Here is the second chapter, enjoy〜
Two
At night, the howl of beasts echoed through the mansion. The voices of two men, sometimes screaming, sometimes sobbing were coming from the lady of the house’s, Luán Niángzĭ’s bedchamber. She and the two martial artists whom she had invited during the day, were having a lot of fun. When they were invited into the building, they were treated to a feast of fine food and wine and were so intoxicated that they did not even know what was going on.
No, one could say that, from the moment the two warriors saw her at the gate, they were already entranced by her overwhelming beauty. Their normal thoughts were numbed and all they could think of during the welcoming was the embrace of her young, flower-like body. Of course, the landowner’s daughter, whom they had offered to help, had completely disappeared from their thoughts. The time when the hospitality had ended and when the three of them began their affair was blurred. As they drank and ate, they had already begun to flirt, and before they knew it, they found themselves in the bedroom.
Despite her dainty appearance, Luán Niángzĭ’s lovemaking was very passionate and intense, so the sounds coming from the bedchamber were mainly those of the martial artists. The two strong men were shouting pitifully as every inch of their bodies were exploited by her skilful and terrifying sex techniques. The voices echoed throughout the building causing anguish among the dozens of men who were living there. The thought of their beloved girl in the arms of those sweaty Jiānghu people was enough to torment them to the point of heart-breaking agony. But despite this, Luán Niángzĭ’s sweet flirtatious voice, mingled with the joyous cries of the martial artist, was enough to make them lust after her. Biting down on their jealousy to the last possible moment they continued to stroke the tense and unquenchable thing between their legs.
Now, it was late at night. Finally, the disturbing voices from her bedroom subsided. On the bed in the chamber, the two warriors, drained of their energy, slept the sleep of the dead. Without a single stitch of clothing Luán Niángzĭ looked at them coldly and puffed on a long, thin kiseru. Suddenly, as if she had noticed something, her body twitched, and she turned her gaze to a corner of the room. There was a black haze, coiling around in the air. She smiled wryly and cast her voice into the mist.
“Oh, Ms. Xíng Hài, did you come?”
Without moving from its place, the haze began to sway and swirl, at the same time a low woman’s laugh emanated from within it. Ku, ku, ku, ku, ku… Along with the thick ghostly air, the haze congealed and gradually took on a human form. First, as if emerging from mud, a pale face of a woman was formed. Then black hair. Eventually a body dressed in black and red clothing emerges.
“…You were in the middle of having a good time, so I have been waiting.” Said the woman who appeared. The tone of her voice was dark and haughty. Her pale skin reminded one of creatures born in the depths of a sunless cave. Discernible through her clothes was a well-formed body. Long, shiny black hair. A glamorous woman, contrasting Luán Niángzĭ’s loveliness. She was a woman with the sex appeal to entrance any man, but she was also a woman no man would dare to speak to. Her long slit eyes had the dangerous colour of a poisonous snake. Long, pointed ears and, as could be seen from the buffalo-like horns on her head, that woman was no human.
A demon.
At the time of the War of Fading Dusk, one after another they came from the demon world to wreak havoc on the human world. Even after the war was over, some did not return to the demon world, but continued to hide in the human world and studied the unworldly evil arts and sorcery. The woman Luán Niángzĭ called Xíng Hài was one of those demons. Though even in front of her, Luán Niángzĭ showed no sign of being intimidated.
“Did you watch the whole time? How embarrassing.” She said, blushing like a little girl. But Xíng Hài knew, that this little vixen would not be ashamed being seen while having sex. What a theatrical play. And the men of this world were fooled by it. With disdain she looked at the two martial artists who were sleeping in the dark.
“You’ve brought in some pretty plain people this evening, haven’t you?”
Luán Niángzĭ giggled.
“When you always eat a lot of gourmet food, sometimes you want to have something different, right? I was in the mood for a bit of simple food. The face may be bad but the body itself is not. So, I thought it would be fun…but it was quite tasteless.” She said, and with a chilling glint in her eyes, looked to the two warriors.
“It’s not worth keeping them in my house. I will ask them to leave tomorrow.” She said plainly. But these words carried implications that were even more cruel than the content. Those who were enchanted by her and tasted her body would not be able to live without her. Men she threw away would become so desperate, that they either became insane, or worse, took their own life. At the very least, these two warriors would not be able to live as people of the Jiānghu anymore.
“What a horrible woman.” Xíng Hài said and smiled sarcastically. No man, no matter how sober and virtuous could fail to be charmed by Luán Niángzĭ’s beauty. This woman called Luán Niángzĭ, despite having such a magical appearance she was only human. It was not a case of bewitching a man with sorcery or evil arts. She drove men crazy purely by her looks. A fact that even gave a demon like Xíng Hài shivers sometimes. If it had been sorcery or witchcraft, there would be plenty of ways to prevent it, such as putting up a protective barrier or wearing a talisman. But there was no way to prevent beauty. Even by covering the eyes to avoid looking at her beauty, her beautiful voice would enter the ears. When covering the ears, the fragrance emanating from her would invade the nose. If the eyes, ears, and nose would all be covered, one stroke of Luán Niángzĭ’s gentle hand and the man would already be fascinated. Like a weapon of seduction, there was no way to escape her.
“I’ve always wondered how a woman like you could be born as a human.”
Luán Niángzĭ giggled at Xíng Hài’s comment and then said: “It was heaven’s will.”
Xíng Hài frowned slightly at the exaggeration, her beautiful eyebrows furrowed.
“Heaven has given me this beauty. This is the will of heaven. That’s why all the beautiful men in this world are mine.”
“So that’s why you’re not scared to steal other women’s men.”
“Steal?” She widened her blue eyes as if to say that she doesn’t like it.
“All the men in this world are mine. Even if they are now the husband or lover of another woman, they are only temporarily entrusted to them before they become mine.”
Luán Niángzĭ was not joking when she said this haughty line, she really meant it.
“I must keep this beauty for ten, twenty…even for a hundred years and continue to taste men. It is my destiny. Because of that, you brought that thing, right?”
She held out her palm to Xíng Hài.
“Of course.”
From her pocket Xíng Hài took out a glass bottle with a lid. It was filled with a red liquid. When Luán Niángzĭ received the bottle, she clutched it to her bare chest and, with a look of euphoria, said, “The elixir of longevity made with the liver of young children… With this, I will always be beautiful…”
She opened the lid of the bottle and was about to pour the red liquid into her mouth when Xíng Hài’s “Wait” stopped her.
“You’re not going to drink that until we’ve talked about the reward.”
Luán Niángzĭ furrowed her brows slightly, but immediately returned to a smiling face.
“Right. Which one do you want?” She asked.
“That man who came here recently. Lĭ Qīng or something like that. Give him to me. I like the right eye on that one.”
At Xíng Hài’s words, with a “Hmmm…” Luán Niángzĭ made a troubled gesture.
“Not that one. I still like that one. Please pick another one.”
“…Mmm. The man with the beautiful arms called Xià Zhòng. What about him?”
“Ah, Xià Zhòng. That one is okay. I was getting bored with him anyway.”
Just what were these two people really talking about. Lĭ Qīng, as you know, was the fiancé of the landowner’s daughter in the village. Xià Zhòng was one of the beautiful men living in the Mansion of the Eight Celestials. An abnormal conversation in which two people were traded as if they were goods. We will soon learn the horrifying meaning of this talk.
“Then, as always…”
“Yes, I know what to do.” They said to each other and laughed inaudibly.
It was about two hours later that Xià Zhòng, one of the beautiful men of the Mansion of the Eight Celestials was asked by Luán Niángzĭ to go into town and buy some rouge.
Why at such a late hour?
He felt slightly doubtful.
“I really need it now. Keep this a secret from everyone. I’m only asking you. Come to my bedroom when you’re back. I will thank you profusely.” She whispered sweetly, and in his euphoria all his doubts disappeared. As he walked down the dark, rain-drenched mountain road, lantern and umbrella in hand, he could only think of the intimacy he will have with Luán Niángzĭ in her bedroom after his errand. The beautiful men who lived in the mansion have all embraced her at one time or another and had experienced what might be described as the highest of pleasure. Xià Zhòng was no exception. When he first came to the Mansion of the Eight Celestials, he and a few of his fellow beauties would spend all night and day to make love to Luán Niángzĭ’s flower-like body. But as the days went by, he was called to her bedroom less and less and he hadn’t held her for over two months now. Now she had sent him on this task. He couldn’t help but be excited. However, as he walked along the mountain path, he lost his enthusiasm.
Weird, where am I?
Xià Zhòng paused and looked around. The place where he now stood, surrounded by kumazasa, was an unfamiliar landscape.
Did I take a wrong turn? No, that’s ridiculous.
From the mansion to the village at the foot of the mountain, there was a wide paved road for Luán Niángzĭ when she used the sedan. Even in the dark of the night, when vision was poor, if one followed the path, one should not get lost.
It’s a mountain road with many similar places. Probably just my imagination.
With this in mind Xià Zhòng began to walk. But no matter how long he walked, he never reached the village at the foot of the mountain. The road became narrower and narrower and the only thing he could see were the creepy, oddly shaped trees that appeared in the light of the lantern.
Would it be better to go back?
He turned back the way he had come, but no matter how far he went, he could not get out. Rather he felt as if he was going deeper and deeper into the mountains. There was no longer even a path, and he had to make his way through the weeds that grew in the gaps between the trees. Then a mist began to gather. It was not just mist. It had the smell of something rotten. Even breathing felt painful. It was more like a miasma. Xià Zhòng was reminded of a ghost story told among the men in the mansion. It was said that somewhere in the mountains, deep in the middle of nowhere, there used to be a village. The reason for the village’s downfall was because one villager swung his sword and cut dozens of others to pieces. Since then, the uninhabited mountain village had decayed to the point where there was no trace of it. However, at some point a female demon began to haunt the area, using her evil necromancy to use the corpses of the villagers as her servants. The souls of the villagers who had been taken prisoners by the evil arts, without ever being able to attain Buddhahood, sobbed out their regrets night after night. This was the ghost story Night’s Lament of this mountain.
N, No way. Have I wandered into the territory of the female demon from Night’s Lament?
The thought crossed Xià Zhòng mind, and this time he began to feel a chill in his heart.
“What!?”
A dozen or so metres ahead of him was a light, dimly visible through the mist. There must be a mountain hut or something where the light is coming from. There are people.
“This is help from heaven! If I go there, I can also ask for the directions to the foot of the mountain!”
Xià Zhòng joyfully waded through the weeds. He soon found himself in front of a small but solid house. Thinking it was a mountain hut, he knocked on the door, wondering who in the world would build such a house deep in the mountains.
“Is anyone there? I’ve lost my way! Isn’t there anyone?” he called, but the house was quiet and there was no sign of anyone coming out.
“Anyone! Isn’t anyone there!”
No one responded to his repeated calls. After a moment’s hesitation, Xià Zhòng opened the door. It was dark inside, and he couldn’t see clearly. The light probably came from another room. For some reason he didn’t hesitate when entering the house, even though it was without the consent of the owner. It was as if some inexplicable force had invited him into the house. He walked down a dark corridor and came to a room. Xià Zhòng opened the door and peeked inside. At the back of the dark room, someone was sitting in a chair. He made eye contact with that person.
“Excuse me!”
Xià Zhòng closed the door in a hurry. The person in the room was a naked man. Perhaps it was his imagination, but the body seemed somewhat distorted.
“I, I’m someone who got lost in this mountain. I called at the gate, but there was no answer, so I took the liberty of entering, knowing it was impolite. If you would be so nice to show me the way to the bottom of the mountain, I’ll be out of here at once, so please forgive me.”
Through the door Xià Zhòng explained himself but there was no response from the room behind the door and not even a hint of human movement. Suspicious, he opened the door once more and looked inside. There was still someone sitting in a chair at the back of the room.
“If” he called out from where he was standing, but the person in the chair did not answer or move at all. He had no presence, like he was an ornament. Xià Zhòng looked more closely.
“A doll?”
Its skin, as pale as porcelain, was not that of a living person. The lightly opened eyes did not blink, and its gaze remained empty. There were no arms at its shoulders. The reason why it looked somewhat distorted, when he first saw it, was because it had no arms. There was no mistake that it was a very finely crafted life-sized doll. Fearfully Xià Zhòng stepped into the room and approached it.
What a beautiful doll…
He let out a sign when he saw the doll up close. Its eyes were cool and jewel-like. Its light black hair reminded him of fine silk threads, its bare body looked muscular and flexible, and its skin was white as porcelain.
Very well done. It really looks like a real person, Xià Zhòng thought and tried to touch the doll. But then… “Wah!?” he shouted and withdrew his hand. The touch was strange. It was cool, but strangely realistic for an inorganic object. From the finger with which he touched the doll, a feeling of dread spread through Xià Zhòng body.
“I, it isn’t a doll!? Th, this is, a corpse!”
He was stiff with fear, rooted to the spot. At that moment, the mouth of the corpse, which had been closed, gaped open.
“LADY XÍNG HÀI! LADY XÍNG HÀI!”
Surprised to hear the high-sounding voice of the corpse, Xià Zhòng fell on his butt.
“PLEASE! PLEASE! P-P-P-PLEASE! I HAVE A REQUEEEST!”
The corpse was talking! The sight was so out of this world that Xià Zhòng could not even scream out. As he sat there, his eyes wide with shock and his mouth agape like a carp’s, the room suddenly became faintly brighter. A light appeared in the air. It was not an ordinary light with warmth, but an ominous fire with a cold blue light. The room that had been submerged in darkness was now eerily illuminated. Shelves covered the walls with many items on them arranged in rows. When Xià Zhòng saw these things, this time he screamed. There were human arms, legs, torsos, and heads lined up like decorations. A large glass bottle was filled with human guts. In a bowl filled with an unidentifiable liquid, brain marrow, eyeballs, detached ears and noses were preserved. The shelves in this room were a display of many dismembered human bodies.
“LADY XÍNG HÀI! I HAVE A REQUEEEST! THE ARMS! THE ARMS, PLEASE GIVE THEM BACK! LADY XÍNG HÀI! WHYYY WERE MY AAARMS CUT OFF? In front of the horrified Xià Zhòng, the screams of the corpse continued.
“Don’t scream like that…”
The screams of the corpse were responded by someone. A woman’s voice, directly from behind Xià Zhòng. He looked back in horror. A captivating woman was standing right behind him. He remembered her. She was the only woman Luán Niángzĭ would invite into the Mansion of the Eight Celestials. The woman she called ‘friend’; Xíng Hài. Xià Zhòng had sometimes seen this woman who visited the mansion about once a month. But did she have such pointy ears? Did she have horns like a water buffalo on her head? And most of all, did she ever have such a dense aura around her body? Xià Zhòng had a hunch.
Demon! Night’s Lament’s demoness!
The corpse stumbled out of his chair and began to walk towards Xíng Hài wanting to cling to her.
“LADY XÍNG HÀI! MY ARMS, MY ARMS, PLEASE RETURN THEM TO MEEE! THIS WAY I CAN’T RUB YOU SHOULDERS OR MAKE TEA FOR YOUUU! LET ME, PLEASE LET ME TAKE CARE OF YOU, MY LADYYY!” It shouted out while Xíng Hài stroked its head as if he were a loyal dog.
“Oh, oh, my darling doll. There’s no need to be sad. I cut off your arms because I found better ones. Soon you will have new arms…”
“WHERE!? WHERE ARE MY NEW AAARMS!?”
“These, right there.” Xíng Hài said and turned her head to Xià Zhòng. He shivered as if an icy hand had grabbed his heart.
“I’ll cut them off right now and put them on you.”
Xià Zhòng was at his limits. He pulled himself up in a hurry and tumbled out of the room. But as he passed through the door, someone suddenly grabbed him by the ankle, and he was unable to catch himself and fell clumsily. He looked at his ankle and was horrified as he saw the identity of the person grabbing him. It was a severed arm. One of the arms from the shelves had grabbed Xià Zhòng’s ankle. On Xíng Hài’s graceful face appeared a cruel smile. She looked down on him and said slowly, “I won’t let you go…”
Immediately, the shelves began to vibrate with rattling sounds. A dozen or so arms on them began to move at once. They leaped from the shelves as if they were living beings themselves. With a bewildering speed they rushed towards the fallen Xià Zhòng like a swarm of spiders. A scream of terror rose from the back of his throat. Across his field of vision filled with swarming arms, Xíng Hài was holding a dull shining blade with a somewhat euphoric look on her face. With the blade in her raised hand, she approached him with light-footed steps.
That was the last thing Xià Zhòng would see in this world.
***
A kiseru is a Japanese smoking pipe.
Xíng Hài: Xíng means punishment or penalty; Hài is the Boar of the Chinese zodiac, it can also mean ‘last’.
Xià Zhòng: Xià means summer; Zhòng means relationship in Japanese or mediator in Chinese.
kumazasa is a type of bamboo.
Remember when in season 1 they tried to recruit Xíng Hài into the team, they were talking about rumours about her. Like, that she makes youth elixirs from the liver of children or that she cut up 100 beautiful men to create a perfect doll? It was true all along!!
While translating this chapter I realized the effort that is needed to make a good translation and came to appreciate other peoples translations more. There were some parts that were quite difficult to translate but the things I had to google the most were guidelines for english literature (but I think I still got it wrong…).
Setsuna's Translation 