WOOY Chapter 2

Ye Liuxi whispered, “I really didn’t expect this…”

She stepped forward, running her finger along the edge of the incense burner, then lifted it to inspect.

Her fingertip was covered in dust.

In the corner of the altar, a spider ,disturbed by the voices, moved quickly on its slender legs, its silver web shimmering and swaying.

Ye Liuxi flicked her fingers and blew on them, “You don’t seem to honor your nephew much.”

Ding Zhou’s expression was indifferent, “People trusted him as a guide, but he insisted on having his way because of his experience. The consequences were so severe that I also think he deserved to die. I saw the news; among the dead, some had just become fathers. No matter how many times he dies, he can’t atone for that.”

Ye Liuxi sighed, “You can’t say it like that. In a place like the desert, you never know what might happen…”

She stepped back.

Ding Zhou led her out, “Miss Ye, you’ll have to find someone else. But let me give you a piece of advice: if you can avoid going, don’t go. The desert is so dangerous; it’s only logical that it hurts people, not the other way around. What’s this ‘Desert Fang’ nickname? It sounds ridiculous.”

Ye Liuxi laughed, walking quickly and stepping off the stage ahead of him. She opened her canvas bag and took out a sealed courier envelope, which he handed to Ding Zhou.

Ding Zhou was surprised, “What’s this?”

He turned the envelope over to look: no stamp, no label, just a normal envelope.

Ye Liuxi said, “There are some things inside. Take your time to look at them, and be careful not to tear them. I’m leaving now. Once I’m out of the alley, I’ll head north. If you want to catch up with me, you’ll have to run fast.”

Ding Zhou was baffled. “Why should I catch up with you?”

Ye Liuxi slung her bag over her shoulder and gestured towards the envelope. “That’s up to you. If you want to, then do it. If not, forget it.”

She opened the door.

The new ticket holders, impatiently waiting, rushed in noisily as the door opened. Ye Liuxi went against the flow of people and quickly disappeared.

Ding Zhou tore open the courier envelope.

What could it be? It felt weightless and flat, probably a piece of paper.

He pulled out a large brown envelope.

Opening the envelope, he reached in and took out a medium-sized white envelope.

Ding Zhou felt a bit impatient: this layer upon layer, was she playing with him?

Fortunately, there was something in the white envelope.

It felt like a photo. He pulled it out.

For a moment, he couldn’t hear the sounds in the room, but he could hear the distant roar of a sandstorm, glaciers cracking, and rocks tumbling.

Ding Zhou rushed out.

It had been too long since he had been outside; he had forgotten how crowded this street was. As soon as he exited the alley, he almost collided with a tourist, stumbling and nearly falling. The street was filled with stalls and shops, even the middle of the street was occupied, with shouts and camera flashes everywhere.

After finally steadying himself, Ding Zhou saw people everywhere, faces and backs fragmented by the light into surreal pictures.

Voices twisted into his ears like snakes, with some complaining that the old man was crazy and others urging to stay away from him to avoid any trouble.

Standing in the bustling crowd, Ding Zhou shouted, “Ye Liuxi!”

There was no response.

The noise roared like ocean waves, growing louder as the night deepened.

Little He, who was selling tickets, was busy calming the impatient audience. Seeing Ding Zhou return, he hurried up to him. Before he could say anything, Ding Zhou preemptively said, “Refund the tickets.”

 

He pushed the door open and, amid the surprised gazes of everyone in the room, stiffly walked through the theater, into the backstage area, and into his own cramped bedroom, collapsing onto the bed.

The noise outside grew louder, mixed with Little He’s apologetic voice. Ding Zhou sat there in a daze, suddenly reaching up to pull at his hair, pulling off a wig, and tearing the layer of wrinkled latex on his face.

Refunds, tickets, and complaints—Little He finally nodded and bowed to see off the last guest.

Then he rushed into the backstage, calling out, “Dong Ge[mfn]ge- its a way to adress someone[/mfn]…”

The next words caught in his throat: Chang Dong sat there, the white wig cast aside, the latex on his face partially torn off, some pieces still hanging, and the fake beard disheveled. He looked bizarre and menacing, like a zombie with sagging skin.

What had happened?

 

Little He was busy earning money to get married, uninterested in the internet or news, and had never heard of “Black Camellia.” He found Chang Dong odd: at such a prime age and with great talent, he did nothing productive, was always gloomy, and didn’t speak for days. He never left the house, like a real-life vampire afraid of sunlight.

Ding Zhou also advised Chang Dong: “You should find something to distract yourself, don’t dwell on those unpleasant things every day.”

So Chang Dong got into shadow puppetry, learning from Ding Zhou how to manipulate the puppets, making them run, stand, sit, roll, perform flips, and execute surprise attacks. Sometimes he even carved the puppets himself, using a chisel to create star eyes, plum blossom patterns, and swastikas, heating them over an alcohol lamp to melt the color resin and then applied colors while they were hot.

Little He felt a unique sense of relief, thinking that Ding Zhou finally had a successor. Performing shadow puppetry didn’t require formal training; most of the audience was there for the spectacle rather than expertise—if Chang Dong could imitate the act, it would suffice.

A little over a year ago, Ding Zhou passed away due to illness. The “Resting” sign hung on the theater door for a few days to avoid business impact, with little public announcement. After everything was settled, Little He was wondering how to broach the subject with Chang Dong, but to his surprise, Chang Dong offered to help out temporarily.

Little He was overjoyed but then quickly bewildered by Chang Dong’s stage appearance.

Chang Dong made a plaster face mold, bought special effects latex, wigs, and fake beards, and disguised himself as an old man, wearing Ding Zhou’s old clothes. He even mimicked Ding Zhou’s dragging leg walk perfectly.

At first, his techniques were clumsy and had flaws upon close inspection, but he didn’t socialize, staying behind the curtain to manipulate the puppets. After each show, no one paid attention to the old man behind the scenes. Some audience members even commented, “This old man is amazing, handling three puppets at once.”

Little He, naturally not very inquisitive, gradually accepted it: everyone had quirks, and Chang Dong was already odd. Let him be. Besides, an old craftsman looks more reliable and is better for business promotion than a young face.

Over time, Chang Dong’s makeup and puppetry techniques became more and more lifelike, and he deliberately made his voice sound older and deeper.

But if the disguise was for business, he kept it on even when it wasn’t necessary, wearing it to eat and sleep, reapplying it when it wore off.

Little He had advised him, “Dong Ge, keeping that latex on your face for too long will make the wrinkles permanent. Even men need to take care of their skin nowadays. It’s bad for your skin and can cause acne…”

Eventually, Little He stopped saying anything, realizing it was pointless. Besides, Chang Dong seemed more normal when disguised—he could chat and smile. Without the makeup, his face was so expressionless it was unsettling.

Like now, with his makeup in disarray, he looked even more terrifying.

 

Little He asked cautiously, “Dong Ge, what happened?”

After a long silence, Chang Dong spoke, “You went to Dunhuang recently, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

Recently, Little He had taken his fiancée and future father-in-law on a trip to the Mogao Caves area, touring the caves, the Yadan landform, and the Han Great Wall, flooding his social media with updates.

“Let me show you a photo.”

Little He took the photo, gave it a quick look, and said, “Wow, is this photoshopped or a horror movie still? It looks so real.”

The photo depicted a Yadan wind-eroded clay mound in a close-up shot, shaped like a ship’s bow, with a young woman embedded in it as if she had grown out of the clay. She had a delicate appearance and a pale complexion, her hands clasped over her chest, resembling a bas-relief sculpture on the ship’s hull, with unfocused, wide-open eyes and long hair blowing in the wind.

It was quite eerie after looking at it for a while.

Chang Dong asked, “Where do you think this is?”

Little He thought all the Yadan mounds looked the same. “The Ghost City, right? This clay mound looks like a ship. Is it the Xihai Fleet?”

The Xihai Fleet is a famous scenic spot in Yadan Ghost City[mfn]photo 1[/mfn], where wind-eroded mounds line up like an army ready to march.

Chang Dong murmured, “There are Yadan formations all over the country, not just the Ghost City. This one looks more like Longcheng.”

Where is Longcheng? Little He was about to ask when his phone rang, showing an unknown number.

To promote the shadow puppetry business, Little He’s number was listed on numerous travel websites and prominently printed on the tickets, so receiving calls from tourists was routine.

After answering twice with “Hello,” he handed the phone to Chang Dong, puzzled, “Dong Ge, it’s for you.”

No one had ever called Little He to reach Chang Dong before—this was a first.

 

Chang Dong took the phone, and a woman’s light laughter came from the other end.

“Ye Liuxi?”

Ye Liuxi’s voice was laced with mockery. “Didn’t catch up, huh? Have you gotten so addicted to pretending to be an old man that even your legs don’t work anymore?”

“Who are you really? What’s with the photo?”

“Do you think I’d answer that over the phone?”

Chang Dong was silent for a moment. “You mentioned needing a guide, and I agree now.”

Ye Liuxi giggled.

“Chang Dong, you’ve been useless for two years. Who knows if your fang is still sharp? How about this: I’ll give you a week. If you can find me, it proves you’ve got some brains, and we can team up. If not, just go back and play with your puppets.”

Ye Liuxi hung up the phone.

She hadn’t gone far, just nestled in a white van parked at the end of the street. On the passenger seat were casually stacked snacks she had packed from Huimin Street: green bean cakes, pomegranate juice, yogurt, and a dozen lamb skewers wrapped in plastic.

She didn’t rush to eat but lowered the rearview mirror in the car, took out a newly bought off-brand liquid eyeliner, and began to draw her eyeliner in the mirror.

Her hand was steady, not trembling. When she reached the end of her eye, she should have just flicked it upwards, but her hand habitually slid outwards.

Ye Liuxi’s heart stirred, and she tried to draw purely by feel.

Hook, flick, sweep, twist, finish. In a moment, a small scorpion hung at the end of her eye, its tail slanted upwards like the high-arched curve of a phoenix’s tail, with its pincers poised, seemingly ready to pinch out her eyeball in the next second.[mfn]photo 2[/mfn]

 

Ye Liuxi made a throaty sound, tossed aside the eyeliner, and pulled out a small notebook and pen from her canvas bag. Turning to the latest page, she bit off the pen cap and wrote a note: “The scorpion drawing is pretty good.”

Finished, she tossed the notebook aside and pulled out a lamb skewer from the bag, chewing it slowly.

Once the lamb cooled, it had a strong gamey flavor that no amount of seasoning could mask. It wasn’t like the lamb from Jiayuguan, which drank Qilian melted snow and ate Gobi herbs, with crispy skin and tender meat, perfectly paired with beer, without any gamey taste.

Tourists began trickling out of the street entrance, passing in groups of two or three in front of the van. Ye Liuxi idly watched the various people and, with a final raise of her eyebrow, focused again on the scorpion at the corner of her eye in the rearview mirror.

She murmured, “What a mysterious woman.”

 

photo 1

photo 2- from the show

TLs note: All the scenes and places they are mentioning are real and exist. It’s very complicated so I can’t really explain it much, but I will try to add photos when it’s possible