Chapter 1

Chapter 1

At nine o’clock in the morning, I was in the cramped, semi-basement room of the guesthouse, carving the headpiece of a Shadow Person puppet for shadow play. Although the outside world was flooded with daylight, the room was so poorly lit that even in daytime, I had to rely on a lightbulb. The harsh white light flickered, carrying a faint, indescribable smell.

The temperature in the room wasn’t high, but every breath I took turned into a puff of white mist. I moved with extreme caution-my left hand held the hide tightly against the wax board, while my right thumb and index finger gripped the handle of the carving knife, the middle finger slowly nudging the back of the blade. I held my breath, my movements feather-light, afraid that a single misstep would ruin the hide.

“Sister Mei, Sister Mei.” The owner of the guesthouse, Ge Wei, called out as he knocked on the narrow half-window next to me.

My heart skipped for no reason, and I let out a long-held breath before pushing the window open. A rough ceramic bowl was handed in from outside. I glanced at it-inside were two stuffed flatbreads.

“I made some food. This is for you.”

“Thank you.” I set down my carving knife and reached for the bowl.

Only half of Ge Wei’s face could squeeze through the narrow window. Judging by the angle, he must have bent his body into a dramatic arc outside.

“Sister Mei, this hide looks really clear. Is it cowhide or donkey hide?”

“Neither. It’s human skin.” My tone was calm, without any rise or fall.

“Whoa, that’s wild! No wonder you’re not working in the studio, all secretive and hiding away.” His voice came from outside, full of an almost gleeful thrill.

I knew he didn’t believe me, probably thought I was joking. But I wasn’t lying. This hide really was cut from a woman’s body. I glanced at Ge Wei-the woman called herself his lover. I half believed, half doubted it; they seemed such an odd match. She was no longer young, while he was still in his prime.

If what she said was true, if they had really been so close, so passionately in love, it sounded more like a carefully planned scam.

The woman blamed the world for why they never ended up together. In the end, she accepted her fate, seeing through her own destiny-seriously ill, death was inevitable. Clinging to life was just a way to drag her bitterness out day by day. I pitied her, but there was nothing I could do.

She once told me: people die, bodies either rot or turn to ash, so why not leave something eternal behind? So, on New Year’s Eve, I became her only mourner and took a piece of skin from her body.

I have to admit, human skin is indeed thinner and more translucent than animal hide. After I brought it home, I soaked it in limewater for seven days to soften and fully saturate it. Then I used a scraper to carefully remove any remaining flesh and tendon, punched holes along the edges, and stretched the hide over a wooden frame. While the weather was sunny and dry, I let it air-dry, scraping off the hair and oil from the flesh side again and again.

The piece wasn’t large; after processing, it was only enough for a Shadow Person’s headpiece. To make it even thinner and more translucent, I scraped it over and over. Then I placed the raw, scraped hide in hot water to size it, then moved it to a cool place to air-dry slowly, flattening it with a heavy weight, repeating this process until it was completely dry.

After sizing and drying, the hide gradually stretched taut and became transparent.

I grew up in a shadow play troupe, where there were never enough hands, so everyone did several jobs. I learned to sing, to become a puppeteer, and to make shadow puppets.

Over the years, I’ve handled many hides-cow, donkey, sheep… but this was my first time working with human skin.

I thought I’d be afraid, nervous, at a loss. Yet when I actually followed the familiar steps, processing the hide bit by bit, I found myself unusually calm. In the end, it was just a piece of skin. Human or animal, there was no difference. Or maybe my calm was because of her.

Still, with such a small piece of hide, one slip and it would all be wasted. That’s why I was so careful.

Lost in my thoughts for a moment, I was pulled back by Ge Wei’s voice.

He asked, I answered honestly. I didn’t lie, though perhaps he didn’t believe me. People in this world are often like that-clinging stubbornly to lies as truth, and treating the real truth as a joke.

“Sister Mei, the two people from the TV station are coming this afternoon. They’ll have a shadow puppet lesson first, and since the weather’s nice, they’ll be staying here for a few days. Make sure you’re ready.”

“Got it,” I replied.

“The guest rooms are all empty these days. Why don’t you move into a brighter one for a while?” He clicked his tongue. “Otherwise people will think I’m mistreating an artist.”

“No need. They’re mainly here to film the town. I’m just a side character. It doesn’t have to be so formal.”

“Who says? The higher-ups specifically said you’re the star this time.”

“Oh, they’re just being polite. Besides, I’ve lived here so long without paying a cent in rent. I’m already grateful.”

“You’re staff, not a guest. If I charged you, I’d be a capitalist.”

Seeing that Ge Wei was still lingering, his gaze glued to the hide, I tried to change the subject. “Why’s it so noisy outside today?”

“Oh, they found a body in the Wild Mountain. Lots of police showed up, and half the town ran out to watch the commotion.”

His tone carried no sadness-if anything, he sounded excited.

When death has nothing to do with you, for most people, it’s just a spectacle to gawk at.

A corpse. My fingers trembled slightly. More than a month had passed-was her body finally about to be discovered?