Chapter 9 Section VIII

The workshop is more steamy than yesterday. No, to be precise, it is full of murderous intent. "Weize, are you sleepy? How do you carve a Buddha statue with such eyes?" Songyue reprimanded mercilessly.Yesterday he was in charge of dividing the wood chips, and today he also picked up the carving knife himself.It must be because of Okajima's absence, which delayed the progress of the work.It was the first time I saw the person he reprimanded. He must have been the Buddha statue maker named Wei Ze who was in charge of firing the kiln yesterday.He has a fair, round face, like a big sunny doll, with dull eyes behind glasses, which seem to be exhausted.Even the tired look in his eyes can make Songyue angry, which shows that he is a very strict teacher just as Aunt Yi Po said.Or was he angry because Okajima disappeared?

I observed from the side, and found that Songyue was very strange.What's so strange about it?That is definitely not something that can be described as strange, but something that can be seen with the naked eye, and certain visual features are very strange.Could it be his femininity?Or is it because his face looks like an entertainer or some historical figure?No, it's not a problem in this aspect, but... how should I put it, it's the whole thing—— "What's wrong?" I only came back to my senses when I heard Tang Jianmu's voice. "No, it's okay—huh? Why didn't you see Mr. Torii? It's the skinny one."

"Oh, he is in charge of firing the kiln today, taking over from Mr. Wei Ze." There is no sign of Maya in the workshop either, so the dry-painted figure should be made in the dry-painting room next door, or under Matsutsuki's order, continue to search for Okajima. "Oh, that abbot is really powerful." Father Tang Jianmu smiled when he saw the huge Toutuo bag placed in the corner of the workshop. "He really consecrated so many small amulets in one night." "how do you know?" "Isn't the bag tightly tied with a rope? That means it has entered the soul. It will be kept like this before it is distributed to believers at the Shakya Enlightenment Meeting—Mr. Wei Ze, Mr. Wei Ze?"

Father Tang Jianmu called Wei Ze in a low voice, and asked while pointing to the Toutuo bag. "What time was it delivered this morning?" "It was already there when we came." Wei Ze glanced at Songyue and replied briefly. "Yeah—don't look at his virtues, he's actually really great." "It should be very hard." I spoke with admiration, and turned to look inside the workshop. "I want to see something, can I?" I greeted Mr. Tang Jianmu, walked into the wooden door of the storage place, passed countless Buddha statues, and came to the Thousand-Handed Avalokitesvara, staring at the face of the Buddha statue——

"Yeah……" The expression of Avalokitesvara standing on the lotus pedestal is the same as the one I saw yesterday evening. In addition to the front face, I also confirmed the ten faces on it. None of the faces were laughing, let alone any of them. The cheeks of the face were twitching.I turned my head to look at the Buddha statues around me, but I couldn't find the face from last night. "What are you looking for?" Father Tang Jianmu stood beside me, looking at me and the Thousand-Handed Avalokitesvara in bewilderment. "No, nothing." I shook my head and looked away from the Buddha statue.

"Mr. Tang Jianmu, I don't know why this Thousand-Handed Avalokitesvara was returned?" I knew it was impossible for him to give me an answer, but I still couldn't help asking.Because I really care. "Could it be that the buyer saw the Buddha statue moving in the middle of the night—" I was just joking. "I feel that way sometimes too." Father Tang Jianmu's unexpected answer made me "huh?" I opened my mouth wide. Father Tang Jianmu spoke in a low voice, worried that the two people in the workshop would hear him. "Everyone says that the Buddha statue carved by Mr. Yuzawa can move, and he will go out to preach the Dharma in the middle of the night. The works of highly skilled Buddha statuemakers will be said that way. However, he has this kind of skill when he was in his twenties-looking back now , Mr. Yuzawa's craftsmanship is really amazing."

"Oh, so that's what happened..." No matter how skilled the craftsmanship is, it is impossible to carve a Buddha statue that laughs in the middle of the night.What happened to that scene last night?No, not only the Buddha statue, but also the voice, the voice from the temple of King Wushu Samoming—— "Mr. Tang Jianmu, can I ask you a strange question?" "what is the problem?" I hesitated for a moment, and summoned up the courage to ask: "Have you ever heard the name Jasmine?" Immediately— The air between us froze. Father Tang Jianmu's expression froze like a delicate wax figure, he stared straight at me, his thick lips parted slightly - after a few seconds, he immediately changed his face, twisted ugly, as if made of clay His face was squeezed into a ball from top to bottom.

"what do you want to say in the end?" His voice was surprisingly deep. "What—er, it's just..." I am speechless.Because I didn't want to say anything, I just cared about the voice I heard last night—— "You said you were Maya's friend, what exactly did you come here to investigate? Or do you think Mr. Okajima's disappearance has something to do with Miss Jasmine?" "Miss Jasmine? No, I..." "I tell you, I don't know anything." After Tang Jianmu said this, his face immediately became expressionless, as if he had buried all his emotions in his heart and completely wiped them out.

"This gentleman—" Hearing this icy voice, I hurriedly turned around.Songyue poked his head out from the wooden door connecting the workshop and storage place, and his face was completely expressionless. "Can I ask you to leave Ruixiang's room?" Songyue only said this sentence.After speaking, he turned and returned to the workshop.Behind him, the Buddha statue master named Wei Ze cast a cold gaze on me.He looked at me intently through the lens of deep myopia.I suddenly recalled how I felt when I was surrounded by those strangely shaped Buddha statues last night. "Uh, that - Mr. Tang Jianmu?"

"You should have heard it." When I turned my head, Father Tang Jianmu whispered in a voice without ups and downs: "The owner asks you to leave, so you can leave." His dim eyes were fixed on a certain point, as lifeless as a stone Buddha.