Since people rarely visited the rundown cemetery on the southern side of Ironhead Mountain, there wasn’t even a small path. The weeds were as tall as a person and covered his head. There was no sign of civilization, only the dismal long grass rustling without any wind, as if moving by themselves.
He Fu Gui carried a large wicker basket, trembling as he made his way through the grass.
Swish…swish….
Strange noises came from his surroundings but he didn’t dare turn to look. He just felt countless eyes staring at him in the thicket. The wicker basket felt incomparably heavy, as if someone was tugging at it.
When he awoke that morning, he carefully recalled the events of the previous night and grew more and more afraid. He considered not coming, or perhaps just fleeing the province. He had no one but himself anyway. However, he didn’t have any money for a trip. Instead, he was saddled with debt and he had no idea how far he would have to go to escape the two women in Qipao dresses.
They had said since they had chosen him, it meant he had agreed to work with them! How could he dare flee under such circumstances?! Recalling their exquisite embroidered shoes, satin crimson dresses and strange manner of Opera speech, He Fu Gui shivered and hurriedly shook away thoughts of escape!
Besides, hadn’t he dreamt about peony flowers the night before? Those two women had peony flowers embroidered on their clothes. Perhaps it was an omen from his ancestors that his luck was about to change and he was about to strike it rich. Who cares if they were immortals or ghosts? As long as they could truly make him wealthy, what did he have to fear?
He was a gambling addict through and through. If he wasn’t allowed to gamble, his heart itched as if thousands of tiny hands were scratching at it. He didn’t know where this obsession had come from. Regardless, gambling was everything to him. For the sake of this “hobby”, he lost all his belongings and sold his beautiful wife who had no family. If he could gamble without fear of loss, he was willing to make a trip to hell let alone some abandoned cemetery. It was fine as long as there were casinos in hell!
God of gamblers! The God of gamblers! How glorious would that be? What was this bit of fright compared to that wonderful future?!
Despite his thoughts, once he really reached the place and saw the desolate mountainside with the pale moonlight burrowing through the undergrowth, with the only sound being his heavy breathing, he still felt thoroughly creeped out!
His foot slipped and he fell, getting a mouthful of mud. Looking up, he saw a small mound ahead of him. It was an abandoned grave, its dried dirt cracked and looking like a grinning maw.
Startled, He Fu Gui hurriedly scrambled up, gripping the wicker basket tighter. “Forgiveness…elder! Forgiveness elder! I…didn’t do it on purpose. I’ll scram right this moment!” He stuttered out a quiet prayer as he hurriedly turned to leave. Yet the moment he turned, something dark and withered appeared before him. His breath caught in fear and he collapsed to his knees, shaking all over. He wasn’t able to say a word!
He had only come here once before as a curious child and wasn’t familiar with the place at all. Now, despite the moon’s light, he wasn’t able to orient himself. The women in Qipao also hadn’t given him an exact location. He had been stumbling along, not knowing where to go yet also not daring to linger in one place. Layers of cold sweat covered him and he felt some regret at having come.
After kowtowing for a while, he noticed the dark shadow hadn’t shown the slightest reaction. Mustering his courage, he looked up and saw it was actually a withered locust tree! Yet the realization didn’t make him feel any better. He didn’t remember seeing this locust tree when he arrived. Also, why was the ground wet?
The skies were clear and the grave mound was so dried it had cracked. Why had he slipped in mud? Why had this locust tree appeared out of the blue? Could he really be under a ghost’s spell?!
He ran in a panic, thinking that even if it was some great immortal interested in his basket, he didn’t dare hand it over. Those two women were still waiting for it. His luck was rotten and he didn’t dare offend either side!
Inside the basket were incense candles, paper money and a bowl of chicken blood rice.
The two great immortals last night had only asked for incense candles and paper money, but he had a dream after getting back. In his dream, a bowl of chicken blood rice had appeared, so he had brought it along as well.
He figured no one did things for free nowadays. Since they wanted to help him become the God of gamblers, it was only proper for him to help them. It was reasonable to make a down payment first.
He was penniless, and had sold off everything already. All he had was that little shack no one wanted. Therefore, he practically begged the incense store owner before he was able to get some on credit. The owner probably assumed he still had a bit of filial piety!
“Halt!”
A woman’s voice suddenly sounded, making him skid to a stop and fall on his ass. Looking up, he saw two pale faces swaying in front of him. His eyes rolled up but he didn’t die from fright. He recognized the faces belonging to the two great immortals in Qipao.
His appearance was probably too wretched, causing the two women to start laughing. Yet the setting and the women’s echoing, undulating laughter cased the cemetery to seem even creepier.
“You came, very good!” Three inch golden lotus said.
“Wouldn’t dare…wouldn’t dare not to!” He Fu Gui righted himself in a seated position. He was terrified of the two “women”, but they weren’t strangers after all. Compared to this place with dangers seemingly everywhere, he wasn’t quite as frightened.
The two women didn’t reply, merely sniffing desperately as the wind wafted. When he realized they were sniffing the things inside the basket, he hurriedly raised it up high.
“How fragrant!” He wasn’t sure which one sighed the words.
“If the two great immortals like it, I will come with offerings every day!” He Fu Gui said devoutly. He didn’t understand at first why they liked the candles when they hadn’t been lit yet. Then he realized they smelled the chicken blood rice.
“Hmph, do you have the money? You probably plan on paying respects with your winning! Wouldn’t that be due to our efforts? You’re quite good at borrowing flowers to offer Buddha.” Ordinary shoes said. Her voice was rougher and disdainful. He Fu Gui was able to differentiate it after listening for a while.
“Yes, yes.”
“Coward, what are you good for?” She spoke again.
“Little sis, forget it. He’s already here.” Three inch golden lotus said. Although the tone was gentle, her voice was sharp and drawn out, sounding especially jarring.
“Those things of yours aren’t for us. They are for you.” She now spoke to He Fu Gui. “We will teach you a spell. As long as you can endure it, all the world’s gambling luck will fall upon you. You are guaranteed to win any gamble.”
“Yes, yes. Thank you…great immortal.” He Fu Gui still didn’t dare look up. His raised arms were getting sore but he didn’t dare lower them.
“No need for thanks. Just remember that once we help you become the god of gamblers, you will come fulfill our wish. I don’t think you are one to renege on your promises, right?”
“Definitely won’t…definitely won’t renege!”
“It’s fine if you do. We’ll be following you the whole time regardless. Would we be scared of you running?” Ordinary shoes interjected.
He Fu Gui wanted to add some pretty words but what she said caused his throat to get blocked. What, the two great immortals would be constantly following him?! Doesn’t that mean he was going to get scared half to death the whole time? Wouldn’t he be like a criminal out on bail, without a second of freedom?!
“You regret it!” Three inch golden lotus suddenly lowered her face. She didn’t bend over or crouch, but instead turned her entire body upside down.
He Fu Gui’s hand slackened in shock and the basket fell. Yet before it could drop, an invisible and seemed to catch it, suspending it in the air. The face before him was grinning but also seemed extremely horrifying. The eyeholes and mouth were bottomless pits. He seemed to be caught by a enormous suction force, his eyes unable to avoid that face. He stammered, “No, no! No regrets!”
“That’s a good boy.” A hand patted his shoulder, and it wasn’t clear where it had come from. “Since that’s the case, we will tell you the method of obtaining unbeatable gambling luck. This is a secret. We can tell you the method, but you will have to accomplish it yourself.”
“Yes, yes, many thanks.”
“It’s actually very simple, but somewhere that fulfills the conditions isn’t easy to find.” Ordinary shoes didn’t seem to enjoy speaking. Three inch golden lotus was always the one talking. “You must first find a children’s cemetery. Those buried there cannot be over a hundred days old. Furthermore, there has to be at least seven such graves. You might think, wouldn’t it be easy to just kill seven such infants? What’s hard about that? But this condition is difficult because the seeker cannot purposefully cause it. The infants in the cemetery need to have died of natural causes. Now you see this condition is rather difficult. But ten years ago, something happened in the capital of the Shao County…”
Before she finished speaking, He Fu Gui recalled the matter. At the time, he was still in the Shao County high school. A fire had suddenly started at the county hospital, probably caused by a short circuit. The fire started in the maternity ward. The nurses and doctors without medical ethics ran for their own lives. Ten newborn babies were burned alive. The matter had caused a huge stir. One of the furious and grieving families ended up killing a nurse.
“That’s right, it is that matter.” Three inch golden lotus seemed to know He Fu Gui’s thoughts. She smiled and said, “How fortunate. Such inauspicious deaths! Therefore, you are very lucky to encounter this once in millennia opportunity. The locals all know how unlucky that matter was. Even fire and lightning cannot pacify this overwhelming and innate resentment. Therefore, they didn’t dare bury them in the area, but they also couldn’t just discard those corpses. They could only secretly bury them here! Because Ironhead Mountain is barren and spirituality doesn’t accumulate easily here, the people of Shao County hoped to use this natural mountain to suppress the natural Yin aura!”
Only then did He Fu Gui understand the situation. He listened as Three Inch Golden Lotus continued. “Now that we’ve found the right place, you just have to find the grave with the strongest resentment with out help. Offer the chicken blood rice, light three incense sticks and insert them into the rice. Then, burn the paper money and write your name on the mounting paper before burning it too. Wait for the incense sticks to finish burning before lighting three more. Take the three sticks with you all the way home, and it’ll be done.”
“That’s it?” He Fu Gui felt it seemed a little easy.
“If you don’t die, you’ll be the god of gamblers.” Ordinary shoes said coldly. “Because the moment you leave with the incense, many vengeful spirits will follow you and scare you. You’ll have to endure it. Did you think it was so easy to become the god of gamblers? How can there be such convenience in the world? But it’s too late for regrets. You either give it a try or get eaten by us. Your choice.”
Knowing He Fu Gui didn’t dare resist, Three Inch Golden Lotus smiled and leaned closer to his face. He felt a wave of cold envelop his entire body, making him shiver uncontrollably, his body rigid like a block of wood.
“Whatever you do, don’t look back!” Three Inch Golden Lotus said faintly. “While carrying the incense down the mountain, don’t ever look back!”
