Cataclysm Chapter 63: Deserted Village 5; Xu Ani

Chapter 63: Deserted Village 5; Xu Ani

Translated by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

 

Chen Yang looked up: “Wu Lingjiu?”

The old professor looked at Chen Yang and Du Shuo and asked, “Do you know that young man named Meng Xi? His real name is Wu Lingjiu?”

Chen Yang: “Yes. You guessed it.”

“I didn’t think it was strange before, but now that I almost died in this weird deserted village, I know I’ve probably been lied to.” The old professor waved his hand, not letting Zhao Yao and Zhao Gang help him, “I can run faster than you guys, if I hadn’t just lost sight of the road and hit a tree, you wouldn’t have had to carry me.”

Chen Yang picked up the white bones on the ground and put them into the Ghost cocoon, then asked, “Why did he lie to you? “

When the old professor saw the Ghost cocoon, he took a step towards it and stopped, asking hesitantly, “It won’t suddenly jump out of the cocoon and bite me, will it?”

“No. It’s just a white bone. It’s normally just a white bone. But if the cocoon is broken and the moonlight shines in, after another three to five years when it has absorbed enough moonlight essence, it can come out to harm people. When they obtain blood then it becomes a Jingguai and it will harm people.” Chen Yang said. He subconsciously glanced at Du Shuo who was on his side.

At first Du Shuo was just standing behind Chen Yang. But noticing Chen Yang’s expression, he stood closer and directly had his arm on Chen Yang’s shoulder. Chen Yang naturally raised his hand to squeeze the big palm on his shoulder. The atmosphere between the two of them was very natural, a loving couple’s atmosphere, it did not make people feel out of place.

The old professor and Zhao Yao looked at the atmosphere between them and accepted it calmly. On the contrary, Zhao Gang’s surprise was written all over his face. Zhao Yao gave him a push, “No way. Usually you can pick up all the jokes I make. Now why are you acting so surprised?”

Zhao Gang was speechless, after a long time he finally uttered a sentence, “It was never in practice, ok?”

“Yo, you want to practice?” Zhao Yao smiled cunningly, and used her shoulder to pump Zhao Gang, “But you are at most the Shou and cannot top people.”

Zhao Gang was tall and thin but his face was on the feminine side.  He said very indignantly, “I am strong, Zhao Yao don’t say nonsense. I only like girls.”

Zhao Yao rolled her eyes at him, “Who started this joke?” Zhao Yao did not care about Zhao Gang and went to the old professor and Chen Yang and said, “Tianshi Chen, when are we going back to your companions? Will the corpse poison in my wound suddenly flare up?”

Chen Yang answered her, “It’s not that fast.” Then he looked at the old professor who was trying to touch the Ghost cocoon. The old professor noticed Chen Yang’s gaze and said, “I’m on a normal research trip to see what’s in the cocoons. I think, Meng Xi, or as you called him, Wu Lingjiu, he lied to me because I specialize in folk culture, especially funeral rituals. “

Chen Yang asked, “Then you have some understanding of the two funeral rituals in the Deserted Village?” Chen Yang immediately saw that the old professor was very interested in the ghost cocoons and told the professor, “This corpse should have been buried for more than three years.  As long as we do not do anything to offend it, we should be able to observe and make records.”

Upon hearing this, the old professor hurriedly called his two students to observe and make notes. They were observing and recording without damaging the Ghost cocoons, he replied to Chen Yang, “There are many funeral rituals in our country, and there are different funeral rituals among different ethnic groups. Many funeral rituals look weird and scary, but in fact they are related to their religious beliefs. It is meant to be a good blessing for the deceased, but most people are afraid of the corpse and death. That’s why some weird funeral rituals are unacceptable, especially water and tree burial. By the way, are you… are you a Tianshi?”

Chen Yang: “Yes.”

The old professor looked at the two of them and continued to record, “If you are Tianshis, you should also know a bit about these funeral rituals.”

“I do know a bit about it, but not very in depth.” Funeral rituals represent the religious beliefs, customs and cultural development of the local people, and you wouldn’t know about them if you didn’t deliberately study them. Chen Yang only has a superficial understanding of some funeral rituals, but not in depth.

Professor said to Chen Yang, “You don’t need to know too much. It’s not too good to understand this stuff in depth anyways. After all, when it comes to the dead, there are some evil things you have to believe. If you have no respect, then it is better not to understand this business. Some people believe that the fish is the embodiment of the river Gods, who will send the soul of the deceased to reincarnation. Some people believe that the tree is the place where the spirit of the deceased rests, so the deceased should be buried in the tree. However, very few people know about these now.”

The old professor recorded what he wanted to know and instructed the two students to observe more carefully. Then he stepped back and pointed to a dark corner of the forest, where there were countless tree branches, hiding countless Ghost cocoons. He said, “The tree is a place for the spirits of the dead to stay, so the deceased can have a place to live when they miss their loved ones and return to the village. But they always have to reincarnate, the soul has to leave one day. The tree body is both a place for the soul to live and a place that locks their soul from reincarnating. In order for the spirits to be reincarnated, a second burial must be carried out, which has been done in many places since ancient times. However, many people now believe that the second burial of bones originated in Minnan and Hakka. In fact, many places in Guangdong and Guangxi have this custom as well. When you are in this Deserted Village, didn’t you see the tin cans that go up to one’s waist? Inside is where they put the bones of the deceased for the second burial. “

Maybe it’s because he always lectures his students, so the old professor talked at length before he got to the main point. As usual, he explained in detail about the custom of the second burial first then finally said, “Water burial and tree burial do not occur in the same village, absolutely not. They are two different theological beliefs that cannot coexist in the same enclosed area. In fact, in primitive religious beliefs, water burial is a sacrifice to the river gods to protect the area from heavy rain and wind and drought.”

“This is exactly why I was interested in the Deserted Village. What made this small, closed village accept two different funeral rituals with tolerance? Later, I looked up the information and found that the first burials in the village were tree burials, and only later did water burials appear. Ergui Ridge was once a place where there were years of drought and corpses everywhere, so I suspected that the villagers used water burial to worship the river gods in hopes of being blessed with good weather and rain.”

Chen Yang’s eyebrows moved, “There is an ancestral hall in this village, which is dedicated to hundreds of nameless burial plates. There is a well in the center of the ancestral hall’s patio, and we found that last night someone was conducting a funeral ceremony at the well. If the river god is worshiped as you said, there is no one living in the village now, so why would someone still perform a water burial? “

The old professor said: “That’s why I came to visit the village myself…… No, I do not know the ancestral hall you mentioned and the water burial last night. I mean maybe what I have investigated can answer your question. The villagers moved out one by one, but before that this Deserted Village was a gloriously wealthy village for a time. Although people moved away because of the inconvenience of transportation and that led to its decline. I checked, the government was planning to fund road construction for a road connecting the village and K city. But the villagers still insisted on moving away, and after moving away, they all died one after another. The cause of death was accidents, they all died under odd circumstances.”

“The story is not over yet. The children that did not die, they grew up and forgot about the village, got married and had children of their own. After the birth of a child, they suddenly had accidental deaths leaving their own children to continue a new round of reincarnation.” The old professor asked them, “What does this sound like? Curses, retribution, and endlessly haunting the villagers of the Deserted Village for all eternity.”

Du Shuo whispered in Chen Yang’s ear, “It’s a Ghostly Grudge. “

Chen Yang: “Hmm?” The old professor also showed a puzzled look.

Du Shuo explained, “The village worshiped the river gods with water burial rituals by chopping up the corpse and throwing it to the fish in the river to eat… In fact, the flesh was thrown into the well for the fish to eat. Then the villagers built an ancestral hall and set up nameless burial tablets to trap their spirits in the ancestral hall for them to bless the village. The spirits forced the people to leave their hometown and don’t allow them to be reincarnated. We do not yet know whether those who were buried in the ritual died normally, or if they died in “man-made” accidents. The spirits are trapped in the ancestral hall day after day, and their grievances are so strong. Especially after they have lost people giving offerings. So they possessed the fish that had eaten the corpses’ flesh, therefore becoming Ghost Curses.”

A Ghost Curse was a curse, a murderous and malicious curse. The spirits give up their chances of reincarnating to become a curse to get revenge on people. It is very evil and eerie.

The old Professor said, “I remember, the villagers have a tradition that they will let their children drink the fish soup and eat fish meat on their 15th birthday ceremony. It means peace and health and also it is to wish for no diseases and disasters. This is the information I got after deliberately visiting a few families that used to live in the village. When I asked them about the village, they all had a look of secrecy. “

Chen Yang looked up at Du Shuo, trying to get clues from him. The hand on Chen Yang’s shoulder suddenly lifted and flicked his cheek, “There is a reason for everything, and there is a cause and an effect. Karma cycles and retribution are inevitable. “

Chen Yang: “You are getting more and more auspicious.” Du Shuo always liked to speak a sentence and hide the other one, now even the sentence he spoke was a riddle.

Du Shuo petted Chen Yang’s head and smiled, “Yang Yang is so smart and knows me so well, you must be able to guess it.” After he spoke, he raised his head to look at Zhao Yao and Zhao Gang. Zhao Yao was taking notes seriously, while Zhao Gang turned his head back and forth to see their intimate motions, his face had a strange and embarrassed expression.

Du Shuo’s voice was filled with laughter, but his eyes were cold and indifferent, piercing Zhao Gang directly. When Zhao Gang saw this, his heart jumped and he smiled stiffly, turning around and huddling with Zhao Yao. Zhao Yao looked at him and whispered: “Scary, right? “

Zhao Gang looked at Zhao Yao’s face and said after two seconds of confusion, “I just didn’t react for a second. I’m not even scared of the angry professor, why would I be scared of two gay dudes?”

Zhao Yao: “Hey! “

Zhao Gang: “Okay, okay, I’m sorry. I’m just a little uneasy, so ignore me for a while and talk to me when I get used to it.”

Zhao Yao shook her head and really didn’t talk to the disturbed Zhao Gang again. In her heart she thought, normally Zhao Gang could latch on to all the obscene jokes and is especially perverted, but it seemed like when it came to the real deal his psychological acceptance was quite low.

Du Shuo retracted his gaze and asked the old professor in a low voice, “Do you know why Wu Lingjiu lured you here to this village?”

“I don’t know. This elderly person only knows a thing or two about funeral rituals. What use do I have?” The old professor circled around the crooked-necked tree twice. He glanced at Zhao Gang’s notebooks which had less than a page of contents, and swiftly landed a slap on his face. He lectured him, “You think you only need to write down a few measurements of the cocoon?” The old professor let him go only after he apologized again and again.

The old professor said: “I really do not know why that youngster you spoke of would lie to me. I only study Chinese folk culture.  In my own field I may have had some achievements and the articles I publish are okay. If he wants me to find out the truth about this village and release it, then maybe he is an angry young rebel.”

The old professor was over 50 years old, but his thinking was very modern. He added, “If he is really playing this game, then I am sorry that he is wrong. I’m not a stubborn old man, I know some things can be published and some can’t. I need to consider the consequences before they are published, so I won’t publish things rashly.”

Chen Yang smiled as he and Du Shue waited and accompanied the old professor and his two students as they finished their inspection before taking them back to the village. While the old professor was examining the Ghost cocoons, Chen Yang whispered to Du Shuo, “Does Wu Lingjiu really intend to let the old professor find out the truth and publish it?”

What is the purpose of publishing it?

“The professor is quite accomplished in the related field, so it should be more than that. If it is published, it will cause a sensation and attract a lot of attention. If the incident in the village is exposed, will the hungry ghosts, ghost pupas and ghost curses in the village also be exposed?”

People would rather believe it to be true than not, just to be safe. For the vast majority of people will never see a ghost throughout their entire lifetime. A lifetime without seeing something must lead to doubts in their minds. If the ghosts are fully displayed in front of people, they will naturally no longer have doubts.

Du Shuo asked, “What do you think is the most important thing that Wu Lingjiu needs and lacks to restore a ghost kingdom?”

After a moment of silence, Chen Yang said, “Citizens. Without the people, the so-called nation is a joke.” Wu Lingjiu’s main goal was recruiting believers and people by luring the old professor into the deserted village to find out the truth and publish an article. Depending on the old professor’s reputation, the published articles could cause a social stir, especially for the people who are interested in funeral rituals. This is the first step to get people’s attention. The second step is to make people believe in the existence of ghosts. So he should have more plans than this, he needed solid evidence such as video footage of ghosts.”

The old professor and his two students walked deeper into the woods and saw another ghost cocoon. The ghost cocoon looked new, as if the person inside was newly buried. But the village has been uninhabited for several years. How can there be a new tree burial in the surrounding forest? The old professor instructed the two students to take notes quickly.

Chen Yang and Du Shuo followed behind and watched the whole process. Chen Yang said: “The old professor and his students are ordinary people, since they lured them into the village and have a use for them, they must ensure their safety. “

The old professor carefully opened the ghost cocoon and stretched out his hand to touch the dry corpse. A hand grabbed the professor’s wrist and dragged him inside the cocoon with immense force. Zhao Yao quickly grabbed hold of the professor and shouted with a red face, “Zhao Gang, come and help me. “

Zhao Gang tore off the talisman covering the wound on Zhao Yao’s wrist and pasted it on the forehead of the Dry Corpse. It froze for a moment, but soon after, the corpse tore the talisman off his forehead and crawled out of the ghost cocoon in a fury. Its limbs were like reptiles, covered with wood-like texture from the trunk of the tree. Seeing this, Zhao Gang skillfully picked up the old professor and ran. When Zhao Yao saw Chen Yang and the two of them from afar, she hastily waved and shouted, “Tianshi! Help! Help!”

Chen Yang stepped forward and kicked the corpse away. He untwined the red rope and circled it around the corpse’s neck then violently dragged it away. The corpse’s arms and legs were broken as Chen Yang dragged it back into the ghost cocoon and sealed it up again. The corpse in the ghost cocoon struggled to get out, but was unable to destroy the seal on the cocoon. 

Zhao Yao panted: “Oh my God, that’s so scary. Master Chen, didn’t you say you shouldn’t offend the corpses?”

Chen Yang replied, “A Jiangshi is not a corpse anymore. How can something that has become a spirit be considered a corpse? But it is not normal for so many ghost cocoon to house Jiangshis in this one forest.” 

“It’s getting dark, let’s go back first,” said Du Shuo. 

Chen Yang nodded in agreement and gestured for the three to go back with them. The old professor wanted to record more things, but seeing that it was really late, he agreed to go back. After all, if it was already so dangerous during daytime, once nightfall won’t there be a horde of demons dancing to eat them?

The group of five walked in the forest for a long time but still could not see the exit, Du Shuo pulled Chen Yang to stop and said, “We’ve walked through here before. He pointed to a crooked-necked tree that they had just passed. We are walking in circles.”

Chen Yang took out the compass and found that the compass pointer was disordered as if it had broken down. The old professor asked, “Is this a ghost hitting the wall? I remember the folks saying that you just have to stay in place and it will be good.”

Chen Yang replied, “Provided that the thing that trapped you here will not take advantage of the opportunity to kill you.” Both the forest and the village are very dangerous, it was full of ghost cocoons and hungry ghosts. If they encounter an ambush by a group of spirits, it will be a big problem, especially since they were escorting three ordinary people as well.

Du Shuo grabbed hold of Chen Yang’s arm and said, “I will lead the way, follow me.”

The sky darkened quickly, as if a black cloth covered up the lights in an instant. The dark clouds covered the sunlight and the forest was instantly flooded with darkness. The professor and his students came prepared, so they took out two flashlights from their backpacks and handed one to Chen Yang.

Chen Yang held up the flashlight and lit the way for Du Shuo, while he continued to lead everyone forward. The forest was getting quieter and quieter, with only the sound of their footsteps and breathing as they hurried along. Suddenly, a clear ‘crackling’ sound came from behind them. Zhao Yao shivered and asked, “Wha… What is that sound?”

Chen Yang said, “Do not look back, keep walking.”

The crackling sounds were getting louder. The sounds of stiff joints twisting and cracking was gradually clearer, denser, and closer. It was weird and creepy, moving closer and closer to them. Zhao Yao couldn’t help but glance back and her pupils dilated in fear. She hastily covered her mouth to suppress the scream that almost burst through her throat, and hurried back at running, her face pale and her forehead covered with cold sweat.

Zhao Gang glanced at Zhao Yao who was on his side and asked, “What did you see? What did you see?”

Zhao Yao hurriedly grabbed him, “Don’t look back!” But she was too late to stop him. Zhao Gang already looked back, his neck stiffened and his teeth grinded together tightly, “What the hell are those!”

Zhao Gang was too frightened and let out a loud gasp, attracting all the dried corpses to crawl out of their cocoons. The dried corpse charged towards them from all directions. Du Shuo’s unpleasant gaze landed on Zhao Gang, who trembled and hid behind Zhao Yao. Zhao Yao was quite unhappy with Zhao Gang’s cowardness as well, “You aren’t usually this unreliable.”

Chen Yang, who was holding the red rope with both his hands, turned his back on Du Shuo and said, “Brother Du, you lead them away to safety first.”

Just as his words landed, he saw Du Shuo’s big hand reached over and grabbed the red rope in his hand, “Even with me here, you would still rather fight alone?” He hooked up the red rope on Chen Yang’s neck, half of the Fengdu Emperor’s seal was strung on the rope, Du Shuo said, “The magic seal is powerful, you should learn to use it when being surrounded.”

“In front of the Fengdu Emperor’s seal, all ghosts dared not disobey. The heavenly soldiers and ghosts will assist.” Chen Yang placed the jade seal on the talisman and knew that half of it was missing, so he looked back at Du Shuo with watery eyes, “Brother Du, lend me the other half?”

Du Shuo flicked Chen Yang’s forehead, “Don’t play coy, use the heart seal. If I’m not with you, where would you get the other half of the seal to use?” 

Chen Yang clicked his tongue and concentrated on using his heart seal. The so-called heart seal was a seal that was not based on words or actions but it is rooted on the user’s heart. Every Tianshi could condense a heart seal of their own and everyone’s heart seal is different. There are two types of Heart Seals to formulate when using it to ward off evil: one is the user’s own Heart Seal, and the other is the Heart Seal of the Divine Soldiers or Demons whom the user is to borrow divine power from. Chen Yang needs to condense his own Heart Seal and merge it with the Fengdu Emperor’s Heart Seal, he could only utilize the strength of the seal if they communicate with each other.

The Fengdu Emperor’s Heart Seal was for killing ghosts, expelling evil, and subduing demons. It was not for goodness, transmutation, or salvation. It is also for killing and suppression of pure evil that cannot be transformed or saved. It may seem cruel, but the only way to save the innocent is through suppression and extermination of the evil. The sinner is punished, the good is reincarnated, evil is never unpunished. The order of the world is stable, good and evil are rewarded, karma follows in reincarnation.

Chen Yang opened his eyes as golden colored lights flashed. He held his fingertips in both hands, just like the Fengdu Emperor in portraits, he opened his mouth and said firmly, “Edict!”

The invisible Fengdu Emperor’s heart seal was imprinted on the talisman. It merged perfectly with the other half of Fengdu Emperor’s jade seal. The talisman rose above the forest, golden light enveloped a 10 meter radius with them in the center. The dried corpses were instantly turned into black ashes and merged into the ground under the light. The ghost cocoons that had just peeled halfway open sensed the danger and closed one after another, they were as quiet as wooden chickens.

For normal people who don’t have their celestial eyes opened, they should not be able to see the heart seals and the golden lights, but Zhao Yao saw the whole event and her mouth gaped in shock. The old professor narrowed his eyes and asked Zhao Yao, “What did you see?”

Zhao Yao replied, “Gold… golden light, blinding my poor dog eyes.”¹

The old professor’s face twitched as he told her to shut up and not to give shame to herself. Zhao Gang, who had been staring at Du Shuo and Chen Yang said, “You can actually see? I didn’t see anything, I only heard Master Chen say something about Dharma seal, heart seal, and then the dry corpses swished into ash.”

Zhao Yao was proud, “Hey, hey, hey, hey, does this mean I have some hidden talents?”

No one answered her, and they again rushed forward to walk out of the forest. This time there was no ghostly wall blocking them, but they still couldn’t get out since they didn’t know the way to begin with so they let Du Shuo lead the way. After walking for more than ten minutes, they left the forest and returned to the village which was shrouded in darkness. Behind the layers of greenery, there seemed to be a lot of dirty things lurking. The old things at the entrance of the alley were still, but occasionally even the wind could make sounds that terrified them.

In front of every building was an urn that reached to one’s waist, which according to the old professor, was filled with the white bones of the second burial. Speaking of this, the old professor was so excited that he wanted to open the urns and observe them to take notes. His two students were not so bold and insisted the professor not to go near the urns.

The old professor had to seek support from Chen Yang, who smiled and told him, “Inside the houses are hungry ghosts, do you know hungry ghosts? The hungry ghosts that are locked in hell and are insatiable… insatiably hungry.”

So the old professor dismissed the idea of going over to observe the corpses in the urns. The group shuttled through the narrow alleyway, not saying a word as they walked as they felt countless eyes glaring at them. The old professor knew that Chen Yang was not bluffing, inside every household was indeed countless hungry ghosts. These hungry ghosts were staring at them, intent on pouncing for their flesh and blood at any given chance.

But they seemed to be wary or maybe even fearful of something as they were just waiting for one of them to get separated. The two students also noticed this and together with the old professor, they stuck closely to Chen Yang and Du Shuo. Zhao Gang’s gaze fell on Du Shuo and he whispered, “We have met an extraordinary person, nothing will happen to us.”

It was not until they entered the ancestral hall that the terrifying and devouring gazes were blocked. The three’s backs were drenched in sweat, but they could finally take a breather despite still following Chen Yang closely. When Chen Yang and Du Shuo reunited with the others, Chen Yang gave a brief introduction for both sides. Chief Wu Yi applied herbal medicine to Zhao Yao’s wound.

After the wound was treated, Fatty, who had disappeared into the woods, returned and looked up at Zhao Yao with a fierce face.

Zhao Yao laughed helplessly at the others’ confusion and said, “I have never been liked by cats ever since I was a child, I just don’t understand why.”

Upon hearing this, Fatty became even more irritable, and a threatening growl came out of his throat. He then walked back and forth, threatening Zhao Yao with his upper fangs. Zhao Yao was slightly stunned and rubbed her nose strangely, “Even if I don’t normally attract cats, I don’t have to be this…… hated, right?”

The hair on Fatty’s body all shot up, in the midst of Fatty’s hoarse growl was a name, “Xu Ani!”

 

 

 

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