Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 4: Disaster Prevention and Calamity Relief

Thud, thud, thud. Thud, thud, thud. Thud, thud, thud.

Half-asleep, Fang Xiu heard a faint knocking sound.

Fang Xiu opened his eyes. This time, he finally woke up in bed. Unfortunately, what he saw wasn’t the familiar ceiling but an unfamiliar face.

The owner of the ghost hand was floating in the air, his back against the ceiling, staring directly at Fang Xiu. His long hair hung down menacingly, creating a striking visual impact. He still had that tiny blood-red mole.

“How did we get back here?” Fang Xiu asked cheerfully, blinking.

“That was a dream illusion. Now you’re awake.”

“Oh, I see.” Fang Xiu sat up.

So, it wasn’t an ordinary dream. The taste of blood in his mouth was gone, but the funeral pot was still in his arms, pressing painfully against his chest. His feet were intact, but the white cloth on them was soaked with blood, cold and sticky to the touch, and embedded with several teeth.

He wondered if he had dirtied the sheets. Hopefully, the underworld wouldn’t charge him a cleaning fee.

Thud, thud!

The knocking came again.

“Rise and shine for breakfast, live long and healthy. Don’t bring ghosts along, no service after hours—” The paper figure shouted at the door, its shrill voice piercing through the cracks.

Before leaving the room, Fang Xiu managed to ask one question—

“Hey, so-and-so, how strong are you?”

He wasn’t counting on the ghost to help him, but he needed to know his partner’s basic capabilities.

Upon hearing the question, the owner of the ghost hand finally showed some expression.

A hint of pride appeared on his handsome face, but then it slowly faded into a subtle frustration, as if he had thought of something.

“Average,” the ghost muttered with a sigh. He flipped over on the ceiling, facing the wall. The dejection seemed genuine, not an act.

Fang Xiu: “…Got it, then just make sure to take care of yourself.”

So, his strength wasn’t that impressive. Last night, when this guy asked him, “Why don’t you ask for my protection?” he had a strong, confident vibe.

This works too. The ghost wouldn’t overly interfere with his decisions, so getting along would be stress-free.

Fang Xiu took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

In an instant, a strong stench hit him in the face, and wails nearly burst his eardrums. 

The sound was coming from the room next door, where the traditional-style door had several holes punched in it. Through the dark openings, a man’s voice screamed endlessly.

“Help! Help…!”

The man’s cries were filled with terror. “It’s eating me. It’s eating me… Save me…”

Something heavy slammed against the door, causing it to shake constantly. Blood and flesh kept oozing through the cracks, staining the green stone slabs at the doorway and spreading towards the small courtyard.

The small courtyard now had two rectangular tables filled with food. But no one was seated. Everyone was huddled on the other side of the courtyard, nervously watching the spreading blood.

At a glance, Fang Xiu saw that, including himself, there were only six people in the courtyard. The skinny, dark man who had wet his pants and the woman who didn’t dare draw a lot were missing.

“Sit, sit, sit. Feel free to eat.”

The paper figure was busy preparing breakfast, acting as if it had just heard the screams. “Oh dear, that person couldn’t make a deal and left early. Only one has gone so far. You all are doing great!”

It smiled much more warmly than it had yesterday.

Fang Xiu averted his gaze. “Only one has gone,” so it seemed the woman was fine, just hiding and not coming out.

“Everyone should eat. We need to eat something.” The calm young man stepped forward again. He looked a bit better and spoke with firm conviction.

“Can’t we help him?” A middle-aged woman gulped.

She looked to be in her forties or fifties, with short hair reaching her ears, less than 1.6 meters tall, and kept her eyes on the ground as she spoke.

“Everyone has already negotiated with their ghosts. It’s his fault he couldn’t make a deal. There’s nothing we can do to help,” the calm young man said gently.

The woman murmured an “oh” and fell silent.

The calm young man’s gaze moved past the woman and stopped on Fang Xiu. He relaxed his expression and walked over with large strides.

“Jia Xu.”

The calm young man pointed to himself. The screaming from next door was so loud he had to raise his voice. “Come on, let’s have breakfast together. It’s easier to discuss things with more people.”

Jia Xu then pointed behind him, and two young people waved at Fang Xiu. One was a quiet girl dressed like an office worker and the other was a young man with dyed yellow hair, looking rather roguish but healthy.

“You guys know each other?” Fang Xiu asked.

“Just met,” Jia Xu replied with a hearty smile, extending his hand to Fang Xiu.

He had thick eyebrows and big eyes, with a friendly, sunny look. But having seen the owner of the ghost hand, Fang Xiu found this face rather unremarkable.

“My name is Fang Xiu.” Fang Xiu didn’t shake his hand but nodded politely.

Before approaching, Jia Xu had been standing very close to the two young people, with a bit of a leader’s demeanor. Besides the middle-aged woman, there was also a gloomy-faced teenager nearby.

But Jia Xu bypassed the woman and the teenager, greeting Fang Xiu, who was the farthest away. 

Four strong young people, just enough for one table. Jia Xu was looking to form a team with him.

Only a step away, the screams were gradually weakening, and the frequency of the door slamming had also slowed down. Jia Xu looked at Fang Xiu with friendly eyes, his expression expectant but not overbearing.

“Nice to meet you.” Fang Xiu remained composed and didn’t accept Jia Xu’s invitation to breakfast. “You’re right. We should help each other.”

Choosing to distance himself from the older person and the troubled teenager, Jia Xu’s approach was practical. Fang Xiu didn’t want to judge, but Jia Xu seemed eager to play the role of the leader, while Fang Xiu didn’t need an uninvited “captain”.

Jia Xu understood the undertone of Fang Xiu’s words. He didn’t get angry. He just scratched his face and said, “Alright, maybe we can talk later.”

After returning, Jia Xu sat down with the two young people at a table, conversing quietly.

Fang Xiu chose the other table.

The breakfast was abundant but odd. The white rice was piled high, accompanied by greasy roast chicken, both cold. There were no vegetables in sight, only some relatively fresh apples and oranges. 

The middle-aged woman hesitated but eventually sat down. The teenager took a chicken leg and two apples, then squatted alone in a corner.

Finally, the man’s cries ceased. The door stopped shaking, and only the faint sound of chewing remained inside. The smell of blood spread out but was quickly overshadowed by the incense smoke.

“Eat well, drink well. You need energy for work.”

The paper figure was lying on the incense burner, inhaling the smoke with pleasure. “In half an hour, your first sacrifice will begin.”

It clearly didn’t want them to eat in peace. Fang Xiu helplessly picked up a piece of roast chicken.

The paper figure continued, “Speaking of the disaster relief sacrifice, it’s quite simple. You go to the sacrificial site, find an object, destroy it, and the sacrifice is complete.”

“Hey, tell us what to look for!” The yellow-haired young man next to Jia Xu banged on the table, his voice loud.

“We call that object an ‘E¹’. It’s a soul with an obsession becomes a ‘ghost’ when tainted with yin energy²; an object with an obsession becomes an ‘E’ when it gathers karma,” the paper figure explained in a thin, soft voice, squinting its “二³”-shaped eyes.

¹The word is (厄) which is a character in Chinese primarily related to disaster, bad luck, or misfortune. The E [È] is the pinyin form for the word.
²This is referring to qi, traditionally believed to be a vital force part of all living entities. Translated, it could be “energy”, “vital energy”, “vital force”, ect. Yin energy is often associated with the moon and is represented by femininity (characterized by dark, wetness, cold, passivity, disintegration), though in cases with Nian Zhong’s work, she often incorporates her own interpretations of these things while borrowing on the idea.
³This word means two, but it’s not the meaning, but the shape of the character. In this case, the paper figure has its eyes like 二 instead of how humans usually have their eyes.

According to its explanation, an “E” is a super pollution source.

Once an “E” forms, it continuously produces yin energy, fostering evil spirits. Unfortunately, the underworld only knows which area the “E” is in but can’t determine what the “E” actually is. 

It could be as small as a grain of rice or a needle, or as large as a coffin or a statue.

The so-called disaster relief sacrifice is essentially making the living act as minesweepers, finding and destroying the “E”.

“Uh, why not have the evil spirits look for it?” This time, the question came from the office girl, who seemed relatively calm.

“We can’t have wolves looking for sheep.” The paper figure shook its head repeatedly. “Evil spirits love yin energy. They wouldn’t obediently destroy the ‘E’.”

“Is there a time limit for the sacrifice? What if we can’t find it—” As expected, Jia Xu stepped in with the critical question.

“There’s no time limit. You keep looking until you die.”

The paper figure spread its mouth into a grin, revealing a dark, gaping hole. “As for how long you can live, that depends on your abilities. That’s the way it is with sacrifices.”

An awkward silence fell over the group.

In the heavy atmosphere, Fang Xiu took another piece of chicken, chewing as quietly as possible.

……

Crunch, crunch.

The owner of the ghost hand broke off a finger bone, slowly chewing it up. Black and red flesh mixed with bone made a dull, unpleasant sound. He ate carefully, not spilling a single drop of blood.

After gorging on human flesh, the fierce ghost next door had the nerve to walk through the walls for a stroll, and the owner of the ghost hand caught it. 

Last night, he had tried to break away from the summoner, wasting a lot of energy. Eating this ghost could somewhat replenish his yin energy.

In the coming days, he would have to stick with this human—

The Disaster Relief Tower had its rules. To prevent ghosts from slacking off, if a summoner died, the ghost would lose some of its power. Conversely, if the summoner survived until the end, the ghost would also receive a reward.

Given the situation, letting that person die would only be a loss for himself.

No worries, he thought. Since he was here, he might as well settle in. All he needed to do was hide his identity and keep a low profile.

The owner of the ghost hand lowered his head and countless fine shadows swayed gently. Invisible chains bound him tightly, just as they had for thousands of years. 

As long as the underworld didn’t notice, his plan could continue smoothly…

Creak!

There was a noise at the door. He hurriedly stuffed the remaining ghost meat into his mouth, nearly choking himself in the process.

“The instructions are here. We’re about to head to the sacrifice.” Fang Xiu pushed the door open.

The owner of the ghost hand sat on the edge of the bed, looking over with a blank expression. For some reason, Fang Xiu thought his cheeks seemed a bit puffed.

He glanced around the room. Everything was in its place; everything looked normal. It must have been his imagination, he thought.

“By the way, you should have a name, something to call you by.” Fang Xiu continued, “You can just call me Fang Xiu, and I’ll call you…”

Xiao¹ Bai? Da² Bai? No, that didn’t fit. It was too frivolous.

¹Little (小) When used as an address, it signifies familiarity, closeness, or endearment to someone who is younger or lower rank than you.
²Big (大) When used as an address, it signifies familiarity, endearment, or showing respect to someone who is older or more senior than you. You can associate this as adding a Mr./Ms. to the person’s name when it’s the latter.

Since this guy was being called a seductive ghost, he needed a more elegant name. Looking at the owner of the ghost hand, who was sitting properly, Fang Xiu suddenly remembered a ghost story he had heard—people possessed by ghosts were said to have two shadows. 

Two shadows sounded like having a constant companion.

“…I’ll call you Bai Shuangying*. How’s that?” Fang Xiu asked.

*His name literally translates to White Twin/Double/Two Shadows.

Now that he was somewhat bound to this fierce ghost, he hoped they could get along until the end.

The owner of the ghost hand—ah, no, Bai Shuangying—nodded and said nothing. 

Fang Xiu wasn’t too surprised. This guy always seemed to have an unreadable expression. Even if he had called him Bai Yanyan*, he probably wouldn’t have had an opinion.

*This is the literal name from the type of ghost Fang Xiu thinks he is (a seductive ghost). Due to his appearance, Fang Xiu thinks he’s a [Yan] (艳) Ghost [Gui] (艳). The Yan means beautiful/attractive/gorgeous, but also in some context can refer to erotic/lewd (with a sexual undertone, thus a seductive ghost). Giving him this name is basically an apt way to call him by what type of ghost he (supposedly) is albeit inappropriate given the context.

“Good morning, Bai Shuangying.”

Fang Xiu gave a slight smile. “The sacrifice is about to begin. Let’s go.”

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The author has something to say:

The name is officially SET √ 

One person, one ghost: Since we’re already here, let’s eat first.jpg 

Their inner thoughts are exactly the same! 

I’m planning a new novel. If any little angels are interested, please bookmark it!

~A Contract Between Enemies~

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Kinky Thoughts:

Preview summary for Nian Zhong’s next upcoming novel:

A young noble failed to summon a demon and died a violent death on the spot. 

The bad news: He accidentally summoned a Chaos Demon God, who then took over the body of the sacrificial slave. 

The good news: He also accidentally summoned the spirit of the Hero who perished alongside the Demon God, and this spirit possessed the dead noble’s body. 

When enemies meet, their eyes blaze with hatred. However, while they once fought so fiercely that they shook the heavens and earth, now they can only chip away at the walls. Even worse, their epic battles have been reduced to mere exaggerated legends, and the only living beings they know are each other.

So, for the first time, they reach an agreement: figure out their current situation, regain their power, and then, finally, kill each other again— 

A crumbling-Hero gong × a Demon God shou who has lost his body.

The two legends, struggling (?), start again from a newbie village, embarking on an adventure from perishing together to living and dying together.

…

I’m always a huge fan when it comes to anything western fantasy by Nian Zhong (plugging in Stray and Full Server First Kill) and no doubt this summary got me hooked. It doesn’t help that I’ve been on an enemies-to-lovers binge recently.

Unfortunately, we probably won’t see this until next year (depending on how long Help is… which, given Nian Zhong’s track record… will probably be quite long; one can only hope).

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