Chapter Seventeen: The Land of Solitary Shadow

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Lin Fan had spent most of the day acting as both chauffeur and tour guide. He had expected Lin Hai to treat him to a lavish meal as a reward, but to his disappointment, the moment they returned the rented bicycle, Lin Hai dragged him straight back to the pavilion where they had started.

“Uncle, aren’t we going to take a break? Are we really going to keep going?” Lin Fan slumped listlessly onto the stone bench in the pavilion, his stomach so empty it felt like it was tied in knots.

Lin Hai, compass in hand, stood at the entrance to the path where the two children had vanished. He surveyed the terrain with great care, then nodded resolutely. “Laziness is the greatest enemy on the path to our dreams! Of course we’re going to continue!”

Clutching his stomach, Lin Fan complained, “Why didn’t you say so earlier? We could’ve bought some food on the way back. Now my guts are cramping with hunger—how am I supposed to fight monsters and save people like this?”

After double-checking their route and direction, Lin Hai put away the compass, clasped his hands behind his back, and lifted his chin with pride. “This is training too! Can’t you endure a little hardship? How do you expect to vanquish demons, uphold justice, or save the world? Besides, you’re just my pack mule. You’re like an extra two slots in my backpack—useless but not quite worth discarding! Don’t get too full of yourself. Righteousness isn’t something you just talk about all day; it’s something you show the world through your actions. Understand? Look at my character, my bearing! You’d do well to learn from me.”

Lin Fan sucked in a deep breath and immediately retorted with a scowl, “Uncle, you were just saying that busted bike wasn’t even worth the deposit and told me to return it so you wouldn’t get ripped off. Aren’t you just as greedy as anyone else, obsessed with money? And now you’re lecturing me about righteousness? I really wonder what’s going on inside that greasy head of yours!”

Lin Hai’s left eye twitched. Realizing further words would only lead to more disagreement, he lost his patience. With a sudden turn, he darted in front of Lin Fan and landed a punch right in his eye.

Lin Fan, dizzy from hunger and the darkness, hadn’t the strength or speed to dodge. He took the punch squarely to his left eye.

For a moment, the world spun. Lin Fan collapsed to the ground, babbling nonsense: “Whoa, Uncle—look, a meteor shower! Make a wish, quick…”

Watching Lin Fan grope at the air from the ground, Lin Hai finally felt some relief. “Go a day without a beating and you’ll be climbing the rafters! Just look at that punchable head of yours. Hurry up and follow me; if you get yourself kidnapped too, I won’t have time to save you.”

With that, Lin Hai strode off in the direction the children had disappeared.

Lin Fan shook his head, grumbling as he followed.

Lin Hai led the way, compass in hand, with Lin Fan trailing behind. After passing several forks in the path and walking for about an hour along winding trails, they reached the banks of a river and an old, dilapidated wooden bridge.

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Lin Hai didn’t cross the bridge immediately. He stopped and shook the sweat and grime from his body, brushing off cobwebs, branches, and weeds he’d picked up along the way. Then, to Lin Fan’s astonishment, he pulled two flatbreads from his coat and handed one over, smugly declaring, “How’s that, nephew? Your uncle thinks of everything.”

Lin Fan, who had managed to avoid most of the debris by following behind, was taken aback at the sight of the bread. His hands trembled as he accepted it, and by the moonlight, he carefully picked off the cobwebs stuck to it. He sniffed, swallowed hard, and exclaimed, “Uncle, this bread’s been in your coat all day, hasn’t it? It’s picked up a stubborn whiff of your body odor! Is this even edible?”

Lin Hai absentmindedly sniffed his own bread, then shrugged. “What do you know? This is a flatbread of love—full of human warmth! If you don’t want it, give it back; I could use more food myself.” He reached for Lin Fan’s bread.

In their tussle, Lin Fan forgot all about the questionable aroma and stuffed the bread hungrily into his mouth.

Lin Hai quickly pulled his own bread out of reach, exclaiming, “Wow! Like a starving dog on a bone! Acting all refined one moment and turning into a ravenous ghost the next. Eat up—no one’s going to take it from you. When we cross that bridge, just don’t wet your pants in fear.”

Lin Fan had never tasted anything so delicious; he tore into the flatbread with gusto. Between mouthfuls, he mumbled, “Uncle, what do you mean? Do you know what took those kids?”

Seeing Lin Fan so engrossed in eating, Lin Hai took a big bite himself. “Mhm. After a half day’s investigation, I realized this riverside forest park is actually a place of overwhelming yin energy. Never noticed it before!”

Lin Fan paused, curious. “What’s a place of overwhelming yin?”

Lin Hai swallowed and explained, “Above is yang, below is yin; heaven is yang, earth is yin; movement is yang, stillness is yin; rising is yang, descending is yin. Yin is cold, dark, gathering, and material—like water, like ice. Yang is heat, light, transformation, and vapor—like wind, like lightning. Yin and yang depend on each other, and their interaction creates all things. A place of overwhelming yin is where yin greatly outweighs yang. This riverside forest is dense, blocks out the sun, lies in a low-lying area where air cannot rise and moisture accumulates. It’s right beside the river, making the air damp and heavy. Over time, it’s become unbalanced, with yin gathering across the river, where the woods are densest and the yin is at its peak. In such a place, dark entities are sure to breed. So I’m certain Xin’er was taken by some evil thing hiding in those woods across the river.”

“Cough, cough—” Lin Fan choked on his bread, hurriedly gulped water, then cried out, “Oh my god! So the other child I saw that day was one of those… evil things? Does that mean I really did manifest the Soul Searching Technique? Wow, I really am a once-in-a-century genius, huh? Heh heh…”

Lin Hai, seeing him so self-satisfied, quickly turned the conversation. “Well, not necessarily. My deduction is nearly perfect, but it’s still just that—a deduction. You might have seen another kidnapped child, or maybe you were seeing double. Don’t get too carried away.”

Lin Hai hated to admit Lin Fan might be more talented than himself, but a sense of foreboding crept over him. “If—just if—this kid is right, and an evil spirit that can manifest in daylight is running around snatching children, what level of entity are we dealing with? This could be troublesome. Let’s hope its strength is within my control.”

His concerns weren’t unfounded. Though a place of overwhelming yin wasn’t the deadliest sort, it was still highly dangerous. Spirits here might not be the most powerful, but some would use it to transform themselves, biding their time for a breakthrough.

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As Lin Fan chewed his bread, the pieces started fitting together in his mind. He turned to Lin Hai and demanded, “Old man! Did you know all along what was going on? You made me lug you around the park all afternoon just to sun-cure yourself? What are you up to? Why come here now, with only a sliver of moonlight—how are we supposed to rescue Xin’er in this pitch-black night? You wasted a whole afternoon! You executioner!”

“Cut the nonsense! You think I didn’t want to come during the day? You think this is a place you can just come and go as you please? I’m not a ghost—I can’t see the paths of the underworld! I had to wait for the night so the yin energy would rise; otherwise, how could I find the entrance to this place? I’ve told you a hundred times—don’t run your mouth before understanding the situation. If outsiders heard, they’d laugh at how unprofessional we are! Can you stop blabbering so much?” Lin Hai’s words fired out like a machine gun, showering Lin Fan with bread crumbs as he shouted angrily.

This time, Lin Hai was telling the truth. He’d worked all afternoon to use the Eight Trigrams Positioning Technique to determine the park’s geomancy, and it hadn’t been easy. Still, to have pinpointed a place of overwhelming yin was a satisfactory outcome. If it had turned out to be a place of the Nine Hells or some evil cultivator’s holy ground, he would’ve run for the hills.

“Oh—Uncle, if we run into a really powerful demon or ghost, can you handle it alone?” Lin Fan, thoroughly chastised, shivered at the thought of entering a monster’s lair and asked warily.

Sensing Lin Fan’s misgivings, Lin Hai shot back, “What, are you doubting my skills?”

Lin Fan quickly grinned obsequiously. “Of course not! I just mean, if you can handle it yourself, I could stay here and back you up—so I don’t get in your way, you know, and mess up your performance…”

Lin Hai got even angrier at Lin Fan’s cowardice and bellowed, “You idiot! You think I need your backup? Planning to run away at the first sign of trouble? Remember this: there are no cowards or deserters in our Lin family!”

His words instantly filled Lin Fan with a righteous fervor. “Who’s a coward? Fine! I’ll go with you—if need be, I’ll die with you, heroically to the end!”

“Bah! Get lost! If you want to die, don’t drag me with you—I’m not done living yet. Are you finished eating? Then let’s get moving!” Lin Hai, thoroughly annoyed, spat out the words and strode onto the wooden bridge without a backward glance.

“Damn, you talk about me, but your farewell speech is even more ominous!” Lin Fan pressed his palms together, muttered some prayers, bowed three times to the moon, and hurried after.