Paper Effigies and Paper Horses Art, Obscuring-Eyes Art

Paper Effigies and Paper Horses Art, Obscuring-Eyes Art

Fortunately, Yu Chen carried the memories of two lives, and the weight of his criminal household status had tempered his disposition over time, making him unlike ordinary people.

Otherwise, faced with this midnight hungry ghost and the Scripture of Deliverance, he would likely have wet himself in terror and been unable to move!

Even so, he stood stunned for quite a while, staring blankly at the smoke-stained words on the scroll.

Then, endless memories surged into his mind once more.

In a daze, scenes like a revolving lantern appeared before Yu Chen's eyes.

Sixty years ago, drought had broken out, and the people of Weishui had not enough to eat.

One impoverished household had seen the parents starve to death in that disaster, leaving behind only a young child who survived by begging.

In the blink of an eye, decades passed. The child grew up, but because of the calamity back then, his limbs were bent and his mind muddled. He could only beg beneath Hanging Bridge.

One day, a young lady from a wealthy family in the prefectural city passed through Weishui. Seeing such misery, she could not bear it. She bought a Gui Snowfish from Spring Breeze Restaurant and gave it to the beggar.

The beggar was beside himself with joy and kept kowtowing. Only after the young lady's figure had vanished from sight, leaving the ground mottled with blood, did he finally stop. He opened the food box and, with the ferocity of a wolf devouring a tiger, wolfed down the Gui Snowfish until nothing remained.

Even the spine, which he could not swallow, he licked for a day and a night, only stopping once not a trace of flavor remained.

From then on, the beggar could no longer forget that taste.

His sole wish was to scrape together enough money before he died and taste that Gui Snowfish once more.

And so, another three years passed.

The beggar begged for money more desperately than ever and was finally about to save enough, only to freeze to death beneath Hanging Bridge during a fierce snowstorm.

The revolving-lantern scenes ended there.

Yu Chen, too, came back to himself from that bleak life.

He deeply felt that yearning for something forever beyond reach.

He looked toward the hungry ghost crawling beside Yellow Springs in the scroll. There was no fear left in his heart, only... a sigh.

"Fine. Whether for the benefits this book speaks of, or for your undying obsession, I'll go down the mountain tomorrow and buy you a Gui Snowfish."

With that, he shut the scroll, tucked it beneath his pillow, and fell into bed to sleep.

The next morning.

Yu Chen awoke from his dream.

Everything that had happened yesterday remained vivid before his eyes, as though it had all been a dream.

He reached beneath his pillow, but the Scripture of Deliverance was not there. Yet when he closed his eyes, he saw the scroll floating in his inner landscape once again.

The smoke-stained gray words upon it were so real.

It had not been a dream.

Yu Chen drew a deep breath, got up and cooked a bowl of plain congee. After gulping it down, he tucked away the money he had saved over the years and headed down the mountain.

Ever since he had become the gravekeeper of Qingfeng Mausoleum, the authorities had issued him some silver each month. On top of that, Yu Chen usually made paper effigies to sell to people visiting their ancestors' graves, allowing him to save a few copper coins as well.

But even with money, he lived frugally. He was saving it so that, on the road to exile half a year from now, he would have some travel funds to grease the palms of the escorting officials and avoid becoming another wronged soul along that road.

Having lived two lives and listened to all the boasting of the jianghu folk in the county, he understood these little rules of human conduct.

After descending the mountain, goose-feather snow still fell. As far as the eye could see, everything was blanketed in white.

Perhaps because of the terrible weather, there were barely any people in the county town even though the sun was already high in the sky.

Yu Chen wrapped his worn old padded coat tighter around himself and headed straight for Spring Breeze Pavilion.

Spring Breeze Restaurant was known to everyone in Weishui County. It was the largest and most luxurious restaurant in the county.

Whether high officials and nobles or wealthy merchants, whenever an important day came around, they would set a table at Spring Breeze Pavilion.

The moment he crossed the threshold and entered Spring Breeze Pavilion, a sharp-witted waiter hurried over to greet him.

When he saw Yu Chen, the waiter froze.

He recognized Yu Chen.

Weishui had two graveyards: Clear Breeze Bright Moon Mausoleum. Qingfeng let the dogs gnaw, while the bright moon shone upon the nobles.

As the saying went, Qingfeng Mausoleum buried the poor. Being common folk at the bottom rung themselves, anyone who had visited ancestors at Qingfeng Mausoleum in recent years would have some impression of this young gravekeeper.

Not to mention that the first time the waiter had seen this youth, he had felt something.

That had also been on a snowy day, when all was silent.

The waiter and Yu Chen had only met once.

At that moment, the waiter had felt that this youth was deader still than the silent mausoleum, than the corpses beneath the earth, than that frozen sky and frozen ground.

It was the color of having no hope at all.

From that moment onward, he remembered Yu Chen.

"Sir, what would you like to eat?" As a servant of Spring Breeze Pavilion, the waiter's professional instincts soon brought him back to his senses. He smiled as he asked.

"One box of Gui Snowfish. To take away." Yu Chen took out a string of copper coins and placed it in the waiter's hand.

Though his face remained calm, his heart ached fiercely.

Gui Snowfish was not some extravagant signature dish at Spring Breeze Pavilion, but anything sold here was far from cheap. Its price was what Yu Chen could save in two months.

The waiter was also slightly taken aback. He had heard about this gravekeeper's status as a criminal household and wondered if he was planning to have one good meal before "leaving."

Still, whatever he thought, the waiter warmly agreed, accepted the money, and went to instruct the kitchen.

Before long, the waiter brought up a box of Gui Snowfish in a purplewood food container and handed it to Yu Chen. Bowing and scraping, he said, "Take care, sir. Please come again when you have the chance."

Yu Chen accepted it, left the restaurant, and raced back up Qingfeng Mausoleum beneath the gazes of the few scattered townsfolk.

After returning to his earthen hut and tightly shutting the doors and windows, he took out the Scripture of Deliverance and opened the food box.

In an instant, a rich aroma filled the entire room. The fresh fragrance of fish mingled with the sharp scent of spices, touched by the lingering flavor of chopped scallions, making even Yu Chen swallow.

—He had never tasted Gui Snowfish in all his life. If not for the beggar's memories, he would not even have known that Spring Breeze Pavilion sold it.

But that fragrance did not last long.

The Scripture of Deliverance opened of its own accord. A ray of golden light shot forth and drew the food box inside.

Abruptly, the scroll changed.

The crawling ghostly figure could be seen stuffing the Gui Snowfish from the food box into his mouth, his face full of satisfaction.

Before long, even the last fish bone had been devoured. He even licked the food box over and over before finally setting it down with great reluctance.

Even through the book, Yu Chen could feel that sense of satisfaction.

Then, the ghostly figure rose to his feet, bowed deeply toward the outside of the scroll, and stepped into the surging Yellow River.

The moment his foot touched the river, a small boat appeared out of thin air. A thin figure with his back to Yu Chen rowed it, carrying the contented ghost into the mist.

His figure could no longer be seen.

Yu Chen stared blankly at it all. As though he felt the ghostly figure's satisfaction, he too experienced a faint measure of contentment.

But the ghostly figure's life had ended. Yu Chen's had only just begun.

The instant the ghost crossed the river by boat, the Scripture of Deliverance erupted with golden light!

The smoke-stained gray words changed.

[Ninth-Rank Mortal Wish fulfilled, Ninth-Rank Mortal Soul delivered, treasure tome bestowed: "Manual of Paper Effigies and Paper Horses"]

Before Yu Chen could react, a mottled black book flew out from the world within the scroll and landed in his palm.

Yu Chen instinctively opened it, and in that instant, heaven and earth spun around him once again!

An ethereal voice echoed by his ears. In his dazed state, he seemed to arrive in an unknown place. Bamboo strips, yellow paper, brush and ink filled his hands as he fashioned all manner of things—men and women, old and young, birds and beasts, insects, fish, flowers, and grass... countless things were woven from his hands.

Throughout the process, Yu Chen seemed to know neither hunger nor exhaustion. He repeated it over and over as the years shifted and changed.

It seemed like an instant, yet also like countless years.

Yu Chen jolted awake.

A realization arose in his mind.

These Paper Effigies and Paper Horses Art were a strange technique. He could use his spirit to control the things he crafted, whether people or spirits and monsters. If he possessed the thing known as Qi and imbued them with it, they could even truly possess the power of whatever he had made!

For instance, if he crafted a fierce tiger and infused it with Qi, it could truly manifest the ferocity of that great beast!

Unfortunately, Yu Chen currently possessed none of that so-called magic power. The things he made were merely forms without substance, illusory things.

But according to the realization he had received, even if they only possessed form, they would still be lifelike!

Without further ado, Yu Chen immediately gave it a try.

—Besides guarding graves, he already made paper effigies to sell to visiting townsfolk, so his room naturally lacked no materials.

He took a stack of yellow paper, a bundle of bamboo strips, and a brush, then began crafting.

Before long, a paper effigy one foot tall took shape in his hands. It had a pale bluish-white face and handsome features. Yu Chen understood at once and blew a breath upon it. Immediately, ghostly light blazed forth, and a figure identical to himself appeared before him!

From the hair atop its head to the clothes on its body, aside from its tightly shut eyes, it was simply impossible to tell real from fake!

Even Yu Chen, tranquil by nature, could not help but marvel at the sight!

—What a marvelous art!

Next, he made all kinds of things—bugs, fish, birds, and beasts, too many to list.

By the time the sky darkened, the room had become a scene of utter weirdness!

Within the previously empty room stood men and women, old and young, tall and short, fat and thin, beautiful and ugly, handsome and grotesque. Figure after figure stood with heads lowered, grim and eerie!

And Yu Chen felt a wave of exhaustion!

He came to understand that the Paper Effigies and Paper Horses Art consumed spiritual strength to deceive the eye. Even with the soul essence of someone who had lived two lives, he could not endure after crafting for an entire day.

With a thought, all those figures instantly turned back into little paper effigies and fell to the ground.

Yu Chen also walked over to the bed, lay down, and fell asleep at once.

Yet before closing his eyes, a thought surfaced in his mind.

If he mastered this paper effigy art, then when the time for exile came, could he make a paper effigy identical to himself and pass fish eyes off as pearls?

But as soon as that thought arose, the rebellious streak formed from the memories of his "past life" gave birth to another idea.

—If he acquired the "Qi" described in that treasure tome, if he could bestow countless miraculous powers upon these paper effigies and possess the divine abilities and mighty power recorded in the book, then who would be exiling whom?

(End of Chapter)