Chapter 21 Green-Eyed Fox Corpse

Stunned, I thought to myself, this voice sounds so familiar. Is it Uncle Three? But isn’t he still on the cliff? Why does his voice sound like it’s coming from nearby? I quickly turned my head to look for him, only to find that there was no one else around except for that fatty. But just as I was wondering what was going on, I suddenly heard Uncle Three say, “Don’t be so reckless. You have blood on your hands. As soon as you put your fingers in that corpse’s mouth, it’ll turn into a zombie.”

I looked around everywhere for the source of that voice and finally realized that it was actually coming from below the jade platform. But the platform’s color was so opaque that I couldn’t see what was underneath. “Uncle Three,” I hurriedly asked him, “are you under the jade platform?”

“I’ll explain everything later,” Uncle Three said. “Just follow my instructions for now—lower that female corpse’s head, press your thumb against her throat, and then hit her on the back of the head. Remember to keep your thumb pressed against her throat; otherwise, she’ll swallow the key!”

I agreed and then did as he said, pressing my thumb against the female corpse’s throat and then hitting her lightly on the back of the head. The key immediately fell out of her mouth and landed on the jade platform. I felt the weight on my shoulders suddenly loosen as the female corpse’s arms fell away and her body fell back on the jade platform.

I heaved a big sigh of relief as I realized that I was finally free, but then I heard Uncle Three say from below, “Nephew, is that fat guy beside you?”

I looked up at the fat guy—he had picked up the fallen key and was studying it very carefully—before nodding and saying, “Yes.”

“See if he has a shadow,” Uncle Three suddenly said in the Hangzhou dialect.

When I heard this, I couldn’t help but feel confused. I didn’t understand what he meant but I still reflexively glanced at the fat guy’s feet anyways. As it turned out, his shadow was covered by the jade platform’s shadow so I wouldn’t be able to see whether it was there or not unless I stuck my head out. Still feeling a little puzzled, I said, “I can’t see it clearly right now.”

Uncle Three sounded very anxious as he said to me, “Listen, I need to tell you something. Don’t be afraid, but I saw that fat guy’s body when I came over here just now and I don’t think he’s human. You need to be careful.”

I glanced at the fat guy and saw that his cheeks were ruddy and his demeanor and movements didn’t look like that of a ghost at all. I couldn’t help but feel confused, “Uncle Three, are you sure you didn’t see wrong? Maybe it was someone else.”

“I’m positive. It must be him,” Uncle Three said. “I definitely didn’t see wrong. He’s probably one of the last survivors of that group of grave robbers who came in here before us. He must have encouraged you to put your hand in that female corpse’s mouth just now, right? He’s definitely trying to harm you!”

I suddenly felt scared and asked, “So you’re saying this fatty in front of me is a ghost?”

“Yes. No matter what he says, don’t believe him,” Uncle Three warned me. “Now, quickly look around you and see if there’s something you can use to ward off evil spirits.”

At this time, the fat guy suddenly raised his head and looked at me. His eyes seemed very strange and were so full of resentment that I couldn’t help but believe half of what my uncle was saying. I hurriedly felt around and touched upon that armored corpse’s belt, which still had the dagger’s scabbard attached to it. I immediately picked it up, assuming that the ancients would have engraved their belts with spells to protect against ghosts.

Although the characters on the belt were badly faded, I was still able to recognize at a glance that this was definitely the script used by the State of Lu. Did that mean that this person was really King Shang of Lu? But who was this female corpse? Was she his wife?

As I was thinking, my eyes didn’t remain idle and were giving the belt a quick once-over. Although I didn’t understand what most of the words meant, the phrase “Ruler of Yinxi” inscribed in gold powder was very recognizable. Indeed, this was a spell to ward off evil spirits.⁽¹⁾

I was starting to feel elated, but then I suddenly thought of something and said to Uncle Three, “That’s odd. This jade platform isn’t transparent so how can you see us?”

“I don’t know,” Uncle Three said, “but I can see you guys clearly from below. It’s almost like I’m looking through a transparent piece of glass. When I came over here just now, I saw that you were about to take that key out of the female corpse’s mouth so I stopped you. It’s a good thing that you could hear me; otherwise, you would’ve put your hand inside her mouth and things would’ve taken a bad turn.”

As I listened to him, I became more and more confused and couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. The jade bed isn’t all that wide and these two corpses are lying so close together on it, I thought to myself. Plus, the moonlight here isn’t particularly bright. It should be impossible to see so clearly through two bodies lying close together in such dim light.

I glanced at the fat guy again and saw that he was still studying the key. That was when I knew that something was wrong.

With his character, he would definitely interrupt us even if he didn’t understand the Hangzhou dialect. There was absolutely no way he would just continue to stare blankly at a key for so long.

I rolled off of the jade platform and patted him on the shoulder to see how he would respond, but I was surprised to find that this ordinary pat unexpectedly caused an explosive reaction. The fat guy suddenly glared at me and shouted, “You fucking brat! You’ve been lying to me this whole time!” Then he raised the dagger in his hand and tried to stab me.

I was completely shocked and took a few steps back while shouting at him, “What are you doing?!”

His eyes were very red and it seemed like he couldn’t hear me at all. He immediately rushed towards me and slashed at me with the knife again, his movements very precise. I knew that I’d definitely end up stabbed if I didn’t run away so I quickly turned and ran down the stone steps.

“You think you can run from me?!” The fat guy shouted as he chased after me, angrily gnashing his teeth like I had killed his father.

I desperately ran along the stone path—that fat guy looked bloated but he actually ran very fast—and soon saw that the stone veranda was coming to an end and I was about to reach the sacrificial altar. I immediately grew anxious when I saw that there were vines lying all over the ground. I knew that if I stepped on them, I would soon be hanging upside down like a sausage again. Is this fatty really an evil spirit that’s trying to make me suffer the same fate as him? I wondered. But what kind of evil spirit stabs people with a knife?

As I was thinking, the path in front of me had already come to an end. I immediately stopped and swung the belt in my hand like a whip. The fat guy dodged it but I quickly rushed in and bit his hand, telling myself that I was probably the first person in the world who dared to bite a ghost’s hand. He screamed in pain and lost his grip on the knife. When it fell to the ground, I kicked it far away from the stone veranda.

But this move left me vulnerable for a split second, which the fat guy immediately took advantage of. He slammed me to the ground, wrapped his hands around my neck, and said, “I’ll strangle you, motherfucker!”

Desperate, I wrapped the belt around his neck while thinking to myself, you’re not the only one who can be fucking ruthless. Two can play this game!

I strangled him and he strangled me. The key to winning was to strangle the other party before you suffocated to death. But the fat guy wasn’t holding back at all and used so much strength to strangle me that I almost spit my tongue out. I was also using all of my strength against him but then the belt unexpectedly broke with a snap. Although it was well preserved, it was weak with age and couldn’t handle the stress.

The belt was made of leather that was covered in small scales that looked like copper armor plating. When the belt split, those copper scales fell on my face like scattered flower petals and the scale engraved with the words “Ruler of Yinxi” fell into my open mouth. I suddenly felt a bitter liquid flow down my throat and choked in disgust when I remembered that the scale had recently been on a dead body. Then, I suddenly felt a haze appear in front of my eyes as if I had fallen into a cloud of black mist.

I was very confused and couldn’t help but wonder if that fatty had really strangled me to death so quickly. But the bitter taste in my mouth was getting stronger and stronger and the things in front of my eyes were becoming clearer and clearer. Then, I suddenly came back to my senses and found myself being pressed down on the jade bed by that fat guy. His eyes were green and his hands were wrapped tightly around my neck. I also saw that the key was still in the female corpse’s mouth and her arms were still tightly wrapped around my shoulders. The scene was extremely chaotic.

Now that I had come back to my senses, I realized that everything just now had all been an illusion!!

I turned to look at the green-eyed fox corpse next to me and saw that his mask was still on the ground and the eyes in those two thin slits had turned towards us and were staring straight at us.

Not good, I thought to myself. No wonder this fatty told me not to look at it just now. This green-eyed fox corpse’s eyes have some kind of strange power!

The fat guy was still using all of his strength to strangle me, so even if I was awake now, I would soon be choked to death. I hurriedly touched my mouth but found that the copper scale had already melted. I was just starting to panic when, out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly caught sight of the purple-and-gold box in the fox corpse’s hands. Without giving it too much thought, I desperately stretched my hand out, picked it up, and slammed it against the fat guy’s head.

But that fatty was very fierce and just cursed at me while clenching his hands even tighter around my neck. It certainly doesn’t feel like you’re trying to strangle me to death, I thought to myself. It’s more like you’re trying to rip my head off!

I quickly made up my mind and told myself that the only way to beat such a terrifying person was to come at him with the same murderous intent. As a result, the strength in my hand was completely different when I swung the box at his head again. There was a loud bang and then the fat guy’s eyes rolled into the back of his head, his whole body practically trembling from the force of my hit. He then fell down on top of me, his grip on my neck finally loosened.

As I coughed up a mouthful of blood, I saw that the fox corpse’s green eyes had suddenly widened and a strange force was compelling me to look at them. I could feel my mind suddenly starting to become chaotic again so I hurriedly pushed the fat guy onto the corpse. I didn’t have the time or the inclination to care about him right now and his burly body was the perfect size to block that corpse’s gaze. With this barrier between us, that strange feeling immediately disappeared.

My whole body hurt like hell as I sat there rubbing my neck, which was now covered in finger-shaped bruises and felt like it was deformed from all that strangling. This green-eyed fox corpse definitely had powerful eyes. If I hadn’t happened to swallow that copper scale that was on the belt just now, either me or that fat guy would’ve definitely died.

I glanced at the purple-and-gold box that I had just used as a lethal weapon and suddenly found that it had a small keyhole. I made a surprised noise and then looked at the female corpse’s mouth while thinking to myself, is that the key that will open this box?

<Chapter 20><Table of Contents><Chapter 22>　

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TN Notes:

(1) The licensed version said the Ruler of Yinxi is the king of the western underworld but I honestly wasn’t finding anything saying that. All I was getting when I googled Yinxi was some Taoist philosopher known as the “Guardian of the Pass”. Some info here and here. 

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Hola peeps. On the 19th, the author posted an extra for the Western Archives and Chapter 9 of Xiao Hua and Black Glasses’ Russian adventure so I will be doing those next instead of chapter 22. I guess the upcoming Chinese New Year inspired him to continue that story (only took him a year lol). I don’t know if this means he’s going back on a writing spree or not but we’ll just have to play it by ear.