“…”

    Yu Xiao couldn’t believe what she had just done. Scared a ghost? Yet, she never expected this damn ghost to be so resilient. Well, not that she planned to kill the ghost, just catch it and make it talk. Since the villagers were so tight-lipped about the mysterious deaths, she had no choice. She didn’t expect the ghost to be such a tough cookie, though.

    Barely had she thrown a talisman into the cesspool when she saw a flash of lightning and ran for her life. The outhouse exploded behind her, sending splinters flying.

    Yu Xiao’s head was spinning, and she opened her eyes with a jolt.

    She blinked in the dark, feeling the moonlight on her face. She reached for something, anything, to calm her down. She grabbed a bunch of sheets and a quilt.

    She was in her bed. Had it all been a nightmare?

    As Yu Xiao tried to sit up, a sharp pain in her arm stopped her. She rolled up her sleeve and squinted. There was a bite mark on her skin. It wasn’t a dream. She had met a ghost.

    Yu Xiao jumped out of bed, ready to wake up the others. But then she smelled something weird. She sniffed and bent down, finding a half-burned incense under her bed.

    She held the incense and checked the other beds. Hers was the only one with incense. She looked around. The others were sleeping soundly. Was the incense the reason she met the ghost? Yu Xiao was pissed. If she hadn’t had her talisman, the ghost would have eaten her alive.

    Fuming, Yu Xiao thought that no ghost would bother with such a ritual to eat someone. The one burning incense under her bed must be someone from the village. She decided not to call for help, putting on her shoes and leaving alone.

    Outside was similar to before. Following her memory, Yu Xiao found the outhouse again. It was now in ruins, and strangely, there was no noise despite the expected commotion from its destruction.

    Setting aside her confusion, she walked towards the ancestral hall. Zhang Feng mentioned seeing the list of deaths in the hall, and she wanted to take a look.

    The ancestral hall was one of the village’s brick houses. As Yu Xiao prepared to enter, she heard voices inside. Quickly hiding in a dark corner, she put on sunglasses she pulled out of her pocket.

    Through the wall, she saw the bright lights inside the hall. Next to some unpainted coffins were several men with tools.

    While wondering if they were working overtime because too many villagers had died too quickly, she overheard their conversation.

    “The village chief said sacrificing an outsider can appease the wrath of the spirits. Will this really work?”

    “Sigh, how should I know if it’ll work or not? But sacrificing an outsider is better than sacrificing one of us.”

    “Agreed.”

    “If this doesn’t work, we’re all screwed. You’ve seen how many people in this village have died, right?”

    They were interrupted by the arrival of an old man from outside. He had a smug look on his face and a fancy suit on his body, making him stick out like a sore thumb among the ragged villagers.

    A bunch of guys who were busy painting coffins in a hurry saw him and jumped to their feet.

    “Chief! You’re back!”

    Oh, great. So this old fart was the one in charge of this hellhole. Yu Xiao gave him a dirty look from behind the wall and quietly slipped away. She had assumed that those coffins were for the poor saps who had died here, but she had counted them earlier – exactly nine coffins.

    That’s when it hit her. The villagers had a meeting as soon as they arrived today, because they had malicious intentions. They were planning to sacrifice them. Yu Xiao had to figure out a way to make herself, Precious, and Misty look like they belonged here, not outsiders to be sacrificed.

    She headed to the outside of the Chief’s house, where she had snooped around earlier when she was looking for Gu Shu. She put on her sunglasses and watched the house for a while. She saw someone sleeping in one room, and then heard a loud cough from the bed. The person in the other room heard it too and got up – it was the Chief’s wife.

    The Chief’s wife, still dressed, went into the room, poured a glass of water, and gave it to the person on the bed. She stroked their back lovingly, whispering, “Good baby, good baby, mommy loves you, mommy will cut their flesh for baby…”

    Yu Xiao seized the chance and sneaked into the Chief’s room. She took from her pocket the incense stick that was half-burnt and lit it again, hiding it under the Chief’s bed.

    Then she got the hell out of there and ran back to where they were staying. She woke everyone up, even though they were sleeping like logs. That was weird; they were usually more alert.

    They didn’t complain, though, not even Zhang Feng, who was always a pain in the ass.

    Zhao Lan adjusted her hat, still groggy, and asked, “Smiley, what’s up?”

    Yu Xiao whispered, “We had a visitor. A ghost.”

    “What?!”

    They all freaked out, suddenly wide awake. Lu Xun was especially shocked. “For real? How come I didn’t notice anything?”

    Yu Xiao didn’t answer. She rolled up her sleeves and showed them the bite marks on her arm.

    “I got bit by a bloody ghost,” Yu Xiao announced. “I tried to wake you guys up, but you were all out cold. So I decided to go after it by myself.”

    “Wait a minute,” Wang Yang’s round face twitched. “You decided to chase a freaking ghost?”

    “Yup,” Yu Xiao said, as if it was no big deal. “I figured the villagers weren’t going to tell us anything useful, so why not grab a ghost and make it spill the beans.”

    Everyone, except Zhao Lan and Zhou Xiao Zhen, stared at Yu Xiao with mixed feelings.

    Yu Xiao touched her face. “What’s wrong?”

    “Nothing,” Lu Xun said. “Go on.”

    “So, I chased it… lost it, then woke up in bed. I thought it was all a dream until I saw the bite marks on my arm. That’s when I knew it was real. I found a half-burnt incense under my bed. I think it had something to do with the ghost only biting me.”

    “Does it still hurt?” Zhou Xiao Zhen asked, holding Yu Xiao’s arm gently.

    “A little,” Yu Xiao said, remembering she had another talisman. She took it out of her pocket and slapped it on her arm. The talisman burst into flames and turned to ash. The bite marks on Yu Xiao’s arm vanished, leaving her skin smooth and flawless.

    The others watched in silence.

    “You wasted a ten-point talisman on that? It would have healed on its own in a day or two,” Lu Xun commented.

    Yu Xiao ignored him. “I think the villagers are behind this. I snuck out and saw them in the ancestral hall, making nine coffins overnight. I heard them say the village pissed off the spirits, and that’s why there’s a plague. They’re having a meeting this afternoon, and the chief wants to sacrifice one of us to calm the spirits down.”

    “What?!”

    Everyone was furious, thankful that Yu Xiao had discovered the village’s plot. Otherwise, they would have been too busy with the ghosts to notice the villagers’ betrayal.

    They started to swear, venting their anger one by one.

    Lu Xun thought of something and said to Yu Xiao, “Hey, what about that half incense? Let me see it.”

    “I used it up,” Yu Xiao said.

    Lu Xun was confused. “How did you use it up?”

    Yu Xiao grinned wickedly, “I lit the incense again and tossed it under the village head’s bed.”

    Everyone: “…”

    Zhou Xiao Zhen gushed with admiration, “Smiley, you’re a genius, Smiley.”

    No one else knew what to say, until Sun Yun asked timidly, “So… what do we do now?”

    Yu Xiao shrugged, “Sleep, obviously. I’ve been up all night, stirring up trouble.”

    She pulled the blanket over herself and lay down on the bed, closing her eyes while everyone stared at her.

    Half a minute later, Yu Xiao: “zzzZ”

    Everyone: “…”

    The next morning, Yu Xiao was woken up by a racket. She sat up in bed and heard a lot of noise outside, like a crowd of people arguing and crying.

    She was alone in the room. She went outside and saw everyone else crowded at the door, looking out.

    “What’s going on?” Yu Xiao asked, walking over.

    They turned to her, their faces full of emotions.

    Lu Xun said, “The village chief is dead.”

    “Oh.” Yu Xiao walked to the door and saw a lot of people outside. The village chief’s wife, wearing mourning clothes, was sobbing.

    Yu Xiao watched quietly for a while, then asked, “Do you know how the village chief died?”

    “Not really.” Lu Xun said, “We heard he died horribly, with his body all mutilated. I think it was a ghost, but the weird thing is, the villagers think the village chief was cursed by the plague god (瘟神). They have a strange reason too, something about a bad smell in the village chief’s room.”

    Zhou Xiao Zhen asked, “What kind of smell?”

    Lu Xun’s face was curious, and he said after a pause, “The smell of excrement.” He looked confused and said, “Weird, right? Do ghosts have a smell? What kind of ghost smells like poop?”

    Yu Xiao lowered her head, pretending to be interested in her toes.

    “We’re going to check out the house of the first person who got sick in the village later.” Lu Xun asked Yu Xiao, “What about you? Are you coming with us?”

    “Nah, I’m sure you guys will find some good clues.” Yu Xiao declined politely, “We’re going to look for Gu Shu.”

    Lu Xun was quiet for a moment and asked, “Are you going to ask it if it has a wife?”

    “No need, it already told me.” Yu Xiao said, “This time, we’ll ask it something else.”

    *

    *

    They walked along the dirt road, Zhou Xiao Zhen asking curiously, “So, what are you going to ask Gu Shu this time? And why do we have to tag along?”

    Zhao Lan looked at Yu Xiao with interest.

    Yu Xiao didn’t answer. She told them to stay put at the gate of Gu Shu’s yard. She went in by herself and knocked on the door.

    She knocked for three freaking minutes before Gu Shu finally opened the door. “What?”

    “I need something.” Yu Xiao said. “I have a question for you.”

    “… The same question?” Gu Shu’s face twitched. “Is it about last time?”

    “No.”

    “Okay.” Gu Shu let out a relieved sigh. “Ask away.”

    Yu Xiao stared at Gu Shu’s pretty and polished face, and asked seriously, “Dr. Gu Shu, will you marry me?”

    Gu Shu: “…”

    Zhao Lan at the gate: “…”

    Zhou Xiao Zhen shouted, pissed and thrilled, “Smiley is joking, right? Last time she said she only likes the living ones.”

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