Chapter 15: Dangerous Visitors

In the turbulent 1930s, when China was in chaos and its people struggled to survive, supernatural horrors emerged in unprecedented numbers. Demons and monsters prowled freely through the countryside, preying on the desperate and vulnerable. Among these terrors, the soul-devouring corpses were perhaps the most dreaded of all.

 Master Seven Moons of the Shaolin Temple had led his disciples on a sacred mission across the country, hunting these abominations until they managed to seal every last one in the Demon Suppression Pagoda. They even captured the wandering sorcerer who had created the first soul-devouring corpse, ending his dark experiments forever.

 Since then, our world hadn't seen another of their kind. I'd read about them extensively in Grandfather's notes, but I'd treated them as mere stories - cautionary tales to keep young practitioners in line. Yet here in this remote Yin-Yang Shop, one stood before us in the flesh, as real and dangerous as any nightmare come to life.

 In theory, soul-devouring corpses needed spirits to survive - either the three hun and seven po souls of the recently deceased, or wandering ghosts trapped in our world. The more they consumed, the longer they lived and the more powerful they became. Each soul they devoured added to their strength while pushing them further from humanity.

 If this creature truly was a survivor from the 1930s, it had been feeding for ninety years. The thought made me shudder - how many souls had it devoured in nearly a century of predation? How many families had been torn apart to sustain its unnatural existence?

 The Wu brothers were sweating profusely after my explanation, afraid to even look at the woman in white. But Dead Man Qin's eyes gleamed with predatory interest - tomb raiders would steal anything valuable, and a captured soul-devouring corpse would fetch an astronomical price in certain markets.

 The woman in white glanced at Qin, her movement unnaturally smooth. "Tomb raiders aren't exactly respectable either. Let's not disturb each other or break the shopkeeper's rules. This place should remain neutral ground."

 "Fair enough," Qin smiled, his blackened teeth gleaming. "Plenty of valuable things in this world without picking a fight with you. But you've come a long way from Northern Henan - hope you're not after the same prize we are. Care to share?"

 "I seek a grave with a thousand-year-old soul," she said softly, her voice carrying the chill of the tomb. "They say consuming it would grant me another century of existence. The energy of such an ancient spirit... nothing else compares."

 "What a coincidence!" Qin's smile widened unnaturally. "We're also hunting a grave, though we don't care about its spirits. Perhaps we could cooperate?" He turned his bright eyes to Old Wu. "You're not also looking for a grave, are you?"

 Old Wu kept his face carefully neutral, though I could see his hand tightening on his staff. "We only want a mirror."

 "Ah!" Qin laughed in sudden understanding, the sound echoing off the shop's dark corners. "The Ghost-Devouring Mirror of Zhong Kui! Well done, Brother Wu - you've grown ambitious! Who would have thought the Mount Wu mourners would dare such a prize?"

 "Is it also your target?" Old Wu's voice carried a warning edge.

 Qin shook his head vigorously, though his eyes never lost their predatory gleam. "No, no - we're not that brave. Five million yuan is tempting, but you need to be alive to spend it! Here, take the first batch of paper effigies. Consider it our contribution to your... noble endeavor."

 His companions laughed darkly. "Qin's being generous. We can wait for the next batch. We'll even help with your funeral if necessary."

 The woman in white studied us carefully before moving away, her instincts clearly sensing something amiss. Even a soul-devouring corpse could recognize an obvious trap.

 Old Wu recognized the danger but wouldn't show weakness. "No need - first come, first served. We'll follow the rules."

 "How principled!" Qin's grin showed too many teeth. "Though that mass grave is awfully close to Mount Wutai... The monks there can be so... troublesome."

 My heart sank. His glee at our likely doom was painted across his face. If even these fearless tomb raiders wouldn't touch the mirror, it must be truly dangerous - perhaps even cursed.

 Before I could warn the Wu brothers, the white-haired shopkeeper emerged from his workroom, tossing six paper effigies onto the table with practiced casualness. "Blood on the forehead when you use them. They're not perfect - don't blame me if you die anyway. Twelve thousand each, cash only. No refunds for failures."

 Two thousand per effigy wasn't cheap, but Qin immediately produced a thick stack of bills without hesitation. As the shopkeeper turned to us with his unsettling gaze, I jumped in before Old Wu could speak, remembering everything I'd read in Grandfather's books.

 "Six effigies! But we need them with activated spirit points and soul apertures! Made from ritual paper with lightning-struck wood for the spine! Full ceremonial crafting!" I rattled off the specifications quickly, knowing they could mean the difference between life and death.

 The old man's eyes narrowed as he assessed me with new interest, his gaze seeming to pierce straight through to my soul. "Those are soul-division effigies. Much more work. Need to be ordered in advance. Eighty thousand each. No negotiation."

 Old Wu gasped audibly - nearly half a million yuan total, far more than they'd earned facing the Golden Immortal. Even Qin looked startled, clearly not realizing paper effigies could be so sophisticated or expensive. In our world, higher prices usually meant greater power, but also greater risk.

 "Old Wu whispered desperately, "The regular ones will do! They're all for substitution anyway - why waste such money on special ones?"

 I hissed back urgently, "You fool! Qin's setting us up! He's watching us walk into death! We need the best protection possible or we won't survive!"

 But before our argument could continue, the shop's atmosphere suddenly changed. Five tall men in black clothing entered silently, their presence commanding immediate attention. Their leader carried a sleek briefcase which he dropped onto the counter with a heavy thud. "Ten soul-division effigies. Now. Price is no object."

 When the shopkeeper began to mention the queue, another case appeared beside the first. "Two million. Clear your schedule."

 The shopkeeper's hands moved quickly to secure the cases, but before he could speak, the man in black frowned with deadly intent. "Or we could simply kill them all and eliminate the queue entirely."

 In one brutally swift motion, he seized the white-robed woman's neck and twisted. Her head turned a full circle with a sickening crack that echoed through the silent shop. No one moved - the casual violence had frozen everyone in place.