Ita Era

Chapter 161 Staying Overnight
The boy thought Ding Shi was swearing, but he had no proof, so he could only glare at Ding Shi. Ding Shi glared at him while knocking on the courtyard gate, and soon a woman responded, "Coming, coming."

The woman was not yet twenty-five or twenty-six, wearing a blue floral top and brown pants, with her hair in two braids. Her seemingly ordinary attire astonished Ding Shi; this woman was exceptionally beautiful. While not quite at the level of an AI, she was certainly celebrity-level, with unbelievably beautiful features, though her face was slightly rough and dark.

Ding Shi's heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but swallow. He used his willpower to look away and gaze at the boy who had his arms crossed. The boy's face said: I knew it.

Ding Shi dared not look directly at the woman's face, but looking at her neck and below was also inappropriate. For a moment, the old martial arts master Ding was in an awkward situation.

The woman spoke first, asking, "Are you a tourist? My surname is Liu, you can call me Liu Niang."

Ding Shi, being an old hand at the world, had already adjusted his mindset in a short while. He looked directly at Liu Niang, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "May I ask, Liu Niang, I need to stay in Tianmen Village for a while. May I stay at your house?"

According to village rules, the daily cost for food and lodging is $3.

Before Liu Niang could speak, the boy said, "No, my father isn't here, you'll definitely bully my mother."

Liu Niang's face instantly turned red, and she scolded, "Tiger Head, what nonsense are you talking about?"

Ding Shi noticed that the NPCs in Ita were becoming increasingly human-like; even Liu Niang's voice when scolding the brats was naturally alluring, making one's bones melt. But are you being reasonable? Such a beautiful young woman with such a lovely voice, appearing here?
The boy retorted, "Last time, that uncle named Yifeng, wasn't he just bullying you in your room?"

You brat, now that you say that, I kind of want to be a beast myself.

Liu Niang quickly covered Hu Tou's mouth and said to Ding Shi, "Didn't you ask me?"

Ding Shi replied, "My name is Ding Shi."

Liu Niang said, "Mr. Ding, if you don't mind, there is another empty room in the house."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sha Bi appeared behind Ding Shi like a ghost: "My name is Duan Pi, Liu Niang... are there any empty rooms?" The pause was because Sha Bi was amazed by Liu Niang's beauty.

Liu Niang nodded: "There's one more room."

The Confucian man, who had been watching from a distance, strode over and pulled out 50 dollars: "I'll take your room."

Everyone looked at Xi Jiu, who said, "I have been deeply influenced by Confucian culture since childhood. I know etiquette and can distinguish right from wrong. How could I not see what evil is in your hearts? Liu Niang, please believe me." His words were firm and powerful, showing a clear and open mind, without any concealment, and the courage to stand against the villains of the world.

Liu Niang looked at Ding Shi with difficulty and said, "But..."

Ding Shi smiled slightly: "I won't make things difficult for Liu Niang. I'll find another place to stay." After saying that, he nodded and turned to leave.

Sha Bi's thought process didn't quite keep up with Ding Shi's, but his steps did. After walking quite a distance, Sha Bi turned back and asked in a low voice, "Did you find anything?"

Ding Shi countered, "Is it absolutely necessary to make a discovery?"

Silly Dagger: "Hey, I paid up, we're friends this round."

Ding Shi said, "Friend? I'll have to pay extra."

Sha Bi pulled out ten stabs. Ding Shi hesitated for a long time, but still accepted them. Even a fly is still meat. Besides, his friendship with Sha Bi couldn't go any further, or he'd be struck by lightning.

Ding Shi said, "There's a red cloth hanging on the wall above the main hall, and behind the cloth is a picture frame. If I'm not mistaken, Liu Niang's husband is already dead."

Stupid Dagger: "That's it?"

Ding Shi said, "Hu Tou said that last time, the man named Yi Feng went to Liu Niang's house at night and bullied her."

Foolish Dagger: "Are you worried you won't be able to control yourself?"

Ding Shi glanced at Sha Bi sideways: "If you keep acting like an idiot, I'm going to charge you more."

Sha Bi hurriedly said, "Tell me, tell me."

Ding Shi said, "Tiger Head only told half of what he said. Did Yi Feng succeed? I don't know if NPC behavior is logical, but I can't see that Liu Niang has ever been violated. She is quite friendly to tourists and has no sense of defensiveness. Although Tiger Head is not friendly to tourists, he hasn't escalated to hostility. Judging from Tiger Head's behavior, it shows that NPC behavior follows logic."

Sha Bi frowned and asked, "Can't you just give me the answer?"

Ding Shi said, "The answer is: There is an evil spirit in Liu Niang's house, and the evil spirit is Liu Niang's husband. Touching Liu Niang, or taking off Liu Niang's clothes, or Liu Niang being afraid, will trigger the evil spirit's conditions to kill. At least the obsessive ghost has some logic, as long as you don't get in its way. Before you understand the rules of the evil spirit, it's best not to provoke it."

Sha Bi looked back at Liu Niang's house, and once he was far enough away, he casually remarked, "That guy Xi Jiu is no good."

Ding Shi asked curiously, "How did you figure that out?"

Sha Bi said, "A truly filial person will not tell everyone how filial they are. A person who knows etiquette will not tell everyone how polite they are. Filial piety, etiquette, and many other virtues belong to private morality. Once someone brings out private morality to promote, it means that this person lacks private morality and is preparing to do bad things."

Ding Shi exclaimed in surprise, "I didn't know you had a brain."

Foolish Dagger scoffed, "It's just basic observation. If you hadn't seen that Xi harbored ill intentions, you would definitely have fought for a room. I'd like to ask you, assuming your deduction is wrong, and there are no evil spirits, and Xi did take advantage of Liu Niang tonight, wouldn't your conscience bother you?"

A similar incident occurred in Peach Blossom Village. Haitang was raped by Zhang San, but Ding Shi did not sympathize with Haitang because she forgave the perpetrator.

Ding Shi's speculation about evil spirits came from his observations, and he was not 100% certain.

Hearing Sha Bi's question, Ding Shi's heart skipped a beat. This wouldn't do. He believed Xi Jiu was no good and would most likely bully Liu Niang that night. The existence of evil spirits was just his speculation, and he would feel guilty if he did nothing.

Sha Bi stopped when he saw Ding Shi and asked, "What are the chances of it being an evil spirit?"

Ding Shi said, "There's no such thing as probability when it comes to speculation; it's just a matter of right or wrong. Let's go, I'll go check it out tonight. The estimated time is after Tiger Head falls asleep, most likely between 9 and 11 pm."

Silly Bike wondered, "Why is it most likely not after 11 o'clock?"

Ding Shi said, "The village rules say there are many obsessive ghosts, and they are only active between 11 pm and 5 am. I can only deal with the high probability. If I want to protect Liu Niang 100%, I can only sleep with her."

Foolish Dagger: "You have something in mind, don't you?"

Ding Shi said, “There is a big difference between having thoughts and taking action. Liu Niang is so beautiful, it’s natural to have the idea of ​​sleeping with her, especially since we are both single. The problem is that we are human beings, not beasts. We have reason, and reason tells us what we can and cannot do. The same is true of the law.”

"Understood." Foolish Dagger stopped and looked around. "Any targets?"

Ding Shi pointed to the red-walled courtyard across the river: "Hu Tou deliberately misled me to that family's house."

Foolish Dagger: "Then why are you still going?"

Ding Shi: "Hu Tou also said that his mother was bullied by Yi Feng. There are two possibilities for this family: either they are scary on the outside but kind on the inside, or they are consistent inside and out, both are scary." The distance isn't far; walk across the three-meter bridge to cross the stream, and then another hundred meters to reach the red-walled courtyard.

The courtyard of the Hong family was covered by a wooden shed, where an elderly man of about fifty was doing carpentry work. The not-so-large courtyard contained eight coffins, making it seem somewhat crowded. All the coffins were made of raw wood and had not yet been painted.

The old man was so focused that he didn't notice the footsteps.

Ding Shi approached and said, "Hello, my name is Ding Shi, I am a tourist, may I stay at your house for a while?"

The old man turned around, and Ding Shi and Sha Bi both took a half step back. They saw that the old man had five scars on his face, which looked like scratches from a wild beast. But what kind of wild beast would have five fingers? It's true what they say, you only realize how little you know when you need it.

The peculiar scar made the old man's face appear split open. His bright eyes scanned Ding Shi and Sha Bi: "Okay. Cuihua, Cuihua!"

A woman in her forties finally emerged from the courtyard after a long while, and just by looking at her vacant eyes, you could tell there was something wrong with her.

The old man said, "My name is Tiezhu, and this is my wife, Cuihua."

Cuihua was slow to react, but she could understand what people were saying. After a while, she responded, "Mm."

The old man said, "Please prepare two rooms; we have tourists staying at our house tonight."

Cuihua: "Mm." Then she turned and left.

Sha Bi leaned closer to Tie Zhu: "What happened to her?"

Tie Zhu glanced at him and replied, "She's not very bright, so keep your conversations as brief as possible."

Ding Shi asked, "Uncle Tiezhu, why are there so many coffins?"

Tie Zhu put down his work, picked up his water pipe, and Ding Shi sat down to help him light it. Tie Zhu picked up his large tooth cup, took a sip of tea, and puffed on his pipe. He asked, "Don't you know that our village is also jokingly called Coffin Village?"

Ding Shi and Sha Bi shook their heads at the same time.

Due to war, famine and other reasons, many people die unnaturally, which creates a great need for coffins. Even a thin wooden coffin is considered respectable.

The main business of Tianmen Village is making coffins.

The first industry involved logging teams. Back then, plywood didn't exist, so the requirements for timber were quite high. A good coffin was carved from a single tree trunk, while a slightly less desirable coffin was still made by assembling several whole pieces of wood. Ordinary coffin wood was relatively common in the Tianmen Mountains.

The violent deaths of nobles often occurred during times of war, and some of these nobles required the finest coffins, even those made of Phoebe zhennan wood. With generous rewards offered, logging teams would venture deep into the mountains to find suitable timber.

Besides its beautiful trees, Tianmen Mountain Range is also rumored to be haunted by ghosts and monsters, making it extremely dangerous at night. It is said that any group of fewer than three people who spend the night in the mountains will encounter danger.

The second wave of industries involved carpenters. The wood was delivered to carpenters' homes, where it was processed. The finished coffins were then taken to the backyard of the funeral parlor for painting and drying.

The third wave of the industry is funeral service shops. Some people bring the body directly to the funeral service shop, put it in the coffin, and then send the coffin to the Sanlifen site, providing a one-stop funeral service.

The battle lines have stabilized in the past two years. Tianmen Village is neither too far nor too close to the front line. Some high-ranking officers who care about their soldiers will send the remains of fallen soldiers to Tianmen Village and entrust the village with the responsibility of collecting and burying them.

Tie Zhu was a cheerful and outgoing person who answered all questions. When he heard the question about ghosts, his expression changed, and he said with some sorrow, "Alas... dying far from home and unable to return to one's homeland always leaves a bit of resentment. It is this resentment that turns into an obsession."

Ding Shi asked, "Is their obsession simply going home?"

Tie Zhu replied, "Most of them, around 11 p.m., gather by the roadside, waiting for cars to go home."

"They are not dangerous," said Sha Bi.

Tie Zhu didn't respond to that, but said, "Don't go out casually after sunset. If, I mean, if someone knocks on the door after eleven o'clock, don't pay attention. If you really encounter something unclean, don't move, don't do anything. If you're blocking their way, just move aside."

Ding Shi sensed something was wrong: "Uncle Tiezhu, the real danger isn't those filthy things that want to go home."

Tie Zhu corrected him, "How can they be called filthy things? Without them, Tianmen Village would have been slaughtered by the Japanese long ago. I'm talking about the village itself. Tianmen Village is shaped like a coffin and is located in a low-lying area, where yin energy gathers. People who die in our village are more likely to turn into evil ghosts after death."

Ding Shi asked, "Uncle Tiezhu, do you know where the Divine Tree is?"

Tie Zhu was taken aback: "You're looking for the Divine Tree?"

Ding Shi asked, "Is that not allowed?"

Tie Zhu's thoughts drifted away as he said, "More than twenty years ago, there was indeed a sacred tree in the southern mountains of our village. I climbed it a few times when I was a young man. I don't know how to describe this tree, but everyone who saw it knew it was no ordinary tree. Later, this tree became our village's wishing tree, and people from the provincial capital came to visit, spreading even more outrageous rumors that lovers who made vows under the tree would grow old together."

Rumors circulated that the village and the sacred tree had brought disaster. The thirteenth concubine of the local warlord died, and the warlord, along with his soldiers, killed more than a dozen villagers who tried to stop them from cutting down the tree. They forced the village carpenter to make a coffin from the sacred wood. Guided by a Taoist priest, the thirteenth concubine was buried in Sanlifen.

Within a few months, the Northern Expeditionary Army eliminated the warlords, which the locals said was retribution.

After the sacred tree was cut down, evil spirits began to appear in Tianmen Village. A wandering Taoist priest believed that cutting down the sacred tree had disrupted the feng shui, and that yin energy had entered from the location of the felled tree. Because of the terrain of Tianmen Village, the yin energy would remain in the village for a long time.

The solution is to replant a sacred tree, and the way to deal with it is to return home at sunset.

One day, a wise man came to Tianmen Village. This wise Taoist priest offered a temporary solution: bury the deceased in a coffin within one day. He claimed that if this was done, the deceased would not become an evil spirit.

This does solve the problem, but not everyone can be buried within a day of death, and the number of evil spirits is slowly increasing.

Fortunately, the evil spirits of Tianmen Village have some principles; they consider their territory their home.

Sha Bi asked, "So that means many of the more than one hundred households in the village have something unclean about them. How do the villagers deal with this situation?"

Tie Zhu said, "In the early years, we gave up our houses and let them go. A few years ago, when the war started, more and more people fled, and refugees kept pouring into Tianmen Village. If you tell them that there are unclean things and they can't live there, they definitely won't believe you. They will only think that we would rather leave the houses empty than accept them."

So the village chief set a rule: everyone must be home by sunset.

Some newcomers encountered evil spirits, and either fled the next day or gritted their teeth and continued to live there. As a result, there were many strange scenes of newcomers and evil spirits living peacefully together, but there were also cases where entire families died overnight.

To prevent the addition of more evil spirits, the village began preparing coffins in advance. As soon as someone died, they were immediately placed in the coffin and then buried on the mountain. Over time, the coffin business became a staple in Tianmen Village.

Ding Shi concluded: Among the more than one hundred households, some houses have one or even multiple evil spirits. Each evil spirit has different rules for killing. This may be the reason for the existence of the eighth village rule: Do not enter other people's homes casually.

Evil spirits are not simply spirits of obsession; they are earthbound spirits with their own territories and rules governing their killing. Furthermore, evil spirits exist during the day, but the vast majority cannot kill during the day. This "daytime" does not include enclosed spaces where sunlight is absent.

(End of this chapter)