Arts anciens et merveilleux

Chapitre 9

The short man looked at him coldly: "You'd better not try to negotiate my decision, if you're smart."

A little while later, the girl groggily got up, put on a thin sweater, and ran towards the washroom.

In the blink of an eye, she turned into a horrific corpse.

Outside the city, on a barren mountain, there was a sweater wrapped around organs, soaked through by the bitter autumn rain.

......

"Clap clap clap!" I woke up from the illusion with a start, opened my eyes, and saw the ghost standing in the middle of the room clapping.

"Impressive, isn't it? Now you know what a coward and wimp this guy is, right? With just a little torture, he'd even kill his own son, grandson, and great-granddaughter! How cruel!"

"Nonsense, you forced me to this..."

"I admit that I manipulated your hand to commit suicide the first time, but I didn't lift a finger after that! Every time, I gave you two choices: either endure the pain yourself or kill someone. If you had any backbone, the ending wouldn't have been like this. Every time, you chose the latter yourself. What could I do?"

Bian Jizhong slumped down, covered his face, and burst into tears: "Yes, I am a coward! God, why did you leave me in this world?"

"That's just sophistry! If he could endure your torture, would you have let those poor, innocent people go?" Mr. Sun retorted.

The ghost didn't speak, but suddenly threw a powerful punch at Mr. Bian. My heart skipped a beat, and I closed my eyes, but I heard nothing.

What's going on? I opened my eyes and saw Mr. Bian unharmed, calmly watching the ghost.

Suddenly, the ghost drew a dagger from Bian Jizhong's waist and held it against Mr. Bian's neck with lightning speed. Old Mr. Sun took out a talisman and pretended to chant an incantation.

"Old man, don't do anything rash! Just say one sentence and I'll kill him!"

The Tian mother and daughter watched this scene in horror. The old man ignored them, closed his eyes, and was about to recite.

"No!" Mother Tian suddenly shouted, as if she were shouting at a ghost.

"Please, please don't chant yet, okay?" she pleaded, her eyes brimming with tears. The old man opened his eyes and slowly put down the talisman.

"I'm not afraid of you. If you're in such a hurry to die, don't rush it!" the ghost said with a smile.

He turned to look at Mr. Bian and slashed at his face with the dagger.

Mr. Bian looked at him calmly, without the slightest fear.

“You’re so pitiful, really!” he suddenly said.

"What? Did I hear that right? Could you please say it again?" the ghost said mockingly.

"You're a complete wretch! I feel so sorry for you."

"Are you scared out of your wits? You're the one who should be feeling sorry for me later!"

“I’ve been waiting for this day. Life is fleeting, like grass in autumn; it was only a matter of time. My ancestors wronged you, but the suffering they endured has cleansed their sins. I don’t hate them at all. As for you, all that remains in this world is hatred. Your so-called happiness is nothing but… Hmph, I’m afraid to say it would hurt your pride.”

"Speak! You bastard!" the ghost said angrily.

"Your so-called happiness comes from despicably torturing others, manipulating their human weaknesses, and gaining a perverse pleasure."

"That's right, I just love torturing this bastard. Seeing him howl like a dog gives me a strange sense of excitement!"

"Haha, when you were manipulating others, you were also manipulating yourself. You're really nothing but a pathetic clown!"

"What did you say?! You bastard!" Ghost used his other hand to grab Mr. Bian's neck tightly. But the latter seemed to feel nothing.

"I don't want to talk to you. Kill me or torture me, it's all up to you! Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you. Chinese history is full of tyrannical rulers and generals like you who take pleasure in killing, but they are always despised! What's the point of being looked down upon?"

You may have once been a noble chieftain or tribal leader, protecting and guiding them, receiving their worship. But that's all in the past. Now you're nothing but a cruel clown, using the destruction of others to mask your own inner pain and emptiness.

"Are you trying to provoke me into killing you so you can suffer less? Haha, I won't fall for your trap." The ghost suddenly laughed.

"Hey, how can I explain it to you so you'll understand? Every twenty-one years of waiting is nothing more than a fishing game to you. You wait a long time, you know when the fish will appear, and you might feel a little bit of joy the moment the fish is pulled out of the water. Then, it's another long wait. You don't even have the surprise of not knowing when you'll catch a fish like a real angler."

True happiness comes from love, not killing. To you, we might be no different than an ant to a bored child. He might kill one, find it amusing, then kill a second, still finding it interesting, but will he always find such an empty and boring game so enjoyable?

"Oh well, never mind, I'm just wasting my breath."

Perhaps you are a tyrant, and your death is a relief for your people!

"Nonsense!" The ghost roared in fury, its dark eyes practically radiating red light. "What did you say? You called me a tyrant? You mean I'm a cold-blooded person?"

"Yes, you selfish bastard! I believe a truly loving person would not do such a despicable thing as you! Respecting the elderly as one would one's own parents, and caring for the young as one would one's own children, is only human nature."

"Low-class? If your relatives, friends, parents, sons, daughters, and wife all died in front of you, you wouldn't be spouting such hypocritical nonsense!"

Hmph, you Han people live in geographically advantageous places; you can't understand the hardships we endure constantly struggling for survival! A small mistake can bring annihilation upon oneself, one's family, or even one's tribe. Everyone must be responsible for their actions; if you do something wrong, you must accept the punishment!

You just insulted me, so you must pay the price for your momentary outburst!

"Wait a minute, okay? I still have something to say."

"Haha, scared now, is that it? So all the descendants of the Bian family are cowards, just as spineless as your bandit grandfather! Fine, go ahead and say whatever you want, but please believe me: procrastination is futile, the longer you procrastinate, the more painful it will be, don't expect any miracles!"

"You've misunderstood! I just wanted to offer a suggestion, a suggestion that won't do you any harm."

"Oh, tell me, when a person is about to die, their words are often the best!"

"You can kill me, I won't object. But I hope this tragedy ends here, okay? We've paid with the lives of five generations, it's time to end it!"

Even if you continue this endless slaughter, they cannot be brought back to life, can they? You were once a respected chieftain, a considerate husband, a loving father, an elder full of responsibility and affection. Do you really want them to see you become a heartless, blood-soaked executioner?

"Stop talking! I've changed my mind. You'll pay for your rambling! I want you to watch your lover die right before your eyes!"

He released Mr. Bian and rushed towards Mrs. Tian.

But he let out a shrill scream, and the dagger slipped from his hand and fell to the ground—Old Mr. Sun had finally made his move.

He tossed a paper talisman into the air and began to chant in a low voice.

The ghost's body began to deform, sometimes long, sometimes short, sometimes fat, sometimes thin, sometimes thick, sometimes thin. At times it looked like a paper figure fluttering in the wind, and at other times it looked like a long seaweed drifting in the water.

Bian Jizhong quickly picked up the dagger, his eyes bloodshot and his expression excited. He rushed forward and stabbed it into the ghost's back.

But the moment he touched the ghost's body, he trembled as if he had been electrocuted. The ghost seized the opportunity to break free and slip to the side.

Old man Sun stopped.

Bian Jizhong stopped trembling, his face turning pale and then red, filled with shame and remorse, wishing he could turn into an insect and hide in a deserted place.

"You ambushed me yesterday, and I was planning to teach you a lesson later. But forget it, you saved me today, so our good deeds cancel each other out," the ghost said with a grin.

He then said to Old Man Sun, "It seems I really underestimated you; I almost fell for your trick! You've got some skills after all."

"Haha, I was just forced to help, I didn't mean to make things difficult for you."

The ghost laughed and said, "You really misunderstood. You just asked me a question: if this guy can endure my torture, will I let him go? I just wanted to prove it to you."

He kicked at Mr. Bian with a flying kick, his leg grazing the latter's body without causing any damage.

"This is my answer! Without the help of this lackey, I cannot directly harm anyone; I can only control their consciousness for a short time, but I disdain doing so."

"What?" Bian Jizhong exclaimed excitedly, "You lied to me? I must be such a fool!"

"Hmph, even if I tell you the truth, do you think you can withstand the test of pain? Fine, then you'll have to show off in front of your great-grandson later!"

Old Man Sun interrupted him: "Who are you to be able to control even the weather?"

"In your Han Chinese mythology, I should be called the Water God. Long, long ago, our ancestors and your ancestors had a great war. Unfortunately, our tribe was defeated, our leader was torn apart by five horses, and the remaining people wandered to the wild lands of the south."

I am the descendant of the shaman god who governs the weather and water in our tribe. And you?"

"My deity is Sun Wukong, the Victorious Fighting Buddha."

"Hmm, it's just a monkey, hee hee!"

"You belong to the water element, and I belong to the earth element."

"What are you trying to say? That water can be contained by earth, and earth can overcome water? Okay, we drew the first two times we fought, let's have another match."

"Violence won't solve the problem. Stop it, don't go down the wrong path. Is he the only one to blame?"

"Stop arguing! Beat me first, then you can teach me a lesson." The ghost made a move to attack.

I suddenly realized I could speak, and hurriedly called out, "Wait, what do you mean when I heard in the dream that your entire clan was killed because of your murder?"

The ghost slowly lowered its hand, its expression somber, and tears welling up in its eyes.

This was also the first time he had calmed down from a state of extreme excitement and wickedness.

Please tell us, okay?

In my dream just now, I saw that you weren't happy, you weren't joyful. I saw your tears more than once, I saw you crying. From that moment on, I believed that what you showed just now was definitely not the real you, was it?

"Stop talking!" The ghost's words were more of a plea than a rebuke.

Before coming here, Mr. Bian asked me if I would retaliate if I were in your situation. His answer was: "If I had the chance to retaliate, I would definitely retaliate tenfold!"

The ghost stared at me blankly, puzzled.

“I think everyone has this thought at the moment of being killed. But when I saw you watching Mr. Bian kill his relatives one by one with your own hands, you weren’t as happy as you might imagine, were you?”

They're dead, reincarnated, and perhaps living quite well. Why can't you face reality?

The ghost remained silent.

“When I heard you speak of your people and relatives, you were filled with deep emotion. I know how much you cherish this world and your loved ones!”

You despise and hate Bian Jizhong.

But when those two innocent children called their father home for dinner, when that poor young man cried out in the cold wind and rain, when that innocent little girl withered like a flower before she even bloomed, how were you any different from him? You were also creating a tragedy that you yourself so desperately didn't want to happen!

Just as he became your slave, you became the slave to hatred!

"Okay, let me tell you a story."

"

"In the forests along the Jinsha River, there is an ancient tribe that has lived there for generations since ancient times."

They lived in harmony and relied on hunting, fishing, and farming for a living. They worshipped their ancestors and the mighty Jinsha River, and held bonfire parties with singing and dancing during festivals. Although life was poor, they were happy.

The clan chief and elders decide all major matters within the clan, earn the respect of the clan members, and guide them to defeat enemies and protect their homeland.

There was a man who was the son of the tribal chief. When he was very young, his father sent him to a Han Chinese city to receive their education. Later, he returned to the tribe and learned the magic left by his ancestors from his father. Eventually, he inherited the position of tribal chief.

He helped his people transport their crops to sell outside the village, exchanging them for necessities to improve their lives. He used his knowledge to heal the sick. He used magic to ensure favorable weather for the land.

He also led his people to defeat countless people who attempted to occupy this land.

He earned the respect of all his people through his fairness, courage, competence, and enthusiasm. He married the most beautiful woman in the tribe and had several intelligent children.

One of his youngest sons was just as intelligent as he had been. He had planned to send him to a Han Chinese school when he was older so that he could eventually take his place, just as his father had done.