Jangxia Tongzhi didn't bother explaining anything to the little monk. It was just too ridiculous.
He folded his wings back in—holding them open all the time was exhausting—then walked over to the old monk and hoisted the corpse from the floor.
The man had stopped breathing. He looked like he'd passed peacefully.
Jangxia headed toward the door, planning to take the body out, but Xiunian was sitting right in the way.
Jangxia stared him down, silently willing him to move.
Their eyes met. The little monk clutched his chest in panic, silently mouthing: "This is it. I'm dead. He's going to see through me and kill me."
Jangxia: "…"
He casually flicked Xiunian aside with one wing, opened the door, and carried the corpse into the hallway.
Xiunian froze for a second, then realized—he was still alive. He let out a long breath of relief.
…Apparently, the Fog Tengu didn't intend to kill him. Otherwise, he'd already be as dead as the old abbot.
Thinking this, Xiunian stood up and hesitantly followed the Fog Tengu, who, despite his terrifying appearance, didn't seem hostile.
And now that he calmed down a bit, Xiunian realized—this tengu looked kind of like his brother, but not quite. It might just be a coincidence.
…Or maybe, just maybe, his brother found a young fog tengu years ago and raised it in secret. Over time, the tengu began to resemble him more and more. Then the tengu left to wander the world. When it returned, it found out his brother had died, so it avenged him by killing the old abbot…
…Yeah, when you think about it like that, it made perfect sense.
As he crept after him, Xiunian's eyes drifted to the tengu's folded wings poking out from the gap in his robes. They looked way too real to be fake.
His ridiculous theory felt even more valid now, and so, cautiously, he asked, "So… um, what else do you need?"
He'd heard monsters demanded sacrifices. Humans had to hold rituals for them, or else—well, people got eaten.
At this rate, the old abbot was definitely going to become rations. But the Fog Tengu hadn't gone back to the forest—he was just wandering around their temple…
Xiunian began to worry. What if the Fog Tengu started munching on his fellow monks… or those two innocent guests? Maybe he could negotiate. What if—just maybe—the Tengu would accept incense instead of humans?
But when he asked, the Fog Tengu didn't request food. He just said, "I already told you."
"Huh?" Xiunian blinked.
He thought back. The Fog Tengu had only said two things so far:
—"To restore the performance to its peak, we just need one more victim."
—"…And I think you're perfect for it."
Then boom, the old abbot dropped dead.
So… maybe the tengu was only targeting the old abbot, who had used its name to kill people?
This—this was a righteous monster! A principled, intelligent one who didn't lash out at the innocent!
And he even avenged Xiunian's brother!
Xiunian was deeply moved. His gaze shifted from fear to awe, full of reverence and gratitude.
Not to mention, Lord Fog Tengu was nothing like the legends. He wasn't smashing through walls to get places—he was politely using the corridor to walk to the confinement room…
And come to think of it, Lord Fog Tengu knew the temple layout like the back of his claw. Shanni Temple was built into a mountainside, so its hallways twisted like a maze. Most people got lost after two turns. But the Tengu? He navigated it like a pro…
Xiunian beamed proudly at his own detective-level deductions.
Jangxia, unaware of the monk's brain running a mile a minute behind him, entered the confinement room with the corpse in tow and looked around.
The ghost fetus here had died in a pretty tragic way—just when he was about to win back his childhood sweetheart, he got "suicided" and watched her marry someone else.
Jangxia had just signed a contract with Zhongnian, the recently dead ghost who'd been tricked into killing himself. That felt a little like taking advantage of someone in a crisis, so he figured he'd help him out—cut off the new ghost's lingering obsession and give the old abbot a taste of what it felt like to be strung up by a tengu.
But now, standing in the confinement room, Jangxia realized… there was a flaw in his plan.
—He'd seen the room before while touring the temple. It had a locked door, and visitors weren't allowed inside. He hadn't entered earlier to avoid suspicion.
Now that he was inside, he noticed: although the ceiling was high, the room was only about three meters wide. Not a lot of horizontal space.
Jangxia stared at the corpse in his arms, hesitated, then awkwardly spread his wings and flapped.
With a thump, Xiunian—who was peeking from the door again—got smacked and sent flying. One of Jangxia's wings clipped the wall.
Jangxia: "…"
…Whoever made up this legend clearly had no idea how physics worked.
There's no way to fly in here. You'd be better off just awkwardly climbing up the wall.
Jangxia poked at the wall with a wingtip and mimed a few moves. Yeah—no way. Flying here was impossible. Time to change the plan and find another way in.
As he turned to leave, he saw Xiunian jogging back, then dramatically dropping to his knees with a "putong". "I'm sorry! It's all my fault the confinement room's too narrow!!"
"…Why are you still here?"
Beside the confinement room, the waterfall roared so loudly it was hard to hear anyone speak.
Jangxia was already annoyed that his plan got foiled. He swatted his wing dismissively. "Go. Don't get in my way."
Xiunian still looked worried.
But Lord Fog Tengu had spoken, and he didn't dare disobey. If the tengu failed to fly and lost face, he might hang Xiunian up as a witness. That would not be good…
Survival instinct kicked in. Xiunian bowed quickly and dashed back to the sleeping quarters.
At last, some peace and quiet.
Jangxia wandered around with the corpse again.
Technically, he could've just walked up to the roof using the stairs, but he wanted to go full tengu mode—if he was going to do this, he was going to fly up with the guy. It had to be authentic.
Also, this was his first time using a winged puppet. Not flying a few laps? Unthinkable.
As for the puppet's other new skill… well, that was harder to talk about.
It was kind of like a "death respawn" skill.
Except it only worked on the user—and it involved manually re-enacting your own death.
When he saw it during the contract signing, Jangxia stared at it for a long time… then decided to ignore it completely and focus on wing practice.
…
The puppet's weight could be adjusted, but the old monk's corpse was deadweight.
Jangxia struggled for a while, stole some tips from the forest birds, and finally managed to flap and soar up from the outside—just like a real tengu.
Mission complete √
He pulled out some rope and hoisted the old monk onto the beam above the confinement room.
The beam hadn't been cleaned in two years. A thick layer of dust coated it.
Using the puppet's new organs, Jangxia managed to leave no footprints—just a little wing print.
But that was fine. The Fog Tengu should leave a wing print. It was evidence. Proof. The sign that "the Fog Tengu was here."
Jangxia looked at the body swinging from the beam, clapped the dust from his hands, flew one more lap for fun, and then deactivated the puppet.
When he was using the puppet, he didn't really feel tired. But as soon as he returned to his real body, a wave of exhaustion crashed over him.
Thankfully, he'd had the foresight to move his body back under the quilt before the contract. Now all he had to do was close his eyes and sleep.
He yawned. If I ever have insomnia again, I should summon this puppet, fly around carrying heavy things for a while, then come back and crash.
Feeling pleased with his discovery, Jangxia dozed off peacefully.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 30 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 14/50(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS*
Glossary (for this chapter only):
Wutengu / Fog Tengu – A yokai-like figure in the story; used here as a winged, ghostly puppet Jangxia controls.