"I don't want to become a ghost," Ding Ling said, shaking her head.
"That's only because you haven't been pushed to that brink yet," Chang Dafeng grunted. "Once someone truly reaches that point, who can say what they might do?"
"If you become a ghost, you're no longer yourself. Why would anyone still want to become one? Qian Heng must have known that—why was he in such a rush to turn into a ghost?" Zhou Yang took control of Ding Ling's body at this moment and spoke to Chang Dafeng.
Chang Dafeng tapped the bowl of his pipe against the sole of his shoe. "Some folks say that. But others say that even after a person turns into a ghost, they still keep a sliver of their consciousness. People are just like that—clinging to delusions, refusing to shed a tear until they see the coffin. That's why you'd better kill any thought of setting foot on that wicked path right from the start. Otherwise, once the moment arrives, there'll be no medicine for regret..."
Chang Dafeng looked at Ding Ling a few paces away, his words loaded with meaning.
"I just wonder why such a sinister, horrifying incantation for becoming a ghost would come from a text called the Scripture of Preserving Life?" Zhou Yang gave a faint smile and asked Chang Dafeng, "'Preserving life' sounds like a scripture meant to prolong longevity."
"You've simply misunderstood the name, thinking it's the 'life' of nourishing vitality. In truth, the character for 'life' is actually the homophone for sacrificial beast. The Scripture of Rearing Sacrifices uses human lives as beasts of sacrifice, offering them up to become malicious ghosts. That is the true name of the text," Chang Dafeng said.
Zhou Yang nodded at his words.
He did not pursue the subject of murder rituals for becoming ghosts any further with Troupe Leader Chang. Chang Dafeng was wary of him and kept his answers ambiguous; pressing him would yield no useful information anyway.
Thus, Zhou Yang pretended to lower his head and study the map in his hands, then casually asked, "You seem to have traveled to quite a few places. There's a ghost village called Guancun—I wonder if you've ever been there or heard of it?"
The moment the words left his mouth, Zhou Yang's heart pounded.
Feigning composure, he raised his eyes to look at Chang Dafeng across from him.
Chang Dafeng raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised by 'Ding Ling's' question. "Guancun—literally the Village of Officials—is a village that produces high officials. Naturally, I've heard of it. Why do you ask?"
*Guancun is a village that produces high officials?*
*What kind of talk is that?*
*Has Chang Dafeng really heard of Guancun, or has he never heard of it at all and is merely making things up on the spot?*
Zhou Yang was baffled. Unsure whether Chang Dafeng's words hid some critical piece of information or were just casual deflection, he played along and replied, "Seeing your map just reminded me of some legends I once heard about Guancun. What do you mean when you say 'Guancun is a village that produces high officials'?"
"The Great Zhao court rules all under heaven, so naturally it requires countless officials to govern the various regions on its behalf. If you want to become a court-appointed official, you must obtain official status. Official status is found in Guancun, so of course Guancun is where high officials come from." Chang Dafeng smiled cryptically. "They say these Guancun villages are divided into various grades and ranks. In the highest-grade Guancun, one can obtain the 'Primal Corpse' official status. A Primal Corpse... Once you obtain an official status like that and leave the village, you're directly a candidate for Son of Heaven of the Great Zhao!"
Chang Dafeng's expression turned bizarre, and the words coming from his mouth were exceedingly bizarre as well.
Zhou Yang's immediate reaction was that Chang Dafeng was lying.
Yet on second thought, he realized—right now, he was Ding Ling, simply chatting with this troupe leader about things unrelated to either of them in the aftermath of a crisis. What reason did Chang Dafeng have to lie about matters that had nothing to do with them?
*Guancun really is a village that 'produces' high officials?!*
*The Guancun I'm in is populated almost entirely by ghosts.*
*Doesn't that mean the officials who emerge from Guancun are all ghosts—and the Great Zhao court is actually a 'ghost court'?*
Zhou Yang burned with a desire to know more, but on the surface, he had to remain composed. Feigning ignorance, he asked Chang Dafeng, "With ghost calamities running rampant under the Great Zhao court's rule, is the imperial court doing nothing? If we asked the authorities for help, could they help us quell the ghost calamity in Daliang Village?"
"Ask the authorities to help us?" Chang Dafeng let out several cold chuckles. "Leaving aside the fact that we can't even get out of this village right now—moving prematurely will only disturb the ghosts here and get us killed faster! Even if you truly had a way to send word to the court, I'd advise you against it! I'll tell you just one thing: the admission rules for the Quail Fair in Baligou Township were made so troublesome half to guard against malicious ghosts, but the other half was precisely to guard against the authorities. Bandits pass like a comb, and soldiers pass like a fine-toothed comb. Nowadays, ghosts pass like a comb, and officials pass like a fine-toothed comb! If you disturb those who bear official status, the consequences will be far worse than disturbing malicious ghosts!"
"Th-this..." Chang Dafeng's words matched Zhou Yang's earlier suspicion. He put on a dumbfounded expression, stammered for a moment, and then said, "Then that means the Great Zhao dynasty is really a ghost court?"
Chang Dafeng shook his head with a strange smile. "There are still plenty of living people serving as officials in it. It's just that having them is no better than not having them..."
"According to what you said, most officials in the court hail from Guancun. And those Guancuns are divided into different grades—is there any way to tell which grade or rank a Guancun belongs to?" Zhou Yang could not contain himself and pressed Chang Dafeng with another question.
A Guancun that held the 'Primal Corpse' official status of the Great Zhao dynasty had to be a ghost village of the first order of peril. If he could learn how the grades of Guancun were categorized, Zhou Yang could use that to gauge the danger of the Guancun he was currently trapped in.
This question was of paramount importance to him.
Chang Dafeng found nothing amiss in the question and shook his head. "Only those who enter a Guancun would know. I've never been to one, so how could I know its inner workings? I've only heard that there are several trials and examinations inside. They call those trials 'rites.' A single rite corresponds to a single official status."
*It matches!*
Zhou Yang's eyelids twitched.
Wasn't he currently in Guancun, waiting for that skin-flaying, gut-slitting 'Opening Rite' to arrive?
"Then this official status—" Before Zhou Yang could finish, Chang Dafeng abruptly stood up, cutting him off.
"You want to ask what that official status is useful for? I've never been an official, so how would I know! We've rested long enough, and your nerves should be settled by now. Follow me and help carry Qian Heng's corpse out into the courtyard first. Burn it so it doesn't turn into some sinister monstrosity. Afterward, I'll teach you the Draft on Making Up Gods and Painting Ghosts step by step, so you can open the first door as soon as possible and nurture a warding spirit!"
Zhou Yang stood up as well. He watched Chang Dafeng walk to Qian Heng's head and lift it up by the shoulders, then grabbed the corpse's ankles. One in front and one behind, they carried the body out of the room and moved it into the courtyard.
Following the same procedure used for Li Yichun's corpse, Chang Dafeng took a flame from the ghost candle and burned Qian Heng's remains completely to ash.
Chapter 33