The Three Ghost Stories of Jinzhong

Chapter 8

The one-eared wolf kicked Ren Bao hard, sending him sprawling to the ground, followed by several more kicks. Ren Bao rolled on the ground, trying to dodge, but the one-eared wolf relentlessly pursued him, kicking and striking him. Accustomed to a life of luxury, he was already panting heavily after just a few steps. Reaching the acupoint, he bent down to pull out the whip. Unexpectedly, the whip was as firmly rooted as if it were planted there. Caught off guard, the one-eared wolf lost his footing and fell to the ground. His attendant quickly rushed over to help him up, and at the same time, with a forceful pull, he yanked the whip out!

Besides the horsewhip, a large handful of soil was also pulled from the ground at the same time. In just fifteen minutes, the end of the horsewhip that was stuck in the ground had already sprouted tangled roots, the longest of which was nearly a foot long. At this rate of growth, in less than two days, the horsewhip would be a small tree!

Ren Bao stood up from the ground, dusted himself off, and looked at the overjoyed one-eared wolf with trepidation, saying, "Now does Master believe me?"

The one-eared wolf stared at the rooted horsewhip in his hand, repeatedly saying, "It's true, it's true, it's all true, sir! Quickly draw the acupoints, I need to send men to guard this place. Haha, my son is going to be emperor! Hahahaha!"

Ren Bao shook his head and looked at the one-eared wolf, saying, "Master, if I mark out the acupoints and others find out, I'm afraid they'll be taken before you even die!"

The one-eared wolf's eyes darted around, and he understood immediately. His follower realized it too; he reached for his gun, but the one-eared wolf's weapon had already fired, and the follower collapsed to the ground, clutching his chest. The one-eared wolf blew on the smoke rising from the muzzle and said to Ren Bao, "Now you're not afraid of anyone finding out, are you?"

---janeadam

Reply [19]: Ren Bao marked the spot and returned to town with One-Eared Wolf. That night, One-Eared Wolf bribed the prison administration and transferred two death row inmates from the county jail. The four of them quietly arrived at the mass grave. Ren Bao marked the location of the burial site, and One-Eared Wolf coerced the two prisoners to start digging. By the middle of the night, the grave was completed. Since it was not needed for the time being, a passageway was specially left for future access. Ren Bao stepped forward and looked around in the dim starlight. He couldn't help but admire the exquisite location of the grave.

Directly ahead, what is commonly known as the "Bright Hall," is a dried-up riverbed stretching from left to right. The yellow sand and pebbles accumulated over the years on the riverbed reflect a hazy light, resembling a winding earthworm or the Chinese character "玄" (xuan) in running script; this is the "Mysterious Water." Ren Bao counts from the first bend: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9! This is what the "Inner Chapters of the Book of Burial" says: "Nine bends coming to pay homage, a prime minister will surely emerge; nine bends passing through the hall, a position close to the emperor." Turning to the left at the "opening tent" area, jagged rocks rise abruptly, stretching for dozens of miles, invisible to the eye, interspersed with "Huagai Peak" and "Santai Peak," like pen holders accompanying the emperor on the left. This is what the book describes as "a noble dragon opening its tent, with broad shoulders and a prominent head, exuding a majestic and imposing aura, with the four stars of Lu Cun, Wen Qu, Lian Zhen, and Zuo Fu arranged in a row." Looking to the right at the "burial site," the dense forest resembles a forest of swords, and the wind blowing through the leaves makes them sway like thousands of banners fluttering, a solemn and imposing sight. This is what the book describes as "a noble dragon forming a burial site, with an arched back and protruding neck, its feathered scales standing tall, its momentum thirsting for the rivers and seas. The four stars of Ju Men, Wu Qu, Po Jun, and You Bi are arranged in a row." Looking back at the high peak to the north, it is a pillar reaching to the sky, with a flat summit and protruding rocks on the steep slope hanging down from top to bottom like a beaded curtain, just as the book describes: "The mountain peaks are square in the sky and round in the earth, the five elements are in harmony, the waist of the peak is like a crane's knee, and the collapse is like a silk thread, with the star of Tan Lang in the way." At this point, the nine stars surround the burial site, and the dragon vein is complete.

Ren Bao explained, praising the story endlessly. The one-eared wolf listened quietly, but his face slowly darkened, unnoticed by Ren Bao. He leaped into the tomb, letting out another scream.

The walls of the tomb clearly reflect the geological changes in this area. From bottom to top, the layers of mixed rock, black soil, red veins, sandbars, yellow mud, and water-retaining formations are distinct—this is the essence of "sand encircling water." It truly is a place where the wind is contained and energy is gathered, a place of outstanding natural beauty. Ren Bao couldn't help but shout again, "Congratulations, sir! This is truly a rare and auspicious burial site! Your descendants will surely ascend to the throne!"

The one-eared wolf peered down, but because of the backlighting, Ren Bao couldn't see the expression on his face: "Sir, do you know if this burial site needs to be cleansed of evil spirits again?"

Ren Bao looked up and said, "No need. I've already checked. There's no conflict in the surrounding terrain, and no incompatible elements in the burial site. As long as you are buried here after your death, you'll see results in ten years at the latest!" He reached out and grabbed the rope hanging on the wall, intending to climb into the tomb.

Unexpectedly, the one-eared wolf suddenly pulled the rope, and Ren Bao was released from his grasp. He was startled: "Master, what are you doing? If you let me die in this Tengyang Cave, it won't be of any use after you pass away!"

"Hehe, I won't kill you. I just want to ask you, is there any way to make this acupoint take effect faster? You think I still have fifteen years to live? After I die, I don't have the patience to make my descendants wait another ten years!" The one-eared wolf's voice came from above.

Ren Bao's heart skipped a beat: "Could he really know?" He tentatively said, "How could that be? Master, I have no idea how to make the acupoints work faster!"

The one-eared wolf remained silent for a long time before saying, "You don't know? Hmph, how could you not know? You just don't want to tell me! You don't know about the Warm Cave?"

Upon hearing the words "warming acupoints," Ren Bao's mind went blank, and all the blood in his body began to rush to the top of his head.

When a ghost places a burial site for a living person, no matter how auspicious the site, because it is predicted according to the trends of celestial movement and earth's energy flow, it is not as effective as a site placed after the person's death, when their fate is already predetermined. In such cases, there is a way to speed up the effect of the burial: the person placing the burial site must warm the site.

A burial site is the final resting place of the dead. The initial burial of a newly deceased person is like moving into a new house. Ordinary people, after moving into a new home, invite friends or relatives over for a meal to bring some life and dispel the wandering spirits in the new house, making it more suitable for habitation—a custom known as "warming the house." However, a new burial site contains both yin and yang energies. After burial, the deceased's soul, fearing the remaining yang energy, will remain dormant for a period, the duration varying depending on the concentration of yang energy. Only after all the surrounding yang energy dissipates can the soul escape and protect future generations. Now, Ren Bao has already dug up the grave, leaving only the tomb passage for communication with the outside world. The yang energy within the grave is actually far greater than in other burial sites. To dispel the leaking yang energy and ensure the burial site takes effect on schedule, the person entering the grave must fast for a day within the grave. The yin energy brought by the deceased fills the grave—this is called "warming the burial site."

---janeadam

Reply [20]: But the idea of warming the acupoint has been extremely dangerous since ancient times. The human body is originally a balance of Yin and Yang, so it can survive at noon when it is most Yang and midnight when it is most Yin. If all the Yin energy in the body is absorbed during the warming process, only Yang energy will remain in the body to resist the cold. Then the ghost can survive at night, but during the day, as the Yin energy gradually recedes, the body temperature will rise because the Yang energy in the body has nowhere to be countered. At noon, the whole body will be unbearably hot, and the mind will be unclear and crazy. If this continues, it will definitely die within a year. There are even ghosts with short Yin energy who die suddenly during the warming process due to the imbalance of Yin and Yang. Even if they are lucky enough to get out of the tomb, in order to prolong their life, they can only live in the cave from then on, going out at night and staying in the daytime, like a living dead.

Ren Bao was well aware of the importance of warming acupoints, but no one is willing to sacrifice their life for someone else. However, he never expected that the One-Eared Wolf actually knew these things, and judging from the looks of it, he was determined to warm his acupoints. He regretted jumping into the cave and digging the acupoints so deep, but it was too late. The One-Eared Wolf had already instructed four prisoners to begin filling the entrance. The stars in the sky gradually diminished, and the light faded until the tomb was completely dark. Ren Bao approached the tomb entrance, greedily breathing in the fresh night air through the winding passage. He heard the One-Eared Wolf's voice coming from the passage: "Sir, you only need to stay in there for one day. I'll come and open the acupoints by this time tomorrow. From now on, I'll take care of you in your old age, so don't worry. Haha!"

Ren Bao frantically dug at the bricks and stones at the entrance of the tomb passage with his hands, but the huge stones were firmly pressed down by the soil. After only a few digs, a piercing pain shot through his fingertips; several pieces of his fingernails had already been torn off. His fingers were incredibly sensitive to pressure. Ren Bao sat down helplessly, hearing several muffled gunshots from above. He knew the two prisoners had also been killed. Dust fell from above, accompanied by the sound of the one-eared wolf's departing horse's hooves.

Silence returned to the surroundings. Ren Bao sat alone in the tomb, the pain in his fingertips no longer so agonizing; he felt only utter despair. He never imagined he would fall into the One-Eared Wolf's trap. How difficult it was to live in this world! Was revenge and redress merely an illusion? Why did those deeply sinful and cruel people go unpunished, while those kind and compassionate met tragic ends? "God, do you even have eyes?" Ren Bao thought bitterly. The physical pain combined with the despair quickly wore him down. He closed his eyes, as if escaping the cruel world, even the darkness seemed peaceful. He slowly fell asleep.

In a daze, Ren Bao was awakened by the constant falling dirt from above. He opened his eyes, reached up, and found that half of his leg was buried in the mud. Dirt continued to fall from above, as if someone was moving about. Curious, Ren Bao listened intently and heard a rustling sound coming from the soil, as if someone was digging! Could it be the One-Eared Wolf returning? Ren Bao immediately dismissed the thought. Then who could it be? The sound was getting closer, as if they were almost through. Ren Bao's spirits lifted instantly. He ducked around the corner of the tomb passage, watching hopefully as the dirt began to fall from the top of the tomb.

Suddenly, a bright light appeared before their eyes, and they could hear the whistling wind across the fields at night. The entrance to the hole had been dug through, and a figure was struggling to dig above it. The entrance grew larger and larger until it was just big enough for one person to crawl out, at which point a rope was lowered down. Someone gently shook the other end of the rope.

Full of doubt, Ren Bao walked to the rope and pulled it down hard. The rope was very strong, and he guessed that the other end was tied to a tree. He climbed up using both his hands and feet, and sure enough, the other end of the rope was tightly tied to a nearby tree. A blurry figure stood next to the tree. Because it was backlit, he could not see the person's face. He just stood there quietly.

---janeadam

Reply [21]: Ren Bao walked towards the person while reeling in the rope. The closer he got, the clearer the person's figure became. Ren Bao also felt a sense of familiarity. Strange, it seemed like he had seen this person somewhere before, but it also seemed like he hadn't seen him for a long time. When he had completely reached the person's side, untied the rope from the tree, coiled it into a circle and placed it on the ground, the person slowly turned around to face him. Ren Bao was shocked. For a moment, he even thought he was dead. His legs went weak and he sat down on the ground.

The person had no face; it was as if their entire skin had been peeled off, leaving a pitted and uneven surface. There were only two small holes around the nose, and because there were no muscles in the eye sockets, the eyes looked unusually large. When they moved, they seemed as if they might fall off at any moment. The nose pointed down to the neck, and even in the dim starlight, the skin there could still be seen to be as red as blood. Although he had just escaped death, Ren Bao still couldn't feel happy when he suddenly saw such a face. After the initial shock, he carefully examined the person in front of him.

It was impossible to tell from his appearance, but through the man's withered, muscular hands, prominent Adam's apple, hunched back, and bowed legs, Ren Bao determined that he was an old man around seventy years old. Ren Bao tentatively asked, "Who are you?" The man did not answer, but only glanced at him, then moved with difficulty to the edge of the grave, picked up a shovel, and began to fill the grave with the excavated soil.

Ren Bao suddenly knew what he did.

The people of Jinzhong hold the deceased in the highest esteem. They not only visit the graves of their relatives during Qingming Festival and the Lantern Festival, but also offer sacrifices at the graves on holidays and for all occasions, big and small. While other places might only visit graves three to five times a year, in Jinzhong, it can happen several times a month. Even when the living have nothing to eat, they absolutely cannot come empty-handed to the graves of the dead. Therefore, some destitute, elderly people without support and no means of survival will scavenge the offerings left behind after others have left the graves to fill their stomachs and make a living this way. These people are what people call "Sangcai" (pronounced with a first tone). They usually live in caves dug into the hillsides of abandoned graveyards, watching for people visiting the graves and waiting for an opportunity to hunt for food. Today, it must have been a Sangcai who thought there were offerings to eat, only to find itself buried in a cave, and out of pity, dug up the grave to save itself.

Ren Bao stood up. Sang Cai was still filling the grave with soil, shovel by shovel. Ren Bao walked over, took the shovel from his hand, and began filling the grave. Being young and strong, he finished filling the grave in no time. He put the shovel back into Sang Cai's hand, knelt down and kowtowed several times to him, then turned to leave.

Unexpectedly, Sang Cai spoke in a hoarse voice: "Where are you going?"

Ren Bao stopped and turned to look at Sang Cai with a puzzled expression. "I'm going home!" Sang Cai sneered, his face contorting with grotesque muscles, making him look even more ferocious. "The One-Eared Wolf told you to warm his acupoint, but you ran away on your own. What do you think he'll do when he sees you didn't warm his acupoint tomorrow? You still want to go home? If you show your face tomorrow morning, your whole family will be dead."

Ren Bao trembled. He knew Sang Cai was right. Given the One-Eared Wolf's vengeful nature, if he really went back, he would definitely be dead. But if he didn't go back, where could he go? He hesitated. Sang Cai seemed to see through his thoughts and walked up to him, saying, "I think you should hurry home under cover of darkness and move out tonight. You probably can't stay in Dongguan any longer!"

Ren Bao sighed helplessly: "Sigh, but where can I move to? People in Taigu, Pingyao, Jiexiu, and Lingshi all know me. If the One-Eared Wolf finds out where I am, I'll still die anyway."

The sorcerer laughed, "Hahaha, with your cultivation, sir, while you might not be able to manipulate life and death, I think you certainly can shorten someone's lifespan!" Ren Bao was startled again by these words. He abruptly turned to look at the sorcerer, whose eyes gleamed with a captivating light. "I didn't expect this sorcerer to be so knowledgeable," Ren Bao thought to himself. "He must have been bullied by the One-Eared Wolf and forced to gather spirits in this desolate graveyard!" His mind raced, weighing the pros and cons. Thinking of his father, his wife, and his children, he finally gritted his teeth and nodded.

---janeadam

Reply [22]: Actually, that day in the Heavenly Bucket, when Ren Bao dripped his own blood into the bucket and the blood of the one-eared wolf sank to the bottom, the one-eared wolf's lifespan had already come to an end. This is the most vicious "blood evil" in Taoist magic, the purpose of which is to sever a person's vital energy. Its nature is similar to the "Gu" of Yunnan and Guizhou. Once someone is afflicted by the evil, not only will their own life end immediately, but the fortune of their family will also come to an end. Unfortunately, because Ren Bao lacked two things, the blood evil could not be fully effective. However, if he only wanted the one-eared wolf to die immediately, there was still a way, which was to set up a Qi array to trigger the blood evil. Now the matter was urgent, and he knew that the one-eared wolf would definitely come to this acupoint, so he set up the Qi array around the tomb. The acupoint was the location of the array eye. When the one-eared wolf approached the acupoint, it would die from blood loss and dried flesh.

That night, Ren Bao and Sang Cai quietly sneaked into their home, woke their wife and children, and packed up all the valuables. When Ren Bao went to carry the old ghost away, he didn't expect the old ghost to refuse to leave. The old ghost kept his eyes tightly shut, staring at Sang Cai, who hadn't spoken a word since arriving at their house. Faced with the old ghost's gouged-out eyes, Sang Cai retreated repeatedly, his face filled with shame. Finally, seeing that he couldn't persuade the old ghost, Ren Bao had no choice but to give up. The four of them left Dongguan that night. Ren Bao intended to flee far away and never return to Dongguan Town. However, thinking of his elderly father at home, he couldn't bear to leave his roots. In the end, he listened to Sang Cai's advice and followed him into hiding in a mountain ravine. The Mianshan Mountains stretched for hundreds of miles; hiding there was practically foolproof, and they could also gather intelligence on the town at any time.

Ren Bao's escape was eventually witnessed. At dawn, One-Eared Wolf was still asleep when he was awakened by the messenger. Enraged, he rushed to Ren Bao's house and found it indeed destitute. Only the old ghost guest sat idiot on the kang (heated brick bed), looking lifeless and likely to die soon. One-Eared Wolf turned and left, leading his men straight to the cemetery. Fearing that Ren Bao might have resented his wickedness during his escape and disrupted the feng shui, he brought along several other ghost guests from the town.

The desolate graveyard remained barren, but the freshly turned soil stood out starkly at the spot where Ren Bao had stepped. One-Eared Wolf alighted from the sedan chair and began walking forward, almost reaching the burial site, when he suddenly stopped.

The area in front, originally an open space, now had a tree planted there, looking completely out of place with its surroundings. From behind, the tree was perched directly on the dragon's spine. The one-eared wolf's eyes darted around, his expression changing drastically. He hurriedly retreated, looking to his left. A row of tombstones had been twisted, the characters facing east while the backs faced west. To his right, he saw a newly dug rhombus, one angle pointing to the burial site, the other to the forest. Looking up, what he saw was even more horrifying: on the parent mountain behind the burial site, there were traces of urine and feces, clearly someone had urinated there, even washing a small hole in the soil.

"Gentlemen, do you know what strange things are happening around this cave?" One-Eared Wolf cautiously retreated to a place far away from the cave and asked the ghost guests in a loud voice.

Several ghostly guests had already noticed this strange phenomenon and were whispering among themselves. When they heard the one-eared wolf ask a question, they all stopped talking and lowered their heads. After a while, it was the bolder ghostly guest who spoke up: "Master, it seems that someone has set up a blood-fiend energy array around this cave!"

"Blood Fiend Qi Array, what's that for?" One-Eared Wolf asked, looking around at the surroundings again.

"Blood Fiend is the most vicious type of our Taoist magic. It's generally used against those with deep-seated hatred. The blood of the enemy is mixed with the blood of the enemy's father and son, and then one's own blood is used as a catalyst. The enemy will die instantly, and the family line will be cut off. Their soul will be unable to enter reincarnation and will never be reborn. However, if it's impossible to gather the blood of all three at once, and only one person's blood is taken, the person whose blood is taken will be in grave danger, but not necessarily die violently. In that case, a Qi array must be set up to trigger the Blood Fiend. Once the person whose blood is taken enters the Qi array, it's said they will be drained of their life essence and die." The ghostly guest pointed to the strange arrangement around him and said, "This is the Qi array. Judging from its direction, it seems the array's core is the acupoint. A withered tree nailed to the waist prevents the dragon from flying; a tombstone turned to block the Qi coming from the east; a hole in the heavenly pillar and a diamond-shaped inscription on the earth's axis gather all the malevolent Qi in one place. If the person whose blood is taken accidentally enters, they will die immediately."

---janeadam

Reply [23]: The one-eared wolf was so frightened that he took a few steps back, staring intently at the cave, the tree, the hole, the picture, and the stele, feeling both angry and anxious: "Is there any way to break the evil spirit? Huh?"

“This evil spirit is relatively easy to break,” the ghost traveler said cautiously. “The energy array only activates on the person whose blood has been drawn; others are unaffected. But who set up this array here, and who is it targeting?”

One-Eared Wolf suddenly burst into a tirade: "If you can break it, then hurry up and break it! Damn it, if you make me unhappy, I'll kill you all. If you hadn't egged me on to drip my blood into that deadly bucket that day, none of this would have happened!"

Several ghostly figures trembled, splitting up to dispel the evil spirits. Some uprooted trees, some cut open the sharp angles of rhombuses, some filled the holes, and several followers also righted all the displaced tombstones. After all this was done, the one-eared wolf stepped forward and came to the side of the tomb. Although he knew Ren Bao had escaped from the tomb, he was still uneasy, fearing that Ren Bao might have done something to it. He turned his head, intending to call for someone to dig open the tomb to investigate, when suddenly he felt a surge of blood and qi, his vital energy rushing through his body like a flood, ready to break free at any moment.

"Damn it!" One-Eared Wolf suddenly remembered what the ghostly guests had said. "Could it be that they haven't broken the energy array yet?" He tried to pull his feet out of the acupoints, but then he realized his legs were stiff and completely unresponsive. Looking down, he was horrified to see two streams of blood flowing down his trouser legs, and he felt the muscles in his legs gradually atrophying. A numb sensation started in his soles and rose upwards, instantly reaching his thighs. One-Eared Wolf swayed and struggled, finally losing his balance and collapsing to the ground, unconscious.

Several attendants rushed over and helped the one-eared wolf up. Someone gently untied his leg wraps, lifted up his trousers, and took one look before vomiting.

The one-eared wolf's leg was like a bone hanging in a butcher shop; most of the flesh had rotted and turned into blood, and the white shinbone was exposed. Strips of unrotted flesh lay on the bone. Someone, suppressing their disgust, pulled off the one-eared wolf's shoes, only to find that the feet, clad in leather socks, were perfectly fine, with intact skin and flesh.

Several ghostly figures approached, their faces deathly pale. They slowly brushed away the soil beneath the burial site, revealing four silver shuttles, head to head, forming a pyramid shape in the earth about an inch from the ground. The pyramid's tip gleamed with a cold light. Ren Bao was, after all, more skilled. Although the other ghostly figures could break through the surrounding energy array, none of them had expected that a deadly trap was hidden beneath the array's core.

---janeadam

Reply [24]: The followers carried the unconscious One-Eared Wolf back to town and called the best doctor in town to examine him. However, all the doctors eventually came to the same conclusion: the only way to save his life temporarily was to amputate his limbs. The One-Eared Wolf, who finally woke up, had no choice but to accept this fate. The One-Eared Wolf, who had lost both legs, was no longer as majestic as before. His once lean body became bloated. He could only sit on the bed every day and curse the people around him. When the old ghost guest, who was also lying on the bed, heard the news, he opened his mouth and laughed three times, which startled the crows in the tree outside the door to caw incessantly.

Ren Bao's family continued to live with the Sangcai family in a shady gully at the foot of the hill, invisible to anyone looking down. Every day, the Sangcai, as usual, would climb the ridge to scout out who was visiting graves. The human eye's field of vision was limited, but birds usually flew overhead; if you saw birds gathering in the sky above a certain spot, someone was surely visiting a grave below. The Sangcai would bring back gifts every day. Ren Bao, who used to be quite agile, often roamed the mountains, climbing daily to gather wild dates and apricots, occasionally returning to town late at night to visit the old ghost. The women and children stayed home, and with several other Sangcai families in the gully, they didn't find it lonely.

Time passed day by day. Spring passed, summer vanished, and autumn only smiled sadly before being chased away by the cold laughter of winter. A blanket of snow covered the entire mountain range, even blocking the mountain paths, and the number of people visiting graves noticeably decreased. Fortunately, Sang Cai had prepared enough winter provisions; while not exactly abundant, there was no immediate famine. Ren Bao's wife had become pregnant in the summer and was now heavily pregnant, making movement difficult. She was lethargic and craving something delicious. At first, Sang Cai could still dig up field mouse burrows and feed the baby mice, but after the snow, the burrows were no longer visible. So, Ren Bao hunted pheasants in the mountains every day. The pheasant claw marks left by the snow were clear, making them easy to track and catch. Moreover, the pheasants had a narrow field of vision and couldn't see what was behind them, and their meat was delicious; life was quite pleasant.

That day, Ren Bao scattered food on the sunny side of the mountain ridge and hid on the shady side to wait. Suddenly, specks of color appeared on the white field, and pheasants came fluttering and cheering. Ren Bao listened attentively, and when he felt the pheasants had almost finished eating, he swung his net around and threw it towards the ridge. Amidst the cries, some pheasants were already caught in the net, while the rest flapped their wings and flew over the hillside. At that moment, Ren Bao stood up, picked up a stone, and threw it at the pheasants. The pheasants, struck hard, fell to the ground, their wings still flapping but unable to fly. Amidst the rising dust, Ren Bao quickly ran up, picked up the pheasants, and tied their legs tightly with the rope he carried. Then he returned to the hillside, grabbed the pheasants from the net one by one, and tied them up again. Only then did he feel relieved enough to pull in the net and count his catch. He couldn't help but smile. There were seven of them; that would be enough to nourish his wife for a few days.

Ren Bao carried the pheasants upside down the mountain. The slope was very steep, so he carefully slid down the slope with his legs out. It took him a long time to reach the bottom of the ravine. After turning a corner, he arrived at their place.

Hearing the sound, the woman emerged from the cave, her belly protruding. Due to malnutrition and years of lack of sunlight, her face was pale and bloodless. Seeing the pheasant in Ren Bao's hand, the woman clearly became happy. She staggered over to Ren Bao's side, reaching out to take the pheasant from him, saying, "Dad, why did you catch so many today? Go to the kitchen and rest, I'll cook it for you."

Ren Bao placed the pheasant behind him and said with a grin, "You should go back and rest. I'll cook it for us today." Ignoring her protests, he helped her back into the cave. He added some firewood to the fire and set up a pot of hot water for later use in cleaning. Then he found a kitchen knife, went outside, threw the pheasant on the ground, and began to butcher it.

With a single slash across the pheasant's neck, blood gushed out in a fan shape. The pheasant struggled in agony, its head thrashing about, splattering blood all over Ren Bao's foot. Ren Bao quickly grabbed it with both hands to prevent the blood from spreading everywhere. Finally, the pheasant stopped struggling, and blood pooled on the ground. Ren Bao did the same to the other pheasants. The dead chickens lay to one side, their eyes wide open, coldly observing the world. A pool of blood had already formed on the ground.

Ren Bao carried the dead chicken into the cave. The water in the pot was already steaming. Ren Bao tested the water temperature with his hand; it was just right for scalding the chicken feathers. He took the pot off the fire, grabbed a chicken, and threw it into the water. After scalding it for a while, he immediately took it out and began plucking the feathers. After being scalded by the hot water, the feathers were much less attached, and they all came off with a simple tug. Ren Bao casually tossed the plucked feathers aside.

Ren Bao's child appeared at the cave entrance at some unknown time and walked in silently. When Ren Bao noticed him, the child had already picked up chicken feathers from the ground.

---janeadam

Reply [25]: The pheasant produced in Qixian County is scientifically known as the "ring-necked pheasant". Its whole body is covered with colorful feathers, but there is a white ring around its neck, hence the name. Because it lives in the wild for a long time, its feathers secrete a lot of oil and wax, so even though it has just been taken out of the water, it is not completely soaked. The child picked out a few of the longer feathers and played happily. He put a few chicken feathers in his neck and a few more in his waist, running around in the hole, looking very happy. Ren Bao stopped what he was doing and stared at him blankly.

As the child grew older, his face increasingly resembled that of the one-eared wolf. Although he had grown up under the care of Ren Bao's family, his personality and character were completely inherited from his cruel biological father. It turned out that when Sang Cai dug up mouse rats to make soup, he always killed them before putting them in the pot. One time, in a hurry, after putting the seasonings in the pot, he instructed the child to kill the mouse rats and put them in. However, when Ren Bao returned, he found the child standing by the fire, his face filled with extreme excitement as he watched the pot. The water in the pot was bubbling and about to boil, and a faint but piercing scream was emanating from it. Ren Bao glanced at the pot and couldn't help but feel his blood run cold: those mouse rats hadn't even opened their eyes yet, but the child had thrown them alive into the boiling water.

Thinking of this, Ren Bao felt agitated. He threw the chicken into the water, splashing water everywhere. Ren Bao shouted at the child, "What's all the noise about? Get out of here and play. If you wake your mother up, I'll teach you a lesson!"

The child was startled and stopped moving, glaring at Ren Bao with resentment. Ren Bao glared back at him, and the expression in the child's eyes was exactly the same as that of the one-eared wolf. For a moment, Ren Bao even thought it was the one-eared wolf standing there, and he suddenly grabbed his knife and walked towards the child.

Old Sangcai entered through the cave and saw Ren Bao approaching the child menacingly with a knife in hand. He quickly stepped forward, pulled the terrified child into his arms, and shouted at Ren Bao, "What are you doing?"

Ren Bao was awakened by the shout. Coming to his senses, he looked at Sang Cai and the child in front of him, confused. It took him a while to remember what had just happened. His face flushed red, and he turned back to the fire, grabbed a chicken from the pot and continued to clean it, muttering, "It's nothing, I just wanted to scare him a little."

Sang Cai stroked the child's head, his eyes filled with indescribable affection. He took a piece of dry bread from his pocket and put it in the child's hand, gesturing for him to go out and play. After the child's figure disappeared from the cave entrance, Sang Cai said heavily to Ren Bao, "I know you resent that the child isn't yours, but even if you have a great hatred for his father, it has nothing to do with the child."

Ren Bao continued plucking the chicken feathers, saying, "That's what they say, but you don't know the deep-seated hatred between me and his father. If it weren't for his father, would my father be like this now? And yet I have to raise the son of my enemy. It really chokes me! Look at that brat, he's just like his father. Ever since I hit him once, he's held a grudge and still won't call me 'Dad'."

Sang Cai sighed and said, "So what if he's your own son? Everyone has their own way of living. Don't think you can control your own son! Sometimes even a father wishes his son would die sooner!"

Ren Bao looked at Sang Cai with a puzzled expression. Sang Cai ignored the question in his eyes, took out a pipe from his trouser leg, lit it by the fire, took a deep drag and exhaled: "If you don't want him to be someone else's son, he will slowly start to treat you as his own father."

A glint flashed in Ren Bao's eyes. He opened his mouth as if to ask something, but then swallowed it back. After thinking for a moment, he said, "It's strange, though. This child is indifferent to everyone else, but he's especially close to you. He's always clinging to you, and he only listens to you. You two are really devoted."

Sang Cai paused for a moment, then quickly turned to look at Ren Bao. Ren Bao pretended not to notice and continued to concentrate on cleaning the pheasant's internal organs.

Sang Cai looked around at the simple and dilapidated furnishings in the cave, her words filled with desolation: "I only had one son in my life, and I was counting on him to take care of me in my old age. Who knew that later, for the sake of my family property, he would do everything he could to kill me. People say that raising a son is for old age security, but I raised a tiger and it became a threat. Later, I kicked him out of the house, but I never expected that more than ten years later, he would make a name for himself outside, and the first thing he did when he came home was to ruin his own father's family. He not only seized my family property, but also made me serve him like a dog, and treated me more harshly than others. I am his own father! He didn't actually need to seize that family property; it would have been his when I died, but he just couldn't wait. Look at me now, surviving by competing with the dead for food; how could I have imagined what my life was like before?"

Ren Bao stopped what he was doing, turned to look at Sang Cai and asked, "So how did you get here later?"

---janeadam

Reply [26]: Sang Cai's face darkened: "Later I realized that he treated me like a cat catching a mouse, playing with me before eating me. If I continued to stay, he might kill me one day. I wanted to escape from my home, so that I could at least save my life. However, I was old and didn't have the energy to run far away. If I hid nearby and he found out, I was afraid I would still die. One night, I knew he wouldn't come back, so I quietly ran out and ran towards the kiln. The kiln workers were all asleep. I heated a piece of butter that I carried with me in a porcelain bowl, and then cruelly covered my face with a cloth soaked in boiling oil."

Ren Bao stared wide-eyed at Sang Cai in disbelief.

The mourner continued, “I couldn’t bear the pain and immediately fainted. At dawn, the kiln workers came in and saw me. Afraid of being implicated, they threw me into a mass grave. Coincidentally, a mourner was wandering around there that day. He saw that I was still alive and saved me. When I woke up, my whole face was charred. Later, I gradually became like this, and I became a mourner with them.”

Sang Cai turned to Ren Bao and smiled, her bright red scars resembling wriggling earthworms.

That evening, Ren Bao selected one of the cooked chickens, wrapped it up, and quietly left the mountain under the cover of darkness, returning to the town. He looked around to make sure no one was there, then climbed over the wall into his house.

The old ghost leaned against the wall alone. His house was dilapidated; anything of value had been taken. The fire in the stove had long since gone out, and the room was ice-cold. Wrapped in a tattered quilt, the old ghost, weakened by his disability and delirium, was practically sitting amidst a pile of excrement, the stench overwhelming. Only the kindness of his neighbors, who took turns feeding him small amounts of liquid food each day, kept him barely alive. Ren Bao, seeing all this, felt a deep pang of sorrow.

He swept away the filth around the old ghost, scraped the excrement off the old ghost's body with straw, then lit a fire, brightening and gradually warming the room. Ren Bao then sat down beside the old ghost, took out a chicken from his bag, tore it into pieces, and fed it to the old ghost, while telling him about the events of the past two days. "Your wife is seven months pregnant; you'll be a grandfather in two more months. Life in the mountains is actually quite nice; perhaps I should bring you there. Sang Cai is a tragic figure; his own son actually tried to kill him—?"

Old Ghost Guest suddenly jerked his head away, knocking down the meat Ren Bao had just delivered, and he was stunned.

The old ghost continued to turn his head away, his body twisting anxiously, his face full of worry. Ren Bao looked at him, puzzled, and suddenly realized that the old ghost wanted him to leave. At that moment, a fire was already lit outside the door, and someone was walking into the house. Ren Bao jumped off the kang (a heated brick bed). He couldn't come out through the door, so he crawled out through the window whose frame had been removed. Still worried, he crouched under the window and listened to the sounds inside.

---janeadam

Reply [27]: Someone entered the room with a gas lamp lit, and light shone from the top of Ren Bao's head. Then Ren Bao heard a familiar voice. Although it was a bit muffled because he was covering his nose, Ren Bao still recognized it as the voice of the one-eared wolf: "Look, the chicken is only half eaten. I suppose Ren Bao hasn't gone far yet? But I don't know why he's hiding from me? I don't care about the past. Although he used magic to destroy my legs, that's retribution for me taking your legs back then! Look at us now, we're really in the same boat!"

Ren Bao carefully raised himself, adjusting his angle to peek into the house. Four men were carrying a reclining chair, and One-Eared Wolf lay on it with his back to Ren Bao, talking to Old Ghost Guest: "His legs are gone, there's no one to blame but him. After all, Ren Bao hasn't ruined the spot I created. Actually, he doesn't need to keep running around outside. I know he's in these mountains. If I really wanted to catch him, I could have a few men guarding this place, and he wouldn't be able to escape as soon as he came back." One-Eared Wolf suddenly turned his head and looked around, and Ren Bao quickly lowered his head.

Then the one-eared wolf said, "Come on, lift the gentleman up and take him home. From now on, the gentleman can live in my house. If the gentleman passes away first, I will give him a proper burial. If I pass away first, I will make sure that his descendants do not mistreat him." Then, there were clattering noises and the old ghost's roars from inside the house. Soon, the sounds faded away, and darkness returned to the surroundings.

Ren Bao remained motionless until everything quieted down. He peered into the house to make sure no one was inside before running back down the mountain path. He knew the One-Eared Wolf had taken his father hostage because he feared he would disrupt the feng shui of the Tengyang Cave. But that was for the best; at least the old ghost had someone to watch over him. However, the One-Eared Wolf's words reminded him of something. Why was he still keeping the feng shui of the Tengyang Cave? Did he really intend to let his enemy's descendant rule the world? He already possessed the One-Eared Wolf's blood sample; he could completely disrupt his future fortune! Thinking this, he returned to the ravine.