Nightmare Assault

“It’s him?!” Fatty felt a chill run over him. Butler Zhou was Xuan Ji’s father. Then, there were those strange ghost plays and the mad Elder Huang… A scary conclusion appeared in his mind. This was a carefully calculated revenge, a revenge held by a father against his daughter’s killer.

“Doctor,” Fatty asked quickly, “How did you tell something was wrong with Butler Zhou?” Compared to this answer, Fatty was more curious about how the Doctor managed to reach this conclusion based on current clues.

“When we visited the kitchen,” Jiang Cheng moved along the wall so as not to attract unnecessary attention, “I tried the food in the kitchen. Other than the portion meant for us, the others are light in flavours and taste.” Worried about Fatty’s comprehension level, he continued, “Those who sing eat light. They need to protect their throat. That is a habit of theirs.”

Fatty gasped, “Was that how you managed to guess their identity?”

“No.” Jiang Cheng answered, “I was only curious at the time.”

“Doctor,” Fatty followed him and asked, “Are we going back now or going to Gong Alley?”

“Gong Alley.”

“Okay.”

When they arrived at Gong Alley, Fatty was shocked. Gong Alley might have been called an alley, but he realised that the alley was large and contained several hundred homes. If they had to search through them one by one, it would take them all day.

To Fatty’s surprise, after asking the nearby hawkers, one hawker who was blind in one eye leaned on his cart selling Tang Holu and asked, “Are you talking about Manager Zheng?” He pointed down a path that branched off the main road, “They stay in the Bing House. Go in through here. Turn left at the first junction, and you’ll come across it. It has the largest yard.”

They soon found the corresponding yard. Perhaps it was their mind. Fatty felt a chill wind picking up, even if he just stood outside the place.

“Find a safe place to wait for me.” Jiang Cheng shoved the half-crop into Fatty’s chest. “If I don’t return in ten minutes, go and get people to come here.”

“Doctor, I’ll accompany you. If something happens, at least someone can help you,” Fatty volunteered. Jiang Cheng eventually agreed. The two found a secluded spot and leapt over the wall. The yard was silent. It didn’t sound like anyone was there. They found the largest building. Jiang Cheng carefully opened the door. This appeared to be a storeroom. Someone used wooden boards to split the space into different zones.

Jiang Cheng found a table. A lot of paper was scattered around it. He walked closer and realised they were maps. The drawings were detailed. Jiang Cheng looked at the drawn maps and even found the room where they were staying.

“Doctor,” Fatty stammered, “These are maps of the Huang Residence.” He pointed at a spot, “Doesn’t this look like Young Master Huang’s place?”

Naturally, it was. The people there drafted a lot of maps for the interior of the Huang Residence. There were places they hadn’t even visited before. On the map that represented the lake, there was a red circle.

Fatty blinked, “What is this?”

“It’s the swamp in the middle of the lake,” Jiang Chen placed the maps back. Fatty thought about it and realised that was where Elder Huang pretended to be Young Master Huang and sing at night. Before they understood this theory, they thought the ghost was floating on the lake.

In the play where they had to carry the bribe on their backs, Jiang Cheng had been to the swamp, so he remembered the location clearly.

In their next search, they found a wooden door in the deepest part of the room. They pushed it open, and light seeped through. The scene inside caused Fatty to freeze. A row of paper people stood along the wall. They wore bright red clothes and green hats. They were smiling exaggeratedly. All the paper people had their heads turned at the wall like they would come alive the next moment.

Jiang Cheng’s eyes moved, and his face shifted. Deeper in the room… was a paper sedan chair. The sedan was white, and four paper bearers stood around it. The two bearers in front held a pale white lantern each. It was… strange.

“This…” Fatty widened his eyes. Even the air was cold, “These are the things we met before…” He couldn’t bring himself to continue. He shivered involuntarily. It was as if the paper dolls were alive and they were listening to him.

Jiang Cheng walked towards the sedan. When he lifted up the curtain, Fatty’s heart winced. A paper bride sat inside the sedan. She wore a red dress and veil. The bride had her hands on her knees as if holding something in place. Fatty couldn’t see what it was from his angle. Fatty had a feeling this bride would eventually come alive.

The Doctor pulled a wooden box that was painted red from the bride’s hands. The bride didn’t move. She didn’t turn into a ghost.

He opened the box. A book sat inside. The book looked worn. The cover was greatly eroded. Thankfully, the words inside were still legible. Fatty stretched his neck to look. The book felt like a secret manual in wuxia novels.

“Doctor,” Fatty was anxious because Jiang Cheng read through the book and said nothing. “What… is the book about?”

Jiang Cheng took a deep breath and looked at Fatty. The latter swallowed nervously and didn’t dare to say anything.

“Xuan Ji was killed by Elder Huang,” Jiang Cheng said, “Butler Zhou wanted to use us and the killer to… summon his daughter’s soul.”

Fatty croaked, “Soul summoning?”

Jiang Cheng nodded and pointed at the book, “This book contains such a method. Using a ritual and replaying the murder process at midnight, you can summon the victim’s soul back.”

Fatty whispered, “Doctor, what ritual…”

“Human-skin drum,” Jiang Cheng answered.

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