chapter 8
Cheng Miao returned to the Bedroom and retrieved the book. The book was quite ordinary, filled with professional terminology that made Cheng Miao’s head ache.
She shook the book but found nothing unusual.
Sitting on the bed, Cheng Miao glanced at the Medical Book, then at its cover, and suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
She carefully tore open the book cover, and sure enough, hidden in the gap between the cover and the book was a yellowed slip of paper.
Cheng Miao silently berated herself for her carelessness, but didn’t waste time regretting it. She looked at the fine pencil-written words on the slip.
The handwriting was faint, and after years of exposure, it had almost blended into the texture of the paper itself.
“In ancient times, the Qin Emperor sent Xu Fu to seek medicine. Upon reaching Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou, he obtained a marvelous prescription, which, when taken, grants immortality.”
“Take the flesh and meridians from the Zusanli, Hegu, Dazhui, Baihui, and Taiyang acupoints of a virgin boy and girl on the night of the full moon, mix with 2 jin of Polygonum multiflorum, 8 liang of white Poria, 8 liang of red Poria, 3 liang of blue salt, 8 liang of Sichuan Morinda, and 5 liang of Ginseng. Pour the medicine into a bowl, coat with mercury, grind with fingers into a paste, knead into pills. Take 2 qian per dose, swallow with decoction made from the virgin boy and girl’s essence and blood. This can prolong life, restore youth, and reverse aging.”
Cheng Miao stared at those lines, feeling even the words themselves seemed terrifying.
A Rejuvenation Pill made from the flesh and blood of virgin boys and girls…
Cheng Miao now understood what the residue in the Chinese medicine jars under the Dark Room’s window was. No wonder the room had that nauseating, strange, burnt smell from inside out.
It seemed that even though Doctor Xu was one of the rare university graduates of his time, he was still deeply interested in feudal traditions. Who knows where he got this prescription, but it drove him mad enough to wield the knife against the children around him, following its instructions.
In the Dark Room’s drawer, Cheng Miao found a small iron box. Inside were several black pills, each the size of a thumb tip-these were the Rejuvenation Pills refined from Liu Xue’s flesh and blood.
No wonder children kept disappearing from Minsheng Lane every so often. Whenever Doctor Xu finished his Elixir, he would target the next victim.
It wasn’t until after Liu Xue’s death, when ghost stories began circulating, that many parents moved away with their children. With no more targets, Doctor Xu also left.
Cheng Miao casually slipped the iron box into her pocket, her thoughts wandering: Could Er Gou’s account about Er Pang, the child who disappeared from Aunt Song’s family, have something to do with Doctor Xu…
As Cheng Miao was speculating wildly, her fingers unconsciously tapped the bottom of the drawer. The crisp “dong… dong…” instantly pulled her drifting thoughts back.
She tapped the drawer again. Sure enough, the sound in the middle was different-there was a hidden compartment!
She pressed down hard, and the secret panel popped up as expected, revealing a photograph inside.
Cheng Miao held the photo up to the light. It was a group photo. Everyone in the picture wore the attire of ordinary people from the Qing Dynasty. The man in the center had a face identical to Doctor Xu’s. The people surrounding Doctor Xu looked grateful-some shook his hand, others offered eggs.
Doctor Xu was holding a two- or three-year-old child and looking at the camera, his face showing an honest, simple smile, utterly different from the madman he had become. Behind him stood a huge Chinese medicine cabinet, its densely packed drawers making one’s heart uneasy.
Cheng Miao flipped the photo over and, unsurprisingly, saw small handwriting in the lower right corner, making her heart turn cold.
“Photographed by Bai Shengshi in the Guangxu 25th Year.”
…Cheng Miao seemed to feel a bone-chilling cold enveloping her…
This was not the story of a modern university student driven to murder by feudal superstition.
This is clearly a story about a Demon who survives by eating children, remaining immortal and unchanged in appearance for a hundred years.
Cheng Miao clutched the photo in her hand. After leaving the Dark Room, she hoisted Liu Xue’s small Skeleton onto her shoulder, while dragging Aunt Li’s remains with her other hand.
The three children outside the door were startled by Cheng Miao, but she had no time to comfort them. “I need your help now. Let’s go to the Courtyard and dig a pit together.”
The children were somewhat afraid of Cheng Miao. Though their faces were full of confusion, they still nodded obediently.
Hu Zi and Er Gou stepped forward to take Aunt Li’s remains. Thanks to Cheng Miao’s successful explanation, the two boys were no longer afraid of the Skeleton as they had been at first. Instead, they curiously examined it from all sides.
Niuniu ran ahead to open the door. As soon as she pulled open the Clinic Room door, she froze in place. After a moment, Cheng Miao saw Niuniu turn her head and say in her childish voice, “Sister Miaomiao, I think there’s someone in the Corridor.”
Cheng Miao’s hair nearly stood on end. She didn’t need to think to know who was blocking the Corridor. She instructed Hu Zi and Er Gou to leave Aunt Li’s remains for now. “When I say run, don’t worry about anything-just follow me!”
The children grew tense along with Cheng Miao’s expression. Hu Zi held Niuniu tightly, and Cheng Miao led the way, carrying Liu Xue’s Skeleton out of the Clinic.
Looking down from the second-floor stairs, the Corridor on the first floor was pitch black. The longer Cheng Miao stared, the more she felt as if the stairs led into a bottomless abyss.
Without a flashlight, Cheng Miao belatedly realized that the darkness in the Corridor was abnormal. Only by imagining could she reconstruct the traces of life left on the mottled walls, hidden behind the darkness.
At the entrance, where darkness met the light outside, a small figure stood silently and motionless, its outline barely visible.
From Cheng Miao’s angle, she couldn’t tell if the shadow was male or female, only instinctively sensing the almost tangible danger emanating from it.
“Liu Xue… I’m here to help you. I’ve learned the truth. I’ll give you a proper burial, and I’ll ask Hu Zi and the others to tell the world what happened.”
The figure seemed to lift its head, as if wanting to speak, but then fell silent again. The stillness, like the calm before a storm, made Cheng Miao deeply uneasy. Her heart sank as she raised the photo in her hand.
As expected, even as a Wraith, Liu Xue could not resist the terror of the person in the photo.
The figure flickered and vanished into the darkness.
Cheng Miao didn’t dare relax. Still holding up the photo, she quickly led the three children out of the Corridor. Standing in the empty Courtyard, Cheng Miao took a deep breath of air as stagnant as a dead pond, sincerely feeling that compared to the Clinic and Corridor, this seemingly eerie Courtyard was actually quite welcoming.
After confirming that only the Flower Bed in the Courtyard was suitable for digging, Cheng Miao and the children formed a circle and began to dig.
The soil in the Flower Bed was still relatively loose, but there were many Flower Roots, densely spreading even though they were already decayed.
Just clearing out these Flower Roots took Cheng Miao a considerable amount of time. Although Liu Xue had just appeared, Cheng Miao’s nerves were still taut.
Liu Xue was appearing more frequently, and this Instance was nearing its end-often the most dangerous time.
“Hu Zi, do you know who that Little Girl in the Courtyard is? I don’t think I’ve seen her before.”