The Tale Never Ends Chapter 45 Divinity

As he stepped out of the textile factory, Master Six told Chen Yixuan, "Hurry, we need to reach Wu Zhong County before nightfall!" Chen Yixuan took his instructions seriously and steered his warhorse in the direction the county.

　　They did not speak, finally arriving at the Southern Pass of Wu Zhong County just as it was nearly dusk. Master Six dismounted before a sundry shop and told the assistant to get the shopkeeper. The assistant did not dare dally, upon noticing that they were police officers. After a short while, the shopkeeper emerged, and he hurriedly greeted the lawmen. "What orders do you have for me, officers?" he asked. Master Six wasted no time on pleasantries. "Tell your boss that we want to go up the mountain! We'll be back here tomorrow at eight a.m., and you should make the necessary arrangements!" he ordered before turning to leave after speaking, unconcerned if the shopkeeper had any questions. That night, as they were in the reception area, Chen Yixuan asked Master Six, "How come you knew who to look for the moment you heard of the relatives from the old Li family?" Master Six replied, "I've already gathered information beforehand about the bandits and antique merchants that could possibly appear. As such, I knew who to look for from the piecemeal information that we got. It's not entirely due to my personal ability."

　　"I know you're using magic, but what I don't understand is how you could travel between the past and the future as you wish. Why didn't you travel to the time when the crime was actually committed for a look?" asked Chen Yixuan curiously. Master Six laughed heartily as he replied, "Let me ask you a question first. Have you watched the 'Journey to the West' before?" Chen Yixuan replied, "I did." The Master Six continued asking, "Do you know why the King of the Black Chicken Country in the story was immersed in water for three years?" Chen Yixuan replied immediately, "Because he tied the Bodhisattva Lord Manjusri and left him in water for three days!" Master Six said, "That's right! But did you ever think how the divine Bodhisattva, with his immense power, could end up being tied up by the King, an ordinary person and immersed in water?" Chen Yixuan remained silent. Master Six continued, "Because he couldn't travel through time in his real body, and could only manifest himself as an ordinary monk! We're the same. If we send our manifestation through time, we'll be in trouble if it dies. If we send our real selves, we'll be defying Heaven even though we can prevent the crime from happening..." Chen Yixuan finally understood that there were too many things in this world that he did not know about. There were only a few people in the Immortal community that knew Tao techniques that were a combination of Yin and Yang energy.

　　Chen Yixuan and Master Six appeared before the sundry shop the next day. There was already a horse carriage in front of the shop when they arrived. They greeted the shopkeeper, and he summoned an assistant who took up the reins of the carriage. The shopkeeper himself sat in the carriage, while the lawmen followed behind on horseback as the entourage traveled northward of the county. After they traveled a few kilometers out of the city gates, they caught sight of a group that were standing around another horse carriage. They had guns slung across their backs and surrounded the two riders. The armed men tied the reins of their horses to the back of the carriage and told the shopkeeper and his assistant that they could return back to their shop. They then ushered Master Six and Chen Yixuan into the carriage and placed black hoods over their heads.

　　The road was bumpy and Chen Yixuan lost track of how far they traveled. They were led up the mountain after the carriage stopped, and their hoods were removed only after reaching their destination. After getting their eyes accustomed to the sudden glare of sunlight, they observed their surroundings in the room. It was built on top of a mountainous slope, and all three units faced the Sun. It was unlike the hilly hideout of bandits and looked more like the main hall of a temple. A man with a huge beard sat in the center, and he looked like the leader of the gang. A painting of various the 'Eight Beast Immortals' was in front of his seat, and a set of Pai Gow dominoes lay above it. There was a row of people on both sides of the painting, and all of them wore serious expressions on their faces. Of the two people nearest to Chen Yixuan, one of them wore a long robe and a round skullcap, while the other was broad shouldered and entirely bald. The latter wore a waist sash which was about as wide as a palm, and there was a long barreled revolver tucked into his waist. He drew his gun and stepped forward quickly before pointing his gun at the Master Six's head. "Speak! What do you two dogs hope to achieve by coming up to our camp?" he said in a low and hoarse voice.

　　Chen Yixuan was extremely shocked. "Is this fella with the hoarse voice courting death?" he thought. The Master Six dodged and placed one foot on the armpit of the bandit and grasped the revolver with his hand. The man could not move, and his face was pressed into the ground. "We're coming up to the mountains with respect, but you're being impolite to us. This isn't very right." the Master Six said. The leader of the bandits laughed sarcastically, saying, "Our number three is joking with you. His gun isn't loaded!" The Master Six cocked the revolver and aimed it at the bald man upon hearing the leader. The man with the hoarse voice panicked and began shouting, "No! It's loaded, Brother, it's really loaded!" There was a resounding 'click' as the hammer struck, but the gun did not fire! The bandit in long robes gave a sinister laugh as he said, "Our leader has already said that the gun wasn't loaded!" Before his voice died down, however, Master Six slowly opened his palm, dropping a few bullets onto the ground. The face of the leader twitched and the other bandits standing to either side of him did not look as spirited as usual.

　　Master Six released his foot, allowing the third ranking bandit to scramble back up to his feet. He ran to stand behind his leader and remained silent. The leader paused before saying, "Officers, I don't know what you want of us." The Master Six tossed the revolver back to the bald man, saying, "There was a case of grave looting under the Yahong Bridge of our county. Have you heard of that?" Before the leader of the bandits could reply, however, he continued, "I've come here not to recover the looted items but to ask to whom did you sell the precious sword, which was one of the burial items in the tomb?"

　　The leader stammered, and Master Six continued, "I already know that you've fenced it. I just wish to know its whereabouts!" The leader knew that these lawmen were no ordinary police, since they dared to come up the mountain by themselves, and he had already seen how skilled the older one was. He knew that he could not use force to resolve the issue, and tried explaining, "Logically, I can't comment on what you've just asked me. There are rules in our community, and we still wish to continue in this trade! But since both of you have come all this way here, I'll give you a chance!" He then shuffled the dominoes in front of him before continuing, "If you two can beat me in a game, I'll tell you where the sword is. How about that?" The Master Six crossed his arms and replied coolly, "Deal!"

　　The leader shuffled the dominoes in an expert fashion and dealt them out quickly. "Come on!" he said, pointing toward the dominoes. Master Six kept his arms crossed as he replied, "I won't touch them! I refuse to allow such unrefined things into my hands!" The leader frowned as he replied, "Please choose your dominoes then!" Master Six pointed at the man with the hoarse voice and told him, "You! Help me take the dominoes. I want the fourth one close to me here!" The bandit hurried over and pushed it upward. The Master Six continued ordering him, "Place those two in front, and the other two behind!" The bandit followed accordingly and the leader flipped his two dominoes over.

　　"Wow!" exclaimed all of the bandits. They were similar, with two rows of red dots. No one counted how many points they added up to, but they were captivated by the fact that they were identical. Chen Yixuan did not know how to play the game. His father loved it, causing him to have a phobia of the game. As a result, he never appeared before other people playing it, and he did not know how to read the dominoes. From the reaction of the bandits, he knew that their leader had drew good cards. The man with the hoarse voice then flipped the first two dominoes of Master Six over, exclaiming, 'Ah!" The expressions of the other bandits was one of even greater shock. Chen Yixuan took a look at the dominoes and saw that they were identical as well, but there were only two dots on each of them. From their looks, he deduced that their leader had lost. The bandits then exclaimed again as he flipped the next two dominoes over. They were also identical in number, but they contained a mixture of red and black dots. When the bald man flipped that of Master Six over, he thought that most likely his senior had lost. They were different- one had six dots, while the other had three. But the leader of the bandits did not look like he had won!

　　It was only later when he asked someone who knew how to play Pai Gow that Chen Yixuan came to understand that the dominoes were ranked in the following order- Heaven, Earth, Human, Moth... The 'Moth' ranking was the same one which Northerners used to describe someone turning the tide in a card game, and as for why it would amaze the other bandits, even I do not know- I do not play Pai Gow as well. The leader opened with a pair of 'Heaven' while Master Six countered with a pair of 'Earth'. As such, the leader had lost the opening round; it was not just a mere counting of points. Master Six was in safe territory now. Even if he lost the next round, the game would end in a draw. The dominoes that the bandit chief had was 'Heaven', the highest ranking one's dominoes could be in a game of Pai Gow. But why did he lose? This was because there were two dominoes that would have a normal value of three and six if they appeared alone, but as there were only one of each in a set of tiles, if they appeared in unison, they would be ranked highed even than 'Heaven'. Master Six had drawn them in unison, and as such he had complete victory over the bandit chief!

　　At this moment, the bandit wearing the skull cap and long robes whispered into the ear of the bandit leader, causing his expression to change instantly.

　　The man in the long robes was the second in command of the bandits, and he was nicknamed 'Little Zhuge'. Just like his namesake, he was smart, and was the brains of the entire band of robbers. He told his leader, "This man can get whatever domino he wants without even using his hands. He can also will his opponent to take whatever domino he wishes. With such power, he can kill all of us in an instant if he wants to!"

　　Many people could be brave when danger was far away from them, but panic when it was upon them. The bandit chief was no exception, and he knew he would be in trouble if his entire camp was wiped out. As such, he controlled his tone and told the lawmen the buyer of the sword, "Xiao Mazi!"

　　In a flash, the Master Six was gone! The bandits looked at one another, before hearing the sound of horse hooves below them. They ran to the window to look, and they saw that he had leaped onto his horse and was already spurring it forward. "Master Six! Master Six! Take heed about my survival as well! If you're gone, wouldn't these bandits take me hostage!" Chen Yixuan shouted.

Chapter end