Chapter Sixty-One: So Many People?

At this moment, the woman who had been awake all along finally spoke for the first time: “Honestly, please let him go. We haven’t seen any stranger you’re talking about.”

I could tell from her expression that she was sincere; there was no sign of deceit in her eyes. So I said, “No strangers have come to this village in eight hundred years, and what you people do doesn’t see the light of day. When something happens, naturally you’re the first suspects.”

The woman looked at me and replied, “It wasn’t us. Whatever it is, we didn’t do it. Besides, one of our own is still in your hands needing treatment. We wouldn’t dare lie at a time like this.”

There seemed to be something more in her words, so I asked, “So it wasn’t you? Are you saying there’s someone else?”

“I don’t know what you mean.” I saw her gaze had shifted away from me and she said, “What I mean is, we truly haven’t hurt anyone in the village, nor have we encountered anyone else.”

I grabbed her wrist and yanked her up, dragging her to the side of her still-unconscious companion. “Take a good look—both of you have been poisoned by corpse venom. We carried you down the mountain in the middle of the night. If you don’t want her to die, tell the truth—what really happened?”

“I…” Seeing her hesitate, I acted even more deranged, shaking her by the shoulders back and forth for a good three or four minutes. At last, she cried out, “I really don’t know! I only heard that lots of people were coming!”

Zha Wenbin hurried over, holding me back and turning to the woman. “Who else?”

“Other people. I heard there would be many coming, but no one shows their faces to each other…”

Zha Wenbin leaned closer. “Then why did you come? Was it just to rob graves?”

She nodded and then shook her head. “Only Boss Qian knows. We all just follow his orders.” Then, looking at Zha Wenbin with pleading eyes, she said, “Please, don’t say I told you, or my sister and I are finished. And please, you must cure my sister. I’ll agree to any condition.”

“She’s your sister?” I gestured at the still-unconscious woman.

“Yes…” At this, she began to cry, tears streaming down her face. “She took the blow for me. Otherwise, I’d be dead. There are monsters down there—lots of them…”

“All right,” I heard Fatty’s voice from afar. He came in, dragging the half-dead Boss Qian behind him. “No need for any conditions—just pay the seventy yuan you owe us for medicine.”

Fatty then turned to the sobbing girl. “Don’t be afraid, miss. Your boss has confessed everything. He’s not even as tough as you girls, just a coward! Zha, Yi—come here, I’ve got something.”

Once he called us outside, Fatty whispered, “That guy says it’s not just them. Lots of other crews have come to our village, all looking for some dish.”

“Things are getting uneasy. Did he say who these people are?” Zha Wenbin was worried for the villagers’ safety, since these types were rarely softhearted.

“He said he’s just following orders. According to his boss, at least five different outfits will show up in the next few days. They were just the first here. What’s so special about this godforsaken place? Oh, and I exchanged code words with him—he claimed to be from the Ding clan in Shaanxi. He says they’re coming too. Looks like it’s about to get lively.”

I mused, “So all the grave robbers in the country are coming here for a convention? There’s some gold here, sure, but it’s not like it’s removable. Let them do what they want.”

“It’s not gold, it’s a dish! Yi, their goal is definitely not what we found last time. What exactly is this dish?” Zha Wenbin was just as puzzled. He turned to Fatty, “Bring Boss Qian here for questioning.”

“No problem.” Fatty strode off and soon returned, leading a wobbly, grinning Boss Qian. “Come on, let’s all have a drink to calm Boss Qian’s nerves.”

Boss Qian forced a smile, clearly reluctant but not daring to refuse. “No need to go to all this trouble…”

Fatty suddenly barked, “Refusing is disrespectful, isn’t it?”

Boss Qian, apparently cowed by Fatty, nodded repeatedly. “Drink… I’ll drink…”

The drinking went on past midnight. At first, Boss Qian was stiff, but after a while he relaxed—probably famished these past days. After plenty of food and wine, he sat cross-legged on the kang and began to recount the whole story:

Boss Qian’s real name was Qian Wanguan, and he did have some connection to Master Qian the Rat, who had come here years ago. The Qian family was a branch of the Luo Sect, based in Bashu, a renowned clan with a thousand-year history. No matter who ruled China, the Qian family commanded power in Sichuan. Master Qian the Rat had been the family’s second-in-command. When he escaped back to Sichuan from here, he’d lost the ability to speak.

It’s said they even invited the abbot of Mount Qingcheng at the time. Master Guiyun, who was acquainted with Ma Sufeng, took one look and said, “Those who court disaster cannot survive,” then left. Not long after, the once-mighty deputy of the Qian family died.

After his death, he wasn’t buried. The family head brought in some experts in Gu magic from the Miao regions of the southwest. These men managed to entrap a fragment of Master Qian’s soul and communicate with him, learning what had transpired in Wildman Village and recording it all. The family head took this account to Master Guiyun, who gave only one cryptic line: “The Zhou people will return.”

With this clue, the Qian family head gathered all their talented members and began preparations. They eventually calculated that what they sought would appear in the next cycle of sixty years. But secrets have a way of leaking. As the years passed, the five great Luo families all learned of this matter. Qian Wanguan was just a vanguard, leading a team provided by his own family. The real event, he said, had yet to come.

“When will that be?” I asked.

Qian Wanguan poured himself another drink and muttered, “Someone will come for me. I’m just a scout. I wanted to prove myself, but I fell at the first hurdle. Even if I do make it back, I doubt I’ll keep my head.”

“So who are the Zhou people?” Zha Wenbin was more interested in this. He knew of Master Guiyun—Ma Sufeng had spoken of him with great respect, calling him one of the few true sages able to divine the will of heaven.

Qian Wanguan shook his head. “No idea. Zhou or Han, what does it matter.” He took a swig and went on, “You don’t know how evil this place is. When we dug down, there were grave tunnels everywhere—clearly the work of our predecessors. Some had collapsed, some were still open, like a maze underground. We hadn’t gone far when a horde of monsters charged us. Three died on the spot.”

As he spoke, Qian Wanguan picked up his chopsticks and gestured, “Like this—the monsters’ hands went straight into the guy in front of me, through his throat. I saw five claws come out the back of his neck—straight through!”

“Anything else?” Zha Wenbin asked.

“How would I know? I was lucky to run. I’ve encountered corpses before, but never in packs like this. No time to think of anything else—those things don’t play by any rules. I didn’t even flip their coffins…”

He tried to drink more, but Fatty grabbed the bottle and cursed, “Enough with the nonsense. No more drinking—go sleep!”

I wasn’t sure if Qian Wanguan was drunk or what, but his eyes were red and his voice faltered. He pleaded, “Let me drink, please. Every time I close my eyes, I see those things. Brother, I’m scared. I can’t sleep…”

Fatty shoved the half-empty bottle into his arms and kicked him. “Take it and get lost!”

After Qian Wanguan left, we began another round of discussion. The conclusion: this has nothing to do with us. Tomorrow, we’re taking Yuan Xiaobai back to Shanghai!

First: According to Qian Wanguan, all these people are big shots. There’s no reason for us to provoke them.

Second: This place is confirmed to be a corpse-breeding ground. Wandering around there is just asking for trouble.

Third: Our mission is done. All that’s left is to warn Old Miao to keep outsiders away and tell the rest of the villagers not to go into the mountains for a while. As for a reason, Old Miao can make something up.

But things rarely go as planned. Just as we hadn’t planned to come here in the first place, now that we want to leave, it’s becoming difficult…

Good night, and thank you all for your blessings. I’ve received them.