Chapter Fifty-Seven: Various Roots

The group fell silent. After a moment, the Fatty blinked, looking a bit flattered and somewhat bashful.

"Wait, why are you bringing me into this?" the Fatty asked, darting his eyes toward us.

Zhuge Xuan seemed to have sobered up significantly. I stepped forward to help her up from the ground, and then we all turned our eyes to Professor Chen in front of us. At this point, we didn't even know if he was human or some kind of spirit; we had no choice but to wait and see what happened next.

"Well?" Receiving no response, the Fatty grew impatient. "I'm asking you, girl, what exactly did you mean by that just now?"

Zhuge Xuan stared at Professor Chen. "Professor Chen died a long time ago, back when the legend of the Ming Kui first emerged. That thing has been possessing him, using his body to do whatever it desires."

"Possession?" I exclaimed.

Zhuge Xuan shook her head. "No, it is parasitism. Once the Ming Kui took hold of him, Professor Chen’s consciousness ceased to exist, though his body remained alive. The Ming Kui is the kind of creature that can live among us like a normal person. However, if it stays on the surface for too long, it will eventually starve. It needs to keep returning to ancient tombs—just as we need to eat and sleep, it needs to feed here."

Hearing this, I couldn't help but have some unsettling thoughts. I asked, "What does the Ming Kui feed on to survive?"

Suddenly, Professor Chen—no, the Ming Kui—who had been watching us coldly, laughed and said, "I eat hearts."

All three of us froze. Instinctively, I raised my hand to my own chest.

The Ming Kui slowly turned its gaze around the room. "Ancient tombs are breeding grounds for many, many things. Some are things even we cannot perceive. But no matter what they are, or what we are, once we reach a certain stage, we all start to become more and more like... human. To become human, or at least to appear so, is our goal—or at least, mine.

"Heh. That is why I must constantly consume human hearts; it is the only way I can maintain the guise of a person."

If it weren't for the fact that its shadow had vanished a moment ago, I would have certainly thought Professor Chen was losing his mind. Even if it were true, I felt my perspective on reality had transcended the simple concepts of belief or disbelief.

A person walking among us, indistinguishable from anyone else, turned out not to be one of our kind. Was Professor Chen the only example of this?

I still wanted to call him Professor Chen. He turned to us with a hollow look and continued, "However, ever since I became Professor Chen, I’ve realized that being human is exhausting. I have to hide my true self, and I have to lie every single day. Later, the Young Lady discovered me. She saw through what I was almost instantly. From then on, I began to be exploited by her. And what I never expected was that behind this 'Chen' surname lay such a complex family. Gradually, I realized I couldn't bear it anymore. If I continued, I would either die alongside the Young Lady or be finished off by someone from the Chen family.

"So, while I continued to play my part, I began to search for my next host. But things like this aren't just a matter of my own will. Meeting this Chen fellow over thirty years ago was already a stroke of fortune; it is not easy to find someone born with the 'Nine Yin Roots.' Heh. Until I met you in Beijing."

Professor Chen fixed his gaze on the Fatty.

I later learned that the so-called "Nine Yin Roots" is a piece of folklore from the Southwest. Due to regional differences, there are many versions of this belief, but I will summarize the most common terminology to explain it to you.

Humans are born with three souls and seven spirits, and their fate is governed by the "Six Paths." These are not the six paths of Buddhist reincarnation, but rather the belief that a person is born with six "life-tracks." You have surely heard people say someone has a "tough life" or a "fragile life." These sayings trace back to these six tracks.

According to this belief, most people lose two or three of these tracks during infancy. As a person grows, the remaining tracks become more robust and harder to damage, provided no accidents occur. Those with a "tough life" are simply those who didn't lose any tracks in infancy, or only lost one or two. With such abundant life-tracks, they can naturally overcome any danger; as long as the tracks remain intact, they will survive even the most dire circumstances. Those with a "fragile life" are the opposite—their tracks are constantly damaged by illness or accident, leaving them with no protection as they grow up.

In this system, the three souls and seven spirits are known as the "Ten Wisdoms," and the life-tracks are the "Six Paths." Beyond these, a person is born with "Nine Roots." These are determined by the circumstances of one's birth—the time, the location, the parents, and so on. It is too complex to list in full, but essentially, every condition at the moment of your birth solidifies your "Nine Roots."

There are nine categories of these roots: The Extreme Yang Root, the Extreme Yin Root, the Yin-Yang Root, the Shangshang Root, the Bitter Penance Root, the Child-Sin Root, the Woman-Sin Root, the Righteous Spirit Root, and the Middle-Wisdom Root.

Among them, the "Middle-Wisdom Root" is the most unique. If a person has three, it is extraordinary. If they possess seven, it’s no exaggeration to say they would achieve greatness even if they did nothing but lie in bed all day. Legend has it that Zhu Yuanzhang was the only historical figure to possess seven. To have all nine be "Middle-Wisdom Roots" is impossible. To put it simply, you would need a father who is an emperor, a mother who is a queen—seven years his junior—and for them to conceive in a specific palace at a precise astrological moment, and for the child to be born exactly one year later to the second. It’s impossible.

However, people with nine of the other roots do exist, though they are rare. The most common are the "Extreme Yin," "Child-Sin," and "Woman-Sin" roots.

The "Nine Yin Roots" refers to someone whose nine roots are all "Extreme Yin." Generally, such people do not live past the age of five. But if they survive past twelve, they become incredibly hard to kill. If their "Six Paths" remain intact, they might even survive a plane crash.

However, such people are inherently "yin-heavy." No matter what they do, they tend to encounter the supernatural. Much like having a birth chart heavy in yin, it is common for them to experience "spirit possession," "ghost-wall traps," or "sleep paralysis." The difference is that those with the "Nine Yin Roots" are more likely to attract such things, yet they rarely die from them, and if they handle it correctly, they can even benefit from it.

Of course, these are just folk tales; the specific nuances of the "Nine Yin Roots" remain a mystery.

"Me?" The Fatty blinked, then began to curse. "Screw your 'Nine Yin Roots'! I’m full of Yang energy; anything with the word 'Yin' has nothing to do with me! I don't have Nine Yin Roots, but I've got one 'Deep-Big Root' for you! If you have something to say, spit it out. The Young Lady isn't afraid of you, and I can take you down just as easily!"

I nearly burst out laughing, and Zhuge Xuan shot the Fatty a sideways glare. But this wasn't the time to correct the Fatty's vulgarity. Once he finished cursing, we all looked back at Professor Chen.

"Whether you are willing or not is irrelevant," Professor Chen said with a low chuckle. "Since I have led you here, what must be done will be done."