Chapter 015: A Fierce Countenance?

I furrowed my brow, pondering the matter for a while but failed to arrive at an answer. I decided to set aside my doubts for the time being and asked Chen Fan what news he had brought back for me. Chen Fan said that after he arrived at the police station, he had the officers investigate Yun Gao, and the police immediately agreed and quickly produced results.

When Yun Gao and Yun Qing were very young, Mr. Li’s family moved from the mainland to Hong Kong, where they remained for twenty years. Upon first arriving in Hong Kong, Mr. Li struggled financially, and only after years of hard work did he manage to save enough to send Yun Gao and Yun Qing to school. The police’s investigation was thorough, and they found that Mr. Li had already been religious before coming to Hong Kong.

Back then, Mr. Li was a Buddhist. Only after relocating to Hong Kong did he begin practicing Taoism. His former neighbors recalled that Mr. Li was quite devout; as soon as he arrived, he asked around for temples and, once he found them, would visit to offer incense whenever he had time.

San Song Temple only gained its reputation in recent years. Mr. Li converted from Buddhism to Taoism after hearing about the temple’s supposed spiritual efficacy. This didn’t surprise me; in the eyes of most mainland Chinese, Buddhism and Taoism have always been closely linked, with little conflict between the two. It is only with the more modern, Western religions that significant differences arise. In other words, some people may worship at both Buddhist and Taoist temples, but seldom participate in Christian services.

At that time, San Song Temple was accepting secular disciples. Mr. Li decided to send Yun Gao there, even donating most of his savings to the temple as incense money. Mr. Li’s passion for religion surpassed mere devotion—it was bordering on fanaticism. Many people wanted to send their children to become secular disciples at the temple, yet Yun Gao was actually accepted.

Yun Qing was still in school at the time; the siblings were not sent to the temple together. Yun Gao stayed on the mountain for two years. When he was about to leave, Yun Qing was sent up, having just been expelled from school for nearly setting fire to a teaching building.

It’s said that Mr. Li didn’t have high hopes, since San Song Temple rarely accepted secular disciples—Yun Gao’s acceptance was already considered extremely lucky. Unexpectedly, the temple’s priests took an interest in Yun Qing as well, making Mr. Li the only person in Hong Kong to have both his children admitted to San Song Temple.

Mr. Li was proud when Yun Qing was sent up the mountain.

Yun Qing was extremely resistant to the idea, but she hadn’t yet reached the point of outright defiance. She stayed for about three months before Yun Gao was sent down the mountain. That was when Yun Gao began his career, quickly rising through the ranks and earning increasing amounts of money.

This delighted Mr. Li, who hoped his rebellious and incapable daughter could follow in Yun Gao’s footsteps. Yet, less than a year after Yun Qing arrived at the temple, she nearly set fire to it. It was daytime, the temple was crowded with worshippers, and chaos erupted.

At first, no one knew how the fire had started, but after discovering Yun Qing was missing, the priests concluded she must have done it. In fact, Yun Qing wasn’t expelled; she left of her own accord. Perhaps to save face, the temple later claimed she was too unruly and had been cast out.

After Yun Qing left, she didn’t return home. Mr. Li, upon hearing the news, was furious and searched tirelessly for her. When he finally found her, they argued bitterly, and thus began years of estrangement.

Before telling me about Yun Gao and Yun Qing, Chen Fan first explained the relationship between the Li family and San Song Temple.

I had previously learned a little about Mr. Li and Yun Gao, but not in such detail.

“Han, I found out that when Yun Gao and Yun Qing were young, they had a very close relationship—just like any other siblings,” Chen Fan told me. When Yun Qing was bullied or got into fights because of her rebellious nature, the usually gentle Yun Gao would defend her. Many of Mr. Li’s neighbors knew about this. They said Yun Gao was good to Yun Qing, and in their childhood, Yun Qing was affectionate with her brother; nothing like what happened later.

When people heard Yun Qing had nearly burned down the building, Yun Gao even pleaded with the priests to let him leave the mountain to check on his sister. San Song Temple had a strict rule: secular disciples could not leave the mountain for two years. But that time, Yun Gao knelt in supplication until he was finally granted special permission.

At that time, Mr. Li was in the midst of a fierce argument with Yun Qing and had even resorted to violence. Yun Gao shielded his sister with his own body.

Chen Fan said that up to that point, Yun Gao and Yun Qing’s relationship was still very close. Therefore, he suspected that the change between them happened at San Song Temple. Though they were sent at different times, there was a three-month period when both lived at the temple together.

This time, Chen Fan was clever. Excluding the possibility that Yun Gao had been pretending all along, that three-month overlap was the only window for something to have altered their relationship. After Yun Qing left the temple, she didn’t go home; Yun Gao began sending her money and offered her jobs in nightlife venues.

Yun Qing’s refusal to accept either the money or the jobs clearly showed their relationship had changed. After thinking it over, I told Chen Fan I wanted to visit San Song Temple.

Whether Yun Qing had been framed or was truly the culprit, she was now deeply entangled in the case. Yun Gao was also suspected of framing her, so investigating their family was necessary. Chen Fan sighed, saying that when he’d first visited Yun Gao’s home, he’d sensed it wouldn’t be the last time we met them. Sure enough, the situation had become even more complicated.

He asked when I planned to go. I checked my watch and said we’d go first thing in the morning.

After Chen Fan left the room, I lay on my bed, pondering where Yun Qing might have gone after her sudden disappearance. I didn’t believe she was the murderer—at least not of Fei Ji. The police’s inability to find her was not because she was fleeing out of guilt. The killer had murdered Fei Ji without leaving any trace, clearly premeditated. If Yun Qing were actually running away, she wouldn’t have left even the cash in her safe behind.

A sense of foreboding pressed on me. My instincts told me we had to find Yun Qing quickly. Though the police were monitoring all major exits from Hong Kong to prevent her escape, the city was vast, and finding her would not be easy.

The next morning, Chen Fan and I, along with two men sent by Luo Feng, headed for San Song Temple. To avoid suspicion, there were only four of us. The temple wasn’t in the New Territories, and the journey by car took several hours. After we got off, Chen Fan thought we’d arrived, but when we asked the locals at the foot of the mountain, his spirits sank.

San Song Temple was situated atop the mountain. There was no road from the base to the summit—only a narrow path. Even walking at full speed, the climb would take over an hour. The path was made of uneven stone steps, slick with green moss even in winter, and the mountain air was damp, making the stairs treacherous. We had to be extremely careful; Chen Fan nearly slipped several times.

On either side of the path, dense trees crowded together. Even in broad daylight, their shadowy presence sent shivers down my spine. The unsettling atmosphere made it feel as though something might leap out of the woods at any moment. The path was narrow, and we often had to turn sideways to let others pass. There were many people going up and down the mountain, and every so often we encountered someone.

Finally, after more than an hour, we reached the entrance of San Song Temple. The structure was grand and new; from a distance, the temple was bustling with people—priests and worshippers alike. We entered, blending in with the other incense bearers.

Chen Fan was surprised. He remarked that in the mainland, unless a temple was a cultural relic or tourist destination, it was rarely so lavishly decorated. San Song Temple was just the opposite: not a heritage site or a tourist attraction, yet it was ostentatious and always crowded.

But Chen Fan quickly let it go. “Makes sense. This temple is famous, tons of people come every day to offer incense, and the secular disciples are all industry elites. Of course, they’re not short on money. Still, you’d think they could spend some of that cash to fix up the road.”

One of Luo Feng’s men, looking every bit the thug, grinned at Chen Fan in a heavy local accent: “They’re cultivating immortality here. If anyone could just walk up, how could anyone attain transcendence?”

No one took the banter seriously, but Chen Fan’s words lingered with me. San Song Temple wasn’t short on funds, and the government left it alone, but for the sake of convenience, they should at least have made the path more accessible. The temple was so grand; the neglect of the mountain path clearly wasn’t to show how detached Taoists were from the world.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong with San Song Temple.

Just as we were about to enter, someone stopped us. Dressed as a priest, he bowed and said, “Friends, your faces bear ill omens. I’m afraid San Song Temple cannot receive you.”

Now I was even more certain the temple was hiding something. Many of the visitors were burly types, yet this priest singled us out.

I sneered, my expression hardening. “And what if I insist on entering?”