Kan Kan, my ass!
The words nearly burst out of Liu Yang Yang’s mouth, but when he saw Qin Shu’s blank yet friendly expression, he forced himself to swallow them, suddenly a little afraid to speak. Inside, however, Liu Yang Yang was falling apart.
He had already been tormented for an entire night. First, the client had ambushed him with a knife during the handover of the “goods.” The man had prepared a trap specifically for him, and by the time Liu Yang Yang attempted to fight back, it was already too late. He quickly found himself losing ground in the struggle.
Liu Yang Yang had therefore decided to feign death and escape. The dark harbor offered plenty of places to hide, so it seemed wiser to conserve his strength and flee first.
Gritting his teeth, he had allowed the man to kick him hard… only for that single kick to go terribly wrong. Somehow, he had been poisoned and gone into shock. His heart had stopped, foam had poured from his mouth, and unbearable, terrifying nerve pain had tortured him until he sank to the seabed, no longer aware of heaven, earth, or anything else.
Liu Yang Yang had died for a little while. He had genuinely been dead for a little while. Yet the road leading him toward the underworld had been filled with the thorns of purgatory. He had experienced none of the light, floating sensation other near-death survivors described. Instead, childhood nightmares had wound themselves around him so tightly that even death offered no release.
That alone would not have been so bad. It was only a nightmare, after all. He could either drown in unbearable agony and be done with it, or use every last bit of strength to wake himself up.
Then Liu Yang Yang was struck by lightning.
It was no ordinary thunderstorm. Forty-nine bolts of heavenly lightning struck him, each one fiercer than the last and somehow more outrageous every time.
Did normal people get attacked by heavenly lightning? Did normal people get cooked into enormous slabs of fragrant roast meat, crisp outside and tender within? How was any of this reasonable?
Liu Yang Yang had no idea.
The only heavenly lightning he had ever witnessed in his life had descended when the precious creature inside the little gourd bottle was born. Even the thousand-year-old tree on the mountain behind their village had caught fire simply from being nearby and ended up as a bare, dead trunk.
That thousand-year-old tree had not survived. Liu Yang Yang had no idea how he had.
After being frightened half to death and scorched crisp by lightning, he opened his eyes again to find himself lying on the shore.
And now Qin Shu, who could not recognize him at all, had frightened Liu Yang Yang half to death all over again.
Of course, Qin Shu had not done it deliberately.
Qin Shu did not recognize Liu Yang Yang, nor did he remember who he himself was. His basic understanding of the world remained intact, however. One glance at the box-shaped television in the sitting room had immediately told him that something was wrong with the era in this village.
For that very reason, Qin Shu vaguely understood that his name was definitely not Kan Kan, and he absolutely did not belong here.
Yet when he had awakened in a bed inside one of the fishing village’s homes, the simple, gentle people who called themselves his family had all addressed him that way.
His aba and ama—his father and mother—called him “Kan Yin,” with the suffix apparently indicating that he was male. There was also a younger sister in the family named Fu Fu. She could be addressed as “Fu Fu Ao,” a local form meaning “the little girl called Fu Fu.”
Before marriage, children in Living Water Village did not receive formal names. They had only the childhood nicknames their mothers happened to give them.
The village’s other children addressed one another according to the same pattern. They ran through the village in noisy groups, shouting at the tops of their lungs while dressed in ragged little padded jackets.
Within the short half hour since awakening, Qin Shu had gathered a great deal of information as quickly as possible, most of it coaxed from those children.
Once he had gained a rough understanding of the situation, Qin Shu did nothing rash. Instead, he decisively blended in with the villagers.
He willingly put on a collarless, front-opening jacket decorated with gold and silver thread, layered beneath a winter coat his ama had sewn by hand, and wrapped a warm red-and-black headscarf around his hair. When he put on an honest, good-natured smile, he looked no different from any other simple young man in the small fishing village.
Not only that, while his parents were away on some errand carrying two roosters, Qin Shu quickly picked up his little sister and sat her on his shoulders for a thrilling game of horseback riding. Afterward, he drew several pictures of the village children’s favorite sea god, a stone giant, and let her take them away to show off to the other children.
Little Fu Fu was soon delighted beyond measure, calling him Brother Kan with every other breath and gazing at him with absolute adoration.
Qin Shu had not wanted to deceive a child with a few simple drawings, but he had no choice. Until he found a way to escape the village, he could not risk revealing even the smallest trace of suspicious behavior.
Some difficult-to-explain instinct kept warning him that he absolutely could not allow the villagers to regard him as an outsider. Otherwise, something horrifying might happen.
As for the naked, heavily wounded man standing before him… Qin Shu was genuinely afraid that Liu Yang Yang might say something reckless and bring trouble down upon him. But now that things had reached this point, how could he simply abandon the man to die?
He therefore brought Liu Yang Yang back to the house and instructed his little sister not to tell the adults for the time being. She was not allowed to invite any other children over either; she had to guard the front door like General Fubo defending the frontier.
Elio’s Notes: General Fubo means “General Who Calms the Waves,” an ancient Chinese military title most famously associated with the Eastern Han general Ma Yuan. Here, Qin Shu jokingly tells Fu Fu to guard the house as bravely as a legendary general.
Fu Fu eagerly agreed. Qin Shu then poured Liu Yang Yang a steaming cup of bitter kuding tea and told him to drink quickly and warm himself. After locking the bedroom door, he found some slightly oversized clothing for Liu Yang Yang to cover himself with.
The two sat opposite each other on the edge of the bed. Qin Shu put away his smile and stared expressionlessly at Liu Yang Yang’s uneasy face, his voice turning cool. “Don’t waste time. I’ll ask the questions, and you answer quickly. Who am I? What is our relationship? What is my name?”
“You’re my friend, and you’re also a kind, powerful expert who lets me rely on you. Your name is Qin Shu. You’re seventeen years old, from Jiangcheng in China, and you’re a senior in the experimental class at Jiangcheng No. 2 High School,” Liu Yang Yang answered rapidly, understanding the situation well enough. To convince Qin Shu, he deliberately added, “Your closest friend is also your classmate. His name is Pei Zhao. His eyes are gold, and he probably has Yin-Yang Eyes like you do. He’s definitely quite capable too.”
Elio’s Notes: Yin-Yang Eyes is a general term for the ability to see ghosts and other supernatural phenomena. Qin Shu’s Heavenly Eye is a more advanced form of spiritual sight that reveals details even many cultivators cannot perceive.
Yin-Yang Eyes… What was that supposed to mean? Qin Shu’s heart lurched. He silently repeated Pei Zhao’s name, but for the moment, he had not found anyone matching that description in the village.
Considering that he was trapped inside an extremely strange village where the time period seemed wrong and all his memories were gone, Qin Shu cautiously formed a hypothesis: ghosts and other supernatural forces probably existed in this world.
If that was true, then the tall, muscular man named Liu Yang Yang was most likely capable of something unusual himself. Whatever his character might be, Qin Shu suspected that when the time came to escape the fishing village, he would inevitably need this man’s help.
Without revealing his thoughts, Qin Shu continued, “What year is it? Do you know what touchscreen phones are? Do you think we traveled through time, or entered some strange otherworldly realm?”
“Holy shit!” Liu Yang Yang froze and nearly choked on the tea he had just swallowed. Then realization dawned, and he exclaimed in horror, “No wonder the television in the sitting room looked so old-fashioned! There’s even a huge satellite dish on the roof! As expected of Brother Qin—you’re still this smart even without your memories!”
“…Answer the question.” Qin Shu silently rubbed his forehead, suddenly feeling that he did not need to remain quite so wary. Liu Yang Yang, who claimed to be an ordinary corpse herder, genuinely resembled an outgoing, well-meaning fool.
“Sorry, sorry. Right, it’s currently 2025, so of course touchscreen phones exist. But this fishing village feels as though it’s somewhere between the eighties and nineties—probably around 1985. The economy was booming then, and a fishing village’s income would have risen along with it. That would explain how your family could afford a television.”
“That makes sense.” Qin Shu rubbed his temples. “So did we return to the past, or…”
“It’s like this, Brother Qin. Ordinary humans can’t casually travel through time and space, and no one can change the past. As far as I know, even a Golden Immortal who ascended on the spot wouldn’t possess that ability. Even when a master of fate tries to alter someone’s destiny, they can only change the future. Sometimes they even have to steal another person’s fate to deceive heaven and earth.”
By the time Liu Yang Yang reached this point, his expression had darkened slightly. “Brother Qin, I suspect we accidentally wandered into an unfamiliar otherworldly realm, something like The Peach Blossom Spring, right? Except we came here to suffer. I’m afraid we won’t be as lucky as the people in that story, who simply looked around and found their way back out.”
Elio’s Notes: The Peach Blossom Spring is a famous tale by Tao Yuan Ming about a fisherman who discovers an isolated utopian village hidden from the outside world. Liu Yang Yang compares their situation to it, except this mysterious village seems far more dangerous and may not allow them to leave.
“Mm. From now on, don’t call me Brother Qin. The walls may have ears. You’re more than ten years older than I am, aren’t you? Call me Kan Yin, the way my aba and ama do.”
“Understood, Brother Qin—cough, Brother Kan.”
The corner of Qin Shu’s mouth twitched. “Brother Kan will do. Before the adults return, please tell me more about the things I don’t know. For example, have you heard of other… cultivators accidentally entering otherworldly realms?”
He deliberately used the word cultivators, having inferred the possibility from Liu Yang Yang’s earlier remarks. It was also a small test. Liu Yang Yang noticed nothing unusual and nodded.
“Of course. Otherworldly realms are very common. The famous Midnight Ghost Market is one, and cultivators can enter it to buy things. Such realms usually have their own customs, laws, and rules. Time also passes differently inside them, and there are restrictions on how people enter and leave.”
“A ghost market… That sounds interesting.” Qin Shu’s curiosity was piqued, and the unease in his heart eased slightly.
However, Liu Yang Yang’s next words caused it to surge back again.
“The Ghost Market has officials of the City God keeping order, so it’s relatively safe, but harmless places like that are in the minority! Beyond those, there’s no fixed way to enter another realm. It mostly happens through accidents or chance encounters. Take us right now—I was probably struck into this place by heavenly lightning. Other people’s experiences can be good or bad.”
According to Liu Yang Yang, young Daoists who were friendly with mountain spirits and strange creatures might live in some quiet valley, only to be unexpectedly invited to attend the wedding of a tiger demon, mouse demon, or bear spirit.
Other unlucky cultivators were born with spiritual senses that were far too strong. While meditating at dawn to absorb the first purple energy of sunrise, they might inexplicably fall into the Supreme Lord Laozi’s alchemical furnace. If they endured it, their cultivation would soar and they would emerge with a body of steel tougher than the legendary Vajra Shield. If they could not endure it, they would die on the spot, body and soul destroyed, with no possibility of revival.
There were also explanations for becoming trapped in a ghost wall while walking at night. In ninety-nine percent of cases, it was merely a wandering ghost deliberately casting an illusion, or an enemy setting up a ritual altar in advance and laying an ambush with formation spells. Yet the unluckiest among them might accidentally enter the ghost domain of a Ghost King.
Experienced cultivators knew how to avoid ghost domains. As for those with shallow cultivation, once they entered one, nine out of ten would never leave so much as a bone behind.
“Is a ghost domain also considered a type of otherworldly realm?” Qin Shu had a very bad feeling.
“Of course. There’s a reason they’re respectfully called Ghost Kings. The difference in strength between one of those things and an ordinary little ghost is so enormous that they can hardly be considered the same species,” Liu Yang Yang said with a click of his tongue.
Within its own territory, a Ghost King was the sole monarch and supreme ruler. A ghost domain formed a world unto itself, capable of sheltering other ghosts, demons, and strange creatures, as well as certain humans born with unusual fates.
The most powerful ancient ghosts could even create life and establish the cycle of birth and death for all things, almost as the goddess Nüwa had once shaped living beings. Every law and rule within such a domain would be decided by the Ghost King itself.
Qin Shu listened, fascinated. He was certain he had never heard of anything so mysterious before. It felt like listening to a strange and dazzling fantasy tale, filling him with curiosity and fear at the same time. Meanwhile, his ominous feeling continued to grow stronger.
“Mr. Liu, according to what you’ve said, it’s possible that we’re currently inside the ghost domain of an extremely powerful ghost. Is that right?”
Liu Yang Yang fell silent. A moment later, his pupils abruptly widened and he plunged straight into panic.
“…Hiss, Brother Kan, sometimes it isn’t a good thing for your mind to work this quickly. What do we do? What are we supposed to do if that’s true?” Clutching the cup of tea, he instantly broke into a cold sweat and muttered nervously, “I’m genuinely getting frightened now. I was washed ashore completely naked, without a single ritual artifact or treasure, and I’ve been poisoned too. How am I supposed to fight a Ghost King?”
Whenever someone else panicked first, Qin Shu became calm instead. It was probably an instinctive reaction: the more Liu Yang Yang lost his head, the more Qin Shu felt that the situation could not possibly be quite that hopeless.
Qin Shu rose and placed a hand firmly on his shoulder. Looking Liu Yang Yang in the eyes, he said in an even voice, “Do we have to defeat it to leave? Not necessarily, right? There may be another way. As long as this world continues functioning according to rules of its own, we can find a safe way to act by following them.”
“Brother Qin—Brother Kan, you’re right. This is my problem. I’m starting to fall apart mentally. The past two days have been so unlucky that I’ve nearly died several times.”
“You nearly died, but you’re still alive. That means you’re actually fortunate, and it isn’t your time yet,” Qin Shu replied, growing even calmer. “Someone who was truly unlucky would simply die the moment danger appeared. In a horror movie, they would be the first person sacrificed.”
“Holy shit, you’re right!”
The moment the words left Liu Yang Yang’s mouth, Qin Shu’s expression abruptly grew more serious. “Liu Yang Yang, I’m setting another rule. No matter how shocking something is, you are not allowed to use that kind of classic Chinese profanity outside this room. We aren’t in the real China, and our speaking habits differ from those of the villagers. If an outsider hears you, we may expose ourselves.”
Liu Yang Yang immediately covered his mouth and nodded obediently. On a man more than one meter ninety tall, the attempt to look well-behaved was not especially convincing.
The corner of Qin Shu’s mouth twitched again, and he pretended not to see it. Listening to his little sister laughing and playing with her friends outside, he leaned against the bedroom window and observed the distant houses. “Speaking of horror movies… I feel as though I enjoy watching them, but I can’t remember anything clearly. Mr. Liu, look at our clothing. The weaving and dyeing methods are rather distinctive. Have you seen any films with a similar style?”
Liu Yang Yang calmed himself somewhat. He felt the material of Qin Shu’s jacket, paying particular attention to the simple patterns woven from gold and silver thread along the hem, then began searching through the wardrobe in Qin Shu’s room.
The so-called wardrobe was merely a set of square compartments crudely converted from a wooden chest. Its exterior had been painted red to protect it from damp. It was divided into three levels: the top held silver ornaments, necklaces, bracelets, and other accessories, while the lower two contained clothing for different seasons.
Liu Yang Yang ignored the strings of colorful beads at first and concentrated on the hand-embroidered patterns decorating the clothes. He turned through the garments one after another, murmuring, “This is a sea-god totem. The workmanship is incredible; the embroidery is beautiful. Huh? The back of this coat should depict a mountain god, and that one is a dragon. What’s going on? Why does one piece even have two cats embroidered on it?”
“Several forms of totem worship, unusual dyeing methods, brocade weaving, and double-sided embroidery… I understand. This should be an ethnic minority autonomous region near Haicheng,” Qin Shu said thoughtfully.
“Brother Kan, so you still remember Haicheng! Your geography knowledge is excellent!”
“I only forgot who I am. I don’t think I’ve completely lost everything else. If I think carefully, I can still recover more general knowledge,” Qin Shu answered helplessly. At the same time, he picked up one of the ornamental bracelets and squeezed it between his fingers. His expression changed slightly. “These may not be ordinary beads. They seem to be made from animal bones that were polished smooth and dyed with plant pigments…”
“…What? Don’t touch them. Let me smell.”
Liu Yang Yang took the brightly colored string of beads from him and quickly passed it beneath his nose. The next instant, his entire face twisted. He flung the bracelet aside as though it had burned him, cold sweat pouring down his face.
“That scared the life out of me. This thing is deeply wrong! Brother Kan, those are human bones. One sniff and I can tell you the exact day they died!”
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