Facing Dreaming Nun's skepticism and distrust, I stopped arguing. She would understand later. But I couldn't let her leave - she knew this nunnery best and would be extremely useful.
"Other than that, Stein, what do you think about this?" I asked.
Though the situation seemed clear, it definitely wasn't that simple. If this were just a vengeful ghost haunting and killing, it would have been resolved long ago. Dreaming Nun knew some magic, not to mention the other nuns. It's unlikely an entire nunnery couldn't handle one ghost.
Stein remained silent for a moment before asking, "Where is Kongqing buried?"
Dreaming Nun was stunned again. "Why are you asking that?"
Stein explained: "Given Kongqing's experience, it's normal she hated your master, even hated this nunnery. But no matter how strong her hatred, after death she's just a ghost."
"Even a fierce ghost shouldn't be able to trespass on sacred Buddhist ground, let alone haunt so powerfully that all the nuns become ghostly and murderous demons."
"There must be more to this. Maybe someone interfered."
Dreaming Nun seemed to have never considered this. Intrigued by Stein's words, she urgently asked what else might be suspicious.
That's when Stein mentioned someone - Arturo and his family!
Arturo's family was powerful and wealthy. Kongqing's marriage to Arturo had humiliated them. As dignified people, how could they let this go? Stein, being worldly-wise, knew Arturo's family wouldn't spare Kongqing or the nunnery.
"But Arturo's family never came to cause trouble," Dreaming Nun said. "And Arturo never returned to the nunnery."
"That's exactly the problem," Stein replied. "The calmer it seems, the more turbulence is likely happening behind the scenes."
"You mean..." Dreaming Nun seemed to grasp something but missed the point.
"What's hard to understand?" I interjected. "Stein means Arturo's family may have tampered with Kongqing's body. That's why he asked where she's buried."
Now Dreaming Nun understood - she'd never considered that possibility before.
"You guys...aren't as bad as I thought," Dreaming Nun muttered.
"Enough talk," I said. "Take us to Kongqing's grave immediately. We might solve this tonight. It's definitely not simple, but once we find the source, we can fix it."
"Kongqing is buried at the mountain peak. Follow me." Dreaming Nun finally agreed to cooperate and led us out of the woodshed. But we had to be extremely careful - Dreaming Nun checked the time and warned that the nuns had all transformed, as evil as ghosts themselves.
If we outsiders were discovered, we'd be killed. Strangely, they wouldn't harm Dreaming Nun, though she wasn't sure why - perhaps because she was from the nunnery.
We followed Dreaming Nun quietly as she guided us to the weakest section of the wall, where a dog hole provided passage underneath. She explained this exit led directly to the mountain's rear, and following the path for about an hour would bring us to Kongqing's burial site where she had committed suicide.
This wasn't our first time crawling through dog holes - we'd done it before at Stella's school - so we passed through without complaint, somewhat numb to the experience.
The process went surprisingly smoothly. No nuns disturbed us, nor did we encounter any spirits. Dreaming Nun took the lead, and once outside, we followed her up the mountain path.
Night hiking proved extremely difficult, each step a struggle. While Dreaming Nun fared well, the three of us exhausted quickly, especially Stein with his short legs - climbing was pure torture.
After about an hour, we reached the summit. But the peak stood barren - not a single tree or blade of grass remained, just jagged stones. Combined with the dark, windy night, the mountaintop gave off an eerie, chilling atmosphere.
Stein gasped, "This isn't a damn mountaintop - it's creepier than a graveyard. Dreaming Nun, how many bodies are buried up here?"
Dreaming Nun insisted only one person was buried here - Kongqing. She hadn't visited in years, but recalled this summit once had trees and grass.
I suggested maybe tourists vandalized it - some people have terrible manners and too much free time. They might have come up and cut everything down.
Dreaming Nun shook her head. Few travelers came this way, and even fewer reached the summit. Most visitors got winded halfway up - those climbing from the base wouldn't have energy left for deforestation.
"Could the trees have withered naturally?" Antonio asked, puzzled.
Stein nodded. "If so, it must be connected to the grave."
At this point, Stein looked toward Kongqing's grave, and we followed his gaze.
"If a grave emits malign qi, the surrounding plants would wither - just like what we see now," Stein explained.
Malign qi? If the tomb had malign qi, that meant... the corpse was either about to turn into a jiangshi or had already transformed!
Damn it! We came up here to check if Kongqing's tomb or body had been tampered with, and now we might be dealing with an actual jiangshi!
"Enough talk. Let's open it and see - no point guessing," Antonio said as he moved to dig at the grave.
"Wait! Let me pay respects first," Dreaming Nun interjected, still showing reverence for Kongqing. She quickly clasped her hands and recited a sutra passage, then bowed three times before allowing us to excavate the grave.
Without tools, the three of us spent half an hour digging out the coffin. Fortunately, it wasn't buried deep. Dreaming Nun explained that since Kongqing died under bizarre circumstances and had rebelled against Buddhist vows by marrying, the former abbess hastily buried her to avoid scandal. After the abbess's death, no one visited the grave, and the new abbess forbade any mention of Kongqing in the nunnery.
After unearthing the coffin, Antonio tried opening it, but the nailed lid proved difficult without tools. Dreaming Nun and Antonio decided to combine their efforts.
They positioned themselves on the same side, took deep breaths, and simultaneously struck the coffin with their palms.
With a loud boom, the coffin lid shifted sideways from the force of their four palms, sending the nails clattering to the ground.
Success!
Stein and I cheered, immediately scrambling toward the coffin.
Inside lay an astonishingly beautiful corpse dressed in monastic robes. Her waxen face retained traces of breathtaking beauty from life.
"The body...it didn't decompose? But she's been dead for years!" Stein and I exclaimed simultaneously.