Chapter 7: The Eye Between the Brows

Liu Shen felt a stirring in his heart. He walked over and picked up the shattered head of the stone statue. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that inside the stone seemed to be wrapped a piece of natural ruby.

He glanced around, grabbed a larger fragment of stone, and smashed it down upon the broken statue's head.

The head was reduced to gravel, and amidst the debris, a blood-red ruby, about the size of a pigeon’s egg, lay concealed.

Liu Shen picked up the ruby, immediately sensing waves of warmth radiating inexplicably through his body, as if his blood was boiling—an alarming sensation.

His palm grew hot, and instinctively he wanted to throw the ruby away.

But the ruby seemed almost sentient; after being tossed, it circled in the air and returned to him, as if sizing him up.

Only then did Liu Shen realize that this was no ordinary ruby, but a scarlet eyeball—its pupil clearly visible!

As he stood dazed, the ruby-like eyeball transformed into a streak of light and shot into his mouth, then slipped down his throat into his belly.

Liu Shen felt as though he had swallowed a fireball, the burning pain stabbing every organ within him.

He clutched his throat with one hand, reached into his mouth with the other, desperately trying to retrieve the eyeball.

He retched violently, nearly vomiting stomach acid, but the eyeball would not come out.

Dizziness overtook him, and a sharp pain pierced his brow. When he touched it, it felt as if his brow had split open, and an eye had grown there!

He now saw the world from two perspectives: one through his own eyes, the other through the eye in his brow. The two visions overlapped.

In terror, Liu Shen noticed his flesh seemed to be shriveling, while his blood surged toward the eye in his brow.

This strange phenomenon made him dizzy and flushed; apart from his head, his limbs and body became as gaunt as a dried corpse, skin stretched over bone, drained of all strength and unable to struggle…

“My life is over!” he thought.

He collapsed to the ground, memories of past and present flashing before his eyes like a lantern carousel. In the haze, he seemed to see his great-grandmother coming to fetch him.

Meanwhile, the scarlet eyeball in his brow turned restlessly, as if confused.

Soon, the blood that had surged up began to recede, flowing back into his limbs and body, which quickly regained its fullness.

Within mere moments, his body returned to normal.

The lantern carousel in his mind ceased abruptly; his exhaustion vanished, and even the apparition of his great-grandmother disappeared.

He felt strength return to his limbs and was momentarily stunned. With a jolt, he sat upright and pinched himself—he could feel pain.

He moved his hands and feet; finding no discomfort, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He touched his brow—the eye was still there!

Liu Shen hastily climbed out of the earth pit, grabbed a lantern, and ran to the riverbank. By the water and lantern light, he could faintly see a crimson vertical eye on his brow.

As he stared in bewilderment, the split brow gradually closed, and the scarlet vertical eye vanished.

Only a small red flame-shaped mark remained, which slowly faded and disappeared.

Under the lantern’s glow, the river reflected the image of a sturdy, bare-chested young man. Everything that had just happened seemed like an illusion…

The moon shone bright among sparse stars…

Liu Shen dared not linger outside. He ran back to the dock, touched his brow again, and only when he confirmed nothing unusual did his heart settle.

The eye in his brow was disturbingly sinister. Remembering how he’d almost been drained to a husk and hovered at death’s edge, he still felt shaken.

Liu Shen was certain: that eye in his brow was no ordinary thing!

But now that such a strange entity had taken up residence in his body, he felt parched, so he hurried to the water vat, scooped a ladleful, and poured it over his head and down his throat…

The porters of the Redwater Gang all lived six to a room on broad bunks. Hearing the commotion outside, Hu Dahai opened the door and peeked out. Seeing Liu Shen cooling off, he joked, “Hey, Shen, you’re back?”

“Mm…” Liu Shen let out a long breath, scooped more water over himself, and took a cold bath. He casually asked, “Weren’t you going to take Dafeng to the clinic?”

“Ah, Dafeng won’t go no matter what.” Hu Dahai waved his hand, muttering, “He says his wife just had a baby, so he needs to bring home more money. If he goes to the clinic, this year’s wages will be wasted.”

Wei Dafeng hadn’t slept yet. Hearing Liu Shen and Hu Dahai talking about him outside, he called out, “I’m fine, what clinic do I need?”

“You’re coughing up blood, and you say you’re fine.” Liu Shen finished his bath, wrung out his clothes, hung them on the line, and entered the room. Seeing Wei Dafeng sitting on the broad bunk, his face flushed oddly in the candlelight, Liu Shen spoke seriously: “Dafeng, don’t blame me for being blunt, but you’re not right. You really should see a doctor.”

“Shen’s right,” Hu Dahai agreed. “Internal injuries aren’t visible from the outside. Don’t risk your life just to save a bit of money.”

“Don’t worry; I’ll live a long time yet.” Wei Dafeng grinned, unconcerned. “Tomorrow I’ll go home and hold my son—Hu, you can just be jealous.”

Hu Dahai burst out laughing, and Liu Shen merely shook his head, not pressing further…

Of the six in the bunk room, three were already snoring thunderously. Hu Dahai and Wei Dafeng lost interest in chatting and went back to bed.

Liu Shen, freshly bathed and still preoccupied, couldn’t sleep. He pulled a wooden box filled with books from under the bed, rummaged through it, and found the unofficial history titled “Secret Tales of Qian.” He sat at the table and read in the candlelight.

In that book, the Killing Lord of the Sacred Fire Sect was depicted with three eyes and six arms—the third eye being a vertical one in the brow!

The Killing Lord had three eyes and six arms, while the Song family’s Bodhisattva statue had two eyes and six arms, but inside its head was a sinister eyeball.

Upon reflection, the strange eyeball had been located precisely in the statue’s brow!

Was there a connection between the two?

Did Master Song know about the anomaly within the Bodhisattva statue?

If he did, why smash the statue? What was his purpose?

If he didn’t know, then even more questions arose…

Liu Shen scratched his head, unable to make sense of it. On the one hand, “Secret Tales of Qian” was merely a myth-laden unofficial history, vague and largely fabricated, not to be trusted.

On the other hand, the Song family’s Bodhisattva statue did bear similarities to the Killing Lord depicted in the book, and the sinister eyeball was now inside him—he couldn’t afford to ignore it.

It was like knowing he’d been poisoned, but having no idea what kind of poison, what it would do, or when it would take effect.

Just thinking about it made his scalp tingle.

“Chief Xu said the Redwater Gang and the Song family have business dealings. If the opportunity arises, maybe I can get some useful information from him…”

As Liu Shen pondered, the candle on the table flickered suddenly. He turned, startled to see someone standing nearby.

When he saw it was Wei Dafeng, he snapped irritably, “Are you trying to get yourself killed, sneaking around in the middle of the night without a sound?”

“Hehe, I couldn’t sleep…” Wei Dafeng grinned. “Saw you reading, so I tried to move quietly, didn’t want to disturb you…”