Chapter 135: The Gaojia Ghost Village
Chapter 131 of "The Great Ming in the Box" kicks off with thrilling moments: Cheng Xu felt certain he was dead. Stones crashed and tumbled toward him, plummeting straight... Read more!
Cheng Xu felt certain he was dead. Stones crashed and tumbled toward him, plummeting straight down. However he considered it, he saw no sliver of hope for survival.With a thunderous rumble, mud and stones swallowed him, plunging his world into utter blackness.
The face of his grandmother appeared. Amidst the darkness, a withered hand grasped Cheng Xuâs calf, dragging him deeper underground, pulling with fierce strengthâŚ
He waited quietly, resigned to hurtling into hell, where he would reunite with his grandmother beneath the springs.
But then!
A deafening crack sounded overhead. Something seemed to shift away. Sunlight pierced the darkness, bathing him in its glow. The withered hand touched by the sunlight scattered into ash instantly.
Only then did Cheng Xu realizeâhe hadnât been buried. Some invisible wall shielded him at the center; only mud had covered him up to his calves.
What shielded me?
He tried to reach out, but the unseen barrier moved. With a roar, it blasted all surrounding mud and stones away. Between its stillness and fury, a terrifying divine might unfurled, freezing Cheng Xu with dread.
Had he not stood at this powerâs heart, he would have fled in panic. But nowâhe didnât even know which way to flee.
Huh?
Waitâdirection!
The unseen force sketched a massive arrow upon the earth, pointing northeast.
Panic seized Cheng Xu.
What does this mean?
No idea!
But he couldnât defy it.
Heart hammering, he lifted his feet and trudged northeast.
After several hundred meters, another giant arrow materialized on the ground ahead, still aimed northeast, though slightly askew.
He kept following.
Armored, heavy, and utterly exhausted from long flight and battling Imperial Guards, Cheng Xu could hardly walk. Trembling, he followed the arrows.
Night deepened, deepened still.
As twilight finally vanished, the guiding arrows vanished too. Lifting his head, he saw a towering fortress rise aheadâpitch-dark and forbidding. Weak oil lamps glowed on its fortress walls, where two listless sentinels patrolled listlesslyâŚ
Cheng Xu startled. âGaojia Village!â
He recalled his visits here, and Bai Yuanâs words: Entering Gaojia Village at night meant death. Zheng Yanfu and Zhuang Guangdao lost their lives that way.
âWhy? Why lead me here?â
Suddenly, he understood. âSo at the moment when the mud and stones crushed me⌠I already died. Fooled myself into thinking something saved me. That was just illusion. Iâve crossed from the living world into the underworldâonly bypassing Naihe Bridge, never drinking Granny Mengâs soup.â
âGrandmother, you must be waiting for me in night-shrouded Gaojia Village. Your great-grandson comes to bring you joy once more.â
Dragging his worn body, Cheng Xu shuffled step by step toward Gaojia Fortressâ gate.
The two sentinels on the fortress wall watched him with odd expressionsâyet gave no alarm. Almost as if theyâd awaited him.
Ignoring them, Cheng Xu stumbled to the gate. Just as he raised his hand to knockâ
The gate creaked open. Thirty-Two stood within, holding a lifeless lantern, mouth twisting into a grim smile.
âCommander Cheng, please enter. Weâve waited long for you.â
Cheng Xu figure since he was already dead anyway, what else was there to fear? He paid no mind to Thirty-Twoâs eerie smileâso what if youâre a ghost? You can only eat living people. Iâm deadâyou think Iâd fear being eaten?
He strode right into the fortress!
Thirty-Two glided silently beside him: âThe generalâs schemes were exposed, hunted by the Imperial Guards?â
Cheng Xu wasnât surprised he knew. Itâd be stranger if he didnât: âHmph, so I died.â
Thirty-Two: âNot necessarily.â
Cheng Xu: âWhereâs my grandmother? Did she send you to fetch me?â
Thirty-Two: âThe Eunuch Party has fallen?â
Cheng Xu scoffed, his laugh thick with self-mockery: âOvernight, every civil official started attacking them. Back then, I just clung to the Eunuch Partyâs coattails to climb higher, got this patrol officer position⌠and now Iâm condemned as one. The Emperor wants me dead. The officials all want me dead⌠So the Imperial Guards cooked up an excuse to execute meâŚâ
Thirty-Two chuckled darkly: âWas it truly just a cooked-up excuse?â
Cheng Xu: ââŚâ
Awkward.
Fine, lying and exaggerating reports had become such a habit in lifeâhe couldnât shake it even now. Even in the afterlife, he reflexively fibbed about critical matters. Damn it, what a rotten habit. For origÄąnal chapters go to NoveI-Fire.É´et
Lies might fool the living, but not ghosts.
Cheng Xu smirked grimly: âWell said, Third Lady. Whatâs the point of false words when Iâm already dead? I didnât kill Wang Er. Faked a head to cover it up. And whose fault was THAT? Those damned officials! If I hadnât lied about Wang Erâs death, Iâd have met my grandmother even sooner.â
Anger flashed through him: âI had just a hundred men! How was I supposed to control a whole county like Chengcheng? THOUSANDS of rebels? Goddamn it! They forced me to lie! Tell the truth? Dead. Lie? Also dead. That cursed emperor and those rotten officials gave me no way out. Everything I did was just trying to survive. Why wouldnât anyone let me fucking live?â
âFrom the moment Zhang Yaocai demanded those taxesâno, from the day the drought beganâmy foot was already in Hellâs door. Hahahaha!â His laugh turned shrill, choked with bitterness. âTruth is, I was long dead⌠just buried today. HAHAHAHA!â
âWho the hellâs cackling like a ghost at night? SHUT IT! Let people sleep, wonât you?â
âLaugh again and Iâll beat you dead!â
Angry shouts erupted from nearby residential buildingsâtwo different voices: Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu.
Cheng Xuâs laughter died instantly. A question mark slowly rose over his head: â?â
Wasnât this a Ghost Village?
Ghosts⌠slept?
Noâthat shout had said, âlet people sleep.â
Living people?
No, noâthink broader. Dead people are people!
âLet people sleepâ must mean disturbing the departedâs rest.
Heâs probably lying in his coffin.
Cheng Xu stopped laughing. Truth be told, he wasnât in the mood anyway.
Face stony, he followed Thirty-Two. They wound through endless corridors, twisting and turning, until they reached the watchtower. Gao Yiye stood waiting.
Cheng Xu thought: A female ghost! Finally meet the most powerful specter in this Gao family Ghost Village, huh? Iâm just a new ghostâgotta obey, or Iâm doomed⌠Wait, what am I scared of? Iâm already doomed.