The Tale Never Ends

There has been no lack of stories and fables during my time that many a great paranormal incident traced back to the Great Tangshan Earthquake of 1976. In truth, no paranormal mishaps took place in Tangshan when the earthquake ended. There were too many people dead and no one had the stomach for more horror stories and tales. I doubt anyone would have had a mind to bother with anything, even if something strange was staring at them in the face. There were also the many volunteers of the magical community who had come to help defend the peace to help sustain the balance between the Underworld and the Mortal Plane. But this was something that no common folk would be privy to.

It was the same in Wu Zhong, although the help that came to Wu Zhong merely numbered a handful. But among them, the Triune of Wu Zhong was the most famous.

I was crouching on one of the many unkempt fields in Balipu Town, watching as Xie Bingyi struggled on his Flying Pidgeon with the young Old Man Chen riding shotgun behind. Shang Pei was just behind them, loping along with hardly any difficulty in contrast.

I had always known that Shang Pei possessed divinity and potency nearing the state of full immortality. But this was the first time I witnessed a glimpse of his magic. Despite following only on foot, his feet were hardly grazing the ground! He glided over the grubby and dusty path with the grace and the speed of a sparrow that reminded me of the time when I first saw him flying to Wu Zhong. This must be one of his many plethoras of skills, I surmised.

It was almost ten, when the Hour of the Boar was close to reaching its end and the Hour of the Rat was beginning to peek. This was the time when the Cultists of the Damned operated, according to Xie Bingyi’s accounts.

The fertilizer factory sat in the middle of nowhere and there were but barely a handful of buildings and structures in the compound of this manufacturing plant. Hence there was hardly any fallen buildings or rubble. But why did these evil cultists choose to come here, of all places? I almost asked myself. Clearly, Xie Bingyi was also wondering the same. He asked Old Man Chen, “Are you certain with your calculations? Why would the cultists come here?” But before The Seer could answer, Shang Pei intoned darkly from over their shoulders, “I found this place fishy when I passed by here yesterday. The stench of death was so strong that I could have thought that this was a cemetery. But when I landed, I was surprised to find an abandoned factory here. There must be hardly anyone staying nearby and the factory must have been deserted because of the earthquake. With such a large building now empty, this could be the makeshift lair for the foul folk of the Cult.”

The last syllable had barely escaped Shang Pei’s throat when a cascade of clapping came from somewhere in the shadows! All three of them jerked their heads immediately towards the direction of the sound and a dark figure walked out of the dark into the pale glow of the crescent moon hanging above like a half-eaten slice of watermelon. The faint luminescence looked as if it was swallowed by the large black cloak of the stranger that no one could see his face. The stranger approached Shang Pei and the others, drawing closer and closer with each step. Then I realized. That was not a cloak, but a blanket! The man was dressed in ripped and tattered clothing like the survivors of the earthquake in Tangshan and the upper half of his body and face were covered in the wraps of his dark blanket.

I looked from afar, sitting comfortably on a large boulder as if I was enjoying a show, anxious to see what will happen between the Cult and the Triune. Shang Pei took a step forward. “At the behest of our sworn brother Murong Hai, we are here to purge Wu Zhong of any foul beings and folk. Are you one of them?!” His voice was steely and vociferous like a battle trumpet and there was hardly any trace of the kindness and courtesy I had seen from him. A vile cackle rang from within the folds of the dark blanket as the man husked, “Heh heh heh… We would never have been here if Murong Hai himself is here. But he sent you. Three little minions of his to do his bidding. What an insult. We of the Cult of the Damned have no concern for little minions!”

As soon as he finished, the stranger tore off the blanket, letting loose the miasmic flatulence of rotting corpses and the malevolent presence of hatred from within himself. Even from my distance, I could not help but shudder at the thick malignant presence now spreading around the stranger like a shroud of leprous mephitis that lingered around him. But that also told me something else: the blanket was no ordinary fabric. It must have bewitched to isolate foul auras. Now that it was being cast off, everything putrid and rancid within have escaped, revealing the true identity of the stranger. He was no man. He had been; a dead rotting corpse.

Old Man Chen nonchalantly lighted himself a cigarette from the pack and a box of matches he produced from his pockets. With a guffaw no less horrid than the walking corpse, he said, “And what does that make you? Something powerful and scary?” Xie Bingyi and Shang Pei sniggered in response.

That seemed to be enough to drive the dead monster to rage! Letting loose a horrible shriek, it charged at Old Man Chen, the rancid stench of its rotting flesh filling the area as its foul aura burgeoned substantially, vibrating through the air as it pounced and attacked the Seer! But the clairvoyant easily sidestepped the lunge, then I saw his hand traveled to his back and pulled out something and slapped it with a deafening crack on the forehead of the monster! With hardly so much as a grunt, the reanimated corpse collapsed, no more as dead than a log. Even the putrid stench and the foul aura from it were utterly gone.

Old Man Chen sipped at his cigarette, looking down gleefully at the decaying remains of the corpse, “So? That’s it? Just like that?” Chongxi must have taken after him, I mused. I could almost hear that git again, saying something like this whenever he wins a fight.

I hopped off the large rock and walked nearer to Old Man Chen. Lo and behold! He was holding the same peachwood luopan that he would later give to Chongxi! Funny, I thought, most mediums or mages depend on magic or sorcery to deal with foul beings. But Chongxi and his teacher depended on their instruments.

Shang Pei was also watching with a mildly amused look. But he did his best impression for the sake of manners, “Incredible skills, Brother Chen.” To my amazement, the Seer nodded and smugly accepted the compliments!

Just then, another cascade of clapping sounds came again from the shadows. Another figure appeared. But before it could walk nearer, Old Man Chen ran up to it, brandishing his luopan proudly! Shang Pei was about to stop him but it was too late; the Seer had already leaped into the shadows to meet his foe. It barely took a heartbeat and we hear Old Man Chen screaming frightfully, “OH MY GOD!!” dashing back twice as fast towards us.

Xie Bingyi muttered a contemptuous “Fool” and rummaged the lowermost drawer of his medicine case, pulling out a slip of yellow talismanic strip. He walked coolly towards Old Man Chen who was running back, crooning gently a litany of incantations that sounded more like a song.

Most incantations of Chinese sorcery or magic originate from verses of the Yi Jing and Qimen Dunjia. They are not necessarily needed when casting a spell, but the effect of the spell would be severely weakened if omitted.

But I understood nothing from Xie Bingyi’s song. In fact, what he was chanting was hardly anything human.

His song came to an end and the talismanic strip between his fingers smoldered and burst into flames with a poof. Through my Spirit Sight, I could see a concentrated mass of Yang energies swirled with the fumes from the burning paper before they were drawn into Xie Bingyi’s body until the strip was completely a crisp of ashes. By then, Xie Bingyi’s entire form was shrouded in a brilliant white radiance.

The stranger was getting close. As he drew nearer, the two-meter-tall silhouette of the monster, obscured by a mantle of thick noxious smog, slowly came into view. We could see the hairs that grew thickly on around him like fur, although, a humanoid moving on two feet, that hardly made him anything resembling an animal. The hairs were clearly the signs of a reanimated corpse, but has razor-sharp talons in place of toes and fingers, looking rather like a lanky and skinny yeti.

Xie Bingyi maintained his casual pace towards the monster. A cool breeze, despite the torridness of summer, brushed our skins eerily. A white light flashed suddenly just when I was wondering what the young Old Man Xie would do and a boom ensued. I looked again as I recovered from the temporary blindness from the flash. The monster had lost one of its arms! From the wounded stub on its torso, it seemed as if its arm was blown off by an explosion! I swallowed at the grotesque glimpse of the white, bloodless flesh and bones rotting at the damage. The classic sign of a revived corpse!

I turned and saw Xie Bingyi again. The light encasing him had dimmed a little, but he was hardly grazed nor injured.

The monster let loose a blaring wail before it wheeled around and ran, dragging its damaged arm with it. Suddenly, an icy chuckle came from Shang Pei. With just a little skip, he hopped forward and disappeared and reappeared with a poof just in front of the monster, barring its retreat.

The monster raised its other paw and slammed it down at Shang Pei with a desperate maul, who raised his own arm to deflect the blow! What came was a sickening crunch and the last remaining arm of the monster froze like an icicle and snapped before it fell to the ground and smashed into pieces of frosted viscera!

Shang Pei’s other hand grasped at the head of the monster in a vice-like grip and an icy aura churned in him and transmitted into the monster. I watched with my Spirit Sight as the aura of frost engulfed ravenously the body of the monster and the deathly aura that enveloped it, leaving nothing but an icy sculpture of the monster in the end with scarcely any sign of life. Shang Pei smirked with despise, letting go of his grip. The monster fell on its back, crashing into the ground and shattered into countless bits and pieces with a nasty crash.