Chapter 9 8. The Miracle of Buddha Statues

Having said that, the story jumps directly to the night of "exchanging Buddha statues". At ten o'clock in the evening, according to the agreement, three rough and strong men - twenty-faced subordinates, walked into the open front door of Hashiba's house. The three thieves didn't look sideways, as if they didn't see the scholar inside when they walked through the entrance, they just said "let's get the agreed things", as if they already knew the layout and layout of the house, and strode inside go. Sotaro and the old butler Kondo were waiting at the door of the art room. He said to one of the robbers:

"You will abide by the agreement, have you brought the child?" The bandit replied unceremoniously: "Don't worry, the child has been brought to the door. However, you can't find it. We have arranged it. Before we move the things out, no matter how hard you look, you won't be able to find them. Otherwise, we will It's dangerous." After finishing speaking, the three of them strode into the art room. It was a warehouse-style room, surrounded by display shelves that looked like glass cabinets in a museum under the dim light of electric lights.It is full of rare and extraordinary swords, armor, decorations, various boxes, screens, hanging scrolls and other items.In one corner of this row of shelves stood a rectangular glass cabinet about one and a half meters high, inside which was placed the statue of Avalokitesvara.

On the lotus pedestal, sits a light black Guanyin Bodhisattva about half the height of a person.It was supposed to have a golden real body, but now it has faded to light black as a whole, and the wrinkled clothes on his body are also damaged in many places.However, as expected of a master craftsman, the Bodhisattva's round and soft face seems to show a kind smile at any time. Even the evil guy, facing this Buddha statue, I'm afraid he can't help but fold his hands and worship! Perhaps because of their timidity, the three thieves did not dare to look directly at the soft face of the Buddha statue, so they immediately attacked.

"No time to procrastinate, move faster." One of them spread out a dirty cloth towel that had been prepared in advance; the other took one side and wrapped it up, including the glass cabinet where the Buddha statue was placed.Soon, it was packed into a cloth bag that could not be seen what was inside. "Are you ready? You'll be smashed if you fall down. Hey! Hey!" The three yelled loudly as if there was no one else around, and carried the package outside. Sotaro and the old housekeeper Kondo have been following behind the three of them, watching them carry the package onto the truck.If Soji didn't come back after the statue was removed, it would be a waste of time.

Finally, the truck engine roared, and the car seemed to be about to start. "Hey, where is the Second Young Master Zhuang? Before the Second Young Master Zhuang comes back, don't even think about driving away. If you force your way, I will call the police immediately." The old housekeeper Kondo intends to risk his life. "Just tell you not to worry. Hey, look back, isn't that kid standing at the entrance?" Sotaro and the butler turned around and saw that indeed, there were two dark figures, one large and one small, under the electric light in the entrance. While the attention of Sotaro and the old housekeeper was being attracted, the thief shouted:

"Farewell..." The truck drove away from the door, speeding away, and turned into a small black spot in a blink of an eye. The master and servant hurriedly turned their heads and ran to the figure in the entrance. "Hey, aren't these two people the father and son beggars who have been staying at the door? Have we been fooled again?" It was one-on-one beggars who looked like father and son.Both of them were wearing tattered and dirty robes, and a towel that looked like it had been boiled brown was wrapped around their heads and faces. "Who are you, why did you break in so casually?" The old butler Kondo snapped, followed by a strange laugh from the beggar father.

"Hey hey, I keep my word." Just when he felt that what he said was inexplicable, the old beggar got up and ran vigorously, like a black wind, blowing out the gate in the darkness, and disappeared in a blink of an eye. "Dad, it's me!" Strange words came from the darkness again, and this time it was the little beggar who spoke.He stretched out his hand suddenly, pulled off the masked handkerchief, and pulled off the tattered robe that was draped over his body. What appeared in front of him was a small snow-white face, and the school uniform on his body was also very familiar.It turned out that this little beggar was Zhuang Er—the Zhuang Er the whole family had been waiting for.

"What's going on, why are you wearing such dirty clothes?" Sotaro asked, holding Souji's little hand. "I don't know what's going on, there must be some reason. The guy with twenty faces forced me to put it on. However, my mouth has been blocked all the time, so I can't speak." Ah, so the man dressed as the beggar's father just now had twenty faces.He must have disguised himself as a beggar, secretly monitored the removal of the Buddha statue with his own eyes, and then released Souji as agreed, before he escaped.But having said that, even though the Yuchai family hated him to the bottom of their hearts, they also admired his courage to pretend to be a beggar.Presumably, pretending to be a beggar and wandering around other people's houses will not make people suspicious. This is really in line with the style of Twenty Faces.

Soji returned safely.After questioning, even though he was locked in the basement by the other party, he was not abused or starved. Now the Hashiba family's heart disease can be regarded as eliminated.Readers are invited to imagine how happy their mother and sister are. On the other hand, Twenty Faces, disguised as a beggar, rushed out of the gate of Yuchai's house like a gust of wind, and immediately hid in a narrow dark alley, and took off the beggar's clothes repeatedly. The brown "ten virtues" are equivalent to the robes of monks, and are the long gowns that doctors, scholars, painters and others wear outside the kimono. ">, pretending to be an old man. Looking at his white hair and wrinkled face, he looks like a hermit old man who is over sixty years old.

He adjusted his clothes, leaned on the bamboo stick that had been hidden in a corner of the dark alley, walked out hunched over and staggering.Even if the Yuchai family doesn't abide by the agreement and send people to hunt him down, there is no need to worry about being found out.His preparations were really careful and thoughtful. As soon as the old man reached the main road, he stopped a taxi and got into the car.After the car drove for less than twenty minutes, he changed to another car, and this time he told the driver his real destination. The car parked at the entrance of Toyamahara ①.There the old man got out of the car and walked slowly across the dark field.It seems that the old lair of the Kaitou is in Toyamahara.

In a corner of the wilderness, there is a dense cedar forest, and a solitary dilapidated western-style building stands suddenly in the middle. Judging from the decayed appearance of the almost collapsed wall, it should be an abandoned house with no one inhabited.The old man knocked "dong dong dong" three times at the door of the foreign building, and after a while, he knocked "dong dong" twice. It seemed that this was a secret signal that he had agreed with his comrades. The door opened, and one of the strong men who had removed the Buddha statue earlier poked his head out. The old man took the lead in striding inside, without saying a word along the way.At the end of the corridor, there is a large, stately and bright room, which can be seen to have been luxuriously furnished in the past.In the center of the room stood the glass box of the Buddha statue still wrapped in a cloth towel. There was no electric light installed in the room, and a few candles flickered with dark red light. "Very good, you guys did a great job. This is a reward. Find a place to play by yourself." The old man handed the three people several thousand-yen bills, and after sending them away, he slowly unwrapped the cloth wrapping the glass box, picked up the candle in one hand, stood directly in front of the Buddha statue, and opened the two glass doors. "Guanyin Bodhisattva, what do you think of my 20-faced facial features? Yesterday it was a diamond worth 200,000 yuan, and today it is a national treasure-level antique. If things go on like this, the large-scale art museum I planned will be realized soon. Hahaha... Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, you are so delicate and lifelike." Unexpectedly, readers, just as the twenty-faced figure was talking to himself, just as he said, an astonishing miracle happened. The right hand of the wooden Guanyin stretched forward swiftly.What is even more unbelievable is that what Guanyin holds between her fingers is not the common lotus but a pistol, and the muzzle of the gun is firmly aimed at the thief's chest. There is no doubt that the Buddha statue obviously cannot move by itself.So, is there a robot-like device installed in this Guanyin statue?But the statues of the Kamakura period cannot have that kind of mechanism.So how did this miracle happen? However, Twenty Faces, threatened with pistols, had no time to contemplate.He yelled "Ah" and staggered back, probably feeling that he could no longer resist, so he involuntarily raised his hands to his shoulders.