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墨書 Inktalez
Luoyang South Market.
It was past noon, the time when the market was most crowded. The shouts of vendors echoed through the air, and people of all ages bustled about, creating a scene of lively prosperity.
The turmoil in Luoyang had subsided for several years. Although the city had experienced a period of desolation during the war, it was a major metropolis, and once stability returned, life began to flourish again. Now, the entire Luoyang City, especially Luoyang South Market, was bustling with business, showing no signs of any troubles.
The afternoon sun was warm and inviting, making one feel incredibly drowsy. Chang Fengming forced himself to stay alert as he walked through the fish market toward the silk shop in the west to buy a bolt of plain silk.
The fishy smell of the market made Chang Fengming wrinkle his nose. He had been serving at Mushui Temple since he was a teenager, and it had been over a decade now. During these years, many changes had occurred in the surroundings. Although Mushui Temple was merely a place for locals to come and pay their respects, it was hard to endure that the area next to the temple had turned into a fish market. In this world, did people still believe in gods and Buddhas?
However, this was not the time for such thoughts. Mushui Temple had an important task at hand; everyone in the temple needed to be fully focused and dedicated to completing it without any mistakes. The reason for his trip to buy plain silk was due to certain rituals that required it.
Soon, Chang'an City would welcome the ceremony for the New Emperor, praying for blessings for the common people. Since the New Emperor had only ascended to the throne last year and was quite young, this first ceremony would be a grand occasion to showcase his true dragon demeanor before the people. Whether or not the young emperor's demeanor could win the hearts of his subjects and earn their genuine admiration would be crucially influenced by this event.
To show respect to the earth deities and pray for blessings, the emperor decided to accept the Topknot Ceremony from the Enlightened Monk from All Directions, demonstrating his sincere acceptance of divine teachings and seeking blessings for all beings through earthly power. This was an extremely groundbreaking decision, as an emperor's body was not something that ordinary people could easily touch.
The eight eminent monks would be selected from various temples across the nation and invited to Chang'an City. Regardless of how high their cultivation level or how close their souls were to divinity, their physical bodies were still those of ordinary mortals; thus, selecting these eight monks was no easy task. Now that March was already halfway through, many of the most renowned monks from the Tang Dynasty had been gradually invited to Chang'an, but it seemed that no final decisions had yet been made regarding their selection.
After selecting the eight monks, there would also need to be eight exceptionally pure young boys accompanying them as attendants during the ceremony. Recently, Luozhou Governor Teng Xi received a decree from Zhongshu Province requesting Luozhou to select two youths as attendants. Not daring to delay, Teng Xi immediately dispatched officials from all counties under his jurisdiction to search for suitable candidates and personally evaluate them until he finally selected two appropriate boys.
Both boys were fifteen years old; one named Shen Lu and the other Luo Sheng. They had been sent to a mountain temple outside of Luoyang City at a young age for training in Buddhist practices. Growing up in the temple, both boys were well-versed in chanting scriptures and worshiping with pure hearts and sincere wisdom, making them perfect attendants for a Holy Monk. Governor Teng Xi personally reviewed them and found their gentle features and handsome appearances quite satisfactory.
Once selected, according to regulations, they needed to undergo fasting and bathing at the Buddhist Hall, engaging in quiet meditation for seven days before being sent to Chang'an for service. Although Mushui Temple was small, it was the only temple within Luoyang City, so it became their place of quiet meditation.
This task was not only significant but also an excellent opportunity to promote Buddhist teachings; everyone at Mushui Temple was bustling with activity in preparation. For the first time ever, personal guards from the Provincial Governor's Office were stationed at Mushui Temple to ensure the safety of both boys and guarantee that everything went smoothly.
As someone who had practiced devotion at the temple for many years, Chang Fengming was deemed most suitable to care for these two boys; thus he found himself particularly busy. Despite being important figures adorned with great honor, both boys were very gentle in nature, which made Chang Fengming quite fond of them. As they entered their sixth day of meditation, thoughts of sending them off to Chang'an City soon filled him with both joy and reluctance.
After purchasing plain silk, more than an hour had passed. He needed to quicken his pace; if he delayed any longer, he would miss his afternoon chanting duties.
Returning to Mushui Temple, it was nearly the hour of Shen. Strangely, the temple, which usually saw few visitors, was now crowded with people at the entrance. After accepting a mission, the temple had closed its doors, and there should have been no one around, yet at this moment, the area was packed with heads.
Upon closer inspection, the main gate was tightly shut. Most of those standing at the entrance were familiar faces from the nearby residents and vendors. They looked at each other with expressions of panic.
“Zhang Bo, what happened?” Chang Fengming hurriedly asked a familiar face he caught hold of.
“Oh? Fengming! Just now, something strange happened in the temple. Suddenly there was a commotion—sounds of shouting, crying—it’s quiet now. Something must have gone wrong!”
Something went wrong? Chang Fengming quickly pushed his way through the crowd to the front of the gate. He reached out to push it open, but it was locked from the inside.
“Fengming, don’t panic!” A familiar voice patted him on the shoulder from behind. “We’ve already reported it to the authorities; I’m sure the Constable will arrive soon.”
As if on cue, the Constable arrived. Captain Hu looked extremely anxious; after all, Mushui Temple was currently the focus of attention in Luoyang City.
Dismounting from his horse, the Constable listened at the door and then waved his hand, signaling to break it down.
The temple doors were forced open, and Chang Fengming rushed in behind the officers to see what had happened. However, what he saw before him sent chills down his spine, even for someone like him who had practiced for years and possessed great composure.
This was no place for quiet meditation and worship; it was clearly a scene from hell!
The first body he noticed was that of the Abbot—no, it was more accurate to say he saw the corpse first. The Abbot lay not far from the entrance, his chest stabbed multiple times, blood staining his robes.
Looking further into the courtyard revealed more than a dozen bodies sprawled haphazardly—these were all soldiers from the Provincial Governor's Office. Entering Buddha Hall, he found more corpses of monks. Finally, at the very back of the Buddhist Hall lay a blood-soaked young man who had been chosen.
Although there were few people at Mushui Temple to begin with, now there wasn’t a single survivor left inside or out. The living souls he had seen just before leaving had suddenly turned into cold corpses drenched in blood.
Chang Fengming was horrified; even thoughts like “who did this” could not take shape in his mind.
Had Mushui Temple offended someone so gravely that they would annihilate everyone within? But the monks had always been peaceful and only did good deeds—how could they have angered anyone? Even if they had offended someone, why choose a day when soldiers were guarding them to commit such a massacre?
Was the arrival of these people aimed specifically at the officials and soldiers? No, perhaps it was directed at those two young boys? But what could two innocent youths have done to offend anyone?
Or was this a blatant challenge to the authority of the court? The Tang Dynasty had just been established, and remnants of various rebel factions had yet to be completely eradicated; it seemed there were still many who posed a threat.
Soon, all the Constables and Coroners from several counties in Luoyang gathered at Mushui Temple.
The onlookers murmured in surprise, surrounding Mushui Temple in layers, but they were all kept outside by the officials and soldiers. Chang Fengming, a survivor from Mushui Temple, was questioned thoroughly by the Constables.
The results of the scene investigation were shrouded in mystery.
There couldn't have been just one or two assailants; it must have been a group, and they were quite skilled in martial arts. They entered Mushui Temple, closed the temple doors, and killed all the monks and soldiers inside before presumably leaping over the back wall to escape. Subtle footprints were found on the courtyard wall, indicating that their lightness of foot was impressive. No bodies of the attackers were left at the scene.
Strangely, all the weapons used by these assailants were daggers, some of which remained embedded in the corpses, and they were uniform knives issued by the military camp.
The most shocking detail was an unusual occurrence. While none of the attackers died at the scene, a strange severed limb was left behind—a right arm that had been cut off at the elbow. This arm remained at the scene because the leader of the household soldiers had clutched it tightly until death.
The leader lay dead in the vegetable patch of the temple courtyard, still gripping the severed limb. When the officials rushed into the temple, it had not been long since people had died. However, that severed limb had already begun to decay, turning to pus and blood; even the right arm of its holder began to rot away. The entire vegetable patch had withered.
The tragedy that occurred at Mushui Temple would leave Luozhou Governor Teng Xi in a state of distress for a long time.
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