Chapter 6: The Old Temple Keeper Inside The City God Temple

Li Chaosheng took the cowhide envelope and left the magistrate’s office. He decided to go home first, picked up the ghost-head blade that had been placed on top of the cabinet, wrapped it in cloth, slung it over his back, and then prepared to head to the City God Temple.

The events of yesterday were vivid in his mind: this world truly had gods and ghosts. Although Li Chaosheng had eaten the Essence-Washing Marrow-Refining fruit and his body had become stronger than ever, he still had no means to combat ghosts. The only thing he could bring forward was the ghost-head blade, which was soaked in the fresh blood of a hundred people and exuded a blood malice which could wound a ghost’s true body.

Therefore, when going out, especially when dealing with those mysterious black-clad men, it’s better to carry a weapon for self-defense. When dealing with strangers, caution came first. Do not be careless!

After Li Chaosheng shouldered the blade and stepped outside, he saw the little turtle in the water basin lying on its back, flipped over, its small head pushing against the bottom of the copper basin as it struggled to right itself.

Li Chaosheng watched the flipped turtle and laughed, “Even you, Turtle Son, have your day to turn over a new leaf? Alright, alright, I’ll give you a hand.”

He reached out, flipped the turtle upright, and the turtle once again basked in the sun as if it had returned to its former leisurely life.

Stepping out the main gate, Dead Street was still cold and desolate. Strangers seldom came here, and neighbors would take detours to avoid it if they could. This street was full of shops that dealt with the business of death, so by ordinary logic, people kept their distance. Normally nobody came through unless there was a funeral at home and they had to buy goods here. Otherwise, people would rather go out of their way than pass by.

Because of this, the county of Yanggu often had a taunt people used: “Oh, you immoral person, sooner or later you’ll be giving money to Dead Street.”

The meaning was obvious: it’s a curse that someone’s family will have a death, it meant the person was heartless.

Corresponding to that was another insult: “Pah, look at you—sooner or later you’ll be going to Bencao Hall to buy medicine for a knife wound.”

This phrase meant roughly the same, wishing death upon the other, but it invoked Bencao Hall, the county’s largest herbal shop, which was prosperous. The reason people used it in curses was that the shop was located in an eerie spot. And where was it located?

In the execution ground! Yes, right in the execution ground! Specifically, behind the chopping-shed where the supervising execution official sat. There was a story about why the herb shop was opened there.

It was said that when the shop was first opened, the owner consulted a geomancer about the site. The sage selected the market entrance of the execution ground. The owner panicked: who opens a shop in the execution ground?

But the sage said this, “Killing in the market is to warn the people. At the brink of life and death one learns to cherish life. As the saying goes, if you don’t know death, how can you know life? Once life is known, people will seek medicine. Opening the shop here accords with the principle of yin and yang turning into each other.”

The owner found the argument reasonable and opened the shop there. Unexpectedly it really prospered, and in a few years it became the largest pharmacy in the city. But despite the business, opening it there was seen as rather uncanny. The most widely told rumor was that in the dead of night a headless corpse would knock on the door to buy medicine for treating a knife wound.

To ward off evil, Bencao Hall had a set of customs: whenever someone was beheaded, that night four packs of medicine for knife wounds would be placed on the shop’s outer windowsill for anything outside to take. Occasionally a few packs would indeed be missing afterward. Whether taken by petty opportunists or by those who truly came to buy that sort of medicine, no one could say…

Over time, saying someone would go to Bencao Hall for medicine to treat knife wounds became an insult. To avoid taboo, when someone actually bought that sort of medicine, the shop assistants would call it “trauma ointment,” avoiding mention of knives and swords so as not to make customers uncomfortable. Only on nights when a beheading occurred would the shop label the paper-wrapped packages explicitly “medicine for knife wounds“ and place them on the windowsill.

Once out of Dead Street, the world opened up into a new scene: people bustling about, all sorts of small trades and performers. Under the county magistrate’s policy of cultivation and boosting livelihoods, Yanggu County had taken on a special vitality and was the wealthiest among the nearby counties. People from neighboring counties envied Yanggu, and some girls were even willing to marry into the county.

Passing through the busy market, Li Chaosheng spoke to no one and headed straight for the West Gate. Three or five meters beyond the west gate lay the City God Temple. Once outside the city there was nothing but wasteland, and a single highway wound off into the distance.

After another few meters he reached the City God Temple. It was not large: a four-sided courtyard with a main hall and two side rooms. The yard had an incense burner and altar table. Inside the main hall the local City God was enshrined. It was said he had been a filial son in the previous dynasty whose filial piety had moved heaven and earth. After his death the local people remembered and venerated him, and over time he became the local City God.

“Is anyone there?”

Arriving at the temple, Li Chaosheng stood in the courtyard and called out once. Soon an old man with a broom emerged from the main hall of the City God Temple. He looked at Li Chaosheng and asked, “What is it?”

Li Chaosheng glanced at the old man: he appeared to be about sixty, wore gray clothes, held a broom, his hair was streaked with white and tied in a bun with a bamboo chopstick stuck through it, and a gentle smile sat on his face.

“Who are you?”

“This temple’s keeper,” the old man answered.

Li Chaosheng looked him over, thinking maybe this was the person he was looking for, so he decided to try.

He pulled out the cowhide envelope and waved it before the old temple keeper. “The county magistrate ordered me to bring this to find someone.”

When the old caretaker heard that, he glanced at the cowhide envelope, and smiled. “Are you our county’s Justice Officer Li?”

‘Justice Officer’ was a euphemism for the executioner, a somewhat more polite form of address. After all, in daily life you wouldn’t call an executioner “Executioner Li” outright, that would be disrespectful. If the executioner took offense, one day when you’re to face the blade, he might, without warning, swap it for a blunt knife…

Thus a slightly more respectful term for an executioner was ‘Justice Officer’.

“That’s right.”

“Hmm, come, follow me.”

The old keeper said this, turned, and led Li Chaosheng into the main hall. The City God in the main hall wore a red robe and held a writing brush. The keeper bowed slightly to the City God and led Li Chaosheng to the back of the statue. He touched a lotus beneath the deity’s feet, turned it, and the lotus rotated along with the statue, revealing a secret chamber behind the statue.

The keeper took a nearby candle and led Li Chaosheng into the secret chamber, which descended downward down a flight of stairs. Soon they reached the bottom: a large space filled with black-clad men—the same group from the execution ground. Li Chaosheng recognized one of them as the man who had interrogated him and Wang Er.

“Assessor Zhu!”

The black-clad men, upon seeing the keeper, all cupped their hands in salute. The keeper nodded and asked, “Where is the Chief Warden?”

“In his study.”

Hearing this the keeper nodded and led Li Chaosheng further in. As they went, Li Chaosheng’s expression shifted. He saw many dreadful things, such as rows of white bones, and especially a forty-meter-long python skeleton. Were there snakes that long in this world?

There were also huge fish bones, human bones, and more…

“Heh heh… curious about who owned those bones? Don’t be. The world is vast, some things aren’t as simple as they appear. You’ll know everything once you meet the county magistrate.”

The old keeper spoke with a smile. Li Chaosheng said nothing. In an unfamiliar place, before you understand the situation, remember: look more, think more, ponder more! Speak less, say less, and stop bullshitting!