Chapter 35: The Sorcerer in the Black Robe

The plane landed at Don Mueang Airport. Just like last time, the moment they stepped out, they were met with a wave of oppressive heat that engulfed everything, making even breathing feel scorching.

“Let’s get the visa-on-arrival sorted out as soon as possible, then find someplace to eat. I’m so hungry I could ascend to immortality…”

“I’m ready this time—I brought four bottles of Lao Gan Ma with me. Thai chili is honestly unbearable…”

“Hey, there are so many people in line today…”

As soon as the three of them got off the plane, Li Ruoke immediately powered on her phone and made a call. She’d already swapped her SIM card on the plane; she was contacting her friend who would be picking them up.

“My friend is from Hunan, her name is Xuanxuan, she’s just a couple of years older than me. She lives alone here in Thailand, working as a local tour guide for Chinese groups. We’ll be staying at her place for the next few days.”

Qi Yan asked curiously, “A Chinese person working as a local guide in Thailand? Her Thai must be really good then?”

Li Ruoke shook her head. “Not necessary. Most guides who receive Chinese tourists are Chinese themselves. She doesn’t need to speak Thai—her clients are all compatriots. The travel agency provides an assistant who speaks Thai, responsible for coordinating with hotels and restaurants during the trip.”

Qi Yan nodded. He had felt this on his last visit. Thailand might be a foreign country, but there are plenty of Chinese people. Speaking Mandarin is sometimes more useful than English, since the locals’ English can be even more bewildering. Many Thais actually understand and speak some Mandarin—at least words like “RMB,” “how much,” and “tip”…

Just as Li Lan had said, there really were a staggering number of travelers today; a long queue snaked in front of the visa counter.

Don Mueang Airport was small and stiflingly hot.

Thais tend to be laid back, both in life and work, so the staff moved with a slow, unhurried calm… Chongqing is hot too, but people there are famously impatient; it’s a mystery how two hot places can breed such different temperaments.

They waited for nearly half an hour before finally seeing the front of the line.

Qi Yan, unable to take the heat and hunger, crouched on the floor and frantically fanned himself with his passport.

While he was growing increasingly anxious and irritable, his gaze inadvertently swept over the distant crowd. A figure stood out so starkly that it instantly drew his attention—and just at the sight of that person, Qi Yan felt as if he had plunged into an icy abyss.

Not ten meters from where they stood, amidst the stream of airport travelers, stood a gaunt old monk in a jet-black robe, his presence glaringly conspicuous. He stood there quietly, seemingly watching in Qi Yan’s direction. Strangely, no matter how many people passed by, no one ever bumped into him, as if he existed apart from the world. No one seemed to find his presence odd.

Though the figure was far away and Qi Yan couldn’t make out the deeply wrinkled face, he could sense from the stooped form that the black-robed monk, while gazing at him, exuded an unshakable calm, as if untouched by the world’s tides.

In that instant, Qi Yan was overwhelmed by dizziness. The noise around him seemed to fade away, and he moved instinctively toward the old man…

“Where are you going? We’re almost at the front! No matter how urgently you need the bathroom, hold it in!” Li Ruoke grabbed his arm, jolting him back to his senses. Qi Yan stared blankly at her, then hurriedly looked back toward where the old monk had stood… but no matter how hard he searched, the man had vanished.

Both Li Ruoke and Li Lan had noticed his brief lapse. “What’s wrong with you?” they asked.

Qi Yan didn’t answer right away, still scanning the crowd in vain. Only after a while did he turn back and whisper, “I saw him again…”

“Who… who do you mean?”

“The old monk from that bizarre temple I told you about before. He was just there—I can’t possibly have mistaken him! He’s the one who forced the amulet on me.”

Li Ruoke was startled. She and Li Lan closed in around Qi Yan, and she leaned in to whisper, “Are you saying… that mysterious black-robed monk just appeared here, in this crowded airport?”

“Yes!” Qi Yan nodded resolutely, wiping sweat from his brow.

Li Ruoke didn’t doubt him, but she was clearly uneasy. After glancing around at the other Chinese travelers, she emphasized, “There’s something I haven’t told you before because I didn’t want to scare you. But listen closely now…

“In Thailand, whether real monks or frauds, none would ever wear black robes in public. Do you know why? Because an ‘Ajahn’—that is, a master—can be righteous or evil. A black-robed Ajahn is one whose faith has been corrupted or who has gravely violated Buddhist precepts—a dark practitioner. Such people often possess great power, but their actions are the antithesis of orthodox Buddhism. They’re expert in making yin amulets, but unlike the white-robed masters, they don’t intend to help wandering souls or serve any benevolent purpose. Most use the spirits of the dead to further their own goals—they’re black magicians!”

This was something neither Li Ruoke nor Li Lan had explained before, their attention having focused on the amulet itself. Only now did they realize the importance of the old monk’s identity.

Not that Qi Yan needed the warning. He’d already guessed that the elusive, spectral old monk could not possibly be a benevolent figure—his method of forcing the amulet on Qi Yan alone made that clear.

“You say he’s a dark practitioner? But he’s human, isn’t he? No matter how powerful, can a living person really come and go so utterly without a trace? He vanished in the blink of an eye.” This was what troubled Qi Yan most—was the old monk human or ghost? Why had he appeared again?

After everything with the criminal gang and the yin-yang shikigami, he’d almost forgotten the greatest culprit of all. And now, right after landing, the old monk appeared in his sight again?

Li Ruoke fell silent, her brows furrowing tighter and tighter. At last she added gravely, “I really can’t say whether he’s human or something else. Either way, people like him are extremely dangerous. If he’s appeared before you again, he must have some way of tracking you…”

Li Lan was growing more anxious by the minute. “So Qi Yan is in real danger now? Sis, you never should have let him come back to Thailand!”

Qi Yan took a deep breath, calmed himself, and patted Li Lan’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. If he’d wanted to harm me, I’d probably already be dead, and wouldn’t have made it back home to see you. He handed ‘Ghost Mother’ to me himself. I’ve long known he wouldn’t let me go so easily. But whatever his motive, whether he’s human or ghost, at least for now he’s not after my life. If he really wants something from me, he’ll show himself again… and I’ll just wait for him.”

It wasn’t overconfidence or bravado.

After so many brushes with death, Qi Yan realized some things are simply fate—inescapable. Why, after all, had he alone stumbled upon that mysterious black temple in the first place? He used to think it was coincidence, or just bad luck, but now… he wasn’t so sure.