A Prophet - Chapter 10 (Part 9)

Chapter 9 - Playing with Fire and Burning Oneself

Zhang Zizhan had studied human biology and knew that after a person died, their skull would experience osteoporosis due to calcium loss. Over time, the hair would fall out at the slightest touch. By stealing a few strands back to examine closely, he would be able to figure out what was going on.

Upon returning to the branch, Zhang Zizhan carefully observed those strands of hair and discovered that about one foot away from the hair roots, there were splicing joints attached using a certain type of medicinal liquid that was completely undetectable upon casual inspection.

At this point, the situation was crystal clear: someone was tampering behind the scenes!

Grandfather was instantly plunged into a maze of mystery.

Grandfather went to Fourth Master Jia's residence and informed him of this discovery.

Upon hearing this, Fourth Master Jia was equally astonished.

"Someone is making mischief?"

Grandfather said, "Think carefully, Fourth Master, is there anything out of the ordinary?"

Fourth Master Jia lowered his head in thought, then said, "No. Master He is a merchant; although he is cunning and slick in his dealings, he is always extremely cautious in all matters and never makes enemies with people in the underworld. Whenever conflicts arose with underworld figures, he would spend large sums of silver to entrust me with resolving the crisis. Therefore, this scam was definitely not engineered by himself. Besides, no father would ever use his own daughter's remains to set up a scam!"

Hearing this, Grandfather fell into deep contemplation. After a long silence, he said, "Then the problem is massive. This means the person who set up the scam knew in advance that Master He was going to arrange a ghost marriage. Within a few short days, they managed to locate Master He's daughter's tomb, slip into the coffin, attach the hair extensions, and then restore the site so that it looked completely untouched. This is the work of an expert."

Fourth Master Jia hurriedly asked, "Is this kind of thing easy to pull off?"

Grandfather said, "An ordinary person cannot do it; it requires someone with immense experience. First, the manpower must be properly arranged, and the operators must be individuals who frequently practice swindling arts, familiar with the coffin's structure and nail placement. Second, the tools must be appropriate, ensuring the coffin's surface is not damaged and no traces are left behind. Third, after the coffin is reburied, the surface soil layer and tombstone must be restored to their original state. This is meticulous work that requires preparing turf and dry soil in advance. Even if all of this is done perfectly, without five or six days of wind and sun exposure, artificial signs of aging will still inevitably remain."

Hearing this, Fourth Master Jia remarked, "This is not something one or two people can accomplish. It must be an organized group."

Grandfather said, "Correct! If time is tight, it would require mobilizing at least a dozen people, all wearing straw shoes with small holes so that no traces are left at the scene."

Fourth Master Jia said, "The opposing party means business and harbors malicious intent. In the Jiang-Huai region, the only ones capable of stirring up such massive waves are these few factions: Grandfather's faction, Zhang Jiyao's 'Heavenly Sacred Dao' faction, and Meixuanzi's 'Plum Blossom Society' faction. Could it be..."

Grandfather muttered softly, "Zhang Jiyao... Meixuanzi..."

Fourth Master Jia said, "Lately, Old Meitou has been tossing about quite energetically, showing strong momentum to rewrite the history of the Jiang-Huai region. However, something still doesn't add up. Since the opponent has already made their move, why would they hand this lucrative job over to us to handle?"

Grandfather pondered for a moment and said, "This is the crux of the problem! In the past, there were instances where poor communication of intelligence between various branches caused one faction to set up a scam for a mark, while another faction remained unaware and went to resolve the crisis. But once such a situation was talked through, one side would immediately call off the operation, at most dividing up some silver in the end. This time, however, no one has called off the matter..."

Just as the two men were discussing this, the Third Dam Head suddenly entered and whispered closely into Grandfather's ear. Hearing this, Grandfather's brow furrowed tightly.

Noticing Grandfather's strange expression, Fourth Master Jia asked, "What is wrong?"

Grandfather did not answer, turning instead to ask the Third Dam Head, "Is the news reliable?"

The Third Dam Head replied in a low voice, "Absolute certainty!"

Grandfather fell silent, his expression turning grave. Fourth Master Jia grew increasingly anxious and hurriedly asked, "Grandfather, what has happened?"

Grandfather glanced at Fourth Master Jia and said, "Zhang Jiyao is dead."

Upon hearing this, Fourth Master Jia nearly jumped up. "Dead? How did he die?!"

Grandfather said, "It is still unknown. Publicly, they claim he 'ascended to immortality to become a deity.' Our informant says he was burned to death inside a self-made Eight Trigrams Furnace."

The Eight Trigrams Furnace was something that had once shaken the entire Jiang-Huai region. The "Heavenly Sacred Dao," commanded by Zhang Jiyao, constantly propagated the impending doomsday. He packaged himself as the savior of the world, vigorously recruited followers, and even placed loyal adherents inside a customized Eight Trigrams Furnace to undergo spiritual training and tempering.

That massive furnace was fully eight feet wide and over five stories high, constructed against the mountainside in the shape of the eight trigrams: Qian, Kun, Kan, Li, Zhen, Dui, Xun, and Gen. It was built using large blue bricks, featuring a massive combustion chamber in the center and a furnace grate made of thick iron wire at the bottom. The entire fire furnace possessed a single entrance with no exit. Once a person stepped inside, the furnace door was locked, and dry firewood was piled into the lower combustion chamber and doused with diesel oil, causing raging flames to soar.

Zhang Jiyao usually chose the winter season to lead his disciples into the furnace for cultivation. Common people farmed in the spring, worked in the summer, and harvested in the autumn, leaving only winter relatively leisurely, which also attracted larger crowds of onlookers and facilitated momentum-building. Amidst swirling heavy snows and a vast white expanse across the wilderness, Zhang Jiyao would offer sacrifices to the gods of heaven and ghosts of the earth before leading his disciples into the Eight Trigrams Furnace. The fires would ignite, thick smoke would soar into the heavens, and the smoke mixed with snowflakes would churn across the dim horizon.

For forty-nine days, the flames burned continuously. After forty-nine days, the furnace doors were opened for emergence, and Zhang Jiyao and his disciples would walk out with their entire bodies gleaming with an oily luster, proclaiming that they had attained the vajra indestructible body. He had previously sent more than twenty disciples into the Eight Trigrams Furnace for tempering in this manner. Once these disciples emerged, they were transformed into "vajras" and dispatched to major cities such as Tianjin, Beiping, and Baoding to serve as missionaries for their respective provinces.

Fourth Master Jia said, "Zhang Jiyao's Eight Trigrams Furnace stunts were normally practiced during the winter. Now it is summer; why was he in such pressing haste? Could it be that Zhang Jiyao is setting up a scam, planning to stage a physical return in a few days and perform a farcical drama of immortals descending to the mortal realm?"

Grandfather remained silent, thinking deeply. If Zhang Jiyao were truly dead, then the matter had turned grave. Zhang Jiyao had visited the branch only a few days prior—how could he die just like that? If Zhang Jiyao's death was faked, what was his true objective? Were he and Meixuanzi jointly engineering a scam?

After a long silence, Grandfather said, "Let us observe for a period first and watch the reaction of the 'Heavenly Sacred Dao.' If it is a feigned death, then the 'Heavenly Sacred Dao' will not plunge into chaos, and everything remains under Zhang Jiyao's control. If his death is real, then the 'Heavenly Sacred Dao' will inevitably descend into a state of chaos."

A few days later, reliable intelligence transmitted by the informant planted inside the "Heavenly Sacred Dao" confirmed that Zhang Jiyao was indeed dead, and his corpse was charred. Rumor had it that Zhang Jiyao had also sought to emulate Meixuanzi's attainment of immortality, wishing to manufacture an even more profound legend for himself and create the illusion of "feathering into immortality and ascending to heaven," but ended up failing to emerge from the Eight Trigrams Furnace. In the end, a flurry of goose feathers and duck feathers billowed out from the chimney opening, and the disciples keeping vigil around the furnace fell to their knees in succession, respectfully congratulating the sect master on his ascension to immortality.

Zhang Jiyao's eldest disciple, Zuo Yongchan, used Zhang Jiyao's ascension as an excuse to hurriedly bury him.

Grandfather thought to himself that this time the "Heavenly Sacred Dao" would undoubtedly fall into utter chaos across the realm. The supreme boss of the branch was dead, and while outsiders remained ignorant of the truth, those "vajras" understood the situation with absolute clarity—how could they not turn the place upside down?