PCA Chapter 152

“Brother Su, stop it.” Qu Ling’er closed his eyes, reaching up to scratch his face randomly. “Let me sleep a bit longer.”

 

The itching on his face stopped briefly, then targeted his ear. Qu Ling’er turned his head angrily, covering his face with his clothes, and continued sleeping like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water.

 

A soft laugh came from not far behind him. “See? You’re sleeping quite soundly in this graveyard after all.”

 

A hand in front of him kept pulling at his clothes. Qu Ling’er was about to erupt in anger and embarrassment when he suddenly froze.

 

Brother Su’s voice was behind him, at some distance… then who was this person in front of him pulling at his clothes?!

 

Qu Ling’er’s eyes shot open to see a small piece of foxtail grass poking through the gap, and a pair of bright black eyes staring at him fixedly!

 

“Ahhh!” Qu Ling’er jumped up. “Brother Su, save me, save me!”

 

Halfway through running, he suddenly stopped: “Su, Brother Su… were you eaten by a tiger?”

 

Su Cen smiled at him: “Why do you ask?”

 

Qu Ling’er’s face turned pale as he backed away several steps, hiding behind a broken tombstone and not daring to peek out: “You must have been eaten by a tiger and turned into a vengeful ghost, and this child must be the tiger spirit… Wuwuwu, Brother Su, you’re finally going to kill me…”

 

Su Cen was amused by Qu Ling’er’s peculiar train of thought. Instead of explaining, he decided to tease him further, stepping forward: “That’s right. You slept so soundly last night, not caring about me at all. Now that I’ve been eaten by a tiger, I’ll have to take your life in return.”

 

Qu Ling’er was so frightened his face turned deathly pale. He almost wanted to pry open a coffin and hide inside. He tightly closed his eyes: “Let those responsible pay for their own debts! It was the tiger that ate you. Brother Su, don’t grab me, I’ll burn incense for you. If that’s not enough, why don’t you drag the Prince down to keep you company!”

 

Su Cen was taken aback, then pulled Qu Ling’er and laughed heartily, “If I really died, I’d definitely take you down first to keep me company.”

 

Feeling warmth from his shoulder, Qu Ling’er timidly opened his eyes and stared at Su Cen’s face, which was just inches away. His nose was still his nose, his eyes still his eyes, and his face even had a rosy glow from the morning sunrise.

 

“Brother Su, you’re not dead!”

 

Qu Ling’er immediately brightened up, pulling Su Cen to look him over from left to right before finally feeling relieved. Only then did he remember there was still a half-grown child standing nearby, dressed in hemp cloth, about twelve or thirteen years old, with a basket of pig fodder on his back. He quickly asked: “Then who is this?”

 

“Lu Xiaojiu,” Su Cen beckoned to the child. Lu Xiaojiu immediately bounced forward. Su Cen patted his shoulder and said: “Xiaojiu is from Lu Family Village. He came out to gather pig fodder and happened to meet us. He says he can lead us into the village.”

 

“Lu Xiaojiu?” Qu Ling’er’s eyes lit up. “Then Lu Xiao…”

 

Before he could finish, Su Cen pulled him from behind. After a moment of surprise, Qu Ling’er understood. This Lu Xiaojiu looked only twelve or thirteen years old, so he naturally couldn’t have known Lu Xiaoliu who had died twelve years ago. Su Cen didn’t want him to ask, probably to avoid revealing their identity and alerting their quarry.

 

Lu Xiaojiu didn’t notice this small interaction between them. He blinked his big eyes, curiously examining the two: “You’re not from Lu Family Village, nor from the big mansion. You really came from outside? How did you get in?”

 

Su Cen sensitively caught three words: “Big mansion? What’s the big mansion?”

 

Lu Xiaojiu tilted his head, “The big mansion… is just the big mansion. You still haven’t told me how you got in!”

 

Su Cen knew things couldn’t be explained quickly, so he said “let’s talk while we walk,” leading the two out of the graveyard towards the undulating village in the distance.

 

The winding small path leading to the village was lined with wild grass and flowers, their morning dew glistening in the early sunlight. Lu Xiaojiu would stop every few steps to pick some wildflowers or catch butterflies, making their two-li journey take nearly half an hour.

 

As they walked, Su Cen came to understand quite a few things. This Lu Xiaojiu was born and raised in Lu Family Village, had never seen his parents, and grew up with his grandmother. He had never left the village and had never seen outsiders enter. According to him, he had only seen two types of people in his life: the people of Lu Family Village and the people of the big mansion. The village people were self-explanatory – they were the villagers of Lu Family Village. Lu Xiaojiu went on about various relatives, mostly trivial talk. The big mansion, however, was more mysterious. According to Lu Xiaojiu, the family living in the big mansion also had the surname Lu, with a Master Lu in charge who was a very generous person. He often provided for the villagers, which was why they could live comfortably without leaving the village. Whatever they needed, the big mansion would provide, so the road leading out of the village gradually fell into disuse.

 

“Big mansion, Master Lu…” Su Cen silently repeated to himself, then asked: “Since the road out of the village has been abandoned, does that mean the people from the big mansion don’t leave the village either?”

 

“Of course not, they have…” Lu Xiaojiu said halfway, his expression suddenly changing as he awkwardly changed the subject. “Why do you only ask about things in the village? Tell me about the outside world.”

 

Su Cen smiled, thinking to himself that this child was quite alert. He didn’t press further but instead picked out some interesting and curious stories about Chang’an city. Soon Lu Xiaojiu was so captivated that he stopped picking flowers and catching butterflies, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on Su Cen, clearly attracted by the world outside.

 

Su Cen smiled and asked: “Since you like the outside world so much, why don’t you go and see it for yourself?”

 

Lu Xiaojiu’s bright eyes immediately dimmed. After pursing his thin lips and hesitating for a moment before saying: “We can’t leave.”

 

“Why can’t you leave?”

 

Lu Xiaojiu sighed like someone much older than his years, “Grandmother doesn’t let me go out, and the villagers also say we can’t leave. Besides, there’s a Mountain Goddess on Mount Mang who eats people who pass by.”

 

Su Cen said: “But isn’t that just a legend? No one has actually seen it, right? We came in just fine, didn’t we?”

 

“It’s not a legend!” Lu Xiaojiu insisted vehemently. “I’ve seen it! Everyone in our village has seen it! People have found bodies on the mountain that were left half-eaten by the Mountain Goddess, missing arms and legs, some even missing half their heads! And the people who are bitten to death become vengeful ghosts, walking back and forth on that mountain path, specifically catching passersby to feed to the Mountain Goddess!”

 

“As for how you got in,” Lu Xiaojiu lowered his head and thought carefully, “maybe the Mountain Goddess was asleep when you came? Or maybe she was full and temporarily didn’t want to eat you?”

 

Su Cen frowned slightly, pondering to himself. He had always thought the legend of Mount Mang was just a rumor created through the ‘three men make a tiger’ effect[mfn]This idiom refers to how a rumor, even if false, becomes believable when repeated by enough people. It originates from a story where someone asks if people would believe a claim that there’s a tiger in the marketplace if three different people reported it.[/mfn] and wasn’t credible. But rumors can’t conjure corpses out of thin air. If what Lu Xiaojiu said was true, then there must indeed be something out there. Whether it was truly the work of wild beasts or someone with malicious intent remained to be determined.

 

He recalled that the villagers of Jinghe Village had mentioned being wary of the coffins in Lu Family Village, not daring to enter easily. Now it seemed the people of Lu Family Village were afraid to leave because of the Mountain Goddess rumors. People outside didn’t come in, and people inside couldn’t get out, so whatever happened in the village, no one would know.

 

No wonder he couldn’t find any more records about Lu Family Village in the Dali Temple archives even after thorough searching. This village existed completely outside people’s vision, beyond the laws of Great Zhou.

 

So was their ability to enter truly just good luck?

 

“But it won’t be much longer,” Lu Xiaojiu said quietly, head lowered. “Sooner or later, I want to go out and see the world.”

 

“What?” Su Cen was momentarily distracted.

 

“Brother Su, look!” Qu Ling’er suddenly exclaimed.

 

Su Cen looked up and realized they had already arrived at the village entrance. At a glance, he saw wicker gates and thatched cottages, not much different from villages elsewhere. Except for one thing: each household had a coffin placed at the front door, appearing dark red in the morning light as if soaked in blood.

 

Lu Xiaojiu stopped at a low wooden door and told them: “We’re here.”

 

He unlocked the door, brought them in, and then bolted it from inside.

 

“I’ll go to the backyard first,” Lu Xiaojiu pointed to the basket on his back. “Make yourselves comfortable, don’t be shy.”

 

After Lu Xiaojiu left, Qu Ling’er moved closer to Su Cen and whispered: “This village is so strange.”

 

Su Cen looked around and nodded.

 

“Did you notice the color of those coffins outside?” Qu Ling’er looked toward the gate. “Is it…”

 

“It’s red lacquer,” Su Cen said. While Lu Xiaojiu was opening the door, he had deliberately touched the coffin and felt no stickiness, only the faint musty smell of rotting wood. “Red lacquer is used to protect coffin wood from decay. These coffins have been exposed to the elements for too long, causing the surface to peel and flake, while the inner layer has soaked into the wood, making it look like blood.”

 

Qu Ling’er felt somewhat relieved but still frowned: “It’s so inauspicious to have coffins at doorways. What are these people thinking?”

 

“The coffins aren’t even the strangest thing,” Su Cen narrowed his eyes slightly. “Have you noticed? There’s no sound in this village.”

 

Qu Ling’er was startled, suddenly feeling a chill run down his spine.

 

At this time of day, the village should be bustling with activity—people cooking, calling to each other, chickens crowing, dogs barking. But now the village was eerily quiet, as if not yet awake, with all doors closed, deathly silent.

 

Qu Ling’er involuntarily lowered his voice: “Brother Su, do you remember?”

 

Su Cen nodded, recalling that the people of Jinghe Village had said the people of Lu Family Village would disappear during the day. Indeed, it didn’t seem like there were people present.

 

How could a place where people live but with no signs of living people be called a village?

 

While Su Cen was lost in thought, Qu Ling’er suddenly tugged at his sleeve. Looking back, Su Cen first saw Qu Ling’er’s mouth hanging open in shock.

 

Following Qu Ling’er’s gaze, Su Cen was also slightly startled.

 

Just a few steps behind them, an old woman had silently appeared, with silver hair and a hunched back, staring at them with deeply sunken eyes.

 

 

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