Chapter 55
Chapter 55
The dark-skinned man kept his eyes lowered.
“Before I tell you about that, let me tell you another story first.”
He spoke without waiting for Chu Yue and the others to agree, starting of his own accord.
“West Window Town wasn’t originally called West Window Town. It wasn’t even a town back then; it was just a remote, backward, and impoverished little village.
How poor was it?
Whenever people from the surrounding ten miles and eight villages heard a man was from this village, they refused to marry their daughters to him.
One day, a young girl suddenly arrived in the village. She claimed to be a refugee. Her clothes were tattered and her face was grimy; she looked like a little beggar at first glance.
The village chief took pity on her and settled her in a vacant house at the entrance of the village. In those days, when people struggled just to fill their stomachs, the villagers didn’t shun her. Instead, they provided her with two meals a day.
Those times were too bitter. The Veterans in the village basically all had experience fleeing from famine themselves. She was just a little girl; anyone who could spare a hand would help her out.
Though some people grumbled and cursed, whenever she was bullied by the village children, someone would always speak up for her, standing up on her behalf.
Ten years later, the girl had grown up. She possessed a supernatural skill for paper-cutting. Every time she took her paper-cuts to the market in town, they would be noticed by wealthy families and sold for a good price.
When the women in the village saw this, they were all envious of her talent. There was certainly jealousy, but in those times, a craft was the foundation of one’s livelihood, so few people dared to covet it.
To repay the villagers for taking her in and raising her, the girl shared her craft with everyone.
Once this unique specialty became known, life gradually improved for everyone. They no longer had to worry about food and drink.
And that little village slowly transformed from an anonymous hamlet into the West Window Town of today.
That was hundreds of years ago.
As life grew better and everyone escaped poverty, the girl passed away at a young age, just as she reached adulthood.
The townspeople were simple and honest. They didn’t look down on her for being a young girl; instead, fearing she would become a wandering ghost after dying far from home, they crafted a small effigy of her. They even began to offer her sacrifices, calling her the Paper-Cut Goddess.
The girl’s soul had long since departed for the west, but the enshrined effigy developed a consciousness through the baptism of time, becoming a Wild Deity.
She inherited the girl’s will and silently protected West Window Town. She watched as West Window Town flourished and its paper-cutting became famous throughout the country.
In the West Window Town of that era, while no one was fabulously wealthy, no one ever died of hunger again, even in years of famine.
Everyone worshipped the Paper-Cut Goddess. She believed such days would last forever-that she would watch generations be born and die in the town, watch the town grow better and better, and see the craft the girl brought them remain the foundation of their livelihoods for generations to come.
But things did not go as planned.
One day, a rumor suddenly spread through the town.
The lazy bum who lived at the west end of town had suddenly struck it rich. He abandoned his dilapidated shack and bought a plot of land right in the center of town to build a house of blue bricks and grey tiles.
Not only that, but the house was filled with antiques and curios.
And his wife-that plain-looking, middle-aged woman-started dripping in gold and silver. Her hair, which used to be held up by a single broken wooden pin, was now covered in gold and silver ornaments!
Furthermore, word got out that his worthless son, who spent his days idling and gambling, was getting married.
The bride was actually the daughter of Li Yuanwai from the neighboring town.
When this news broke, the entire town was in an uproar.
Many people went to see for themselves, and upon looking, they realized it wasn’t just a rumor; it was the absolute truth.
But it didn’t end there. After that family, many other households in town started becoming wealthy one after another.
Some were confused; others were green with envy.
Until something happened that sent a wave of panic through the hearts of everyone in town.
On the day the lazy bum’s son was to be married, the entire family of four died together right in the middle of the wedding hall.
With this precedent, the other wealthy households in town went into hiding. Before long, everyone seemed to return to their former state-neither rich nor poor.
They had been running around outside for days, but this was the first time they had heard the full story of the Paper-Cut Goddess.
Chu Yue lowered his eyes, pondering the man’s words. For some reason, a bold theory suddenly formed in his mind.
“Was it the Paper-Cut Goddess who killed Zhou Laoda’s family of four?”
Otherwise, there would be no reason to start the story from so long ago.
The Innkeeper glanced at him and nodded, his face devoid of expression. His eyes were fixed on the teacup on the table, yet his gaze remained unfocused.
He continued speaking in a slow, measured voice.
“At first, the Paper-Cut Goddess was actually pleased. When the town’s idlers began to grow wealthy, it meant the town was becoming more prosperous.
“But later, she discovered that things weren’t that simple.
“That lazy man hadn’t become rich because he’d mastered some trade in paper-cuts, nor because of hard work. It was because he had taken a shortcut.
“And that shortcut was a truly sinister method.
“I don’t know where he heard the news, but one day, he suddenly invited an evil god back from the outside. That evil god possessed a strange magic that could bring their sold paper-cuts to life, and these paper puppets would then steal back all the wealth from the buyers’ homes.
“Strictly speaking, this could only be considered a severe case of theft. However, to avoid being caught and to ensure no clues were left behind, Zhou Laoda didn’t just seek wealth-he took lives.
“The wealthy merchants who came to town during the Paper-Cut Festival-any who bought paper-cuts from his family-would invariably meet a violent end within a short time.
“Afterward, he spread this secret, enticing others in town to join him.
“The Paper-Cut Goddess warned him many times, both openly and covertly, but Zhou Laoda paid her no mind.
“In his eyes, that evil god was the true deity who had made him rich. The Paper-Cut Goddess, who had enchanted the whole town, was nothing more than a figment of the imagination.
“Seeing things grow increasingly worse, the Paper-Cut Goddess took control of paper puppets on the night of the lazy man’s son’s wedding and exterminated the entire family.
“Furthermore, she suppressed their souls beneath a Magic Array, ensuring the family could never be reincarnated.
“As for the wealth stolen from others in his home, the Paper-Cut Goddess returned it all.
“It was meant to serve as a warning to others. The townsfolk, unaware of the truth, simply thought it was a case of robbery and murder. Even if someone saw paper puppets killing, it would only turn into a local legend.
“But for those who knew the truth, with the bloody lives of Zhou Laoda’s family serving as a deterrent, no one dared to make a move again.”
Having finished his story, the man looked up at the three people across from him.
“Well? Does this story satisfy you? Is this the truth you wanted to hear?”
Guan Doujin rubbed his chin. “It’s alright. What you said basically matches what we’ve found, though I didn’t expect the story to look like this.”
“The Paper-Cut Goddess couldn’t defeat that evil god?” Shen Yubi caught the key point and looked up. “Don’t you think her way of handling it was too perfunctory?”
To merely strike at an ordinary townsfolk blinded by greed seemed somewhat incompetent.
If she really wanted to deal with the root of the problem, she only needed to kill the evil god that was deceiving people. Without it, those paper puppets would have no use.
Those ill-intentioned townsfolk wouldn’t have had the means to act, even if they had the nerve.
Struck by his words, the man’s fists clenched. His lips trembled, but he couldn’t find the words to speak for a long time.
Chu Yue watched him, remembering the pitch-black statuette he had seen at Zhou Chun’s place today.
The man had mentioned two deities: one was the Wild Deity, the Paper-Cut Goddess, and the other was an unidentified evil god.
No matter how he looked at it, the thing in Zhou Chun’s possession was incredibly eerie. The townspeople wouldn’t have made a statue of the Paper-Cut Goddess look like that.
The only explanation was that it represented the evil god.
Furthermore, according to the man, the recent strange occurrences in town were similar to the evil deeds committed by Zhou Laoda back then. It was likely that Zhou Chun and that woman had invited the evil god.