Daomu Biji: The Mystic Nine

Zhang Qishan meditated in the car. When he had first arrived in Changsha, he visited various leaders. Er Yuehong's father had just died, and the two of them had met and drank in front of a coffin. After that, the Zhang family established itself in Changsha, with the Hong family’s indispensable help.

The Hong family had also contributed the most when the revolutionary government revolted and started incorporating Changsha’s local armed forces. Er Yuehong wasn’t someone who couldn’t distinguish between right and wrong, so he must have kept quiet today because it had something to do with his family.

Zhang Qishan couldn't help but think of Er Yuehong back in the old days. At that time, neither of them had any serious family obligations. They could play a game of chess for three days and three nights, and no one would bother them. But those days were long gone.

At this time, Changsha City looked cold and desolate since many shop lights were out along the street. But there were many stalls that had coal lanterns hanging up, displaying mostly warm food such as spicy rice noodles, Dutch noodles, sweet wine, and eggs. There were even snacks such as beef sangza, tofu triangles, brain rolls, and sesame oil pig blood soup (1). When Zhang Qishan first joined the army in his early years, he was also an acting adjutant for the first three months. When he got off work late at night, he would stop and eat some of this roadside cuisine.

Lieutenant was watching him carefully and asked, "Fo Ye, do you want me to bring some back?"

Zhang Qishan shook his head, waved for the car to stop, and lowered the window.

The car stopped in front of a stall, whose owner he was familiar with. After looking in the window and seeing that it was Fo Ye wearing the military uniform, the surprised stall owner suddenly laughed: "Oh, hey, Fo Ye. Long time no see. The cat got the fish today (there’s no fermented bean curd today), so will it be the usual?"

Zhang Qishan nodded and pulled off his gloves. The stall owner's daughter soon brought over a bowl of steaming beef sangza and put it in the car. He hadn’t seen her for several years—the girl was already twelve or thirteen by now— but they weren’t strangers either. She leaned on the car window and asked him, "Fo Ye, Fo Ye, did you beat the Japanese?"

Zhang Qishan nodded, handed over the money, and then reached out and touched the little girl's head. The little girl asked, "Will the Japanese really come? My dad said Changsha can’t hold, so we're going northwest. Come with us."

The stall owner was very embarrassed, but Zhang Qishan couldn’t help but laugh: "Little Sprout, follow your daddy. I should also follow, but I have to beat the Japanese first. Be good and don't cause any trouble. When I’m done, I’ll go northwest to find your stall."

The little girl nodded and waved to Zhang Qishan, who smiled. As soon as the car started and the window was rolled up, his smile disappeared and his eyes became as firm as stone.

When he got back home, he drank a cup of bitter tea and felt wide awake, so he asked for a status update. When he learned that Old Ba had gone to the morgue, Zhang Qishan's heart warmed and his pent-up frustrations eased just a little.

The files from the train were sorted out, soaked in chemicals, and then air-dried. There were more than ten people coming and going in the room at one time, but he ignored them as he stood and stared at the files one by one. Unfortunately, they were all in Japanese. He asked Lieutenant which secretaries in the unit knew Japanese, and if they were trustworthy, and then picked one to handle the case. With that done, he went to the morgue.

As soon as he arrived at the door, he saw a huge platform with a lot of charcoal ash in the braziers on both sides. He pushed the door open and went in, finding a bunch of military doctors huddled in the corner. All the bodies on the train had been moved here in the exact same position they had been found in—face down. The fortune teller was dressed in robes and drawing white-lined spells on the ground that encompassed the whole room.

"Drag him out." Zhang Qishan's piercing gaze could start a fire. A few soldiers went up and grabbed Qi Tiezui, kicking away the stones placed outside of the array. Qi Tiezui shouted: "Fo Ye, if you don't believe me today, then you don't have to believe me in the future."

Zhang Qishan listened to his serious words and felt his heart sink. He waved his hand to the soldiers, and once they released their grip, Qi Tiezui patted his mussed clothes with the air of a feng shui master: "Fo Ye, you must believe me this time. No, not only believe me. You should also thank me, praise me, and award me."

Lieutenant smiled and said, "Ba Ye, if you really make a big discovery, you can even ask Fo Ye to kiss you."

"What have you found?" When Zhang Qishan approached him, he saw that a Japanese corpse had been placed under two lights. Its back had been cut open, and the internal organs were covered in a layer of hot wax. The hot wax had seeped into all the gaps and pores, and it was clear to see that all the organs were full of holes.

"These Japanese are like the corpses we discovered in the coffins. There should be corpse moths in that tomb. All those cobwebs on the train are the silk from these corpse moths. The people who came in contact with the train—yes, everyone—needs to use my prescription. They need to soak in it for three hours and then drink some corpse wine.” Qi Tiezui whispered. "Otherwise, within six or seven days, we’ll be peeing out silk every time we go to the bathroom."

The corpse moth was a kind of moth peculiar to ancient tombs. He had heard someone sing an old local song from Longmen, Huizhou more than ten years ago that was called “The Classic of Three Corpses” (2). It told the story of a local barefoot doctor who treated the emperor, and even mentioned an ancient insect disease. After being buried with the corpse, the adult bug hatched in the coffin, crawled out from the corpse’s throat, and started spinning silk and building a cocoon when it found itself trapped in the coffin.

It wasn’t unusual to see corpses’ upper bodies covered in insects whenever coffins were opened. Some people in the business said this corpse moth carried bacteria on its wings. Once the eggs were ingested, the moths would hatch in their body, infect them, and cause them to get sick. After death, the insects would continue to grow inside the corpse.

"But the corpse moth isn’t immediately fatal. If that’s all it is, Er Ye wouldn’t be so alarmed." Zhang Qishan looked at Qi Tiezui. If it was a mere corpse moth, then he shouldn’t let him take credit for it.

Qi Tiezui threw back his Taoist hat. "Fo Ye, most of the dead bodies on this train appear to have died from moth disease. One person, however, did not. Come with me. The key to this ghost train is on this person."

They passed by several corpses and walked to the center of the morgue, where another corpse was draped in a white cloth. From the outline, it was the only corpse that was facing up. Qi Tiezui took a deep breath, bowed to the body, and then said: "I’ve been in this business for so many years, and have yet to see such an incredible sight." 

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TN Notes:

(1) Uh, yeah. I’m not great at translating food lol. I couldn’t figure out the dutch noodle things. I’m like 99% sure it’s not supposed to be “dutch” noodles, but it’s made up of some kind of powder, sesame oil, salt, MSG, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, fermented bean curd, radish rice, peanuts, dried chili powder, and sesame paste if that gives you an idea. Sangza is deep-fried noodle cake. The brain rolls aren’t actually brain (think they just look like it). The stuffing is made of semi-leavened noodles wrapped in pork fat and white sugar and steamed. Has a mellow, sweet taste and a soft texture. The sesame oil pig blood soup is also called longzhi pig blood. It’s got pig blood (shocker), dry minced peppers, winter vegetables, chopped green onion, sesame oil, and some pepper. Shouldn’t be eaten with soybeans apparently.

(2) “Three Corpses” or “Three Bugs” is a Daoist physiological belief that demonic creatures live inside the human body, and seek to hasten their host’s death. These 3 supernatural parasites allegedly enter the body at birth, and reside in the three "energy centers" of the head, chest, and abdomen. After their human host dies, they are freed from the body and become malevolent ghosts. More info here

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Random thought of the day: Do you all ever get out of the shower and look at the hair mural you've created on the wall and wonder how you're not bald? No? Just me? Maybe that's how the hair monsters in these books get created lol

Anyways, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow after work, so I may or may not have time to post whenever I get home. Also looks like we've reached the end of Xingiu's hard work, so you poor suckers are stuck with me again if you preferred reading their version lol. Until next time~~~