Jingyu was still knocked out, luckily.
Cenisa had waited and waited but there was no Jingyu. And the noise had stopped. She went to the tree and got the branch. "I should be able to see the other side or something with you…" She went back to the barrier.
The mere thought was aimless but she swung the branch at the barrier and the rope caught fire. She backed up. The rope had burned away and the barrier disappeared. "How… does… that work?" she asked nobody in perticular. She walked out the woods and stepped across the corp field.
As she stepped the across the dirt, the corps died. She looked at her feet. "AH!" her toes were blackening. "Ooo, get me the fuck out of here!" she raced across the field and onto the main road toward the village. "Jing!" she called.
But no one answered.
She looked at the branch, "imma play with it." she shook the branch lightly. "Come spirits!" she tossed the branch in the air and circled the sky. "My God help me! Spirits come help me!"
Nothing happened but she kept trying. "What was that sheep?" she thought. "Mahey!" she hoisted the branch. "No." she swore under her breath. "By," she stammered. "Goddamn. I summon the God of thunder! Hear my call! Awaken, he ol' lighting God!"
She sounded stupid. Cenisa sighed and put the branch down. "What the fuck am I doing?"
She looked at it. "What was that movie…?" she looked off to the side before picking the branch back up. "By lighting which way, on the morrow they gather, I call about the Gods of this world to rise and let none conquer me." she rose the branch in the air.
Nothing happened.
"Fuck me to tears!"
She was blind in this situation. "What the fuck!"
.
.
.
When Jingyu had opened his eyes. He saw staffs. When Jingyu opened his eyes, he saw fire, people and Li Liu's body deprived of life. He gasped, his bottom trembling.
"Welcome, Jingyu… Xiyi."
"No."
"But yes. You were born from a side in the Xiyi family but the blood does not run through you."
"Where am I?"
"Your cave!" he couldn't see anything in terms of a face. "My cave…?"
"Your mother was buried with the oni. But you sleep here, like a Jiangshi while not being a jiangshi, why?"
"What are you people doing!" he hollered. "What happened to Li!"
"We took her life," said a female tone. "We must feed, not like the jinn in the other fields of the world. We feed a different way."
"Is that Xinchou?"
"Silence!" the darkness was shrinking with a flicker of light. When Jingyu saw their faces, they were creaky, hard, and gray. "The Xiyi family… gave us life."
"What!" Xinchoy's neck cracked to the side. Her teeth were dirty and missing at the bottom. "This is how you use… qi." her eyes expanded.
"You forget your hertiage." he sneered.
"I didn't forget anything." she uttered. "Did you know I died?"
"You died?"
"I had an STD…" her eyes thinned. "From you."
"I didn't give you an STD. You walked on a cane."
"You forgot me…" she threw the torch at him. He was tied up, he couldn't get rid of the growing fire on his clothes. "We look normal don't we?"
"What the hell is going on!"
"The Xiyi family is gone. We are the new breed." spoke Jinku. "They send thieves to us. Cheaters, killers, and even the talkative. Like drunks."
"We haven't had much of life, lately." said Xinchou. Her smile was plump, "Can have yours?"
"No!"
"Well… we need it." Jinku moved to him and grabbed his neck. "Your life means… a lot to us."
"Get your fucking hands off me!" Jingyu fought, twisting his body and kicking. "Grab his legs!" ordered Xinchou. "Hualing!"
Hualing caught his flailing legs and held them while Jinku careesed his energy. Jinku licked his lips, tossed his head back in bliss.
"This sweet life!" he glorified. Slowly Jinyu's neck turned colors. He was losing his breath. He looked at the 'family'. "Come! Join in!"
.
.
.
How was she suppose to use a branch to do anything. Why was she here?
She grumbled understanding repeating the question wouldn't solve anything. Cenisa took the branch from the Huishou into the village plaza. No one was around, the only thing she could remember was the restraunt and headed there. There were homes she didn't notice and with all the ignorance she didn't know anything about knocking on chinese doors.
She believed the custom was politeness. So, if she knocked on the door, which slid instead of opening inside the house, would that be rude?
"Lord…" she threw her head back. "Jing!" His wasn't going to response. She made it to the restaurant which had the name 'The First Wok'. She slid the door open and screamed as a man reached for her with his arms out.
"Nigga!" without thinking she swung the branch over his head and his body shriveled up like a snail with salt tossed on it.
She gawked his clothes on the ground. Steam came off the rags and the shoes left behind. "It didn't hurt that bad…" she mumbled. He didn't even scream just twitch.
She wondered if going into the place was worth it. What if another one showed up? Hit it! That's all she could do.
She stepped over the clothes and cautiously went into area. There was no light to turn on but once again, bright ideas came to fruition. "Do something." she shook the branch. "Like make fire. Do something like take my ass home!"
After repeatedly shaking the wood, she heard a jiggle and balls of white lights floated in her view. "Ok…"
The balls of light glowed brightly and she could see a body over the counter towards the back. "Hey!" she moved over to the person and shook their shoulders. "Hey…"
It was useless, this person was without a doubt dead. She wank them just to be sure. She went behind the counter and again, hit the dead body with the branch. The lights followed behind her and she checked under the counter for supply.
Plates, cup, a bag possibly with money... and a book. She grabbed the book and went to the first page. The Weapons of Woe and the first page told her about clothes, The Sleeves of Day. The Sleeves of Day was a set of clothes worn by a Geisha. She had skin that would catch on fire if she stood in the sun. Her grandmother was the only one alive to make her a gown made from silk and spit of snakes so she wouldn't burn.
The Sleeves of Day were kept in Suiku Ren Pond. The Geisha drowned herself when her clothes were ripped off to put out the burns.
Her grandmother died trying to hem the gown. It was buried in the pond.
"That's sad…"
She went to the next page that talked about The Whisk of Animosity, the whisk was made from a samurai that took the hairs off his rivals and used them as a duster. Little did he know, the Whisk he had created cursed him. One day the samurai noticed his hair falling out and he went to a hairstylist to find out why. He found the hairstylist and they told him to rub a cream in his hair but told him he must wash his hair first.
The samurai took the advice and washed his hair before using the cream on his scalp. When he went to sleep, a man sat on his chest and waved the whisk in his eyes before another being chopped off his head.
The Whisk of Animosity said the samurai became a Krasue but because of his deed the spirits tied his hair to a tree in Zong Mao Mu Forest in the Iklim region.
"That is terrifying…"
The Branch of Huishou.
"THIS!"
The Branch of Huishou has a connection to the Ku Di Realm. The Ku Di realm is a crossroad into the afterlife. Because of this, if the tree is held by somebody dead, they will see the past, future, and present as well as the dead themselves.
Some say the tree is like this because it is cursed to consume qi. A jianshi lived at the bottom of the tree and pulled people in the roots to feed off.
The branch is immune to fire but cannot stand the cold.
The Hands of Budyang
The Hands of Budyang are the hands of a jiangshi that faced up in prayer. As a prank, a young boy found the jiangshi and put a rock in his hands.
The next day, the boy placed a bowl of rice in his hands.
The next day after the bowl, he placed his own pet cat in the hands of jiangshi.
The last day, the boy couldn't place anything in the hands because he couldn't find the jiangshi. When he did, the jiangshi asked for a gift. He wanted a simple handshake and took the boy's qi and turned his hands with palms facing the sky. This is also called the Praying Jiangshi.
She flipped to the next page but there was nothing there.
At least she had a page on the Huishou. She put the book in her chest between her bra and shirt. She hurried out the restaurant and the lights followed her again. She was comfortable with the thought the lights were still with her.
"Where is he?"