Chapter 60: Deserted Village 2; Ancestral Hall
Translated by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
The deserted village, formerly known as Bimen village, was located in the outskirts of K city in Ergui Ridge. The original name of Ergui Ridge was Hungry Ghost Ridge, originally referring to this mountain range. Feng shui was very poor and there was a series of years of famine and starvation that killed a lot of people. At that time, almost the entire Ergui Ridge was piled with layers of white bones, many families with children all starved to death here. As such the Ridge was also known as the Hungry Ghost Ridge, the name was later discarded as it sounded too evil, and they gave it a new name with the same pronunciation – Ergui Ridge.
Ergui Ridge was shaped like a large iron wok, in the center of the wok was the village of Bimen. Because the village was far away from the city and the main population, access was extremely inconvenient. So a few years ago the villagers moved out of the village one by one. Bimen village gradually became a deserted village. From a distance, the village looked like a land full of greenery, with creepers and vines climbing inside and outside the buildings.
Also from a distance, the village looked very beautiful, but only when you got closer did it create a sense of panic. A kind of deadly panic that followed you from all sides, making you breathless.
Chen Yang walked down the hill, the road was a bit rough and covered with fallen leaves. Du Shuo held Chen Yang’s hand to prevent him from accidentally falling down. After hearing the name Ergui Ridge and Bimen village, Chen Yang immediately said, “Punishment Bimen, human meat wonton. Gongtun Yushui, born as Hungry Ghost. I don’t know why, but when I heard these two names, this phrase suddenly came to mind.”
‘Punishment Bimen’ and ‘Gongtun Yushui’ were the names of the eighth ranking group of government officials in the Song Dynasty. Namely the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Works. The original meaning of the phrase was that the Ministry of Punishment had no way to receive their salary, so they could only scrape some oil and water from the poor people, which was called ‘human meat wonton’. The Ministry of Works was the poorest of them all, so they were like thirsty hungry ghosts. The Bimen village and Ergui Ridge were indeed related to this sentence to a certain extent. Back in the days, the officials imposed heavy taxes and the villagers were facing drought, the villagers were much like the Hungry Ghosts.
However, the connection between this phrase and today’s deserted village was inexplicably creepy.
Du Shuo said, “Most ghosts are cunning, you should pay more attention.”
At this time the two walked to the entrance of the deserted village, a large field of green vines entered their sight. The deserted village building had very local characteristics of being shaped like a bunker. Almost every building is a two-story tower with a two-meter-high door opened in the direction of the east. There are half-meter-high windows on the buildings, and the windows are so dark that it is impossible to see what is hidden inside.
Near the entrance of the village there are large trees, and their thick roots were stationed into the walls and towers. More roots, both thick and thin, snake and swirl around the walls, wrapping densely around the large boulders. These seemingly soft roots have terrifying strength, able to invade the hard stone in a silent manner, looking for gaps to burrow in and then from the inside strangle it.
The towers also had countless green vines completely wrapping around them in greenery. Now daylight was in full swing so there was just a feel of deadly panic. Once the daylight fades and darkness falls, the place will be completely shrouded in gloom. The whole kingdom of greenery did not feel alive without a population and daylight. All that could be felt was the eerie atmosphere.
Chen Yang took out a Witchcraft doll and a small bottle with a drop of blood inside. Chen Yang poured the blood out of the bottle and dabbed it on the heart and forehead of the Witchcraft doll. He drew a charm in the air and said, “Chi!”
The blood on the forehead and heart of the Witchcraft doll sipped through the skin. The next second the eyes of the Witchcraft doll in his hand visibly moved. Then it blinked, and finally the doll sat up in Chen Yang’s palm, holding Chen Yang’s middle finger and shouting sweetly, “Yang Yang, I am doll.”
The Witchcraft doll was a girl, originally it looked very weird and hideous. But because of the good temperament, it seemed very cute.
Chen Yang instantly adored it and greeted with arched eyebrows, “Hello doll, I’m Yang Yang.”
The Witchcraft doll shyly lifted her hair to cover half of her face and said in a delicate voice, “Yang Yang, are you looking for Sheng Sheng?”
Sheng Sheng?
Chen Yang quickly realized that the Witchcraft doll was talking about Yi Fusheng. In his impression, Wu Yi even though was female, did not smile and was a serious, responsible, and dignified character. She was absolutely not a woman who loved to joke, let alone being related to Moe. Chief Wu Yi and her elder brother, the master of Sichuan Province’s Changdao Temple were two very different people.
Chen Yang at first thought he took the wrong Witchcraft doll and thought that this soft Witchcraft doll was someone else’s. Chen Yang sighed, “I didn’t expect that Chief Wu would also have such a cute doll.”
Du Shuo said, “I’ve heard Temple master Yi sighed countless times that women change a lot as they grew up and was very troubled that his sister has become so cold and serious.” The underlying meaning of this statement was that Chief Wu Yi was once a soft sister as well.
The Witchcraft doll blinked her big watery eyes and said in a delicate voice, “Yang Yang, I will take you to find Sheng Sheng.”
“Okay, thanks doll.” Chen Yang put the innocent doll on his shoulder and was about to let the Witchcraft doll lead the way when its face suddenly became extremely hideous, and its cute watery eyes turned dim and indifferent. It suddenly bounced out extremely fast so Chen Yang could not react in time.
Du Shuo pulled Chen Yang, who was about to go after her, and said to him, “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”
The next moment, the Witchcraft doll jumped back to Chen Yang’s shoulder again, the beautiful clothes on her body disintegrated, she also had a broken arm.
The Witchcraft doll was hostile, “Cat ghost.”
Chen Yang looked back and forth at the Witchcraft Doll and Fatty, then explained to both sides that they were friends not enemies.
Fatty was too lazy to fake it and showed his disgust directly, but the Witchcraft doll also showed a condescending expression and said, “Doll does not like fat people.”
Fatty almost wanted to use his own 20 kg of weight to roll that ugly Witchcraft doll to death.
Du Shuo said, “Lead the way.” He stared at the Witchcraft doll and Fatty coldly and the two were immediately silent and quiet.
The two of them were afraid of Du Shuo, who said, “They are both Gu, same things repel each other.”
Chen Yang suddenly understood. Gu repelling other Gu means that when two Gu kings meet each other they will naturally be hostile. They would either kick them out of their land or devour them as sustenance. A Gu king was originally born from continuous fights as well, so it was their basic instinct to kill other Gu kings.
The good thing was that he and Du Shuo were currently suppressing the Witchcraft doll and Fatty, so they did not dare to kill each other. Don’t be tricked by the Witchcraft doll’s soft and shy appearance and Fatty’s ball-like fatness. They were both Gu kings.
The Witchcraft doll led them deep inside the deserted village. They went in a few alleys to see similar green towers. The difference was that the towers inside were better preserved than the ones outside. Even the doors were locked tightly without being destroyed. Outside the door was a large dark-brown altar, it seemed like the people used to put sun-dried radishes there.
Some of the wooden doors had large letters written on it warning thieves will die from their theft and such, as if there were still people living in these towers, but the quietness gave everything away.
Chen Yang looked down and found a Land temple, it was a small Land temple, it was also very dilapidated. Inside the temple, the clay statue of the Land God was also cracked. In front of the statue, where offerings used to be placed, only incense ashes and wilted flower petals remained. No one had given offerings for a long time and this place likely had no more Land God to protect it.
Chen Yang turned back to look behind him. He didn’t know if it was only an illusion, but he felt as if the greenery were overlapping like a sea of mountains, blocking the road where they came from and surrounding them. Du Shuo’s question came to his ears, “Yang Yang, what’s wrong?”
Chen Yang shook his head, “I feel the atmosphere is odd, but I can’t detect where it is coming from.”
Du Shuo glanced at the large greenery behind him, withdrew his gaze and said, “Let’s find Yi Fusheng and the others first.”
“Okay.” Chen Yang and Du Shuo then continued to rush ahead. After they had stepped away for three or four meters, in the land temple behind them, the broken Land God statue’s eyes suddenly moved.
After Chen Yang and Du Shuo left, the place became very lively, countless demons and monsters stationed there actively mingled. From time to time, an empty echoing of laughter filled the air, it was horrifying and eerie to the ears. Sounds came from the leaves on the tree. Fatty landed on the ground slowly wagging his tail forward, a pair of heterochromatic eyes glancing at the towers behind. When passing the temple of the Land God, he stopped to stare at the statue for a long time.
Fatty stretched out his paw and slapped the head of the Land God statue off. After shaking his paws his body flashed and disappeared quickly and agilely among the trees. When he left only half of the head of the Land God remained. It moved the remaining eye it had. The corner of its lip sank and it looked unpleasant.
A black shadow suddenly jumped through the forest extremely quickly. On all fours, it was agile and swift, dry black and deformed as a monster. It concealed itself into the towers, emitting a burst of sound similar to the chirping of insects.
After a few seconds, an object came flying out of the blockhouse window. It was a small piece of carcass. It had lost its flesh and blood leaving only skin and bones. If someone stepped on the carcass, they could crush all the bones. When it dropped to the ground, a ‘poof’ sound was heard, as if it was a deflated ball.
Chen Yang moved his foot away and looked down, “What is this? An air-dried animal carcass?” Under his foot was a black-brown leathery thing as if an air-dried corpse. Looking at the shape, it should be a cat.
The Witchcraft doll whispered in his ear, “It’s a cat carcass without breath.”
“Mn?” Chen Yang wondered, and Du Shuo explained to him, “A cat that has had its Qi sucked out. Qi was inside its flesh and blood, so it was the same as having all its flesh and blood sucked dry. Only the bones and skin of the cat remain. When you step on the bones, they all break into powder. Therefore the skin is left and it looks like it is air-dried.”
Chen Yang used his toes to wipe away the leaves to reveal two more dried cat bodies underneath, “Then it seems that this deserted village has something that is eating essence. Most of the essence-eating beings are JingGuais, but it does not exclude some evil spirits specializing in sucking essence to cultivate.”
Du Shuo said, “Let’s go, after dark all those things will come out.”
Chen Yang nodded and the two continued to walk forward. The Witchcraft doll led them to stop in front of a building that was different from all the previous towers. Those towers had the door in front, this tower had the door to the side. The door was locked and had gods and ghosts portraits painted on it. They had faded a lot but were still vaguely visible that they were once painted exquisitely.
The door could not be opened as a large plank of wood was used to lock the door. When Chen Yang pushed the door, it did not move. The Witchcraft doll whispered in Chen Yang’s ear, “Don’t break the door.”
Chen Yang and Du Shuo looked at each other and said, “I’ll go in first and see.”
Du Shuo, “Okay.”
Chen Yang took a few steps back and looked at the wall and the big tree next to it. The outside of the wall was carved with a mural of Gods and Ghosts. They were a little faded but the carving was still intact. He stepped on a protruding piece of the wall and jumped onto the tree, pointing his toes at the roots and jumping backwards to the eaves. Then, jumping down from the eaves, he went behind the door and opened it by pulling out the wooden plank. He let Du Shuo in and then put the plank back into place to lock the door.
In the building, in front of them was a small hall. To the left and right of the small hall were rooms. There was a small window on the ceiling of the hall above a well that was in the center with a wooden barrel next to it. The ground was covered with leaves. Outside the building was a large tree. Its overwhelming branches and leaves loomed over the hall, so even with the window above, it was still very dark inside.
Walking beyond the window was an even larger hall. It had a few tables set up. The last row of tables had a large incense burner on top with countless small incense burners flanking it. There were many incense and candles, either extinguished or broken. The burner was full of spider webs. Behind the incense burner was a wide altar that had many statues placed on top.
Chen Yang, “This was an ancestral hall.”
The table, the incense burner, the altar and the countless monuments showed that this was the ancestral hall of the deserted village. An ancestral hall was a place for worshiping the deceased. No wonder it was so far away from the entrance of the village and there were not many buildings near it. After all, it was a place of worshiping the ancestors, it was not suitable for the living.
Chen Yang walked towards the altar, and wanted to look at the monuments, but then he saw that there was an open space behind the altar. He went around the altar and found four dark coffins placed in the empty space.
As he was about to open the coffins, Du Shuo grabbed his hand and said, “I’ll do it.” While opening the coffin lid he said, “These coffins might have been here for a long time already, if there are corpses inside, it would produce corpse Qi.”
For normal people, inhaling corpse Qi will make them very sick. Even for Tianshis, if they inhale corpse Qi without advance precautions, it will also harm their bodies. After all, corpse Qi was both toxic and Yin and was not good for the body.
Chen Yang covered his nose with one hand and covered Du Shuo’s nose with the other. “It stinks.” Chen Yang glanced at the contents of the coffin and summarized, “There is a corpse that had rotted to the point where the bones stick out. The corpse is black in color. The head seems to be… Half of it was bitten off by something. Legs too. One leg up to the crotch area is missing. Looking at his clothes, it seems to be the most recent fashion. He is likely a person who snuck inside the village and died.”
Du Shuo saw Chen Yang covering his nose and looking at the body, his posture was quite laborious. So he stood behind him and covered Chen Yang’s nose for him, and also looked at the corpse in the coffin. “It looks half eaten.” The corpse only had a small piece of the face left, all the muscles of the face had rotted, and the corpse worms crawled around and out of his eye sockets.
The corpse’s eye sockets were empty. The eyeballs seemed to have been gouged out. Judging from the posture of the remaining half of his body and his remaining hand — he was still alive when half of his body was eaten.
Chen Yang said, “He wasn’t eaten here, he was devoured outside… where the leaves were. There are leaves on him.” He saw a lot of fallen leaves on the corpse. The coffin was placed behind the altar, so the leaves shouldn’t get inside the coffin. The only possibility was that the leaves were brought in from outside. It’s also possible that what ate him was covered in leaves. “I don’t understand why he was put inside a coffin… is it planning to use him as reserve food?”
Du Shuo, “Doesn’t look like it. The corpse was dragged back here from outside and temporarily placed in this coffin. Since those things gnaw on people who are still alive, it means they don’t eat dead people. There’s no need for them to store it.”
An ancestral hall in the old days was a place for worshiping ancestors, but also a place to hold weddings, funerals, and birthday celebrations. Especially funerals. For some regions, an ancestral hall no longer held weddings and celebratory events, but would certainly still hold funerals. Therefore, coffins will be placed behind the altar waiting for the funeral service to be held. Now, a decaying corpse was stored in a coffin. Since it was not the work of some monster that exists in the deserted village, it should be someone else who put the corpse inside the coffin.
Chen Yang asked the Witchcraft doll, “Was this done by the Chief Wu Yi and the others?”
The Witchcraft doll shook her head, “Doll can’t say.”
Chen Yang suddenly remembered that there was a reference about the Witchcraft doll in the Book of Spells and Ghosts, it mentioned that Witchcraft dolls are very loyal to their masters. Some of them are loyal out of sincerity, while others were forced to be loyal. No matter which it was, a witchcraft doll must be loyal to the Wu, and it is impossible to avoid compulsory loyalty in the refining process.
The Witchcraft doll had the blood from Chief Wu Yi’s heart inside of her, so she was her Witchcraft doll. The Witchcraft doll has only one task, which is to lead Chen Yang to Chief Wu Yi, and all other information about Chief Wu Yi cannot be told to others.
Chen Yang figured this out and asked in a different way, “Is this the work of the Tianshis who entered the deserted village?”
The Witchcraft doll replied, “Yes.” The doll had consumed Chief Wu Yi’s blood, so it could sense the memories of Chief Wu Yi when she was experiencing violent emotional turmoil.
“Who was the deceased? What killed it?”
The Witchcraft doll replied, “A dumb person who asked for death and I don’t know.”
Chen Yang, “It seems that Chief Wu Yi and the others so far do not know what is responsible for this.”
Du Shuo’s eyes crossed Chen Yang and stared at the coffin where only half of the body lay. Looking at the bite marks on it seemed to have reminded him of something and his eyes turned slightly colder. The Witchcraft doll was fearful and shivered as she tried to slip back into Chen Yang’s pocket. Du Shuo’s cold eyes swept over her and she dared not move.
Du Shuo silently ordered the Witchcraft doll to go back to where she was and stay there. So the Witchcraft doll crawled back to Chen Yang’s shoulder while silently choking on her own tears. She felt that Yang Yang’s partner was very scary. Yang Yang was so poor, he will definitely be bullied.
“We have some guesses, but are not sure yet,” A calm and pleasant female voice suddenly came from behind them. Chen Yang and Du Shuo looked back and saw a woman of about twenty-seven or eight years old standing at the entrance of the hall.
She was wearing a slim, modified minority traditional clothing. A red and black skirt and shoes, with silver chains, silver bracelets, silver earrings and a silver collar. She was not much of a looker, but she had a special style and temperament that was enough to make people ignore her looks and be attracted. Her face was expressionless and rather indifferent, “Chen Yang?”
Chen Yang nodded, recognizing her, “Chief Wu Yi.”
Chief Wu Yi’s expression eased imperceptibly and nodded at Chen Yang. Her attitude made Chen Yang feel a little strange, as if she didn’t know herself and had to make a special effort to confirm. But they had already met before, when Chen Yang was given the Tianshi Talisman. Chief Wu Yi was one of the mentors and assessors. Later they also had several contacts, so she should likely recognize him.
Chief Wu Yi could see Chen Yang’s confusion so she explained, “Inside this deserted village are some things that can pretend to be someone else. Before, that thing pretended to be you and lured me outside.”
Chen Yang nodded and laughed, “Chief Wu Yi is not afraid that I am also pretending?”
Chief Wu Yi, “You have my Witchcraft doll as well as,” she said with an arching nod towards Du Shuo, “Bureau Chief Du.”
Du Shuo also nodded in greeting.
Chief Wu Yi, “Doll, come back.” The doll refused to go back, clinging to Chen Yang’s clothes and refusing to leave. Chief Wu Yi frowned and looked unhappy, but the doll just obstinately refused to go.
Chen Yang then said, “Let it stay on my shoulder, I’m okay.”
Chief Wu Yi, “Witchcraft dolls are not easy to control. A Witchcraft doll that is not your own can easily produce curse power which is not good for you.”
“I know.” Chen Yang said with a smile, “Its curse power will not affect me, don’t worry.”
Witchcraft dolls were originally made as “cursed dolls” which were made to be used for cursing. So they have more or less the ability to curse people.
Chen Yang was also a Ghost Arts heir, and naturally understood these. The reason he was not afraid was that the curse of the doll did not work on him, the power of the Witchcraft doll depended on the owner.
Chen Yang saying this can only mean that Chen Yang’s Ghost Arts attainment was not lower than Chief Wu Yi anymore.
Knowing this, it made her all the more wanting to bring Chen Yang back with her to the Wu tribe and officially recognize him as a Wu. In this way, the next Chief of the Wu tribe would have a good candidate and the Wu tribe would not fall from grace. She said, “Come with me.”
Chen Yang and Du Shuo followed her through a small, inconspicuous door on the side of the ancestral hall to the outside of which was a narrow alley that only allowed one person to pass. Overhead was a shade of greenery which blocked the sunlight but let in some light. After walking for about four minutes they reached a blockhouse without greenery. Yi Wu long knocked on the door, three long and two short.
The door was opened from the inside by a man about forty years old with a goatee. He saw Chief Wu Yi and Chen Yang behind her. And to Du Shuo he immediately smiled and openly said, “Bureau chief.”
The bureau chief nodded indifferently and did not say anything back. The man and the Chief Wu were both used to it and let them in before locking the door behind them. Goatee introduced himself to Chen Yang, “My name is Liu Quanning, the supervisor of the North Temple Palace, and also the head of Guang Yue Taoist Association.”
Chen Yang, “My name is Chen Yang, Director of the Dafu Branch Office.”
“I’ve heard of it, you have solved quite a few high difficulty missions at such a young age. Even more, you are a rare Ghost Arts heir, Chief Wu Yi brags to me all day long about her successor.” Liu Quanning stroked his goatee and smiled.
Chen Yang felt that Liu Quanning and Ma Shanfeng were very much alike, not in looks but in their sleek temperament. Yi interrupted the conversation, “Go in and talk, don’t stand at the door.” When she entered the hall, she said to Chen Yang, “Only believe three parts of Liu Quanning’s words, the other seven are all exaggerated.”
Liu Quanning said, “I’m just modifying, talking is an art. Fellow Daoist Chen, don’t believe the words of Chief Wu Yi. Believe me, it’s better to say good words than to carry sticks and spears in one’s speech.”
Chen Yang scratched his nose and silently followed Du Shuo shoulder-to-shoulder into the room. With Du Shuo by his side, Liu Quanning at least restrained himself from saying anything more unscrupulous.
Chen Yang was surprised, “I thought eight young people snuck inside the village. Why are there nine people and a baby here?”
Yi said, “Three of the eight youths died, two went lost and only three were left with us now. The remaining six people, including the baby, came in by mistake because of a lost bus. They were separated from the others, we don’t know whether they are dead or alive.”
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