Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: [TBD]
Chapter Title: Suspended Tongues
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"Fugui? Surname Liu? The Liu family's kid?"
Chen Shi only felt that the name sounded somewhat familiar. Suddenly, his mind buzzed as he widened his eyes, staring at the skinny boy in front of him.
He remembered now—Sanwang had once mentioned that the last missing child was from the Liu family, named Fugui!
And this child right here was called Liu Fugui!
Could there be two Liu Fuguis in this village?
Probably not!
The skinny boy named Liu Fugui headed toward the village center. Seeing Chen Shi standing still, he hurriedly waved him over with a smile.
"Chen Shi, come here! I'll introduce you to a few good friends!"
Chen Shi hesitated for a moment before following him into the village.
He had originally thought he'd gained a living, breathing friend. But now, it seemed this friend was anything but lively.
"Chen the Talisman Master!"
Sanwang shouted loudly.
Chen Shi turned a deaf ear, continuing to trail after Liu Fugui. Blackie Pot hurried along behind him, its heart filled with unease.
The skinny boy moved quickly, and the other villagers seemed utterly blind to his presence, letting him trot all the way to the village center without interference. Just like the other villages, Huangyang Village's houses were built in concentric circles around the Godmother.
Chen Shi looked ahead and saw the remnants of an ancient palace's broken walls and ruins at the center, with a temple standing tall amid them.
The temple must have been built later. Though already quite old, it was still far younger compared to the surrounding ruins.
Inside the temple stood a copper statue seated in a meditative pose. No one knew from what era it dated, but it depicted a peculiar deity with indigo-blue skin and fangs protruding from its mouth. Even seated, it measured over six feet tall. If it stood, it would likely exceed ten feet.
This was Huangyang Village's Godmother.
Chen Shi followed Liu Fugui into the temple, only to see the area before the statue piled high with offerings—chickens, ducks, geese, fish, shrimp, crabs, melons, fruits, pears, peaches—an abundant spread.
Seated behind the offerings was a fat, big-eared man with a round face. One hand clutched a plain boiled chicken, which he was stuffing into his gaping mouth, grease dripping everywhere. His other hand gripped a sweet melon, his shifty little eyes darting about, wary of anyone snatching his feast.
This rotund fatty was presumably the divine manifestation condensed from extraordinary power.
Chen Shi glanced toward a corner of the temple, where several children hid, chatting with Liu Fugui.
"He's called Chen Shi, little name Little Ten—he can see me!"
Liu Fugui said excitedly to the other children.
"Dad and Mom can't see me, and neither can anyone else in the village. Only he can! He must be able to see you all too!"
The children immediately turned to look at Chen Shi, their faces lighting up with hope.
"Little Ten Bro, my mom's gone half-mad looking for me. She's been crying for so long!"
One child rushed to Chen Shi's side. As he spoke, tears rolled down his cheeks. He choked up.
"I saw Mom crying and wanted to cry too. I hugged her leg and told her, 'Mom, I'm right here!' But she couldn't hear me or see me. Can you go find my mom for me?"
Another child's eyes rimmed red.
"My dad and mom can't see me either!"
The one behind added,
"Mom's eyes are nearly cried blind!"
Chen Shi's heart sank. These four children were undoubtedly the four missing ones.
They had turned into ghosts, which meant he had arrived too late.
All four children were dead.
"As the Godmother enshrined by the villagers, don't you have a responsibility to protect them?"
Chen Shi turned around to face the gluttonous fatty behind the offerings.
The fatty paused mid-bite and swiveled his head, his gaze turning vicious.
Blackie Pot immediately lunged in front of Chen Shi, baring its teeth and growling low in its throat.
The fatty snorted.
"I'm only responsible for driving away evil spirits. Everything else has nothing to do with me! Little brat, for Grandpa Chen Yindu's sake, I'll let you off this once. Speak rudely to me again, and I'll eat you—Grandpa Chen Yindu won't even dare fart about it!"
He turned back around and resumed gorging himself.
Chen Shi was slightly taken aback.
"Everything else has nothing to do with you... So the thing that killed these four children wasn't an evil spirit?"
The village Godmother was duty-bound to exorcise evil spirits. But if the harm came from something else, she had no obligation to intervene—unless the villagers offered sacrifices.
Chen Shi had found it odd from the start when he heard about evil spirits stirring in broad daylight.
According to Grandpa, evil spirits only appeared at night because moonlight contained a strange power.
Evil spirits showing up in daylight was extremely rare.
The fatty ignored his words completely, offering no reply.
Chen Shi asked,
"Fugui, how did you die?"
Liu Fugui jumped in fright, shrinking back timidly.
"Little Ten Bro, d-did I die?"
"Don't be scared first. Think carefully—how were you abducted?"
"I was peeing, and then everything spun, and I blacked out. I must've fallen asleep. I don't know how long it was before I woke up. Then I heard my dad and mom calling my name..."
Chen Shi perked up at that. Hearing his parents call his name meant the incident hadn't happened far away!
Liu Fugui continued,
"I climbed over the wall and saw my parents looking for me. I told them I was right there, but they couldn't hear or see me. Little Ten Bro, am I really dead?"
Chen Shi asked, puzzled,
"You climbed over a wall? Whose house was it?"
"The abandoned house in the village where no one lives."
"The Tian family abandoned house?"
Liu Fugui nodded.
"Yeah, that's the one—the people there were surnamed Tian. I met these guys there too."
He pointed at the other children.
Chen Shi turned to them.
"You four, come with me. We're going to the Tian family abandoned house."
He led the four children out of the temple. Outside, a dense crowd of villagers packed the area, not daring to breathe as they stared fixedly at him.
Chen Shi glanced back, only to see Liu Fugui following. The other three children were trapped by the temple's threshold—they couldn't jump over no matter what.
Chen Shi returned to the temple.
"Come out with me. We'll go check the scene."
One of the children said,
"I can't get out. When I reach the threshold, it just keeps getting higher and blocks us!"
The other two nodded vigorously.
Chen Shi looked toward the fatty behind the offerings.
The fatty drawled lazily,
"Others eat the meat, I get the soup. These three little ghosts are dead—their souls were sacrificed to me. You can't take them."
Chen Shi asked, puzzled,
"Why can Fugui leave?"
"He's not dead yet. His soul just left his body."
The fatty added,
"Once he dies, his soul will be mine too."
Chen Shi gave him a deep look but didn't try to take the other three children. He said to Liu Fugui,
"Let's go to the Tian family abandoned house!"
He headed outside, and the villagers parted to form a path for him. Liu Fugui hurried after him, weaving through the crowd.
"This little talisman master gonna cut it?"
Someone said worriedly.
"Nothing in the temple but him mumbling to himself. Probably lost his mind."
Chen Shi paid them no mind and had Liu Fugui lead the way. Soon, they arrived in front of the Tian family abandoned house.
The abandoned house had earthen walls without a single brick, built from mud and lime with simple beams and columns, topped by a thatched roof for the front hall.
The front hall's door was secured with an iron chain, rusted and斑斑.
In the courtyard stood an enormous old locust tree, towering and lush, its canopy nearly shrouding the entire yard.
Anything farther inside was obscured from view.
Chen Shi didn't rush in. He set down his book chest and took out a small knife. Blackie Pot stepped forward eagerly, letting him prick it for blood.
"Blackie Pot, sorry to trouble you. I don't have any exotic beast meat here—I'll make it up to you when we get back."
Chen Shi ground ink and mixed it with cinnabar and black dog blood. Without using talisman paper, he went straight to the Tian family abandoned house's door and began drawing on it with his brush.
He circulated the Three Lights Righteous Qi Art. Starlight from all around gathered, forming the Big Dipper around his body. A divine glow suddenly appeared behind his head, condensing into a Divine Shrine.
Chen Shi held his breath, channeling his intent to the brush tip and his qi to the tip as well. With one hand wielding the brush like a dragon dancing and a phoenix soaring, he quickly drew the Yu Lei Diagram on one door panel. Then he exhaled sharply, and the divine glow behind his head faded as the Divine Shrine vanished.
At present, he couldn't retain true qi and could only manifest his Divine Shrine with a single breath. Once that breath dispersed, so would the shrine.
Chen Shi inhaled again, saturating the brush with ink. The Divine Shrine reappeared, and he drew the Shen Tu Diagram.
These two diagrams were the door god talismans painted on Peach Talismans.
As soon as the two diagrams formed, faint divine light burst from the door, growing steadily dimmer until it merged into the air, invisible to the naked eye.
Chen Shi exhaled a breath of turbid qi.
"The Peach Talisman shows no reaction. Looks like there's no evil spirit in this abandoned house at all."
If there had been an evil spirit, it would have triggered the Peach Talisman, causing the two door gods on it to leap forth and exorcise it!
With no activation now, that meant no evil spirits lurked inside the abandoned house.
"So, who exactly grabbed the bed-wetting kid?"
Chen Shi held the ink in one hand. With a light pinch of the other, he snapped the door's iron chain and pushed open the door to enter the courtyard.
Though he had no magical power, his strength was growing ever greater.
Blackie Pot and Liu Fugui hurried after him.
The villagers halted outside the door, not daring to enter.
The courtyard was overgrown with weeds and trees, the largest being that locust tree.
Chen Shi approached the locust tree, brush in hand and mind focused. Borrowing the bit of true qi that hadn't yet fully dispersed, he drew a Five Sacred Mountains Home-Protecting Talisman on it.
He spotted a dry well in the yard and immediately went over, drawing a Well Talisman around its rim.
With this setup—the Peach Talisman warding off evil at the front, the Five Sacred Mountains Home-Protecting Talisman at the center, and even the well sealed by the Well Talisman—the Tian family abandoned house was now impregnable, impervious to outside evil. Any evil within would feel crushed under five great mountains, unable to budge.
Chen Shi put away his brush and asked,
"Fugui, where did you wake up?"
"Right in the front hall!"
Liu Fugui dashed into the front hall.
"Right here!"
Chen Shi followed but saw no sign of Liu Fugui.
The front hall was empty save for an offering table bearing eight glossy black spirit tablets. Dust blanketed the table and chairs, with cobwebs draping the corners.
"Fugui! Fugui!"
Chen Shi called loudly, but the Fugui who had just rushed inside had vanished without a trace.
Chen Shi entered the left side room, suddenly hit by a biting chill. There, four pitch-black coffins rested neatly on benches.
Gathering his courage, he approached. The nails were still in place—it seemed they'd been stored here for a long time.
Chen Shi thought for a moment but didn't open the coffins.
He moved to the right side room, where another four black coffins sat on benches, not touching the ground.
Chen Shi frowned slightly. These eight black coffins must belong to the eight members of the Tian family. For some reason, they had been encoffined but never buried.
There were no signs that the coffin nails had been removed.
"Fugui clearly came in here just now—how did he suddenly disappear? Unless..."
Chen Shi's gaze fell on the coffins. He hesitated, then stepped forward to open one. At that moment, furious barking rang out. Chen Shi returned to the front hall to find Blackie Pot halted outside, refusing to enter. It simply tilted its head upward, barking nonstop at the rafters.
Chen Shi looked up and froze.
The roof above the front hall's main beam had clearly been renovated by someone. Instead of thatch or straw, it was fitted with impeccably smooth, thick wooden planks pitched in an A-frame. The planks gleamed with polish, and atop them sprawled incredibly intricate talismans drawn in what looked like some kind of blood—vividly crimson!
The talismans were enormous, each over a yard across, with five in total.
Their structure was bizarre. Squinting at them made the lines blur, revealing what looked like five ferocious heads with gaping maws and tongues over a yard long—like ghosts!
Five chains dangled from the mouths of these talisman-ghost heads. Four of the chains each bound a child by the hands and feet, leaving them suspended upside down from the ceiling.
The children's eyes had their upper and lower lids hooked open with fishhooks. Their noses were hooked and yanked upward.
Fishhooks pierced the corners of their upper and lower lips in four places, stretching their mouths wide.
Heads down and feet up, their bodies dangled at an angle. Iron hooks pierced their tongues and pulled downward.
Each iron hook connected to a slender chain, which ended in a palm-sized mini tripod.
Their tongues were stretched grotesquely long.
Blood dripping from their tongues flowed down the hooks and chains into the little tripods.
"Fugui!"
Chen Shi spotted the face of one child—the skinny boy who had wanted to befriend him moments ago. He shouted urgently,
"Liu Fugui! Wake up! Come on, wake up!"
The child seemed to hear his call, groggily rolling his eyeballs.
A surge of wild joy flooded Chen Shi's heart.
"Alive!"
"You're still alive!"
"Don't touch Fugui! I'll get you down right now!"