🔑 New Month, New Passkey!
Ko-fi Supporters: The ad-free passkey for November has been updated! Please check your Ko-fi account or latest supporter post to click the new activation link and keep your ad-free access active.

A Prophet - Chapter 7 (Part 4)

Chapter 4 - The Immortal Huang Farong

In April 1998, Fourth Branch Leader fell critically ill at the age of eighty-two. I knew that yet another brother was about to leave us. Those of us who had once followed Grandfather had always maintained a deep bond. After walking out of prison, everyone had settled into ordinary lives, taking wives and having children. On regular days, we would gather together, share a little wine, and reminisce about the days of yore.

As Fourth Branch Leader lingered on the brink of death, I went to the hospital to see him. He had been there for a month, unable to take in food or expel waste. His entire body was riddled with tubes—some for feeding, others for draining feces and urine.

I do not know what a person on the verge of death thinks about. Does he ponder his life, or wonder where his soul will return after death? His entire life had been devoted to studying "paper-crafting magic," crafting various props to assist Second Branch Leader in running cons, yet in the end, his own body was pierced all over with tubes. Perhaps this was karmic retribution.

I gripped Fourth Branch Leader's hand tightly; he was already exceedingly frail. Bending down, I spoke softly, "Fourth Brother, it's Lao Wu." With great effort, he lifted his eyelids, looked at me, and offered a faint smile. Then, he motioned for the children guarding him to step outside, indicating that he had something to tell me.

Only the two of us remained in the room. I asked gently, "Fourth Brother, say whatever is on your mind."

He paused, blinked his eyes, and said with immense difficulty, "Lao Wu, I am leaving... There is a matter that has been weighing heavily on my heart for a long time..."

My heart gave a jolt. "What matter?"

Fourth Branch Leader glanced toward the doorway, and I instantly understood his intent. I turned, opened the door, and peeked out into the hallway. His children were talking at the far end of the corridor, looking as though they would not return for a while.

I returned to Fourth Branch Leader's bedside. "Fourth Brother, speak."

A line of tears squeezed out from the corners of his eyes. "Farong never died. Grandfather lied to me."

My head roared as if struck by thunder. "What? She didn't die?"

Fourth Branch Leader said with firm conviction, "Mm."

The "Farong" on Fourth Branch Leader's lips was named Huang Farong, his former wife. Within the circle of swindlers, she was a genuine "drill"—possessing peerless intelligence and the ability to communicate with the spirits of heaven and earth, essentially what ordinary people call a "medium"! The branch once held her in such high esteem that they praised her with the saying: "Exhausting heavenly secrets belongs to the ghost sister, probing the King of Hell's business means asking Farong."

Later on, Huang Farong had tragically perished during the execution of a con. Fourth Branch Leader had been grief-stricken beyond measure; everyone in the branch knew about these events. Now, Fourth Branch Leader was suddenly telling me that Huang Farong was not dead, filling me with boundless astonishment!

Fourth Branch Leader continued, "I only found out in 1995. It was my fault toward her..." At this point, tears of an old man streamed across his face, and his breathing suddenly grew rapid. Seeing that he was choking and unable to catch his breath, I rushed out of the room and shouted at the top of my lungs, "Doctor! Doctor!"

Fourth Branch Leader's children hurried over as well, but he had lapsed into unconsciousness and never woke up again.

Two days later, Fourth Branch Leader passed away. Before dying, he experienced a brief surge of lucid recovery, shouting at the top of his voice: "Paper-craft hands, Lu Ban's mouth, paper-craft leads Lu Ban along; leading them on, leading them on, leading out the six beasts to roam and match!"

I could recognize this as a chant from the "Secret Manual of Paper-Crafting." This Fourth Branch Leader, who had become famous across the ten miles of foreign concessions at the age of fifteen, had once been full of patriotic ambitions, but alas, cruel fate intervened. Just as his brilliance was shining brightest, the Japanese set their sights on him; had Grandfather not stepped in to rescue him, he would have died long ago.

From that day onward, he followed Grandfather. It was also from that moment that Grandfather truly gained wings like a tiger, and the branch's fortunes truly flourished. Fourth Branch Leader was immensely formidable! Grandfather was his savior, but he was even more so Grandfather's noble benefactor! After thoroughly reading the "Secret Manual of Paper-Crafting," he immediately pointed out various shortcomings within it to Grandfather. Grandfather instructed him to create some new methods of "paper-crafting," and after racking his brains for several days, he promptly wrote a ten-thousand-word "New Methods of Paper-Crafting," divided into chapters on Daoist methods, heavenly numbers, meteorology, Western learning (physics and chemistry), and incantations, creating a grand synthesis of old and new "paper-crafting" arts. Upon reading it, Grandfather repeatedly voiced his amazement and showered him with praise!

Once upon a time, Fourth Branch Leader was in the prime of his youth. In the 1930s, alongside his beloved wife Huang Farong, he closely followed Grandfather. They challenged the Plum Blossom Society, subdued the Taiji Gang, purged the "Five Tigers of the Central Plains," wiped out "Zheng the Half-Xian of Jiaodong," stirred up winds and rains, and reached the absolute pinnacle! The foundations of Grandfather's early empire were forged by them alongside Second Branch Leader! That was an even more magnificent and sorrowful legend!

Fourth Branch Leader finally closed his eyes, yet his desperate, hoarse cries continued to echo in my ears:

Paper-craft hands, Lu Ban's mouth

Paper-craft leads Lu Ban along

Leading them on, leading them on

Leading out the six beasts to roam and match

Roosters do not crow, dogs do not bark

Ghosts eat human food while spirits leap and lark

Toad urine, brewed in the depths of winter

Red joy and white sorrow hold no flavor

...

Deep in the night, I still could not sleep, continuously drinking tea. Fourth Branch Leader had only told half of his story. If Huang Farong was truly still alive, then this matter was of monumental proportions. Huang Farong had originally been a female foot soldier of the "Crossing Begonia." Under the auspices of Grandfather and Jiang Feiyan, Fourth Branch Leader and Huang Farong had tied the knot and become husband and wife. Huang Farong was the only female foot soldier who was proficient in both the "Notes on Wind Physiognomy of the Crossing Begonia" and the "Secret Manual of Paper-Crafting," having mastered the core secret texts of both the Southern and Eastern factions. Before Grandfather died, he had burned both of these books, but books have physical forms while ideas are formless. If Huang Farong was still alive, would the seeds of wickedness continue to be sown? Where on earth was Huang Farong right now?

Furthermore, Fourth Branch Leader said that Grandfather had lied to him, which meant that Grandfather knew perfectly well that Huang Farong was not dead yet deliberately claimed she was. Why on earth would he do such a thing?

As I was deep in thought, I suddenly heard a heavy knocking at the door. Who could it be at such a late hour? I threw a garment over my shoulders, opened the door, and received a fright that nearly stopped my heart: "Grandfather!"

Popular posts from this blog

The Early Spring - Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - The Rainy City That year, the rain in Beijing was heavier than usual, even heavier than in the south where Shang Zhitao had just left. The rain fell in a continuous drizzle, and faint clouds and mist lingered above the sky, making it hard to tell whether the scene was picturesque or desolate. Shang Zhitao was wrestling with her two large suitcases—one packed entirely with books, and the other filled with clothes and shoes, with nothing else inside. Traveling all the way from Nanjing to Beijing, the twenty-two-year-old had accomplished the monumental feat of her first independent migration. Fine beads of sweat dotted her forehead and cheeks, turning her face a flushed pink. Shang Zhitao felt as though she was about to melt. She calculated in her mind that she definitely had to go buy a fan tomorrow. The narrow partition room felt even more cramped because of these two suitcases. She heard the girl in the next room talking on the phone: "Should I go over to your ...
Read more

Against the Current - Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Origins It is said that there was once a young boy in Jinling named Chen Wanquan. When he was five or six years old, he lost both of his parents, and his elder brother and sister-in-law sold him to the wealthy Lin family as a bondservant to work in an antique shop. As the days and months passed, he honed a sharp eye for authenticating antiques, calligraphy, and paintings. Because he had no property or family standing to his name, no respectable household was willing to discuss marriage with him, yet he had developed high standards and looked down upon ordinary maidservants. At the age of thirty, his employer promoted him to the position of third manager of the shop. A year later, out of benevolence, the Lin estate granted him a third-class maid named Mistress Xue, ordering the two of them to be wed. This Mistress Xue had originally worked exclusively on embroidery and sewing in the second branch of the household. Because she was quite attractive and possessed a competitive ...
Read more

The Early Spring - Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - The Beginning of the Story Shang Zhitao boarded the bus early in the morning. As the city was just waking up, the bus wound its way through the thin mist. With earbuds in her ears, she looked out at the streets. How industrious the people living here truly were; even at this early hour, the sidewalks were already packed with hurried commuters. She was a commuter too, rushing along. She wore a white shirt dress today, cinched at the waist with a slim light-brown belt. Her hair was tied up high, and though she wore no makeup, she radiated a peerless, youthful charm. Sitting there, she looked quiet and well-behaved, just like the obedient child from next door that people always talked about—outstanding, yet not too flashy. Shang Zhitao had always been this kind of person since she was little. Her academic grades were only slightly above average, and her looks were similarly middle-of-the-pack. Because of this mediocrity, even with all her diligence and eagerness to lea...
Read more