Chapter 2

6

The next morning, voices outside woke me.

“A big litter this time. Six!”

“Exactly! Look at Ahuang. He’s worn himself thin. We’d better feed him well later.”

“Chief, I’ll do all your farm work next year. Can you give me an extra one?”

“Bah, you lecherous old fool. Dream on! At your age, still wanting to do that. Have you no shame?”

My mind was a fog. I could not make sense of their conversation.

I had no memory of falling asleep the night before.

Rubbing the ache at the back of my neck, I put on the glasses beside my pillow.

Mother sat sideways on the edge of the kang, holding a bowl of filthy soup and staring at me with empty eyes.

Her expression changed the moment she saw I was awake.

The usual disgust vanished. The corners of her mouth lifted mechanically into something that was not quite a smile.

“Awake, Xiaosheng? I made bone broth for you.”

I looked into the bowl and nearly vomited last night’s dinner.

Yellowish-brown broth beneath floating patches of white fat.

Exactly like the soup she had made for my sister-in-law.

Worst of all was the heavy, bloody smell. One breath made me nauseous.

I shook my head.

“I’m not hungry.”

“All right. Drink it later.”

I was still wondering at this unprecedented gentleness when her smile widened, exposing murky gums. Her mouth seemed almost to split to her ears.

“Your sister-in-law is dead. Bad luck. I’ve arranged a bride for you. She’s sitting on the coffin to hold it down.”

What?

Dead?

I dressed quickly and raced to the main room.

A black coffin lay across the center.

On it sat a bride in a blood-red wedding gown, her head covered by a red veil.

It looked like the opening of a horror film. For a moment, I dared not approach.

Mother followed me.

Seeing me stop, she went straight to the bride and introduced her.

“This is Xiaonian, Uncle Huang’s second daughter. Remember her?”

Xiaonian…

Yes. I remembered.

We had shared a desk in primary school. She had three older sisters and a younger brother.

Timid and withdrawn, she had barely spoken to me.

I had not expected her to become brave enough to sit on a dead person’s coffin.

“Come, Xiaonian. Drink your soup. I made it especially for you.”

Somehow Mother had brought the bowl I refused that morning.

Before I could stop her, Xiaonian nodded solemnly.

She lifted her veil, took the bowl, and drained it in one go.

A few bloody strands caught at the corners of her mouth, making her lips redder still.

As though she had just eaten human flesh.

The thought frightened me.

Just then, someone tapped my shoulder from behind.

I nearly jumped out of my skin.

Turning, I found Third Grandpa.

I gave an awkward smile.

He knew feng shui. He had always presided over the village’s funerals.

Now he frowned reproachfully at Mother.

“Yingying died horribly. Her resentment is strong. These next few days may not be peaceful. Leave Xiaosheng’s wedding until later, you fool of a woman. Don’t ruin the important work!”

Mother resented being scolded.

But she said nothing. Taking the empty bowl, she stamped her foot and left.

Xiaonian tried to jump down when she saw him.

He immediately stopped her.

“Child, you must keep that coffin pinned down today. Especially tonight. Whatever you hear or see, do not get off!”

Obediently, she murmured assent and stayed.

Third Grandpa turned to me.

“You look after her. Give her water from time to time, but no trips to the toilet. She cannot leave the coffin until the first rooster crows tomorrow morning.”

Then he drew me outside and secretly handed me a yellow talisman.

“If anything goes wrong with Xiaonian, put this on her forehead.”

Bewildered, I tucked it into my pocket. But I had not forgotten to ask how my sister-in-law died.

“What happened to her? She was fine yesterday afternoon.”

He shook his head, his eyes dark.

“That woman brought it on herself. She deserved to die!”

He ignored me after that and went to work in the yard.

Questions filled my mind. With no answers, I decided to look for myself that night.

A sister-in-law could be like a mother.

If she had been murdered—and she supposedly had no family in the village—someone had to seek justice for her.

7

By midnight, the villagers who had come during the day had all gone home.

Our parents had long since retired.

My brother had disappeared somewhere. He had barely shown himself for days.

The courtyard was deserted except for a large pot.

Something seemed to have been cooked in it. A strange meaty smell lingered.

I had eaten nothing all day. Even that smell made me hungry.

I secretly lifted the lid, only to find it empty.

Beside the stove, however, lay several clumps of black and yellow fur.

I picked them up. A rank smell struck my nose.

Wet strands clung to small pieces of tough skin. Not pigskin.

A chill rose from deep inside me.

Wind gathered in the yard, wailing like a woman crying.

Crows flew in from all directions and settled on the jujube tree by the gate, watching me darkly.

Frightened, I hurried into the main room.

Xiaonian still sat quietly on the coffin beneath her red veil.

As though compelled, I approached my sister-in-law’s coffin to steal a look.

At that moment, the midnight chimes sounded.

Xiaonian suddenly tried to spring down as though her seat were on fire.

I grabbed her.

“Xiaonian, what are you doing?”

But she had the astonishing strength of a raging bull. She shoved me to the ground.

Once off the coffin, she hopped into the courtyard.

Then she pushed open the gate and ran into the night.

I did not follow.

I had too many doubts.

I had to see my sister-in-law one last time.

They would carry her away for burial tomorrow. Tonight was my last chance.

With nobody around, I carefully eased the coffin lid open a little.

I switched on my flashlight and shone it inside.

Her face was as fair and delicate as ever. Her eyes were closed.

Farther down, I saw that her belly had been cut open.

It was empty.

Like a great cloth sack that had been scooped clean.

In an instant, I understood.

What the villagers had fought to share and eat that day were the puppies from inside her belly!

8

“Chief! Something terrible has happened!”

Several women burst into our house and woke Father.

I hid behind the door and listened.

Third Grandpa had died horribly in his home at midnight.

His belly had been ripped open while he was alive. His organs lay all over the floor.

He had died exactly as my sister-in-law had.

“That wretched woman has come back for revenge! Brother Cui, what do we do?”

“Don’t panic. We still have Xiaosheng. As long as he’s here, she won’t dare cause trouble!”

I did not understand that.

But these people clearly had something to do with her death.

I took out my phone. No signal.

I could not wait any longer.

I turned and ran, intending to report it at the county police station.

At the village entrance, I met Third Aunt, Third Grandpa’s daughter, who had never married despite her age.

She looked frightened and carried a cloth-covered basket.

She beckoned me over.

I had questions for her too.

“Before he died, did Third Grandpa ever say someone had murdered my sister-in-law?”

“Foolish boy. You didn’t watch Xiaonian and guard the coffin last night, did you?”

I scratched my head guiltily.

“She seemed possessed. She was incredibly strong.”

She sighed. “Your sister-in-law’s birth signs were purely yin. They used her to carry dog fetuses, and now she has died unjustly. Instead, they’ve created a vengeful dog spirit—the kind seen once in a thousand years.”

I knew then that this was far from over.

“You mean her spirit will come back for revenge?”

“More than revenge. The whole village may die!”

I had not imagined it could be that serious.

“But there is a way to avert it.”

“Here, Xiaosheng. Drink this soup and spend tonight in your sister-in-law’s room. No matter who knocks, don’t open the door.”

She had uncovered the basket. Inside was a steaming bowl of meat soup.

Exactly like Mother’s.

Third Aunt lifted it as though to pour it straight into my mouth.

The rich, greasy smell turned my stomach.

I let nothing show.

Taking the bowl, I pretended to drink and ran home.

“All right! I’m going!”

Once I reached an empty field, I poured it all away.

I wanted to see what they were really doing.

9

As soon as I entered the yard, Father slapped me so hard I fell.

“You little bastard! Where did you go?”

I wiped the blood from my mouth with my sleeve and stammered.

“I… I went to burn incense for Third Grandpa.”

Father seized my ear and dragged me into my sister-in-law’s room.

“You are not leaving until dawn!”

He went out and slammed the door.

Still not satisfied, he found a large padlock and locked it from outside.

I sat on the edge of the kang, dizzy, with a stabbing pain at the back of my head.

When I touched it, my hand came away bloody.

I must have struck a stone when his slap knocked me down.

After a sleepless night, I was exhausted.

Soon I lay down and drifted off.

A pounding at the window woke me.

“Open up, Xiaosheng. It’s your sister-in-law.”

Was I dreaming?

Rubbing my eyes, I got up groggily.

A bride in a vivid red gown was clinging outside the window.

It was late at night. Everything around her was pitch-black.

I nearly wet myself with fear.

“I’ve come to see you, Xiaosheng…”

Perhaps, deep down, I did not believe she would hurt me.

After a few dazed seconds, I actually went over and spoke through the glass.

“Is it really you? Who hurt you? Was it my brother?”

At the mention of my brother, the veil suddenly shook.

Then she tore it off, revealing Xiaonian’s face: bloodshot eyes, an expression full of hatred.

“Xiaosheng, do you know where my children are?”

“You mean the… the puppies you had with Ahuang? I… I don’t know.”

Of course I knew.

But I was afraid the spirit possessing Xiaonian would go mad if I told her.

“My children. I want my children…”

“I was always the kindest to you, Xiaosheng. Open the door. Let me come in and find them. Please?”

“They stole my children! I will have revenge!”

She battered the window.

When I said nothing, she began slamming her head against it.

From the corner of my eye, I glanced below the red skirt.

Nothing. No feet.

She was not alive!

Terror scattered my thoughts.

“If you don’t open up, all of you will die with them!”

Xiaonian’s white face had become distorted by the frantic blows. Black blood covered it.

The window frame shook. If this went on, the glass would eventually break.

I sighed.

“I’ll open it for you.”

10

The moment I drew back the bolt, a dense mass of black vapor surged toward me like a crushing storm cloud.

My eyelids grew heavy.

Just before I collapsed, I heard someone outside laughing wildly.

“Xiaosheng drank the Infant-Transforming Water! Your children are in his belly! Ha ha…”

The laughter turned into screams of pain.

My thoughts in chaos, I struggled to hold myself up and crawl farther into the room.

Someone suddenly seized my legs.

“Xiaosheng, do you want the whole village to die?”

Mother.