Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 39: Mid-Autumn Memento

Nightfall. A gaunt figure staggered ahead.

It stood over two meters tall, wearing a tattered straw raincoat from centuries past. This evil spirit had hair and beard of pure white, and its face contained only a single deep black hole.

Amid the faceless crowd, it slowly turned its neck, selecting its prey…

A human, bound and lying on the ground.

That human was covered in wounds: one leg broken, the other missing a chunk from the calf. He seemed to have given up. He lay there barely breathing, the smell of fresh blood especially tantalizing. The straw-raincoat evil spirit knew that if it killed this man, it wouldn’t have to suffer weakness tomorrow.

The evil spirit concealed its presence, arching its back like an inchworm. Suddenly, it sprang toward its vulnerable prey.

Whoosh!

Right when it pounced, a rope from the darkness yanked, making the man vanish in an instant.

Simultaneously, a giant green serpent shot out from the crowd on the opposite side. The two evil spirits collided head-on with a dull thud.

The straw-raincoat evil spirit tried to back off, but the huge serpent instantly flew into a road-rage fury. Hissing and flicking its tongue, it coiled around its opponent. The straw-raincoat evil spirit thrust its head forward. From the black hole in its face, it spewed icy white vapor, flash-freezing part of the serpent’s body.

In a flash, their unlucky “traffic accident” became a life-or-death battle. The giant serpent constricted the straw-raincoat evil spirit; the evil spirit, in turn, tore at the frost-cracked serpent skin. Freezing mist billowed, a layer of frost formed on the ground, and chips of ice and black blood scattered in all directions.

Some ten paces away, Fang Xiu watched the spectacle with delight. “Tear it good! Tear it louder!”

Bai Shuangying: “……”

When he first devised his concealment skill, it was purely to avoid the world whenever he was out of sorts.

After staying with Fang Xiu for less than ten days, he had witnessed a hundred-plus unscrupulous uses for “concealment”.

What other absurd tricks would this human come up with? Bai Shuangying couldn’t help feeling a twinge of anticipation.

But this was already the last pair of evil spirits on the pedestrian street.

Just as Bai Shuangying found mouth-to-mouth contact baffling, evil spirits likewise couldn’t grasp it. If their “faces” collided, they wouldn’t head to the bridal chamber. They’d start a bloody brawl instead.

Lao Jin had done a fine job as their “Underworld apple”, successfully sending two pairs of powerful evil spirits to the Yellow Springs.

Behind them, Guan He hesitated. “Fang Ge, shouldn’t we keep a few evil spirits alive just in case? If time runs short…”

Right after driving a wedge between the humans, Fang Xiu turned around and incited the evil spirits, highlighting a strategy of wiping out both man and ghost alike. It was enough to make him feel a bit unsettled watching it all.

Fang Xiu: “Don’t worry. The ‘E’ here isn’t hard to break.”

Guan He’s eyes lit up. “I get it, you’re sticking around now so you can rescue Blondie and the rest!”

He’d known all along Fang Xiu was actually from the authorities. He said he wouldn’t save everyone, but deep down he was still softhearted.

Now it was Fang Xiu’s turn to hesitate. He glanced at Guan He helplessly. “If that’s what you think…then sure.”

Time ticked by. The two evil spirits in front were weakening.

They were evenly matched and had fought each other into serious injuries. By now, neither wanted to abandon its “sunk cost”, so they continued trading blows in a back-and-forth manner.

Fang Xiu handed Lao Jin’s leash over to Guan He and went to finish things up. He grabbed a can of some drink, holding it like a brick, and walked straight toward the straw-raincoat evil spirit.

Bai Shuangying stood up as well.

Bored to the tips of his hair, he decided to be a good friend and help Fang Xiu kill the other evil spirit.

But just as Bai Shuangying was about to follow, Fang Xiu pressed a hand to his chest.

“They’re mine. Don’t interfere,” Fang Xiu said earnestly.

Bai Shuangying looked at Fang Xiu’s slender arms, his expression full of confusion. Fang Xiu, as though provoked, flexed his arm. “Don’t be fooled by how I look. I have muscles!”

Bai Shuangying spared him no dignity. “Guan He has an easier time dragging Lao Jin than you would with anything else.”

Fang Xiu pretended not to hear, brandishing his canned-drink bludgeon. “Anyway, stay out of this. Watch me show what a real tough guy looks like…”

With no choice, Bai Shuangying stayed put, watching Fang Xiu use an aluminum can to subdue demons.

Pity those two powerful evil spirits, pinned down one at a time by that human who kept bashing their heads. They had no words for such misery.

Rather than the fisherman benefiting from the clam and snipe’s battle*, it looked more like the fisherman was entering a melee and the clam was there to pick up scraps. At least a clam had a shell; Fang Xiu was all soft flesh.

*Idiom referring to while the main parties are engaged in their dispute, a cunning third party can seize the opportunity to gain an advantage or profit. It derives from a fable, which you can read in my Kinky Thoughts.

…Come to think of it, the previous four powerful evil spirits had also been killed by Fang Xiu.

Each time, he charged in excitedly and hammered away for ages, illustrating the principle of “water dripping through stone, rope sawing through wood*”.

*Proverb referring to as long as one persists, one can accomplish difficult things even with little power. 

No matter how gravely wounded the evil spirits were, Fang Xiu couldn’t finish them in one blow. The murder process was unclear as to whether it was a finishing stroke or an extended interrogation. After seeing it repeated, Bai Shuangying felt tired, like watching a baby beast gnaw on meat too tough to chew.

Half-Mountain watched from not too far away, though who knew what feelings that half-step ghost immortal was harboring.

……

In the end, aside from Half-Mountain, there were no evil spirits left on the pedestrian street.

Fang Xiu didn’t immediately go after Half-Mountain.

He plopped onto the ledge of a flowerbed and, while sipping his drink, asked casually, “Xiao Guan, about that accident with your brother. Would you mind telling me the details?”

His voice was very clear, not drowned out by the street’s lively music.

The relief on Guan He’s face faded. He pressed his lips together, his expression turning a bit gloomy.

“I don’t mind,” he whispered.

Guan He was from Fengzhou City in Gui Province, not far from Taiyi City where Fang Xiu lived.

When Guan He was six, his father died in a car accident. At that time, his mother was pregnant with his little brother, and the family’s living conditions drastically deteriorated.

The accident that took his brother happened on Guan He’s eleventh birthday.

His mother had been so busy with work the previous year that she forgot Guan He’s birthday. This year, by late evening, she still hadn’t come home. Guan He got upset and took his brother to “run away from home”.

It was barely a protest. His little brother was too young, and he planned to return home soon.

By then it was late. On the street, someone was selling shiny balloons and string lights. His little brother couldn’t tear his eyes away and demanded they buy one. Guan He saw the balloon seller packing up; since there were no cars around, he led his brother through the red light.

Guan He took big steps, his little brother holding onto his hand and lagging half a step behind.

The speeding car that caused the accident struck in a flash. The moment his little brother vanished from sight, Guan He only felt his hand go suddenly empty, without even time to react.

Once again, a car accident destroyed Guan He’s family.

His mother continued to work around the clock, and with his little brother gone, Guan He moved into a dorm.

She would still support him financially, paying for his schooling, but from that day on, aside from simple greetings at the New Year, mother and son almost never spoke.

This included the Mid-Autumn Festival, especially the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Guan He believed his mom must hate him.

He didn’t know how to get along with her, and she had no idea how to face him. The days blurred by for five years, until now: at sixteen, Guan He was dragged into the Disaster Relief Tower.

Fang Xiu listened with his head tilted. “Did you deliberately lead your brother through the red light?”

“What?” Guan He was too stunned to parse that question.

“Your life became a mess after your brother was born. You had to take extra care of him; your mom obviously focused more on your little brother… When you took him across on a red light, did you secretly hope he’d disappear?”

Guan He’s breathing became rapid with anger. “Of course not!”

“I see. Sorry,” Fang Xiu apologized sincerely. “What about the drug dealer driving that car? Do you remember his name?”

“Du Baocai,” Guan He said immediately. “He was shot to death.”

Fang Xiu’s eyebrows twitched.

He hadn’t heard the name before, but the surname was interesting.

Guan He was still upset; mindful of Fang Xiu’s position, he held back. “I loved my brother. I never wanted him gone. Mom wasn’t around, so we basically depended on each other.”

He took a deep breath, trying not to let his voice tremble.

“Why would I hate him? He was only four. He didn’t know anything… If anything, he should hate me…”

“It’s retribution,” he couldn’t help murmuring. “Me ending up here… It must be my karmic punishment…”

“That can’t be. Your sin isn’t that big,”

Fang Xiu patted his back. “I can only say the way ‘sacrifices’ are chosen has flaws.”

“The way sacrifices are chosen?” Guan He looked up.

“Right. Look at the kinds of people we’ve run into. It can’t be a coincidence. The Underworld clearly has a set of criteria.”

Fang Xiu nudged Lao Jin with his toe. “At first, I thought the standard was ‘a debt of human lives’.”

“…Isn’t it?” Guan He asked, head drooping again.

“Think about it: plenty of heroes have killed. If the Underworld grabbed living war heroes for sacrifice, the Yin and Yang sides would be a war.”

“But so far, the mortal side is simply turning a blind eye. The real threshold must be stricter, like having a blood debt yet lacking any measure of virtue.”

Blood debt, no virtue.

Such a filter would catch those who harmed others for selfish reasons, as well as the culprits of accidental manslaughter.

Taking the latter also made some sense…

Some people dropped objects from high-rise buildings, killing passersby; some drove drunk, causing an accident that killed others; arrogant parents would drag their children to dangerous places, putting them into harm’s way; some spread malicious rumors to the point of driving others to suicide.

Though they didn’t necessarily have murderous intent, mortal law wouldn’t treat them as murderers. Yet in terms of karmic retribution, claiming their hands were clean wouldn’t ring true.

In the end, the “E” required living humans to solve. From the mortal perspective, these people were the “most cost-effective price”.

So-called “disaster relief sacrifices” were likely a compromise between the two realms.

But in a world with countless blood debts, it was impossible for each selection of sacrifices to undergo a joint investigation. So people like Guan He ended up as tragic misjudgments in this system.

Guan He listened quietly, showing little reaction, calmly accepting reality.

Perhaps because he’d been tormented by guilt for so long, he didn’t feel especially wronged.

Fang Xiu patted his shoulder and finished off his drink.

“…So even in such a case, can you accept it? That this kid deserves to die here?”

Fang Xiu tossed the can into a trash bin, then abruptly raised his voice. “You’ve been eavesdropping all along, haven’t you, oh ‘Almost-Ghost-Immortal’?”

Bai Shuangying instinctively looked toward Half-Mountain’s location. Fang Xiu glanced at his ghost and likewise shifted his stance.

But under the bright moon and amid the bustling street, there was no response anywhere.

“I just want to have a face-to-face conversation.”

Fang Xiu sighed. “I can break the E at any time, but I’d rather not leave without a word.”

“You should know that once I break it, the Underworld will protect us unconditionally. Then there’ll be nothing you can do… I don’t think you want that to be your ending.”

Half-Mountain remained hidden, silent.

Bai Shuangying prodded Fang Xiu. “Saying empty words is pointless. You really think Half-Mountain would trust you after watching you all this time?”

Fang Xiu: “……” What do you mean, be clearer! 

But when Bai Shuangying put it that way, Fang Xiu realized he indeed had no good retort.

After a long pause, Fang Xiu rubbed his face in frustration and quietly muttered, “Fine…”

He truly didn’t seem inclined to fight. Snark aside, Bai Shuangying was curious how this would unfold.

But just in case, he stood silently behind Fang Xiu, ready to grab him if the situation turned sour.

All Fang Xiu did was step on the bloody mess that was Lao Jin, taking out Lao Jin’s gold-plated lighter.

Click.

Flame flared up, and once again, tiny fireballs danced. However, Fang Xiu had just finished killing evil spirits and was covered in sweat, lessening the burn somewhat.

Fang Xiu stared at the dancing flame, not extinguishing it.

“If heartfelt words won’t work, I’ll show you reason.”

He took a deep breath. “The E’s taboos are absolute; violating them triggers an immediate effect. But this ‘fire taboo’ is different. From the moment of ignition to the appearance of the fireballs, there’s a slight delay.”

“This isn’t a taboo at all. This is a spell you used to mislead us, isn’t it?”

With that, he smiled.

“Clever tactic. After all, if someone uncovered the ‘third’—actually, the real ‘first’—taboo, it’d be easy to guess the E’s true form.”

“Too bad I already know what that first taboo is. Your emphasis on forbidding open flame just reaffirms my suspicion.”

Sizzle-sizzle, the fireballs continued to sear Fang Xiu’s skin. The lighter grew hot, yet he kept it lit.

Listening to Fang Xiu talking to thin air, Guan He grew confused. “What do you mean, the real first taboo…? Isn’t it ‘at a quarter to noon, pay one life’?”

Fang Xiu: “Before each ritual starts, floor two’s environment adapts to the location. Xiao Guan, you should recall that.”

“Yes, I remember,” Guan He thought for a couple of seconds.

“This time, floor two took the form of a residential building’s stairwell, with an old-fashioned door at the entrance. But there’s no connection here at all to a pedestrian street.”

“When we entered the ritual, there was that bizarre spinning, that strange freezing phenomenon. It’s more likely that we’ve been moved away from the real scene by the E, trapped in some separate dimension rather than the Underworld messing up the theme.”

Fang Xiu’s gentle, clear voice carried far.

“What’s more interesting is that while an E normally draws all sorts of evil spirits, the ones here are all vicious and bloodthirsty, like they’ve been hand-picked. Meanwhile, we ’sinners’ were carefully selected by the Underworld. We’re basically half evil spirits ourselves, in that our souls are bound to magic weapons.”

“The E locked us in here happily. I think the real first taboo is, ‘Any evil spirit bearing a blood debt cannot leave’.”

“Add the ‘at a quarter to noon, pay one life’ clause, and you’ve got a perfect execution chamber. Dangerous individuals forced to kill each other, leaving no survivors.”

He paused, looking genuinely impressed.

“…Fascinating, right? Good news: this E protects the innocent. Bad news: it’s protecting the innocent from ‘us’.”

Guan He panicked. “Are you sure this is a separate dimension? If we’re trapped, how do we find the E?”

“Xiao Guan, think. Besides an illusion, what else does this street resemble?”

His voice rose, as if directed at the still-hidden Half-Mountain.

Guan He swallowed, trying to gather his thoughts:

“This place is small, its boundaries weird. That’s already unlike our previous ritual.”

“The sky never changes. It’s always a full moon, always the Mid-Autumn Festival.”

“The food and drinks here have no taste. The passersby are just silhouettes, repeating the same actions.”

Fang Xiu wiggled the lighter. “Yes, and I’ll add another point. When night falls, the scene outside freezes entirely, and a giant face stares down from above. If it sees you, you die.”

An unending Mid-Autumn Festival night, a world that could freeze at a moment’s notice, a giant face peering from the sky, and all that emphasis on “no fire”…

Wait, could this place be…?

Guan He stared blankly at Fang Xiu.

In Fang Xiu’s hand, the lighter still burned quietly.

At some point, those small fireballs had ceased scalding him. They bobbed around him like tiny fireflies.

As if hearing Guan He’s thoughts, Fang Xiu continued calmly…

“A ‘dimension’ this realistic can’t appear out of thin air. I suspect we’ve been locked inside a photograph since the start of this ritual.”

“On the other hand, the E’s rules all hinge on this place. So I suspect that this Mid-Autumn Festival photo is itself the ‘E’.”

At Fang Xiu’s feet, Lao Jin let out a weak groan.

Guan He’s face changed gradually. “But… the people on the street have no faces…”

“That’s the real clue, which Lao Jin probably knows even better. There is a certain group of people who want to protect the innocent, aware that showing your face in a photo could cost your life.”

…How to sensibly destroy a photo?

…Simple: you burn it.

Fang Xiu raised the lighter in a gesture like making a toast. “Mr. Almost-Ghost-Immortal, you’re also trapped here, yet you’re so in sync with the E… Could it be that when you were alive, you were some sort of informant?”

“Haa.”

At last, a sigh echoed, and a figure materialized under the moonlight.

Bai Shuangying narrowed his eyes and placed a hand on Fang Xiu’s shoulder. Fang Xiu reassured him with a gentle squeeze of his sleeve, then turned to the newcomer.

Half-Mountain looked entirely human, except his face, unlike the faceless passersby, had normal, distinct features.

He appeared young, at most in his early twenties, short and rather plain, with a kind of rough, slouchy thug-like posture.

“I’m no informant. Not that selfless,”

Half-Mountain played absently with an unlit cigarette, giving Lao Jin a pointed glance and grinning.

“To use the words of that pretentious guy… How did it go? I’m just another loser at the bottom…”

“…I just happened to make a pretty good friend.”

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Kinky Thoughts:

The Sandpiper (Snipe) and the Clam

One day, taking advantage of the sunny weather, a clam opened up its hard shell to bask in the sun on the banks of the river. A sandpiper saw it and quickly put its beak into the clam shell to peck at the meat inside. The calm hurriedly closed its hard shell and sealed the sandpiper’s mouth shut. The sandpiper couldn’t peck at the meat, and its mouth was sealed shut, so it threatened the clam and said, “If you don’t loosen your clamp on me, you will eventually die of thirst.” The clam responded without showing weakness, “Your mouth has been clamped by me. If you can’t pull it free, you’ll starve to death!” In this way, the clam and sandpiper fought each other on the beach, and neither would relent. Over time, they became exhausted. A fisherman happened to pass by, and when he saw that they were tightly entangled and neither could move, he easily caught them and took them both home.”

This story was told during the Warring States Period, when the Qin Empire was strongest. On one occasion, the Empire of Zhao declared war on the State of Yan. At the time, the king’s younger brother, Su Dai, was entrusted to go to the Empire of Zhao to persuade the King of Zhao not to send troops. When he arrived, the King of Zhao demanded what he was doing here, to which he told the fable.

After finishing, Su Dai said to the King of Zhao, “If the Empire of Zhao and the State of Yan go to war, the two sides will inevitably be at a standstill for a long time, eventually becoming exhausted. In this way, the mighty Qin Empire will be like the fisherman, who just needs to sit back and reap the benefits. Your Majesty, please consider it carefully before making a decision.” The King of Zhao felt that what Su Dai said was reasonable and dispelled the idea of attacking the State of Yan.

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