Chapter Thirty-Three: The Descent of the Nine Shadows, a Blood Sacrifice to the Yellow Springs

It all unfolded as if I were watching a television drama—wherever I left off the day before, the story resumed from that exact spot the next day. Now, I saw once again those villagers, their faces numb and lifeless, shuffling toward the doorway like walking corpses. Strangely, this time, the sound of the wind organ seemed not to affect me.

At last, the courtyard was left with only two figures: the female corpse lying in her coffin, and the man who looked exactly like me. The infant had already been born, now cradled in the arms of that man. He too seemed entranced, slowly carrying the child toward the outside. Even more bizarre, the corpse of the woman in the coffin suddenly sat up and followed him.

Soon, everyone had left the courtyard. I instinctively followed, and upon stepping outside, I saw all the villagers of East Gate Village emerge from their homes, faces blank, marching toward the East Gate Reservoir. In that instant, I understood: this was the reason why, twenty years ago, over three hundred villagers leapt into the reservoir overnight. They were all bewitched by the sound of the wind organ.

The reservoir’s dam was soon crowded. When the first villager jumped without hesitation from the dam, the rest followed, one after another, endlessly plunging into the depths below. It all happened just as the bus driver had once told me: men embracing women, women clutching children, elders leaning on canes—one after another, they jumped into the East Gate Reservoir.

It was a horrifying scene. I stood frozen in shock, shouting for them not to jump, but it was useless; they could not hear my cries at all. When I frantically rushed to the dam, nearly all three hundred villagers had already leapt in. Only three figures remained on the dam: the man who looked identical to me, the woman who had long been dead, and the newborn infant held in the man’s arms.

They stood on the dam, faces vacant, the infant still wailing. The man and the female corpse stepped forward, but paused upon hearing the baby’s cries. At that moment, I saw a shadow suddenly approach from the other side of the dam, snatching the infant from the man’s arms. With a sinister tone, the newcomer said, “Why haven’t you jumped yet?”

The man’s expression was bewildered, his voice agonized as he asked, “Why? We have no quarrel with you. Why did you kill my wife? Why do you want to destroy everyone in East Gate Village?”

There was no answer. The wind organ’s haunting melody sounded again. The man fell silent, took the corpse by the hand, and with a splash, leapt into the reservoir. In that moment, all three hundred villagers had followed.

Only then did I see the woman clearly. She was dressed as a Taoist priest, her long hair tied behind her head, wearing a purple robe. With her back to me, she raised the newborn high above her head and began to laugh wildly.

“At last, the day of your birth has come—Nine Yin descends, blood sacrifices to the Yellow Springs!”

Her words struck me like thunder, leaving my mind reeling.

“Nine Yin descends, blood sacrifices to the Yellow Springs! The Nine Yin fate and the forbidden Yellow Springs art…” I stared in disbelief at the infant held aloft by the woman, my body rigid. “Could it be that the newborn child is—?”

“Wu Dao, watch out!”

In that instant, someone shoved me forcefully, and everything before my eyes vanished. What I saw next was Wang Feiyang’s anxious face. Only then did I realize the iron door we had locked was broken open by the corpses outside. If Wang Feiyang hadn’t pushed me, one of them would have bitten through my neck.

“What are you doing, spacing out?” Wang Feiyang glared at me angrily.

I shook my head hard, choosing not to reveal what I’d just witnessed. I drew another talisman on my palm and recited, “Heaven and earth squared, nine commands bound, thunder and fire in my palm, all ghosts subjugated!”

Finishing the incantation, I struck the forehead of one corpse with my palm. With a sickening smack, the corpse was sent flying backward.

More than forty corpses surged into the courtyard like a tide. Wang Feiyang and I, exhausted, were forced back into the main hall.

Inside, the coffin that once held the female corpse remained. We leaned against its battered shell, gasping for breath. Our strength was nearly gone; we could only watch as the corpses pressed in, imagining the grisly fate awaiting us.

Just as hope seemed lost, a chant echoed from the courtyard: “Heaven’s origin, Supreme One, commander of soldiers, guardian of the world, protector of life, Azure Dragon to the left, White Tiger to the right, adorned with the Dragon Sword, bearer of five blessings, leader of divine officers, generals three and five, all evil shall be slain, all monsters destroyed, one sword settles it, swift as the decree commands—execute!”

As the words faded, a flash of golden sword light streaked through the courtyard, and several corpses were sent flying in all directions. In a blink, a young man in a blue Taoist robe, wielding a longsword, cut a bloody path and charged toward us.

He looked no older than twenty-four or twenty-five, with a face radiating heroic spirit and a righteous air between his brows. As he approached, a corpse lunged at my throat. The young man urgently recited, “Swift as the decree commands!” and stabbed through the corpse’s chest. With a howl, the corpse collapsed to its knees.

“Go!” He glanced at us, uttering only that single word before retracing his bloody path. Wang Feiyang and I, though puzzled by his identity, wasted no time and hurried after him.

We fought our way out of the courtyard. At least a dozen corpses had fallen to his sword, though it was clear he struggled against their overwhelming numbers.

Soon, the three of us escaped toward an open area not far off, with the remaining twenty or so corpses in hot pursuit. As we drew closer, we saw the young man had driven several wooden stakes into the ground, with red threads strung between them, each thread hung with copper coins. The threads formed a Bagua pattern, with a gap over two meters wide at the front.

“Each of you, grab one end of the red thread, stand back. When the corpses enter the circle, link the two ends and seal the Bagua’s opening.”

With that, the young man leaped into the circle’s center, sitting cross-legged. Soon, many corpses rushed into the circle. The young man shouted urgently. Wang Feiyang and I scrambled to connect the ends of the red thread.

At that moment, the young man’s hands moved swiftly, forming seals as he chanted: “Thunder god of heaven, thunder god of earth, guardian spirits, protectors of the Way, Supreme Lord decrees, guardians descend, deliver all souls. Should any defy the order, I invoke the Three Pure Ones and Grandmaster Li—one glance reduces all to dust, nurture and save my disciples. Lightning surrounds the hall, golden world, pure and free, supreme purity, purity supreme, Bagua and Taiji! Supreme Lord, swift as the decree commands—execute!”

As the last syllable fell, flames surged from the red threads, and a Bagua Taiji diagram appeared in the circle’s center. Crackling and popping like fireworks, the corpses shrieked in agony, soon destroyed. The remaining corpses, terrified, fled in all directions.

I finally breathed a sigh of relief, then nervously eyed the young man sitting in the center, warily asking, “Who are you?”