Volume 2: Corpse in the Yin Mountains Chapter 7: The Swindling Immortal Maiden

  The mountain road was especially difficult to walk on at night, the road had disappeared, and I could only make my way through the weeds. The soil in this area was particularly soft, and where there were slopes, my feet couldn't get a grip, and I fell twice before I'd gone very far.

  "Mr. Lin, let's take a break and head out again early tomorrow morning!" said Old Cow as he came to a stop.

  I hastily nodded in agreement.

  The next day, the three of us walked fairly quickly and arrived at a small valley by eight o'clock in the evening. It was clear that this used to be a river, but now it's dry. Old Cow pointed ahead to where several bright spots twinkled and said "That's Li Family Gorge."

  After entering Lijiagou, he took us to find the only person he knew in Lijiagou, Li Erdogzi. He gave Li Erdogzi twenty yuan and happily took us to Li Liang's home.

  When he reached the door, he didn't help us knock on it. He said that at night, one shouldn't knock on Li Liang's door, as if we were there to buy a coffin or something. Then he took Old Cow and went home. I'm not superstitious, so I knocked a few times on the wooden door of Li Liang's house. The dim light in the dark room lit up, and a man's voice came out, "Who is it?"

  "Is it Mr. Li? We were introduced by Old Zhou." I replied.

  After two or three minutes, a middle-aged man with a dark complexion came out wearing an overcoat. He looked like Li Kui come to life. Smiling, he asked, "Do you know that kind-hearted boss?"

  I smiled and nodded, but in my heart I sighed. If it were me who received that painting, at least I could have given him tens of thousands of yuan. Li Liang was indeed very honest, but also quite foolish.

  He smiled and opened the door, ushering us in, and shouted out a sentence "Juan, distinguished guests have arrived, get up and cook something."

  "No need, no need, we've brought our own food."

  His house is not small, but the large hall in the middle is filled with wood. He told us that this place has many rules, and coffins that have been made cannot be placed indoors, but making coffins cannot be done outdoors either.

  His wife looked okay, probably because of years of outdoor labor, her skin was tanned to a dark bronze color, and her eyes were yellow. When we entered the house, she had already dressed up, saw us, and revealed a faint smile, pinning her hair behind her ears, ready to cook for us. I hastily stopped her, took out two bags of instant noodles from my backpack, handed them to her and said "Don't bother cooking, just use hot water to soak these two bags of noodles for us."

  She didn't say a word either and took the instant noodles before heading towards the kitchen.

  Li Liang chuckled and said with a mouthful of yellow teeth, "This woman hasn't seen the world, don't mind her."

  Excuse me, is there still room for me to stay at your place?

  Li Liang nodded and said, "There is, but it's been a long time since anyone lived here." After finishing speaking, he led us into a small house. When the door opened, a musty smell wafted out. The room was full of dust and there were no electric lights. Li Liang chuckled and asked us to wait at the door for a while. Then he lit several candles and started cleaning up inside the house. More than ten minutes later, he walked out, wiping the sweat from his head, and smiled, "It's habitable now."

  I thanked him and walked in with Shi Tou, Li Liang's wife also brought us noodles. I and Shi Tou ate the noodles while calling out to Li Liang to come over, handing him a cigarette, he wiped his hands on his clothes before taking it.

  I asked, "Li Liang, I heard there's a Snake Goddess Temple here?"

  Li Liang nodded and said, "Yes, there is one. It seems like it was seven or eight years ago when a businessman came to our village and invested in building a temple for the Snake Goddess. I remember it clearly. The village head wanted to build it within the village, but the businessman insisted on building it on Yinfeng Mountain. The village head eventually agreed, but it's strange that although Yinfeng Mountain often has mudslides, nothing ever happens to the Snake Goddess Temple."

  I swallowed two mouthfuls of noodles and asked, "What happened next? Did the merchant come again?"

  Li Liang shook his head and said, "Not long after it was built, the merchant fell off a cliff and died. The villagers went to the Snake Goddess Temple to burn incense and pray, but not once were they successful in their requests. They asked that there be no more mudslides, but the more they prayed, the more frequent the mudslides became. The villagers all said that the merchant's heart was not sincere, so he was given death by the Snake Goddess. The Snake Goddess also didn't want to live in the temple that he had paid for, and over time, nobody went there anymore."

  I thought to myself that this businessman should be one of us, and probably a master of the Northern School who is skilled in finding dragons and pointing out holes. That's why he built the temple, so that he would have a legitimate identity and reason to frequently enter and exit the place.

  "What's around the Snake Maiden Temple?" I asked, putting down my bowl on the table.

  Li Liang said in a low voice, "It was built on the top of Yinfeng Mountain. A few more miles back is Longya Pass, where it's said that the Snake Queen lives."

  "Has anyone ever been in?"

  Li Liang's head shook like a rattle drum "Who dares to enter! Isn't that just asking for trouble?"

  After chatting for a while, Li Liang left. Shi Tou threw his backpack onto the bed and fell over. I kicked him with my foot, and he turned around to ask me "what's wrong?"

  I pointed at the empty bowl and said "Go wash it!"

  "Why?"

  I smiled and said, "During the Red Army's Long March, didn't they help with whatever difficulties the common people had? They even helped dig wells and carry water. You should also help your fellow villagers wash their bowls after meals, to show off your great revolutionary passion."

  The stone turned over and said "I've already retired."

  "Damn it." I blew out the candle and got into bed.

  The next morning, Li Liang brought us breakfast. Before we finished eating, a burst of gongs and drums was heard. Li Liang rubbed his hands in the room, walking back and forth. I couldn't help but ask, "What's going on?"

  Li Liang smiled and said, "The immortal girl is praying for blessings at the village entrance, I want to go take a look."

  I wiped my mouth and patted the stone with one hand, saying "Let's go, I'll go with you."

  "Ah," Li Liang seemed very pleased, and hastily led me and Shi Tou to the village entrance. When we arrived, the immortal maiden had already begun her ritual. She was over 50 years old, wearing a green robe, holding a yellow paper in her hand, and muttering something that I couldn't quite make out. Before long, with a "whoosh" sound, the yellow paper ignited, and she tossed it into the air. After it fell to the ground, a snake head shape actually appeared on the yellow paper. The villagers immediately began discussing among themselves, and my heart also sank. Could it be that the Snake Maiden really existed?

  Soon, several villagers carried three black large flags and placed them under the immortal girl's feet. Each black flag had a large snake pattern drawn on it. The immortal girl held a stack of yellow paper, reciting incantations while sprinkling the yellow paper onto the snake patterns. After all the yellow paper was scattered, she set up a giant yellow paper as tall as a person. It is unknown how she drew something with her hand, but the yellow paper suddenly caught fire. A huge snake head appeared, and then she spread the yellow paper on the ground, sitting at the position of the snake's head, muttering to herself, reciting something unknown.

  Whoosh, the three large flags suddenly burst into flames at the same time. The villagers all knelt down and kowtowed. Shi Tou furrowed his brow and said, "What's with this strange smell?"

  I took a closer sniff, and apart from the smell of burning paper, there was indeed an additional peculiar smell that was pungent and irritating to my nose. Suddenly I understood, and cursed, "Damn it, this immortal woman is a swindler!"