Chapter Two: Sleeping in a Coffin

Although I had mentally prepared myself at the start, Left Dao Yin’s words still startled me. I hurriedly asked what that woman actually was, and why she would come to our coffin shop with such a strange request.

Left Dao Yin fiddled with the copper coins in the bowl again, as if he’d figured something out, but he didn’t tell me directly. He simply ordered me to go at once to Old Wang’s paper-crafting shop and ask him to make seven paper coffins for me. They had to be crafted from red paper, each coffin matching the real size, precisely seven feet three inches according to the coffin-maker’s measure!

When Left Dao Yin explained this, I instantly understood what an unpainted bright red coffin meant: directly crafting the coffins from red paper, so there was no need for red lacquer.

What next?

Tell Old Wang that the coffins must be finished within a day; after they’re done, some shredded paper must be placed inside, just as wood shavings are put in real coffins. Then have him deliver all seven paper coffins to your family’s coffin shop, and wait for the woman to come and collect them. Remember, you must be alone when she arrives. Just treat her as any ordinary customer; discuss the price as usual, but under no circumstances let her sense that you’ve discovered she’s not human.

“That’s all?”

“Yes. If everything goes smoothly, you’ll get through this ordeal. If negotiations with her break down, run immediately—and come back here to find me.”

“Alright.”

Having bid farewell to Left Dao Yin, I rushed straight to Old Wang’s paper-crafting shop.

When I arrived, the shop hadn’t yet closed. Wang Feiyang was inside, making a set of paper spirit houses. Wang Feiyang was Old Wang’s son, the same age as me; we’d often played together in the past, and remained on good terms.

Seeing me, Wang Feiyang put down his work. He wasn’t one for smiling, but he cracked a grin and asked when I’d returned from school, and why I was visiting so late at night.

I replied that I’d been back for several days, then got straight to the point and asked if his father was home.

Wang Feiyang said his parents had gone to Zhangjia Village to deliver spirit houses, but would be back shortly. He then asked why I looked so tense.

Without delay, I told Wang Feiyang everything that had happened these past few days. As he listened, his expression grew serious. Most people on our street had grown up in the funeral business, so there was a certain awe for such things—no one here was an atheist.

Wang Feiyang became anxious, asking if I’d offended someone, causing something dirty to come after me.

I replied that unless someone envied my good looks, I couldn’t think of anyone I’d offended. Besides, it wasn’t my fault for being handsome. I didn’t bother arguing further; instead, I asked if their paper-crafting shop could produce seven coffins matching the real size in a single day.

Wang Feiyang pondered a moment, then said their family had eight members, even his second uncle’s nine-year-old twins could craft paper. If they worked overnight, it should be doable.

I breathed a sigh of relief, telling him to start as soon as his father returned, and that I’d pay once my grandfather was back.

Wang Feiyang nodded, seeing the urgency. He called his father immediately, then summoned his second uncle’s twins to help with preparations.

I played with the twins for a while, and only left after Wang Feiyang’s parents returned from delivering the coffins.

Afterwards, I had no desire to go back to the coffin shop; a lingering unease haunted me. I went straight to an internet café and stayed until the following evening, when Wang Feiyang called to say the coffins were finished, and asked if he should deliver them.

I told him yes, and that I was at the internet café but would return immediately.

When I got home, Wang Feiyang had already delivered the seven paper coffins to the door of our shop, and together we carried them inside.

By the time everything was done, dusk had fallen. I was honestly frightened, wanting Wang Feiyang to stay with me, but Left Dao Yin had emphasized I must be alone when the woman came, so I could only ask him to leave.

Fortunately, Wang Feiyang’s home wasn’t far from mine. If anything happened, he could rush over as soon as I called. That thought gave me some comfort.

The woman had appeared at about this hour in previous days, but now, with night nearly fallen, she still hadn’t come. My confidence wavered; I wasn’t sure if she’d show up at all.

After dinner, she still hadn’t arrived. I didn’t dare go to bed, but sat at the Eight Immortals table in the main hall, waiting.

Soon, the moon hung high in the night sky. When I checked the time on my phone, it was nearly eight o’clock. I thought, perhaps she wouldn’t come tonight.

Sleepiness crept in; I yawned, deciding not to wait any longer. Just as I was about to get up and close the door, a sudden sound made my heart leap.

Thud! Thud thud thud!

I spun around, and was confronted by a terrifying sight.

The lids of the seven paper coffins, neatly arranged in the hall, began to bounce up and down, as if someone inside was desperately trying to push them open and sit up.

My heart was in my throat—seven coffins! Never mind why they moved, the sound alone, identical to real coffins, nearly scared me to death.

I turned to run, but at that moment, a woman’s sharp voice rang out behind me: “Why are you running? Hurry and help!”

Instinctively, I turned, and saw a woman standing beside the center coffin, wearing a red turtleneck sweater and tight bell-bottom pants!

Startled, I blurted out, “When did you get here?”

The woman didn’t answer, but in a hurried, commanding tone, ordered me to come help her.

She had her back to me, pressing down firmly on the lid of the center paper coffin, as if trying to prevent something inside from bursting out.

My mind went blank—I didn’t have time to think, but rushed toward her in a heat.

When I was about a meter away, I heard, or thought I heard, two crisp snapping sounds from her neck.

I froze, and then witnessed something horrifying: her shoulders remained motionless, but her head rotated a full one hundred and eighty degrees to face me. That face had no features, only a blood-red mouth, instantly causing the hair on my body to stand on end.

At the same time, the lids of the seven paper coffins behind her flew skyward, and seven corpses I vaguely recognized abruptly sat up inside.

I screamed, my dazed mind suddenly clear, gasping for breath as I realized it was just a dream.

But as I wiped the sweat from my brow, the sight before me made my heart skip a beat.

I found myself lying inside an unpainted pine coffin, and around me, the seven paper coffins were arranged in a circle, their heads pointed directly at me.

I scrambled out of the coffin, remembering clearly that I’d been sitting at the Eight Immortals table—how had I ended up sleeping in a coffin? And who had set up the seven paper coffins like this?

My mind was fuzzy, and as I tried to return the coffins to their places, a commotion suddenly erupted outside on the street, as if something had happened.

Curious, I opened the rolling door of the coffin shop and saw a crowd of neighbors running toward the back of the street. I quickly grabbed one and asked why everyone was rushing about so late at night.

The neighbor replied, running, that something big had happened at Old Wang’s paper-crafting shop.

My heart skipped a beat, and I hurriedly asked what had happened to the Wang family.

The neighbor said he wasn’t sure of the details, but word was that about an hour ago, all seven members of Old Wang’s family had hanged themselves from the beams.