A heartbroken and frantic Zhang Qiang had originally intended to confront Tan Yue'e about the fire that destroyed his home, but never imagined that she would jump off a cliff to her death.
With a human life lost, panic gripped everyone in Zhangjiazhuang, and the truth behind the tragedy seemed to have come to light. Tan Yue'e had been having a clandestine affair with Zhang Qiang. Dissatisfied with her current life, she had seized the opportunity on the Lantern Festival to commit a malicious act, setting fire to Zhang Qiang's house and burning innocent Sister-in-law Zhou and her three children to death. Stricken with guilt after the incident, Tan Yue'e had committed suicide by jumping off a cliff to escape punishment.
Following Tan Yue'e's death, Zhang Qiang likewise believed she was the killer. The events had unfolded too suddenly, plunging him into a grief-stricken despair that he could not face. He sat motionless in a corner for three days and three nights, refusing food and water. By the fourth day, his jet-black hair had turned completely white, transforming him into a living corpse.
Zhang Sheng had never expected that, upon returning to his hometown to visit relatives after more than twenty years, he would be met with this devastating life catastrophe! With the warm assistance of the neighboring villagers, the four bodies were buried. After attending to all the arrangements, he spent his days weeping, had no appetite for food or drink, and grew thinner by the day.
Seeing that Zhang Qiang was beyond help and unable to bear watching Zhang Sheng sink any further, the villagers banded together to help Zhang Qiang rebuild his home. They selected a new plot of land, erected three thatched cottages, and prepared all daily necessities, allowing Zhang Sheng to take Zhang Qiang and Xiaojie to live there temporarily.
Having witnessed his mother's corpse after her fall from the cliff, Xiaojie had wept bitterly, his heart torn apart, and suffered from relentless nightmares night after night. With no other choice, he had agreed to follow Zhang Sheng and Zhang Qiang for the time being. He resented his mother for being so foolish; Zhang Qiang's father was clearly still alive, yet she had jumped off the cliff to her death.
Good news never leaves the door, while bad news travels a thousand miles. The fire on Lantern Festival night that claimed four lives in Zhangjiazhuang quickly spread far and wide through the mountains.
During these days, the wandering beggar Gao Cheng had not dared to stay at home, hiding instead in the Earth God Temple of another village at the foot of the mountain, surviving by stealing the temple's offerings of fruit. On the night of the Lantern Festival, having failed to get any alms, he had thrown two large red lanterns onto the roof of Zhang Qiang's house in a fit of pique, never expecting it to spark a raging fire that would consume the four members of Zhang Qiang's household. He had not originally intended to commit such a heinous crime as murder and arson, but in the end, one false step had led to a massive catastrophe. Unwilling to be arrested and sent to prison by the Public Security Bureau, he had no choice but to hide everywhere, hoping to safely weather this storm. Fortunately, the widow Tan Yue'e had unwittingly taken the blame for him, and with no evidence left to confront, he had managed to leave behind no incriminating traces.
News from Zhangjiazhuang quickly reached Baijia Village. Uncle Fang was frantic with worry, refusing to believe it could possibly be true. After discussing the matter with Fourth Master Liang, they decided to go to the village together to find out the truth.
Even more anxious than Uncle Fang was Fang Yi. Fang Yi never dreamed that, shortly after parting ways, such a major catastrophe would occur in the Zhang household. He wanted to go to Zhangjiazhuang to investigate for himself, but no matter how hard he begged, Uncle Fang refused to let him tag along. Consequently, he decided to take matters into his own hands and act in secret.
Hurry and scurry all the way, Uncle Fang and Fourth Master Liang arrived at Zhangjiazhuang drenched in sweat. They saw that Zhang Qiang's former home had long since been reduced to ruins, leaving only a patch of blackened, crumbling walls that still emitted a pungent, foul-tasting smell of scorching—a stark testament to the sheer brutality of the fire. Recalling the smiles and voices of Sister-in-law Zhou and her three children from those days, Uncle Fang could not hold back his tears, weeping silently. Fourth Master Liang, advanced in age and traditionally kind-hearted, wept alongside him.
On the eastern side of the village, Uncle Fang found Zhang Qiang and Zhang Sheng, along with a young boy he had never met before. Zhang Qiang was completely unrecognizable—his hair completely white, his eyes vacant, acting foolish and deranged. Zhang Sheng also looked like a different person, emaciated, with sunken eye sockets and a face full of sorrow.
Zhang Sheng invited Uncle Fang and Fourth Master Liang to sit at the stone table in front of the door, and recounted the entire incident from beginning to end.
"I had originally planned to set off for Jiangnan on the sixteenth of the first lunar month, but who could have imagined..." Zhang Sheng said, two lines of hot tears rolling down his cheeks. "Now that Zhang Qiang has become like this, and with this child by our side, how could I possibly have the heart to leave?"
Uncle Fang smoked incessantly, one cigarette after the other, until the pack in his pocket was completely empty. He stood up, pacing back and forth in front of the door with his hands behind his back, searching for a solution. Yet, try as he might, turning it over in his mind, he could not come up with a satisfactory compromise. Fourth Master Liang was usually calm and collected, the best at coming up with ideas, but at this moment he too was completely at a loss, standing in a daze with a furrowed brow.
Kind neighbors came over to help, preparing a banquet at Zhang Qiang's home to host Uncle Fang and Fourth Master Liang. At the dinner table, Zhang Sheng suddenly remembered that a bottle of green plum wine brought back from Jiangnan was still buried under the red plum tree in front of Zhang Qiang's old doorway, and suggested going to dig it up immediately.
Soon, Zhang Sheng led Uncle Fang and Fourth Master Liang to the red plum tree. Just as he was preparing to break the soil with a shovel to unearth the wine bottle, he suddenly noticed a necklace hanging from the plum tree—a special necklace made of wolf teeth. At that moment, Xiaojie, who had been following closely behind them, opened his eyes wide, looked closely at it, and cried out: "This is the necklace Zhang Qiang's father gave to my mother. They used to meet secretly on the cliff behind the mountain all the time. Zhang Qiang's father saved my mother's life. One year, my mother wanted to jump off the cliff and even told me to jump with her."
Although children speak without inhibition, upon hearing these few remarks from Xiaojie, Uncle Fang, Fourth Master Liang, and Zhang Sheng understood seven or eight parts of the truth in their hearts.
Fourth Master Liang thought for a moment and said, "Xiaojie, take this necklace back home and show it to your Zhang Qiang father."
Zhang Sheng quickly intervened, "Fourth Master, you can't do that! What if Zhang Qiang sees it and gets bad ideas in his head?"
Uncle Fang said, "Look at the state he's in now, acting like a living corpse. Since he and that widow shared a past affection, taking it there to give him a shock might not be a bad thing; who knows, it might even snap him back to his senses. You can't possibly look after the rest of his life like this."
Zhang Sheng thought about it and felt there was some reason to it, so he let Xiaojie take the necklace and return ahead of them to find Zhang Qiang. After digging up the bottle of wine, they hurried back home as well.
Just as Fourth Master Liang had anticipated, upon seeing the necklace, the previously vacant-eyed Zhang Qiang actually perked up in spirit. He fetched water to wash his face and even changed into a clean set of clothes. When he saw Uncle Fang and Fourth Master Liang, not only did he know to greet them, but he also personally served them tea and water.
Overjoyed, Zhang Sheng immediately asked the neighbors to prepare another table of food specifically to host Zhang Qiang. Ever since the fire on the night of the Lantern Festival, more than ten days had passed without Zhang Qiang having a single proper meal.
Uncle Fang said to Zhang Sheng in private, "Judging by this spirited energy of his, after a period of time, he should be able to recover. In the future, just let him live here with Xiaojie, and you can rest assured and return to Jiangnan. Fang Yi and I will come often to check on him." Delighted, Zhang Sheng bowed to Uncle Fang with cupped hands, overflowing with gratitude.
"As for... Huizi's matter, I still have to ask you to keep a close eye out for her." Uncle Fang had originally not wanted to say this, but since the words were already on the tip of his tongue, he had to let them slip out.
A look of sorrow crossed Zhang Sheng's face. "Master Fang, rest assured! Once I return to Jiangnan, I will do everything in my power to find Huizi. With my family reduced to this state, if I can find her, I will at least have a kindred spirit from my hometown in Jiangnan." As he spoke, tears welled up and fell once again.
Seeing that it was getting late, Zhang Sheng kept Uncle Fang and Fourth Master Liang to stay the night at his house, planning for them to return to Baijia Village the next day.
Around four or five in the morning, when Zhang Sheng got up to relieve himself outside, he suddenly discovered that the western bedroom was completely empty—Zhang Qiang and Xiaojie were nowhere to be found. Panic-stricken, he cried out and searched everywhere.
Uncle Fang and Fourth Master Liang, awakened by Zhang Sheng's shouts, hurriedly got dressed, lit torches, and joined in the search for Zhang Qiang and Xiaojie. The commotion alarmed the entire village, and the neighbors poured out of their homes to help look for them.
Yet Zhang Qiang and Xiaojie seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth; every corner of the mountains was searched, but the two of them could not be found anywhere. It was not until after lunch the following day that word came from the Dragon King Temple at the summit: an adult and a child had shaved their heads and become monks at the temple that morning, and the child wore not Buddhist prayer beads around his neck, but a string of wolf-tooth necklace.
Drenched in sweat, Uncle Fang, Fourth Master Liang, and Zhang Sheng hurried to the Dragon King Temple. What met their eyes were no longer Zhang Qiang and Xiaojie, but two newly ordained monks—one large, one small—dressed in cassocks: Zhishang and Huixing, with a string of pristine wolf-tooth necklace resting squarely around Huixing's neck.