Mountain Puppet

With that cry, he stumbled out of the woods.

Wang Qilin grabbed his saber and hurried over to steady him. "What happened?"

The burly man's face was full of terror. "Graves, graves, so-so many graves..."

Wang Qilin jerked his head at Xu Da, who picked up a burning stick to use as a torch and entered the woods.

Many trees grew on this hill, all old trees with trunks as thick as an adult's thigh. Their luxuriant branches intertwined like a canopy, blocking out the sky and sun.

So despite the fine moonlight that night, the woods were dark and murky.

Xu Da walked in with his torch raised. Wang Qilin cut down a cluster of thick branches with one stroke, opening a gap in the canopy. At once, snowy moonlight cleaved through the darkness like a sharp sword and shone inside.

Under the moonlight, the woods were filled with waist-high earthen mounds.

Tall stone tablets stood before the mounds.

They were graves, every last one!

Anyone would have felt unnerved at suddenly seeing such a stretch of scattered graves in that eerie darkness.

Xu Da spat on the ground and cursed. "What rotten luck. You actually picked a mass graveyard to spend the night in."

Wang Qilin frowned. "I've never heard of a mass graveyard in the township."

Xie Hama, who had followed them in, studied the surrounding terrain. He habitually counted on his fingers, then shook his head. "Let's go. This is a Corpse-Imprisoning Ground. The living mustn't linger here."

"A Corpse-Imprisoning Ground?"

"Yes. Look at the trees here. What kind are they?"

Wang Qilin looked around and noticed something amiss. There were many trees here, but only one kind: locust trees.

Tall or short, large or small, they were all locust trees!

Xie Hama said, "You see it now? They're all ghost-summoning trees!"

The character for "locust tree" consisted of a ghost standing beside wood, so Daoists called it ghost wood.

Xie Hama continued, "Ghost-summoning trees were planted here to keep the ghosts in the graves from wandering. Why wouldn't they dare let the ghosts leave? The dead buried in these graves are all sinister corpses. There's something wrong with every one of them!"

Xu Da looked dubious. "Plant a locust tree on a grave, and it becomes a Corpse-Imprisoning Ground?"

"Hmph, ignorant. Look at the surroundings, then at those gravestones. Notice anything unusual?"

Wang Qilin raised his torch and examined them closely. There was indeed something unusual.

Although the season meant wildflowers and weeds had yet to grow on the earthen hill, plenty of dry grass remained on the slopes outside. Yet the graves in the woods were completely bare, without a blade of grass.

As for the gravestones, whether tall or short, not a single one standing before the graves bore a word. They were nothing but blank stone tablets!

Xie Hama said slowly, "You said you've lived in Paifang Township for twenty years without hearing of a mass graveyard here. Clearly, this graveyard has existed for more than twenty years. The ghosts imprisoned here are all old ghosts."

Leaving the woods, the nine men hurriedly hoisted the coffin and moved elsewhere.

But farther ahead, there were still woods.

These earthen hills were forbidden ground in the countryside, with frequent rumors of ghosts and monsters, so no one had dared venture deep inside for years.

Without people damaging them, the trees had flourished.

Once the campfire was lit again, everyone went together to search the surrounding woods.

This time, they found no graves or anything of the sort.

Wang Qilin was about to head back when Xu Da quietly approached, poked him, and pointed behind them.

He turned to look and saw Xie Hama squatting on the ground, feeling around for something.

Feeling around again and again.

Wang Qilin asked tentatively, "Daoist?"

"Hmm?" Xie Hama looked up.

"What are you looking for?"

"Leaves."

"Leaves?"

"Yes, I need to take a shit. I'm finding some leaves to wipe my ass. What's wrong?"

Wang Qilin rolled his eyes furiously.

The two waited for Xie Hama to finish gathering leaves and leave, but he picked up one leaf after another and still did not go.

Xu Da grew impatient. "How many leaves do you need?"

Xie Hama was impatient too. "A lot. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. With so many, are you planning to wipe your mouth as well as your ass?" Xu Da asked curiously.

"Get lost!"

He went to take a dump, while Wang Qilin went to take a leak, entering the woods from different directions.

This stretch of woods was also filled with locust trees, their roots and branches tangled together.

Fallen leaves littered the ground.

They felt soft underfoot, like stepping on rotten flesh.

Wang Qilin picked a spot at random, closed his eyes, and began relieving himself. Halfway through, just as he felt comfortable enough to moan, he suddenly felt something poke him in the back.

Poked in the depths of an old forest, Wang Qilin hastily turned around.

The turn gave him such a fright that he pissed all over his hand!

Furious, he stuffed himself back into his trousers and demanded, "Who's there?"

At some point, a man wearing a coarse white cloth jacket had appeared behind him, standing in the shadow of a locust tree.

The light was dim, making his appearance impossible to distinguish.

The man said nothing, merely standing in the shadows.

Utterly motionless.

He gave off no human breath and did not seem alive.

Noticing this, Wang Qilin moved closer for a careful look.

He immediately felt rather ashamed.

He still wasn't brave enough. The man was actually a stone statue.

It was simply so lifelike that it looked like a living person.

But where had this stone statue come from?

Wang Qilin looked around. The woods were deep and dark, and the branches rustled and swayed in the wind.

The statue stood silently in the locust tree's shadow. He thought it over. He had been in a hurry to piss and hadn't examined his surroundings, so perhaps he simply hadn't noticed it.

But the matter was strange, and he hurried out of the woods.

Only after a long time did Xie Hama emerge, holding up his Daoist robe. Xu Da flashed a wicked grin and was about to tease him, but the old Daoist was more ruthless. "If you open your mouth, would you believe I have a spell that can stuff something warm into it?"

Xu Da immediately covered his mouth.

Wang Qilin told Xie Hama about the stone statue. The latter's expression immediately turned solemn. "There's something like that here? Take me to see it."

The three entered the woods again.

Visibility was poor at night, and Wang Qilin had chosen a random spot to piss earlier, so it took them quite a while to find the place.

There were still wet marks on the fallen leaves.

But the statue was gone.

Xie Hama's expression was grave. "This wilderness really is sinister. No wonder your township treats it as forbidden ground."

Wang Qilin asked calmly, "What was that thing?"

Xie Hama pondered for a moment. "I suspect it was a Mountain Puppet..."

He was about to explain when the night breeze blew in, carrying a call that sounded as though someone were deliberately keeping their voice low. "Lord Wang, Lord Wang, Daoist Xie, Daoist Xie..."

Xie Hama immediately fell silent, and the three listened closely.

The calls were faint, soft, and intermittent.

Xu Da's expression darkened as he listened. "Who's calling? Why aren't they calling me?"

Wang Qilin wanted to slash him. You have to compete over this too?

Xie Hama hurriedly said, "Don't answer. It could be a wandering ghost calling for your souls!"

They did not answer, and the strained calls in the wind slowly ceased.

Wang Qilin waved a hand, and the three hurried out first.

An old forest at night was certainly no place to discuss ghosts.

But as soon as they emerged, the coffin bearers crowded around them. Some even shed tears. "You finally came out! We called you earlier, but you didn't answer. We thought you'd disappeared too!"

Wang Qilin felt frustrated. "That was you calling us?"

Xie Hama was an old hand and caught the key point. "Who disappeared?"

Brother Nine, Chen Jiu, said with an ashen face, "One of our brothers, Su Yaojin. Lao Ruan, you tell them."

Lao Ruan was the man shedding tears. He said, "Not long after you entered the woods, Brother Xiaojin needed to relieve himself too. Brother Nine was afraid something might happen, so he had me go with him. We didn't go far..."

"Cut the chatter!" Wang Qilin said sternly.

Lao Ruan hurried on. "Right, right, right. Brother Xiaojin went into the woods and squatted behind an old tree. Then he suddenly said, 'Who are you?' Then there was nothing. I called his name, but he didn't answer. Then we went looking and found he was gone!"

"Did you look in the right place?"

"We did."

Wang Qilin told Xie Hama, "When I saw the stone statue, I instinctively asked, 'Who are you?' too!"

Brother Nine asked, "Lord Wang, Daoist Xie, what should we do?"

Xu Da muttered, "Why not ask me?"

Xie Hama pondered briefly. "Did he leave any clothes or luggage behind?"

"No clothes, but he did leave a grain sack."

"Bring it here."

Xie Hama drew a sheet of yellow ritual paper from inside his robe and rubbed it over the grain sack, then deftly folded a paper crane with one hand. He turned his fingers and pointed at the crane's head. "Wind, rise! Swiftly!"

The paper crane rose on the night wind, but then burst into flames.

At this, Xie Hama's expression turned ugly. "His vital energy is gone."

Lao Ruan lived up to his name. His legs truly went weak, and he dropped straight to his knees and began to cry.

Chen Jiu asked gravely, "Is he dead?"

Xie Hama wanted to answer, but shook his head. "You're better off not knowing."

Everyone shuddered.

That meant it was something even more frightening than death.

Chen Jiu looked at his seven remaining brothers and said decisively, "Lift the coffin. We're heading back."

Xie Hama gave a cold laugh. "The Mountain Puppet has sealed the road. There's no way out. We mustn't move now. Meet every change by remaining unchanged!"