Chapter 443: The Sounds of Battle in the Night |
Having finally made it to the city, Liao Daqiu and the others discussed and decided they should find a doctor to buy some medicine to take back. If the epidemic broke out, they might not be able to buy the medicine later.
So the group went to a familiar pharmacy in the county capital. In the past, when people in the village needed medicine, they would usually come to this medicine hall.1 When they arrived, the owner of the pharmacy, who was also the doctor of this establishment, was busy with his apprentices filling and packing medicine.
Seeing that there weren’t many people getting medicine in the shop, Liao Daqiu and Lao Zhang exchanged glances and quickly went up to ask.
“Dr. Zhao, we’d like to get some medicine.”
Upon hearing the voice, the shopkeeper turned around to see Liao Daqiu and his group entering the pharmacy.
Many people knew about Old Liao leading the villagers of Maotan Village to build a public cemetery. The owner was familiar with these people, so naturally he was aware of their deeds as well.
Although many would say that Old Liao and the people of Maotan Village were foolish, as a doctor, he believed that the people of Maotan Village had done excellent work, both morally and ethically. Therefore, he would usually take good care of the people from this village when they come to see him for treatment.
“Oh, it’s Old Liao and Old Zhang. You’ve come to the city? It’s best to stay in your village for a while. There’s an outbreak of plague in other counties, so it’s best to avoid going out.”
Hearing the doctor mention this, Old Liao quickly spoke up.
Dr. Zhao looked over at the medicine cabinet.
“What a coincidence, I was just preparing some. How much do you need? How about this, I’ll prepare enough for twenty people for three days. If someone really gets infected, medicine alone wouldn’t be enough, and they would have to come to me.”
“Yes, yes, you’re the doctor, you can make the decision!”
Liao Daqiu and the villagers quickly nodded in agreement.
Before long, the group carrying the medicine left the pharmacy and then headed straight out of the city.
When Liao Daqiu, Old Zhang, and the others returned to Maotan Village, they could already see smoke rising from every household’s chimney. After a busy day, the feast to reward the ghosts in the cemetery was almost ready.
The group of Lao Liao returned just in time; it was still early, and the largest-ever rice offering ceremony in the history of Maotan Village was about to begin.
Women and men carried dishes in baskets or pushed them on carts, together delivering them to the cemetery. They also brought a large table and all the necessary ritual tools.
The food was all served in bowls. Some were in soup bowls, others were simply clean washbasins. There was just too much food to use plates; bowls were more convenient and less likely to spill.
Soon, a group of more than forty people arrived outside the cemetery. The old village head and Liao Daqiu picked out several specially prepared dishes and placed them in front of the local Land God shrine, setting out chopsticks and pouring two cups of wine.
After lighting the candles on the candlesticks and the incense in the small incense burner, he led the group to pray to the Land God.
“May the Land God protect us! May the Land God protect us!”
After doing all this, the old village head straightened up.
“Alright, everyone, move all the tables off the carts and put them in that open space over there. Put all the dishes on the tables.”
“Yes, yes, hurry up and get ready, it’ll be dark soon.”
Some of the villagers didn’t come to the cemetery very often, and were a little scared to see so many graves. But hearing that it would be dark soon, even though it was still early in the evening, they moved even faster.
Soon, bowls of still-steaming dishes were placed on more than a dozen large tables, each large enough to sit eight people, while others were placed on the relatively clean ground around them. There were also wine cups and jugs, as well as lit candles and incense sticks.
More than forty people came, led by the village head, and kept bowing towards the dishes that were laid out. Old Liao even spoke up and shouted a few words.
“Brave warriors, the flags and weapons are being made. Today, we will offer you some soup and rice. Our Maotan Village is not a wealthy place, and our resources are limited. These dishes are the best we can provide. Please do not find them offensive, and enjoy them!”
The temperature at the cemetery seemed noticeably lower than in other places, and a cool breeze made the villagers shiver.
The lit candles flickered fiercely, and everyone slowly withdrew from the inner area of the cemetery and retreated to just outside the local Land God shrine to wait for the soup and rice course to have finished. Usually, the soup and rice would be served shortly after the candles were lit and prayers offered, but today they planned to wait for half an hour.
That evening, every household in Maotan Village ate as lavishly as if it were New Year’s. With so much food prepared, they couldn’t possibly waste it, so naturally each household took some home to eat.
However, as they ate, many villagers felt that the food tasted rather bland, far less flavorful than the leftover food from when they prayed to their ancestors at home. However, the more bland it tasted, the more the villagers inexplicably believed the truth of the matter.
As night fell, the cemetery gradually became eerily quiet, and the local Land God appeared in front of the shrine, sitting atop his small structure and watching what was happening within the cemetery.
Ghosts were different from humans: humans needed to eat every day, while ghosts only needed sustenance few times a year. Today, all of these ghosts appeared vastly different from before.
“Time is of the essence, and I cannot train all of you into battle-hardened soldiers. However, we are ghosts, and we are quite different from humans, so we will focus on movement and footwork! In short, it all boils down to one word: ‘steady’!
“Everyone! We have sworn an oath before our benefactor that we will never disappoint him or the people of Maotan Village!”
The two armored ghost warriors faced each other, their arms interlocked as if wrestling, each trying to throw the other off balance, but neither could budge. One of them continued talking.
“Never fall! Our comrades are all around us. Trust your weapons, trust your comrades! Haah…”
As he spoke, the armored soldier gave a shout and flung the other ghost warrior in front of him away. The latter did not loosen his grip, and actually carried him three zhang off the ground before landing on a grave mound.
“Brothers! As you all know, we ghosts were lonely and ill-fated in life, and our lifespan in the underworld also short after death. We’ve died once before… Last time we died pathetically, but this time, even if we are to die, we will die gloriously!”
The Land God, with his legs crossed, watched from afar. This armored soldier was a genius, he thought, and probably was extraordinary in life. Unfortunately, he died young.
…
Three days later, Liao Daqiu and some villagers went to the county town again, paid the remaining copper coins, and brought back the flags and weapons the paper craftsmen made.
Upon returning, they didn’t stop to rest, but instead took the items directly to the cemetery, piled them up outside the burial area, and burned them. However, what Liao Daqiu and the other villagers of Maotan didn’t know was that while they burned these paper weapons, the local Land God was already standing by the fire, chanting incantations and channeling his own spiritual power into the flames alongside the villagers’ wishes.
Some time passed, and more and more news of the plague reached the county and the ears of the people of Maotan Village, but they only heard that an epidemic had broken out, and were not aware of the specifics.
On this day, Liao Daqiu and the old village head squatted together at a dry toilet at the end of the village. Their conversation naturally revolved around the plague demon.
“Why isn’t it here yet?”
“What nonsense are you spouting? You’re actually looking forward to it coming?”
“Well, it would be best if it didn’t come, of course it would be best if it didn’t come…”
As Liao Daqiu was speaking, he suddenly felt a little dizzy. He subconsciously looked towards the northwest sky, and the more he looked, the dizzier he became. At this moment, the old village head’s voice also drifted over.
“Old Liao, why do I feel like… the sky in the northwest is about to collapse?”
“Me too, I feel the same way, and my head is spinning…”
Old Liao rubbed his eyes and looked again, but the sky in that direction now seemed normal. However, staring at it for a while made him dizzy again, so he quickly focused on relieving himself.
“Whoosh…whoosh…”
A gust of wind blew by, causing the branches and leaves of the trees not far from the outhouse to sway and tremble. The sound of the wind carried a mournful tone.
Unbeknownst to the old village chief and Liao Daqiu, at this very moment, the Land God was staring in shock at the distant northwest. Despite the extremely vast distance and the fact that he didn’t know what was happening, the mysterious feeling was incredibly strong.
‘A powerful master has performed a technique!’
Night fell particularly quickly that day, and the villagers of Maotan Village returned home early as usual, closing their doors and windows. Outside the village, as the sun completely set, just like in the days before, the spirits of the cemetery, armed with weapons, appeared outside the village, training and preparing for battle.
“Whoosh…whoosh…whoosh…”
The wind howled loudly, like someone weeping. Suddenly, the Land God appeared at the village entrance, gazing into the distance. The surrounding spirits stopped moving.
“They’re here!”
The Land God spoke solemnly, and all the ghosts perked up.
“Brothers and sisters, grip your weapons tightly! We suffered in life, but we will have glory in death. Raise the battle flags—”
“Understood!”
“Understood!”
“Understood!”
Even though the ghosts carrying the flags were just ordinary people in life, they responded loudly to the command and returned to their positions.
A green light was already spreading from afar, accompanied by painful wails and malevolent roars. The green light and the sounds were clearly aimed at this place, where the living dwelled.
“Heh…heh…”
“Uh, ah, ugh…”
“Waaaaah…waaaah…”
Outside Maotan Village, a group of grave-risen ghost soldiers lined up in formation, with the leading armored soldier shouting loudly.
“Release the arrows!”
The arrows in the hands of the archer ghosts flashed with a faint light, and in the next moment…
Swish swish swish swish swish…
Dozens of arrows flew into the distance. The ghost soldiers didn’t need to aim deliberately, the arrows just shot at the plague demons down on their own.
About a few dozen breaths later, an even louder roar came from outside the village.
“Kill them!”
“Kill!”
“Charge!”
…
In Maotan Village, whether it was Liao Daqiu, the old village chief, or even the numerous ordinary villagers, they all heard the sounds of fierce battle in their sleep. The sounds echoed throughout the village, as if the entire village were sleeping on a battlefield.
Some were awakened by this nightmare, but even after waking up, although it wasn’t as clear as in the dream, they could still faintly hear the sounds of fighting…
In the northwestern sky, a cloud flew through the night with a conspicuous spiritual light, its halo illuminating the surrounding area in a dazzling display.
Ji Yuan and Chang Yi deliberately revealed their spiritual light to notify any demons they might encounter of their presence. It was a move intended to alert them, whether to drive them out or drive them away. in any case, they did not want demons to linger in the mortal world.
“Hmm?”
Ji Yuan’s supernatural eyes swept across the landscape and seemed to see a deathly aura rising, looming and oppressive, in the distance. It perfectly fit the description of a deathly still atmosphere. Chang Yi clearly saw something as well.
“Mr. Ji, it seems that the situation in the mortal world is indeed unusual.”
“Let’s go!”
The cloud beneath them flashed with light, their speed immediately increasing as they flew off into the distance.
T/n: today I learned that the main difference between a graveyard and a cemetery is that a graveyard is traditionally associated with a church, while a cemetery is an independent and usually secular burial site. Neat. (I have updated previous chapters to match.)
- The name used is 济命堂 (jì mìng táng), which literally translates to “Life Saving Hall”
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