Chapter 23: The Mysterious Appearance of the Exploring Master

  Tang Si nodded and saw that he used his hand to tremble slightly, lightly lifting the quilt on top of Shifu's body. Underneath the quilt, Shifu was wearing a large, loose-fitting robe, which made him look very relaxed, as if he had been wrapped up in the robe entirely. For some reason, Tang Si also put a big hat on Shifu's head.

  Fourth brother paused, using his hand to brush away the sleeve wrapped around Master's hand. At a glance, he couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart. Underneath the wide sleeve, Master's hand was as withered as dead wood and thin as a chicken's claw.

  I saw the fourth brother cover Master Tianyu with a quilt again, calmly saying: "Big Brother not only has Master Tianyu's hands, but his entire body has become like this. I remember when you left Chenzhou and headed to Yueshan last time, Master Tianyu's body was swollen like it had been soaked in water. In just over a month, why did Master Tianyu become so thin? It's really hard for me to understand. Although I don't know anything about nourishing life, I know that people with weak bodies can't eat too much or take strong tonics, so every day I use a bamboo tube to feed Master Tianyu green bean porridge and other light, nourishing liquid foods. From the perspective of eating, it's impossible for this situation to occur. It seems that the curse in Master Tianyu's body is still churning and changing, especially at night, around midnight, his face turns black as coal, and there's a heavy chill on his body; but during the day, at noon, his face is red and radiant, and his whole body is warm. According to my observations, this phenomenon has appeared every day recently, I don't know why it's happening.

  "Fourth brother said it makes sense, it seems that my master's curse is getting deeper and deeper. If I continue to lose weight like this, my master will definitely be in extreme danger. As for why his face color changes between day and night, I have some idea. In the past, Lingyin of Miao Village told me that my master was afflicted with a yin-yang curse. At night, it's mainly yin energy, so his face is dark and his body is icy cold; during the day, it's mainly yang energy, so his face is red and his body is warm. It seems I need to speed up my actions to eliminate the curse and save my master. Do you have any other ideas?" I asked after hearing Fourth Brother's words, but in my heart, I was deeply grateful for his meticulous care of my master over these past few days.

  Fourth brother nodded and saw me ask him, he pointed to Master Tianyu's head with his hand: "Yes, big brother, I still have a few astonishing new discoveries that can't be explained in a hurry. Let everyone take a look at Master Tianyu's head."

  When the fourth brother said that my master's head had something unusual, everyone turned their heads to look. The fourth brother walked to the bedside and gently removed the hat from his master's head. Seeing this, everyone shouted "ah" in unison, only to see that my master's hair had all fallen out.

  I suppressed the sorrow in my heart and calmly asked: "Fourth brother, do you know what's going on? Why is our master's head completely gone?"

  Tang Si shook his head, looking bewildered: "I don't know why Master Tianyu's hair fell out either. Not long after you left for Mount Meng, Master Tianyu's hair started falling out in large clumps, and it wasn't many days before he was completely bald. But that's not what I wanted to talk about."

  Lao Si's words made me a bit puzzled. Liu Di, who had been standing beside me without making a sound, couldn't bear it anymore and asked urgently: "Fourth Brother, what is going on? Please speak quickly."

  Fourth brother didn't respond to Old Six's words, but instead turned his head towards me, seemingly seeking my opinion. Seeing me nod in agreement, he then leaned forward and came to the front of Master's face, using his hand to gently lift up Master's earlobe, saying: "Everyone come closer and take a look at Heavenly Wing Master's ear."

  When I heard the fourth brother say this, I hastily bent down to take a look at Master's ear and saw that on the earlobe of both of Master's ears, there was actually an earring hole about the size of an index finger.

  "Is this also a result of the curse? Did big brother ever see such ear piercings on Master Tianyu's ears before?" asked the second brother.

  I helplessly shook my head. In the past, Master was always dressed in a long cloak with an ethereal and elegant demeanor, where did I have the chance to take a closer look at his ears?

  "It doesn't seem like it's caused by a curse. Little Cui, bring the lamp over." Fourth Brother instructed Little Cui.

  He took the lamp from Cui's hand and shone it close to his master's ear. The fourth brother continued, "I also discovered this when I was washing Tianyu Shifu's body last time. Everyone take a closer look at these two ear holes. There is not a single scar on the ears around the ear holes. Moreover, the place where the ear hole pierces the ear is exactly the same as normal skin. The blood vessels on the ear naturally bypass this place, making it seem like it was born with it."

  "Fourth brother, are you saying that Master Tianyu's two ear holes were already there at birth? But what does this have to do with Master Tianyu's curse?" Second Brother exclaimed.

  Fourth brother nodded and continued: "I also hope that the old man will recover soon, so that my brother won't be so worried. I think we all brothers have the same idea as me. It's just that recent events have made me pay attention to these details."

  "What's strange?" I asked, puzzled, looking at him as if there had been another change on this Luo Gong Mountain during the time I was away.

  "Yes, wait a minute, I'll tell big brother later. Now let me finish what I'm saying first." The fourth brother said, and had already gently turned the master over, shining the lamp on the back of the master's head, continuing to say: "Big brother, look."

  Following the fourth brother's words, he looked at the back of Master's head and saw that there was a blurry, twisted black snake pattern on the back of Master's head. The snake had an unusual appearance, with a tortoiseshell-like shell on its back and four legs, which were extremely agile, like a living creature. Upon closer inspection, the open mouth of the snake seemed to be constantly swallowing and spitting out its tongue.

  "Strange, Master Tianyu's tattoo of a small snake at the back of his head doesn't seem to be painted or carved on. It looks like it has permeated into his skin."

  "Second brother, you have a good eye for this. I've been thinking about it for many days and only just thought of it, but you came up with it in an instant. Moreover, the thing depicted in this image is not a snake, but a black turtle. It's true that the black turtle pattern on the back of Master Tianyu's head isn't painted or carved, but rather seems to be innate, like an earlobe. Of course, it's possible that it's a birthmark, but having a birthmark so similar to a black turtle is quite unbelievable."

  His fourth brother touched his head and suddenly stopped talking, only staring at the window with a look of horror in his eyes, as if he had seen an evil spirit. Gradually, even his breathing became rapid, and big drops of sweat began to seep out from his forehead, wetting his collar.