Chapter 2
My corpse was hung on a tree outside the village, exposed to the scorching sun.
The Li family cut a piece of my flesh, boiled it into medicine, and fed it to their son.
My mother, Lin Shi, trembling with fear, burned joss paper for me: “He is your younger brother, the only hope I have left. Niannian, don’t harm him, bless him to recover.”
“Once he’s well, we’ll bury you properly right away, so you can be reincarnated.”
A piece of Jiangshi flesh did indeed cure him in the end.
As the saying goes, ignorance breeds fearlessness; supernatural power is seen as a miracle.
When the Li family wept with joy, before they could find a place to rebury me, the villagers went mad, fighting over my remains until only bare white bones were left.
A piece for you, a piece for me.
Zombie as Medicine, able to cure human illness… just like when soldiers in the Southern Dynasties divided up Jing Fang’s flesh-identical rumors and scenes.
The Li family was furious, but there was nothing they could do.
Punishment cannot reach the masses-this has always been the way of the world.
Li Dahu simply ordered my skeleton to be taken to the wilds and buried in a pit.
He was still somewhat relieved; when the villagers were cutting up my flesh, he had already sliced off a few extra pieces for his son and stored them away.
A year later, there was not a single person left in Deer Enclosure.
The villagers began to fall ill, just like Li Dahu’s son-wasting away to skin and bones, black blood oozing from their seven orifices, their eyes bulging in agony, coughing up blood until they died.
To fight over the so-called “Zombie as Medicine,” they began to kill each other.
The dead died, the perished perished.
The few survivors fled the village overnight.
As for the Li family, because of those hidden pieces of Jiangshi flesh, not a single one survived.
By then, my skeleton had already hung from the old tree in the wilderness for quite some time.
On a full moon night, I crawled out of my earthen grave myself.
At that moment, the Night Patrolling Deity brothers happened to pass by, conjoined like a monstrous twin, arms pressed together, bare shoulders and cheeks, shrieking at me: “Li Niannian! Li Niannian! Why did you kill all the villagers!”
Under the moonlight, my skull swung on the hemp rope like a swing, my white skeleton swaying back and forth.
“How is it my fault? They insisted on cutting my flesh, which spread resentment and corpse poison through the village, then they started killing each other. I’m helpless too.”
Everything I said was true.
I am a simple Jiangshi.
At first, my resentment was only directed at the Li family-I just wanted to end their bloodline.
Who would have thought they’d become so absurd, as if possessed by madness.
People have a thousand faces, and hearts a thousand changes.
Clearly, they brought their own destruction.
I refuse to accept this.
So, under the night sky, I slowly turned my skull, fixing my hollow eye sockets on them, and snorted through my hollow nasal cavity.
“When I was killed, why didn’t you speak up?”
The Night Patrolling Deity brothers were instantly silenced. They are Yin Chai, different from Yin Cao Wuchang, only responsible for patrolling the human world at night.
They’ve seen too many people like me, those who died unjustly.
They’ve seen too many Spirit Monsters in the Mountain.
In Deer Enclosure, later, there appeared a Fox Sister who cultivated for a thousand years and became a spirit by worshipping the moon.
After the Southern Song, this place remained desolate, shrouded in strange tales, becoming a true wilderness.
My white skeleton hung on the old tree, never coming down again.
In spring, hidden among lush branches, entwined by vines, flowers bloomed from my eye sockets.
In winter, covered by a layer of pure white snow, I stared into the distance from the silver-draped mountains.
When the cold wind blew, I happily swayed.
Every time the Night Patrolling Deity brothers saw me, they told me to stop playing and hurry to reincarnate.
But I was buried at five years old. Having finally broken free from my shackles, what’s wrong with wanting to play a little longer?
Hmph, I just won’t go.
When the Fox Sister from the mountain came to find me, her eyes spun mischievously as she giggled: “Niannian, don’t listen to those two old ghosts. What’s so good about reincarnation? Being human means enduring birth, aging, sickness, and death-endless cycles of life and death. Reincarnation is a punishment; don’t go seeking suffering.”
Fox Sister said, the ultimate Cultivation of a Jiangshi is Indestructible Bone.
No aging, no death, no destruction, no reincarnation.
In fact, it’s what people later called the White Bone Spirit.
Once I decided to pursue Indestructible Bone, the Night Patrolling Deity never tried to persuade me to reincarnate again.
Within a hundred miles of Deer Enclosure, there were no more people; it had long become a gloomy place.
White bones hung from the tree, absorbing Moon Yin Energy.
In less than a hundred years, I could take on human form.
Fox Sister didn’t like my human form. She said my face was too round, my eyes too big and round, thick brows and big eyes-looked clever, but not at all charming.
She said the best look was a sharp chin and slender eyes and brows, just like hers.
I grinned, “What’s the point of looking so pretty? It’s just a skin.”
Fox Sister narrowed her eyes, her tone meaningful: “What do you know? The world judges by appearances. A good skin can bewitch people and take their lives.”
“Even without a good skin, I can still take their lives!”
I clenched my fists confidently.
Fox Sister’s mouth twitched: “I mean, they’d willingly give you their lives.”
“I’ll make them willing!”
I clenched my fists again, full of confidence.
Fox Sister gave me a disdainful look and turned away.
Such conversations must never be overheard by the Night Patrolling Deity.
The words most often on the lips of the Yin Chai are-
In a single thought, one can become a Buddha or a demon; good and evil will always be repaid, it’s only a matter of sooner or later.