Netherworld Investigator

Along the way, the boys cast envious glances at me and Bingxin which made me rather uncomfortable. Without a doubt, these boys didn’t have the opportunity to speak to girls in school, much less during the internship.

Zhu Xiaohao even had the nerve to ask, "Song Yang, your sister is really pretty. Does she like the class representative type?”

"Do you really think that they’re brother and sister?” he mocked. “Can’t you tell they’re actually a couple?”

Shocked, Zhu Xiaohao looked to me for confirmation. "Is it true?”

I mumbled a vague affirmative.

Only when we arrived at the edge of the reservoir did I realize our so-called fishing activity was a bunch of coworkers competing who could fish the most while the rest of us sat around spectating. With nothing to do but to watch them fish, many soon gathered around Bingxin and me, harassing us with endless annoying questions.

With her upbringing and education, Bingxin remained polite and civil regardless of the situation. However, I could tell the boys’ constant badgering was starting to get to her so I found an opportunity to speak to her privately. "Shall we skip lunch at the floating restaurant? That’s what they call it but it’s really just eating on an old, battered ship that’s been revamped. Let’s head somewhere else.”

"Just us?” Bingxin asked, her gaze expectant.

"Of course not!” I shook my head. “We’ll take Dali too!”

Bingxin's face fell upon hearing my reply. "Is Dali your pet?” she asked. “Why do you have to take him everywhere?!"

And so it was settled. I found Zhu Xiaohao and informed him that we wouldn’t join them for lunch. While he said okay, his eyes were fixed on Bingxin as if completely captivated by her.

As the three of us left the group, Bingxin suggested we head up the mountain to sightsee. With ample time at hand and little else to do, I thought it was a good idea.

As we slowly hiked up the mountain trail, we were mesmerized by a field of beautiful, bright-colored wildflowers blooming. Bingxin ran over, excitedly gathering a bunch in her hands. 

Beside me, Dali sighed, "I seem to have returned to my teenage years. Back then, I did the exact same thing–drool over a pretty girl!"

"What rich life experiences you have!" I quipped.

"Song Yang-gege,” shouted Bingxin from the field of wildflowers. “Let's weave a flower wreath!"

At this moment, a familiar voice sounded from behind me. I turned around, only to be faced with Zhu Xiaohao. The annoying fatso ran over to me, crushing a wide trail of flowers and weeds with his heavy feet. Wheezing, he bent down and held his knees, taking forever to catch his breath. "I forgot to inform you about something important,” he panted. “Make sure to head back early tonight. We’ll be holding a meeting to discuss what we’ve learned in our internship so far."

"Don't you have my number?” I snapped. “You could’ve called, texted, or even waited till I got back!"

Even a fool could tell he had an ulterior motive. Zhu Xiaohao’s cheeks turned crimson, though no one could say for sure if it had been caused by the running or the shame of being exposed. 

"As the team leader, I’d only feel at ease if I inform each of you in person beforehand!" he argued with his stupid excuse.

"All right, I know now. So you can leave!" I sneered.

Zhu Xiaohao stood there, refusing to move until Bingxin approached.

"What a coincidence! We meet again!” Zhu Xiaohao shamelessly gushed. “Where are you guys going for lunch? Can I join you?"

What a brazen bastard! I couldn’t resist cursing inside.

Bingxin seemed to have a rather poor impression of him as well. She expressed her reluctance by ignoring him and grabbed my arm instead. "Song Yang-gege,” she pouted. “Let's go!"

The three of us continued walking together, but unfortunately, we couldn’t shake off the irritating tail that was Zhu Xiaohao. In fact, we were beginning to lose our temper. To be fair, it was rather admirable for a man to bravely create opportunities to impress a girl he liked. But hounding someone who clearly showed no interest, even aversion, wasn’t gentlemanly behavior.

Bingxin glanced behind and grumbled, "Why is this fatty still following us? Song Yang-gege, shall we deliberately hasten our pace up the mountain so he can’t keep up?"

Thoroughly repulsed by Zhu Xiaohao’s irksome habits of using our toothpaste and shampoo and quarreling over how he kept us up at night with his horrible Chinglish, I was past the point of playing nice. After all, I wasn’t a saint who could remain nice despite a complete lack of reciprocation so I agreed to her suggestion.

However, I never imagined that this decision would lead us down a dangerous path that almost claimed our lives!

Hence, we headed up the mountain, trying to distance ourselves from Zhu Xiaohao who was a little behind because of his heavy weight and lack of exercise. Still, he gritted his teeth and persisted. 

Suddenly, the sky turned gloomy as a fearsome crash of thunder came from above, the almighty crack rumbling down into our ears.

"It's going to rain!" I shouted.

Encountering a thunderstorm in the mountains was a troublesome matter. If we were unlucky, we might end up like drowned rats. My principles prevented me from targeting Zhu Xiaohao so I urged him, "Let’s hurry down the mountain and look for shelter from the rain."

The rain fell faster than I expected. By the time we reached the halfway point, bean-sized raindrops pounded on my body, hurting my face. The four of us ran as fast as we could until we chanced upon a building and rushed in without further thought.

When I stepped inside, I found that we were in a dilapidated temple. I scanned my surroundings and asked curiously, "Did any of you notice this temple on our way up?"

"No!” Dali shook his head. “Have we lost our way?!"

I grabbed my cell phone wanting to check Google Maps, only to discover there was completely no signal, possibly due to the torrential rain outside. It seemed there was nothing we could do until the rain stopped.

Meanwhile, Zhu Xiaohao was kneeling on the praying mat, kowtowing to the Buddha statue covered in cobwebs. "Buddha have mercy,” he muttered piously. “We’re here in your holy temple to hide from the rain. Please don't take offense. I promise I’ll burn incense another day."

"I didn’t know this guy was a Buddhist!" scoffed Dali.

Zhu Xiaohao stood up and retorted, "What's wrong with Buddhism? All Chinese citizens have the freedom of belief. What’s wrong? Does believing in Christianity make you noble while we who believe in Buddhism are contemptible?"

"Aren’t you overreacting?” Dali scowled. “Did I say anything to denigrate your faith?"

But it seemed like Zhu Xiaohao wouldn’t let this go, taking the opportunity to vent his anger. "Why did you deliberately walk up the mountain? Was it to get rid of me?" he demanded.

"Then why are you following us?" I yelled, having lost my temper.

"Who said I was following you?!” came Zhu Xiaohao’s ridiculous reply. “The road doesn’t belong to you. Where I go is my freedom!"

I thought his behavior was that of a mad dog, taking out his anger on us despite the fact that it was his own choice to follow us which eventually led to an unforeseen accident of getting lost in the rain.

Zhu Xiaohao bowed to the arhat and worshipped the Guan Yin statue. The layout of the temple was quite large with statues of the Buddhas of Three Times, Manjushri and Samantabhadra, Guan Yin and the Eighteen Arhats, but they were all broken and covered with dust. Up on the ceiling, there were several crooked beams that looked unstable and might fall at any moment. Certain parts of the roof had holes in which water leaked, creating a light, patchy drizzle in the temple where puddles had accumulated on the ground.

The country adhered to a religious policy of autonomy and self-administration. I was of the opinion that the temple had declined due to a lack of offerings.

Dali looked around and whispered, "Dude, don’t you feel it’s kind of gloomy and eerie here? Besides, where are the monks?"

I shook my head, indicating I wasn’t sure. Then, Zhu Xiaohao suddenly cried out, "It’s a spiritual manifestation of Buddha! Buddha has created a miracle!"

We looked over and found him slumped on the praying mat, shivering and pointing to an arhat statue. There were two glistening streams of tears flowing down the arhat's eyes.

Although I wasn’t a complete atheist, I found this hard to believe.

The tears seemed to slowly trickle down, unlike the consistency of water. I placed my hand on the arhat statue and felt a slight heat under my palm which immediately alerted me to the strangeness of the situation.

I stepped on the shrine to take a closer examination but was stopped by an angry Zhu Xiaohao. "Song Yang, what the hell are you doing?” he chided. “What you’re doing is a show of disrespect to the Buddha!"

"They’re not tears,” I explained. “There must be something hidden within that arhat statue!"

"Are you trying to say it’s a trick from Buddha?!” argued Zhu Xiaohao. “You’re talking bullshit! Be careful of being struck by lightning!"

After that, he repeatedly kowtowed piously, mumbling the words, “We’ve sinned,” over and over again. 

This guy was impervious to reason! I hated religious people who believed and insisted that their faith was the one truth.

At this point, the hollow chimes of wooden fish filled the empty hall. I turned around but saw no one else besides the four of us, prompting Bingxin and I to exchange a look of consternation.