A Short Story Collection with Non-Human Protagonists - Chapter 14

Chapter 14: The Immortal’s Guidance

The person was a complete lunatic.

…It was she who had arranged for Lu Xiaokui to stay by her side, and it was she who had laid out those talismans.

Tang Yanqing shifted her weight back and raised her legs, kicking toward Li Mingyi’s chest. But her whole body felt weak and her movements were sluggish; Li Mingyi dodged her easily.

“Curiosity can kill. You should have known that when you chose this major, shouldn’t you?”

There wasn’t a trace of pity in Li Mingyi’s eyes. She hurled the wine bowl to the floor and turned to leave.

Tang Yanqing’s fingers struggled to find the knot at her wrist. The rope was tied so tightly she couldn’t break free at all.

The fire had started in a corner of the room, where Li Mingyi had piled flammable chairs, tables, and linens. Fierce flames had already swallowed nearly half the room. Thick smoke spiraled, and waves of heat slapped against Tang Yanqing’s face, making her cough uncontrollably until tears were nearly choked out.

She had to find a way to escape quickly…

Suddenly, something icy touched her arm, and the resistance at her wrists vanished.

—The rope was undone.

Tang Yanqing looked back. There was clearly no one behind her, only a dense mass of black mist slowly writhing.

…What was this thing?

Before she could think further, with a swish, the black mist lunged forward and slammed into her eyes.

Deep in her mind, an old and familiar voice rang out:

“Ah Qing, go, chase her! The sachet is on her!”

Tang Yanqing froze, immediately identifying the owner of the voice.

“…Granny Gu?”

Her hands and feet began to move. The eerie power appearing in her body seemingly had no intention of deep communication; it simply took over her physical form.

In the next second, Tang Yanqing dashed out of the guest room with a dexterity she had never possessed before, vaulted over the railing, and leaped down from the second floor.

She landed steadily right in front of Li Mingyi, who was just about to head out the door.

“Hand over… the sachet…” Tang Yanqing raised a dark, sullen gaze, her hatred cutting to the bone.

Li Mingyi narrowed her eyes, seeing at once that Tang Yanqing had been possessed: “You wretched creature, so you haven’t died out completely yet?”

Before her voice even faded, the woman pulled a handful of Five Emperor Coins from her pocket and began to cast an array. In an instant, golden light burst forth in front of Li Mingyi, as brilliant as a blazing sun.

Tang Yanqing’s skin was scorched, emitting wisps of green smoke. She rolled across the floor, hiding in the shadows of the trees in the center of the courtyard.

Li Mingyi stepped forward to pursue.

“Heh…”

Tang Yanqing heard herself let out a sneer, a strange “clack-clack” sound like bones shifting coming from her throat. She bit the tip of her tongue and spat fresh blood onto the shattered talismans covering the ground.

Those fragments of paper, originally intended to suppress evil, defied the laws of physics. They rose into the air, hovering and rearranging themselves into dozens of Blue-Faced Ghost Talismans. At the heart of each talisman was drawn a single, scarlet eye—sinister in the extreme.

A wild wind surged. The ghost talismans gathered into a vortex, lunging at Li Mingyi and tearing a gap through the golden light of the Five Emperor Coin array.

Li Mingyi retreated hurriedly using the Seven-Star Step, her back slamming into a wooden pillar of the corridor.

CRASH—

A piece of burning ceiling thundered down from above her head. Li Mingyi dodged frantically, only to be tackled by Tang Yanqing, who had flickered behind her, pinning her hands ruthlessly to the ground.

“Five Celestial Demons, let body and form be destroyed. Wherever they are, let ten thousand gods receive them. Swiftly, by the order of the law!”

The coin array had been completely shredded by the ghost talismans, but the incantation Li Mingyi shouted still made Tang Yanqing’s whole body tremble.

A thick black shadow slowly seeped out of Tang Yanqing’s body. The shadow reached into Li Mingyi’s shirt pocket, pulled out the blood-stained osmanthus sachet, and handed it to Tang Yanqing.

“I will hold her back. The Mistress’s remnant soul is sealed inside the sachet. Ah Qing, I beg of you, you must save her…”

The shadow solidified into a hand and gave Tang Yanqing a push on the back.

Only then did Tang Yanqing regain control of her limbs. Grabbing the sachet, she ran to the inn’s entrance in one breath and looked back. The fire was beginning to spread to the first floor. Amidst the rolling smoke, the black shadow and Li Mingyi were locked in a struggle.

There was no time for hesitation. Tang Yanqing hopped onto her motorcycle and sped away.

She had no sophisticated escape plan; she just had to leave Moqiao City first and hide in a place where Li Mingyi wouldn’t find her for a while.

As she was about to exit the city, her stomach suddenly churned with a stabbing pain. Tang Yanqing remembered the wine Li Mingyi had just poured into her mouth. The black ash floating in it must have been a burned talisman.

She pulled over to the side of the road, stuck her fingers down her throat, and cleared out her stomach acid. The benefit of drinking frequently was that she was quite good at throwing things up.

She remounted the bike and headed south along the provincial highway, planning to find a small town in the neighboring city to settle down in while she made her next move.

The city and the plains were soon left behind, replaced by black hills rising and falling on both sides of the road. The evening wind had taken on the chill of autumn, and Tang Yanqing’s knees were becoming numb.

While rounding a curve that wasn’t particularly sharp, the motorcycle’s front wheel suddenly skidded, and it began a sideways drift. Before Tang Yanqing could react, she was thrown off. The bike’s body and her helmet ground against the cement road simultaneously, emitting a piercing screech.

She fell dazed and dizzy, only managing to push herself up from the ground with great effort. Fortunatey, she wasn’t injured. The bike lay like her, fallen on the gravel ground outside the roadbed.

Tang Yanqing turned on her phone flashlight and walked over to check the bike. A large patch of paint on the side had been ground off, the front fork was completely deformed and jammed, and the engine wouldn’t start. It wouldn’t be fixed anytime soon.

At the spot where she had wiped out, a small patch of iridescent oil film shimmered. A car must have leaked oil on the road, and her wheel had happened to hit it.

Tang Yanqing looked down at her hands, feeling more and more that something was wrong. The motorcycle had crashed that badly, yet she was unharmed? Not even a scratch?

It was completely illogical.

Tang Yanqing remembered something. Was it because of the thing she was carrying…

She pulled the sachet out of her jeans pocket. Near the edges of the long-dried bloodstains, a dark red light emanated, growing slowly as if it possessed a life of its own.

Tang Yanqing recalled the chain of evidence she had written on the blackboard. Why had Xu Rulin attacked her instead of Liu Jin…

The broken clues linked together once again, and she finally understood.

—As long as she carried this sachet, Liu Jin would, through some sort of connection, take on her pain.

That was why Xu Rulin had stabbed her so many times, yet only one wound remained on her back. Her memory hadn’t been wrong; it was just that those knives meant for her had all been blocked by Liu Jin.

Li Mingyi must have told Xu Rulin that if he wanted to hurt Liu Jin with the least effort… he should hurt Tang Yanqing.

The memory “play” button was pressed. The “accident” of that day replayed before Tang Yanqing’s eyes.

A rainy summer evening, a dim corridor. An old man manipulated by lies angrily raised a dagger. And Liu Jin, smiling and resolute, stood between her and the blade.

Blood bloomed across the qipao, like a thousand camellias in full bloom, red as fire.

“It’s alright, Ah Qing.”

Liu Jin looked at her with a smile, her features soft and gentle as always.

…She didn’t understand. She didn’t understand. Why did things have to turn out like this?

Tang Yanqing stood on the empty provincial highway in the middle of the night, clutching the sachet, her chest feeling as if it were being carved back and forth by sharp stones. Why did so many people have to fight with all their might to protect her “worthless” life?

If she hadn’t been misled by Lu Xiaokui, if she hadn’t left Liu Jin’s side, if she had been heartless enough to throw away the sachet back then… perhaps Li Mingyi wouldn’t have been able to take advantage of the situation, and Liu Jin wouldn’t have been hurt…

How could she have been stupid enough to believe Lu Xiaokui’s instigation?

No matter how much she beat her chest and stomped her feet in regret now, it was useless. Tang Yanqing wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand. The only person who could save Liu Jin now was her.

The road sign overhead indicated the nearest turn-off: Wuyuan Town, 500 meters.

She left the bike in that wasteland and walked toward the town alone. It was very late; most shops had long since closed, with only a few scattered inns still showing lights. Tang Yanqing picked an inconspicuous inn at random and walked in.

It was a self-built four-story concrete building with red carpets on the floor that looked as though they had never been washed. The television at the front desk was playing a late-night soap opera, and a middle-aged woman was dozing on the counter. Tang Yanqing nudged the woman’s arm with a bit of guilt and handed over her ID.

“Sorry, Ma’am, could I get a room, please?”

The woman gave a tired but warm smile. “No problem. Just you, right? Welcome.”

As the woman looked down to register her, Tang Yanqing glanced around, her gaze passing through the back door of the inn. In the backyard, under a tin shed filled with junk, clothes and bedsheets were hanging to dry. In the corner stood a statue of a Bodhisattva with fresh colorful paint; a few apples and a bottle of Cola were placed before it as offerings.

“That Bodhisattva—my husband brought it back for 200 yuan when the dance hall next door went out of business! I can’t tell which Bodhisattva it is, but it can stop the power from tripping in the middle of the night. It’s very effective.”

The woman noticed Tang Yanqing’s gaze and introduced it enthusiastically while handing over the room key. “Your room is on the third floor. Just go straight up the stairs over there.”

Tang Yanqing took the key, climbed a few steps, then turned back and walked up to the statue. She had never been one to worship gods or buddhas. But now, she had seen all sorts of supernatural things with her own eyes.

Tang Yanqing put her palms together, closed her eyes, and bowed three times properly before the Bodhisattva.

If a Bodhisattva truly can grant a mortal’s wish… I am willing to do anything. Please, ensure Liu Jin is safe and sound, and let her return to my side soon.

The room was somewhat simple, but it was kept tidy. Tang Yanqing lay on the bed, her phone plugged into a charger borrowed from the landlady, and began searching for various Taoist knowledge, trying to find a way to break the seal.

After all this ordeal, her body was truly exhausted. She didn’t even know when she fell asleep.

In her dream, the universe was a tiny inn wrapped in milky-white fog. She walked through the fog, down the stairs, and came before the Bodhisattva. The Nameless Bodhisattva formed the Dharma-preaching mudra, sitting atop an eight-petaled lotus throne.

Drip.

A drop of dew fell from the Bodhisattva’s fingertip. In an instant, within that dewdrop, Tang Yanqing saw reflections of all her past lives—

She was Tang Wanzhi, kneeling and kowtowing before the Bodhisattva’s seat while watching over a dying little fox…

She was Tang Shu, who shared a mutual love with Miss Liu but ended up wrapped in a horsehide shroud on the battlefield…

She was Huaiqing, who used her form as a tree to block the Five Thunders for Liu Jin…

She was the traveling merchant who wanted nothing more than to stay with her lover, yet fell down a snowy cliff on her final journey home…

She was also the blind musician of the Liu manor, trapped in a fire while returning to her hometown for a funeral.

Tang Yanqing looked down at her palms—locust vines, a general’s calluses, and temple incense ash appeared there. Nine lives of meeting, nine lives of parting in death. Fate was nine repetitions of meaningless cycles. And she was the greatest calamity in Liu Jin’s life.

It turns out that when a heart aches to the extreme, one can only let out a hollow laugh. In this tenth life, it seemed nothing was different.

“You just want my life, don’t you?” Tang Yanqing looked up, staring directly at the golden body of the Bodhisattva. “If I die, can she survive?”

“No. Only when the dead branches are fully broken can the new buds grow.”

The Bodhisattva lowered her eyes, and the golden swastika pattern bloomed behind her. The Bodhisattva looked at her, and also looked at the fleeting clouds, the passing years, and the three thousand great thousand worlds.

“The antidote you seek is already written within the cycle of reincarnation. Cause and effect are both the arising of conditions, and both are echoes.”