Chapter Ninety-Five: The Little Paper Man

"Thank you," I said, turning to leave.

"Wait." The old woman stopped me. "Since you're a junior, I'll give you something, so you can't say I never looked after you."

She went to the corner and picked up the paper figure beside the little bell. "This paper figure can be used as a substitute. If that old specter refuses to let this go, burn it and make him take the girl’s place. It should buy you some time."

"I appreciate it," I said. "It’s a fine thing, but I can’t exactly carry this whole thing away with me."

Her behavior only deepened my suspicion. Not only had she cooperated by telling me how to break the spell, she was even giving me a gift. Could she really be that kind-hearted?

"If you can’t take the big one, then I’ll give you a small one." She walked to the ritual altar, picked up a little paper figure from it, and brought it over to hand to me.

"That’s awfully generous of you. How could I possibly take your things?"

"Take it. Don’t be polite with me," she said.

So I had no choice but to accept it. The little paper figure was only a few inches tall, made with a wooden core and pasted over with paper. Its craftsmanship was far more delicate than the paper horses and figures nearby. Its pale little face was painted with brows and eyes, and its mouth was a vivid red. It wasn’t grotesquely distorted, but that lifelike quality made it all the more chilling.

By the time I left the old woman’s house, night had fully fallen, and the smell of dinner drifted from every home. I carried the hoe I had borrowed from her and followed the direction she had given me to find the old ghost’s grave.

After leaving the village and climbing the hill, I switched on the flashlight on my phone and moved through the dark. At the summit, I really did find a grave mound with offerings laid out before it. I checked the name on the tombstone, and it was indeed the old ghost’s. The old woman had not lied to me after all.

I hefted the hoe and dug furiously, hacking open the grave mound. The coffin inside had long since rotted away, leaving only bones behind.

"Who’s there!" a voice suddenly cried out.

My heart lurched. Before I could bury the grave back up, I grabbed a bone from inside and turned to flee.

"Stop! Who are you? What are you doing!" The person gave chase through the darkness.

I ran for my life, and after barely shaking them off, I got down the hill. I didn’t go back into the village, but instead ran along the main road toward the outside. I kept going until I reached the highway, where I finally slowed down, bent over, and gasped for breath.

That was more thrilling than being a thief. Endurance was definitely not my strong suit, and I never wanted to go through something like that again.

I put the bone away carefully. Looking at the lonely highway, I could only keep walking for now and see whether a car happened to pass by.

I walked until well past midnight before I finally managed to hitch a ride. Following the road, I found a small roadside inn, made do there for the night, and took a bus back early the next morning.

First I went home. Wang Yue was staying by himself and had nothing much to do; the boy adapted to life remarkably well, and half the vegetables in the fridge were already gone. I cleaned everything inside and out, tossed my changed clothes into the washing machine, and went to sleep.

When I woke in the afternoon, I set out ink, brushes, and talisman paper, then began writing charms.

Wang Yue watched me quietly from the side. Suddenly he asked, "Brother Luo, what’s that?"

I looked at him. He was pointing to the little paper figure I had set on the table after coming back. I had found it creepy, so I’d covered it with a piece of clothing, leaving only its tiny feet showing.

I lifted the cloth and picked it up. The moment Wang Yue saw it clearly, his face changed drastically. "Throw it away! Hurry and throw it away! Get rid of it now!"

He rushed forward in agitation and slapped at my hand. The little paper figure flew free and landed in the inkstone filled with cinnabar.

A strange shriek suddenly came from the little figure. Startled, I staggered back two steps away from the table.

Cinnabar was used to drive away evil; if the paper figure reacted to it, that meant something sinister was hidden inside.

Wang Yue, still shaken, grabbed one of the ghost-suppressing talismans I had just finished writing and slapped it onto the figure. The same eerie scream rang out again, and with a whoosh the talisman ignited, taking the paper figure with it.

My heart thudded wildly. Only after the figure had burned to ash did I step forward. This thing was absolutely not some harmless substitute for a person. Damn it all! What in the world had that old crone given me?

I asked Wang Yue, "What is this thing?"

Still frightened out of his wits, Wang Yue shook his head. "I... I don’t know. But it feels dangerous. Very dangerous. It could kill someone."

Since that old woman had given me this thing, how much truth could there be in the method she’d told me?

My phone rang. I answered it.

Zheng Lanxuan’s panicked voice came through at once. "Xiao Xiao’s condition has worsened! Come here right away and take a look!"

I froze and glanced at the little paper figure, now burned to ash.

I immediately gathered my things, took all the finished talismans with me, and headed out.

"Brother Luo, I’m going with you!" Wang Yue called after me.

"You stay home!" I said, and shut the door without another word.

By the time I reached Zheng Lanxuan’s house, an hour and a half had passed. Zheng Lanxuan, frantic with worry, led me into Zheng Xiao’s room. There I saw Zheng Xiao’s face as white as paper, her breath growing weaker by the second. Blood stained the corner of her mouth, and there was a fresh smear on the bedsheet beneath her.

What was going on? How had it turned out like this?

Zhuo Tianjiang said hesitantly, "This... this looks like the spell has been triggered early."

"Triggered early? What does that mean?" I asked.

Zhuo Tianjiang immediately looked guilty. "I-I don’t really know. It’s just that when I was a kid, there was someone in the village who had fallen under the Chicken-Head Curse. When my grandfather was lifting the ban for that person, their pain suddenly got much worse. Back then, my grandfather said the person casting the spell from behind must have wanted to kill them, so he struck back even harder..."

The one casting the spell from behind... that damned old crone. She had first handed me a paper figure hiding evil inside it, and now she was playing tricks from the shadows. How much of what she told me could possibly be trusted?

Zheng Xiao’s expression twisted in pain, and she coughed up another mouthful of blood. Frustration surged through me. I really was still too young. If I already knew from the start that the old crone was no good, how could she possibly have cooperated and told me everything so readily? That old man Ma despised all crooked arts and evil tricks; this old woman was probably on bad terms with him. She had seized the chance to scheme against me!

"What do we do now?" Zheng Lanxuan asked anxiously.

I looked at Zheng Xiao’s pale, agonized face, at Zheng Lanxuan’s desperate expression, and at Zhuo Tianjiang’s guilty, uncertain one, then toward the darkening sky outside the window.

Without hesitation, I said, "Set up the altar and break the ghost marriage."

Whatever the case, the method the old crone gave me was the only one I could try now.

I had Zheng Lanxuan prepare incense, candles, offerings, and everything else needed. We moved the coffee table in the living room aside and, facing the balcony as the old woman had instructed, I set up the ritual altar, lit the incense and candles, and arranged the offerings. I explained the situation to Zheng Lanxuan and Zhuo Tianjiang: the old woman could not be trusted. If this method failed, things might only grow worse. I asked whether they still wanted to take the gamble.

Zheng Lanxuan thought for a long time before finally hardening his resolve.

"Let’s gamble."