The Haunted Monastery

X

Judge Dee's first thought was that his cold must have suddenly taken a turn for the worse. His head was aching badly and he had a queer empty feeling in the pit of his stomach. He smelled a faint, feminine perfume. He opened his eyes.

He stared astonished at the blue silk curtains above his head. He was lying, fully dressed, in a strange bedstead. He raised his hand to his head and found that his cap and the bandage were gone. There was a large lump on the back of his head. He felt it with his fingertips, and winced. "Try to take a sip of this!" a soft voice spoke up by his side.

Miss Ting bent over him, a teacup in her hand. She passed her left arm round his shoulders and helped him to sit up. Suddenly he felt dizzy. She steadied him, and after a few sips of the hot tea he felt somewhat better. Slowly he began to realize what had happened.

"I was knocked down from behind," he said looking sourly at her. "What do you know about that?"

Miss Ting sat down on the edge of the bed. She said placidly: "I heard a bump against my door. I went to open it and found you lying unconscious on the floor, your head against my doorjamb. Since I thought that signified that you had intended to pay me a visit, I dragged you inside and put you on the bed. Fortunately I am rather strong, for I can assure you that you are by no means a light burden. I wet your temples with cold water till you came to. That's all I know."

Judge Dee frowned. He asked curtly: "Whom did you see in the corridor?"

"Nobody at all!"

"Did you hear the sound of footsteps?"

"No!"

"Let me see your satchel with perfume!"

Miss Ting obediently loosened the small brocade satchel from her sash and gave it to the judge. He smelled it. It was a sweet perfume, but quite different from the cloying smell he had perceived just before he was attacked. He asked again: "How long have I been unconscious?"

"Quite some time. I would say two hours or so. It's nearly midnight now." Then she added, pouting: "Is the verdict guilty or not guilty?" Judge Dee smiled wanly.

"I am sorry!" he said. "I was a bit confused. You were very kind, Miss Ting. If it hadn't been for you, the rascal who knocked me down would doubtless have finished me off then and there."

"It was the bandage under your cap that saved your life," Miss Ting remarked. "They must have hit you a vicious blow with something sharp, and if you hadn't been wearing that thick bandage filled with orange peel around your head, the blow would have cracked your skull."

"I ought to go up and thank my wives!" Judge Dee muttered. "It was they who insisted on my wearing the bandage. But I must first look into this treacherous attack!" He wanted to climb down from the bed, but a sudden attack of dizziness forced him to lie down again.

"Not so quick, Magistrate!" Miss Ting said. "It was a nasty blow. I'll help you get down and over to that arm-chair there."

When the judge was sitting at the rickety table, she dipped the bandage in the brass water basin on the dressing table. "I'll put this around your head again," she remarked, "it'll help to make the lump go down."

Sipping his tea Judge Dee looked thoughtfully at her pleasant, frank face. She was not particularly handsome, but decidedly attractive. He put her age at about twenty-five. The straight robe of black silk with the broad red sash set off her narrow waist and small, firm breasts. She had the lithe, supple body of the trained acrobat. After she had wound the bandage round his head and replaced his cap, the judge said: "Sit down and let's talk a little, while I am getting ready to go. Tell me, why did you, a nice-looking and capable young girl, choose this particular profession? I don't consider it dishonourable, mind you, but I'd have thought that a girl like you could easily have found a better way of life."

She shrugged her shoulders. Pouring out another cup of tea for the judge she answered: "Oh, I fear that I am a rather wayward and self-willed person. My father has a small pharmacy in the capital, and also five daughters, worse luck! I am the eldest, and father wanted to sell me as a concubine to the wholesale drug-dealer to whom he owed money. I thought the dealer was a nasty old man, but the alternative was a brothel and I didn't fancy that either. I had always been rather strong and fond of sports, so with my father's permission I joined Kuan's troup. Kuan advanced the money my father needed. I soon learned to act, and also to do acrobatic dances and juggling. After one year Kuan had the loan back, plus the interest. Kuan is a decent fellow. He never made passes at me or forced me to grant my favours to patrons of our show. So I stayed on." She wrinkled her nose as she went on: "I know that people say all actors are crooks and all actresses whores, but I can assure you that Kuan is scrupulously honest. And as regards myself, though I don't claim to lead a saintly life, I never sold my body and I never will."

Judge Dee nodded. He resumed: "You say that Kuan never bothered you, but what about Mo Mo-te?"

"Well, he did make a few passes at me in the beginning, but rather because he felt it was his duty as a man than because he really wanted me. I could feel that immediately. Yet he took my refusal badly. It hurt his stupid pride. He has been unpleasant to me ever since, which I regret, for he is a superb swordsman and I would have liked to do an act with him."

"I didn't like the way he threatened Miss Ou-yang on the stage," the judge remarked. "Do you think Mo is the type of man who takes delight in inflicting pain on a woman?"

"Oh no! He has a violent temper, but he is not mean or nasty. You can take that from me, and I know a thing or two about men!"

"Did Miss Ou-yang reject him too?"

Miss Ting hesitated. She replied slowly: "Miss Ou-yang has joined our troupe only recently, you see, and…"

Her voice trailed off. She quickly emptied her teacup. Then she took a chopstick from the table, threw the saucer up in the air and caught it on its tip where she made the saucer whirl round expertly.

"Put that down!" the judge said annoyed. "It makes me dizzy all over again!" And when she had skillfully caught the saucer and put it back on the table he added: "Answer my question! Did Ou-yang reject Mo Mo-te?"

"You needn't shout at me!" Miss Ting said stiffly. "I was just coming to that. Miss Ou-yang is a bit too fond of me, you know. I don't go for that sort of thing, so I keep her at a distance. But Mo is convinced that we are having an affair. That's why he is jealous and hates her."

"I see. How long has Mo been with the show?"

"About one year. I don't think he is really an actor, but a vagabond who roams all over the Empire, making his living in various ways. At any rate I don't think Mo is his real name. I once saw a jacket of his marked with the name Liu, but he maintained he had bought it in a pawnshop. And another thing, he must have visited this monastery before."

"How do you know that?" the judge asked eagerly.

"On our first day here he already knew his way about quite well. We all think this a creepy place and keep to our own rooms as much as possible, but Mo wanders about all by himself most of the time and isn't at all afraid of getting lost in this rabbit warren."

"You'd better be careful with him," Judge Dee said gravely. "He may be a criminal, for all we know. I am also worrying about Miss Ou-yang."

"You don't think she might be a criminal too, do you?" Miss Ting asked quickly.

"No, but I feel I ought to know a little more about her."

He looked expectantly at the girl. She hesitated a few moments, then said: "I promised Kuan I wouldn't tell anybody, but after all you are the magistrate here, and that makes it different. Besides, I wouldn't like you to suspect Miss Ou-yang of some evil designs. She is not really an actress, and Ou-yang isn't her real name. I don't know who she is; I only know that she is from the capital, and a wealthy woman. She paid Kuan a large sum for offering his services to this monastery for the commemoration festival, and for letting her join his troupe during their stay here. She assured Kuan that her only purpose was to warn someone here, and that therefore she wanted to perform an act on the stage with her bear, and that she would choose her own make-up. Kuan didn't see any objection to that, and since it would mean a double profit for us, he agreed. After our arrival here she didn't take part in our sessions with the monks. She left it to Kuan, his wife and me to teach those blockheads how to move about on the stage. Mo wasn't a great help either, for that matter."

"Do you think Mo knew Miss Ou-yang before?" the judge asked quickly.

"That I don't know. When they are together, they are mostly quarreling with each other. Well, tonight we saw that she had made herself up so as to resemble Miss Pao, and later Kuan asked her about it, but she said only that she knew what she was doing. When you came unexpectedly to see Kuan, he got very frightened, because he thought that Miss Ou-yang had been up to something illegal, and that you had come to investigate. That's all, but please don't let Kuan or the others know that I told you."

Judge Dee nodded. He thought ruefully that this strange tale complicated matters still further. He got up from his chair but suddenly felt very ill. He motioned to Miss Ting that he wished to be left alone and stumbled to the night-commode in the corner. He vomited violently.

After he had washed his face in the basin on the dressing table, and combed his beard, he felt much better. He drank a cup of tea, then went to the door and called Miss Ting in. He found that he could walk steadily now, and his headache was gone. He said with a smile: "I'll be on my way now. Thanks again for your timely assistance. If ever I can do anything to help you, let me know. I am bad at forgetting!"

Miss Ting nodded. She lowered her eyes and played for a while with the ends of her red sash. Suddenly she looked up and said: "I'd like to ask your advice about … about a rather personal matter. It's a bit awkward, but as a judge you must hear many things people are not supposed to talk about. Anyway, to put it plainly, I didn't enjoy the few love affairs I had as much as a girl is supposed to do. But I must confess I do feel very much attracted to Miss Ou-yang, more than to any man I ever met. I keep telling myself that it's all nonsense and that it will pass. I purposely keep out of her way. But at the same time I am worrying whether perhaps I am by nature unfit for marriage. I would hate to make a man who married me unhappy, you know. What do you think I should do?"

Judge Dee began to scratch his head but a sharp pain made him desist hurriedly. He slowly tugged at his moustache instead. Then he said: "I would do nothing, for the time being. Maybe you didn't really like the men you associated with before, or maybe they didn't really like you. At any rate those temporary liaisons can never be compared with married life. Continued intimacy fosters mutual understanding, and that is the basis of a happy love-life. Moreover, Miss Ou-yang is a bit mysterious, and that together with the flattering attention she pays to you may also account for the attraction you feel. So go on keeping her at a distance, till you know more about your own feelings, and about her intentions. Don't rush into an adventure that may lessen your self-respect and warp your emotions, unless you are completely sure of yourself and of the other party. Speaking now as your magistrate, I can add only that since both of you are grown-up and free women, your love-life is no concern of mine. The law intervenes only when minors or dependents are involved. To let everybody arrange his private life as he likes, provided he doesn't injure others or prejudice legally defined relationships — that is the spirit of our society and the laws that govern it."

"That man Tsung Lee always makes unpleasant references to Miss Ou-yang and me!" Miss Ting said unhappily.

"Don't mind him, he is an irresponsible youngster. By the way, he has a theory that Miss Pao is being forced to become a nun."

"Nonsense!" Miss Ting exclaimed. "I had some talks with her alone, her room is on this same floor. She is very keen on entering a nunnery. She gave me to understand that she had an unhappy love-affair and that she therefore wished to retire from worldly life."

"I was on my way to Mrs. Pao when I was attacked," the judge said "Now it is too late. I'll visit them tomorrow morning. Is Mo's room also on this floor?"

"Yes, it is." She counted on her fingers, then continued: "Mo's room is the fourth on your right, after you have turned the corner."

"Again many thanks!" Judge Dee said as he turned to the door. "And don't worry about yourself!"

She gave him a grateful smile, and he went outside.