Chapter 100
Chapter 100 Broken Statue
Manager Zhang reluctantly explained, “The statue in the temple was broken on my orders . . . it was back when we were buying the lands of the villagers . They held a strong stance against us demolishing the temple . They told us that it wasn’t about the money, but they believed that Madam Chee was very much real . They thought that if we did destroy her temple, it would anger her . ”
“That’s when Director Li told me to bring some people to smash the statue in front of all the villagers . All of them felt extremely scared after that incident . Not long after, all the villagers left . At that time, I did not feel scared at all, but now, after experiencing this…” Manager Zhang continued with a worried face, “Mr . Ye, do you really think that this place is haunted? Will something bad happen to me?”
“Something has already happened,” Ye Shaoyang looked at him and said, “Open your mouth . ”
Manager Zhang had a stunned expression; he looked at Ye Shaoyang . Then, he turned to Zhou Jingru . After that, he raised his hands and slapped his own face .
His actions puzzled Ye Shaoyang, who asked, “What are you doing?”
“Didn’t you ask me to slap my mouth?” Manager Zhang looked at him innocently .
Ye Shaoyang rolled his eyes and said, “I asked you to open your mouth, not slap your mouth . It"s the first tone, not the second . Do you have hearing issues?”
[TL note: Open and slap have the same Pinyin in Chinese, Zhang . The difference being they are read in different tones . ]
Manager Zhang scratched his head . Then, he opened his mouth . The two curious girls approached to take a closer look, but to their surprise, they saw something very strange . His two rows of teeth were somewhat normal but other than that; his whole mouth was pitch black like an abyss .
“Don’t you know that your mouth is black?” Ye Shaoyang asked .
“I know . I even went to a few hospitals . But none of them could tell me the reason . They all said that I’m fine . I do want to try some Traditional Chinese Medicine though . Mr . Ye, please save me!” Manager Zhang pleaded desperately .
“It’s corpse Qi, and it has entered your body . If left untreated . . . you’ll become an undead within a week, and someone will control you . ” Ye Shaoyang shook his head and continued, “Luckily for you, that someone wants you as a servant . Or else, you would become like Old Feng . ”
When Manager Zhang heard these words, his legs gave out, and he kneeled in front of Ye Shaoyang, “Mr . Ye please . . . please save me . I’ll give you everything I have, even my wife… . ”
His words left Ye Shaoyang speechless, Why would I want your wife? Is she hotter than these two beauties here?
Ye Shaoyang helped him up and asked him to bring them to his office . Ye Shaoyang locked the door behind him . Then, he took out a bowl and mixed, realgar, cinnabar powder, and the ashes of a paper charm . He handed the bowl to Manager Zhang and told him to drink it . After that, he threw a handful of cinnabar powder into the bin .
“You’ll vomit any second now; vomit into this,” Ye Shaoyang handed him the bin that had the cinnabar powder .
Soon after he drank the concoction, his face flushed red, and his breathing grew rapid . Suddenly, he crawled toward the bin and started to vomit profusely . After ten minutes or so, he stopped and laid back on the wall . Zhou Jingru and Xie Yuqing felt curious again, so they approached the bin . What they saw inside shocked them . Countless black bugs crawled inside the bin, as they tried to escape out .
“My G.o.d, what are these?” this sight gave Zhou Jingru the chills as she asked this question .
Ye Shaoyang answered, “Death Beetles . These bugs are formed because of the great amount of corpse poison in his body . Fortunately for you, I came in time . Or else, the Death Beetles would have burrowed through your organs and spread the corpse poison all over . ”
“For three days, drink a mixture of realgar powder and water . That’ll help clear all the corpse poison from your body . ”
Manager Zhang felt very thankful; he was practically in tears and mucus dripped from his nose .
“What do we do with the Death Beetles?” Zhou Jingru asked with worry .
Ye Shaoyang covered the bin with the lid and said, “This will do . Without the corpse poison to support them, the Death Beetles will not live long . ”
When Manager Zhang seemed slightly better, Ye Shaoyang asked, “Now, tell me . What does Madam Chee look like?”
“She’s a woman . ”
Everyone in the room rolled their eyes… . Then, Xie Yuqing said, “Can you not state the obvious? Doesn’t Madam already tell you that it’s a woman and not a man . ”
Manager Zhang scratched his head, paused for a bit, and said, “I really don’t recall what she looks like . She definitely isn’t pretty . She has a monkey like protruding mouth; she’s somewhat like a human, but not really . ”
So, she’s a demon? Ye Shaoyang quickly asked, “Think real hard; did she look like any animal?”
Manager Zhang thought for quite some time, “I really don’t know . I’ve only seen her statue once . Umm…maybe you can ask the villagers about it? They probably know more than I do . ”
Ye Shaoyang nodded in agreement, Maybe we can even find out some history of the temple .
After they finished up, Manager Zhang went back to the worksite, grabbed a car, and drove the three to a nearby resort . As they arrived, the skies suddenly turned cloudy and dark; it seemed like a heavy rain was imminent . Worried about of this, manager Zhang explained to them, “I think I need to go back and ask the workers to cover up the materials . It seems like a storm is coming . ”
Ye Shaoyang added, “In that case, can you please also notify the workers to not go into Madam Chee’s temple and not wander around the area?”
Manager Zhang nodded and quickly exited the building . But as soon as he got out, the rain began to pour . As the road to the worksite had some dirt roads, which had probably become mud roads now, Manager Zhang was forced to walk his way back . From his current location, Manager Zhang had to pa.s.s the temple to get to the worksite . Even though there was another route, it would take him an additional half an hour more . Then, Manager Zhang decided; he would take a gamble . So, he went on the dangerous route… .
When he got close to the temple, Manager Zhang instinctively took a glance in the temple’s direction . At that moment . . . he saw a person run into the temple courtyard . Due to the darkness, he could not make out who it was . Then, a flash of lightning illuminated the whole area . It revealed a man that wore green work clothes and an orange helmet . The average worker wore a yellow helmet and blue work clothes . A safety inspector would wear this particular outfit . There were not many safety inspectors around today, in fact there were only two . Manager Zhang rushed in his direction and yelled, “Is it Old Chui or Old w.a.n.g? Don’t go in there!”
“I’m just taking shelter!” It was Old w.a.n.g’s voice .
“Come back! That place is dangerous!” Manager Zhang nervously screamed, but he heard no response .
Manager Zhang felt afraid that something might happen to Old w.a.n.g, so he built up the courage and ran into the temple courtyard . Manager Zhang saw Old w.a.n.g walk into the main temple and stand still in front of the broken statue .
“Old w.a.n.g, come out now! Now!” Manager Zhang yelled and yelled . But thanks to the volume of the thunder and the rain, Manager Zhang suspected that Old w.a.n.g could not hear him . He saw Old w.a.n.g stand still, unresponsive .
Now, Manager Zhang felt torn . Should he risk his life, or should he save himself? At last, his compa.s.sion got the better of him . He rushed into the temple and started to scold, “Are you deaf; can’t you hear me? Let’s get the f*ck out of here!” as he pulled on Old w.a.n.g’s sleeve . But Old w.a.n.g did not respond; he merely stood motionless . Then, abruptly, Old w.a.n.g’s hands moved toward his own face . He seemed to be doing something . Manager Zhang had a really bad feeling . He slowly walked beside Old w.a.n.g and chills went up his spine . He slowly stepped back, as he witnessed what Old w.a.n.g was doing to himself… .