Hyakki Yagyō (Night Parade of One Hundred Demons)

Chapter 8

I slowly turned on the CD player, and sure enough, it could still play even without a power source. It was still that same cold, uninteresting song.

"Xiangxiang, come out! I know you're here. I know everything!"

Behind the curtain was a very thin girl; her name was Xiangxiang.

"You really know? Hehe... Even the handsome guy behind you looks hesitant!"

"The secret is all here!" I yanked off the carpet, grabbed the CD player, and slammed it to the ground with all the strength I'd accumulated over the past decade. A large crack appeared in the floor, and I pried open the pieces of wood without hesitation.

"Ah Ling! What are you doing! You're bleeding!" Dao Lian rushed up to stop her.

"This is between Xiangxiang and me... Don't interfere!" I pushed him away.

My hands were covered in blood, and the sawdust stung as it pierced them. With great difficulty, I finally managed to pry open a large enough gap, from which wafted a stench of decay. Beneath the stage's wooden planks lay a long-decomposed corpse.

"That's you! Xiangxiang! Or I should call you Tan Xiang! The student from Class 3, Grade 9 who was presumed dead last year, and whose body could never be found! There was never another murderer, you are the 5th one in the song! The reason we said that back then was to mislead us. You've always been a performer, so you're also very good at lying."

"Hehehehe~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That's amazing... I knew you could find it! This is no fun... so fast... Okay! Well then... you can ask the handsome guy next to you to promote me now."

"Xiangxiang... I found this too!" I took out the blue hardcover notebook I found this afternoon. "This is your diary, isn't it! You wanted to perform, didn't you? So you did all this? It seems like that play you guys performed in before was also a mystery. Although everyone thought Xiao Ke wrote the script, it was actually you who wrote it, wasn't it?"

"You're very clever!" Xiangxiang laughed. "Actually, I never intended to kill the three of you. My only targets were Xiao Ke and that A Shu. It's just that I was too good at acting... I went a little overboard. There's something strange about you that makes me angry, and once I start, I can't stop!"

"Xiao Ke killed you, didn't she! The dark brown stains on the stage carpet are actually your bloodstains, aren't they? And she buried you here, didn't she?"

"You really do know everything! That's right, after I found out that Xiao Ke took my script to the teacher that day, I asked her to meet me alone in the auditorium. Xiao Ke's grades aren't good, and I know that affects her future, so I didn't care that she used it. I wanted to perform on stage, even if it was just a small role. But she didn't want to, so I threatened to go to the teacher, and we started arguing. She grabbed the CD player next to her and smashed it over my head like a madwoman. When she came to her senses, I wasn't breathing. She was scared... but she didn't want to take responsibility... so she... hid me here."

"Then... what about our classmate A-Shu? Why did you kill him?"

“He saw it. He saw Xiao Ke hiding me. Because he was the only person besides Xiao Ke who went to the auditorium on the day I disappeared, the police contacted him. If he had told the truth, Xiao Ke would have been taken away. But he was scared, so he didn't say anything. He even helped Xiao Ke hide me better... Although the school had suspected something, because there was no evidence, and Xiao Ke's father was a major sponsor of the school, the matter was dropped. But... I'm not reconciled... I never even got to be on stage once... and it's all like this... I'm not reconciled…”

"Do you really want to act? If you finish acting, will you be able to leave in peace?" I made up my mind to ask her.

"What……"

"Then possess my body! I'll grant your wish! You can use this body until the end of the arts festival performance!" I grabbed her icy hand and reached for my chest. It was so fast that Dao Lian couldn't stop me; by the time he tried to grab the talisman, Xiang Xiang was already on my body. Because I have a naturally Yin constitution, it was easy for her to possess me. And, I gave up on it myself… My will was quickly replaced by Xiang Xiang.

Author: Xinxinjun Reply Date: 2005-01-02 0:51:00

"Hey! You monster... get off her body right now!" Dao Lian shouted angrily, "Do you know that if you stay in her body like this for too long... she will die... you know about the delicate yin-yang balance in her body!"

"I don't want to! What can you do to me! You can't do anything to this body. Since she's giving it to me, of course I'll use it!" Xiangxiang laughed triumphantly, but the tears that slowly streamed down her face betrayed her true emotions. "How foolish... She knew she would... die... I killed so many people... and she still made me use her body..." Xiangxiang seemed to have figured it out, "...that handsome guy over there... I can't get out... It's so strange... something is holding me back... She really wants me to use her until the end of the performance..."

"That idiot! She's playing with her life... Xiangxiang... I'm telling you... you have to stay with me these next few days... I don't want that girl to just waste her own life like this!"

"...Thank you...and...I...love...no...I wish...you happiness!" As the female ghost finished reciting her last line, the curtain slowly fell, and our performance at the arts festival came to a successful end.

Once backstage, my body could no longer withstand the overwork of the past two weeks, and I plummeted. Xiangxiang slowly left my body, and my will slowly returned.

It seems I was lucky Daolian caught me! Otherwise, I would have fallen down the stairs. My face turned terribly pale, and I felt like my whole body was falling apart.

"Xiangxiang...you acted so well..."

“…You’re a fool…” Xiangxiang said between sobs. I noticed her body was slowly turning into wisps of smoke, disappearing bit by bit. “Thank you…I have to go…You have to be careful…You…there’s something strange about you that can affect us…so…you and everyone around you must be careful. Thank you…”

Xiangxiang is gone. I know. I hope she can be happy next time.

By the time I noticed Dao Lian picking me up and heading towards the infirmary, it was too late to stop him. People will misunderstand! Oh well, I've wronged him this time too; I've seriously hurt his pride as a psychic! Otherwise, he wouldn't be looking so disgusted. I'd better not provoke him for now!

I didn't resist, nor did I have the strength to resist, as he carried me from the empty backstage area through the crowded auditorium. I'm doomed... I'm going to be misunderstood terribly...

"...I'm sorry...I wanted to handle it myself..." I apologized softly.

"Next time...next time...don't joke with your life..." His brows remained tightly furrowed. "I don't want to see you like this again..."

"You can scold me later! I'm so sleepy... I really want to sleep..."

I don't know when I was taken to the infirmary, or when I started getting an IV drip. When I woke up, Nana, who had just finished dealing with the aftermath of the stage performance, saw me, opened her eyes, and hugged me, crying bitterly.

"Don't do that again next time... I was so scared... What if... you don't come back..."

"...I'm sorry...it won't happen again..." I said with a weak smile, "I'm sorry!"

At that time, I really didn't expect that I would later do even more things that would hurt them.

But no matter what, even if I'm covered in wounds, I will protect them! Because they are my only important friends.

It doesn't matter how many times I say "I'm sorry," as long as I can protect them.

However, reality later on... was cruelly terrifying... It turns out... fantasies are just fantasies, and can never be realized.

The Third Chapter: Bloodstained Stage (End)

Author: Xinxinjun Reply Date: 2005-01-02 0:53:00

[Zero - The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, Part 4: The Visitor]

“…I’m here…Now I’m going…to find you…When we meet…that’s when everything begins!” A low male voice came from afar.

Where am I? I seem a little disoriented. This is a small grove of trees, and although sunlight filters through the trees, it doesn't feel warm. Am I really dreaming? Why does it feel so real? I remember I was dreaming!

“…Ah Ling…you should go back…don’t go any further…you’ll get lost!” The same voice came again from above. He was in a tree, backlit, so I couldn’t see his face clearly, only his figure. He was definitely Nana’s type. Even though he was sitting in a tree, he must be very tall, with a perfect physique that rivaled Dao Lian, the so-called top prince of No. 1 High School. His long, dark hair was casually tied in a braid, making him look like a typical handsome guy from a manga.

Okay! Now I'm sure I'm dreaming. If it were real... Nana would have already come out from the side and hugged that handsome guy excitedly, yelling. Anyway, it's a dream! I'll keep walking and wake up naturally. But it's strange, the further I walk, the stranger the scenery in the forest becomes. My dream is really a mess.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and red blood started flowing from the ground. Something wrapped around my ankle, and my body was rapidly dragged downwards by an inexplicable force. It hurts so much! Am I dreaming?! Why does it hurt so much?!

"Whoosh—" Someone scooped me up in one swift motion. "Get back here!" After his loud shout, a blinding light stung my eyes, the strange thing that had been gripping my feet disappeared, and the ground stopped shaking.

I wanted to see the man's face clearly, but suddenly my eyelids felt so heavy, and I wanted to sleep.

“I told you not to go any further… that’s the Soul Reaper’s Zone, it’s very dangerous for you to go there! Now is not the time for us to meet. Wait a little longer… I’ll come find you… and then… everything will begin…”

"Ah! Wait a minute!" I woke up screaming, but there was nothing there. I was still in that room at Dao Lian's house. It's winter break, and Nana and I are on a group trip to Dao Lian's house for various reasons. It really was just a dream.

"Ah Ling...you're so noisy! It's only 6 o'clock...we don't need to pick up any customers, why are you up so early?" Nana complained from the side, then turned over and fell asleep again.

I got up, put on my coat and slippers, intending to get some water before going back to sleep. Suddenly, I noticed a clear ligature mark on my ankle. It even felt a little bloody. Was that… just a dream?

Is anyone coming?

I hadn't originally intended to come to Dao Lian's house, but Xiang Xiang's incident severely traumatized me, even leading to a month-long hospital stay. Before coming, my mother had instructed the school to keep a close eye on me, and as soon as she received the hospitalization notice, she and my father immediately flew back from the US. Dao Lian, claiming to be a descendant of a family of psychic mediums, asked my parents to take me to his hometown in City C to see if there was any solution. My parents, who have always known about my unusual physical condition, have been diligently searching for a way to help me, and after this serious incident, they immediately agreed. Besides… they didn't even have time to spend the Lunar New Year with me, as they were about to fly back to the US. Rather than have me spend the entire winter break with a clueless nanny, they preferred to let me see if the psychic family could offer a solution, so I was essentially packed up and sent here as soon as winter break started.

Then, because of family reasons, Nana didn't want to go home for the New Year at all. So naturally, the two of us went on a group trip with Daolian to his hometown in City C.

Because of the flight delay, we arrived very late last night. So, we only had time to see a few of their maids before being taken to our accommodation to sleep, with our sightseeing plans to begin today.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

"Oh my god~~~~~~~~~~ Dao Lian is wearing casual clothes! I'm so happy!" Nana exclaimed exaggeratedly.

"This is the first time I've seen you guys in casual clothes! There's nothing I can do about it; school rules require everyone to wear school uniforms or tracksuits on campus, regardless of whether it's the weekend or not. It's hard for you to see us like this," Dao Lian said a little embarrassed.

"But...you're already with Ling..." Nana said, feigning utter disappointment. "Ever since the last art festival, your relationship with Ling has been all over the place. Luckily, our school has a relatively free atmosphere, and both of your families are major sponsors of the school...the school doesn't care about you...but I'm really heartbroken. Back then, I had a crush on Dao Lian for a long time!"

"Really? I bet you have a crush on every handsome guy! That's not true at all. My relationship with Dao Lian is the same as my relationship with you, Nana. We're the three-person horror trio! But Nana, you've forgotten! Right now, the rumor going around school is that the three of us are in a love triangle!" I laughed, stopping Nana from going on and on.

"That's how women are... They can make a small thing go on for so long... If it weren't for that idiot Ah Ling getting herself into such a state back then, I wouldn't have liked hugging her. She was so skinny, she had no feel to her at all... Hey! How could you be so thin? I couldn't feel her when she was dressed, but when I hugged her, she was all bones!" Dao Lian, who was walking ahead, suddenly turned around and said to me.

"Hehe... Prince Daolian, don't worry, your popularity won't drop because of the rumors with me. When the new semester starts, everyone will gradually forget about this. Just don't keep bothering us in the junior high section."

“But…” He suddenly stopped and stared at me intently. “I don’t know what we’ll go through in the future. You’re prone to attracting those kinds of things and don’t know how to protect yourself. I hate seeing something like what happened last time again, I really hate it!”

I slowly stopped, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "You're overthinking it..."

“No! I have a feeling… like one day you will… will suddenly disappear…” He grabbed my hand, almost out of control.

I pulled back and, grabbing Nana who was watching the scene unfold, changed the subject: "Dao Lian, how much longer is it to get to your main family home?" Yesterday, we stayed in downtown C, at a branch of Dao Lian's family home. To get to Dao Lian's main family home, you have to take a bus from C city to the foot of a mountain in the suburbs, and then climb the mountain yourself. Because the entire mountain actually belongs to the Dao family; I realized they really are... incredibly wealthy!

"Yeah... even though it's just climbing stairs... my sore throat is already from climbing so many stairs!"

"Who told you to wear these wedges!" Dao Lian looked at Nana with schadenfreude.

Today, Nana wore high heels to match her very cute, Japanese-style outfit, which were not suitable for hiking at all.

"Nana, can you walk? Do you need me to help you?" As for me, I was wearing a very casual royal blue jumpsuit and sneakers, so I was very light and easy to walk in.

We're going to our ancestral home to find Daolian's maternal grandmother, who was famous for her divination skills. It's said that her divination abilities could even summon people who had long since transcended to Buddhahood.

"Hang in there a little longer! It'll be there in another half hour!"

Dao Lian's family home in the mountains is frighteningly large. It's like an old-fashioned mansion, probably three or four times larger than my old home in the countryside! Even I, who's used to old mansions, was this surprised, let alone Nana. I thought the villa in City C was about the same... I never imagined Dao Lian's family was truly wealthy... Just how... just how...

"Dao Lian...where does your family's money come from..." Nana asked before I could.

"Oh...that's...gifts from devout men and women. Our family has been practicing spiritualism for generations, and we're actually quite well-known. Many wealthy people ask us to come out of seclusion for feng shui consultations, fortune telling, exorcisms, and so on...different of our direct relatives have different specialties...over the years......"

Nana swallowed hard, then pulled me, who had just suppressed my surprise, slowly through the gate. It took about ten minutes to walk from the courtyard to the gate. Along the way, many people bowed respectfully to Dao Lian, probably because he was the sole heir of this large family! According to him, the spirit family had a tradition of inbreeding to ensure the purity and richness of their bloodline, but this practice had led to a dwindling number of descendants. In his generation, he was the only one with the purest direct bloodline. Therefore, he was naturally more valued. Moreover, it was said that his potential abilities were perhaps the most outstanding in a hundred years. Although I hadn't seen them yet, they were probably still undeveloped!

Author: Xinxinjun Reply Date: 2005-01-02 0:55:00

"Demon! Get away! How dare you cause trouble on our Taoist territory in broad daylight!" A burning sensation shot through my forehead as a peach wood sword was poking me. Standing in front of me was a girl about our age, dressed in kung fu clothes, with a very sharp gaze.

"Dao Ting! Stop! She is my guest!" Dao Lian shouted.

"Cousin! You're back! I missed you so much! Why did you bring back someone unclean? She smells so strongly of ghosts." She said affectionately, holding Daolian's hand.

Daolian subtly removed her hand and asked, "Where's Grandma? Isn't she home?"

"She's waiting for you in the main hall. She knew you'd bring someone unclean back. She wants you to bring him over." The girl named Daoting seemed very hostile towards me and Nana. Although she was talking to Daolian, she still glared at us fiercely several times between conversations. I, in particular, could clearly feel the aura emanating from her.

In the main hall of the Taoist temple, a small but spirited old woman sat on the throne. I knew she must be Dao Lian's grandmother. Upon seeing me, she spoke: "I know why you've come to see me. I could sense the ghostly aura emanating from you while I was on the mountain. That negative power is even weaker than that of a vengeful ghost who has cultivated for many years. Actually, you haven't realized it yourself, but because of your arrival, the wronged spirits in this mountain have begun to stir. Although my Taoist magic treasures are suppressing them, the negative energy emanating from you has resonated with them… accelerating their growth… You should leave quickly… You will only bring uncleanliness to people!"

"Grandma! We didn't come here to hear your answer! Zero... she's not some kind of monster. She's just an ordinary girl. It's only because her magnetic field is a little strange... that... she didn't mean any harm. Saying it would cause a resonance with vengeful spirits, how could that be? She herself is often attacked by vengeful spirits."

"...Ah Lian...haven't you heard of destiny? Some people are born with a predetermined fate. She was born with a pure Yin constitution; she's a ghost woman. Eating her...not only by staying by her side...it will give wronged spirits a lot of resentment. You know, the power of a vengeful ghost grows stronger the deeper the resentment. That means, as long as she's there...a wronged spirit who originally only had ten years of cultivation might have the power of fifty years of cultivation. Eating her...or possessing her...even with just a little bit of malice, the power she unleashes will be astonishing. She's destined to attract those wronged spirits; she's destined to die young. Look at the deathly marks on her forehead; a human body simply can't withstand two such powerful forces. It would be good if she lived past 20. Living to 25 is just wishful thinking."

"But... last time a vengeful ghost possessed her, and nothing happened..."

"Back then, her magnetic field hadn't fully opened up. Now look, after being cleansed by that ghost's resentment, the delicate balance within her has been lost. From now on... she'll only attract more similar things! Ah Lian... that woman... it would be better if she died peacefully... but I'm afraid that after she dies, she'll be more terrifying than a vengeful ghost that has been around for a thousand years! Don't get close to her!"

"Grandma... I can't believe you're such a heartless person who would just stand by and watch someone die! Ah Ling... Nana... let's go!"

Right in front of me, Daolian got into an argument with his grandmother, and then we were dragged out like that. Behind us, his grandmother was still muttering, "Is this fate? Is this fate...? Will what's meant to happen still happen?"

"Let me go!" Once outside the door, I forcefully pulled my hand back. For some reason, I felt a strong sense of unease. It was as if... as if... I felt like I shouldn't exist.

“Ah Ling…” Nana said something beside me, as if she could sense my unease.

“Ah Ling… don’t believe my grandmother’s words… I’ll take you to a place… in that place… we will definitely find the answer.”

We continued up the mountain path behind the main Taoist family mansion. The path became winding and rugged, and the wind on the mountain didn't seem as calm as it had been when we arrived. There was a faint smell of blood... what was going on? The rustling of leaves in the woods had an eerie restlessness, as if something was about to happen. Strangely, Dao Lian, despite being from a family with a spiritual connection, felt nothing. And Nana, needless to say, only remembered complaining about her feet.

I was scared.

"Dao Lian...where are we going? Please don't go any further! I have a bad feeling!"

“Perhaps the ghostly energy around you is reacting to our Taoist barrier! It’s alright, the room ahead contains our Taoist treasure, the Mirror of Time. Tonight… through that mirror, you can see the answers to all the things that are puzzling you.” He said to me with a smile. “Nana, we’ll be there soon! Stop complaining!”