Free Web NovelChapter 41: Chapter 41: Paperman Makeup
"Outside the gate stands a ten-foot-tall wooden pole, the moment you hear the opera singing suddenly change and confirm that the Ghost is possessed, you must immediately raise the red lantern to notify the people by the lake to act—that’s your task for tonight."
After the task was assigned, Kuang Hongyi bowed to the old man and turned to walk outside the courtyard, the old man reminded him one last time that once he left the courtyard gate, he should never look back.
"Rest assured, old sir," Kuang Hongyi replied loudly.
The old man turned stiffly to look at Yang Xiao and after a long moment, he began, "Young man, the task you have to do tonight is the most dangerous. You must sit among those lonely Ghosts and lost spirits attracted by the opera, timely replace the incense candles that have been burned, and the offerings eaten. If your identity is exposed, you’ll have no grave to be buried in."
Yang Xiao took a deep breath and nodded firmly, "I’ll be careful, please give me your guidance, old sir."
Raising his arm, the old man pointed to the stage. There were several platters of offerings placed right next to the stage, from left to right were raw meat, rice and flour, fruits, and sweets—all four categories.
In front of each type of offering stood a triangular incense burner, underneath which lay a thick stack of joss paper, with many unlit incense sticks inside.
"When you hear the gong sound, you have to light the incense in the burners as quickly as possible, then return to your seat and sit properly," he said.
Following the old man’s guidance, Yang Xiao noticed there was one empty seat in the front row of benches to the left of the stage, unoccupied by paper effigies.
Underneath the bench, there were four bamboo baskets covered in red cloth.
"Inside the bamboo baskets are the four types of offerings. When the offerings on stage are nearly consumed, you must replace them in time," the old man glanced meaningfully at Yang Xiao, "Remember, Ghosts only eat the flavor, which is the essence of the food, also known as the incense fragrance. It is invisible on the surface of the offering, so you have to observe through the incense in the burner."
"The faster the incense burns, the more ferociously the Ghosts are eating. At that point, you need to go replace the offerings ahead of time, because once the Ghosts finish eating the offerings, they will look for other things to consume."
Looking at the incense in the burner, Yang Xiao remembered the old man’s words, "Is there anything taboo about changing the offerings?"
"Wear red paper shoes, walk the funeral path, avoid looking back, and do not open your mouth," the old man said in a measured tone, "Besides that, you must be careful with the offerings. On the way to replace them, you absolutely cannot let the new offerings fall to the ground; that would be a great disrespect."
After finishing, the old man pulled out a pair of red paper shoes from his bosom, as if by magic. The shoes were small, the kind for bound feet, and the two paper shoes were linked together by a twine which the old man hung around Yang Xiao’s neck, letting the shoes dangle over his chest.
Yang Xiao had never heard about wearing red paper shoes, but only the dead wore paper shoes, so he figured it was a way to disguise the living’s presence.
Yang Xiao knew the rules of walking the funeral path. The dead have stiff ankles and cannot walk with a curved path or with raised feet, and thus can be blocked by high gateways or dead ends.
Walking the funeral path means to mimic the dead’s way of walking, usually applied when escorting corpses with heavy resentment. The emphasis is on moving forward with the soles dragging, paying special attention to the stride of each step—the heel must not surpass the toes of the other foot, or it would also be a great disrespect.
Avoiding looking back and opening your mouth is easy to understand. Anyone often traveling by night knows not to look back casually, as it may extinguish the yang fire on one’s shoulders. Yang fire represents one’s life force, and those with low fortune are more likely to be targeted by those Ghostly beings.
And while sitting among the paper effigies, opening one’s mouth would release the living’s vital breath and thus lead to discovery, with dire consequences.
"Humans bully the weak and fear the strong, and ghosts are no different; tonight’s affairs cannot be dispatched with mere caution, one must also be brave and strategic," the old man seemed quite satisfied with Yang Xiao’s reaction, giving a few additional pieces of advice, "As for the degree of risk, you’ll have to judge for yourself. There’s a common saying that fortune comes from taking risks, and you’re halfway to being a professional, so you should understand some principles."
While speaking, the old nanny emerged from behind the stage, still wearing that disgusting scowl. She signaled Yang Xiao to sit and then took out rouge and face powder from the bamboo basket at her waist, and began to apply makeup to Yang Xiao.
However, her actions were very rough; it all took just two minutes. When she held up a small copper mirror for Yang Xiao to take a look, he was completely dumbfounded. In the mirror, his face was painted stark white, with dark circles under his eyes, eyebrows thick as brushes, the left even more exaggeratedly thick and long than the right, and a pair of bright red lips—a terrible makeup job suited for a low-quality paper person!
Only now did Yang Xiao remember the Paper Talisman Artisan’s skill—if he were still alive, he would be doing the makeup tonight, and it certainly wouldn’t have been this ugly.
Seeing Yang Xiao’s frown deepen, the old nanny’s tone became even more impatient, "Not satisfied? If you’re not, I can redo it!"
"No, no, no, no trouble at all, let’s... let’s just leave it like this," Yang Xiao tried to twist his features into a look of satisfaction, but the reflection wearing a smile was even more terrifying than a ghost.
After she had put away her powders and rouges, the old nanny slung the bamboo basket back onto her waist and twisted her wobbly hips as she walked outside, "Remember, once the gong sounds, tonight’s play will have begun. You still have the time it takes an incense candle to burn."
It looked like the old nanny was in a hurry to do makeup for Kuang Hongyi waiting outside; after all, both of them had to play the part of ghosts tonight.
The old man reached into his robe, this time pulling out a delicately wrapped cloth pouch, embroidered with several white lotus flowers. Upon opening it, inside was a crumpled piece of yellow paper.
The yellow paper was wet and sticky. Before Yang Xiao could take a closer look, the old man picked up the paper and slapped it onto Yang Xiao’s face with a smack.
Yang Xiao: "???"
"Don’t move, this is good stuff," the old man pressed one hand onto Yang Xiao’s shoulder, smoothing out the edges of the yellow paper with the other hand. The paper fit perfectly, covering just Yang Xiao’s right eye.
At that moment, Yang Xiao detected a strange scent; the paper wasn’t wet with water, but with oil, wax oil.
"Try and see if you can open your eye."
Yang Xiao blinked his right eye gently. He could open it, but the wax oil irritated his eye, making it impossible to keep open for long. When he closed his left eye, through the semi-transparent yellow paper, everything around him became a blur of shapes.
"Left eye to see humans, right eye to see ghosts." With a silver needle piercing through the skin above the eyebrow, the old man quickly stitched the yellow paper directly onto Yang Xiao’s face, "Young man, remember my words, no matter what happens, don’t panic until this grand play is over."
After doing all this, the old man left. At this point, in the vast courtyard, Yang Xiao was the only person left. frёeωebɳovel.com
No, that’s not right; there was also Su Tingting behind the white cloth.
But at that moment, Yang Xiao could no longer see Su Tingting’s shadow on the white cloth behind the stage. He guessed that either Su Tingting was crouching down, or...or she was lying down. In front of and behind the white cloth, it was like two different worlds.
Steadying his mind, Yang Xiao walked over to his seat. Standing there, he realized just how odd the paper people were, each with their own unique posture, their painted faces beyond description, some even lacked arms and legs, total rushed jobs with glaring defects.
