Chapter Four Sister Jiu

With a trembling voice, I said to Tong Tianwang, “Uncle, ahead of us is the graveyard of the Maji Woman. Let’s hide there.”

The Maji Woman’s graveyard was a forbidden place in our village.

There was an old tradition among our elders: if someone died a violent death in the Yellow River, they could not be buried with their ancestors. Instead, at night, their corpse would be wrapped in a tattered mat, a shallow pit dug at the Maji Woman’s graveyard, and the body thrown in, covered with a couple of shovelfuls of earth, and that was that. It was said that a Maji Woman, with red eyes and long hair, looking almost human, would sneak out to carry the corpse away to a cave, gnaw the flesh from it, and then the soul of the violently deceased could reincarnate.

This absurd tale had haunted my childhood with fear.

But now, we had nowhere else to go. I didn’t even know why those words sprang into my mind all of a sudden.

Tong Tianwang, however, paid no mind to any red-eyed, long-haired Maji Woman. He turned immediately, taking me into the undulating graveyard, found a bulging mound to use as cover, and we both lay prone among the tombs, hardly daring to breathe.

I caught a glimpse of the iron tube in Tong Tianwang’s hand: pitch-black, hollow in the middle, the head slanted and sharp, much like an oversized needle from the village doctor—except the hollow was lined with tiny blood grooves, and it was coated in the nauseating slime of the golden leopard frog.

Tong Tianwang saw my curious gaze and asked if I liked it.

I shook my head and said I didn’t—it was frightening.

Unexpectedly, Tong Tianwang said, “Your grandpa and your dad, they’re both mud-worms.”

I mimicked the way he usually cursed at the old village chief and shot back, “You’re the mud-worm! The big mud-worm!”

Tong Tianwang didn’t mind. He just smiled, shook his head, and fixed his eyes on the firelight at the entrance to the village.

But what I saw next terrified me: the villagers, torches in hand, were heading straight for the Maji Woman’s graveyard.

Had they discovered us again?

The graveyard was at a dead corner at the edge of the village, with the Yellow River to its back—if we wanted to escape, we’d have to run straight at the villagers. Tong Tianwang, his face taut with tension, shut his eyes and pressed his palms together over his head, muttering prayers that the villagers wouldn’t come our way.

But they kept coming.

To my surprise, they didn’t seem to be looking for us; instead, they stopped nearby. Several men swung their shovels, digging a small pit with grunts of effort, then tossed something inside.

I had sharp eyes and saw them throw in a tattered mat, wrapped around a child—round head, chubby hands and feet—it was Junjun.

Junjun had been drowned in the river by Ping’s wife; he’d died a violent death. They had come to bury him.

Thinking of Junjun being buried here, his body to be gnawed by the Maji Woman, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of sorrow. My lips quivered, and I almost burst into tears.

Tong Tianwang hurriedly clapped a hand over my mouth.

The villagers, having finished their business, soon left.

We both breathed a sigh of relief.

Tong Tianwang turned to me and said that he’d been so scared just now he almost crapped his pants, and told me to wait a moment while he went off to relieve himself. Though I was scared, I had no desire to smell his stench, so I nodded in agreement.

My mind was filled with the fierce faces of the villagers and the terror of the golden leopard frogs at the wax path.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the earth over Junjun’s grave begin to tremble. The dirt was thin, and in no time at all, Junjun’s chubby hand poked through, then his feet, his head, and his body.

His face was smeared with dirt, dark and hard to make out in the moonlight.

I was stunned—was Junjun not dead?

Junjun quickly walked over to me and slapped my shoulder.

That slap nearly knocked my soul out of me.

“Xiao Pi, don’t hide, let’s go!” Junjun brushed the dirt from his face, his small eyes wide and anxious.

I stood dazed and silent.

“What are you gaping at?” Junjun said. “Ping’s wife is the Maji Woman in disguise. She’s bitten everyone in the village. They’re all mad! They want to kill all the kids in the village. I was only pretending to be dead—we have to run!”

I didn’t know if he was telling the truth. Holding the iron tube protectively, I asked if he was a ghost.

“You’re the ghost!” Junjun puffed out his cheeks indignantly. “I told you to run before Ping’s wife came for you and you wouldn’t listen. And now you still don’t believe me! Fine, stay here and die if you want—I’m leaving.” With that, he stomped off on his chubby legs.

I remembered that Junjun had indeed come to find me when Ping’s wife tried to kill me, so I believed him and ran after him.

After a few steps, I realized Tong Tianwang was still squatting somewhere. I told Junjun, “Wait for me, I have to get my uncle.”

Junjun, angry, said, “Tong Tianwang’s been bitten by the Maji Woman too. He’s gone mad. Don’t go looking for him!”

I froze in place.

Suddenly, Junjun whirled around and lunged at my neck with his mouth wide open.

I stumbled and fell to the ground, my nose filled with the muddy stench of the Yellow River. He flashed a sinister smile and was about to sink his teeth into my throat. I was furious. Junjun had always been my lackey—whenever I slapped him around, he only ever ran home crying for his mother. Now he dared attack me!

I grabbed his hair and cursed, “You little fatso, you dare hit me!”

But as I reached out, he butted me with his head, and I tumbled into the muck, caught off guard.

He was terrifyingly strong. Suddenly, two fangs sprouted from his mouth, his whole face and body changed, turning into a red-eyed, long-haired creature, squat and thick-limbed—a monster.

The Maji Woman!

I tried to scramble up and run, but my body wouldn’t move.

It lunged at me, mouth gaping wide, ready to gnaw my face.

I screamed, “Uncle, save me! I’m about to be eaten—I’m going to be reborn!”

At that moment, a shrill scream rang out, and the creature was sent flying, landing heavily on the ground. It shot a terrified glance over my shoulder, then bolted into the woods on all fours like a dog.

A sweet scent drifted to me—the kind only a young lady would have.

Panicked, I turned around and saw a girl, thirteen or fourteen, standing behind me. She was strikingly pretty, wearing a floral dress, her skin fair with a rosy glow, her long hair tied behind her head, and pretty bangs over her forehead.

I glanced over and saw that Junjun’s grave had been scratched open a little, exposing a pair of feet, but the body was still inside, unchanged.

“Are you Xie Xiaopi?” the young lady asked.

I knew she must have saved me and nodded gratefully.

“My name is Jiu’er. I’m a few years older than you—just call me Sister Jiu’er.” She pulled me up, patted the dirt off me, and said, “You really are filthy!”

I thought, After hiding in the attic, sinking in the Yellow River, crawling through reeds, and lying in a graveyard all night, how could I not be?

I said, “Sister Jiu’er, that wasn’t Junjun just now, was it? It was the Maji Woman, right?”

Jiu’er didn’t answer directly. Instead, she asked, “Where’s your uncle, Tong Tianwang?”

I was about to say he was relieving himself when Tong Tianwang came rushing over, pulling up his pants. At the sight of Jiu’er, his face turned deathly pale, and he fled in terror.

Jiu’er called after him, “Run again and I’ll snap your tendons!”

Tong Tianwang stopped as if frozen, turned back, and forced a fawning smile. “Master Jiu, Master Jiu, what wind blew you here?”

His attitude toward Jiu’er made me angry.

He was always boasting about the gods above and his own importance, barking orders at me. Whenever he visited, he’d make me sneak some of Dad’s best cigarettes or liquor for him, and if I failed, he’d give me a beating. Who’d have thought he’d fawn on a girl younger than himself, calling her “Master Jiu?”

How shameful.

Jiu’er snorted coldly. “Spineless wretch!”

I thought to myself, She’s absolutely right.

Tong Tianwang scratched his head awkwardly. “Master Jiu, your scolding is spot-on!”

Jiu’er curled her lip and pointed at him with her slender white finger. “You’ve lost all face for the Treasure Seekers of Lingnan. How could Xie Dibing take in a useless disciple like you?”

My uncle was Grandpa’s disciple?

How had I never known?

Tong Tianwang grinned sheepishly. “Master Jiu, you give me too much credit. My prospective master was about to accept me as a disciple, but the letter of entry had only just been sent out. Before anyone from the Treasure Seekers could come to test me, all this trouble started. I haven’t even been initiated yet!”

Jiu’er made no comment, her delicate face icy in the moonlight.

Suddenly, Tong Tianwang slapped his thigh. “Master Jiu, were you sent by the Treasure Seekers to test me?”

Jiu’er replied, “That was the plan. But Xie Dibing is dead. What’s left to test? There’s no hope for you.”

Hearing her mention my grandfather, a wave of sadness rose in me and I couldn’t help but start sobbing again.

Tong Tianwang looked deeply regretful, rubbing his hands together. Then, with a flash of anger, he said, “Master Jiu, my father-in-law, my sister and brother-in-law—they’re all dead, and they were all from the Treasure Seekers of Lingnan! You must avenge them!”

Avenge them?

Tong Tianwang had told me before that Grandpa died in the river when his paper boat was overturned, and my parents died because Tong Tianwang put out the candle. If Jiu’er was to avenge them, wouldn’t that mean killing Tong Tianwang?

Now, all the family I had left in the world was Tong Tianwang and my grandmother, who lived dozens of miles away. I didn’t want Jiu’er to kill him, so I quickly said, “Sister Jiu’er, I don’t want revenge!”

Jiu’er, acting like an elder, ruffled my hair. “Xiao Pi, let’s go back to the village and avenge your family!”

My heart was heavy and anxious. I had no idea what Tong Tianwang was up to—who would call someone else to kill himself? I stood there, shooting my uncle anxious glances.

Tong Tianwang, however, scooped me up under his arm and shouted, “You little fool, let’s go home!”