Just as this thought crossed his mind, Ghost San Niang abruptly materialized in midair a hundred meters away. Visibility was poor at that hour, and the only reason he could spot San Niang from a hundred meters off was that splash of red, vivid against the darkness.
Ghost San Niang's target was Aunt Wang, whose left foot had stepped into the paddy. Without a word of nonsense, her palm slashed like a blade, severing Aunt Wang's head before she vanished into thin air.
Ding Shi switched on his flashlight and headed toward Aunt Wang. Carefully picking his way along the ridge between the fields, he reached her corpse. He examined it under the flashlight beam for a moment and found that Aunt Wang's left foot was sunken in the muddy water of the paddy.
Why was Aunt Wang killed? Ding Shi looked up at the sky in some confusion. He had already confirmed that turning on a light, talking, or looking at the sky wouldn't provoke Ghost San Niang into hunting someone down.
Ghost San Niang had said plenty to Haitang, but after breaking free, she hadn't gone after Haitang right away, which proved Haitang hadn't broken any rules.
What did Haitang and Aunt Wang have in common? And why was the person who wet their pants killed? Could it be that they had gotten stained with filth? Haitang was the bride—she had worn makeup, her crying had smeared it, and she had soiled her wedding gown, so she was killed. Aunt Wang had stepped into muddy water and soiled her pants, so she was killed.
Zhang San knew someone had been killed for wetting their pants, so he had whipped his bird out to pee and hadn't gotten his pants dirty; that was why San Niang hadn't killed him.
Ding Shi looked down at himself. Thanks to his encounter with Zombie San Niang, he was filthy from head to toe, with a good deal of yellow dirt smeared across his face. If San Niang targeted dirty people, his turn should have come by now. Did she look down on him? But rather than looking down on him, Ding Shi thought it was far more likely she had fallen in love with him.
What? Narcissistic? Who didn't know about Nie Xiaoqian? Who could say for sure?
Of course, that was just Ding Shi letting his brain cells run wild; he was still quite rational.
Since he was this filthy and still breathing, Ghost San Niang's killing rules had nothing to do with dirt. Only by figuring out her killing rules could he survive the next thirty hours.
...
Day seven, two in the morning. Ding Shi slipped into Haitang's house.
Along the way, Ding Shi kept feeling that something was off. Only when he reached Haitang's house did it hit him: Why was he sneaking around like a thief again? There was absolutely no need for it.
Understanding that was one thing, but Ding Shi still crept quietly into Haitang's house. Her home served as the temporary lodging for the sacrifice, so it was quite large. Haitang lived in a room on the second floor.
Ding Shi called out in a low voice, "Pan'er?" That was the village chief's daughter-in-law's name. Characters like Pan and Di were among the top ten names for rural girls in certain regions, whereas names like Cuihua were actually less common.
Ding Shi made his way to the main hall, where four corpses lay. A check revealed that none of them was Pan'er. Then, hearing a noise from the room to the left of the main hall, Ding Shi gave the door a light push, and it swung open.
Ding Shi didn't enter right away. Instead, he swept his flashlight left and right. Whether it was just his mind playing tricks on him, his gut told him Ghost San Niang was trailing him, or at least watching him.
If the enemy doesn't move, I will. Ding Shi stepped into the room and whispered, "Pan'er?"
"Xiao Ding," Pan'er's voice came from behind the wardrobe.
"It's me. Don't panic. Keep your voice down."
Ding Shi walked toward the wardrobe. Mounted on its front was a large mirror over a meter tall. As Ding Shi passed the wardrobe, out of the corner of his eye he caught a flash of red appearing inside the mirror. In that instant, every hair on his body stood on end. Summoning an immense feat of willpower, he restrained himself from looking at the mirror.
This scene explained why one couldn't meet Ghost San Niang's gaze. When no one was breaking the rules, Ghost San Niang couldn't manifest in the real world, but she could hide in other realms—such as mirrors.
Ding Shi lowered his head, casting his peripheral vision toward the base of the mirror. The red patch grew larger and larger, as if the figure inside the mirror were striding toward him. Ding Shi remained motionless. The figure in the mirror reached the glass's surface, looking as if she were about to crawl right out, yet she never did.
Ding Shi chuckled slyly. "Heh heh heh, can't get out, can you?"
Ding Shi had confirmed once more that the rules constrained Ghost San Niang. Taking a few paces forward, he saw Pan'er sitting on the floor behind the wardrobe. He reached out, took her hand, and pulled her to her feet.
Ding Shi said, "Pan'er, keep your head down. Don't look at the mirror on the left." Why didn't he smash the mirror? Ding Shi was worried that if he broke it, countless Ghost San Niangs would appear across the floor.
Pan'er nodded repeatedly and followed Ding Shi with her head bowed. The two safely left Haitang's house.
The moment they stepped out of Haitang's house, a flash of red appeared fifteen meters to their left. Ding Shi whispered urgently, "Don't breathe."
The newcomer was none other than Zombie San Niang. She lunged forward at blinding speed, only to come to a halt four meters away from them.
Ding Shi held Pan'er's hand and tiptoed away. Having completely lost the scent of her prey, Zombie San Niang pushed off with the tips of her feet. Her body soared five meters into the air, drifted sideways for over a dozen meters, and landed in Aunt Li's backyard.
Holy shit, a flying zombie!
A flying zombie's body was even more supple than a human's, capable of sustained flight, possessing immense strength, and invulnerable to fire and water. It had only one flaw: it still lacked intelligence. The flying zombie's superior was called a ba. Those creatures possessed a degree of intelligence, and they devoted every ounce of it to wreaking havoc.
Before long, a man's shrill screams and pleas for help echoed from Aunt Li's house.
Could he get Zombie San Niang and Ghost San Niang to fight each other? No, because Zombie San Niang wasn't a living being.
Ding Shi and Pan'er passed by the front gate of Aunt Li's house. Hearing the screams inside, they didn't linger, hurrying forward on tiptoe.
After walking a few dozen meters, a puddle appeared on the road ahead. The moon suddenly broke through the dark miasma and mist, and Ding Shi caught sight of a red reflection in the puddle.
He hadn't even done anything; why was Ghost San Niang so set on killing him?
Ding Shi pulled Pan'er close against the wall, averted his eyes from the puddle on the ground, evaded the danger once more, and made it smoothly back to the village chief's house.
The village chief opened the door and ushered them into his room. Two candles were lit inside. To Ding Shi's surprise, Zhang San was here as well.
Ding Shi asked curiously, "Where's your bride wife?"
Zhang San's already foul expression worsened, but he was utterly dejected and in no mood to deal with Ding Shi. Ding Shi found the exchange uninteresting as well and extended a hand toward the village chief. "Brought Pan'er back for you."
Quest complete. Village chief's satisfaction: 101.
A mouthful of old blood stuck in Ding Shi's throat. So 100 wasn't even the cap—it could go up to 101? Fine, good on you!
The village chief readily handed over a small mirror and twenty dao. The mirror was only half the size of a palm, octagonal, with an Eight Trigrams diagram painted on the outside and a mirror pane half the size of a palm within. Ding Shi inspected it for a while and found no incantation on the monster-revealing mirror, so he stowed it away first. Item category: treasure.
Ding Shi asked, "Village Chief, why is he here?"
The village chief said, "You are the three smartest people in our village. I brought you together to ask you to come up with a way for the village to survive this crisis."
Ding Shi asked, "What about Xiao Sun?"
The village chief said, "She's hiding in the dormitory, unwilling to attend."
Quest issued: Bring Sun Qi to the village chief's room.
Ding Shi threw in the towel. "Count me out."
The village chief encouraged him, "Xiao Ding, don't give up. We still have a chance."
Ding Shi said, "Daoist Baiyun was already murdered by Blind Zhao. What chance do we have?"
The village chief thought for a moment. "A chance to pull through the sacrifice day together." Counterattacking was out of the question.
Ding Shi spread his hands. Look, even the village chief had given up.
Zhang San spoke up. "As long as we don't ask for death, we can hold out until the sacrifice day ends." That meant eight o'clock in the morning on day eight.
Ding Shi was more pessimistic. "Not necessarily."
The greatest threat was Ghost San Niang, who was watching everyone every single second. Ghost San Niang's first killing rule: do not look into her eyes. Rule two: do not say the word 'ghost.' The crucial third rule had yet to be figured out, and Ding Shi had an ominous feeling that this third rule was lethal—lethal enough to cost him his life.
Chapter 32