Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 64: Multiple Taboos

Disaster Relief Tower.

Dian’er hummed a cheerful tune as it happily prepared the ritual log.

This time’s “Fierce Wind E” would surely be easy to resolve. It had even drafted the report’s beginning and ending in advance.

Fang Xiu wasn’t a Disaster Resolver yet, so he couldn’t be assigned specific E-resolution tasks. Dian’er still had to follow procedure: draw a few candidate rituals from the Causality Furnace and then assign them accordingly.

…And even the heavens seemed to favor it. It had drawn the Fierce Wind E!

The scenery around Fierce Wind E was beautiful, and its taboos weren’t particularly dangerous, but it was oddly hard to deal with.

Due to certain special reasons, the Underworld had given up on using it to cultivate ghost immortals. But it wasn’t as ridiculous as the Huanxi E either, so the Underworld just let things run their course, letting sacrifices handle it on their own.

Almost all previous sacrifices had died due to personal reasons. For someone like Fang Xiu, this ritual was just right. There was no need for excessive physical exertion, just some brainwork.

To be safe, Dian’er had even selected a lone Disaster Resolver. If Fang Xiu messed up, the resolver could at least guarantee the ritual’s success.

Dian’er felt this arrangement was absolutely perfect.

Even that nightmare Huanxi E had been handled by Fang Xiu in just three days.

This little Fierce Wind E? Should be child’s play.

Once Fang Xiu became a Disaster Resolver, as his assigned handler, Dian’er’s own compensation would get a discount too. Fang Xiu might even thank it!

……

“The Underworld gave us another pain-in-the-ass job,” Fang Xiu concluded after listening to Cheng Songyun’s summary.

He had just returned to the courtyard, only to find his teammates looking subtly weird, while the group of eight newcomers flocked around the lone man, chatting noisily.

Compared to Fang Xiu’s own team of “the old, the young, women and children,” these young folks clearly preferred this “metaphysics master” type.

The lone man had introduced himself as Jiang Xun, a practitioner of Taoist arts. He had chiseled features, a reserved expression, and an aura of sophistication.

Jiang Xun had been the first to help the newcomers by providing food. He had performed a divination in front of everyone and then easily picked persimmons and greens from the yard.

Along with three to five wild rabbits he had caught, everyone’s meals were secured.

Fang Xiu knew that even if he brought out the offerings from Weishan Village now, they wouldn’t impress anyone much. Compared to familiar, mundane food, these young people probably preferred “campfire-style foraging”.

At least for now, Jiang Xun was quite the center of attention.

With food in hand, the young ones had relaxed. They sat around Jiang Xun, chattering away with questions. Jiang Xun hardly responded and just enjoyed his meal leisurely. His aura of power was unmistakable.

“Auntie Cheng already explained a bunch of stuff, and they didn’t take in any of it,” Guan He grumbled, having overheard parts of their talk. Fang Xiu just patted his shoulder and shook his head.

They’d already done their part by voluntarily explaining the rules.

Since Jiang Xun wanted to build his own rapport, Fang Xiu wasn’t interested in interfering.

As long as the newbies didn’t go berserk, there was no need to battle over popularity. They were here to resolve the E, not win elections.

After calming the indignant Guan He, Fang Xiu kindled a ghost flame in the other corner of the courtyard.

While tending the fire, he casually described the area beyond the courtyard. Under the blue sky and white clouds, with the scent of roasted chestnuts in the air, it was hard to feel upset.

“…So we’re near a normal town, but a wind wall is blocking the way. Fang Ge, you sure that’s not something the Underworld set up?” Guan He asked, now calm and trying to analyze again.

Fang Xiu: “The Underworld wouldn’t bother with something so convoluted.”

The wind wall had an unnecessarily complicated feel to it, unlike the crisp boundaries of past rituals. Not to mention Bai Shuangying had verified it as a taboo, and even the Mid-Autumn E’s borders were more straightforward than this.

“We can’t leave this place. Maybe that’s a death taboo. Then there’s that couple… No screaming? No stealing? No fighting…? Hard to say.”

Guan He thought hard, nearly letting the fire that was roasting the chestnut almost ignited his shoes.

Fang Xiu nudged the chestnuts with a stick. “Don’t worry. It’s only the first day.”

Then he got up to wash his hands at the hand-pump.

The pump was rusty but functional. Fang Xiu poured some canned syrup in as a primer and began working the handle.

With loud creaks and wheezes, water gushed out from the spout and splashed onto the ground.

Bai Shuangying leaned over curiously. It was his first time seeing such a device.

Fang Xiu smiled. “Old folks used this a lot. It’s mostly obsolete now. Not just you. Even those newbies probably don’t recognize it.”

“Then how do you?”

Fang Xiu paused. “There was one just like it in my grandma’s yard.”

“You mean your grandmother who died violently,” Bai Shuangying recalled.

He remembered… It was the woman who had died suddenly in front of Fang Xiu, harboring resentment toward him before her death. Yet Fang Xiu’s tone held only distant regret when he mentioned “grandma”.

“She called it the ‘Water Snake Trick’ and used it to tease me.” Fang Xiu said softly. “She’d summon little water snakes and said washing with them kept me healthy, helped heal wounds, washed away all worries…”

He hummed the rest in a local dialect, quiet and gentle like clear water over stone.

Then he chuckled self-deprecatingly and stretched his arms to wash.

As if responding to his lullaby, with a squelching noise, the water suddenly changed color…

From crystal clear to murky blood-brown, mixed with bits of flesh and long strands of hair.

In the golden, idyllic light, this streak of blood red was violently out of place. Chunks of flesh slithered through the water, squirming and glimmering darkly. Tangled hair emerged slowly from the spout, alive with eerie grace.

The blood and flesh crept along the ground and the hair curled forward in a stench of rot, inching toward Fang Xiu.

Fang Xiu: “!!!”

He gripped the handle tighter and pumped even faster in surprise. This wasn’t water to wash one’s hand. It was ghost food full of promise!

The flesh: “?”

Fang Xiu panted as he furiously worked the pump. The evil spirit inside hesitated…its flesh quickly melted into the blood, the red growing faint. Even the dangling hair started to shrink back into the water pipe.

“Wait!” Fang Xiu lunged for the hair, grabbing only the tip.

It was sticky and wet, making it hard to grip.

He looped it around his finger and tugged like in a game of tug-of-war. The thing in the pipe resisted just as fiercely. In the end, Fang Xiu lost due to brute strength and nearly fell backward.

The pump water returned to clear, as if nothing had happened.

Fang Xiu exhaled heavily. He sulkily washed his hands and returned to the fire. The roasted chestnuts now felt hard to swallow.

He couldn’t help but poke Bai Shuangying. “There’ll be more evil spirits tonight. We’ll grab a few together.”

Bai Shuangying nodded. “How do you know it wasn’t a strong one?”

“After seeing Old Man Fu and Li Shuo, I’ve got a theory… Ordinary ghosts will pull jump scares. Powerful ones don’t bother.”

Fang Xiu gestured seriously. “Like little animals puffing up in fear, while massive beasts leave only giant claw marks. The latter doesn’t try to scare you, but they’re way more terrifying.”

Bai Shuangying watched him for a while.

When Fang Xiu said this, his nose wrinkled a bit and his lips curled into a smile. He looked at Bai Shuangying with unguarded affection.

Just as Bai Shuangying was beginning to understand that gaze, Fang Xiu looked away, toward Jiang Xun.

Suddenly, another scream rang out. It was from that same couple again.

The curly-haired girl cooed “babe” endlessly as she fed her boyfriend, like he’d hurt his brain instead of his leg.

A few eyes flicked over. The lip-pierced guy flushed red and shouted, “I’m not disabled!”. He then slapped the girl’s hand away.

Her face changed instantly. Just as she was about to lash out, the guy screamed again…

This time, he collapsed to the ground, gasping and wide-eyed, as if buried by unseen rocks. He flailed helplessly and groaned, eyes bulging like they might pop out.

Jiang Xun rushed forward. The pierced guy sat up dazedly, seemingly recovered.

“What the hell? Another taboo?”

The lip-pierced guy coughed and complained, “We didn’t even figure out the last one, and here comes another?”

Lu Yang licked his lips nervously and stepped up. “Maybe we’re not allowed to hit each other?”

It was noon and the autumn light was warm, yet all this weirdness felt even more unsettling.

Jiang Xun thought for a moment, then gave Lu Yang a light smack on the back of the head, but nothing happened.

“These two incidents were vague. There may be more conditions involved,” he said calmly, his voice deep and clear, instantly reassuring.

The curly-haired girl started sobbing. “I wanna go home. This place is scary…”

Before she could finish wailing, she shrieked again. “Fuck, my shoe…!”

Before everyone’s eyes, her right shoe vanished.

She had been wearing expensive, tightly laced Doc Martens. But in a blink, one shoe vanished like it evaporated into thin air. The girl panicked and huddled with her boyfriend, the two of them chanting “don’t be scared, babe” in unison.

The other newbies: “…”

Lu Yang glanced at Cheng Songyun and asked Jiang Xun, “Wasn’t it just three taboos?”

“You said: the wind outside is a barrier. That’s one taboo. The couple argued and lost a piece of flesh. That’s another possible taboo. He hit her and collapsed. Maybe that’s another. Now her shoe disappeared… That’s four?”

Jiang Xun replied coolly, “Three taboos are common, but it’s not a rule.”

Lu Yang responded with an “oh,” then looked toward Fang Xiu’s group with a bit of disappointment.

Fang Xiu, on the other hand, was quite enjoying the show, openly watching it enthusiastically.

Beside the ghost flame, Cheng Songyun mused aloud, “There’s so many taboos… Could it be like Weishan Village?”

Guan He shook his head. “It feels different. Back then, at least the ‘taboo punishments’ were consistent. These… are all over the place.”

Fang Xiu turned to Mei Lan: “What do you think?”

She had been quiet until now and didn’t respond right away. “I-I don’t know. I’m not good at analyzing this.”

Then she added, as if realizing something. “If you need help with anything else, just let me know.”

Fang Xiu just smiled at her and didn’t press further.

“Oh right, Bai Shuangying…”

Fang Xiu turned to his ghost…only to realize something was wrong. “Bai Shuangying?”

Bai Shuangying was gone.

……

Inside the abandoned main house.

Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating Bai Shuangying’s white robes.

He stood with his back to the light, his pale eyes locked onto a shadowy corner.

“I know you’re the master of this place. Don’t worry, I’ll pretend not to know.”

[……]

“Just remember, don’t interfere with my human.” Bai Shuangying spoke calmly. “If you act rashly, he’ll definitely see through everything.”

Static crackled from the darkness.

“You ask why?”

“Because I want to understand him. But he always gets distracted looking at others.”

So he needed more time… More, and more, and more attention.

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