Stranger Danger

In ancient times, Shing Wong was a very popular faith. Depending on the territory, the people either worshiped the Civil Shing Wong or the Martial Shing Wong. The one in this temple was the Martial Shing Wong.

The Shing Wong statue set at the main hall was tall, huge, and fearsome. He carried a long saber.

Yan Yufei wasted no time in searching every nook and cranny of the main hall as soon as he entered the building. However, he couldn’t even find a portrait of the General of Punishment, much less a statue of the deity. After returning to Ye Qing’s side, he discovered that the young man was staring closely at the Shing Wong statue for some reason. Thinking that the young man had found something, he asked hurriedly, “How’s it going, Joyless?”

“Hmm? Oh, this statue is pretty impressive!”

Yan Yufei: “...” That’s not what I meant.

“I mean, did you find anything, Joyless?”

“Oh. No, I haven’t found anything yet, but no worries. Let’s take this one step at a time!” said Ye Qing with a shake of his head.He then clasped his hands behind his back and walked leisurely around the main hall like he was a tourist.

“We found nothing, my lord!”

“We didn’t find anything either, my lord!”

It wasn’t long before the bailiffs Yan Yufei had sent off to scour the entire temple came to report that they did not find anything resembling the General of Punishment. There was no statue, no portrait, nothing.

“Was your deduction wrong after all, Joyless?” Yan Yufei said doubtfully after hearing his men’s reports.

“Is that so?” Ye Qing frowned a little but gave the magistrate a careless shrug. “Don’t worry. Just because we didn’t find anything now doesn’t mean we won’t find something later. Please give me a moment!”

His response caught Yan Yufei off guard, but the young man was already leaving before he could ask what exactly he meant by that.

After Ye Qing went to a secluded corner, he took out the Annon Sutra and bit open his finger. He asked while dripping his blood on the vellum, “Where is the General of Punishment hiding?”

Ye Qing was certain that the culprit behind the serial murder was the General of Punishment, and that the deity was hiding somewhere within this temple. Just because they couldn’t find him didn’t mean he wasn’t here!

The General of Punishment might prove to be too elusive to the bailiffs, but not him. After all, he was the man with the Annon Sutra! When in doubt, just ask the Annon Sutra!

“I’ve encountered a troublesome problem. I have identified the murderer behind the recent serial murder and even chased it to its lair, but the deity has proven to be more elusive than expected. Yan Yufei and the others are already beginning to doubt my judgment. Whatever shall I do to prove that I was right?”

The droplets of blood transformed into rows and rows of words. The Annon Sutra was the same as ever.

“Perhaps the Shing Wong statue would give me some clues. I feel that something is odd about it!”

“Something’s odd with the Shing Wong statue?” Ye Qing muttered with a frown. He had been staring at the statue since he entered the main hall, but he hadn’t noticed anything wrong with it at all.

.

That said, the Annon Sutra was never wrong even though it refused to give him a straight answer. If it said that something was wrong with the Shing Wong statue, then it must be wrong!

Ye Qing put away the Annon Sutra and went back to the main hall. When he rounded a corner, he saw Yan Yufei pacing back and forth in front of the Shing Wong statue. His expression was calm, but his movements betrayed just how anxious he really felt.

Yan Yufei’s eyes lit up when he saw Ye Qing again. He immediately walked up to the young man and asked, “Did you find anything, Joyless?”

“In fact, I did!” Ye Qing replied honestly.

“Wonderful! Tell me now!” Yan Yufei exclaimed in pleasant surprise.

Ye Qing pretended to be suave and pointed his chin at the tall and imposing Shing Wong statue behind Yan Yufei. He then said in a serious tone, “There’s something wrong with this statue!”

“What’s wrong with it?” Yan Yufei asked while turning around and staring at the statue as well. ｂ𝚎ｄｎ𝚘ｖ𝚎ｌ.𝚌𝚘ｍ

“I can’t say for sure, but it’s been triggering my sixth sense since I entered this place!” Ye Qing answered. The Annon Sutra was never wrong, so it was simply a matter of leaving it up to the professionals to find out exactly what was wrong with it.

Yan Yufei didn’t say anything. While he wasn’t too pleased with Ye Qing’s reply, he could not deny that a person’s sixth sense could be extremely accurate. This was especially true when investigating a case. It was folly to rely on one’s instincts to guide them, but it was equally folly to ignore it completely!

It was at this moment Yang Guan entered the main hall. When he noticed that Ye Qing and Yan Yufei were staring at the Shing Wong statue, he shot it a look and sighed admiringly, “Man, this statue is huge!”

Suddenly, Yan Yufei perked up and spun on Yang Guan. “What did you just say, Yang Guan?”

The magistrate’s outburst surprised Yang Guan, of course. His first instinct was that he had said something to displease his superior, it wasn’t like he could refuse to answer. So, he forced himself to respond, “I said, this statue is huge. W-What’s wrong?”

“That’s it!” Yan Yufei clapped his hands in delight. “Joyless mentioned that something is wrong with the Shing Wong statue just now, and when I took a closer look I too found myself agreeing with him, though the answer refused to leave the tip of my tongue until you showed me the light, Yang Guan!”

“What is it?” Yang Guan asked helpfully. Ye Qing was also leaning forward and waiting patiently for Yan Yufei to give his explanation.

“This Shing Wong statue is huge alright. In fact, it is far too big!” Yan Yufei began slowly. “When I left my home to broaden my horizons many years ago, I’d visited many Shing Wong temples and seen many Shing Wong statues. However, they were never built taller than 12.6 meters and wider than 11 meters.”

“And why’s that?” Ye Qing asked curiously. This was something he knew nothing about, and from his perspective the Shing Wong statue just looked like any other statue. If it wasn’t for the Annon Sutra, he would never guess that something was wrong with it.

Yan Yufei explained, “There is a passage in ‘Folklore’ that goes something like this. Shing Wong is a yin deity; a ghost god who was appointed to be a deity after his death. That is why he must not be built taller than 12.6 meters and wider than 11 meters. Barring certain exceptions, almost every Shing Wong statue in the realm obeys this rule.”

“But the build of this Shing Wong statue breaks this rule not just by a little, but a lot. You can also tell that its disproportionate appearance gives off an oppressive and disharmonious feeling. Something is obviously off about it!”

“I don’t get what you’re saying, but you’re probably right!” Ye Qing said with a nod. As expected of a true scholar! He’s far more knowledgeable than a smatterer like me!

“Okay, so the Shing Wong statue of this temple is weird, but… what does that have to do with our case?” Yang Guan asked while scratching his head.

“...” Yan Yufei’s momentum stuttered to a halt. Once again, Yang Guan was right. While the strange statue indicated not all was right in this temple, it didn’t seem to be related to the General of Punishment at all.

It was at this moment a flash of inspiration lit up in Ye Qing’s mind. He blurted, “No, there is a relation!”

Yan Yufei and Yang Guan immediately looked at him expectantly.

Ye Qing wet his lips and explained his theory, “I’m certain that the General of Punishment is hiding somewhere in this Shing Wong temple, but we’ve scoured every nook and cranny and found nothing at all. This can only mean that the Stranger is concealing himself somehow.”

“You mentioned that this Shing Wong statue is much bigger than an ordinary Shing Wong statue, right? Tell me, what are the chances that the General of Punishment might be hiding within this statue?”

“Huh…”

“Ahhhh!”

Both Yan Yufei and Yang Guan exclaimed in surprise and realization. The idea hadn’t occurred to them until Ye Qing had made the connection, but now, they were starting to think he was right!

When Ye Qing saw the hesitant look on Yan Yufei’s face, he said lightly, “You don’t have to think so hard about this. There’s a simple way to check if my deduction is correct!”

“Really? What is your plan, Joyless?” Yan Yufei asked.

Ye Qing grinned. “We just need to smash the statue and see what’s inside!”

“No! You cannot!” Shock rippled through Yan Yufei as he hurriedly stopped Ye Qing. The Shing Wong temple was one of the main attractions of Anyang, and the statue its landmark. It was one thing if the General of Punishment really was hiding in the statue, but he wasn’t, then they would be hardpressed to explain their actions to the people.

Ye Qing chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’ll pay for the damage!”

Yan Yufei laughed involuntarily. Money was hardly the problem here. Unfortunately, he didn’t manage to persuade Ye Qing further before the young man put a thumb on the hilt and unsheathed his saber with a crisp ring.

“Joyless, wai—”

Crash!

A blinding light shone from Ye Qing’s saber and slammed squarely against the Shing Wong statue. As it crumbled into smithereens, the glitter of gold shone from within.

……

“This is bad!”

At the temple grounds, an old man with a slightly crooked back abruptly looked up with a sinister, vicious gleam in his eyes the second the Shing Wong statue was destroyed. He was an incense acolyte that Yan Yufei had questioned earlier.

“Stop! What are you doing?” A bailiff shouted and broke into a run when he noticed that he was striding toward the main hall. His colleagues were rushing over from multiple directions as well.

“Out of my way!” The incense acolyte yelled and unleashed a cold, terrible aura. Everyone shivered involuntarily when the aura washed over them.

The next moment, something terrifying froze them all in their tracks. The incense acolyte’s nose, mouth, ears, and finally the eyes gradually disappeared one by one. When all was said and done, the incense acolyte had turned completely faceless!

“Mmm! Mmm!”

The temple acolyte wasn’t the only one who turned faceless. Every bailiff in the area was losing their face as well. When their facial features were completely gone, they abruptly collapsed to the floor and died just like that.

The temple acolyte immediately started toward the main hall once more, but he paused just a couple of steps later and changed his mind. “No, it’s already too late. I should escape before anyone finds me!”

He stomped his foot angrily and leaped onto a rooftop. Then, he disappeared into the distance.

……

Back at the main hall, a brand new statue stood before the trio after the blinding light had faded. It was a literal gold statue with two heads, four heads and six arms. One head wore a kind and amiable smile, while the other a savage and vicious snarl. Their expressions looked so lifelike they could be real. The statue wielded an axe, a hatchet, a hook, a fork, a saber, and a sword.

The statue looked incredibly majestic. It was also brimming with the power of wishes. However, its majesty was mixed with some sort of unspeakable evil that elicited a horribly twisted, discordant feeling.

“The General of Punishment! It really is the General of Punishment!” Yang Guan exclaimed with bulging eyes.

Yan Yufei was far more furious than he was shocked, however. A sudden, terrible aura erupted from his body as he roared, “How dare you forge a golden body and steal the power of the people’s wishes for yourself!”