A couple of notes:

• Xie Lian’s white bandage weapon is called Ruoye but I forgot how it was pronounced. I’m going to start using that name now
• “Blood Rain Tan Hua” finally figured out means “Blood Rain Covering Flower” lol
• The “bone ashes” I termed in the last chapter – figured out it means “the ashes of the dead human body of the person that had become a ghost/demon/ghoul”. I went back to fix up my translation so it makes more sense (starting from Hua Cheng’s “Bone ashes” line)

——

The white clad people seemed to have no heads, and their uniforms were those of convicts. They all carried a skull, and looked like beheaded criminals. They all swayed slowly towards the cart, the skulls in the crooks of their elbows chattering ceaselessly.

Xie Lian told the other two in a low voice, “When they come near us, be careful not to utter a single sound.”

San Lang cocked his head. “Gege sir¹, you really are a strange person.”

He sounded intrigued. Xie Lian replied, “[I can’t quite say I’m a strange person, but hold that thought.] They can’t see us right now, but when they get in close, it might be a different story.”

The old master of the bull cart, dumbstruck already from the flying white ribbon around them, seemed as though his eyes were going to roll to the back of his head from fear at the sight of the walking headless people. He shook his head wildly. “I can’t, I can’t! I don’t think I can hold it in! Daozhang, what should we do?!”

[note: Daozhang is like a title for a Taoist priest, which the old man uses to address Xie Lian]

“…” Xie Lian said, “All right, then. Old sir, please excuse me.” When he finished speaking, [he struck quickly behind his back], and immediately the old man collapsed in the cart. Xie Lian caught him and gently laid him down on the cart, and took his place in the rider’s seat instead. There was a movement behind him, and Xie Lian turned to see the young man had also followed and sat down behind him. He asked, “You’re all right?”

San Lang, his hand resting against his lower jaw, said, “Not at all. I’m terrified.”

He didn’t sound remotely terrified, but Xie Lian replied in a soothing voice anyway, “Don’t be scared. Stay behind me, and there won’t be anything that will hurt you.”

The young man laughed but didn’t say anything. Then Xie Lian noticed that the young man was staring at him. In a flash, he realized that it was at his cursed collar.

This collar looked like a black snare around the human neck, and couldn’t be concealed right now, what with Ruoye flying about. To the layman, it looked ominous and sinister, and so in an attempt to prevent the young man from associating him with anything bad, he subtly pulled up his collar, even though that didn’t really cover up much anyway.

The sky was dark, so he couldn’t quite see the young man’s expression. Xie Lian took the reins of the cart and softly tried to encourage the cow to move. The approaching headless demons seemed to notice there was something blocking their path, and complained in wailing voices, “This is so strange! Why can’t we cross through?

“It’s true! We can’t pass! We’ve encountered a demon!”

“You stupid ass! We’re demons!”

Xie Lian had just managed to get the cow to move when the gang of headless ghouls brushed past them. Hearing this chatter coming from the heads that they were carrying, he straight up wanted to laugh out loud. They had still more to grumble about.

“Hey, why do I feel like the body carrying your head is my body?”

“It’s your damn body that took the wrong head!”

“Why don’t you two just switch…”

“Why’s the cut on your neck so uneven?”

“Ai, the executioner was a noob, needed five to six chops to get my head off. I almost wonder if he did that on purpose.”

“Your family didn’t give him bribe money? Next time remember to give bribe money. You’ll get it chopped off in one fast slice.”

“What ‘next time’ you fool?”

“… …”

The fifteenth of July’s Ghost Festival was the biggest festival of the year for ghosts and demons. On this day, the door to the demonic world opens, and all the ghosts and demons that normally hide themselves in dark places rush out to party in wanton and merry ways, while all the living folk try their best to avoid them. Particularly during nightfall on this day, it was best to confine oneself inside, since chances of running into a demon grew exponentially higher.

Xie Lian had always been unlucky his whole life; even while wearing his Taoist priest garment he was running into demons, and this time, head-on. There were green ghost fires floating about everywhere, guiding an enormous number of demons. There were also other demons, expressionless and muttering to themselves, that crouched in front of a circle, hands outstretched as they waited for offerings that were burned for them by the living folk.

This entire scene could practically be described as a chaotic, demonic dance. Xie Lian decided that the next time he was going out, he was never going to forget to consult the Huang Li.

[Note: Huang Li is a kind of calendar tells helps calculate things like what to be aware of, what to notice, luck, omens, etc. It was based on the lunar calendar and according to legend, created by the “Yellow Emperor” – hence the “Huang”, meaning “yellow”. People used it to predict meteorological changes, agricultural production, etc]

Suddenly, a shrill voice that sounded like a chicken being murdered screeched, “Terrible! Terrible! Ghoul murder!”

[Note: Ghosts and demons and ghouls can all be called “鬼” and I think here they’re more referring to “ghoul”]

The ghouls were all alarmed. “Where, where? Where’s the murder?”

The ghoul that had screeched said, “It scared me! Over there I found a lot of shattered ghost fires, all shattered by humans! Ruthless!”

“All shattered? How appalling! Truly ruthless!”

“Who could dare? It couldn’t be… a cultivator mixed in among us?”

The band of headless ghosts piped up, “Ah! Speaking of, just now we bumped into something and couldn’t pass. Could it be…”

“Where, where?”

“Over there!”

Xie Lian cursed silently. Within a few moments, a large group of ghouls surrounded their cart, revealing their fierce-looking appearances one by one. One of them said, in a malicious voice, “I can smell a strong yang energy…”

There’s nowhere to hide!

During the Ghost Festival, bumping into a demon was the fault of the human. There was no way Xie Lian was going to talk his way out of a situation with this many demons! He urged the cart, “Go!”

The cow had already been impatiently pawing at the ground, scared out of its wits, and once it heard Xie Lian’s call it all but flew down the road. Xie Lian didn’t forget the young man behind him and pulled him in, yelling, “Sit steady!”

Calling back Ruoye, Xie Lian steered the cart down a side road. He suddenly came upon a ghost fire circle and broke right through it. Behind the cart, a group of ghouls missing a leg screeched, “There really was a cultivator!!! That damn cultivator really wants to die!!!”

“A living person dares to mix in with our Ghost Festival! Whatever happens can’t be blamed on us!”

“Get them!”

Xie Lian, with one hand on the reins, used his other to rummage through his bag to grab a handful of charms which he threw to the ground. “Hinder!”

The ghouls were unable to outrun his Step-Hindering Charms. There was a series of loud booming noises, and with each booming noise, a barrier was erected around each ghoul, stopping them for a moment, but only for a moment. He’d spread out and used up most of his charms, so not even several moments passed before the ghouls started catching up again. Xie Lian hurried the cart faster for another block of road, before he suddenly said, “Stop–!”

The cow had come upon a fork in the road, which led to two very dark, shadowed paths. Seeing this, Xie Lian immediately pulled in his reins.

He had to be careful here!

On the day of the Ghost Festival, one would discover roads that normally didn’t exist on any other day. If one walked on such a road, one would enter the demonic realm, and it would be nigh impossible to find the way back out again!

As he was new around here, Xie Lian didn’t know which path to pick. Then he remembered that in the bag of rubbish he had beggared for, he’d also gotten a bamboo Qian Tong². He would use them to predict what to do.

So he took them out, shaking the tube while chanting, “Blessings from a heavenly official, anything goes!³ Walk once on each path facing heavenward! One left, one right! I will walk the path that is chosen for me!”⁴ When he finished chanting, two qians tumbled out with a clatter. When he picked them up and read them, his face went dark.

Bad omens!

Both qians were of the portentous type. Didn’t that mean he sought death if he walked on either road?

Xie Lian felt helpless. Both hands clasping the bamboo tube, he shook it furiously and said, “Tube oh tube of oracles, we’ve only just met today, why are you so heartless! Let’s try again, save me some honour!” When he finished speaking, two more qians tumbled out with a clatter. Picking them up and reading them, he saw again that they were of the same portentous type!

Then, San Lang piped up from the side. “How about you let me try?”

There wasn’t any way it could go worse than it had for Xie Lian, so he gave it to the young man. San Lang received it with one hand, shook it casually, and two qians fell out. He picked them up but instead of giving them a single look, gave them over to Xie Lian, who read them and saw that they were both of the fortuitous type. He couldn’t help feeling shocked. Normally, Xie Lian’s luck was so bad that the people around him also got their lucks pulled down. He wasn’t sure if that correlation meant causation, but it happened often enough he might as well believe it was true. Yet this young man was not only immune to his bad luck, he also managed to shake out two good oracles with almost no effort at all!

As both oracles showed good fortune, he picked a random path. As the cart started up once again and headed down the path he’d chosen, Xie Lian exhaled and said, “My friend, your luck is truly quite amazing.”

San Lang tossed the Qian Tong behind him, and laughed. “Really? I think my luck’s pretty good too. It’s always been so.”

Hearing him say “it’s always been so”, Xie Lian thought that the difference between himself, a Taoist cultivator, and the young man, a regular human, was really like the difference between the sky and the earth. When they got further down the road, there was suddenly another wave of ghouls and demons around them, yelling, “We’ve got them! They’re here!”

“Everybody, over here! The damn cultivator is here!”

One by one the ghouls and demons came out towards them. Xie Lian said, “Ah. I still chose wrongly after all.”

The effects of the Step-Hindering Charms had worn off, and they were now surrounded again!

The ghouls and demons numbered at least a hundred. It was a mystery how there were so many ghouls and demons in this area, surrounding their cart six bodies deep and still increasing. But there was no time to wonder about this. Xie Lian called out, “Good ghouls and demons, bumping into you all was the fault of mine. Please forgive me graciously and show kindness.”

A headless ghoul said, “Bullshit! You damn cultivator, why didn’t you show kindness first? You were the ones that shattered the ghost fires back there!”

Xie Lian, innocent, said, “It wasn’t us. To be honest, I’m only a lowly beggar.”

“Stop quibbling! What sort of beggar are you supposed to be? You’re obviously a cultivator. Besides you, what kind of cultivator here would be capable of such a horrific deed?”

Xie Lian said, “Perhaps it wasn’t a cultivator that shattered the ghost fires.”

“Then what else could it be? A demon?”

Discreetly, Xie Lian put his hand in his sleeve. “It’s not impossible.”

The demon laughed hysterically. “Damn cultivator! You… you… you…”

The demon that had erupted in shocked laughter suddenly stopped, while Xie Lian said, “What about me?”

Asking this, all the ghouls and demons stopped. Their stared at Xie Lian as though they were staring at some sort of monster, some with their mouths hanging open, some with their mouths snapped shut, and many of the headless convicts had dropped the heads they were holding to the ground.

Xie Lian tried to feel out the situation. “Fellows? What’s…”

Before he could finish asking, all the ghouls and demons, like dust in the wind, scattered helter-skelter in all directions.

Xie Lian was stunned. “There’s no way???”

He hadn’t even grabbed the charm hidden in his sleeve, and he’d already been discovered? Were they really that perceptive? Moreover, the charm wasn’t even a strong one. Xie Lian was completely baffled. Were they even looking at him?

Or were they looking at something behind him?

He turned his head to see what was behind him.

Behind him was only the old cart master that had passed out, along with the ever-casual red-clad young man, who had his chin still resting on his hand.

Meeting his eyes, San Lang smiled again, and lowered his hand. “Daozhang, sir, how amazing. You scared them all away.”

“… …”

Xie Lian smiled too. “Yes, I didn’t realize either how powerful I am.”

Immediately, he shook the reins a couple of times and the cart clacked forward once more, this time with no more interruptions. An hour later, the cart slowly emerged from the forest onto a flat mountain road. Pu Ji Village was just below the hillside, warm lights already flickering in the houses.

The oracle qians really did foretell a good path. They’d escaped more scared than hurt.

The evening wind blew by, and Xie Lian turned around again. San Lang looked like the epitome of high spirits, laid back, his head resting on his hands as he gazed at the bright moon above. Under the soft light of the moon, he didn’t quite look human.

Muttering to himself for a moment, Xie Lian couldn’t hold back a smile, and said, “My friend.”

San Lang replied, “What?”

“Have you looked at your fortunes?”

San Lang turned his head. “Nope.”

Xie Lian said, “Then, would you like me to look at your fortunes?”

San Lang laughed. “You want to do that for me?”

“I would like to.”

San Lang cocked his head slightly. “All right.” He sat up, facing his body towards Xie Lian. “How do you want to do it?”

Xie Lian said, “By reading your palm. Is that all right?”

Hearing this, the corner of the young man’s lips curled, but Xie Lian couldn’t read his expression, and only heard him say. “That’s fine.”

The young man stuck out his left hand.

His arm was long and slender, his knuckles clean, his hand quite beautiful. It wasn’t the kind of delicate pretty; it brimmed with hidden strength, the kind that one wouldn’t want around one’s throat. Xie Lian remembered San Lang’s expression when he’d accidentally touched him, and so was very careful not to make direct contact, only lowering his head to carefully examine the young man’s palm.

The light of the moon was neither bright nor too dim. Xie Lian looked for a while, while the cart continued to clack along the road, the wooden wheels and axels creaking. San Lang said, “How is it?”

After a moment, Xie Lian slowly said, “Your life is very good.”

San Lang said, “Eh? How good?”

Xie Lian lifted his head and said in a mild voice, “You’re very hard-working, extremely dedicated, even when your luck is down. But your heart [will forever be true], and can turn even the worse misfortunes around. Your fortunes are numerous, my friend, and your future will be very bright.”

All of this was complete rubbish that Xie Lian had pulled out of his ass. He had no idea how to read palms. Having devalued the subject since the beginning, for a while after he’d regretted not learning palm- and face-reading with his fellow disciples in the royal palace. If he had, eking out a living among the regular human folk would have been easier, and not comprised of performing in the streets and breaking rocks on his chest all the time. Also, right now, Xie Lian hadn’t wanted to read his palm, actually; he’d only want to see if the young man had palm and finger prints.

Demons and ghouls can take on many bodies and pretend to be live humans, but they can’t normally reproduce such features as palm and finger prints and the ends of hairs in much detail.  In addition, this young man did not give off any kind of spiritual energy,  His palm lines were distinct, clear. And if he really was a demon pretending to be human, [then their fortunes could only be bad the entire time they were together, and not a drop good otherwise.] As well, what sort of demon king would spend his time with him, on a crickety cart rolling towards a poor village such as Pu Ji village? Heavenly officials weren’t the only ones busily flying around. Demons were also quite busy!

Xie Lian pretended to know what he was talking about, forcing himself to make up a few lines until he couldn’t anymore. San Lang said nothing, simply staring at him rather intensely, listening and chuckling and looking very intrigued. “And? Is there more?”

Xie Lian thought he couldn’t possibly need to bullshit more, could he? “What else did you want to know?”

San Lang said, “Since you’re telling fortunes, it’s inevitable I’d ask about my fortunes in love and marriage.”

Xie Lian coughed, and solemnly said, “My studies in this subject were not that great, so I don’t really know how to tell fortunes for those things. But, since you’re asking, I don’t think you’ll have any troubles there.”

San Lang raised an eyebrow. “Why do you think I won’t have troubles there?”

Xie Lian smiled. “There’ll probably be many girls who like you.”

San Lang said, “And why do you think there will be many girls who like me?”

Xie Lian had been about to open his mouth to answer when he realized what was going on. This young fellow was trying his best to get Xie Lian to praise him directly, and he chuckled helplessly. Not knowing what to say, he massaged the point between his brows and said, “San Lang ah.”

This was the first time Xie Lian had called him San Lang. Hearing this, the young man laughed, and finally let him go.

Now the cart had finally entered the village. Xie Lian turned and grabbed onto the side of the cart as he jumped down. San Lang also jumped down beside him. Xie Lian was shocked to find that, because the young man had been lying down or sitting in the cart this whole time, San Lang was actually much taller than he when they were standing side by side. Their heights weren’t even close in comparison. Xie Lian stretched and yawned next to the cart. He said, “San Lang, where are you headed?”

San Lang sighed. “I don’t know. I’ll sleep on a main road, or I’ll find some kind of cave.”

Xie Lian said, “That’s not good?”

San Lang spread out a hand. “There’s no other way. I have nowhere else to go.” He looked askance at Xie Lian, and gave another laugh. “Thank you for the fortune-telling. I wish you well, and hope we’ll meet again in the future.”

Hearing San Lang thank him for the fortune telling, Xie Lian flushed in embarrassment. Seeing him really turn away to make his way down the road, Xie Lian suddenly rushed to say, “Wait. If you are not opposed, would you like to stay at my temple?”

San Lang stopped in his steps, and turned back around halfway. “Is that all right?”

Xie Lian said, “That shack wasn’t mine to begin with. I’d only heard that it’s been used by passersby to pass nights. It’s much simpler and cruder than you think, and I’m only afraid you might not want to stay there.”

If this young man was really a young master from a noble family, Xie Lian couldn’t let him wander aimlessly around. Xie Lian suspected that he’d really eaten nothing but that half of a mantou that whole day. For a young man like San Lang, if he truly kept that up, he would really faint on some road one day.

After listening to Xie Lian say all that, San Lang fully turned back around without a reply, and only walked right up to Xie Lian, the distance between their bodies diminishing quite more than necessary. Xie Lian didn’t really know what San Lang wanted to do. He only knew that it felt a bit too much.⁵

Then the young man stepped back. He’d only reached forward to take the bag of rubbish that Xie Lian had beggared for earlier that day, and said, “Then let’s go.”

 

1 – San Lang said “这位哥哥” – transliterally “this older brother here”. 哥哥 can also be addressed to any boy or a man who’s slightly older than you… though it has a very friendly/close/cute sort of tone. Because of the 这位and bc they’re still strangers I added a “sir”

2 – Lottery poetry or 签筒 (Qian Tong) or Kau Cim – a cylindrical bamboo tin containing long flat rods (qian) that have poetry/sayings/predictions carved onto them. Used as oracles in Taoist/Buddhist temples, and dates back to the Jin Dynasty (3rd century AD)

3 – “天官赐福 百无禁忌!” (Tian guan ci fu bai wu jin ji) First four words here are the title of this cnovel

4 – the whole chant rhymes in Chinese

5 – xie lian’s feeling his Thirst Awakening

 

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