Corpse Retriever

Li Weihan whispered, “Uncle, there’s nothing there.”

“Shh, Hanhou, you hear any sound?”

Li Weihan listened closely, shook his head, “Uncle, what sound? I don’t hear anything.”

“Hmph,” Li Sanjiang rubbed his nose, “Middle of summer, by the river at night, how’s it this quiet?”

Li Weihan got it instantly, yes, their place was too quiet, normally cicadas and frogs would be holding a nightly uproar, but tonight, not a peep, a deathly stillness.

Now, looking at the calm lake and swaying water grasses, Li Weihan felt a creeping dread, that dead thing might be hiding somewhere.

Li Sanjiang turned back into the house, saying to Cui Guiying, “Guiying, get me a bowl of rice wine.”

“Oh, should I fry some peanuts and eggs for you, Uncle?”

“Just get the wine, no chatter!” Li Weihan urged, knowing full well Li Sanjiang wasn’t here to drink.

Cui Guiying brought a bowl of rice wine, and Li Sanjiang squatted before Li Zhuiyuan, smiling, “Xiao Yuanhou, this’ll sting a bit, don’t yell, bear it, got it?”

Li Zhuiyuan looked up at Li Weihan and Cui Guiying, then nodded to Li Sanjiang.

“Good boy.”

Li Sanjiang poured the wine onto Li Zhuiyuan's neck, the child flinched instinctively, but Li Sanjiang quickly grabbed his arm with his left hand, rubbing the neck and shoulders hard with his right.

The old man’s calloused hands, rough as sandpaper, scraped the boy’s skin, Li Zhuiyuan was in pain but obediently just pressed his lips tight.

After scrubbing the neck and shoulders red, Li Sanjiang leaned close, sniffing deeply.

When done, his eyes widened, he gently pushed the boy back, and slumped to the floor.

“Uncle, Uncle?” Li Weihan hurried to help him up.

Cui Guiying checked Li Zhuiyuan’s neck, her heart aching, but sensing things had shifted again, she stayed silent, only stroking the child’s head.

“Smoke, Hanhou, give me a smoke.”

“Right.”

Li Weihan quickly lit one for him.

Li Sanjiang took a deep drag, exhaling through his nose.

Li Weihan noticed Li Sanjiang’s hand holding the cigarette was trembling.

“Guiying, take the kid inside,” Li Sanjiang pointed to the inner room, “close the door.”

“What’s going on now?” Cui Guiying couldn’t hold back.

“Do what Uncle says,” Li Weihan waved her on.

Cui Guiying took a deep breath, picked up Li Zhuiyuan, walked to the inner room, and shut the door.

In the kitchen, just the two men remained.

“Uncle?”

“Hanhou, things got messy. This afternoon, Liu Xiazi definitely cleared the taint off Li Zhuiyuan, she wouldn’t half-do it if she took it on. But just now, my nose caught corpse stench on the kid’s neck again, I’ve been fishing out dead things my whole life, I’m telling you, the smell of a body soaked in water’s different from other dead folks’ stink, and my nose never lies.”

Li Sanjiang turned to Li Weihan, gravely saying, “That dead thing really followed you home.”

At that, Li Weihan stood, grabbing the wood-chopping axe from atop the cabinet, where such things were kept high up with so many kids around.

“Damn it, I’ll fight that thing to the end!”

Li Sanjiang narrowed his eyes, took another drag, and said slowly, “What if she doesn’t show herself?”

“What?” Li Weihan didn’t quite follow, “If she doesn’t come out, isn’t that good?”

“She’s just lingering near your house, you can’t find her, she’s watching your family, one day, two days, three days… first Xiao Yuanhou, then Xiao Panhou, Xiao Leihou, Xiao Huhou… then Guiying, and then you. Other folks keep gods and Buddhas for blessings, your house would be like keeping a curse. It won’t take long, people will get sick, have bad luck, and… your family could fall apart.”

Li Weihan asked, stunned, “What do we do then? I… I won’t stay here, I’ll go live with my sons?”

“If she followed you once, what’s stopping her a second time?”

“Uncle, is there any way?”

“There’s a way,” Li Sanjiang’s cigarette glowed faintly at his lips.

“Uncle, you’ve got to help me,” Li Weihan squatted beside him, if anyone else said this, he’d suspect they were scaring him for some ulterior motive, but not Li Sanjiang.

“A dead thing that walks in water, full of resentment, is already tough to deal with, and one that follows you home? In all my years, this is the first I’ve seen, downright sinister.”

“But Uncle, every wrong has its cause, what’s this got to do with my Xiao Yuanhou?”

“Hmph,” Li Sanjiang sneered, rubbing his fingers to snuff out the cigarette, “I reckon she wants justice but can’t find the real culprit, so she latches onto the first person she meets.”

Li Weihan’s eyes flickered, as if something dawned on him, hesitant and deep in thought.

Li Sanjiang went on, “This dead thing’s the woman dancing and singing at Big Beard’s funeral yesterday, right? You mentioned on the way, called Little Yellow Oriole?”

“Xiao Leihou said he saw her, I didn’t go to Big Beard’s yesterday, so I’m not sure.”

“It’s Little Yellow Oriole, Xiao Leihou might’ve got it wrong, but Xiao Yuanhou wouldn’t, he woke up from that dream shouting Little Yellow Oriole.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

“Didn’t you say the village saw Little Yellow Oriole sneak off with Big Beard’s youngest son into the woods last night, and the funeral troupe made a fuss at Big Beard’s today, he paid to hush it up? That’s a guilty conscience… something’s off. Hmph, with their ways, if there wasn’t something dirty, would they cave so easily? Big Beard, Big Beard, just like those pre-liberation bandits in the northeast, all that thug behavior, who knows how much wrong he’s done.”

Li Sanjiang paused, reached into the tin for another biscuit, bit into it, and grinned, “These biscuits have a strong milky flavor, not cheap, huh? Your little girl sent them, right?”

Li Weihan pulled out a cigarette, lit it, took several quick, hard drags, wiped his forehead and eyes, and looked at Li Sanjiang with bloodshot eyes, “Uncle, you think I, Hanhou, lack character?”

Li Sanjiang grabbed another biscuit, didn’t respond, and kept eating.

Li Weihan continued, “Uncle, back when I was scrambling to get my four sons married, things were rough. You didn’t just let me farm your fields, you’d slip me some labor fees when I helped out, Guiying helped you with paper crafts, her work was so sloppy I was embarrassed to look, but you still paid her. When the hardest times passed, I stopped farming your land, I knew you could get more renting it to others, and I felt bad letting Guiying keep helping, didn’t want her stuck like she was earning work points back in the brigade days. I couldn’t keep taking advantage of you, but your kindness, I, Li Weihan, always kept in my heart. I said before, when your legs give out, I’ll take care of you, see you through to the end. Uncle, you’ve got to trust my character.”

Li Sanjiang nodded.

“Heh,” Li Weihan chuckled, reaching for a biscuit, he hadn’t eaten since noon, truly starving.

“Smack!”

His hand got slapped, the biscuit he’d picked up fell back.

Li Sanjiang stood, saying, “Eat nothing, save some to set out as offerings.”

Li Weihan froze, then got it, he’d helped Li Sanjiang with jobs before.

Opening the inner room door, he saw Cui Guiying, holding the kid, leaning forward slightly.

When the door opened, she quickly tucked her hair behind her ear, asking, “You two done talking?”

Li Weihan said, “Guiying, come help set up the offering table, let Xiao Yuanhou sleep.”

Then Li Sanjiang’s voice came from behind, “Keep Xiao Yuanhou here for now.”

Li Weihan turned to Li Sanjiang, frowning, but after a moment’s hesitation, as if resolving something, he signaled his wife to bring the kid out.

Li Zhuiyuan had been sleeping since the afternoon, so he wasn’t tired, he sat quietly on a small stool, watching the adults bustle.

“Are you out of your mind!” Li Sanjiang pointed at the offering table Li Weihan had moved outside the back door, cursing, “You want the whole world to see? Bring it back, set it up here!”

This was a flat rural plain, no hills, no gullies, no tall buildings to block the view, you could see far and wide, if they lit candles or burned paper money outside, anyone stepping out to pee at night could spot it from a distance, and word would spread fast.

After all, what normal family holds a midnight offering?

Li Weihan quickly hauled the table back inside, setting it near the wall close to the back door.

Cui Guiying began arranging the offerings, four plates, one with biscuits, one with egg cakes, one with peanuts, and one left empty.

“Uncle, we’ve got no meat,” Cui Guiying looked at Li Sanjiang, “No cured meat, no salted meat left.”

With a dozen kids in the house, leftovers were unheard of, even the pickle jar was nearly empty, but an offering without meat wouldn’t do.

Li Sanjiang pointed at the locked snack cabinet, “Got any meat floss?”

“Yes,” Cui Guiying nodded at once, “Will that work?”

“It’s meat, it’ll do in a pinch.”

“Good.”

Finally, a plate of meat floss was set out, completing the offering.

Li Weihan carried a rough tin bucket in from the yard, this time without prompting, placing it in the kitchen corner himself.

Paper money was still rare, you had to buy it at a funeral shop in town, villagers didn’t often use it for small rituals, but yellow paper and ingots were common household stock.

Gold and silver ingots were folded by the women in their spare time, and yellow paper could double as toilet paper in the bathroom basket.

Li Sanjiang lit the two candles on the offering table, then used their flame to ignite a few sheets of yellow paper, waving them quickly before the table while muttering, then hurrying back to the corner to toss the half-burned paper into the bucket as kindling, Cui Guiying promptly added more paper and ingots to burn.

Li Weihan poked the paper with a thin stick to ensure it burned fully, then carried the bucket outside to dump the ashes.

When he returned, he saw Li Sanjiang pull a bell from his pocket, digging at it with a gray-black fingernail until he pried out a cotton wad stuck inside.

“Ding ding ding…”

A light shake, and the sound was crisp.

(Continue in Next Part)