Daomu Biji: The Mystic Nine

Zhang Qishan looked back at Qi Tiezui and smiled. “What was that? Could you repeat that again?”

“Fo Ye, this is a monster called Erfu. It’s a human-faced snake that eats human brains. The hunter we saw just now was eaten by it. But now it’s also dead, which means that there’s a more formidable monster here in the mountains,” Qi Tiezui said.

Zhang Qishan waved his hand. “Come here.”

Qi Tiezui felt that Zhang Qishan looked like he had ill intentions, so he immediately shook his head. “No. I’m not going.”

Zhang Qishan glanced at Zhang Xiaoyu, who nodded and kicked Qi Tiezui’s horse in the ass. The horse moved forward unhurriedly, but Qi Tiezui couldn’t get it to stop no matter how hard he tried. As a result, he ended up right next to Zhang Qishan.

Zhang Qishan looked at him and smiled evilly. Qi Tiezui covered his nose and looked at the Erfu’s carcass, finding that its neck had been twisted. But at this time, he also realized why Zhang Qishan had asked him to come closer.

This wasn’t a monster’s carcass. A person’s body had been attached to a big snake. Qi Tiezui smiled awkwardly at Zhang Qishan before his face turned grim. He was puzzled. “What is the meaning of this? Is there any purpose in connecting a human body with a snake? This place is already far away from any villages. Could it be—the Lisuma who did this?”

The Lisuma was a branch of the Lisu people (1). Over the past few decades, they were usually seen in the jungles of Burma and Guangxi, or in Guizhou and Xiangxi. The Miao people called this branch of Lisu people “Guma people” (2) because there were some very strange Lisu tribal structures at that time. Some Lisu tribes were very developed and even had many villages, but some tribes were very primitive, wore clothes made of hemp, and practically lived under a system of slavery.

At that time, the Germans inspected this area and said that Lisu was actually a collective name for several ethnic groups of people. They called the primitive Lisu in the deep mountains “Old Lisu”. The Guma people were said to be a branch of the Old Lisu.

The Lisuma were nomads in the jungles who also had the custom of headhunting. Whenever they arrived at some place, they would hunt, eat, and live there. Moreover, each tribe had its own unique religious rituals.

Skinning people and connecting dead bodies together had to be something done by intelligent human beings, which was why it was feasible to attribute this to the Lisuma.

Zhang Qishan looked at the corpse silently, not making any conclusions. He gestured from atop his horse and everyone immediately dismounted. The group of people hid their horses in a well-trained manner before loading their guns and sharpening their daggers. 

Zhang Qishan said, “We don’t know what’s killed these people, but it’s very naughty to be playing with corpses. In this world, the cruelest people I’ve ever seen are those who take delight in playing with corpses, even going so far as to act like those corpses are alive. But that isn’t the case here.”

Qi Tiezui immediately understood Zhang Qishan’s words and looked back at the “Erfu” corpse. Whatever had killed these people and treated their corpses as inanimate pieces of flesh that could be played with was a thing that had no secular humanity.

The group of people put on cloaks of leaves that could conceal them and help them hide in the jungle. Zhang Xiaoyu said, “There’s still a long way to go before we reach our destination. We can’t stay here for too long. After night falls, we need to search this place thoroughly.”

“Can we even find it?” Qi Tiezui asked.

“That thing is nearby.” Zhang Qishan looked at the dense forest around him. The air was very humid and there was miasma everywhere. Although there was some sunlight, it was still stuffy in the woods so no one felt refreshed. “It’s not going to venture far from its toy. It’s probably watching us now.”

“There are so many of us here that even tigers will be scared away by us,” Qi Tiezui said. “Moreover, you’re here and as formidable as ever. Look at you. What dares to approach you?”

Qi Tiezui looked around Zhang Qishan. It seemed that the blood in Zhang Qishan’s body was more active and vigorous, so the miasma scurried away as soon as it got close to him. It was as if the whole person had a protective layer around his body.

Zhang Qishan looked at Qi Tiezui and thought for a while. “What you said makes sense. Let’s change our strategy. Xiaoyu, let Ba Ye walk alone tonight as a bait. We’ll follow him from behind.”

Qi Tiezui’s eyes widened. “Fo Ye, you’re the one who’s playing with humanity!”

“Don’t worry,” Zhang Qishan said. “You’ve made the calculations. There won’t be any surprises or dangers.”

The group of people began to laugh secretly. As Qi Tiezui immediately took out his copper coins and began to calculate again, Zhang Qishan said to Zhang Xiaoyu, “Xiaoyu, prepare that thing and put it on Ba Ye later.”

“What thing?!” Qi Tiezui was startled again.

Zhang Xiaoyu held the child in his arms, teased it a bit, and said, “The secret weapon of the Zhang family. It’s the magic weapon of tomb robbing. You’re going to like it. Fo Ye, this child…”

“This child seldom cries. He’ll become an exceptional man in the future. Take him while you’re hunting. You need to protect him well.”

Zhang Qishan played with the child’s face and noticed that the child was staring at a tree above them with unwavering eyes.

Zhang Qishan suddenly felt alert and looked back at the tree.

There was nothing there.

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TN Notes:

(1) The Lisu people are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group who inhabit mountainous regions of Myanmar (Burma), southwest China, Thailand, and the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. Wiki link here.

(2) The Chinese characters of Guma are “古麻”. Gu (古) means “ancient, and “麻” means “hemp”. This refers to the next paragraph about how some of their tribes were primitive and wore clothes made of hemp.

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Merebear note: ahahahahaha Ba Ye! After all this time, you still haven't learned to keep your mouth shut. Where's Lieutenant Zhang Rishan to protect you? Let's hope Xiaoyu is up to the task