by Tony Tran
“The only thing I can do is wait until morning and kill them somehow when they are sleep. There is no way we can handle three Jiangshi… If only there was one, then we could wipe the floor with it.” Zhang thought, displeased about the current situation. Although he wanted to help the people being killed by the Jiangshi, there was no way for him to do so.
The blood curdling screams continued to echo throughout the night as the Jiangshi rampaged. However, when a morning sun peaked out from the horizon a serene silence filled the city. The Jiangshi and their legions of undead disappeared as mysteriously as they appeared.
Soon enough the citizens of New Moon City arose from their slumber and poured onto the streets. Soon more horrifying tales were spread across the city, as those who heard the cries in the dead of night told their tales.
Zhang did not get an ounce of sleep the entire night, he had stayed up to make sure that no Jiangshi came near the hotel. If one did, then he would find a way to evacuate everyone in the hotel away. One could say that this hotel was currently one of the safest places in the city, since Zhang was keeping guard over it.
“Brother, you should get some rest.” Ai said as she climbed out of bed and wrapped her arms around her husband.
With the sun, overhead, Zhang had nothing to fear so he soon joined his four wives atop the luxurious bed and fell asleep for a few hours.
While Zhang was in his deep slumber, the city outside was bustling with people, despite the fear everyone possessed at night, New Moon City was still in an extremely festive mood. Everyone that went missing or were found dead, totaled not even a fraction of the city’s population and of course, many people choose to believe that a majority of the deaths were natural causes.
When something can’t be explained, many people choose to dismiss it. Obviously, this will come back to haunt them sooner or later. Thus, the festivities around the city continued on despite the trouble that was brewing.
Those in the city choose to be blind to the evil that was haunting it, but Zhang did not. He felt that the appearance of the three Jiangshi was too odd.
“Maybe they aren’t naturally spawned Jiangshi…” Zhang questioned in his mind as he laid atop his bed, shirtless and surrounded on all sides. After he had a few hours of sleep, he indulged in some merry making with his wives. The notes of the bedchamber were put into play, as well as the endless stamina granted by the Underworld Heart.
Had Jian Wei been around he would most likely pop in and then leave the room sighing about how it was too early in the morning for such things. But one cannot extinguish the flames of passion once they are lit, especially amongst these five.
So, after a few dozen rounds, the five of them laid atop the luxurious bed, once they had a bit more rest the five would being on their search for the three Jiangshi.
The moment the group set foot onto the streets they were enveloped by the festive atmosphere that lingered in the air. Stalls and vendors were set up all along the streets, performers crowded the streets to show off their arts, and thousands of people were out and about. The fear that curtained the night had completely evaporated as the sun rose and nothing seemed amiss.
“These people choose to be ignorant so they can live in bliss.” Yuying muttered as she walked through the merry streets.
“Sweeping something under the rug does not solve the problem.” Ling added.
The longer everyone choose to deny the situation the more it would escalate. As a matter of fact, Zhang had not even seen a single person packing their things and trying to leave the city, the entire time he and the beauties were walking through the streets.
While walking through the crowded streets, Zhang kept an eye out for residual trials of essence left behind by the Jiangshi. Unlike regular essence, the essence of a Jiangshi is pure black, in a way symbolizing death.
Thanks to the Underworld Heart, if Zhang saw even a hint of black essence he would be able to follow it and track the Jiangshi back to their lair.
“Darling, do you think someone is making Jiangshi? Since you said there are three…” Lingqi asked. When Zhang had brought up the fact that there were three Jiangshi, Lingqi instantly told him that making a Jiangshi was not very hard at all, it really only required lots of essence and a corpse and a few other things such.
However, they could not be sure on anything until they find out where the Jiangshi disappeared to.
“Did you hear? After last night, entire Le family disappeared and only some scratch marks and a huge mess was left at their mansion.” Zhang heard a man say as he walked pass a table of people chatting.
“Brother, you want to try some?” Ai asked as she held up a kabob at Zhang, while nibbling on a kabob of her own.
“Sure.” Zhang replied as he plucked the kabob Ai was nibbling on out of her hand and bit into it, then returned it to her.
“Indirect kiss?” Zhang chuckled.
With that the group continued their search for the Jiangshi once more, Zhang received a karate chop to the head for eating Ai’s kabob and not his own as silly as it might seem.
After hours of walking through the city with not a whiff of black essence, Zhang spotted a thick trail of it leading into an alleyway. Quickly signaling to the girls and his men who were trailing behind him, Zhang briskly walked into the alleyway.
Following the thick trail of black essence, Zhang and the group weaved through the network of alleyways of New Moon City, to be exact the alley ways could even be considered a maze. With so many twists, turns, and dead ends, once could probably consider it a maze.
Upon arriving at the end of the trail of black essence, Zhang looked up to see a large sigh that read, “Wang Clan Residence” this had belonged mansion of the provincial lord Wang Jin, Lord of New Moon City.
Chapter 7: Conspiracy
Zhang and the four bestirs stood in front of the provincial lord’s mansion with confusion on their faces. Of all the places the trail of essence could led them to, it led to the provincial lord’s mansion.
That in itself was strange, personally Zhang had expected the trail to lead to some cemetery or the outskirts of the city. However, they were led here, to the center of the city.
“Darling should we force our way in?” Lingqi asked as she wee the hulking men standing in front of the gate.
“No, now is not the time to draw attention to ourselves.” Zhang said in a whisper as he directed everyone to head off.
The provincial lord’s mansion was not a place anyone could just wander into, although Zhang was fairly confident he would be able to get in and out, it was still very dangerous. An enemy that could create three Jiangshi and keep them contained was not an enemy that one should engage without preparing.
“We can't possibly enter and not arouse suspicion, so the best plan would be either taking care of the Jiangshi when no one is around, or inform the people and have them leave this province. Of course, neither will be easily accomplished.” Zhang whispered to the four beauties beside him.
“But before then we might as well enjoy the festival a bit.” Zhang added.
“Cheng Yu, you and the rest of the men go enjoy yourselves a bit. Meet me back at the hotel before sundown.” Zhang said to Cheng Yu who was trailing behind him. A few moments later a small bag of a dozen gold coins shot toward Cheng Yu.
“Many thanks my lord.” Cheng Yu murmured before he disappeared into the crowd.
With Cheng Yu and the guards gone, Zhang and the four beauties began to indulge on the festivities.
Fire spotters, dagger jugglers, opera singers, dozens of acts were occurring on the streets of New Moon City. As they passed a crowd of people watching an opera group enacting a play, an ingenious idea began concocting in Zhang’s mind.
“If I tell the citizens of the city that a Jiangshi is the one doing the killings, I doubt they would believe me. Jiangshi are usually many times more destructive than the three that have been appearing here and most believe they are but creatures of legends. However, if I had some
one else plant a seed of fear in their hearts, then my words will seep in better.” Zhang though at his eyes glittered.
“Let's have a seat and watch the play.” Zhang said to his wives. With a wave of his hand a bench appeared, which he hoisted on his shoulder and through the crowd. Once Zhang arrived at the front of the crowd he deployed his bench and sat down.
Not long after four beauties that could be considered goddesses joined him, to enjoy the play.
This troupe was currently enacting a piece about a man who fought a black dragon.
“Pretty spot on.” Zhang thought as he recalled the paintings from the underworld, depicting the battle between the founder of the Heilong Kingdom and the Black Dragon.
However, a princess was added, and a scene where the dragon’s head was ripped off, but grew back was shown. There was also some random scene with a penguin for comedic relief and then there was a mysterious tumbleweed.
“Damn the penguin! It stole the hero's sword!” A few people in the crowd yelled as they emerged themselves in the play.
“What's up with that tumbleweed causing a carriage collision?” A few others asked.
From the look of things, it seems the crowd wasn't enjoying this adaption of the story of the creation of the Heilong Kingdom. Despite a strong start the actors were now getting booed off the stage.
Once the play ended the actors all walked off the stage with their heads drooped. With a sense of dread and defeat was emitted from the.
“Dammit why does it happen every time…” A man who played the part of the penguin cursed as he wiped tomato stains off his costume.
“Because our troupe leader always makes you play the penguin…” Another man muttered.
“You forget the fact that some parts of our play are flat out stupid…” A beautiful woman playing the princess rescued by the hero said with a hint of disdain in her tone.
“Well there's not much we can do, our playwright quit, which made our earnings plummet and now we can't afford to hire any good playwrights for our troupe…Soon we might even have to disband because of our lack of funds” A middle aged man said with a sigh, he clearly was the leader of this troupe. Many wrinkles and creases ran across his face, visibly showing the hardship the troupe was currently enduring.
“I'm looking for the leader of this troupe.” A voice rang out. As the troupe members looked back they saw a young man, and behind him were four women who could only be described with the word mesmerizing or beautiful.
“Young master how may I be of service.” The troupe leader said quickly. From the clothes of this young man and the women behind him, they were clearly part of the social elite and if their troupe could get a sponsor or be hired by people of such status, they would be able to pull out of their slump.
“I would like for you to enact a play for me. The details are on this piece of paper. As for any fees, you inquire, on top of the cost of hiring you I believe this should be enough to handle them. You can also use some of it to hire a good playwright.” Zhang said with a smile as he handed the troupe leader a small sack of gold coins.
The troupe leader’s hand trembled as he griped the bag of gold coins in his hand. During his entire life, he had never had so much money in his hands.
“Also, I would like you all to move into the hotel listed on the piece of paper, all expenses paid of course, I wouldn’t want my entertainers to be living in some dump.” Zhang said, but of course, his real goal was to keep these people safe because if they ran into any danger for taking part in his plan, it wouldn't sit right with him.
“Troupe leader, what are you doing, thank the young master.” The man who played the penguin in the play said.
“Wait, we must go over some details first. To be honest this seems too good to be true. Why pick us? There are dozens of another troupe in the city. Also, I’m not one to turn down money but when someone offers so much for a simple play, it makes me wonder.” The troupe leader said, thinking Zhang’s offer was too good to be true. Who would give a bag full of gold coins for a simple play.
“First, you will not be the only troupe I will be hiring. Second, it won’t be just a simple play, it will be a play that will be remembered for ages.” Zhang said with a smile and left with the four beauties.
Soon after the troupe leader was tied up and gagged, as his troupe members dragged him to the hotel that Zhang was staying at. To their surprise, they found that four other troupes had already arrived at the hotel and were bringing their things in. Not long after the rest of the troupes in the city were gathered by Zhang to enact his plan.
Each troupe he hired was to perform as play about a Jiangshi attacking New Moon City during the festival, of course, they were able to freely portray the stories to their liking as long as they enacted the parts Zhang wished. The troupes would be dispersed throughout the city to send Zhang’s message to the masses.
He also hired storytellers, soothsayers, and many other people of the sort to begin spreading rumors about a Jiangshi attack. He knew that directly confronting the lord of this province was not wise so Zhang choose to influence the populace instead. Much like his scheme with the stone tablets that said he was the chosen king, this plan was devised to basically mind wash the populace.
But for today, their objective was to all relocate to the hotel Zhang was staying in. He had even strictly stated that anyone who doesn’t arrive at the hotel would not be hired anymore. Later that day the hotel Zhang was staying at was swarming with people and all of the rooms were booked. Despite all the rooms being booked, many more people were still arriving.
Sheets and bedding was currently being spread out on the floor throughout the hotel to accommodate the hundreds of people Zhang had hired for his plan.
“Sweetheart, I’ve made dozens of dark essence repelling talismans and stuck them all over the hotel. So even if the Jiangshi attack here we should be able to repel them for a while.” Yuying said with a refreshing smile on her face. Zhang had previously asked her if there was any way to deal with the Jiangshi, Yuying could be considered one of the most knowledgeable people regarding the topics relating to the undead or the occult so asking her an obvious thing to do.
“Your enjoying, this, aren’t you?” Zhang asked with a chuckle as his hand traced Yuying’s long silky red hair.
“Of course, I’ve always wanted to create and control a Jiangshi myself and it seems that perhaps the lord of this province has found a way to mass produce them on a small scale. If I can acquire the method, I’ll create an army of Jiangshi.” Yuying said with a glint in her eyes. She had a maddening look in her eyes that showed she wasn’t kidding when she said she would create an army of Jiangshi. Zhang could image his wife standing in front of a massive army of undead and Jiangshi.
“Truly befitting of a princess of the underworld and my wife.” Zhang thought with a chuckle.
Dozens of talismans could be seen stuck to the many of the windows and doors of the hotel. Everyone was given instructions not to touch the talismans at any cost.
With everyone in the hotel busy doing this and that, it did not take long for the sun to depart and the moon to arise to the dark night sky. Once the moon was in the sky, the streets of New Moon City became a desolate place without a single soul. Although no one knew that Jiangshi were in the city, they knew people were being killed left and right, so everyone would head home before sundown and fortify themselves.
Once the people were gone, a parade of undead appeared from the darkness. Three Jiangshi, emitting terrifying auras began roaming the city looking for prey. Any poor soul that ends up in their hands was destined to turn into dried carcasses. The rhythmic hopping of the Jiangshi soon rang through the city, with a legion of undead behind them the Jiangshi were like heralds of death. Wherever they went a thick black screen of nearly invisible essence appeared.
The Jiangshi continued moving through the city until they spotted a cage in the middle of the street. Inside this cage was a dozen or so chickens, clucking away
and scurrying about at the arrival of the Jiangshi.
Upon seeing the chickens, the Jiangshi sprang into action and pounced at the cage. However, the instant they touched the iron cage a red glow emitted from it and repelled them.
Off in the distance, from the fourth floor of the hotel they were staying in, Zhang and Yuying could be seen peeking out of the window.
“Sweetheart you see? It works.” Yuying murmured cheerfully.
Chapter 8: Schemes
With his experiment, complete and a good night’s sleep, Zhang woke up early to watch his plan unfold. As soon as the run rose to the sky, the entertainers and storytellers that Zhang hired all quickly left the hotel and began doing what they were paid to do.
It did not take long for wild tales of Jiangshi to be spread throughout New Moon City. Horrifying tales, comedic tales, and all sorts of others were being spread like wildfire. The people of the city began to let their imaginations run wild after seeing the plays and hearing the stories of Jiangshi attacking the city.