Go all out

Chapter 3: A Path of Joss Paper

“My mom?” Hearing my master’s words, I was immediately startled. Of course I knew exactly what he meant—that woman from earlier was the she-wolf who had nursed me as a child! Seeing my face go pale, my master immediately walked over. “What did she just say to you?” I felt a bit flustered, even at a loss. My mom had actually come to see me—but why didn’t she just say so? I repeated everything my mother had said to my master, word for word. He gave a cold chuckle, then looked outside. “Humans have their ways, and demons have theirs. If you truly have Xiaotian’s best interests at heart, don’t come here again!” My master’s voice boomed. I stared nervously at the pitch-black doorway. I didn’t know if it was my imagination or not, but in the darkness, I felt a pair of eyes watching me for a very, very long time—until they were finally swallowed up by the darkness, vanished, and never reappeared… After that day, I thought my mom wouldn’t come to see me again, and there were no more wild rabbits or the like at the door—until one day at noon, when the village chief pushed open the door with a sigh on his face. Since it was a cloudy day, my master hadn’t gone out. When he saw the village chief come in, he naturally stood up to greet him, and I walked over out of curiosity as well. “Oh, Chen the carpenter at the village entrance has died. Old Li, could you please go help take care of things?” The village chief’s voice sounded strange, as if he’d witnessed something terrifying. My master furrowed his brow and asked, “How did Carpenter Chen die?” I was also very curious. I had secretly read Carpenter Chen’s fortune before. Just in terms of lifespan—even if he wouldn’t live to be a hundred, he should have had no problem living to at least seventy or eighty. But if I remember correctly, Carpenter Chen wasn’t even forty yet. Could it be that my fortune-telling skills are just that poor? The village chief’s face turned a bit pale as he shook his head. “I can’t quite explain it…” “Village Chief, just tell us what’s going on,” my master said. Hearing the village chief say that, my curiosity was piqued as well. The village chief hesitated for a moment before saying in a shaky voice, “It doesn’t seem like he died of natural causes, nor was he killed by another person—but rather…” “But what?” I asked immediately. The village chief took a deep breath before continuing, “He was killed by some kind of wild beast. Carpenter Chen’s entire chest cavity had been ripped open—it was truly terrifying…” My heart skipped a beat. A wild beast? Could it be… My master’s expression darkened. He began packing up the funeral supplies on his own and followed the village chief out. I wanted to go with them, but my master turned around and stared at me with a terrifying look on his face. “Stay in the shop! Remember, if that beast comes back, tell her that she’ll face divine retribution for what she’s done!” With that, my master had already walked out. I stood there frozen, completely at a loss. Did my mother kill Carpenter Zhang too? Why? Why would my mom kill someone? I sat in the shop in a daze, not even knowing how I’d gotten through that afternoon. By the time I snapped back to reality, it had started raining outside—a downpour, at that. It was the sound of the torrential rain that jolted me awake. I checked the time—it was already around seven or eight in the evening. Worried that the master might not make it back, I quickly closed the shop, grabbed the big umbrella from home, and headed to Carpenter Chen’s house to pick up my master. Actually, I was mostly curious to see exactly how Carpenter Chen had died. Carpenter Chen’s house was right at the edge of the village, only about a kilometer from the shop. I walked quickly down the road, holding the large umbrella, and from a distance I could see his house lit up brightly. In our area, people aren’t buried until three days after they die, so today was the first day. I soon arrived at Carpenter Chen’s house. The memorial altar had been set up in his living room. His house wasn’t very big, so the altar area looked rather cramped. Since his death had only been discovered today, everything seemed rather unadorned. Carpenter Chen’s body lay on two long benches with a wooden plank placed across them, covered by a white cloth. The coffin hadn’t been delivered yet, so he’d have to make do with this for now. However, a photograph of Carpenter Chen had already been placed in the center of the hall. There weren’t many people in the memorial hall; tomorrow was when the close relatives and friends would come. So when I walked in and didn’t see my master, I quickly made my way over to Carpenter Chen’s body and slowly lifted the white cloth. I saw Carpenter Chen’s deathly pale face. His eyes were wide open, his pupils gone, and his eyes—filled with nothing but white—stared fixedly at me, as if I were the one who had caused his death. Such a terrifying sight startled me the moment I saw it. Did he die with his eyes wide open? I felt my legs trembling, but to find out if my mom had killed him, I had no choice but to grit my teeth and continue lifting the white cloth. Just then, I heard my master’s cold voice drift over: “Xiaotian, why are you here? Didn’t I tell you to mind the shop?” The sudden voice from behind made me jump back a few steps in fright. My face went pale as I looked at my master, my hand trembling as I pointed at Chen the Carpenter. “Master, his eyes aren’t closed.” “Hmph. He died such a gruesome death—of course his eyes wouldn’t close!” My master snorted coldly as he walked over, then asked me with a serious expression, “Has that beast come over yet?” Having my master by my side put my mind at ease a little, but hearing him speak of my mother that way left a bitter taste in my heart. I even wanted to argue back, but I lacked the courage… Mom, why did you have to kill someone? I shook my head—my eyes red as I did so. Seeing that I hadn’t spoken, my master said, “Let’s go back for today. Get everything ready tomorrow—we’re heading up the mountain!” “Go up the mountain? Why do we have to go up the mountain?” I sensed something off in the Master’s tone—I even felt a chill—so I asked immediately. “Why? To take a life for a life!” My master dropped that line, snatched the umbrella from my hand, and walked out on his own. I stood there frozen, at a loss. I was panicking—I felt utterly panicked. Was my master going to kill my mom? My mind was in chaos. I walked over to Carpenter Chen’s body, yanked off the white sheet covering it, and froze. Carpenter Chen’s entire chest cavity had been ripped open, as if by a sharp claw. His heart was gone, leaving an empty, hollow cavity—just like when we gut a fish, cutting open its belly and removing all the innards. It was a horrifying sight… I staggered back a few steps. Seeing him in that state, the last shred of hope I had clung to crumbled. Mom, did you really kill him? I don’t know how I made it back, but I knew one thing for sure: I couldn’t let the mother who had nursed me as a child die! Once I got home, I waited until my master had gone back to his room, then packed a few things and sneaked out of the house, running toward the mountain. The path was slippery from the rain, and it was pitch black. I ran alone along the road with a flashlight, falling to the ground several times, but I gritted my teeth and kept running toward the mountain. The mountain was right behind our village, but I had to pass through the graveyard—the place where our villagers are buried after they die. Since Uncle Zhang had just passed away a few days earlier, the ground along the path was covered with soaked joss paper, looking like a paste of wood pulp. It stretched out white into the darkness, making me feel a bit uneasy, so I couldn’t help but quicken my pace. But no matter how fast I ran, the small hillocks in the distance stood out starkly against the darkness, and the howling wind swept relentlessly, making everything seem eerie and terrifying. I clenched my teeth tightly. My master had told me that when someone dies, their spirit lingers nearby. I’d been with him for so long, yet I’d never seen a ghost—but that didn’t mean I didn’t believe in them. After all, Uncle Zhang had only been dead for a few days. Just as I was about to sprint past, an excruciatingly piercing sound ripped through the sky. First, a series of “plop, plop” sounds reached my ears, followed by an eerie laugh: “Heh, heh, heh…” That sudden sound startled me. Instinctively, I raised my flashlight and shone it toward the source of the sound. At the end of the trail of joss paper, a pair of emerald-green eyes was staring right at me. I almost screamed in fright, but it turned out to be an owl the size of a human head perched on the grave, staring intently at me. It kept opening its beak, emitting an eerie “cackle… cackle…” sound, just like a human. A cold sweat broke out all over my body. Hearing that kind of sound out here in the middle of nowhere really gave me the creeps. Luckily, I’m pretty brave; otherwise, I would’ve taken off running long ago. With my hair standing on end from the owl’s stare, I muttered under my breath, picked up a rock, and hurled it at the owl. The owl hooted a few times and flew away to dodge the stone. I shook my head, ready to keep walking, when I suddenly heard another sound—the stone I’d just thrown seemed to have hit a wooden plank. Why would there be a wooden plank in this graveyard? On autopilot, I shone my flashlight in that direction and, gritting my teeth, took a few steps toward it. The light revealed a newly erected gravestone bearing the name Zhang Shuquan. Wasn’t this the grave of Uncle Zhang, who had just passed away? I sighed inwardly and was about to go over to kowtow to Uncle Zhang when I noticed what looked like a dent—no, a hole—behind the gravestone in the beam of my flashlight! My eyes widened as I rushed over, only to discover that Uncle Zhang’s newly erected grave had actually been dug open, exposing a black coffin inside—and the stone I’d just thrown was lying right on top of it!