Chapter Fifteen: Viewing the Belongings

This old man Lei Ren—I'm increasingly convinced there's something off about him. When my old squad leader died, he was all the way in Dezhou. How did he learn the news so quickly? And he arrived right on my heels, seemingly unbothered by the cats and foxes that had blocked Old Qi's path along the way.

Most importantly, that bastard knows the "Food Curse" too. It's not as sinister as the one that left Wang Hou unconscious, but it's deeply suspicious nonetheless.

Could it be that everything we experienced last night was orchestrated by him? Arranged in secret by him? Perhaps even my squad leader's death has something to do with him.

Of course, despite all these doubts swirling in my mind, I couldn't confront him face-to-face, nor would it be appropriate to vent at the Zhao household. Besides, this old man Lei wanted to perform the "Five Sons Moving Mountains" ritual from Wuling Temple, and I was genuinely curious to see it.

That technique was far more authentic than the charlatanry of Duan Tianshi.

Perhaps because he shared my "superstitious" reverence for the Five Sons Moving Mountains, Zhao Haikun agreed readily enough to Lei Ren's "bargaining."

Zhao Haikun nodded and said, "You can look at the thing, but once you've seen it, you leave!"

Lei Ren inclined his head, sealing the deal.

With the agreement struck, Lei Ren turned and borrowed a stove and worktable from Gui Yuxiu—five bushels of yellow millet, all manner of cooking implements, nothing left wanting. Without wasting a word, he and his nephew plunged into the kitchen to begin making the so-called "Three Mountains Duel."

While that was happening, we weren't idle either. Zhao Shuihe was called over by Lei Ren to help. Whether out of spite or simple curiosity about what "Three Mountains Duel" actually was, Zhao Shuihe threw her lot in entirely with the Lei uncle and nephew, treating her own relative Zhao Haikun with notable coldness instead.

Before leaving, out of genuine goodwill, I advised her, "Keep your distance from the Lei father and son. We're family here—I wouldn't lie to you."

But Sister Shuihe shot back venomously, "Uppity brat! You won't kowtow to me, will you? Tian Buer, I've got my eye on you! Don't ever end up in my hands... You just wait..."

Her words earned a bitter smile from me. I sighed inwardly at my own misfortune—how did I end up with such a disobedient little "great-grandaunt" like her?

Since I couldn't stop her no matter what, I decided to let her be. After all, she wasn't my real grandmother.

Still, I knew that the girl spending too much time around the Lei uncle and nephew couldn't be good. She was too naive, and the Lei pair were cunning as smoke.

In contrast to my unease, Zhao Haikun waved a magnanimous hand and let her go, saying, "It's good for Shuihe to see a bit more of the world. She's still too young."

I nodded, then asked Zhao Haikun for three chi of coarse linen. As promised, I was about to take my place in the spirit hall and observe the mourning rites for my squad leader, dressed in hemp sackcloth.

Zhao Haikun hadn't expected me to actually follow through. He spoke with a hint of gratitude in his voice: "Haipeng had no descendants... I thought no one would keep vigil or wear mourning for him."

I placed a hand on Zhao Haikun's shoulder. "This is all I can do. The squad leader was my master—whether I perform the full rites or not, he'll always be my master."

Zhao Haikun nodded and had his wife wheel him back so he could personally cut the mourning cloth for me.

After that, I sent Zhao Hong and A'Si to watch over Wang Hou. Given his deep coma, I didn't feel easy leaving him alone.

And so the scene fell quiet once more.

Of course, aside from me, there was one other person in the spirit hall—Xian Hongye, who had been sticking close to my side all along.

I had my reasons for keeping her there.

Ever since that charlatan Duan Tianshi had appeared, Hongye had insisted there was something wrong with him, claiming he was deeply steeped in esoteric arts and had nearly cost me my life.

But because of the string of sudden incidents that followed, the two of us hadn't had a chance to discuss the matter in depth.

Now that we'd finally managed to get some time alone, how could I not ask?

So once everyone had dispersed again, I walked up to Hongye and said, "You mentioned earlier that Duan Tianshi nearly cost me my life... What do you mean by that?"

Xian Hongye's face was alert. She glanced around cautiously for a moment before speaking.

"Duan Tianshi is almost certainly a priest of the Orthodox Unity sect, and deeply accomplished... And in the midst of all his feigned madness, what he performed was not the 'coffin-sealing rite' for your squad leader!"

I was stunned. "Then what was it?"

Hongye's expression grew even darker. Between her furrowed brows and her gaze, there was a severity that seemed utterly out of place on a girl as pretty as her.

After a moment's thought, she told me suddenly, "What Duan Tianshi performed was a 'corpse-raising technique.' If you had held a mirror up to your squad leader's face just then, he would have sat right up as a living corpse and gnawed you to death!"

Her words felt like an icepick driven into my spine.

I thought back to the clownish performance Duan Tianshi had put on, and I still couldn't fully credit the truth of what she was saying.

Why would this feigning-crazed Duan Tianshi want to harm me? And if he truly had "cultivation," why pretend to be a fraud? And why insert himself into my squad leader's funeral in such a manner?

My head was spinning. With no better option, I turned to Xian Hongye to ask her for the finer points of it all, hoping she would explain in as much detail as possible.

Hongye, still carrying a hint of lingering fear on her face, quickly told me everything she had observed and deduced.

She began by explaining that she had studied literature and history in university. For her graduation thesis, she'd chosen a rather "sensational" topic—the folk taboos of the Han people—because so few people knew anything about it that her advisors probably didn't either, making it relatively easy to pass.

Of course, even if it was an easy pass, Xian Hongye hadn't just slacked her way through it. To complete the subject, she'd put in serious effort; merely gathering source materials had taken her the better part of six months.

During that time, she had come across materials concerning the magical arts of the "Orthodox Unity" sect.

That was why, here and now, Xian Hongye had recognized at a single glance that the rites Duan Tianshi performed were genuine "Dragon-Tiger Mountain Orthodox Unity Daoist arts"!

Moreover, they were the most sinister of all techniques—the "Yin-Opening Art," otherwise known as the "corpse-raising technique."

Having said this much, Xian Hongye explained in great detail: "When Duan Tianshi performed his rites, his movements may have looked comical, but the 'Pacing the Dipper and Treading the Stars' footwork beneath him was utterly flawless. On the surface, he seemed to be singing children's rhymes, but in truth, they were incantations keyed to the hour, the direction, and the eight characters of one's birth!"

"The eight characters?" I said, puzzled.

Hongye nodded and gave me an example. "I don't know the rest, but when Duan Tianshi said 'two tigers, two chickens,' it definitely refers to the double Yin and double You—that is, the third day of the third month and the tenth day of the tenth month. And 'Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, give birth to a monkey' was an 'invocation to summon the soul.' Is your squad leader born in the Year of the Monkey?"

My face went pale with shock. "He's not just born in the Year of the Monkey... My squad leader was born on the third day of the third month!"

At that, we both fell silent.

Those words of Duan Tianshi's that had seemed like nothing more than careless nonsense... had actually contained a curse encoded with my squad leader's birth information.

Finally, with cold sweat beading on my forehead, I asked, "What exactly... is the corpse-raising technique?"