Chapter 7: The Divine Ear of the Qing Dynasty (Part 2)

After Nie Ye became blind, his nerves seemed to be affected as well. He often said, "Father, the sound of our sugarcane growing isn't as loud as before; we should fertilize it quickly." "Father, there's a cobra on the roof, hissing." "Father, a swarm of wasps has built a nest in 'One Mouth's' mosquito net, buzzing all day long." "Oh, Father, a government boat on the West River has been robbed! It's so noisy! Oh no, the robbers are killing people, and someone has been thrown into the river!"

At first, Nie's father thought his son was just depressed because of his blindness and was talking nonsense, so he ignored it. But as his son's ramblings increased, Nie's father decided to verify them. He climbed a ladder to the roof and indeed saw a five-foot-long cobra in the grass on the tiles. He then ran to 'One Mouth's' house and found that wasps had indeed built a new nest in 'One Mouth's' bedroom mosquito net. Nie's father told 'One Mouth' about his son's strange ability. 'One Mouth' said, "Your son's hearing surpasses that of ordinary people. Extraordinary people have extraordinary traits, so he is blind, but he will also have extraordinary luck and will surely become wealthy and powerful in the future." Nie's father was half-convinced, "How wealthy and powerful?" 'One Mouth' replied, "Heaven's secrets cannot be revealed."

A few days later, Nie's father learned from a town notice that a shocking robbery had indeed occurred on the West River! The robbers had stolen a precious golden artifact called 'Smooth Sailing' from the Yulin Prefect, A Wai Qu, which was to be presented to the Emperor, and had killed all the guards on the boat! The case shocked the Qing Dynasty's Ministry of Justice, which ordered the Rong Prefecture to solve the case quickly. The Prefect of Rong Prefecture was at a loss and had no choice but to order the counties to arrest suspects, even if it meant arresting ten thousand innocent people to catch one guilty one! This caused widespread panic.

Nie Ye said, "Father, the robbers are actually only five people: one with a feminine voice, one with a duck-like voice, one who often says 'I'll take your life,' one who doesn't talk much but often sniffs, and one who whistles very well, especially the Guangdong music 'Third Wave,' and stutters when saying the word 'two.' These five people are all highly skilled in martial arts."

Because Nie Ye's words had been verified several times, Nie's father began to believe that his son's hearing was indeed extraordinary. To help catch the real robbers, Nie's father took Nie Ye to the Prefect to provide clues. The Prefect was skeptical at first, but to verify Nie Ye's special ability, he had a guard catch a bug from the field and put it in a box, then placed the box in a room far from the hall. The Prefect asked, "What bug is in the box?" Nie Ye listened carefully, his large ears trembling, and said, "Based on the sound, it seems to be a large-headed borer."

The Prefect had the guard bring out the box and open it, and indeed, it was a large-headed borer! The Prefect then believed that Nie Ye's clues were valuable. But how could they find these five robbers in the vast sea of people? The Prefect came up with a plan.

Soon, the Prefect posted a notice: To celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival and share the joy with the people, the Rong Prefecture decided to hold the first whistling competition. The winner would be selected as the head of the Imperial Music Bureau, a position higher than that of a Prefect, offering a shortcut to promotion besides the imperial examinations. This was a rare opportunity. Many people signed up to participate.

During the competition, the Prefect and Nie Ye sat behind the stage to listen. As soon as someone whistled 'Third Wave,' the Prefect was about to send someone to arrest them, but Nie Ye waved his hand and said, "Not him."

On the seventh day, a contestant whistled 'Old Eight Measures,' and Nie Ye said, "This is one of the robbers, arrest him! For caution, ask him a question with the word 'two' in it after arresting him."

The Prefect came out and saw that the contestant was a young man in his twenties, with a clear and handsome face, looking like a scholar. The Prefect frowned; how could he be a robber? Did Nie Ye make a mistake?

After the contestant finished whistling, the Prefect clapped and praised him, then asked, "Can you whistle 'Third Wave'?" The contestant replied, "Yes, I'm very good at whistling 'Third Wave.' Would you like to hear it, sir?" The Prefect asked, "That's not necessary. How old are you this year?" The contestant said, "T-t-twenty-seven." The Prefect ordered, "Guards, arrest him!"

The guards, who were maintaining order, pounced on the stage like wolves. The contestant was shocked and quickly used his martial arts skills, stepping on the guards and the crowd to escape. As he leaped over Nie's father, Nie's father, who had just bought a new shovel handle, thrust it upward, and the contestant yelped and fell. The guards rushed forward and captured him.

Upon interrogation, the man was indeed one of the robbers. Through him, the Prefect quickly learned the whereabouts of the other four robbers. Two days later, all the robbers were caught, and the golden artifact 'Smooth Sailing' was recovered. The Prefect was very pleased and reported to Prefect A Wai Qu, who wrote 'Divine Ear' for Nie Ye. Nie Ye's reputation spread far and wide.

"How about that? Isn't the Divine Ear impressive?" Daoist Wu Ming saw that Zhu Daodong was captivated by the story and said proudly.

"Does that mean I might become blind in the future?" Zhu Daodong's face turned pale, and he suddenly felt a wave of fear. He was in the prime of his youth, and if he became blind, he would lose his job. What would he do then?

"That's not necessarily true. Although your hearing is extraordinary, it's far from the level of the Divine Ear. If you really reach that level, being blind wouldn't be a problem," Daoist Wu Ming said heartlessly.

"No, my eyes absolutely cannot go blind!" Zhu Daodong was now very afraid. He didn't think about his future career; he thought about how his parents would be devastated if they saw him like that.

"Blind people do have better hearing than ordinary people, but having good hearing doesn't mean you'll go blind. There's no need to worry too much," Daoist Wu Ming, seeing Zhu Daodong's frightened face, quickly comforted him. Over the past half month, Zhu Daodong had brought him wine and meat every day, and Daoist Wu Ming felt a bit guilty.

But this guilt lasted only a few seconds. Daoist Wu Ming always tried to save effort, except when it came to drinking and sleeping.

"You're right, what you said might not be true," Zhu Daodong felt a bit relieved. This old Daoist was really annoying; he was already troubled enough without being scared.

"Right, I was just talking nonsense. Don't take it seriously. Come, let's drink, let's drink." Daoist Wu Ming laughed and clinked his bottle with Zhu Daodong's.

"Hey, someone is coming to the temple," Zhu Daodong suddenly perked up his ears.

"At this time, who would come to the temple? You must have heard wrong. It looks like you still have a long way to go to reach the level of the Divine Ear... ha ha."

"Daoist, are you there?"

But soon, a voice came from the main hall, and Daoist Wu Ming's smile froze, stopping abruptly.