The Body Dismemberer Who Went Mad

Who is Zeweng?

Hearing the shouts of strangers outside, a thought suddenly popped into Zhou Yang's hazy mind.

Then he heard Gonpo's shocked response:

"What?!

"How could Zeweng have gone mad?"

"Everyone can go crazy sometimes. He's such a daring person, how could he go crazy?"

Gonpo clearly knew this man called "Zeweng" and was familiar with his character. He spoke as he hurriedly walked out the door.

At this moment, the lingering drowsiness in Zhou Yang's mind completely vanished.

He opened his eyes and sat up abruptly in bed.

Not far away, new firewood had been added to the hearth, and the fire was still roaring and licking at the iron kettle hanging above.

The kettle spout made a whistling sound; the water was about to boil. Ajia wasn't inside, but she must have heard the shouts outside and gone out to see what was happening.

"Why..."

Zhou Yang stood up, stretched vigorously, his muscles cracking, and let out a satisfied sigh.

Of all the nights that's been going on, last night was the most comfortable night I've ever let him sleep.

He shook his head, lifted the black felt cloth covering the inner room door, and stepped out. The commotion and noise outside grew even louder.

Who could know?

"Zeweng has always been very brave. He has dismantled the most corpses. We need to rest for a day after dismantling a corpse, but he can dismantle corpses every day without stopping. I have never seen him afraid!"

"Why did he suddenly go mad this time..." said the man who had just called for Gonpo.

"Oh! Alright!" Gonpo sighed again. "You wait here, I'll go get my apprentice."

"He's afflicted with Lung Madness Disease. If Zeweng has gotten involved with anything, perhaps my disciple can tell. Just wait!"

"Someone with Lung Madness Disease?" The man exclaimed in surprise.

Gonpo hurriedly turned back into the house, and as he lifted the felt cloth in front of the main door, he was about to meet Zhou Yang, who was walking out. "Come on, come on!" He grabbed Zhou Yang and said, "A body dismantler from nearby has gone mad."

"Let's go take a look at him!"

"Okay, I heard everything." Zhou Yang nodded in response, his voice calm.

Upon hearing his voice, Gonpo turned around and saw his lazy, sleepy expression. Gonpo's previously troubled mind suddenly calmed down.

Gonpo grinned and released Zhou Yang's hand.

Zhou Yang followed Gonpo out of the house.

As soon as he entered the courtyard, a pair of eyes shone directly at him, as if trying to discern something from him.

He looked up and saw a man who was so thin he was practically skin and bones, with a dark yellow complexion, wearing a felt hat, standing at the gate of the courtyard staring at him. Even when he looked up and met the man's gaze, the thin man showed no intention of looking away.

Some tangled strands of hair hung down from under the felt hat, obscuring the forehead and cheeks of the dark-skinned, thin man.

He stared at Zhou Yang, scrutinizing him without a smile on his face.

This expression easily makes him seem unfriendly.

If he were to encounter someone with a bad temper, such a look from him could easily provoke a fight. "Aji, this is Jiekan. I've told you about him before; he's a corpse carrier." Gonpo first introduced the dark-skinned, thin man at the courtyard gate to Zhou Yang, and then said to him, "Jiekan, this is my apprentice."

"This is Aji!"

Jiekan nodded to Zhou Yang, a slight smile finally appearing on his face.

His first question to Zhou Yang was, "Are you really Lung Madness Disease?"

"What does 'Lung Madness Disease' look like? Could you take a look at it for me?"

Some people are born without a sense of propriety in their words and actions.

In Zhou Yang's previous world, city dwellers called this kind of behavior "low emotional intelligence".

In Zhou Yang's hometown, people usually call this kind of person "two-faced" or "foolish".

Jiekan is a complete idiot.

"What are you looking at?!" Gonpo yelled at Jiekan from behind, then cursed, "Smash your head open and let us see what the ghee inside looks like!"

"Let's go!"

Despite being scolded like that, Jiekan wasn't angry at all. Instead, he scratched his head and laughed. He turned and left the courtyard, leading the way on his own. The master and apprentice greeted Big Zhuoma and followed him outside.

"There's something wrong with him." On the way, Gonpo pulled Zhou Yang to his side, pointed to his head with one hand and to Jiekan ahead with the other, and said to Zhou Yang, "He was born to his sister and brother."

If he talks nonsense, just ignore him.

"It's a good thing he has some mental issues, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to carry corpses for so long."

"He's gone mad, but now he's not afraid anymore."

"Good."

Zhou Yang nodded.

Jiekan walked ahead, his shoulders swaying.

Before long, he led the master and his apprentice to a group of Shitou houses.

These Shitou houses were not built against the mountainside, but from the outside they still appear neat and sturdy.

This indicates that the homeowner's financial situation is quite good for the surrounding area.

Such well-organized fortified houses were impressive. A crowd had already gathered in front of the houses, and they all greeted Gonpo as he approached.

"Hey, Gonpo!"

"You went up the mountain yesterday?"

"Who is this person following you?"

"Go and check inside quickly, Gemei and the others have already gone to look!"

The people gathered in front of the watchtowers were mostly people living nearby, such as corpse carriers, medicine sellers, and lamp makers who relied on sky burial masters for their livelihood.

This settlement at the foot of Narong Mountain consists of only a few dozen houses, scattered sparsely throughout the area.

Now, because a sky burial master has gone mad, about 70-80% of the local residents have gathered at the entrance of Zeweng's house.

Seeing that there were many people gathered here, Gonpo pulled Zhou Yang over and introduced him to everyone, "This is my apprentice, named Aji!"

"He has developed Lung Madness Disease, which allows him to see things that others cannot see and hear sounds that others cannot hear."

"I brought him here specifically to help me treat Zeweng's illness!"

"Aji also has an older sister named Zhuoma, who is the best silversmith and coppersmith in Linzang City—if your personal religious implements or the golden statues enshrined in your homes are damaged, go to Zhuoma to repair them. The siblings live with me."

"Great, great..." the people around them echoed.

Their gazes fell on Zhou Yang, their eyes darting around, wanting to see if this "Zhou Yang Lung Madness Disease" would exhibit any strange behavior.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Gonpo and his apprentice went into the watchtower.

The doors to the watchtowers were very low, and the thresholds were very high. Even someone as slender as Gonpo had to bend over to squeeze through.

It is said that the reason for building the gate of the watchtower in this way was to guard against a ghost called "Rolang".

In legends, "Rolang" is often depicted as an upright corpse; it does not bend over, its eyes do not move, and it only walks straight forward.

Anyone whose head it touches will die instantly, and their body will remain standing in place until it rots, unable to move.

The light inside the watchtower was dim.

Although the windows were all open and not covered by felt, the inside was still dark and gloomy.

Only a few windows emitted a blinding white light.

Amidst the rows of bronze butter lamps, a disheveled man sat. His hands and feet were bound, and his chest heaved violently. Hearing the footsteps of Gonpo and Zhou Yang approaching, he abruptly turned to stare at the master and his disciple, shouting sharply, "Where is he?!"

Where is he?!

The man with his hands and feet bound and bloodshot eyes was Zeweng, the sky burial master who had gone mad.

"What? Where is he? Who is he looking for?" Gonpo frowned as he observed Zeweng, while asking Zeweng's wife Zhima.

Zhima kept wiping away her tears, and upon hearing the sound, she shook her head repeatedly. "I don't know him, I don't know who he's looking for..."

Zhou Yang stood to one side.

Inside the fortified house, he was unaware of Ghost Rhyme's presence.

Zeweng called out twice, then lowered his head again. Soon after, his chest heaved and he snored loudly; he had fallen asleep sitting up.

"Have you consulted any sorcerers or monks at the temple?" Gonpo couldn't discern anything amiss from Zeweng, so he proceeded to ask Zhima, "Has he recently dissected corpses for others?"

Have you encountered any corpses that died a violent death?

"Zeweng started going crazy yesterday at noon, and a sorcerer came to check on him yesterday at noon."

"The sorcerer came and set up offerings and chanted scriptures, but it was all ineffective. "Then Eba said that Zeweng was not possessed by ghosts or demons, but that he had truly gone mad and was incurable."

"After saying all that Zhima Eba. "He didn't dismantle the body yesterday, but he was dismantling bodies every day before that—and almost none of them were not people who had died violent deaths. Most of them had their limbs broken and bled to death, drowned in the river, or were burned to death."

"Nowadays, very few people die peacefully; they all die violent deaths!"

Hearing her words, Gonpo also sighed.

Zhima's words were true.

He hadn't encountered a single corpse that truly didn't bear any signs of a violent death for months.

"Have you encountered any people who died violent deaths, with their skin peeled off and heads severed?" Gonpo then asked.

"No." This time, Zhima shook her head firmly.

After examining the offerings placed around Zeweng and confirming that they were mostly for show and wouldn't serve any real purpose, Zhou Yang asked Zhima, "Have you encountered anything recently that makes you feel scared or uneasy?"

"Or have there been any recent sky burials of corpses that you find suspicious?"

Zhima looked at Zhou Yang with a surprised and suspicious expression.

She didn't answer Zhou Yang's question immediately, but instead asked Gonpo, "Who is this?" "Aji, my apprentice!" Gonpo laughed.

Hearing his answer, Zhima felt relieved, gave Zhou Yang a friendly smile, and said, "No."

She then began wiping away tears again. "Actually, if we're talking about something that's not right, every corpse scared us and made us feel uneasy."

"But thinking about it carefully, there really aren't any corpses that make us feel particularly scared or uneasy..."

Hearing her say that, Zhou Yang sighed inwardly.

Although they live in a place where ghostly events can happen at any time, judging from Zhima's current response and Zhou Yang's observation of Zeweng, Zeweng may not have actually encountered any ghosts or Tsen Demon.

It wasn't these supernatural events that caused his madness.

It was most likely the mental stress accumulated from dismantling corpses over a long period of time that overwhelmed him.