Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 11: Phenomenon at the Shrine

“This sacrificial ritual treats people like animals.”

Doctor pressed his face against the bars of the wooden cage, his eyes bulging, with his fingers full of cuts. His white coat was splattered with bloodstains, making him look extremely disheveled.

“I don’t want to do this either. It’s the underworld guiding us,” he said. “They don’t care about human lives at all, so don’t blame me…”

His tone was as if he were speaking to an experimental animal, one about to be dissected.

Strictly speaking, they weren’t much different from lab animals.

“What do you mean by ‘treating people like animals’?” Jia Xu’s face was covered with wounds, and he gasped in pain as he opened his mouth.

Doctor: “Sacrifices… Sacrifices don’t judge humanity… As long as it works, any cruel method can be used. We’re just consumables. Human lives are worthless…”

Fang Xiu wasn’t too surprised and didn’t think Doctor was lying.

Earlier, he had thought that to better deal with the “E”, even if people were considered consumables, the underworld would at least use them sparingly.

However, the underworld was far more ruthless than he’d anticipated. Throwing in something like the spirit binding chains was like raising poisonous creatures, completely devoid of mercy.

Jia Xu asked in irritation, “People die so easily, and no one in the world cares?”

Doctor was silent for a while, then sniffled. “Retribution…”

His voice was soft, and Fang Xiu didn’t quite catch it, but he could guess Doctor’s meaning.

“You mean, even if you experiment on us with taboos, there’s nothing you can do about it,” Fang Xiu said. “This is how sacrifices have always been, and it’s our fate… right?”

Doctor was trying to rationalize everything to alleviate his guilt.

He didn’t answer Fang Xiu but forced a smile that was uglier than crying.

“…Don’t be afraid.”

His voice suddenly became soft, like coaxing a child to sleep.

“In the sacrifices I’ve been through, there are usually three taboos for the ‘E’, and only one is fatal… We’ve already found one and a half, so you won’t suffer too much…”

Three taboos? Mai Zi didn’t tell them about that, Fang Xiu thought. But it made sense. Mai Zi and her husband had only gone through the fourth sacrificial ritual, so they wouldn’t be certain about everything.

“The first taboo: you can’t eat things, but you can eat people. Breaking this rule won’t kill you.” Doctor said, “We haven’t fully tested the second yet… You can’t destroy buildings, attack spirits, dig graves, steal, set fires, or relieve yourself anywhere… The taboos can’t be that complicated. You just need to find the patterns…”

Cheng Songyun, trembling, corrected, “It’s not ‘people’ you can eat. It’s ‘sacrificial offerings’ you can eat.”

“Not much difference. Either way, breaking the taboo won’t kill you,” Doctor muttered. “The second rule won’t kill you either. At most, you’ll feel itchy, so don’t be scared…”

Everyone looked at Jia Xu’s wounded face, growing more frightened.

Doctor also noticed Jia Xu’s sorry state. He took out a small box of ointment and called Jia Xu over. “You’re hurt. Come, apply some medicine.”

Jia Xu looked at him suspiciously.

“This is a numbing ointment. It’s very effective.” Doctor pointed to the madman in the next cage. “I applied it on him too, and he even bit my hand…”

Jia Xu hesitated for a moment, then, with a resigned sigh, leaned his face forward. Doctor dipped his fingers in the ointment and reached through the bars to apply it. As he did, Jia Xu’s furrowed brow gradually relaxed, showing that the ointment was working.

“Rest well… I’m sorry…”

After finishing the treatment, Doctor started muttering nervously again, “I’m sorry… I don’t want to do this either…”

“He’s crazy,” Blondie remarked as Doctor walked away.

Jia Xu replied, “Sacrifices are so bizarre, with all the killing and cannibalism. No normal person could handle it.”

“Well, at least he gave you some medicine. You seem to have taken a liking to it.”

“Better to think positively than stab your comrades with a knife.”

Fang Xiu, annoyed by the noise, moved to a corner and leaned against the cage to take a nap.

Bai Shuangying stopped pacing and squatted beside Fang Xiu, observing him through the bars. The body of the thin man was only two steps away, but Fang Xiu slept peacefully.

After watching for a while, Bai Shuangying wasn’t satisfied. He gently lifted Fang Xiu’s bangs.

He noticed that Fang Xiu’s eyelashes were quite long.

Just like how humans look at kittens and puppies, Bai Shuangying wasn’t good at distinguishing human faces. To him, Blondie and Cheng Songyun were mainly distinguished by their hair color.

However, like humans with animals, he could tell which were particularly good-looking or ugly, and Fang Xiu clearly belonged to the former. Bai Shuangying didn’t understand why Fang Xiu wanted to hide his appearance. Humans were always more lenient with their attractive peers.

However, not all creatures that hide are weak prey. Some predators also like to hide.

…If you’re one of the latter, what are you hunting?

Bai Shuangying put the bangs back and brushed his finger across Fang Xiu’s nose. In the rain, the warmth of the human body felt very hot.

……

Before dawn, Fang Xiu was kicked awake.

“You, get out.” Scarred Man held the spirit binding chain, pointing at Fang Xiu.

Jia Xu was also called out. He looked like he wanted to stay in the cage but was too embarrassed to do so, caught in an inner struggle.

Fang Xiu, on the other hand, lowered his head in resignation, looking weak and pitiful.

“If you two cause trouble outside, we’ll harm the ones left behind.” Scarred Man’s jade Buddha necklace swayed. “If you two talk back, we’ll chop off their fingers. If you resist, we’ll chop off their arms and legs. After all, a human stump can still be used, and we can even add to our meal.”

“Just the two of us?” Jia Xu exclaimed in shock.

“Should we bring more so you can rebel?” Scarred Man sneered. “Besides, if you break a fatal taboo, you’ll all be wiped out. That would be a pity.”

Fang Xiu listened in on their conversation. The two men with jade Buddha necklaces were real veterans, much tougher than Doctor and Skinny Monkey.

Scarred Man was called “Brother Scar” and together with the leader “Fourth Master”, they explored the outside world. They only observed and never did anything unnecessary. The jade Buddhas never left their necks. If they found anything suspicious, Fourth Master would return to the base, and Brother Scar would lead outsiders to test the taboos.

“Can you turn him into a tree?” Fang Xiu asked, staring at Brother Scar ahead of them.

This question seemed more normal, and Bai Shuangying perked up. “Are you asking me for a favor?”

“No, just a discussion.” Fang Xiu shook his head. “I’m just a little curious.”

Oh, just a discussion. Bai Shuangying quickly lost interest and rummaged through his mental vocabulary.

“Last night, I turned Skinny Monkey into a tree. You could say I ‘polluted’ his karma. But that’s because he was a minor character with few connections.”

“With this guy, I can’t do that,” Bai Shuangying explained carefully. “He seems to carry a lot of hostility, which means his karma is complicated…” If it happened too suddenly, the underworld would notice right away.

“Polluting karma? How fascinating,” Fang Xiu marveled. “I get it, your ability is limited by workload.”

Fang Xiu didn’t doubt him. If Bai Shuangying could just plant trees with every enemy they encountered, they’d be invincible, right? Would the underworld be so generous?

Brother Scar dragged Fang Xiu and Jia Xu all the way to a shrine.

To be precise, they stopped in front of the ruins of the Weishan Shrine. The small shrine was charred black, with the roof completely gone. The statues and furniture inside hadn’t survived either. From the doorway, only scattered charred wood remained inside.

Outside the shrine, the rain clouds were brightening, and dawn was approaching, but the evil spirits hadn’t retreated.

They gathered around the shrine ruins, some carrying bricks, others carrying tiles. A few spirits were even carving logs and preparing paint, apparently rebuilding the statues.

Fang Xiu quietly exclaimed “Wow”. No wonder they brought us here to test the taboos—what a busy scene.

“Last night, we burned the shrine, triggering a mutation. In a while, you two go in and check it out. Try to figure out their purpose.” Brother Scar rubbed his fingers, as if searching for a cigarette.

“Why did you burn the shrine?!” Jia Xu asked.

“Places like this are the most likely to harbor an ‘E’. The ‘E’ isn’t easily destroyed, so setting a fire makes it easier to find.”

Brother Scar glanced sideways at Jia Xu. “Too bad there’s nothing left inside, and the consequences of breaking the taboo are troublesome. See that madman? He scratched himself until he’s almost crippled. Be careful.”

The three of them hid behind the corner of a wall. The evil spirits were busy with their construction work, and no ghost bothered them.

Despite that, the scene still felt incredibly eerie. Besides the shadowy figures of wandering spirits, there were other, more bizarre creatures helping with the reconstruction. Jia Xu recognized one of them. It was a hunched old woman clutching a cracked bowl, slowly stirring some sort of paste inside.

Fang Xiu watched the entire process with great interest, momentarily forgetting about the spirit binding chain around his neck.

He remembered that the Weishan Shrine was supposed to weaken evil spirits. Now that it had been burned down, why were the spirits so determined to rebuild it?

There’s a famous saying, “A capitalist will sell the rope that will hang themselves for profit.” These evil creatures weren’t capitalists, but some principles were the same. They were willing to toil through the night… even through the day to rebuild the shrine and worship the gods, which meant there had to be significant benefits for them in doing so.

“Are we just going to walk in?” Jia Xu’s voice was filled with hesitation as he observed the odd spectacle before them.

“Wait a little longer,” Brother Scar tugged the chain gently, keeping them in place.

They didn’t have to wait long before they realized what Brother Scar had been waiting for.

Another procession of evil spirits approached the shrine. At the front of the line were two childlike spirits with oversized heads, holding a pair of suonas. They played a strange, mournful tune that had an oddly celebratory undertone. Following them were more spirits of similar height, all dressed in white mourning clothes, eerily lacking any facial features. These spirits were clustered around a ghastly palanquin.

The palanquin was a shocking sight. It was entirely red, with a white soul-summoning flag draped over the top.

Seated on the palanquin was a human figure that stood nearly two meters tall. It wore a black funeral robe adorned with the character for “blessing”, and its limbs were unnaturally long and thin. Its face was featureless, save for five deep black slits, as if someone had stabbed the shape of a face into a lump of dough.

“Cease all evil—blessings from the heavens—prosperity—forever—”

“Practice all virtue—rain nourishes all things—loyalty and affection—eternal—”

The spirits carrying the palanquin sang, their non-existent mouths forming the words in unison, repeating the chant in rhythm with the suona.

“Cease all evil—blessings from the heavens—prosperity—forever—”

“Hey, are you seeing this?” Jia Xu’s voice trembled, fear lacing his words. “Isn’t that palanquin heading straight for us?!”

“Practice all virtue—rain nourishes all things—loyalty and affection—eternal—”

The procession, which had been calmly making its way down the road, suddenly turned sharply, now heading directly toward them.

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The author has something to say:

Bai Shuangying be like, “Look at my domesticated human, oops, I mean, look at my domesticated friend sleeping…”

I would call this kind of relationship mutual domestication (…

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“A capitalist will sell the rope that will hang themselves for profit.” This is a quote from Lenin. 

Some say it’s attributed to Samuel Huntington, but that seems to be a misattribution.

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Kinky Thoughts:

It’s still up for debate whether Lenin actually said such a quote as he has never written it down and all accounts were from other people after his death.

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