The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 307 God of Another World
Qi Fei said speechlessly, "Grandma Meng, did you have to show up in such a frightening way?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a thin, old woman appeared from behind the statue. In the candlelight, her eye sockets and cheeks appeared even more sunken. If you saw her for the first time, you would really think she was a ghost who had returned to the human world.

"What you're looking for is here," she said, then turned and walked toward the back door.

When Cai Ding first met Granny Meng, he couldn't help but wonder: "Did she know we were looking for the statue?"

"Ha, Zhong Kui must have predicted our arrival." Wu Shanqiu was inexplicably excited, a reaction that made Cai Ding even more suspicious.

“Sister Shanqiu, we are police officers, materialists. You seem to really believe in this fortune teller named Zhong Kui, this…” Cai Ding muttered as he followed along.

Wu Shanqiu laughed, "Do you really think she has supernatural powers? Don't worry, Xiao Kui just likes to play tricks..." Before she could finish speaking, a "smack" suddenly came from behind her, which was particularly jarring in the quiet temple. It startled Cai Ding again. He turned around and saw that the wind had blown down the artificial flowers on the shrine. It was a false alarm.

As they spoke, the four of them arrived at a small room in the back hall, which was about ten square meters in size. A square table served as a temporary shrine, on which was placed a small wooden Buddha statue. The offerings on the table were not the usual fruits and cakes, but milk, honey, and the like. In front of the square table, many small oil lamps were piled up in a swastika shape, and the tiny candle flames burned together, illuminating the entire room.

Granny Meng walked to the oil lamp array, picked up a bamboo stick and poked at the wick that was about to go out. She kept her lips tightly closed and didn't say a word, as if it would be inappropriate to say anything here.

By the light of the oil lamp, Cai Ding recognized the Buddha statue on the square table as the one Wu Xingzhou had held in his arms when he died. He pointed at it excitedly and said, "That's it, no doubt about it. This Buddha statue is very special, I can't be wrong."

A gust of wind swept by, and the 108 lamps on the pagoda lamp flickered in unison, illuminating the Buddha's face with intermittent light, as if responding to Cai Ding's identification.

Qi Fei and Wu Shanqiu carefully observed the statue, which was only a few centimeters tall. It had a vertical eye on its forehead, half-open as if it were asleep, with three white lines running across the eye and across its forehead. Unlike the Bodhisattva's upright ushnisha, this statue's hair was in the shape of a crescent moon, tilted to the left, with its hands raised and standing on one leg, as if it were dancing.

"Brother Fei, look at its hand!" Wu Shanqiu's voice was filled with fear. Qi Fei looked closely and saw that the round object held in the statue's hand was not the usual lotus flower, but a human skull. He looked at the compassionate and silent face again. The longer he stared, the more the face changed. The kind eyes and benevolent expression concealed a terrible rage, as if it wanted to destroy the whole world.

"What kind of Buddha is this?" Qi Fei murmured, suddenly feeling a sense of disillusionment he had never experienced before.

“You’re all wrong, it’s not Buddha.” A woman’s voice drifted in from outside, startling Cai Ding. He turned around almost instinctively and saw a woman in a silver cheongsam and black veil appear before them in the moonlight. She walked straight to the statue and chanted, “That is fire, that is the sun, that is the wind, that is the moon, that is also the destroyer.”

Qi Fei knew in his heart that he had excitedly accepted the mission and rushed to Sanwu Town to find Zhong Kui, but now, looking at Zhong Kui standing in the lamplight, he didn't know what to say.

Fortunately, Wu Shanqiu spoke first: "Xiao Kui, stop keeping me in suspense. You already know the origin of this statue, don't you?"

Zhong Kui smiled slightly when she looked at Wu Shanqiu: "Of course, this isn't a Bodhisattva statue from Buddhism, it's Shiva." "Shiva? Why does that sound so familiar?" Wu Shanqiu couldn't help but glance at the statue again. "Looking at it closely like this is a bit creepy..."

"You feel terrified because Shiva is the god of destruction in Hinduism."

"Ah, this is so unlucky, why would we put it up as an offering?" Wu Shanqiu said bluntly.

"Don't talk nonsense. In Hinduism, Shiva is one of the three supreme gods. Destruction is for rebirth. In their doctrine, Shiva represents the ultimate law of the universe and cannot be blasphemed at will," Zhong Kui said seriously.

Qi Fei reluctantly interjected into their conversation: "Well, we're not here to discuss religion tonight. This Shiva statue was in Wu Xingzhou's arms when he died, so there must be a special reason for it."

Cai Ding followed up, saying, "They burned Wu Xingzhou's body, and the ancestral hall was cleaned inside and out under the pretext of cleansing away impurities. This statue is the only remaining physical evidence. Regardless of whether it is blasphemous or not, we have to take it back."

Zhong Kui looked at Cai Ding and stared at him for a long time until Cai Ding felt uncomfortable before she looked away and said to the statue, "Isn't it only by enshrining it that no one will touch it again? I don't know why Wu Xingzhou is hugging this Shiva statue so tightly, but I have found out where he brought it from."

Qi Fei was overjoyed and couldn't help but say, "You're so quick!"

“Of course, Wu Chongyue is so rich, he’ll definitely spare no expense when it comes to his son. I’m determined to make that money,” Zhong Kui said without any hesitation.

Cai Ding was stunned: "You actually make money from this kind of thing?"

"What? Wu Chongyue gave me the money voluntarily, and I even helped you find clues. Is there a problem?" Zhong Kui was quick-witted and left Cai Ding speechless for a moment. She continued, "A month ago, Wu Xingzhou went to India. This statue was most likely brought back from India by him. As for why he died while holding this statue, I don't know."

However, I noticed something interesting while performing the Buddhist ritual for Wu Xingzhou. Wu Chongyue and Zhu Haitang, Wu Xingzhou's parents, didn't seem sad at all, which was quite unusual.

"It seems that Wu Chongyue and Zhu Haitang are highly suspected of committing the crime," Qi Fei said with a solemn expression.

“That’s not necessarily true,” Zhong Kui offered his opinion. “When I came down the mountain, I knew that they had been obstructing the police investigation into Wu Xingzhou’s death. At first, I also suspected that Wu Chongyue had killed his own son. But I observed him and Zhu Haitang repeatedly, and they showed no signs of remorse, which is not the reaction after murder, especially since the victim was their own son. Therefore, I conducted several tests on them without their knowledge, and I can confirm that both of them are in a normal mental state.”

“This is so strange…” Wu Shanqiu said, rubbing the back of her neck in confusion, “What kind of parents are these who are neither saddened nor remorseful about their son’s death?”

This wretched life, how can I reach the end with a heart full of joy?