He pushed open the window. The night was quite advanced. Across the deep-blue sky, the moon began setting as if perched on a gigantic black crow’s wing – as ominous as the black fox spirit in those folk tales. There is nothing but the appearance from one’s own perspective at this time, in this place. He sighed, having spent almost half a night reading through those poems and speculating about the contacts for the murder investigation.

The flickering candle gave out an unexpected sparkle. What omen could it have spelled for Xuanji? She was staying in a dark prison cell, probably with no candle at her side.

He snuffed the candle clumsily with his fingers, thinking he might finally be ready to go to bed.

THREE

Judge Dee stepped out of the temple in the early morning, taking a deep inhale of the fresh air in the blue hills. It had rained in the night. A touch of green was seen stretching out toward the distant gray horizon. He still felt tired, yawning, when he saw Yang come striding over.

‘I’m taking a walk around the neighborhood this morning, Yang. Possibly quite a long walk, I think. So you’ll have a free day for yourself here.’

‘The hill trail might be quite steep and slippery this morning, Master. What about having a sedan chair arranged for you?’

‘No. I need to stretch my legs a little. It will be just a leisurely stroll. I’m not that old yet.’

‘If you say so, Master. In the meantime, is there anything else for me to do about the Xuanji case?’

‘No, we’re just taking a look into it, but not doing any real investigation for Minister Wu. As a matter of fact, you have already done more than enough for the investigation. For a change, stay here today, and enjoy the enchanting view and the fabulous vegetarian food of the temple.’

‘Yes, Master,’ Yang said, bowing low like an obedient servant, ‘whatever you say.’

Sometimes a man chooses to play a role for reasons not necessarily clear to himself, but after a while, the role starts to play him instead, consciously or not. That perhaps applied, however, only to the one side of Yang, who was not just an obedient servant but also a stubborn, self-declared investigation assistant, unwilling to give up that role so easily, Judge Dee reflected.

Wasn’t that also a self-reflection of Dee himself, the so-called Judge Dee, he wondered, smiling a wry smile.

A flash of the morning light on the wings of a surprised blue jay surprised him out of his reveries.

It took some effort for Judge Dee to make his way down, stepping carefully along the narrow, slippery trail winding down from the mid-hill temple, which overlooked a green expanse of rice paddy fields at the foot of the hill.