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As the night deepened, the lights in the Tian's home were extinguished. the Tian loosened her clothes and lay down to sleep. Within a short while, the room fell silent.
Outside the window, branches swayed, and the moonlight cast dappled shadows within the room. The sounds of insects and frogs heightened the tranquility of the mountain village.
Suddenly, a shadow flitted past the window. A steel knife slid open the latch of the Tian's door, and moonlight poured in. A figure clad in white, with disheveled hair—the Paper Figurine—slowly approached the Tian's bedside, raising the steel knife with a smile playing on its face.
The knife hovered in mid-air, glinting coldly. After a moment, it came crashing down, aimed directly at the back of the Tian's neck!
"Clang!" Sparks flew as the knife struck. Startled by the loud noise, the Tian awoke with a start and locked eyes with the Paper Figurine. With a scream, she fainted. From beneath her bed emerged Mu Zuo.
Mu Zuo chuckled, "Your Excellency is truly perceptive; you knew I would come to assassinate you tonight and specially sent me to wait here! You filthy creature have forced me to hide under a widow's bed! I will make you repay the misfortune of these three years!"
With that, Mu Zuo swung his knife at the Paper Figurine. Unfazed, the Paper Figurine met his attack head-on. After several exchanges, it leaped through the window, with Mu Zuo hot on its heels.
Villagers from Xiawa heard the commotion and rushed over to watch. Seeing Mu Zuo engaged in a fierce battle with the Paper Figurine, they were too frightened to approach.
Mu Zuo shouted, "Stay back! I can handle this! You all hurry and wake the Tian!"
The two fought for over ten rounds. Realizing it was no match for Mu Zuo, the Paper Figurine feigned a few moves before jumping outside the village. But Mu Zuo was not about to give up; he swiftly shot out a concealed arrow that struck the Paper Figurine in its left leg. Despite being injured and bleeding, it continued to leap away as Mu Zuo pursued closely behind.
After less than three miles, he was nearly upon it when the Paper Figurine turned and threw a hidden weapon. Mu Zuo fell to the ground without moving again. Seizing this opportunity, the Paper Figurine leaped into the woods and vanished from sight.
Meanwhile, in Tianyuan Temple, Zhenren Hui Yi and several Taoists were escorted into the hall, along with villagers from the cave.
Liu Fengling sat upright, and the crowd of commoners bowed down in unison. Upon inquiry, it was revealed that these people were mostly from Baoxing County, not Changping Villagers. The Zhenren Hui Yi, originally named Gong Zhaolong, was a bandit from Changde County who had fled to Baoxing County after being exterminated by master Chen. He had taken over a temple in Danxia Mountain, driving the original Taoist priests to the back mountains to mine, and colluding with the local government to deceive the villagers into entering the mountains for cultivation. In reality, they were imprisoned and forced to work alongside the Taoists, with the profits shared equally between Gong Zhaolong and Baoxing County’s Yang Yu.
In just one year, many commoners had met with misfortune.
Upon hearing this, Liu Fengling was furious and slammed his hand on the table. Under his official authority, Gong Zhaolong dared not resist. Yang Yu trembled all over and fainted to the side.
Clerk presented the confessions, and the criminals admitted their guilt one by one. Liu Fengling ordered that all involved be thrown into prison carts, paraded through the streets for three days, and then locked away in a death cell to await execution in autumn!
Late at night, some Xiawa Villagers came to inform Xu Yan. Upon learning of this, Xu Yan immediately sought out Liu Fengling.
At that moment, Liu Fengling was busy writing a report on the Tianyuan Temple case for Ministry of Justice.
Xu Yan smiled and said, “This case has been solved! The scenery of Shaoxing is quite beautiful; would brother Liu care to accompany me on a tour tomorrow?”
“Brother Xu has made great contributions in solving this case; I shall certainly accompany you…”
The two exchanged glances and burst into hearty laughter.
The next morning, Xu Yan set off with Liu Fengling and Chen Maoliang on a small boat, drifting downstream along the Hun River.
By this time, the floodwaters had receded. The banks of the Hun River were lined with towering mountains and picturesque villages with curling smoke rising from chimneys—truly a sight to behold. Xu Yan and Liu Fengling drank together as they chatted and laughed all along their journey.
Just past noon, their small boat turned into a narrow channel and slowly made its way through a grove of peach blossoms…
Xu Yan chanted, "Suddenly encountering a peach blossom forest, stretching for hundreds of steps along the banks, with no other trees in sight, fragrant grass flourishing, and fallen petals scattered everywhere..."
Liu Fengling looked around in astonishment and exclaimed, "Isn't this... the peach blossom forest mentioned by Tao Qian?"
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