Kaleidoscope of Death

Yin houses in tradition were grave sites. Though they were the complete opposite of Yang houses, they still had to consider feng shui.

As Gu Longming and Lin Qiushi chatted, they searched around the courtyard. This courtyard was large; beside their sleeping quarters, there were also other landscapes and buildings.

Yet between where they lived and where other people lived was planted a thicket of pagoda trees. Though Lin Qiushi didn’t know much about feng shui, he knew the saying that pagoda trees attracted ghosts.

Lin Qiushi noticed that on the pagoda trees were bundles of bells bound up by red strings. When the wind blew they rang and rattled. For the moment they sounded cheery to the ear, but if they were heard at night, the bell chimes would surely send chills down the spine.

Further beyond the pagoda trees was a stream that crossed the courtyard. This stream was likely a water source for the town, but had been cut right in half by a brick wall and contained within the yard.

Gu Longming saw this and sighed, “a beached dragon, walled in on all four sides—it’s malevolent waters.[1] It shouldn’t have been stopped like this.” He continued, “I looked around this place, and honestly people who haven’t had bad things happen are the impressive ones.”

Lin Qiushi reminded him, “we’re the ones living here right now.”

Gu Longming, “…well we’re pretty impressive then.”

As they spoke, they heard cymbals and drums outside. They went to the door to look, and found a bunch of people on the street hauling a live pig off into the distance.

They all wore ceremonial red for a sacrifice. The atmosphere seemed celebratory—but a closer inspection of their faces revealed heavy expressions, and even the glimmer of fear in their eyes.

“Where are they going?” Gu Longming asked quietly.

Lin Qiushi shook his head. “I don’t know. We’ll follow and see?”

“Let’s.” Gu Longming worried at his hands.

Other people from their group heard the noises too, but some were scared and wouldn’t leave the courtyard. Some, though, chose to follow like Lin Qiushi and Gu Longming to see where the crowd was going.

So six or seven people snuck after the sacrificial procession into the distance.

They crossed some streets and passed a small forest, until they saw the procession finally stop at a river outside of town.

This river seemed to be the main stem of that stream in the estate they were staying at. The clay-colored water was teeming—even faraway they could hear the noise of surging water.

The people conducting the sacrifice approached the river and deposited the live pig. Lin Qiushi thought they would throw it raw right into the river, but unexpectedly, one of them pulled out pellet drum and started to repeatedly chant something. This crowd was faraway, and the sound was half-lost to the rushing waters; most couldn’t hear what they were chanting. But Lin Qiushi could hear clearly—he heard them chanting that exact rhyme from the hint: I’ve said it once I’ll say it twice, my baby cries with all his might, if you see this chant this thrice, and he’ll sleep on ‘til morning light.

Only after they finished chanting this a few more times did the crowd throw the pig into the river.

The pig struggled in the water a few times and then quickly sank. When they saw this, the crowd breathed a sigh of relief. They put the pellet drum away and started to leave.

But a few steps in, they heard something heavy hit the ground. They turned around, and saw that the pig had been tossed by something back up through the water surface.

Lin Qiushi’s heart skipped a beat at this sight. Clear as day, he could see the bloody red toothprints that densely criss-crossing the pig’s skin, like it had been gnawed on by something. And the chewed-up pig was still alive. Miserable squeals came out of its mouth.

The people of the procession lost it the moment the saw this, looks of panic appearing on every face. They seemed scared to stay by the river, and ran for the town as if a monster was in pursuit.

Gu Longming said, “what’s in that river…”

Lin Qiushi shook his head. “Nothing good.”

Gu Longming muttered, “what sort of River God Festival is this, it’s more like a festival for river ghouls.”

Something clicked for Lin Qiushi after he heard this.

As they spoke they saw two people from the few who had come with them get up from the shadows and approach the river. It seemed they wanted to investigate up close that pig and what was in the water.

Gu Longming turned to Lin Qiushi, poised to move. “Shouldn’t we go look? Maybe there’s some major clue there?”

“No, we won’t go.” Lin Qiushi didn’t want to risk his own life. “Did you forget how quickly those people ran for it?” Like there had been a bloodthirsty evil spirit right on the riverbank. To approach in a situation like this, they had to be either foolish or in possession of some major trump card.

The two people got to the riverside, and checked out the pig first.

The sacrificial pig was still alive, wails of pain coming from its mouth. Fresh blood leaked from it and drained into that clay-yellow river. The two didn’t find any clues on the pig, and so poked their heads out over the river. One of them seemed to see something, and shouted in shock, “there’s something, get away—”

But he said this too late. As soon as the other person’s feet touched the riverbank, something seemed to immediately grab hold of his ankle and began to drag him in.

The thing in the river was strong, and gave him no time to react at all. That person screamed, and then plunged into the river with a splash.

“Xiao Yu, Xiao Yu—” The person left onshore called feebly after their friend. “Xiao Yu—”

The clay-colored water began to toss, as if boiling over. It was threaded with fresh blood. Just like that, Xiao Yu was dragged into the river and disappeared.

Lin Qiushi heard the crisp laughter of children. He glanced at Gu Longming, whose face had gone pale.

“You heard that too?” Lin Qiushi asked him.

“Heard what?” Gu Longming didn’t know.

Lin Qiushi asked, “then what’s scaring you?”

Gu Longming was silent for a bit, before quietly saying, “I saw what pulled him into the water.” There was a tinge of fright in his eyes. “It was… a child’s hands.”

A pair of soaked, blanched, and bloated hands that belonged to a child.

“Let’s go.” Gu Longming didn’t want to stay any longer.

Lin Qiushi saw no other signs of action by the river, so nodded and got up.

The two returned to town, and discovered that it had sunk into a very strange atmosphere. Everybody on the streets were whispering. Some looked scared, and some looked numbed.

But when they saw the two outsiders, those scared and numbed expressions were tinged with something else. Though Lin Qiushi didn’t want to admit it, he could tell it was a sort of excitement.

“Shit, why are they looking at us like that?” Gu Longming couldn’t quite take it anymore. “Like perverts starting at a girl. I’ve already changed out of the skirt.”

Lin Qiushi, “…” He didn’t speak, but thought that even in the skirt, Gu Longming would probably still play the part of the pervert.

A large gust of wind blew by, and the red lanterns hung along the street swayed about like balls of bright torchlight. Though they were holding a festival, there was no festive feeling here at all. Instead, everybody was scared, scared of the River God’s birthday in seven days.

Lin Qiushi found a random shop, made a purchase, and then tactfully asked about the River God Festival.

The owner was a man in his fifties. He shot them a glare and said with reluctance, “it’s a special celebration for us, praying for auspicious weather…”

Lin Qiushi, “that’s all?”

“That’s all.” The owner held a feather duster and cleaned all around, muttering, “what else could we be doing?”

Lin Qiushi asked, “what happens during the sacrifice then?”

The owner answered vaguely: “it’s just throwing livestock into the river to feed the River God…”

Gu Longming always spoke directly. “Only livestock? You don’t throw humans in at the end do you?”

The owner actually grew angry. “Of course not! If you don’t believe me you can go look yourself. Like you can’t see what we’re throwing?”

Gu Longming, “then why…”

He wanted to ask why a child’s hands came out of the river then, but Lin Qiushi lightly tapped him. So he switched his words at the last second: “then why were those people so scared of what’s in the river?”

“We told you it’s the River God. Of course all gods have tempers.” The owner was very impatient. “Alright alright, I have to do business. You’re asking all these questions and not even buying—”

“Who says I’m not buying?” Gu Longming asked. “You take Alipay? If Alipay doesn’t work, WeChat’s fine too.”

The owner was expressionless. “I only take cash.”

Gu Longming, disappointed, “that’s no good is it, you’ll be eliminated by the changing times. Let me tell you…”

Before he’d even started, Lin Qiushi had dragged him away.

Lin Qiushi thought that if he didn’t pull Gu Longming away, the idiot would actually have started extolling the virtues of virtual pay right then and there. Virtual payment was indeed convenient, but they at least needed smartphones. Plus this was inside the doors—what could they do, bring home the local specialties?

“What’d you grab me for?” Gu Longming rolled up his sleeves, clearly not done talking. “I didn’t even finish what I was saying…”

He noticed Lin Qiushi’s expression, and laughed weakly, “it’s just a joke, just a joke.”

But it seemed like the other people here weren’t very willing to talk about the River God Festival either. They’d found a few more passersby to question, but none of the clues they got were clear. They only knew that the River God’s birthday was in seven days, and everybody in town would attend.

At noon, Lin Qiushi and Gu Longming returned to the estate for lunch.

Lunch at least was plentiful. Everybody split into tables, and Lin Qiushi’s sharp ears meant he could listen in on most of the conversations.

“There’s really no problem with that shrine?” someone was discussing lowly.

“I think there is. I just haven’t found it yet,” another person replied. He seemed to be the group member who suggested they split up into rooms yesterday—Lin Qiushi remembered his name was Yan Shihe. He’d teamed up with another young woman named Xiao Qian.

“I don’t want to go in again,” Xiao Qian said. “It’s strange in there, and spooky.”

Yan Shihe, “you can wait outside. I’ll go in and look.”

As Lin Qiushi was attentively listening, Gu Longming suddenly slapped him on the back. He jumped and looked at Gu Longming. “Yes?”

“What are you listening to?” Gu Longming asked lowly. “You can hear even that far away?”

Lin Qiushi replied vaguely: “only a little bit.”

Gu Longming, “even a little bit’s impressive.”

Lin Qiushi, “oh…” He continued, “there seems to be a shrine in town. We should go take a look.”

“Sure,” Gu Longming said. “Let’s go after lunch.” He stood to get another bowl of rice. It had to be said, Gu Longming’s appetite was very good. He single-handedly downed four big bowls of rice, and basically cleared every dish on the table.

Lin Qiushi suddenly thought that Gu Longming and Cheng Qianli could have a lot to talk about.

After lunch they carefully interviewed a servant of the estate for the location of the town’s shrine, and learned that it was further up the river.

The shrine was also called an ancestral hall, set up by ancient families to worship the ancestors. It was also occasionally the place where important town matters were held—like if someone did something against communal law, they would be punished by community leaders in the hall.

Due to this importance, ancestral shrines were typically buildings that exemplified the whole family—magnificently constructed and richly, beautifully decorated.

The shrine in this down was the same way.

The shrine doors were open, and a guard sat in front. He didn’t greet them when they approached, just peeled open his eyes enough to look, then closed them again in total disinterest.

“Why didn’t he stop us?” Gu Longming thought this was odd after successfully entering the ancestral shrine. “An important place like this, and anybody can just come in? The memorial tablets of their ancestors are here, aren’t they scared we’ll smash them all?”

Lin Qiushi said, “it is strange.” The world inside the doors usually still followed the rules of reality. For example, in a place like this, they’d normally be stopped by someone at the door and would have to find another way in.

Gu Longming thought about it but couldn’t come up with an answer, so could only give up.

Neat rows of memorial tablets were enshrined in the hall. There were so many of them that Lin Qiushi couldn’t even begin to count. Incense and other offerings were set in front of the tablets; it really looked no different from a regular ancestral shrine.

But Lin Qiushi still felt there was an anomaly here. He just couldn’t place what it was.

Gu Longming looked left, looked right, feeling stranger and stranger. “…This shrine isn’t quite right.”

Lin Qiushi, “what’s not right?”

Gu Longming pointed at a tablet placed higher than the others. “See that tablet there?”

Lin Qiushi, “yeah?” He looked where Gu Longming was pointed and saw a black tablet.

Gu Longming said, “the dates are wrong.”

Simply put, on the center of the memorial tablet is inscribed the person’s name and role in society. On the left is their birthdate and on the right is their deathdate. Lin Qiushi looked at the dates, and was shocked. “Only one year old?”

The tablet marked a spot for a one-year-old child, a boy who had died prematurely.

Gu Longming shook his head, dissension in his eyes. “Dead children can’t be put in ancestral shrines.”

Lin Qiushi knew this custom as well. Folk law said that young deaths could not be let in familial graves, because legends said that they died filled with resentment, and might even begrudge their close family members.

As they spoke, a tablet they were staring at fell from above with a crash, splitting in half right before them.

Lin Qiushi and Gu Longming both went silent.

“Haha, must be the wind,” Gu Longming laughed weakly.

Lin Qiushi didn’t speak. His eyes swept over the top row of tablets in the hall, and discovered they were all for children, all no older than three and as young as one… Perhaps even younger than one.

What smashed the tablet definitely wasn’t the wind. There were no windows here, and the door was half-closed, so how could there be wind…

Lin Qiushi looked at the spot where the tablet had been, and said, “let’s go.”

Gu Longming wanted nothing more, and eagerly tucked tail to run.

As they were leaving, Yan Shihe’s group was just arriving. The two groups politely greeted each other.

“What, did you make a new discovery?” Yan Shihe asked them.

“If we did we wouldn’t tell you.” Gu Longming was a straightforward person, and spoke without reservation. “If you got the key and took off what are we meant to do?”

Yan Shihe laughed at this, and seemed to think Gu Longming was interesting.

Lin Qiushi was still thinking about what happened in the ancestral shrine, but he suddenly felt Gu Longming get close to his ear. Gu Longming blew, and he shuddered at this gust of air. “What are you doing?”

Gu Longming, “well I wanna talk to you, don’t I? Hey, do you think they have some other clues?”

Before Lin Qiushi could reply, there was a continuous crashing sound from the shrine behind them. The sound was all-too-familiar, because they’d heard it only earlier—it was the sound of memorial tablets shattering on the floor. From the volume of it, Lin Qiushi suspected that a whole mass of them had fallen.

Gu Longming heard it too, and was scared a bit shitless. “Fuck, what the hell did they do in there? They’ve gone and pissed the whole family off.”

Lin Qiushi, “I don’t know…”

The shrine guard heard the noise too. He looked angry, got up, and went inside.

Moments later, they heard shouting from inside. Then Yan Shihe and his friend Xiao Qian scampered out in shame.

Gu Longming took a moment to rein in his schadenfreude, putting on an expression of concern to say, “you guys okay?”

“Fine,” Yan Shihe said. “Just an accident.” He eyed Xiao Qian.

Xiao Qian was woeful, saying lowly, “someone really did push me. I wouldn’t have fallen on those tablets otherwise…”

“Don’t think too hard about it,” Gu Longming said. “What if it wasn’t a person who pushed you?”

Xiao Qian was nearly in tears.

Lin Qiushi thought hey man, maybe stop talking.

The sky had gotten dark, so the four prepared to return to the estate.

Weather inside the doors was never good; even the open daytime sky seemed dreary. But around six, the town returned to its dead-of-the-night silence. Only the lanterns in vivid red were left, lonely where they hung along the street and swaying with the wind.

Back in the courtyard, Lin Qiushi saw the Landlady who’d welcomed them in again.

She’d changed, and sat among the pagoda trees in the yard. She seemed to be holding something in her arms. At first Lin Qiushi thought she held a child. Only when he approached did he discover that it wasn’t a child in her arms, but a small blanket in vivid red. It looked like it had once been an infant’s swaddling cloth.

When Lin Qiushi was observing, Gu Longming came over and blew in LIn Qiushi’s ear again. “What are you looking at?”

The breath tickled, and Lin Qiushi said in exasperation, “can you stop blowing in my ear? It itches.”

Gu Longming said, “when I blow on it your ear tip twitches. It’s frickin’ adorable.”

Lin Qiushi snapped, “watch it, you’re meant to be a high school girl!”

Gu Longming, “…” He silently took his carrot clip back out and stuck it on his head.

Lin Qiushi, “…” He conceded defeat.

When they were speaking, the Landlady had gotten up and slowly strolled away.

“Come on, let’s go eat,” Lin Qiushi said.

Gu Longming nodded happily.

One person died unexpectedly by the water today, and there were eleven people left in the house for dinner.

Gu Longming expressed that mealtimes were his happiest moments inside the doors. He even asked when Lin Qiushi was happiest.

Lin Qiushi said, “when I’m leaving the doors.”

Gu Longming, “oh yeah…”

Lin Qiushi, “is this really your fourth time?” Honestly, he thought Gu Longming was performing too well, and didn’t seem like a fourth-door newbie at all.

“Yeah.” Gu Longming wiped his mouth. “But I do this kind of thing outside the doors.”

Lin Qiushi was shocked. “What’s ‘this kind of thing?’ Ghost-hunting?”

Gu Longming nodded.

Lin Qiushi was silent for a long time, before finally opening his mouth. “There are ghosts outside too?” Couldn’t he just be a materialist in peace?

“Nope,” Gu Longming replied calmly, much to his surprise. “So in another way I’m really just a swindler…”

Lin Qiushi, “…” Why are you so honest about it.

Gu Longming declared with feeling, “I thought my skillset would never be of use anywhere, but who knew there could still be something like this? How about you then, what do you do outside the doors?”

Lin Qiushi, “unemployed drifter.” He used to have a job, but now just pet his cat and slept around all day; he’d truly become a salted fish with no goal in life.[2]

Gu Longming was just about to show some sympathy, when he heard Lin Qiushi add, “I take gigs sometimes for a bit of cash on the side.”

Gu Longming, “…we’re close, aren’t we…”

Lin Qiushi, “no discounts.”

Gu Longming, “…Linlin, you really are heartless! But I like it. I like you heartless like this!”

Lin Qiushi thought sure, if you like it so much, I can even more heartlessly raise the price.

Author’s Note:

I don’t know what to say today, so I’ll just wish everyone a happy Monday.

Translator’s Note:

1. The term used for “malevolent” water is xīong 兇, which also appears in a lot of wuxia & xianxia magic systems
2. “If people don’t have dreams, then how are they different from salted fish?” is of course the famous line from Stephen Chow’s Shaolin Soccer. “Salted fish” is a common way to refer to (mostly young) people without goals in life.

Names in this Chapter:

• Gù Lóngmíng / Gu(4) Long(2) Ming(2) / 顧龍鳴
• Xiǎo Yǔ / Xiao(3) Yu(3) / 小雨
• Yán Shīhé / Yan(2) Shi(1) He(2) / 嚴師河
• Xiǎo Qiǎn / Xiao(3) Qian(3) / 小淺