Chapter 61: Another One Dead

The next morning before dawn, the two paper men quietly floated in through the door crack. Their excitement had not yet faded when they realized Li Chaosheng was sitting on the bed watching them. The two paper figures froze in place, stunned.

Turtle Son poked his head out of the water basin, wearing a humanlike smile as he looked at the panic-stricken paper figures, then quietly withdrew his head. He thought, Don’t let the paper men spot me, or they might guess I was the one who squealed.

Turtle Son slipped back into the water, hiding his deeds.

“What have you been doing?” Li Chaosheng asked in a low voice.

The two paper figures glanced at each other; Little White said, “W-we went for a walk.”

“Went for a walk? Didn’t I tell both of you yesterday to stay home and not run around?”

Li Chaosheng continued, asking sternly. Little White glanced at Little Black and said, “Master, it was Little Black. Little Black insisted on taking me out to play. I told him Master would not allow it, and Little Black said it would be fine.”

Little Black stood aside thinking Little White was being glib, but the idiot unexpectedly pinned the blame on him. Little Black’s face went dark with anger.

“You, you bastard! That’s nonsense! Master, don’t believe him. He’s talking nonsense. I-I’ll tear your dog mouth apart!”

Little Black, furious, started wrestling with Little White. Li Chaosheng rolled his eyes at the two pests, rose, and stepped outside bare-chested. By the moonlight he began to practice the Witch Body-Refinement Techniques.

He had gone to bed fairly early yesterday. Eight hours of sleep a day was enough and any more would be a waste. So Li Chaosheng woke early and practiced early.

When Li Chaosheng stepped out, Little Black was still wrestling with Little White. Little White urgently said, “Alright, alright. Master is out. Don’t pinch me anymore.”

Little Black froze, looked around, and seeing that Li Chaosheng was indeed gone, he stopped and cursed, “You turtle grandson, so untrustworthy. How can you push all the blame onto me?”

Little White then laughed and said, “Little Black, this is just a makeshift plan to fool Master.”

“Then from now on I’ll be the one to fool Master. I’ll use makeshift plans,” Little Black said with a sour face.

Little White, hearing this, grinned wickedly at Little Black and said, “Little Black, this is unsafe territory. You can’t handle it. Let me do it instead.”

Little Black ignored Little White completely and decided he would never be fooled by him again.

Little Black was angry. Little White jumped onto the bed and said, “Something’s off. Why did Master get up earlier than usual today? Normally even if Master trains he would wait another hour.”

“So what? Maybe Master wants to strike up some resolve and work hard.”

Little Black jumped onto the bed and said to Little White, but as soon as he was up there he looked down at his feet. Why were they wet? Why was there water on the bed?

Little Black glanced at Little White, and Little White also looked at the wet marks on the bed.

“Master didn’t wet the bed, did he?” Little White asked in puzzlement.

Little Black frowned and followed the trail of water to the basin, where he saw Turtle Son curled up inside.

“Turtle Son!”

Little Black’s gaze sharpened instantly. Little White also looked at Turtle Son and said, “What’s up?”

“It must have squealed. You little son of a—come out here!” Little Black stood on the edge of the bed and shouted angrily.

Turtle Son shrank into his shell and wouldn’t come out. Little Black’s face darkened as he said, “You! If you don’t want to show us any mercy, don’t blame the two of us for being ruthless. Little White, deal with it!”

…

Li Chaosheng practiced in the moonlight until dawn. He was drenched in sweat and his strength had greatly improved. Having eaten the Essence-Washing Marrow-Refining Fruit, his talent was unquestionable. After so many days of cultivation he had reached the peak of Training Sinews. In another two to three days he would likely enter the next realm, the Training Skin realm.

After his session Li Chaosheng felt an unprecedented ease throughout his body. He stretched, fetched a bucket of well water to wash up, and when he had finished and turned back into the room he saw that Turtle Son, at some point, had been flipped over and tossed on the bed. His little head lolled over the edge, dizzy, looking very much like a powerless man.

Li Chaosheng then looked at Little Black and Little White. With sunlight streaming in they had lost their spirit. When Li Chaosheng entered they immediately turned into two streaks of light and entered Li Chaosheng’s embrace.

“Those two bastards have been tormenting Turtle Son again, haven’t they?”

Li Chaosheng said this as he flipped Turtle Son over and, with some regret, said, “You Turtle Son, you’re hopeless. Such a big fellow and you can’t beat two paper figures. Shame on you.”

Li Chaosheng said this while the turtle muttered sullenly to itself, “Just you wait. When I succeed in cultivation I’ll make those two bastards pay. Ugh, so dizzy.”

Li Chaosheng set Turtle Son on the bed to sober up, dressed himself neatly, and went out. Outside he saw the Zhou family funeral music shop a short distance away with its door wide open and Shopkeeper Zhou bustling about.

Li Chaosheng had stepped out to get breakfast and happened to pass by. He poked his head in at the doorway and just as he did he saw Shopkeeper Zhou come out.

“Shopkeeper Zhou, what’s going on here?” Li Chaosheng asked.

Shopkeeper Zhou, sweaty and full of terror, said, “Brother Li, I…I…my place is haunted.”

“Haunted?”

Li Chaosheng looked curious. Shopkeeper Zhou, solemn, said, “Yes, haunted, very eerie. You don’t know, last night the horn and sheng in my room started playing by themselves. The sheng even played ‘Hundreds of Birds Face the Phoenix.’ I mustered the courage to take a peek. Guess what I saw?”

“What did you see?” Li Chaosheng was intrigued and asked.

Shopkeeper Zhou said in panic, “I saw two little paper figures, about the height of chopsticks. One’s face was so dark it looked like a lump of charcoal. The other’s face was deathly pale like a steamed bun. They were playing my instruments. They scared me so much I didn’t sleep all night. Now that it’s nearly dawn, I planned to find the feng shui blind man next door to draw two talismans to place in the house for protection.”

“Oh, that is really scary. But Shopkeeper Zhou, don’t be afraid. If you’ve done nothing wrong, you don’t need to fear ghosts knocking at your door at night.”

“Shh!”

Shopkeeper Zhou quickly made a quieting gesture and said, “Don’t blabber. I have a booking tonight. Don’t really pull any tricks on me.”

“Oh, you have a booking. Which family has lost someone?” Li Chaosheng asked curiously.

Shopkeeper Zhou looked at Li Chaosheng and said, “You don’t know? The biggest butcher outside the city, Butcher Zheng’s household. The matriarch has died. They’re arranging the funeral now.”

“The matriarch of the Zheng butcher family? You mean Zheng Zhuang’s mother died?”

Li Chaosheng was somewhat shocked. He had visited their house days earlier and only heard the old woman was unwell. He hadn’t expected she would die so soon.