Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 16: A Small Token of Goodwill

Amidst the sorrowful and tragic opera singing, the group remained silent.

Bai Shuangying glanced at Fang Xiu in mild surprise, thinking Fang Xiu would enthusiastically cheer for the performance. Fang Xiu’s sudden normal behavior felt a bit unfamiliar to him.

Then he heard Fang Xiu muttering in confusion, “The number of performers isn’t right… Skinny Monkey and Brother Scar aren’t here. Could it be because their deaths didn’t rhyme well*?”

*Clarity: In the previous chapter, the lines sang in opera about their deaths in Chinese rhymes. Unfortunately, I’m not creative enough to make them rhyme myself translated into English, given how little words there are to work with, and I don’t want to stray too far from the original lines.

Bai Shuangying felt reassured.

“They’ll never find Skinny Monkey,” Bai Shuangying complimented himself modestly.

Fang Xiu responded, “True, he’s turned into a tree. Lucky for them, they didn’t carve the idol out of him. But Brother Scar…”

Under Bai Shuangying’s concealment, Fang Xiu seemed to be muttering to himself. Old Man Fu walked up and interrupted the whispering.

“Pardon my poor performance,” he said, still smiling with eyes and mouth like narrow slits, a smile that looked somewhat abstract. “One guest’s karma is not clean, making it inconvenient for them to be on stage. I hope everyone can forgive us…”

Even though Old Man Fu’s eyes were just two black slits without eyeballs, Fang Xiu could still feel its faint gaze.

“If I may ask, what do you mean by ‘unclean karma’?” Fourth Master asked respectfully, addressing Old Man Fu.

Old Man Fu’s smile deepened. “Imagine a poor beast being stabbed to death by a butcher. Can you say the cause of death was the knife? The butcher is still alive and watching. The karma involved…”

Fourth Master’s face darkened. He understood the implication.

…Damn it, someone had definitely tampered with things, deliberately leading Brother Scar to violate a taboo.

Old Man Fu continued, “No need to be angry. This shrine market is arranged for all of you. Whether you want to hear the opera or browse the market, everything is prepared. The market will last for seven days and nights, so do enjoy yourselves.”

He bent his neck stiffly, looking down at the group. A foul stench emanated from him, a mix of ink and rotting flesh.

Fourth Master glanced at the four corpses on stage without saying a word. The others didn’t dare speak either. Five people had died in just two days. Who would still be alive after seven days and nights?

Fang Xiu, unconcerned, asked, “Can we leave?”

Old Man Fu’s smile didn’t falter. “Why leave such a wonderful shrine market? What is it that you’re unhappy with? If you want ring toss games, sugar paintings, or dough figurines, just ask, and our village will prepare them for you…”

“I don’t like shrine markets,” Fang Xiu said.

Old Man Fu: “……”

Old Man Fu’s smile became more strained. “This shrine market is specially arranged for all of you…”

“You say that, but the show already started before we even arrived,” Fang Xiu pointed out fairly.

Even Fourth Master couldn’t help but turn his head to glance at him. Fang Xiu seemed oblivious, his eyes fixed only on Old Man Fu.

“The shrine market is like this opera. Once it starts, it can’t stop. It’s not just for entertaining guests, but also for honoring the ghosts and gods.” Old Man Fu sighed, shaking his head, his neck making a dangerous creaking sound. “It can’t stop, it can’t stop—”

Fang Xiu responded, “Alright…”

Honoring the ghosts and gods? Interesting, considering you’re all ghosts yourselves.

His remark seemed to ease the tension in the group slightly.

Noticing the change in atmosphere, Old Man Fu reined in his smile. “Well then, I have prepared some welcoming gifts. Please accept them.”

He stepped back a few paces and waved his hand. Several evil spirits, about half the height of a person, stumbled forward, holding up eight red-wrapped bundles. Upon seeing the shape of the bundles, the recently calmed Mei Lan almost screamed again.

The bundles clearly contained dismembered human body parts.

The pieces varied in size, including hands and feet. Each one was bloodied, as if gnawed on by a beast. Fang Xiu examined them closely and guessed that the body parts likely belonged to Brother Scar.

There were two arms, two legs, a torso cut into three pieces, and a head, neatly divided into eight portions.

The parts were carefully wrapped in uniformly sized red cloth, with a white paper label inscribed with black characters: an upside-down “Blessing” character. Some of the limbs were too long for the fabric to cover completely, so they were tied with pretty red cloth flowers.

As if fearing not enough fuel had been added to the fire, Old Man Fu said, “These gifts are from the entire Weishan Village. Please take good care of them, absolutely.”

His grin stretched wide, almost reaching his ears. “Otherwise, everyone will be very upset.”

The last sentence was drawn out slowly, dripping with implication.

After saying that, Old Man Fu instructed his minions to distribute the “gifts” one by one. Two arms were given to Mei Lan and the gloomy teenager, two legs to Blondie and Cheng Songyun, and Fourth Master, the lunatic, and Jia Xu each received a part of the torso.

As for the bloodied head, it was given to Fang Xiu.

The head had little flesh left but retained its general shape. The red cloth was soaked with blood, sticking tightly to the head. Everyone could still make out Brother Scar’s despairing expression.

“Thank you.” Fang Xiu accepted the head politely.

The weight was just over ten pounds, still manageable.

Brother Scar’s soul had already been devoured by Bai Shuangying, but who would have thought Fang Xiu would end up carrying his ghost’s leftovers.

Bai Shuangying also disliked leftovers. Wrinkling his nose, he couldn’t help but ask, “Why provoke Old Man Fu? The head smells the worst. It’s very stinky.”

Fang Xiu was busy untying the red flower, preparing to use the red silk rope to tie the head to his back. Hearing Bai Shuangying’s question, he smiled, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes.

“Isn’t it great? Even you think Old Man Fu targeted me because I ‘deliberately caused trouble’… rather than because I ‘got Brother Scar killed.’”

Humans really are calculating, Bai Shuangying thought, raising an eyebrow.

Fang Xiu’s tone lightened again. “Besides, there’s nothing to worry about. It’s just a piece of dead flesh. Could you cough up Brother Scar’s soul?”

Of course not. Bai Shuangying shook his head decisively.

The others, however, didn’t take things as well as Fang Xiu. Aside from Fourth Master and the lunatic, no one dared touch the bundles. Old Man Fu wasn’t in a hurry either. He just stood ten steps away, watching them cheerfully until they all started scratching their bodies.

The second taboo: Do not harm the villagers, except in self-defense.

If refusing candy from an old ghost lady was a violation, then refusing a gift from the entire Weishan Village would be even worse.

Finally, everyone obediently accepted their pieces of the corpse, trembling as they tied them to themselves. If they lost these, they’d itch to death for violating the taboo.

“You’ve got guts, kid,” Fourth Master commented as he tied up his piece, giving Fang Xiu a glance.

“I worked as a cleaner in a hospital. I got used to seeing things in the emergency room,” Fang Xiu answered honestly.

Fourth Master grunted and said no more.

At this point, the thick stench of blood emanating from everyone made them living targets, and all the evil spirits in the area were eyeing them.

Even Blondie, slow as he was, realized something was off and muttered a curse. “Fuck, the old bag was pretending to be human earlier, but it had no good intentions!”

Jia Xu wiped the blood off his hands. “Its suona band directly invited us, but no one would have followed them willingly. It just didn’t want to confront us directly, so it gave us a heads-up.”

“…It definitely doesn’t mean well,” he agreed with Blondie for once. “I thought it had some hidden reason, but now I think Old Man Fu’s goal must be…”

“Idiot.” Fourth Master sneered. “Don’t overestimate yourself. I’ve been through half the ritual, and I’ve only ever seen ghosts toying with people, never a ghost bothering to play along.”

Jia Xu swallowed his words and didn’t dare continue.

“Everyone, feel free to relax and do whatever you like.”

Seeing that everyone had tied up their pieces, Old Man Fu wobbled back to his original position, swaying his inhuman body. “Alright. Greetings are done, gifts are received, now continue—”

At that moment, the four corpses on stage resumed their eerie singing.

“Seeing him take the hands, how will his end turn out?”

“Seeing him take the legs, what death will befit him?”

“Seeing him take the three sections, how will his fate be sealed?”

“Seeing him take the head, the retribution will only increase—”

At some point, the four high-backed chairs had shifted, now facing Fang Xiu’s group instead of the stage.

“I sing, and you listen, tied together by fate, first harming men, then harming ghosts, a dead end for all.”

“Killing brings sin, but retribution will come, though Heaven and Earth may not yet show it.”

“Since Old Man Fu said, ‘Do whatever you like,’ we should probably get going. If we keep listening, my brain’s going to freeze,” Jia Xu said, rubbing the goosebumps on his arms.

Mei Lan tightly covered her ears, nodding furiously, looking like she might faint at any moment. Beside her, the gloomy teenager had tied the arm to his chest and appeared to have just finished vomiting.

“Let’s not rush. Let me take a look first.”

Fourth Master, using his height to his advantage, scanned the area in all directions. From the center of the shrine, red lanterns filled the surroundings with an eerie glow, stretching as far as the eye could see.

“…Damn it, it’s a ghost wall*!” he cursed through gritted teeth.

*Figuratively and literally. Figuratively, it describes a situation where you’re stuck and unable to get out (ghost hitting the wall). Literally, they are surrounded by a wall of ghosts, so they really are stuck and unable to leave.

Fang Xiu finally understood. No wonder Old Man Fu had said, “Feel free to take the ‘E’” and “come and go as you please.”

It was akin to your mom telling you that after eight hours of studying, eight hours of chores, and eight hours of sleep, you’re free to play video games.

Old Man Fu had tied a blood-soaked GPS in the form of Brother Scar’s body parts to them, then set up this whole extravagant setup. The evil spirits had no need to confront them directly now. If they could leave, it would mean the spirits had lost.

“We’re doomed.” Mei Lan’s face turned pale. “Seven days and nights… This is just a slaughterhouse… Forget the ‘E’, we don’t even know the third taboo. We’re going to be trapped here until we die…”

Jia Xu’s expression shifted, clearly at a loss for how to comfort her.

Fang Xiu could understand. After all, this ritual wasn’t a horror game. There wasn’t necessarily a way to “win”. If they had to compare it to a game, they were already one step into a bad ending.

Fang Xiu: “Well, since we’re here, why don’t we at least choose a direction to explore? Just don’t split up.”

Blondie perked up a little. “You got a plan?”

Fang Xiu: “…In horror movies, don’t the ones who split up die first?”

Blondie cracked his knuckles but, fortunately, didn’t make a move.

“Let’s try heading east.”

Still unwilling to give up, Fourth Master took another look around and spat heavily. “If there’s a ghost wall, it at least proves the ‘E’ is outside its range.”

It wasn’t much good news, but everyone listened in low spirits.

“Let’s go.” Fang Xiu tugged on Bai Shuangying’s sleeve.

Bai Shuangying tilted his head. “Didn’t you say you don’t like shrine markets?”

“I was lying earlier.”

Under the light of the lanterns, Fang Xiu was standing very close, and his warm breath brushed Bai Shuangying’s ear.

“…Shrine markets are the best,” Fang Xiu whispered. “Let’s go enjoy it together.”

---

The author has something to say:

Let’s go to the temple fair together!

First, they shared a bed, and now they’re going on a scenic rural trip together, staying at a countryside inn, and experiencing local cultural activities.

…How is this not a romantic vacation for two?

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>