The crew had calculated to reach Gui in two days, but because of MingYu's sudden inability to ride a horse, the trip spread out over four days. It didn't help that LongHai occasionally sulked and refused to simply move, laying on the ground acting like he was dying.
After the third night, the famous buns of HeHua had grown stale, the soft lotus fragrance was gone and MingYu felt like he was chewing on sand. He also gracefully walked with XiaoHe and let LongHai travel without weight, the donkey was quite fat and old on its own.
PingZe wasn't doing any better, he was starting to lose his bright demeanour. The longer they traveled, the less he seemed to grin or smile. By the fourth morning, he was resembling a vengeful spirit lost in the wasteland. He was pale, scowling and his red lips were only a tight line. Even FuFu and FenFen were keeping their distance. They had never seen their uncle in such a murderous state. But one couldn't blame him. It was the longest four days in PingZe's life to date. XiaoHe had been snoring like a thunderstorm was brewing. Demons might not need much sleep, but not getting it at all was taking its toll on PingZe.
PingZe was sleep-deprived, so his mind was now on full alert and one would think he had grown an extra pair of eyes in the back of his head. While other people were barely walking straight when tired, his brain worked on full capacity and then some more. Every muscle in his body were tight, ready, and pumping blood. He could jump and wrestle a bear any given moment now. So it was, that PingZe didn't fail to notice a shadow trailing their path.
ZhiYi and MingYu had also noticed the wolf, but the brothers had silently agreed to keep quiet about it. If XiaoHe fainted again, LongHai would have to drag him with a rope across the dirt. The donkey was too old for that. Besides, the brothers were interested in seeing what childe Xie Qiang was trying.
It was that evening that they finally reached the outskirts of the cultivator's village. It could hardly be missed. Skulls of odd shapes and sizes were littered here and there, on the ground, perched up on stakes, crushed along the path the crew walked. On closer inspection, they resembled the skulls of humans, but at the same time, didn't. MingYu had heard of beasts and mythical creatures, but these skulls looked fake – part animal, part human, entirely man-made.
XiaoHe was now huddling closer to MingYu's side. The monk seemed like he wanted to faint. He was jumping around the bone fragments, attempting to avoid stepping over them but failing miserably. He was silently mumbling 'forgive me' and 'may Buddha forgive your soul'. A smile tugged at MingYu's lips but he suppressed it.
XiaoHe was looking sickly under the reddish glow of a setting Sun. The skulls cast long, absurd shadows on the dirt and grass, and the light gave them an ominous glow like there were still streaks of dried blood on them. Bones crunched and cracked with every step of the way.
As soon as they reached the gates that had the name, 'Gui' carved upon it, the bottles on ZhiYi's waist shook and swayed. The white bottle was swaying the most.
MingYu studied the bottles with interest. Until now, he had not paid attention to them. There were four bottles in total, all in different colours, white, black, red, and brown. Each was sealed with powerful incantations. To MingYu's surprise, the markings were familiar – these were Heavenly markings.
The divine guide must have taught them to ZhiYi. MingYu gave an approving nod. The seals were perfectly drawn, they would keep any ghoul or vengeful ghost in check. MingYu also noticed the brown bottle had at least ten different seals on top of each other. MingYu's brows knotted up. It seemed odd, as all the other bottles had only one seal over it.
"I caught one of those ghouls." PingZe bragged as he noticed MingYu's gaze. "Met it in Xian. Tried to fish my guts out with a tongue. Nasty little thing."
MingYu gave him a wry smile. "Let me guess, the one in the brown bottle?"
"How did you know?" PingZe looked surprised.
"Only you can suck at drawing incantations so much that you need ten of them!"
***
High stone walls covered in thick moss separated Gui from the outside world. As the outskirts of the village looked like a war-zone, with skulls and bones littering every corner, inside the walls, the village looked like any other humble village.
Worn out white stone buildings stood side by side, facing the main street. The passage between the houses were so tight, one had to walk sideways to fit through. Dark tiled roofs had yellow lanterns hanging on the railings so low, people curled their backs as they walked in and out of the shops. The stone pavement was slippery and wet. droplets of water dripped along the roofs.
It was already dark as the crew stepped into the brightly lit street. As soon as their presence registered into the people bustling about their business, time appeared to stop, dead silence settled over Gui. All eyes were on them. The atmosphere shifted from light summer night to outright freezing, as the people's eyes changed from surprised to that of unwelcoming.
Simultaneously, the people moved, almost as if in a trance, with quick steps, the street cleared, doors were slammed closed and lanterns were blown out. Far ahead, a single lantern was still lit, giving a ghostly glow in the otherwise pitch-black night. All of this happened in seconds, and the crew was left standing in awe.
PingZe broke the silence, "Brings back memories."
XiaoHe was blinking in disbelief, "What just happened? Is it closing time? Curfew?"
"It's the welcoming custom of Gui." PingZe snorted.
"Move towards the light, it must be an inn." ZhiYi said. The silence was making the hairs on MingYu's arms rise on ends. Their steps echoed in the stillness of the night, reminding the village that they had unwanted visitors.
Indeed, the light led to a rundown inn house. The door had fallen off its hinges and was now leaning to the stone steps to keep it somewhat upright. The house was only two stories high and looked like it would fall over any minute now. It was a miracle anyone wanted to stay in this inn. Not that the inn had customers, it certainly didn't. No one wanted to visit Gui, and Gui didn't want visitors.
The moment the crew stepped in, in any other inn, people would have graced them with at least a smile. However, Gui had its own customs. As they stepped in the small hall, the innkeeper gave them half a gaze from under his heavy lids, growled, and turned his eyes from the doorway. The innkeeper made it clear he didn't want them there, at his doorsteps or anywhere in Gui. In fact, he would have probably slammed the door in their faces if it wasn't hanging onto the frame for its dear life.
PingZe wanted to kick the man. MingYu wanted to slap him over the head with anything he could reach for. ZhiYi was the only one with good self-control, so he asked for spare rooms. Sighing deeply, the innkeeper turned his attention from his notebook back to the group standing in his house. He looked like he rather shoved needles in his eyes then attended to them.
The crew learned from the innkeeper, that it was due to the rain and the decaying roof, that now two of the five rooms were flooded while the third one had a caved-in ceiling.
MingYu was staring at the wet stone pavement outside and considered sleeping on the street next to LongHai and ZhouYan. The risk of dying in his sleep was marginally small there unless the sky decided to collapse over him, or LongHai chose to release his pent up anger of being a donkey upon him. He would take his chances outside. Turning and trying to leave, MingYu was instead pulled back by his collar and dragged up the stairs into the bigger room of the two. The four men would be sharing this room.
"You've got to be kidding." PingZe said. They could here FenFen repeating it on the other side of the paper-thin wall. Their room was otherwise bare except for the single bed and a table for two. There was a window, from which one could see the main street, but it was bolted shut with planks of wood nailed all the way up the walls. They had a feeling these few pieces of flimsy wood were holding the entire structure of the building together. They wouldn't be enjoying any sceneries from there.
Settling for his destiny, MingYu made himself comfortable on the floor, when ZhiYi went to stand over him and said, "You and XiaoHe can sleep on the bed, we can take the floor."
How courteous!
MingYu climbed next to the monk. The bed was wide enough that MingYu got his arms on when he laid sideways, but his feet were dangling over nothing. The bed was clearly meant for children or very small adults. The floorboards beneath them creaked with every movement, and MingYu prayed the bed wouldn't drop through the floor while they were sleeping. At this point, nothing would surprise him anymore.
The moon was suspending by the clouds, and hours had gone by, but MingYu failed to sleep. MingYu's back was clued to XiaoHe. If he tried as much as move his hip, he would fall face-first on the floor. The younger monk was breathing steadily. It was abnormally quiet without XiaoHe's usual snoring by MingYu's ear. There was something uneasy gnawing at the corner of his mind. The moment they stepped into this village, everything seemed off. But MingYu couldn't pinpoint what was wrong.
Pins and needles poked across his lower half and opening his eyes, MingYu took in the darkness. Faint outlines of the table, chairs, and the two bodies lying on the ground were all he could make out. MingYu closed his eyes again and tried to fall asleep. Then MingYu opened his eyes wide in a surprise. Someone was running outside their door with bare feet.
Before MingYu could react, ZhiYi's face appeared from the darkness, and MingYu's heart nearly jumped out of his mouth. He instinctively tried to scream but the demon was fast and he had already placed his hand over MingYu's lips, silencing him with a gentle but firm grip. Kneeling in front of the bed, ZhiYi shook his head slowly and put his finger over his own lips, urging MingYu to stay quiet. MingYu swallowed parts of his heart that had tried to escape through his mouth and nodded against the rough hand. Blood was pounding in his ears.
ZhiYi helped MingYu to sit up as quietly as possible and whispered, "Can't sleep?"
MingYu wanted to punch his handsome face in. Who could sleep after he was scared to death and back?
ZhiYi continued, "Want to go and take a look?"
MingYu nodded again and holding onto ZhiYi's hand, he was guided across the dark room. The door gave a small squeak as it was opened just enough that the two men could squeeze through the gap. The two snuck down the creaky stairs and into the hall. The innkeeper was gone. The door was still ajar. Stepping out to the cold night air, they could see LongHai sleeping near the stairs with his eyes open. Even as a donkey, the habit persisted, MingYu smiled.
"I thought the innkeeper said all the other rooms were not in use." MingYu said as he looked around but saw no one.
"He wasn't lying." ZhiYi said and pointed upwards. The roof of the inn really had a giant hole in it. MingYu frowned. Then who had ran outside their door?
ZhouYan fluttered down from the roof and settled over ZhiYi's shoulder. He opened his bright yellow peak and said, "Brother MingYu. FuFu! FuFu gone!"
ZhiYi and MingYu exchanged looks of worry. Where would FuFu go at this hour? Then, PingZe ran out of the inn and nearly crashed into them. He was looking around with alarm and was holding his arrow tightly.
"XiaoHe is missing! Did you see him go out?"
MingYu's eyes widened. "Impossible! He was still there when we got out. No one could pass us without notice!"