Maotan Village had two Land God shrines. One was a temple that sat at the end of the village, in a bright little house with proper clay sculptures inside. Although it was not exquisite, it had an altar and incense offerings, and everything else one would expect.
The second Land God shrine was located in this graveyard area. It was just a small earthen hut about half a person’s height, which protected the Land God inside from wind and rain.
However, the local Land God did not reside permanently in the temple at the end of the village. Instead, he often stayed at the small shrine in the graveyard area to better keep watch over the ghosts there.
The Land God sighed. He had been guarding Maotan Village for seventy or eighty years. Although he was originally a spirit, not a ghost or god who gained a human form after death, he still had so affection for this village. He had watched almost everyone in the village grow up, from the oldest to the youngest.
In particular, the villagers were all kind-hearted; the fact that they were able to build a cetery in such turbulent tis spoke volus. Therefore, even when trouble struck, the Land God still wanted to intervene within his power.
However, he was just a minor local deity, whose jurisdiction was limited to only the region around Maotan Village. The recent disruption of the earth’s veins had affected this area, leaving the local deity in a state of ntal exhaustion. Though he seed unhard, he could only use 70% of his abilities.
“Alas…”
The Land God sighed again. This calamity had co too suddenly. Even if he appeared in the villagers’ dreams now and warned them to flee, it would be too late. Besides, in this world, if they left Maotan Village, their ans of survival, the whole village would probably end up as no more than bones by the roadside in a foreign land. At that ti, there would probably be no one to collect their bodies and bury them, and no proper burial ground for them to rest in peace.
Just as the Land God was secretly grieving, the will-o’-the-wisps in the cetery suddenly blazed brightly , startling him. He quickly put on a dignified expression and looked at the cetery.
“In this world, it is a blessing to have a place to rest in peace. Why are you all so agitated?”
As he spoke, the Land God gently tapped his walking stick on the ground.
“Thump…”
A barely perceptible beam of light swept the area, and all the grave mounds sagged slightly, their restless ghost lights imdiately weakening like embers without fuel.
However, things did not develop in the direction the local deity had imagined. He noticed several ghosts vaguely appearing not too far away.
‘Oh no, could it be that the ghosts here have also been affected by the source of the plague and are about to beco evil spirits?’
The Land God was inwardly alard, but outwardly he watched the ghosts with an unchanging expression, even casually jumped onto the small Land God shrine so that he could barely reach the ghosts’ heights.
Before long, the ghosts grew clearer. There were about a dozen ghosts leading the way, and the rest lingered at the edge of the graveyard, making it impossible to tell exactly how many there were.
The leader was actually a newly buried armored ghost, which reminded the local Land God of the two newly buried corpses that Liao Daqiu and the villagers had put to rest together during the day.
At the ti, the Land God didn’t notice, but now it seed that the armor of the two buried people was different. One of them wore breastplate, indicating that his armor was of higher quality.
“We pay our respects to the Land God!”
Although these people were dead, their habits remained those of martial artists. The two ghosts who had just been buried today knelt down on one knee and clasped their hands in greeting. The other ghosts followed suit instinctively.
‘Looks like I was overthinking it!’
The Land God breathed a slight sigh of relief and spoke calmly.
“What’s wrong? What do you want?”
The leading armored soldier looked up at the Land God. He had never encountered ghosts or gods in life. Although he had encountered so supernatural things, this was the first ti he had seen a god as well-known as the Land God. Sure enough, the Land God was indeed short in stature.
“May I ask, Land God, what is this plague demon you ntioned earlier?”
From the Land God’s slightly panicked attitude, so perceptive ghosts sensed that it must be sothing serious. In addition, the Land God’s frequent sighs and glances at Maotan Village revealed his worry.
The Land God looked solemnly at the ghosts.
“Why are you asking these questions?”
The armored ghost looked at the Land God, but before he could speak, the Land God could vaguely read a certain answer from his eyes.
…
Maotan Village was very quiet at night. Despite having done physical labor during the day, Liao Daqiu tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
“Oh, my wife, my wife…”
After calling out twice, Liao Daqiu could only hear the faint snoring of the woman beside him, so he stopped talking and carefully sat up from the bed. He tucked in the quilt to prevent cold air from getting into the bed.
Feeling parched, Liao Daqiu put on a coat, carefully got out of bed, and slipped on his shoes to get so water.
When he reached the outer room, he didn’t rush to pour water, but instead walked through the hall and lifted the curtain of his child’s room. Only when he saw that his son sleeping soundly did he feel at ease.
Although Liao Daqiu was no longer young, he only had one child, who was only five years old.
This wasn’t because the Liao couple were incapable of having children. In fact, Xiao Liao had an older brother who should be almost thirty by now, an age when he should be settling down and starting a family, but there had been no news of him at all.
The world was in turmoil. Elder Liao’s eldest son had been conscripted and had been gone for nine years without a word. So of the young n of the sa generation as the older Liao who had been conscripted deserted and returned the following year. It was said that many of the rest died, and no one was certain where the fellow villagers who had gone to serve in the army actually were now.
The Liao couple firmly believed that their son was still alive. Although they secretly wiped away tears many tis, this hope never died. They looked forward to the day when their eldest son would return from his military service. But their hearts felt as though there were a hole in them. Miraculously, their second son and his wife conceived a child at the end of the third year of their eldest son’s departure. They considered this child like their own in their old age.
Liao Daqiu’s encouragent of his fellow villagers to build a public cetery was undoubtedly motivated by a desire to accumulate rit and do good deeds, hoping that the heavens would grant his eldest son a safe return.
Or perhaps, there was also a sliver of the most helpless thought: if the eldest son were to et with misfortune elsewhere, he hoped that soone would collect his body and allow him to rest in peace.
Every ti Liao Daqiu saw his youngest son sleeping at night, he would vaguely recall how his eldest son looked when he was a child, fast asleep. At this thought, his sleeping youngest son would actually transform into his eldest in his eyes — his eldest son as he was in his childhood.
Old Liao paused, rubbed his eyes, and looked again: it was still his youngest son on the bed.
“Sigh…”
With a sigh, Old Liao left his youngest son’s room and returned to the outer room. He lifted the overturned teacup and picked up the kettle on the table to pour himself so water. However, before he could fill it, he noticed a light outside, which puzzled him.
He glanced outside but didn’t pay it much attention. He continued to pour the water, then picked up the teacup and drank. He drank several bowls in a row. Even once the teapot was empty, he still felt thirsty.
‘Am I sick?’
Liao Daqiu was feeling sowhat agitated, and the light outside the wooden window beca increasingly irritating.
Finally, Old Liao walked to the window, unhooked the wooden latch, and pushed the window open. As soon as he pushed it open, he saw a ghostly field of blue. Upon closer inspection, he saw a large number of dark figures standing outside, each with their heads bowed, their faces shadowed and indistinct, and their bodies glowing with a ghostly blue light.
“A ghost!”
Old Liao scread in fright and collapsed to the ground, letting the wooden window panel slam shut against the window fra with a “thud”.
“Wife, wife, there’s ghosts! Ghosts! Get up!”
Liao Daqiu scread in fright, but there was no response from the inner room. Just as he was panicking, he heard a voice coming from outside.
“Benefactor, please don’t be afraid!”
The voice was clear, calm, and deep, without any of the eerie feeling one might expect from a ghost, causing Old Liao to fall silent for the ti being.
“Benefactor, we are the people you and the villagers have buried over the years. You have done us a great favor, and we would never harm you or the people of Maotan Village.”
Hearing this voice, Liao Daqiu cald down a bit. He thought about how he had indeed built the public graveyard and laid many to rest in peace. He had indeed helped them, so surely they wouldn’t harm him, right?
“Benefactor, may I open the door and see you?”
Upon hearing this, Liao Daqiu hesitated again. After waiting for a long ti, he finally gritted his teeth and slowly walked towards the door. After struggling for a while, he finally pulled out the door latch and opened the door.
Many ghosts stood as shadowy figures in the courtyard, so many that Liao Daqiu couldn’t count them all at once.
‘So many have been buried all these years…’
Upon seeing Liao Daqiu open the door, the ghosts outside all knelt down. Seeing so many ghosts kneeling, Liao Daqiu forgot what fear was. He subconsciously took a step out the door, raising his hand to stop them.
“Oh no, no! Everyone, please rise, please rise!”
The ghosts knelt for a while before getting up. Only then did Liao Daqiu see clearly that the two soldiers who had been buried earlier were at the front. One of them took a small step forward and sincerely addressed Liao Daqiu.
“Benefactor, this region is about to face a calamity. A kind of evil spirit is erging, which is said to be called the Plague Demon. It will spread a deadly plague and kill people.”
“Huh? Rumors are circulating in the county that a plague has broken out in other areas. Could it be because of this plague demon? Will we be in trouble here?”
Liao Daqiu tensed up. Although was often said not to believe in ghost stories, he was willing to believe these ghosts at this mont.
“Benefactor, Maotan Village is located in the path of the plague demon. We have co here for no other reason than to repay your kindness. We have decided to fight the plague demon to the death when it arrives, hoping to protect you and the people of Maotan Village!”
Although only this one ghost was speaking, all the other ghosts were looking at Liao Daqiu, their faces dark and nacing, yet they surprisingly convinced Liao Daqiu of their genuine intent.
“This…”
“Benefactor, we have already discussed this with the local Land God. We still have so ti left. We hope that you can find a skilled paper craftsman to make several battle flags and 150 weapons for us. The battle flags should include a commander’s flag for each of the flanks — left, center, and right — and front and rear battle flags. We also need 50 shields, 50 swords, 50 spears, and 50 bows and arrows. The more arrows the better!”
Liao Daqiu quickly wrote it down and silently repeated it several tis. Only after confirming that he wouldn’t forget it did he look up at the ghosts again.
“Uh, is there anything else you wish to request?”
Upon hearing this, a rustling sound arose among the ghosts, then they fell silent again. It was the leading armored soldier who spoke first.
“If possible… I hope we can have another hearty al as an offering…”
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