Chapter 130: Keeping Vigil

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“It’s only a shoe. You can’t even suppress the ghostly aura from one shoe, Fatty?” I asked incredulously.

Fatty nodded. “That’s right. The yin energy is so heavy that if the old man weren’t an ordinary person, anyone else who stayed in the same room with this shoe for a while would either die or go insane!”

I looked at Big Brother, then at Fatty. “In your opinion, Fatty, is it appropriate to bury this shoe in my grandfather’s coffin?”

“If the old man’s corpse were in the coffin, naturally it wouldn’t be appropriate. A shoe with such intense yin energy would be like a catalyst, capable of turning the old man into a zombie as well. But since this is only a cenotaph, there’s no real harm. Normally, if I came across a shoe like this, I’d burn it immediately. If that didn’t work, I’d toss it into a cauldron of oil and deep-fry it. Still, it was probably one of the old man’s favorite possessions, so there’s no harm in letting it accompany him in burial. I’m just curious about how peculiar the old man’s tastes were. Of all the things he could have used as a token of love, he chose a dead man’s shoe.” Fatty scratched his head.

“My grandfather was not someone an ordinary person could ever understand. Strange people naturally have strange preferences,” I said with a bitter smile.

Big Brother had not spoken a word from beginning to end. He kept staring at the shoe on the bed, seemingly deep in thought. I asked him, “Big Brother, have you noticed something too?”

He shook his head. “No. I was only wondering where the other shoe is.”

Since Fatty had said there was no problem, we formally began arranging my grandfather’s funeral. We found a coffin shop, ordered a coffin, and had it brought home. We placed it in the living room, put several sets of my grandfather’s usual clothes inside, and set up a mourning hall. Although everyone probably knew that there was nothing but clothing in the coffin, we still conducted the funeral as though it were ordinary. We did not refuse the villagers who came to burn paper offerings and pay their respects, and Big Brother and I knelt before the coffin, keeping vigil over my grandfather.

Although our family was the only one in the village with a different surname, I had always gotten along well with everyone. On top of that, Big Brother’s reputation had been rising rapidly, so nearly half the village came to pay their respects. Then, in the afternoon, Chen Shitou unexpectedly came to our house with Chen Dakui.

The moment I saw Chen Shitou, anger welled up in me. Murder demanded repayment with a life, and I had already shown him mercy by not reporting his role in Third Granduncle’s death. He had tried to sacrifice someone to the River God and failed. If I had been in his place, I would have been too ashamed to stay and would have left the village immediately. Yet he behaved as though nothing had happened, and now he even dared to come burn incense for my grandfather.

“Stop right there. You’re not welcome in our home. Leave. My grandfather doesn’t need your respects,” I said.

Chen Shitou looked troubled. Chen Dakui glared at me, but he did not dare act domineeringly as he did with others. Chen Shitou said, “We’re only here to kowtow to Uncle Ye. We won’t do anything else. Once we’ve paid our respects, we’ll leave.”

I was about to answer when Big Brother gently patted my shoulder. “The dead should be laid to rest. Anyone who comes is a guest.”

Since Big Brother had spoken, I could not say anything more. Chen Shitou behaved himself. He led Chen Dakui to kowtow three times before my grandfather and burn incense. Then he rose to leave. Just before walking out, he looked back at me.

“Be careful. They won’t let this go.”

“Like a weasel offering New Year’s greetings, you obviously don’t mean well. You say they won’t let this go—but will you?” Anger flared in me at once. “Aren’t you in league with Tang Renjie and Old Liu?”

Chen Shitou sighed. “I was wrong.”

With that, he led Chen Dakui away.

Fatty also acted as one of my grandfather’s younger relatives and kept vigil before the coffin. He did not kneel, however, but squatted to one side. After Chen Shitou had left, he smiled and said, “Chen Shitou has dark circles around his eyes, and his son has a black line across his forehead. If Fatty’s guess is right, that fool is causing trouble for the father and son. Don’t forget, there’s still that child in Chen Shitou’s house—the one cut out of the fool’s belly.”

If Fatty had not mentioned it, I truly would have forgotten. I said to him, “Fatty, that fool is pitiful. If you have time, help her settle this matter. Heaven has the virtue of cherishing life.”

“Don’t put a noble hat on me. You just want me to clean up your mess, don’t you?” Fatty rolled his eyes.

“So are you going to help or not?” I asked.

“Of course I’m going to help. What can I do? Fatty’s just too softhearted.” He stood up. “I’m going to take a leak.”

Kneeling on the floor for an entire day was no easy task. By the time everyone had left that evening, I could barely stand. After dinner, Fatty sprawled on the sofa and began snoring. I told Han Xue and my mother to go to sleep, while Big Brother and I continued keeping vigil over my grandfather.

By midnight, I was yawning incessantly. If there had truly been a corpse in the coffin, I would have considered it my duty to keep watch. But I knew there were only clothes inside, and that changed my state of mind. I could not remain fully focused.

Seeing how exhausted I was, Big Brother said, “Go get some sleep. I can manage by myself.”

I had intended to agree, but in the end I was too tired to resist. I leaned against the doorway where I stood, closed my eyes, and immediately fell asleep.

The position was terribly uncomfortable, and perhaps because of that, I began having one nightmare after another. First, I dreamed that the Corpse King was gnawing on my grandfather. Then I dreamed that someone held a knife to my grandfather’s throat and forced him to skin my father. Finally, I dreamed that the skinned weasel enshrined in the ancient temple behind the mountain had brought a horde of weasel spirits to seek revenge against my grandfather for the skinning he had carried out years ago.

In the dream, I was frantic and furious, but I could not help my grandfather. I could not even call out to him. Just as my desperation reached its peak, I suddenly heard several cats yowling. Then an old woman with a cat’s face appeared before me, glaring at me.

Her eyes were icy and sinister. And on her feet, she wore an embroidered shoe.

I suddenly woke up. At the same moment, I heard a loud crash mixed with a terrible cat’s scream, followed by the sound of the rear window shattering. The dream and the noises merged together, and cold sweat instantly broke out across my body.

“What happened?” I asked.

Big Brother was standing at that moment, while Fatty was also staring toward the rear window. When he heard me, Fatty laughed.

“Nothing. A stray cat was yowling in heat. I chased it away with a stick. The window just happened to break too.”

I patted my chest. “I dreamed that an old woman with a cat’s face was staring at me. Then I woke up to the sound of a cat. It scared me half to death.”

“Look at how timid you are. But a cat disturbing the spirits is no good. Luckily, there isn’t a corpse in this coffin. Otherwise, that single cry might have caused the old man’s corpse to rise.”

“A cat causing a corpse to rise?” I asked, stunned.

“When a corpse is kept in the hall and the family keeps vigil, it’s because the person has died and the underworld officials are coming to collect him. The dead become newly made ghosts, and naturally they’re afraid when they see the Black and White Impermanence. That’s why the family must keep watch through the night. According to legend, cats are evil spirits. If one jumps onto a corpse or a coffin lid, it can cause the corpse to rise. It’s only a legend, and I’ve never seen it myself, but this is why cats and dogs are forbidden wherever a corpse is kept before burial,” Fatty explained.

“It wasn’t a cat causing the corpse to rise,” Big Brother suddenly said.

His abrupt statement sent a shiver through Fatty. He turned and glared at Big Brother.

“Sun Zhongmou, could you stop startling people like that?”

“An ordinary cat wouldn’t cause a corpse to rise even if it jumped onto one. That kind of cat isn’t ordinary. It is raised and fed by a spirit cultivator. Such people nourish their cats with little ghosts as food. It is an evil art. Spirit cultivators, also known as ghost raisers, cultivate by using souls and ghosts. The cats they raise are used to collect yin spirits for them,” Big Brother said.

“Like how you water ghosts have to raise a black dog?” Fatty asked.

Big Brother did not answer. Instead, he suddenly motioned for us to be quiet, as though he had sensed danger.

“What are you doing now?” Fatty shouted.

The moment his words fell, the light bulb above our heads flickered. Then it exploded with a loud bang, plunging the room into darkness. Only the brazier before my grandfather’s coffin still emitted a faint glow.

“Protect Yezi!” Big Brother shouted.

Immediately afterward, I heard the coffin lid tremble, as though something inside were about to burst out. But apart from my grandfather’s clothes, there was nothing in that coffin.

No. There was also that embroidered shoe.

Big Brother leapt directly onto the coffin. With his weight, he held down the trembling lid, while Fatty shielded me firmly with his body.