126. Mage save his disciple

Dang was place where a famous mage lived. He was knows as a person who was expert at magics especially foreknowledge.
A student wanted to study his magics so he left his wife at home then found the way to Dang. He had found the mage and had studied for three years. One day, he came and asked his master, the mage, to come home to meet his wife because he had left his house for long time and missed her.
“Show me your palm”, said the mage.
He showed his master his palm. The mage considered his palm a while.
“Had better stay here. You only stuck in dangerous things if you come home”, said his master.
He obeyed but he didn’t feel happy and his master also realized that thing. Few days later, his master called him to him and said:
“I can’t keep here while your heart was away from here but you know I can see dangerous things which are waiting for you in future. Remember my words”, said his mage, “See village hall, don’t walk in. Get fragrant water, don’t shampoo. See chickens, don’t expel. Three, Four, Six, don’t ask. Only if remember the words, you can avoid dangerous thing”.
He muttered the words till he remembered. Later, he set off. While he was on his way, he met a sudden rain. Immediately, he ran to find somewhere to hide himself. He ran cross high bushes and saw an old village hall. He planned to walk into it but suddenly he remembered his master words, “see village hall, don’t walk in”. Therefore, he stopped.
“Go! Go! Go! Come here!” yelled the people staying in village hall as they saw him staying under tree near them.
“Everybody, get away that place”, he shouted, “My master said me not to walk in village hall that must be dagerous”.
The people laughed they thought he was stupid but later the hall fell down. People staying under it died all. He could only feel sorry for the unlucky people then continued going.
While he was absent, his wife, on other side, had new lover. When he came home, she pretended as if she was happy but felt worry inside. Short time later, she asked him to go to market and buy something to cook some dishes for him but in reality she found the way to meet and inform to his lover.
“Try to act normally, prepare for him a pot of fragrant water and ask him to shampoo. I will deal the rest”, said her lover.
The wife came back home did what her lover said. She boiled a pot of water put some leaves into it. Later, she brought the pot out, called her husband and said:
“Honey, come here! I have prepared for you a pot of fragrant water. Shampoo and have sweet smell on your hair”.
He remembered his master’s words at one as he heard two words, fragrant water. Of course, he refused but his wife insisted so he lied:
“Yesterday, I bathed in river as I went cross it”.
The wife didn’t want to waste the fragrant water. Therefore, she used the water to shampoo.
That night, while they were sleeping, the lover took a sharpen knife sneaked in their bedroom. Darkness covered entire the room so he followed fragrance and killed the person the fragrance led to whom. When he finished he intended to woke up his lover and bring the dead away but suddenly, he realized who he just had killed was not the husband but his lover. Therefore, he left the house at one and lucky none knew or saw him.
The student had a deep sleep till the next morning because of tiredness. When he woke up, he woke his wife up but his wife’s head was parted from her body. He screamed awfully, crying when people came. He told people all things he knew but how people could understand his story that he slept with his wife and woke up with a dead. People thought that he killed his wife and escorted him to mandarin.
Though he was tortured painfully, he didn’t admit what he didn’t do. He cried why he need to killed his wife and why he didn’t hide but to called people when his wife died. But, he also didn’t prove he was not guilty. Therefore, the mandarin prisoned him to find more evidences.
One day, rice which was used to serve prisoners needed to dry under sunlight and he was ordered to expel chickens away the rice. Chickens went to eat rice. He intended to expel them but he remembered his master’s words, not to expel chickens. Therefore, he was still sitting while chickens were eating rice. Guards scolded him but he chose not to say anything but to smile. Several times things still happened like that. Guards turned angry and beat him painful, he screamed loudly. Meantime, the mandarin was sitting in his office heard the noise. He ordered a soldier to go and find out what was happening. The soldier went and came back and reported. After hearing, the mandarin requested soldiers to bring the student to him.
“You are a student but have crime. Though, I treat you not bad, letting you expel chickens which come and eat rice. You only need to do your work well. But, who are you so stubborn, guy?” said the mandarin.
“Dear sir, before I came home, my master gave four sentences to save myself. I did follow two sentences and saved my life two times. So, I can’t ignore the third sentences”, he said.
“What are those, your master’s words”, said the mandarin.
“The first sentences: see a village hall, don’t walk in. I would have died if I had walked in the village hall I met on my way because it fell down after that. The second sentences: get fragrant water, don’t shampoo. I didn’t shampoo the fragrant water my wife prepared for me. If I did the person who was cut off head was not my wife but me. And the third sentence: See chickens, don’t expel. I don’t dare to expel them”, he said.
“What is the fourth sentence?” asked the mandarin.
“That is: Three, Four, Six, don’t ask”, he said.
The mandarin spent entire that night thinking about the fourth sentence.
“What is its mean? His master mentioned to Three, Four, Six but he ignored Five. It could be, the killer is Five”.
The next morning, the mandarin ordered soldiers to find out whether or not a person, named Five living in the village. Soldiers found out the person easily and course he was the killer. While he was escorted to mandarin, he thought too much and believed that the mandarin could know exactly him only if he had some witnesses and proofs or at least, the soul of his lover had accused. Therefore, the mandarin didn’t need to ask him, he admitted his crime.
The end.🎭🎭🎭
"Translator: Hung Nguyen"
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