Chapter 5

I had no idea what was going on, damn it, what the hell is happening?

I asked them, and Officer Ma, who was leading the group, said that another dismemberment case had occurred in Qingmeng Township on the evening of September 4th. The location of this incident was at the foot of Qianjia Cliff in Qingshanjie (near the forest guardhouse where my uncle was stationed). After an investigation, the county criminal police found that I was at Qianjia Cliff that day. According to the statements, I was not in the forest guardhouse from 9 PM to 4 AM, which was exactly when the dismemberment took place, so I was a major suspect.

I was stunned. How could such a coincidence happen? That's not right; wasn't the dismemberment case a few days before that?

I hurriedly asked him, and Officer Ma, with a serious expression, said, "This is a series of dismemberment cases, so the impact is extremely severe."

He showed me a summons and asked if I could walk. I said I could, so I got out of bed, trying to suppress my weakness. My father came to support me. Outside, a police car was parked, and many onlookers, including men, women, and children, were watching and pointing, whispering to each other. The police officers from the town police station were trying to disperse the crowd, while I was escorted to the back seat of the police car. My mother was crying and pleading with Officer Ma, but he only said, "We won't miss a good person, nor will we let a bad person go," which was just empty talk.

My father held my mother, his hands and feet trembling, unable to suppress his grief.

I tapped on the car window and smiled at my parents, saying, "Don't worry, I didn't do anything wrong. I'll be back soon, don't worry." The car started, and the body shook. They didn't handcuff me, but the strong smell of gasoline made me feel nauseous. My body was still weak, so I fell into a daze and drifted off to sleep.

It wasn't until the interrogation that I fully understood what had happened: On that night, a murder and dismemberment case occurred at the foot of a hill 200 meters from where I was watching for the dwarf horse. The victim was a young man from Segai Village, about twenty years old, who had returned from working outside. He said he was going to a neighboring village to drink with his sworn brother, but he didn't come home that night. The next day, his family called his sworn brother, who said he had already gone home after drinking, so they reported it. The forestry bureau had asked the police station for help in searching for Li Decai, and they found the victim's body, which had been dismembered into more than a dozen pieces, at the foot of a hill.

I asked about Li Decai, and the detective told me that Li Decai had also disappeared and was still being searched for.

The light in the interrogation room was very bright, like a small sun. There was an interrogator and a recorder. They started asking me when I returned, why I returned, why I went to Qingshanjie, why I left, what I did on the 4th, and what I did from 9 PM to 4 AM.

I told them about being cursed by my grandmother and how I caught a dwarf horse on the 4th but let it go, and how I rushed home to remove the curse.

They laughed, and the interrogator said, "Your uncle said the same thing. Are you joking?"

The interrogator was in his twenties, tall and handsome, but his eyebrows were too light, his left eye was bigger than his right, and his neck twitched nervously. He repeatedly asked me, flipping back and forth, about what happened that night and where I was on September 1st. His questioning was very skillful. I had been in a pyramid scheme for a few days and knew there were methods to get people to reveal information.

But I really had nothing to hide. I told the truth, but they didn't believe me.

The interrogator got angry, often slamming the table and shouting at me. The interrogation lasted for about two hours. Later, he would occasionally take out a cigarette and ask if I wanted one. I had been wandering for many years but didn't smoke or drink. Seeing him kindly offer me a cigarette made me want to laugh. I had read somewhere that when a suspect asks for a cigarette, it usually means they are about to confess. But I didn't smoke at all.

Later, Officer Ma came in and said, "That's enough for now, but you'll be detained for twenty-four hours."

To be honest, even though I didn't fully understand the procedures, I knew something was wrong.

But I didn't dare to say anything. We weren't in Hong Kong; the lower the level, the higher the authority of the public security experts. That night, I spent the night in a room at the public security bureau with a group of troublemakers. At first, they were ready to bully me, but when they heard I was a murder suspect, they immediately stayed far away, afraid to touch me. Officer Ma and the handsome interrogator discussed for a long time in the corridor near the room. I don't know why, but my ears were particularly sensitive. I could hear bits and pieces of their conversation through the iron door:

"The higher-ups are very anxious... no alibi... a bit rash... it's this guy..."

I felt extremely cold and sat on the ground with a pale face. After wandering for so long, I had heard of cases where, due to the severe impact of a case and the urgency from the higher-ups, someone was made to take the fall. If this happened to me, I would be in real trouble. After all, I was an outsider, and during the two incidents, I was in Qingshanjie. Especially the second dismemberment case, which happened just a few hundred meters from the forest guardhouse. The only witnesses, my uncle, who was hospitalized with scratches, and Li Decai, who had disappeared, left me as the only one unharmed. If they didn't suspect me, who would they suspect?

I was afraid they would "torture" me.

******

That night, I didn't sleep at all. I kept thinking that they didn't believe me because they didn't believe my reason for going to Qingshanjie, thinking I was lying. They even thought my uncle was lying about the dwarf horse. If I could prove that such things really existed, would they reconsider?

I also thought about the missing Li Decai. I hadn't called my uncle those days because I was busy treating my curse. He didn't come back, which really made me shudder. Thinking about those vicious dwarf horses, I remembered Li Decai's nervous words, "Dwarf horses are mountain spirits raised by the land god. If you anger them, you won't know how you'll die..."

In the middle of the night, listening to the snoring around me, I thought about the method of raising a curse from the book my grandmother left. The method said that drinking a bowl of merit soup made from dragon fern grass wasn't to kill the Jin Chan Gu but to suppress its malevolent energy, using poison to counter poison, and ultimately to make it serve me. Thinking about this, I couldn't help but silently recite the content. After drinking a bowl of merit soup, the Jin Chan Gu was already mostly subdued. The next step was to use secret mantras to subdue the spirit.

The secret mantras, originally from Buddhism, are transliterated as "Mandala" or "Mantra." They are also called "Dharani," "Spells," "Ming," "Divine Spells," "Secret Words," "Secret Phrases," and "Secret Codes," meaning true and unfalse language. The method my grandmother left me is called "The Heart Sutra of the Three Worlds' Subduing King." Continuously reciting "Ling Biao Tong Qie Jie Xin Lie Qi Chan" can be done in Miao language or in the official language of Nanjing. I had asked my mother about the Miao pronunciation a few days ago, and now, in a hurry, I sat cross-legged and recited devoutly, "Ling Biao Tong Qie Jie Xin Lie Qi Chan... Ling Biao Tong Qie Jie Xin Lie Qi Chan..."

I paused after each word, thinking, then paused again after the next word, slowly feeling the meaning.

Let me explain the meaning for everyone to understand: "Ling" means mental and physical stability, indicating composure in the face of events and an unwavering will. "Biao" represents energy, indicating the vitality of longevity and rejuvenation. "Tong" represents cosmic resonance, bravery, and determination, showing a fighting spirit in the face of difficulties. "Qie" represents the power to freely control one's own and others' bodies. "Jie" is crisis awareness, showing the ability to understand and manipulate people's hearts. "Xin" is telepathy, representing the ability to attract wealth and respect. "Lie" is time and space control, splitting all obstacles. "Qi" means making all things equal. "Chan" represents the realm of Buddha, a superhuman state, where my mind is the realm of Chan, and all things merge.

Only with extreme devotion can one's words resonate with the spiritual world and feel the state of mind.

Strangely, I, who had never felt any response before, could sense a change in the world today. I couldn't describe this change, but it existed, and it was fleeting. At the same time, something in my body seemed to be responding to these nine words, stirring. I carefully sensed it, as if it was in the kidney area of my left abdomen.

That night was a turning point in my life. From then on, all sorts of strange things happened. Without that experience, I might be a different person today.

To be honest, I should really be grateful to my grandmother.

******

The next day, when I was interrogated, I directly said I was innocent and asked them to let me go.

Officer Yang (the interrogator) told me to confess honestly and not to make up stories, thinking I could get away with it.

I said, "Let me go. If you can't find the murderer, I'll help you. I need to find my uncle's colleague, Li Decai, anyway. I owe him a favor. If you think I'm lying, I can prove it to you." Officer Yang slammed the table and shouted at me, asking me to recognize my position and not to act as I pleased.

I pursed my lips and looked at him coldly. After a while, I asked him, "Do you know Long Laolan? I'm her grandson."

Officer Yang laughed and asked, "Who is Long Laolan? The police chief? A member of the county committee?"

I said, "None of those. She's an old woman who has lived in the Miao village all her life."

He continued to laugh, but I looked at him, and his smile slowly faded, a hint of doubt appearing in his eyes. At this moment, the door to the interrogation room opened, and Officer Ma came in and sat down with Officer Yang. He lit a cigarette and stared at me intently, saying, "Do you really know who the murderer is?"

I said, "I don't know, but I can prove that my reason for going to Qingshanjie is not a lie. If you want proof, I'll show you." Officer Ma asked, "Are you really Long Laolan's grandson?" I said yes, and Officer Yang interjected, "Who is Long Laolan?" Officer Ma, who was nearly fifty, and Officer Yang, who had just graduated a few years ago, looked at each other. Officer Ma explained, but Officer Yang didn't believe him, saying, "Pfft, just a shaman. What's so special about her?"

At this moment, I started reciting the curse spell from my grandmother's book.

The target was the tall and handsome Officer Yang.