Chapter 1:
Events in Dongpi Village (Part 1):
A Shao Yang Tai Yin Fate, His Blood…
Twelve years ago, Chen Henian was just an innocent child, not yet the coveted “Tang Monk’s flesh” craved by ghosts. He was raised by his grandfather.
They lived in a remote village called Dongpi, where everyone made a living by farming and logging. It was said that places surrounded by high mountains lacked yang energy, creating an imbalance of yin and yang, making them prone to strange occurrences.
Dongpi Village had such a mountain, an ominous one. Near its foot at night, one could hear mournful cries. The entrance to the mountain was overgrown with a peculiar type of black-bellied grass, lush green with only leaves and roots. The adults said this yang grass blocked the gate to the underworld, preventing the unclean things on the mountain from finding their way down.
…
“Damn rat, out of my way! Scram!”
The speaker was the Hu family’s only son, nicknamed Fatty Hu due to his wide, pancake-like face. Standing by the road, he resembled a boulder, his cheeks puffed out as he glared at a weasel that had suddenly darted out.
The surroundings were dim, the road bumpy, and a heavy fog rolled in with a cold wind, creating a strong sense of yin energy. Walking on the ground made one’s feet feel heavy. The wild grass grew taller than graves, towering over the group of children. The creature that suddenly sprang from the grass startled them.
The ominous mountain was something used to scare children. Fatty Hu thought, since they had already climbed it, he had to act brave.
“Quiet down.”
His little followers clinging to him from behind didn’t share his bravado. They were the Huang twins, around thirteen years old, short in stature, known in the village as the Huang boys.
“What’s there to be afraid of? It’s just a rat!” Fatty Hu straightened his back, stood firm, and turned to point behind him. “I say, Chen Henian, go and chase that rat away!”
The addressed child, Chen Henian, looked up. He was the youngest, barely six years old, thin and small, with a sharp chin and round eyes. His old clothes hung loosely on his small frame. He had fair skin with a rosy tint. At first glance, he was a beautiful child.
He didn’t move. Fatty Hu urged, “Are you going or not?!”
Chen Henian replied quickly, “No.”
Fatty Hu’s tone changed, “Chen Henian!”
He glared, threatening with his eyes, but Chen Henian didn’t comply. He simply said, “Don’t provoke it.”
“Let’s go down the mountain now.”
Chen Henian took a step back, his small face bearing an adult-like expression, his voice clear.
He knew the creature blocking their path wasn’t just a rat, but a yellow weasel with spiritual power.
He had only heard stories about them from his grandfather. Yellow weasels blocked paths to seek acknowledgement from humans. But the yellow weasels on this ominous mountain were more sinister. Unable to descend the mountain to eat chickens, they would consume human flesh to increase their power.
A spirit weasel could look like a human. Indeed, he saw a human-like face in the weasel’s tongue-lolling expression. Its two black eyes stared fixedly at him, as if ready to pounce and devour him alive.
“Little coward, scared already?” Fatty Hu, seeing Chen Henian’s unusual expression, chuckled and proudly tilted his nose up.
Chen Henian glanced at him. “I said, don’t touch it.”
This emboldened Fatty Hu. “I’m not afraid!”
“I’ll do it—!”
With a shout, he strode forward, unstoppable, reaching out to crush the weasel.
The weasel suddenly grinned. Fatty Hu froze. He wasn’t mistaken, a weasel was actually grinning?
The weasel moved swiftly. Fatty Hu’s hand trembled, missing the weasel’s neck. Instead, he was bitten hard, and he yelped in pain, shaking his hand.
The Huang twins also cried out, but they didn’t dare approach. Fortunately, the weasel didn’t bite fatally and quickly released its grip. It jumped to the ground, licking the human blood off its fur, and a giggling sound emanated from it.
Fatty Hu was scared but didn’t want to lose face, covering his bleeding wound with a reddened face.
The weasel glanced at Chen Henian a few more times before disappearing into the grass. Chen Henian pursed his lips, knowing weasels were vengeful, and its departure wasn’t a good sign.
“Ouch.” Fatty Hu couldn’t bear it any longer, clutching his hand. He had thick skin but hadn’t experienced much pain. He grimaced.
The Huang boys said in unison, “Quickly wash it in the water. It’s not good to be bitten by a rat.”
“There’s a small pond over there!”
The two followers led Fatty Hu to the pond.
“Chen Henian, hurry up and come over here!”
Fatty Hu didn’t forget Chen Henian, his gaze filled with resentment as he looked over.
Chen Henian walked over sullenly. “Are you going or not?”
When he saw the pond, he said, “This water is dirty.”
The water in the pond was black and emitted a fishy smell. The bottom was invisible.
Fatty Hu’s hand was already in the water, the wound swirling in the murky blackness, mixing with red streaks of blood.
“Your mouth is dirty.” One of the Huang boys sneered. “There are fish in this water, big ones. How about we catch some and fry them? My mom would love it.”
The other Huang boy excitedly started rolling up his pants legs, but Fatty Hu dampened their enthusiasm. “Catch fish? How? If our clothes get wet, our mothers will beat us to death. And about us being on this mountain, don’t you dare tell anyone!”
The Huang boys reluctantly abandoned the idea, idly stirring the water with their hands.
Chen Henian didn’t see any fish. He was in no mood to play. He blinked and looked again. “There’s something wrong with the water. It looks like there are human bones.”
“Where?!” The Huang boy immediately retracted his hand, startled, staring at the water for a long time without finding any bones.
The three children looked at him in unison. “Chen Henian, are you crazy? Trying to scare us?”
“Do you think you have fiery golden eyes? Acting all knowing at such a young age.”
Chen Henian pursed his lips. “Fine, don’t believe me.” He was also getting annoyed. “I’ll go by myself.”
“Chen Henian!” Fatty Hu called after him.
Chen Henian replied, “I don’t play with idiots.”
“Hah! Little brat!” Fatty Hu was furious. Seeing Chen Henian turn away, he suddenly jumped up and pounced on him.
“What are you doing?!”
Chen Henian glared at him. Fatty Hu, in a fit of rage, lunged from behind, pinning him down. With his weight and strength, Chen Henian couldn’t push him off.
Fatty Hu laughed strangely, dragging him to the edge of the pond, his hand squeezing Chen Henian’s neck. “You jinx, you caused me to be bitten by that rat, and now you want to run? I’m not letting you go today!”
“Are you alive or dead? We just want to verify it today. If you’re an unclean thing, getting rid of you is doing everyone a favor! Did you really think we wanted to play with you?”
The Huang boys looked at each other, asking fearfully, “Are we really going to do it here?”
“We agreed on this from the beginning. Why are you scared? No one will care if he dies here.” Fatty Hu beckoned. “Come here, help me hold his hands.”
The Huang boys nodded, each holding one of Chen Henian’s hands. Fatty Hu straddled Chen Henian’s legs.
Chen Henian finally understood. These people had lured him up the mountain with malicious intent.
Fatty Hu sneered, “You little brat, when you grow old, you’ll be just like your grandfather, a lonely old man.”
“You insulted my grandfather!”
Chen Henian frowned. Despite being restrained, he was furious. He headbutted Fatty Hu’s forehead, but Fatty Hu remained unmoved, tightening his grip on his neck, pressing his head into the mud.
Chen Henian struggled to breathe. Fatty Hu’s face was twisted in a fierce, malevolent expression-he was going to kill him on this ominous mountain.
Chen Henian kicked his legs, sending mud into the pond, creating a splashing sound.
Suddenly, there was movement in the pond. Chen Henian glimpsed a pair of hands rising from the water.
“Ghost…”
Chen Henian struggled to utter the word, but Fatty Hu didn’t hear him.
With a splash, the hands grabbed Fatty Hu’s legs. Before he could react, he slipped off Chen Henian and was pulled into the water.
So fast.
Chen Henian gasped, calming down as only ripples remained on the surface of the pond.
“I, I think I saw a hand come out.”
The Huang boys covered their mouths, their faces turning pale. “It’s… it’s really unclean!”
They finally believed Chen Henian.
Chen Henian rubbed his reddened neck, pushed the terrified Huang boys away, and stood up.
There was no further movement in the water, but after a while, Fatty Hu’s voice came.
“Help me! Huang boys! Chen Henian! Help me!”
“I’m dying, help me!”
The Huang boys covered their mouths, trembling as they looked into the water.
One of them called out, “Fatty Hu? Are you still there?”
There was no response. Bubbles started rising to the surface, followed by a clump of something resembling black seaweed. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be human hair.
Fatty Hu’s hair wasn’t that long. Something was climbing out of the pond. It was a pair of hands, the same hands that had dragged Fatty Hu down, rotting skin covering bone. Then came Fatty Hu’s scream: “Why aren’t you saving me! Why aren’t you saving me! I’ll haunt you when I’m a ghost—!”
“There’s, there’s a ghost… Fatty Hu drowned, Fatty Hu is dead!”
“We’re doomed, Fatty Hu is gone, our mothers will beat us to death.” The two Huang boys were petrified. They screamed and scrambled away, only to find Chen Henian gone.
Chen Henian had already run. How could someone speak underwater? He left the others and tried to find his way down the mountain, but the tall grass disoriented him. The terrain was unfamiliar. He ran for a long time until his legs ached and his throat burned. He gasped, his face flushed.
The surroundings grew darker. Rustling sounds came from the grass behind him.
“Huang boys?”
Chen Henian hoped it was them, but he was perhaps the unluckiest person in the world. It was the yellow weasel that had left earlier.
Several of them, larger in size, stood before him, staring at him with human-like eyes, drool dripping from their mouths.
The weasel that had run away had gone to fetch its companions. Chen Henian had never seen such a scene. The weasels blocked his path. He started to back away when a hand suddenly grabbed his arm, its icy touch sending shivers down his spine.
Chen Henian spun around. The grass behind him resembled scarecrows, figures flickering in the shadows. The wind carried a sound – the sinister laughter of the weasels.
In a blink, a figure emerged from the grass. Long, black hair brushed against Chen Henian’s face. It was a woman whose face he couldn’t see. She was drenched, her body emitting a familiar scent of death. Not human, a ghost.
Chen Henian recognized the hand, the one that had dragged Fatty Hu into the water.
He was frozen, unable to move. He was trapped. Ghosts could steal souls. If he couldn’t go home, what would happen to his grandfather?
The female ghost’s hair fell on his shoulder as she sniffed him, barely touching him.
Ghosts had no breath, no warmth.
Chen Henian felt no pain. The female ghost simply raised her hand, her pale, decaying finger pointing firmly in a direction.
Then, she let out a sharp shriek, echoed by the cries of the weasels.
Her figure flashed past Chen Henian, pouncing on the weasels, tearing and biting.
The coldness surrounding Chen Henian vanished. He didn’t dare linger, running in the direction the ghost had indicated. He stumbled and rolled down a slope, covering his head just in time, though he still saw stars.
He finally breathed a sigh of relief, lying on the black-bellied grass. He sat up and looked up. The ominous mountain’s miasma was thickening. He quickly crawled through the grass and left the haunted mountain.
Covered in dirt and aching from his fall, Chen Henian didn’t stop, hurrying home along the small path, encountering no one.
Halfway there, he heard a call: “Little Nian! Dinner’s ready!”
“Little Nian!”
“…”
“Little Nian, where did you run off to?! Come home quickly!”
Only his grandfather called him Little Nian. Chen Henian immediately shouted back, “Grandpa!”
He ran towards the voice. When he got closer, Grandpa Chen saw him and grabbed him. “Where did you go?”
“And you’re covered in mud like a little monkey.”
Grandpa Chen wiped the mud from his face, not angry. “It’s dinner time, and you still don’t remember? Where did you go to play?”
Chen Henian glanced away. “Nowhere.”
“What’s wrong? Did you do something bad?”
Chen Henian’s guilt was obvious to Grandpa Chen, who held him tightly, staring intently.
“You… you!”
Chen Henian couldn’t hide it for long. Grandpa Chen saw the grayish-white mark on his shoulder and his expression changed drastically. “Corpse qi! How did you get corpse qi?”
He exclaimed, “Did you go to the ominous mountain?”
Chen Henian nodded quickly.
“You little fool!”
Grandpa Chen’s anger made his beard bristle. He was furious. He grabbed Chen Henian’s ear. “Didn’t I tell you, you can’t go there, you can’t go there! Don’t you know your own situation?”
Chen Henian’s ear was pinched. Before he could apologize, Grandpa Chen started spanking him. Chen Henian cried out before pushing his grandfather away.
“I didn’t do it on purpose!”
Chen Henian blinked back tears, his lips trembling. “They said they would only play with me if I went up the mountain! That’s why I agreed! I didn’t want to go up there myself, I just wanted someone to play with!”
“Who else?” Grandpa Chen paused.
Chen Henian turned away, ignoring his grandfather, and ran back into the house. Their home was filled with coffins and the wood used to make them and memorial tablets, a depressing sight. He kicked a coffin, but his foot hurt, so he huddled in a corner.
Chen Henian gritted his teeth, trying not to cry, but tears still streamed down his face.
He was a reincarnated ghost.
Before Chen Henian was born, his father had died. His mother, a widow for three years, suddenly became pregnant. Grandpa Chen, knowing his daughter-in-law’s character, immediately consulted the I Ching.
A deathly countenance, a ghost fetus. Grandpa Chen assumed it was a lonely, wandering soul that had entered his daughter-in-law’s womb. If she wanted to give birth, he would consider it part of the Chen family. But the birth occurred on a yin year, yin month, and yin hour.
Chen Henian’s mother died as soon as he was born. A Shao Yang Tai Yin fate, his flesh and blood were destined to attract evil spirits. To prevent him from being devoured, Grandpa Chen made him wear burial clothes, sleep in a coffin, and pretend to be dead to deceive the ghosts.
For five years, he hadn’t stepped out of the house.
The villagers thought he was dead, neither human nor ghost, something to be avoided lest they be cursed. When his grandfather went to the fields, he would stay home and play with grass.
Chen Henian didn’t want to play with the things of the dead, nor with the dead themselves. His grandfather made coffins and performed funeral rites, and he never participated. That’s why, when Fatty Hu, another village child, coaxed him, he followed him up the ominous mountain.
Thinking about this, Chen Henian’s eyes reddened as he sniffled.
“Little Nian, Little Nian.”
After a while, Grandpa Chen followed him into the house. He quickly closed the door and walked to Chen Henian. “Grandpa won’t hit you anymore. Don’t be angry with Grandpa, okay?”
Chen Henian turned his head, wiping his tears.
Grandpa Chen coaxed him, “It’s Grandpa’s fault, Grandpa was too anxious. Come to Grandpa, okay?”
Chen Henian moved closer. Grandpa Chen picked him up, placing him on his lap, wiping the snot from his face.
“Tell Grandpa, what happened on the mountain? What did you encounter? How many people went up there, who else was there? Tell Grandpa everything clearly.”
Chen Henian didn’t know if the Huang boys had made it down the mountain, but he was certain of one thing: “Fatty Hu is dead. He was pulled into the water and didn’t come out.”
He recounted the events in detail.
“That damned, unlucky child!” Grandpa Chen trembled with anger. If Fatty Hu were there, he would definitely give him a good beating, but now that he was dead… cursing a grave was useless.
Grandpa Chen sighed, patting Chen Henian’s head. “It’s alright, Grandpa is here. Let’s go eat.”
Chen Henian changed his clothes and washed his face. He ate his meal without much appetite. Before he finished, there was a knock at the door.
Bang, bang, bang—!
The knocking was aggressive, almost like pounding. Grandpa and grandson immediately put down their chopsticks.
“Open the door—!”
Grandpa Chen recognized the voice. It was Crippled Hu, Fatty Hu’s father. He must have come because of Fatty Hu. He went to open the door.
Grandpa Chen didn’t call Chen Henian out. He hid behind the door, peeking out. It was indeed Fatty Hu’s family, and Fatty Hu himself was standing there, perfectly fine, giving Chen Henian and his grandfather a stiff smile.
