After leaving Tsz Wan Shan, Antonio hitchhiked back immediately but didn't return to the tattoo parlor until now. He heard one of my calls to him, but after QINGYIN entered the room, his consciousness grew fuzzy. Then perhaps his phone ran out of battery and shut off automatically.
The nunnery Antonio described was indeed eerie and extremely dangerous. Had that nun not warned him, he might never have made it back.
This nun was most likely Dreaming Nun—the only normal one in the entire nunnery, as Webster had said. She must have been the one who saved Antonio.
I told Antonio everything about Markus, and he was slightly surprised. He hadn't realized Markus was a ghost, nor that the bald woman Markus mentioned had saved him.
From Antonio's account, I gathered some information:
First, the nunnery was deeply strange, as if cursed by an evil spirit—and it all seemed tied to a black comb.
Second, the nuns there had sinister intentions. According to Antonio, they would bewitch male visitors who stayed overnight before killing them.
Third, Dreaming Nun had returned to the nunnery but appeared unable to resolve the issue, even after finding the comb she sought. It might be as Webster suggested: Dreaming Nun was too naive to think the comb alone could solve the problem.
Stein shrank back fearfully after hearing this, and from his expression, it was clear he wanted no part in it.
"Stein, don't be scared. Even if we die there, it's no loss—think of all those beautiful nuns," I teased.
Stein cursed, "Fuck you." Even if there were women, he wasn't willing to risk his life.
I said if he really didn't want to go, he could stay and watch the shop. I was going regardless—Webster's three conditions were reason enough.
Once I resolved the nunnery situation, Webster would answer my three questions, which were crucial—they concerned my parents and grandfather.
Since I was determined, Stein couldn't refuse. Reluctantly, he agreed to brave fire and sword with me, though his hesitation was obvious. Still, it was better than outright refusal.
We let Antonio rest for half a day before departing. After all, he'd had a rough night—with multiple women, no less—and dragging him along immediately might have broken even his iron constitution.
We set out around 5 p.m. By the time we reached Tsz Wan Shan, it was past 7 p.m., and night had fully fallen. Given the nunnery's evil reputation, we avoided a nighttime ascent and camped at the mountain's base until sunrise.
The climb wasn't as easy as Antonio had made it seem. Stein and I were utterly exhausted by the time we reached the top—our physiques were nowhere near Antonio's.
After climbing halfway up the mountain, we soon saw Nianci Nunnery. Just as Antonio had described, the nunnery had a large red door flanked by two Buddha statues, with an incense burner at the center. However, there wasn't a trace of ash in it, indicating the nunnery hadn't been worshipped in a long time.
"Where are this Buddha statue's eyes?" Stein approached the statue to examine it closely.
Antonio shook his head, saying he didn't know - he'd wondered the same thing during his previous visit.
The fact that the nunnery's Buddha statues had their eyes gouged out was truly bizarre. Even thieves wouldn't dare do such a thing here, fearing divine retribution.
I took out several joss sticks, then respectfully bowed to the Buddha statues before finally placing the incense in the burner.
At that moment, Stein suddenly exclaimed, "Look! The Buddha statues are crying!"
Strangely enough, after I offered the incense, both statues began shedding tears - real, human-like tears streaming down their faces.
Antonio remarked, "These Buddhas must have gone too long without offerings. The moment Mr. Roger paid respects, they were moved to tears."
Stein immediately jumped up and slapped his own knee, telling Antonio to shut his mouth and not speak disrespectfully of the Buddha.
Antonio argued back, "If the Buddha was truly divine, how could its statues be moved outside and have their eyes gouged out, without even receiving incense? Why worship a Buddha that doesn't work?"
Stein shook his head and countered, "It's exactly the opposite. The nunnery is haunted by evil. These two statues were moved outside precisely because they were the most spiritual. The eyes are the essence of a Buddha statue - digging them out was intentional, meant to prevent the statues from suppressing the evil."
Stein said this with complete seriousness, and Antonio had to believe him. After all, if the statues weren't spiritual, how could they cry? Buddha statues shedding tears meant great evil lurked within this nunnery.
After discussing the statues, Stein pointed to the sky. Though it had been sunny, dark clouds now gathered over the mountainside. This nunnery was clearly extraordinary, with an eerie atmosphere surrounding it. Stein said he'd be a fool not to believe it was haunted.
I gave Antonio a look, and he immediately went to knock on the door. It was broad daylight - even if ghosts were present, surely they wouldn't dare act too brazenly?
After knocking for what felt like ages, a young nun finally came to open the gate. Antonio immediately blurted out, "QINGYIN?"
So this was the QINGYIN Antonio had mentioned... Even veiled, wearing no makeup and dressed in plain monastic robes, her beauty and charm were undeniable - you could tell there was something special about her.
"What the hell, did Antonio really sleep with this girl?" Stein stood on his tiptoes and whispered in my ear.
I shook my head. "You've got it backwards. It was the girl who put Antonio to sleep." But I couldn't see anything wrong with the young nun - she seemed completely normal.
Antonio recognized QINGYIN, but QINGYIN didn't seem to know him. She clasped her hands and said, "Amitabha Buddha," then frowned at Antonio. "Master, do you know me?"
Antonio frowned too. "Don't pretend. I just met you last night - you were the one who brought me in."
QINGYIN looked annoyed. "Abbot, you mustn't speak so rudely. How could our nunnery allow male guests to stay overnight? And it's even more impossible that I would bring you in."
Now Antonio got angry too. "You little... how can you act like you don't know me? Weren't you just with me in the room last night...?"
With a loud bang, QINGYIN slammed the door shut. From behind it, we heard: "Please behave yourselves, monks. Go back!"
No matter how much Antonio knocked after that, there was no response. In frustration, he kicked the door hard.
"Mr. Roger, what now? That little nun is so sly - she actually denied everything," Antonio said helplessly.
I only said one word: "Wait!"
I'd thought coming during daytime would be safer, but I was wrong. This nunnery wouldn't even let us in during the day. My guess was those evil things only appeared at night. That young nun just now didn't seem to be pretending - could she become possessed at night?
Our only option now was to wait until nightfall to sneak back in. Then we could find Dreaming Nun, learn the truth, and gradually solve this problem.
I was certain something terrifying had happened in this nunnery. Dreaming Nun, as the only survivor, knew everything about it.