Each of us had brought a tent, and we decided to set up camp for the night and venture into the village the next morning. Liu Ying started preparing dinner, while Wu Luo went to gather firewood. "Setting up a stove" was just a fancy way of saying she built a wooden frame over the campfire, hung a pot on it, and cooked a pot of rice alongside a stew of pork ribs. The rising aroma was mouthwatering.
As night fell while the meal was being prepared, we sat cross-legged on the ground with food containers in hand. Xie Chen brought out two bottles of liquor and poured us each a cup.
"I don't drink," Liu Ying said, shaking her head. Her voice matched her plain appearance—just as unremarkable.
"Drinking causes trouble; I'm not having any," Wu Luo added, eating his rice without lifting his head.
Xie Chen didn't press them and clinked cups with me. "Guess it's just the two of us."
I raised my cup, but Liu Ying suddenly shot us a sidelong glance and said, "Don't drink too much. If something happens tonight, you'll regret it when you can't even run."
Her words sent a chill down my spine. Remembering what happened to Mu Fenghua and the others, I quickly sobered up. If something supernatural occurred, being drunk would be the worst possible state to be in.
"Just one cup," Xie Chen said with an ingratiating smile toward Liu Ying, who, despite being his assistant, seemed to wield more authority than him.
Liu Ying didn't respond and focused on eating. After finishing her meal, she headed straight to her tent without a word. Wu Luo did the same, leaving Xie Chen and me alone by the fire.
After finishing our meal, we smoked a cigarette and stared into the pitch-black village ahead of us. In the darkness, Juehu Village exuded an even stronger aura of death and despair, chilling me to the core. It felt as though this desolate place had absorbed years of grief and resentment, becoming a massive, unmarked grave.
Xie Chen yawned and patted my shoulder. "Let's get some rest. Tomorrow's a big day."
I glanced at my phone—it was past 8 PM. Exhausted from the previous sleepless night and the day's exertions, I felt like my body was about to fall apart. Stretching my arms with a yawn, I was about to head to my tent when a crisp ringing sound echoed from the forest.
The sound of bells.
My heart jumped. Was it a ghost? I looked around nervously, but the faint glow of the campfire revealed nothing beyond the surrounding darkness. The stillness of the mountains made the sound even more jarring.
Liu Ying and Wu Luo emerged simultaneously from their tents, followed by Xie Chen peeking his head out. Another ringing of the bells broke the silence. Wu Luo's face, dirty and weathered, turned serious as he quickly snuffed out the fire with dirt.
Seeing his reaction, I felt a surge of unease. Was it really ghosts?
"What's going on?" Xie Chen whispered, creeping up to Wu Luo.
You call yourself a paranormal consultant, and you're asking your assistant what's happening? How embarrassing! In that moment, I realized that Xie Chen was likely a fraud. The real work probably fell to his assistants, and he just handled the business side.
"It's the Zongzi Gang," Wu Luo said in a low voice.
As soon as he spoke, another sound joined the ringing bells—thud, thud, thud—like someone knocking on bamboo. Wu Luo's face darkened further. "And a spirit controller. What a night."
"What the hell are the Zongzi Gang and spirit controllers?" I blurted out, confused.
"The Zongzi Gang are corpse drivers," Wu Luo explained gravely.
"And the spirit controllers?"
"Think of them as the ghostly equivalent of couriers, working for the 'Ghost Escort Bureau,'" Liu Ying added.
The Ghost Escort Bureau? This world was getting more bizarre by the minute. Corpses being driven through forests and ghosts being couriered around? It felt like I'd stumbled into some supernatural black market.
The bell and bamboo sounds grew louder as two groups approached from different directions. Liu Ying and Wu Luo hastily dismantled the tents, signaling us to pack everything up and follow them into the underbrush. We crouched low, trying to stay out of sight.
The stench coming off Wu Luo was unbearable, and I nearly passed out holding my breath. But I reminded myself to endure—if Qiu Shaoyun could withstand fire for a mission, surely I could handle a little body odor.
Minutes dragged by as the sounds drew closer. Then, the eerie thud-thud of synchronized footsteps joined in—a rhythm so precise it could only be made by corpses.
"Joyous spirits passing through—mortals, clear the way!" a voice called out, followed by the clanging of a gong.
"Spirit controller on the move—heed my summons!" another voice responded, stern and formal.
I swallowed hard. "Joyous spirits" was a euphemism for corpses. It was a warning for anyone in the vicinity to lock their doors and keep their dogs quiet, as barking could trigger a corpse to rise violently. But the spirit controller's chant was a mystery to me, sounding like some kind of professional code.
"Damn it, can't you wait your turn?" one voice shouted angrily. "Why do you have to show up now and steal my route?"
"Shut your mouth! Spirits can't wait. You corpse drivers don't have deadlines like we do!"
The two groups broke into an argument. From the voices, they weren't far from each other, though we couldn't see them in the dark.
"I've got to get my joyous spirits across Juehu Village before the hour of the Rat. Are you trying to scare them stiff?" the corpse driver retorted.
"Hour of the Rat is still over an hour away, you idiot! My job's more urgent. Miss my delivery, and my spirit turns vengeful!"
"Don't care! Move your ass, or I'll unleash my corpses!"
"Try it, and I'll use my jade dagger on you!"
Their shouting escalated until an eerie sound interrupted—a low, guttural meow from the shadows between them.