The Ghost-Shaped Figurine

The bell rang clearly.

Perhaps because there was one more person accompanying them tonight, the street seemed unusually quiet. The anomaly had not grown worse. The faces in the stairwells merely crouched by the doors, glaring at Zhou You and the Old Monk, but they didn't dare come any closer.

The red lights in the windows went out one by one, until only the sound of their footsteps remained on the old street.

After they had walked for quite some time, Zhou You was the first to speak.

"Hey, Master... Never mind, I'll just call you Monk. It rolls off the tongue better. Weren't you going to stop me just now?"

"Benefactor... What are you talking about?"

Zhou You grinned.

"Monk, don't joke around. You knew what would happen if we left that security captain there. As a Buddhist, aren't you always supposed to show compassion? I thought you'd stop me."

Perhaps the darkness was affecting him too much, for the Old Monk's gaunt body seemed to hunch over even more. After a long pause, he replied,

"Buddhism does teach that one can lay down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha. It also teaches that the Buddha can convert demons and heretics, cleanse them of their sins, and guide them back to the path of light. But more than those teachings, I prefer a saying from Confucius."

The Old Monk paused, then continued.

"If you repay resentment with kindness, what will you repay kindness with? Repay resentment with justice, and kindness with kindness. I could have pulled him to safety, yes. But what of all the innocent people he killed? When they were murdered by ghosts, who was there to pull them to safety?"

"Thus, everything he suffered was the just consequence of his actions. I merely chose not to interfere."

Zhou You fell silent, so it was the Old Monk's turn to ask a question.

"Then, Benefactor, I'd like to ask you something, too. Why aren't you the least bit flustered? You know you're dead. Why, after learning of your own death, are you still so... carefree?"

Zhou You only smiled.

"Maybe... I've gotten used to dying."

The Old Monk was at a loss for words. He glanced at Zhou You's calm expression and opened his mouth, but decided not to ask anything more.

They walked on for a while longer, until the intersection in the distance came into view.

"Monk, we're here. Which way do you choose?"

The Old Monk looked where Zhou You pointed and furrowed his brow.

"The thing in the middle has the strongest resentment. It should be the subordinate whose entire family was killed. The right side is dark and lightless, and I can faintly feel that we're being watched. It's probably the son whose eyes were gouged out. The left side is thick with yin energy. Even from this far away, I can sense a resentful gaze. That's likely the daughter whose face was peeled off. If we're choosing the safest route... let's take the left."

With that, the Old Monk tugged at his face. His fingernails slid between the folds of his skin, and he split it into two pieces.

"This is the first one. I won't waste my energy on it. Please take care of it, Benefactor. When we pass by, stick the first piece to its face. Then, when we come back, stick on the second. But remember: don't make any unnecessary movements, and don't provoke it. Otherwise, the skin won't stick, and we'll both die."

Zhou You nodded.

They continued in silence.

Several dozen minutes later, they reached the first Skin-Peeling Ghost's location. But just as they were about to step into its territory, the Old Monk suddenly reached out with his bony arm and pulled Zhou You into a patch of shadow.

"Wait!"

"Monk, what are you—"

The other man pressed his index finger to his lips and motioned for silence.

"Something's wrong."

Zhou You followed his gaze, but immediately froze, too.

The female ghost was different from when he'd seen her before. She wasn't curled up on the ground with her knees hugged to her chest. Instead, she was pacing between several streetlights, holding a bloody heap of organs and chunks of flesh in her hands. Every so often, she tore into it as if venting her anger.

Zhou You carefully examined the mess in the lamplight. Only then did he make out a familiar mouth among the blood and gore.

Damn, look who's having a bad day now.

The gleeful man immediately wanted to flip off the remains, but the Old Monk beside him tugged on his sleeve.

"Benefactor, something's wrong. Very wrong. Under normal circumstances, this Sinister Object would never end up like this. Someone must have disturbed it earlier and made it kill again, causing its resentment to spiral out of control and turn it into this. I just don't know who... Benefactor? Benefactor?"

The man cleared his throat, then put on an utterly serious expression and addressed the Old Monk.

"Then, Monk, do you have any ideas?"

The Old Monk thought for a moment. His expression turned somewhat... hesitant.

"I do... but I'm afraid you'll have to make a small sacrifice, Benefactor."

"What kind of sacrifice?"

"...I may need a piece of your flesh. I'm truly sorry. If I weren't already skin and bones, I wouldn't trouble you..."

But to the Old Monk's surprise, Zhou You immediately spread his arms wide.

"Which part? How big a piece?"

After all, this was my mess. I ought to clean it up myself.

The Old Monk was genuinely stunned for a moment. Then he lowered his voice and said,

"It doesn't need to be very big. A little over three qian will do. It can come from anywhere, but it would be best if it didn't get too bloody..."

Zhou You pulled out a small knife and rolled up his sleeve. He picked a spot that wouldn't bleed too much, then cut down without even looking!

A piece of rosy flesh fell to the ground, accompanied by a suddenly wide, grinning smile.

"Monk, you don't need to look at me like that. I mutilated myself more times than this yesterday. I'm getting used to it." Zhou You took out the Yungu Ointment. He felt its revoltingly slick texture as he smeared it over his wound. "Now that you've got the flesh, what are you going to do?"

The Monk didn't reply. He picked up the piece of flesh, brushed the dirt off it, then took a carving knife from inside his robe and carefully carved into it.

Zhou You said nothing more. He folded his arms and watched quietly from the side.

Layer upon layer of Sanskrit gradually appeared on the piece of flesh. Zhou You didn't understand the writing, so he couldn't spot anything wrong with it. Still, for some reason, he couldn't shake a strange feeling.

Why does this seem... kind of eerie?

Before he could think it over, the Old Monk finished the final stroke. He took out two incense sticks, snapped them into shorter pieces, and stuck them into the top of the flesh.

Then he knelt on the ground and softly began to recite a sutra to the thing.

An unbelievable sight unfolded before them.

Amid a faint chuckle that seemed to come from nowhere, the piece of flesh began to change as the chanting continued. Skin, fat, and connective tissue fused together, twisted, and took shape. A few seconds later, it had become a lifelike figurine.

The figurine had Zhou You's face.

The Old Monk suddenly broke into a fit of coughing, as though those few minutes had drained him of all his strength. He struggled to his feet, then solemnly placed the figurine in Zhou You's hands.

"Benefactor, the Ghost-Shaped Figurine is complete. The rest is up to you!"