Ambush

Under the large tree in the courtyard, Xu Tong stood behind the wall, peering out through the door panel.

Smoke and clouds swirled at the village entrance, and the acrid smell of burning still lingered in the air. Yet, after the chaotic fire that had just occurred, the village had already returned to its bustling, lively state.

With the threat of the fire gone, the villagers had returned to their seats, resuming their merry singing and laughter as if nothing had happened.

It was as if the fire had never affected them at all; every face still wore the same brilliant, unchanging smile.

"You can't blame them. Paper dolls aren't like living people. They are made to be a certain way, and that is how they must remain. Even if they know the food and wine on their tables are rotten, no matter how much they suffer inside, their faces must maintain that eternal, unchanging smile, because that is how they were crafted."

Beside him, Zhong Nan watched the village come back to life, his face devoid of any expression other than numbness. He had seen this scene so many times that he had lost count.

"What a beautiful design!"

Unlike Zhong Nan, Xu Tong began to praise the village before him.

Seeing the confusion on Zhong Nan's face, he smiled. "Don't you think it would be wonderful to be able to design everyone's expressions and everyone's stories yourself?"

Ignoring Zhong Nan's bewildered gaze, he closed his eyes. Countless scenarios flickered through his mind; a grand stage play was already taking shape in his heart.

If only he had such power, how good would that be?

"Don't mind him, he's just a lunatic. You'll get used to it after a while," Li Bo whispered to Zhong Nan from behind.

As he spoke, Li Bo shook his left hand, which had previously been severed.

In place of the severed wrist, a Paper Hand had been attached.

Although it was made of paper, every joint and palm line was incredibly lifelike; at a glance, it was no different from a living person's hand.

The most miraculous part was that Li Bo could control this hand just as if he had never lost his own.

He stroked the palm gently, as if it were his most precious treasure.

This paper palm was Zhong Nan's masterpiece—or, to be precise, Zhong Nan had made him detach it from a paper doll.

After bonding it to his severed wrist with thick paper pulp, Zhong Nan had tapped it a few times, giving Li Bo the sensation that the hand and his spirit were one.

This completely shattered Li Bo's worldview, but then he thought, in this godforsaken place, there were zombies and paper dolls that had nearly killed him—what was so strange about a paper hand?

Just as Li Bo was staring at it in fascination, Xu Tong kicked him in the backside. "Stop admiring yourself. One hand doesn't stop you from doing your job. Get to work!"

"Yes, yes!"

Stung by the kick, Li Bo immediately straightened up. He sat on the chair and carefully dismantled Xu Tong's Cinnabar Bracelet, counting eighteen beads in total.

He tossed a few into a garlic mortar and began to pound them with effort.

While pounding, he lowered his head and asked, "Brother Xu, can we really succeed?"

"We can, we definitely can!" Zhong Nan nodded, patting his chest in assurance. "Don't worry, my uncle is most afraid of this thing. Once his technique is broken, his Paper Doll Art won't work anymore."

Although Zhong Nan spoke with full confidence, Li Bo's gaze remained fixed on Xu Tong.

Seeing this, Zhong Nan frowned but said nothing more, walking into the room to rest with a look of boredom.

Seeing that he wasn't speaking, Li Bo continued, "Could you do me a favor?"

Li Bo looked left and right, and seeing that Zhong Nan and Zhang Hao had already gone inside, he took out the photo he had taken earlier and wrote some numbers on the back with a charcoal pencil.

"In case I don't make it back, please tell these numbers to my mother. My home is in the Donghuatan Xichun Residential District."

No matter how much Zhong Nan boasted, one only had one life. The two paper dolls left behind by his uncle had nearly killed them; was his uncle really someone to be trifled with?

He didn't dare hope to escape unscathed, but if he were to die here, his greatest concern was his mother.

"If my mother asks where I went, just tell her I went out to work on a construction project and won't be back for a while. You... Brother Xu? Brother Xu? You're holding it upside down!"

As Li Bo spoke, he looked back and saw Xu Tong staring at his poster, prompting him, "The password is on the back!"

But Xu Tong ignored him, instead looking at the movie still with great interest.

In the still, Li Bo was being dragged into a coffin, his head half-eaten.

"Interesting!"

He hadn't heard a word of Li Bo's nonsense. He smiled and patted the man's honest face. "Keep it and tell your mother yourself."

With that, he walked into the kitchen, though it was unclear what he was busy with.

Seeing this, Li Bo dejectedly put his poster away, muttering under his breath, "Stingy, what's the harm in helping? Huh? Why are there two missing?"

He looked down and saw that two of the Cinnabar Bracelet beads were missing. He hurriedly stood up and searched everywhere but couldn't find them, so he tossed the rest into the mortar, thinking that no one would notice anyway.

Jingle~ Jingle~ Jingle~~

The camel bells rang outside the village gate. The old man sitting on the Mule Cart kept his eyes half-closed. Only when he heard the distant music did he squint at the sky, estimating that in another hour, dawn would break.

He looked back at the few men and women sleeping in the cart, a simple, honest smile appearing on his wrinkled face.

"In a few more days, it will be the fifteenth of the seventh month. Once that day comes, I'll be free."

Thinking of this, the old man stroked his beard and began to calculate carefully in his heart: "When I get back, I'll burn the people, and that will be the end of it. Even if the underworld messengers come, they won't find any reason to blame me. I just don't know if the money I've prepared is enough..."

Just as he was lost in thought, the acrid smell of burning drifted through the air, startling the old man. He stood up and looked ahead.

When he saw the thatched huts burned down at the village entrance in the distance, his expression turned ugly. "Oh no!"

Without a second thought for the sleeping travelers in the cart behind him, he grabbed his horsewhip and headed toward the village.

Upon entering the village, I saw that of the six old men in the ceremonial band at the entrance, only four remained, and one of them had half his head burned away.

A heavy gloom welled up in the old man's eyes; ignoring everything else, he rushed straight toward the bridal chamber in the village.

Upon arriving at the gate of the bridal chamber's courtyard, the old man's heart turned cold.

The courtyard gate was wide open, and the yard itself was in complete disarray; even the chickens kept in the coop had escaped and were running wild everywhere.

Seeing that the situation was wrong, the old man gripped his horsewhip in one hand and pulled a piece of yellow paper from his robes to hold in his palm. He walked up to the main room, nudged the door open with the tip of his whip, and peered through the crack.

The room was pitch black, but he could see that the tables and chairs had all been overturned, and the two Mountain-Back Matrons he had left behind were standing motionless by the door.

Only when he saw that the pair of Paper Dolls still wearing wedding clothes on the chairs were unharmed did he heave a sigh of relief.

After confirming repeatedly that there was no one else in the room, the old man walked inside with a dark face, only to look down and see blood-stained strips of cloth on the floor.

Could it be that someone discovered us?

Just then, the old man noticed the large trunk overturned on the floor, with golden and silver paper ingots scattered everywhere. He stomped his foot, cursing the waste, and when he spotted the sandalwood box on the ground, he grew anxious and bent down to retrieve it.

The moment he stooped, the Paper Doll standing behind him slowly opened its eyes, glared at the old man's back, and swung the paper rod in its hand down toward him.

"Old bastard, I've been waiting for you for a long time!!"

Li Bo roared, putting all his strength into the strike. The old man didn't even have time to dodge, and the paper rod slammed heavily into his back.

However, before Li Bo could even celebrate, he felt as if his strike had landed on nothing but cotton, meeting no resistance at all. When he looked closely, he realized that what he had knocked down wasn't the old man at all, but merely a thin Paper Doll.

Li Bo was stunned for a split second, but a sudden whistling sound erupted from behind him, and a kick sent him sprawling to the ground.

"Hmph, and here I thought you were some kind of hero; turns out you're just a straw bag."

The old man walked in from outside, his murky eyes flickering with a sinister light in the darkness. With a flick of his wrist, the horsewhip in his hand lashed out like a viper, creating a sharp, piercing sound in the air.

With a loud crack, Li Bo's face twitched. A searing, agonizing pain erupted in his chest, where blood and paper scraps mingled; it was as if he had been slashed by a blade, leaving a massive, gaping wound.

"Damn it, Laozi will fight you to the death!!"

Seeing that the ambush had failed, Li Bo scrambled up and charged at the old man. He refused to believe that he couldn't beat an old man who looked to be in his sixties.

Watching Li Bo fly toward him, the old man gave a cold laugh, his eyes filled with the playful mockery of a cat watching a mouse. He shifted his body to the side, easily dodging Li Bo's bear hug.

He flicked his toe forward, catching Li Bo's instep with precision. Before Li Bo could even react, he fell face-first into the dirt in a pathetic heap.

"Hmph, it just so happens I've been sent a few more guests; you'll make the perfect ingredient for a Pig-Slaughtering Dish."

As he spoke, the old man pulled a small bell from his robes and took a piece of yellow paper in his right hand. With a pinch of his fingers, he transformed the paper into a crude, simple-minded little pig in the blink of an eye.

Li Bo looked back, his mind instantly flashing to Zhang Hao. The fat on his face trembled as he shrieked, "Brother Xu!!"

Hearing Li Bo call out, the old man realized something was wrong. Instinctively, he turned his gaze toward the Bridegroom sitting on the chair and, without a moment's hesitation, swung his whip down.

With a loud bang, the Bridegroom's head was smashed to pieces.

Wait!!

The whip had missed its mark, and the old man's pupils constricted sharply. At that moment, the Bride sitting to the side suddenly moved, waving her hand as if throwing something toward him.

The old man tried to dodge, but his momentum was already spent. Before he could recover his balance, he was struck head-on by a handful of cinnabar powder thrown by Xu Tong, who had been disguised as the Bride.