Corpse Demon

Granny Liu wanted to help our family because she believed the powerful immortal spirit within me would awaken sooner or later, and then I would be able to help her in return. As it turned out, she really did have foresight: I later saved her life. But that was a story for another time.

After Granny Liu decided to stay and help me, she asked about the history between me and Ma Laosan's wife.

Ma Laosan's wife had hit me that day, then stood outside our gate hurling abuse. Early the next morning, someone found her body on the hill behind the village.

Those weasels and foxes all knew that the powerful immortal spirit resided within me. Bullying me meant bullying that immortal, which was why the Yellow Weasels and foxes had taken revenge on Ma Laosan's wife.

Then Dad asked why Ma Laosan's wife came knocking on our window in the middle of the night, saying only one sentence each night before leaving, and sneering all the while.

Granny Liu said that Ma Laosan's wife was a newly dead ghost with little spiritual power. Only after the seventh day following her death would she become truly powerful. Then she would be capable of killing every member of our family, young and old.

Moreover, Ma Laosan's wife harbored tremendous resentment, trapped within her chest, and she had been bitten by the Yellow Immortal and the fox immortal. A corpse like that was especially prone to transforming into something terrifying called a Corpse Demon. Half corpse and half ghost, it was a dreadful evil creature.

No one had stolen Ma Laosan's wife's body. She had broken out of the coffin herself, and there was no telling what dark corner she was hiding in now.

After the seventh day, Ma Laosan's wife's soul would merge with her corpse, turning her into a Corpse Demon that would come seeking revenge.

Everyone in the family was terrified by what Granny Liu said, and they asked her what they should do next.

Granny Liu said the simplest way to resolve this was to destroy Ma Laosan's wife before the seventh day after her death. Whether they found and destroyed her corpse or dispersed her soul, she would no longer be able to become a Corpse Demon.

"Isn't that easy enough?" Grandpa said. "Ma Laosan's wife comes knocking on the window every night. Stay here with us, Granny Liu, and when she comes tonight, you can deal with her once and for all."

Granny Liu had the same idea.

Before dealing with Ma Laosan's wife, Granny Liu asked Dad to find a few things. First, a large, fully grown black dog without a single hair of another color. Second, three large roosters that had been raised for at least three years, with bright, glossy plumage. Third, a burial outfit made for me, which could keep me alive if I wore it when Ma Laosan's wife appeared.

The first two were easy enough, since practically every household in the village kept dogs and chickens. But getting a burial outfit for a three-year-old like me was more difficult. Where could anyone buy one for a child that young? It would have to be custom-made.

With no other choice, Dad went to a burial clothing shop and ordered an outfit specially made for me. Even if they rushed it, the earliest it could be ready was the next day.

Granny Liu said that was all right. The burial outfit was meant to save my life only as a last resort. If only Ma Laosan's wife's ghost appeared, she should be able to handle her herself.

With everything ready, all that remained was to wait for Ma Laosan's wife to come in the middle of the night.

To everyone's surprise, however, the whole family and Granny Liu waited all night, staying up until they had dark circles under their eyes, yet Ma Laosan's wife never came. The entire night's vigil had been for nothing.

The roosters crowed a few times, dawn broke, and the large black dog Dad had found lay down to rest.

With dark circles around his eyes, Grandpa asked Granny Liu, "Tell me, why didn't Ma Laosan's wife come?"

Granny Liu was puzzled too. After thinking it over, she said, "Perhaps Ma Laosan's wife's ghost sensed something and realized that this old woman is a Spirit-Calling Disciple, so she didn't dare come. Or perhaps she simply wasn't planning to come last night. It looks like we'll have to wait until the day after tomorrow, when she turns into a Corpse Demon, before we see her."

"If Ma Laosan's wife becomes such a powerful Corpse Demon, will we be able to deal with her?" Dad asked.

"There's nothing else we can do. But rest assured, even if I have to give up this old life of mine, I'll keep the child safe," Granny Liu said with a sigh.

Granny Liu stayed at our house, waiting for Ma Laosan's wife to come.

We stayed up another night, but Ma Laosan's wife still didn't appear. Tomorrow would be the seventh day after her death.

Once that day arrived, Ma Laosan's wife would become a Corpse Demon, and no one knew what would happen next.

Granny Liu seemed restless all day, visibly nervous.

She wasn't the only one. Mom, Dad, and Grandpa were all terribly nervous too.

Grandpa even brought out the great saber he had used to fight the Japanese invaders and honed it on a whetstone until its edge gleamed.

Before we knew it, darkness had fallen, and the family gathered for a meal.

It might well have been our last supper together.

After dark, Granny Liu first told Dad to take the large black dog outside, then bring it to the gate after midnight.

Dad didn't know why she wanted this done, but he followed her instructions anyway.

People in the countryside went to bed early. In those days, the village didn't even have electricity, let alone mobile phones or televisions, so everyone turned in even earlier. By around nine, the village was usually still, its silence almost frightening.

Time ticked past, second by second.

Before long, it was eleven at night.

Although Mom was frightened, she had taken me to bed early, holding me in her arms. There was nothing she could do to help anyway.

Grandpa brought out a bench and set it in the middle of the courtyard. He held the great saber in his hand, a strip of cloth tied to it as red as blood.

Granny Liu said Grandpa's saber could be used against a Corpse Demon because it had killed people, including quite a few Japanese soldiers. It was a killing blade, and demons and ghosts feared such weapons.

Grandpa had long since stopped caring whether he lived or died. No matter what happened tonight, he would protect his grandson.

Granny Liu stood in the middle of the courtyard, puffing endlessly on her long tobacco pipe. Smoke wreathed the courtyard, but her eyes remained fixed on the gate.

Some time after eleven, something eerie happened.

First, a wind rose in the courtyard-a black whirlwind that kept circling around it.

At the same time, the entire village erupted as every dog began barking furiously.

But it lasted only a few minutes. Soon, everything fell silent again, without a sound.

The surroundings suddenly turned bitterly cold, and Grandpa, sitting in the middle of the courtyard, felt his hair stand on end.

Just then, footsteps suddenly sounded outside the courtyard. They thudded heavily, accompanied by a thick stench of decay that drifted toward us.

At the sound, Granny Liu immediately tensed. "She's here!"