Chapter 18: You’re Still Alive!
“Fugui? Liu Fugui? A child from the Liu family?”
Chen Shi’s heart raced as he stared at the frail boy in front of him. The name sounded too familiar. Then, like thunder in his mind, he remembered—San Wang had said the last child to go missing was Liu Fugui, a boy from the Liu family!
And now, here stood a boy calling himself Liu Fugui.
Could there be two children with the same name in this village?
Highly unlikely.
The frail boy gestured excitedly for him to follow. “Come on, Chen Shi! Let me introduce you to some friends!”
Chen Shi hesitated, then began to follow. His initial excitement at finding a living, breathing friend was quickly replaced with suspicion. This friend might not be as “alive” as he had hoped.
“Master Chen!” San Wang shouted.
Chen Shi ignored him and continued trailing Liu Fugui. Black Pot stayed close to Chen Shi, clearly uneasy.
The boy moved quickly, darting through the village center. None of the other villagers seemed to notice him. They didn’t even glance his way as he trotted along. The layout of Huangyang Village was similar to others Chen Shi had seen, with houses built in concentric circles around the Godmother Tree.
At the village’s heart stood a temple amid the crumbling ruins of an ancient palace. Though the palace was long decayed, the temple looked younger by comparison, though it too was old.
Inside the temple was a bronze statue of the Godmother Tree. The figure depicted a strange deity with indigo skin, sharp tusks protruding from its mouth, and a seated posture that was over six feet tall. If it stood, it would easily surpass ten feet.
This was the Godmother Tree worshiped by the villagers of Huangyang.
Chen Shi followed Liu Fugui into the temple. Before the statue was a lavish spread of offerings: chickens, ducks, fish, crabs, melons, and peaches. Behind the offerings sat a corpulent, pig-faced figure—a manifestation of the Godmother Tree’s spirit.
The fat spirit gorged itself on the offerings, tearing into a boiled chicken with one hand while clutching a melon with the other. Its beady eyes darted around, wary of anyone trying to snatch its food.
In the temple’s corner, several children were huddled together, speaking animatedly to Liu Fugui.
“That’s Chen Shi! His nickname is Little Ten, and he can see me!” Liu Fugui exclaimed excitedly to the group. “My parents can’t see me. No one in the village can see me. But he can! He’ll definitely see you too!”
The children turned their hopeful gazes toward Chen Shi.
“Big Brother Little Ten, my mother is going mad looking for me! She’s cried so much…” one boy sobbed as he ran to Chen Shi, tears streaming down his face. “I hugged her leg and told her, ‘Mom, I’m here!’ But she couldn’t see me or hear me. Can you help me find her?”
Another child, eyes swollen and red, added, “My parents can’t see me either!”
“My mother’s eyes are almost blind from crying!”
Chen Shi’s heart sank. These four children were undoubtedly the ones who had gone missing.
But now they were ghosts. He had come too late.
All four of them were dead.
“Isn’t it the responsibility of the Godmother Tree to protect the villagers?” Chen Shi asked, turning to the fat spirit.
The pig-faced figure paused its feasting and glared at him, its expression fierce.
Black Pot leapt forward, baring its teeth and growling protectively.
The spirit snorted. “I only drive away demons. Everything else has nothing to do with me! Brat, I’ll spare you this time because of Chen Yindu. But if you dare speak rudely to me again, I’ll eat you alive! Not even Chen Yindu would dare say a word!”
It turned back to its food, ignoring Chen Shi.
Chen Shi was taken aback. “If this has nothing to do with you, then… the children weren’t killed by a demon?”
The Godmother Tree was bound to expel demons, but if the culprit wasn’t a demon, the spirit had no obligation to act—unless offerings were made.
Chen Shi had already found it strange that the attacks happened during the day. According to Grandpa, demons could only appear at night, as moonlight contained a unique energy they relied on. A daytime demon was highly unusual.
The fat spirit ignored him, continuing to eat.
“Fugui,” Chen Shi asked, turning to the boy, “how did you die?”
Liu Fugui flinched. “Big Brother Little Ten… am I dead?”
“Don’t be scared. Think carefully. How were you taken?”
“I was peeing, and then… everything started spinning. I don’t remember anything after that. I think I fell asleep. When I woke up, I could hear my parents calling my name…”
Hearing this, Chen Shi’s heart lifted. If his parents were nearby, the attack must have happened close to the village.
“I climbed over a wall and saw them searching for me,” Liu Fugui continued. “I shouted, ‘I’m here!’ but they couldn’t see or hear me. Big Brother Little Ten, am I really dead?”
“You climbed a wall? Whose wall?”
“The old abandoned house in the village.”
“The Tian family’s abandoned house?”
Liu Fugui nodded. “Yes, that one. I met these other kids there too.” He gestured to the other ghostly children.
Chen Shi glanced at the group. “The four of you, come with me to the Tian family’s house.”
He led them toward the exit, but when he turned back, only Liu Fugui was following. The other three were stuck at the temple’s threshold, unable to cross.
“What’s wrong? Come on,” Chen Shi urged.
One boy shook his head. “We can’t leave. Every time we try, the step gets taller and blocks us.”
The others nodded in agreement.
Chen Shi turned back to the fat spirit.
The pig-faced figure yawned. “Those three are dead, and their souls were offered to me. You can’t take them.”
“Why can Fugui leave?”
“He’s not dead yet—just a wandering soul. Once he dies, his soul will be mine too.”
Chen Shi stared at the spirit for a moment before turning to Liu Fugui. “Let’s go to the Tian family’s house.”
The villagers parted nervously as Chen Shi and Liu Fugui passed.
“Can this young talisman maker really handle it?”
“He was just muttering to himself in the temple—he might not be all there.”
Ignoring the comments, Chen Shi followed Liu Fugui to the Tian family’s abandoned house.
The house was a crude mud structure with a straw roof and a rusty chain locking the front door. An enormous scholar tree towered over the courtyard, its branches thick and sprawling.
Chen Shi set down his book chest, drew his knife, and Black Pot immediately offered its paw for a small bloodletting.
“Black Pot, I’ll make it up to you later,” Chen Shi said, extracting a bit of blood to mix with cinnabar.
Using the mixture, he painted talismans directly on the doors. Activating the Three Radiance Righteous Qi Method, he channeled starlight into a divine aura that manifested as the Big Dipper above his head.
With a steady hand, Chen Shi painted the talismans, imbuing them with energy. As he finished, the divine glow faded, and he stepped back to examine his work.
“The talismans aren’t reacting. That means there’s no demon here,” Chen Shi muttered.
Demons would have triggered the talismans, causing the painted guardians to spring to life and expel the threat. Since nothing happened, the house wasn’t infested with demons.
“But if it’s not a demon… what took the children?”
Chen Shi could only sustain his divine aura by holding his breath. Once the breath dispersed, the aura would vanish as well. He inhaled deeply, dipped his brush into the ink, and drew another intricate talisman—this time a depiction of Shen Tu, the legendary guardian god.
The two talismans—depicting Yu Lei and Shen Tu—materialized on the door. A faint divine glow emerged, flickering before dissipating into the air, too subtle for the naked eye.
Exhaling a breath of turbid air, Chen Shi muttered, “No reaction from the talismans. It seems this abandoned house harbors no demons.”
If a demon had been present, the talismans would have activated, and the painted guardian deities would have leapt forth to expel it. Their lack of response indicated the absence of any such threat.
“So, who—or what—is taking the bedwetting children?”
With one hand holding his brush and ink, Chen Shi effortlessly snapped the rusty chain locking the door and pushed it open. Though he lacked true qi, his physical strength was growing noticeably.
Black Pot and Liu Fugui followed closely as the villagers lingered at a safe distance outside, unwilling to enter.
The courtyard was overgrown with weeds and filled with trees, the most imposing of which was a massive scholar tree that loomed over everything.
Chen Shi approached the tree and, focusing his remaining breath, painted a Five Mountains Protective Talisman on its trunk. Turning, he noticed a dried-up well in the yard. Without hesitation, he inscribed a Well Seal Talisman on its edge.
Between the peachwood talismans on the doors, the Five Mountains Protective Talisman on the tree, and the Well Seal Talisman at the well, the house was now fortified. Nothing malevolent could enter, and if anything sinister resided within, it would be immobilized under the talisman’s suppressive power.
Putting down his brush, Chen Shi asked, “Fugui, where did you wake up?”
“In the main hall!” Liu Fugui exclaimed, rushing inside. “Right here!”
Chen Shi followed but was startled to find the boy gone.
“Fugui? Fugui!” he called out, his voice echoing in the empty room.
The main hall was barren except for a dusty altar table bearing eight pitch-black spirit tablets. The table and chairs were coated in thick layers of dust, and cobwebs clustered in the corners of the room.
Chen Shi moved to the left side room and immediately felt a chill. Inside, four black coffins lay neatly arranged on wooden stands, elevated off the ground.
Steeling himself, he approached. The coffins were sealed tightly with nails, indicating they had been untouched for a long time.
Chen Shi hesitated but decided against opening them.
Crossing to the right side room, he found another four black coffins, similarly arranged and untouched.
“These eight coffins must belong to the Tian family,” Chen Shi murmured. “But why weren’t they buried? And why does it look like no one has disturbed them?”
Returning to the main hall, Chen Shi pondered, “Fugui was just here. How did he suddenly vanish? Unless…”
His gaze shifted to the coffins. Just as he hesitated to investigate further, Black Pot’s sharp barking interrupted his thoughts.
Rushing back to the main hall, Chen Shi saw Black Pot standing outside, barking furiously at the ceiling.
Chen Shi followed the dog’s gaze and froze in shock.
The roof above the hall had clearly been rebuilt, replacing the original thatch with sturdy wooden planks. The boards were perfectly smooth, polished to a gleaming finish. But what caught his attention was the horrifying sight painted on them—five massive, blood-red talismans.
Each talisman was over ten feet in diameter, intricate and foreboding. Staring at them too long caused the lines to blur and morph into terrifying shapes. Chen Shi squinted, and the talismans seemed to transform into five grotesque heads, each with wide-open jaws and tongues extending over ten feet.
From the mouths of these monstrous talismans dangled five chains. Four of the chains held children by their hands and feet, suspending them upside-down from the roof.
Chen Shi’s stomach churned as he took in the horrifying scene.
The children’s eyelids had been hooked with fishhooks, pulling their eyes open. Their noses and lips were similarly hooked, distorting their faces grotesquely. Upside-down, their bodies hung at odd angles, and their tongues were pierced by iron hooks connected to thin chains.
At the end of each chain was a small bronze cauldron no larger than a hand. Blood from the children’s tongues dripped along the chains, collecting in the cauldrons.
“Fugui!”
Chen Shi recognized one of the faces. It was the frail boy he had just been speaking to.
“Fugui, wake up! Wake up!” Chen Shi shouted, his voice desperate.
The boy’s eyelids fluttered, and his gaze shifted sluggishly toward Chen Shi.
Relief flooded Chen Shi’s chest.
“He’s alive!”
“You’re still alive!”
“Don’t move, Fugui! I’m coming to get you down!”
Note: The specific talismans used by Little Ten in this chapter are detailed in the author’s notes. Be sure to check them out!