Wooden Mannequins
Usually, Chen Erzhuang’s four clerks, known for their tanned and muscular bodies, were in charge of carrying coffins as part of processions, yet there they were, carving on camphorwood, a job where attention to detail and finesse were requisites. It was stereotype breaking to see them chip away with such refined knife work and so robotically that not even Chen Erzhuang’s presence could distract them. If that wasn’t strange enough, the wood came off as if it’d been left in the sun for ages despite being chopped down not long ago. For the record, nobody ever heard anything about Chen Erzhuang being an artist on a timber canvas.
One of the clerks’ almost-complete mannequin resembled an old woman, perfectly depicting the wrinkles of an elderly within roughly four hours. Though his brush was dipped in red paint that oozed a strong smell, it turned into a beige colour when he put the brush to the wood. As a matter of fact, it could even take on the colour of human brows, lips and blemishes. Like the other wooden mannequins lined up by the coffins in the store, nevertheless, he left her eyes untouched. Once complete, he clothed her in graveclothes and then moved her inside. Without a word or moment wasted, he grabbed the next block of wood to begin carving…
Mu Yu, hiding in his invisibility formation, grew more and more suspicious as he watched the four carve all morning without batting an eye. Elder Xu was adamant that nobody had ever heard of Chen Erzhuang incorporating wooden mannequins into any jobs. Chen Erzhuang didn’t help lift suspicion off himself since he was always cooped up in his room unless a clerk had to open up to deliver a mannequin.
Xing Hua, a maiden from the neighbouring village dropped into the store in afternoon, crying as she told Chen Erzhuang her mother passed away last night and wanted him to handle the funeral procedures. Visage indifferent, Chen Erzhuang sorted out all the necessary items.
Even though the villages nearby were small, the total population was more than ten thousand people. Chen Erzhuang was the only one in the funeral department around the area, so he was the only one they could hire. Sometimes, he’d receive several jobs in a single day. For better or worse, he never needed to worry about people bargaining because family members didn’t hesitate to spend money to put their family, friend or whoever it was to rest in peace.
For this particular job, Chen Erzhuang determined it was best to hold the funeral the next day based on the deceased’s date of birth and the eight characters of her horoscope – which was based on a traditional Chinese calendar that accurately recorded the year, month, day and hour of one’s birthdate.
Knowing Mu Yu could control the wooden mannequins, Xiaoshuai kept egging Mu Yu on to make one of them dance for giggles. After all, it was an entire boring day of staking out.
Chen Erzhuang and his four clerks carried an empty coffin containing all of the necessary items to Xing Hua’s place the next morning. Mu Yu noticed the sense of danger at Chen Erzhuang’s place disappear when Chen Erzhuang left, leading to him speculating Chen Erzhuang was the source of it. The problem was Mu Yu couldn’t pick up anything wrong with Chen Erzhuang.
Upon infiltrating Chen Erzhuang’s place to check on the incomplete mannequins, Xiaoshuai pinched his nose and questioned, “What is that red stuff in the big vat made of? It smells like someone’s dinner they regurgitated last night. How did those four not even bat an eye?”
Mu Yu scooped up a ladle of the red liquid to examine. The dragon vine, therefore, suggested, “Rodent, give it a taste.”
“You try it,” Xiaoshuai communicated through their connected link.
Mu Yu coated the red liquid in his spiritual energy. “What is this? My spiritual energy can’t identify what it is.”
“Who cares? Can you not hold it so close?” Xiaoshuai complained, covering his face with Mu Yu’s shirt.
Mu Yu placed the ladle back and opened the door to Chen Erzhuang’s quaint room, uttering, “I’m surprised he doesn’t find it annoying to be squashed between all the manneq-”
“Eh? Where are all the mannequins?” Xiaoshuai sniffed the room, then notified, “Mu Yu, I smell the same smell I smelt at No-Man’s Cemetery.”
“Yeah, I sense No-Man’s Cemetery’s sinister aura, too, but it’s faint. I don’t know if it’s the qi or what, but I can’t use my wood-control ability to locate the mannequins.”
A breeze from outside blew against the blanket hanging off a camphorwood double bed, prompting to Xiaoshuai verbalise, “Don’t tell me they’re under the bed.”
The bed was constructed so low that the blanket touched the ground. It stood to reason, then, that they couldn’t fit that many mannequins under the bed. Mu Yu bobbed down and brushed aside the blanket.
“A toolbox without a lid and two pairs of cloth shoes is all I see.” Mu Yu dragged the toolbox out and went through it. “The only things in here are a planer and a carving knife. They’re pretty new, I might add.”
“Mu Yu, do you not detect any formations?” inquired the dragon vine.
“No.”
“Might there be some secret contraption that opens a secret passage? Maybe they hid the mannequins elsewhere,” assumed Xiaoshuai.
“Well, the room stands on its own, so where would a secret passage lead to? Let me check underground.” Mu Yu sent spiritual energy underground then declared, “Yep, just tough earth.”
Creak… Creak…
Hearing the creepy creaking when the wind blew in, Mu Yu looked up and…
Previous Chapter l Next Chapter
