General Kawabe, loyal to Emperor Hirohito.

  When Yamamoto, Teng Jiang and Gong Qi took turns revealing their identities, Kawabata Lieutenant was worried that the Monkey-faced Heaven Official would probe into the secret hidden deep in his heart, but the other party roughly changed the subject, which made him secretly delighted.

  The Monkey King said: "You four beasts, how dare you be so insolent? You actually managed to survive the battle at Flat Peak Pass. What other evil deeds have you done since then? Confess honestly!"

  "R-report to Heaven's messenger, sir... I-I drank Lieutenant General Shinsho New's wine and then had diarrhea all the way, unable to catch up with the Pingxingguan battle... I'm ashamed of General Itagaki!"

  The monkey-faced Tian Guan was already annoyed by this little Japanese devil saying "ore", and when he heard the second half of his sentence, he was so angry that he wanted to scratch his ears and cheeks, but he still calmly let them continue.

  Yamamoto said: "Report, we are different from Lieutenant Kawabata, it was all Tanigawa's fault."

  Hong Jiang then pointed his spear at Yamamoto and said: "What the f**k are you talking about, who wronged you?"

  The two men argued endlessly, until the judge slammed his gavel and their verbal sparring finally came to a halt, but they still bumped shoulders and knocked heads in a stubborn stalemate.

  The monkey-faced heavenly official blinked his eyes and scratched his head, then blew a mouthful of air at the two men, and an even more intense fight began.

  Hengchuan and Yamamoto wrestled with each other, beating each other until they were both bruised and bleeding from the seven orifices, yet still refusing to stop. Later, they joined hands to attack Kawari, who was as silent as a mute and couldn't fight back. After finishing off Kawari, the two began to beat up Gong Qi. As Gong Qi was being beaten, Kawari actually slapped his own ears.

  The black-faced official in green robes was worried that he would not be able to account for himself to Yan Wang, so he had no choice but to plead with the monkey-faced heavenly official to continue hearing the case.

  The monkey-faced Heaven Official had enough fun and play, so he blew a breath at the 4 people, letting them calm down before continuing to ask questions.

  When Yamamoto answered about his current profession, his tail wagged all the way up to heaven. The monkey-faced Tiangong despised its arrogant appearance and was just about to "serve spicy noodles" to this guy when Yanwang suddenly rushed in and hugged Yamamoto.

  "Great Sage, I beg of you to show mercy and spare this beast's life." Yan Wang said, stroking the blood-covered face of Yamamoto, as he spoke to the Monkey-faced Heavenly Official.

  The monkey-faced Heaven Official waved his hand and said, "Yan Wang Lao Er, isn't he just a Japanese dog? Does he need your protection to such an extent?"

  Yan Wang said: "The Great Sage doesn't know this, but this dog has saved our lives."

  The Monkey King thought this was a novel thing, so he jumped down from the desk with a scratch of his ears and cheeks, leaped to the front of Yan Wang, and used his hand to scrape up the fur of Yamamoto Hiroshi, who had already turned into a dog.

  Yan Wang said, "The Great Sage doesn't know this, but not long ago, I was afflicted with a serious illness. My wife invited Bian Que, Hua Tuo, and Sun Simiao, the three medical gods, for an expert consultation. The conclusion was: unless the darkest heart and liver are stewed in water and consumed, there is no cure!"

  The Monkey King hastily interrupted Yan Wang, scolding him: "Who told you to abuse your power? You should have marked the ledger for those who deserved it, but instead you randomly marked others. Isn't this what our Buddha called retribution?"

  "Old Yan has sinned, and I hope the great sage will forgive me." After apologizing to Monkey Face, King Yan continued with his main business: "Under heaven, the blackest hearts belong to those six Japanese Class-A war criminals who were executed in 1948. But Itō Hirobumi, Tōjō Hideki, and Hiranuma Kiichirō - these heartless beasts - are worshipped like gods by some Japanese at the Yasukuni Shrine, where they are enshrined alongside those six Japanese dogs who bit to death countless innocent people, just like fierce heavenly dogs. What can I do about it?"

  Yan Wang, after all, was old and frail, plagued by a stubborn illness, so he had to catch his breath before continuing: "It's really like searching for iron shoes without finding any, yet it all came effortlessly. The five animals in my household - cow, pig, sheep, dog, and chicken - aren't they the reincarnations of those five Japanese soldiers, Xinzhuang Chun, Chuan Qi, Tengchuan, Yamamoto, and Gong Qi? Which one of these five animals doesn't have a black heart? Especially that pig, Chuan Qi, and that dog, Yamamoto, they're simply black on top of black!"

  The Monkey King interrupted and said: "Old Yan Wang, I, the old Sun, will capture all your five livestock with one net. Are you here to seek revenge?"

  Yan Wang hastily said, "Oh no, oh no, Great Sage, you're overthinking. I'm lucky to have obtained the mountain's master's heart and liver, barely clinging to life. Please, Great Sage, be magnanimous and give me some face, spare this loyal dog that is devoted to its master."

  That Japanese dog named Yamamoto got praised by Yan Wang and started barking "Wang Wang Wang", wagging its tail non-stop towards its master.

  The barking of the dogs awakened the master from a strange dream. She rubbed her eyes, then scrubbed her face, and looked out the door to find it was already daylight. After adjusting her clothes, she got up and walked outside.

  The quieted things of the night began to revive, birds chirped in the woods, dew on the oil pine branches kept dripping, and the grave of the hermit nun was shrouded in mist.

  The abbess came to the grave of her master, knelt down and kowtowed three times. Then she looked towards the cave dug by the thieves and was frightened.

  The corpse of the nun who loathes the world has disappeared?!