Otherworldly Merchant

Senior Shu stood blankly on the spot for quite a long time. He told himself in the end, “I’m afraid this Perpetual Joy Coffin isn’t something nice.”

Li Mazi became restless after hearing Senior Shu’s words as he really wanted to get his hands on something that could bring comfort to Chu Chu. “Senior Shu, what you’re trying to say is that it's not easy to get the Perpetual Joy Coffin, right? The more difficult it is, the faster we should move, don’t you think?”

Senior Shu shook his head. “Didn’t you hear what my nephew said? The Perpetual Joy Coffin doesn’t bring perpetual joy. It protects you from natural disasters but not from supernatural ones. Why do you think he said ‘supernatural’ and not ‘man-made’?”

I wouldn't have paid attention to it if Senior Shu hadn’t pointed it out. “Senior Shu, what’s the difference between a supernatural disaster and a man-made one?”

Senior Shu forced a smile. “A big difference. One is man made while the other is the work of ghosts. Can’t you see how different they are?”

I still didn’t get it.

Senior Shu said, “All right, we should go and see my old friend’s remains! Everything will be clear by then.”

He immediately took us to the cliff of hanging coffins.

Li Mazi was worried. “Senior Shu, is the coffin harmful for the deceased? I know it’s been hard to get to this place, but I don’t want to bring home something that will bring us bad luck.”

Li Mazi kept pestering Senior Shu along the way, who eventually got so fed up that he stopped answering questions.

It didn’t take long for us to see the cliff after following the bumpy trail.

It was the first time I had seen this place, and it was an overwhelming sight.

It was a steep cliff that had a large amount of coffins hanging from it. From what I could see, there were at least more than a thousand. I guessed some of them could date back to the Ming dynasty.

Although it was broad daylight, a ghostly atmosphere lingered in the area that gave people chills. Li Mazi was somewhat scared; he kept rubbing his head reflexively.

We tacitly looked at Senior Shu. The old man was also watching the cliff, mumbling something as if he were lost in thoughts. I pricked my ears up and noticed that he was counting.

I wondered, Is he counting the coffins? 

Senior Shu then told me what he was doing. “I’m trying to locate my friend’s coffin. I kinda locked on it, so you two go there and check. I’ll stay here and guide you using the mobile phone.”

I was startled. “Aren’t you coming with us?”

“That was my plan, but it’s easy to lose your bearings when you’re up there. We can’t find my friend’s coffin that way; it’s better if I stay here and help you find the right one.”

There was an old custom in our hometown: We should never step on dead people or their graves as it could provoke them.

But Senior Shu had asked us to climb up the hanging coffin cliff, meaning that we would have to step on a thousand or so corpses. It would be a really big problem if we ended up offending so many evil spirits.

Since the place had such a gloomy and chilling atmosphere, I was sure there were countless spirits lingering around, trying to trouble anyone who dared to come close. If Li Mazi and I fell off this cliff, our gains would never make up for our losses.

Li Mazi anxiously asked, “Senior Shu, is there a second option where you go up there and we stay here and guide you?”

Senior Shu fumed and said, “You have to get up there if you want to get the Perpetual Joy Coffin! If not, just forget it. I don’t have time to play with you.”

Eventually, Li Mazi begrudgingly climbed up the mountain.

There was a meandering stairway that twisted and turned like sheep intestines; its steep stone steps led to the top of the mountain. There were many places with a steepness of almost forty-five degrees. If we were careless, we would fall and turn into a mess of flesh putty.

There were big arching trees on both sides providing shade on the small trail; not many sunbeams could pierce through. From time to time, a strong gust of wind would blow down from the mountain, chilling us to the bone.

We were exhausted and almost unable to breathe as we reached a cavity halfway. I suggested taking some rest, but Li Mazi left me there while he continued to grope on the rough trail.

Li Mazi was giving his all for Chu Chu’s sake; he didn’t even want to rest.

I had no choice but to follow him with gritted teeth. Once we reached the peak, I felt my legs shake like two strands of boiled noodles.

Li Mazi had also worn himself out. Directly going to the steep cliff to find the right coffin would be no different from suicide, so we decided to wait for a while to regain our strength. After that, we called Senior Shu’s number. We slowly got down the cliff with his indications.

We kept in communication throughout the descent. Shortly after, we locked onto a coffin. It looked new, and it was likely the one belonging to Senior Shu’s late friend.

We stepped on coffins and rocks as we made our way down. I regretted not preparing any safety gear. If we were just a bit careless, we could easily trip and fall... and little of our bodies would be left if that happened.

It was hard to imagine how the Miao people had labored to carry all the coffins to this location.

It was lucky that we could get to that coffin in time as a skyward gust of wind reached us as soon as we stepped on the casket. I had to cling to it to avoid falling off.

That wind had brought a pungent smell along, which made me feel a little dizzy.

I started studying the coffin once the wind was gone. Two things were needed to fix the coffin to the cliff. First, they needed to stab two large beams into the cliff, which would become the coffin’s support.

Then they would use a rope to tie the coffin.

In the past, the rope was made of several water buffalo tendons twisted together and smeared with tree oil. The buffalo tendon rope was flexible and strong enough that it wouldn’t loosen even after a hundred years under any kind of weather. However, it would shrink as it dried up.

In modern times, people began to use steel cables.

All the weight of the coffin in front of us was placed on the steel cables. Senior Shu asked us to loosen the cables so that we could open the coffin!

Usually, it would be very dangerous to open the coffin while in that perilous place. The resentful soul could pester us if we weren’t careful.

However, we couldn’t retreat after reaching this point. We used the hammer and crowbar to take the nails off the coffin, then we lifted the lid.

As soon as the coffin lid was opened, we felt quite disgusted by the moldy, decaying stench that slapped our faces. Even before I was able to take a look, a shadow swiftly got out of the coffin; it clawed its way up on the cliff and disappeared into a cave.

I couldn’t get a hold of myself, as I gawked at that cave in shock.

What in tarnation had gotten out of the coffin? It was completely sealed before; there was no chance for something to sneak in. Unless it was placed inside the coffin before it was closed.

However, it was unlikely that the Miao people did it.

After all, who would seal a corpse in a coffin alongside something living?

Li Mazi asked while stuttering, “D-Did you see what that thing was?”

“I’m not sure, a monkey perhaps?” I said after hesitating for a short while.

Li Mazi wasn’t convinced. “It looked like a kid. Moreover, I didn't see any fur.”

Senior Shu was waiting for us below and scolded us through the phone, “You guys shouldn’t linger there! Check what’s inside the coffin!”

I couldn’t do anything else but look inside the coffin, and I gawked in shock immediately after.

The coffin was packed with worms, snakes, ants, rats, and centipedes. The corpse seemed to be underneath them, although I could only see the white bones of an arm.

It was appalling to see so many animals living harmoniously inside the coffin. All of them became flustered and crept around the corpse the moment we opened the lid.

The corpse had no skin left as the animals had eaten everything up. The remaining parts were also soaked in decomposing fluids, scattered all over the coffin.

I was scared and my legs were turning into jelly. Didn’t this freaking corpse belong to a man who had just died a couple days ago? Why does it look like it’s been here for several dozens of years? 

Senior Shu got us out of our shock. He shouted through the phone, “What the heck is going on over there?”

I finally got a hold of myself and answered, “Nothing good.”

“Take some photos and close the lid. Get down here! Hurry up!”

I didn’t want to stay there any longer, not even for a minute. I took several photos of the inside of the coffin. Then, we fixed the steel cables of the coffin before we descended the cliff.

However, Senior Shu suddenly called us again on our way down, asking us not to cause a ruckus.

I was puzzled. Why should we cause a ruckus?

Senior Shu asked me to turn off the speakerphone mode. I did as he asked. Senior Shu then gingerly added, “Now, look at Li Mazi’s shadow and check if you can see something there.”

I was puzzled by his request.

I turned to look at Li Mazi, but he had nothing on his back.

Senior Shu said immediately, “I asked you to look at his shadow, not his back, you dimwit!”

I immediately turned to look at Li Mazi’s shadow, and my jaw almost fell.

Sure enough, it appeared that Li Mazi had something on his back when I looked at his shadow. However, the thing was dimmer than his shadow, so I couldn’t really tell what it was. It was really vague.

I was perplexed. “Senior Shu, I saw a vague shadow. What’s it?”

“The Perpetual Joy Coffin has nurtured some sort of evil creature,” Senior Shu answered, “You shouldn’t alert Li Mazi. Just do what I say.”

I immediately agreed.

“Go to the nearest coffin you can find and pull a nail out of it. Smear it with your blood and nail it on Li Mazi’s shadow on the ground,” Senior Shu directed.

“Just like that? The shadow will be really nailed?” I was surprised.

“It should,” Senior Shu said with uncertainty.

I didn’t know if I should laugh or smile. “Please don’t simply say ‘it should,’ we’re talking about life or death here!”

Senior Shu said after thinking it through, “All right, I’m coming there myself!”

Then, he hung up his phone.

Although Senior Shu was old, he was very good at climbing mountains. He appeared in front of us in less than half an hour. I was stupefied as I looked at him.

Senior Shu smiled and said, “I came up through a shortcut.” Then, he walked around Li Mazi, studying him from head to toe.

I had asked Li Mazi to stay put, so he could also figure out that he had some problem. However, he didn’t dare to ask what the problem was.

Li Mazi grew restless, since Senior Shu was just looking without doing anything after a while. “Senior Shu, what’s happened to me?”

Senior Shu said, “Just stay still and don’t move. Run when I tell you and wait for us at the Miao village. Remember, don’t stop and don’t answer if someone calls you on the way! More importantly, don’t let the afterglow of the sunset shine on you, otherwise you’re doomed. You got that?”