As she spoke, I felt a sense of being utterly removed from reality. The specters of the villa, the zombies of Silent Village—those horrors had not yet faded from my mind, and now, here was an immortal body, sitting barely a meter away, having just used its own blood to save my deeply comatose older sister.

I couldn't help but sigh toward the heavens. When, exactly, would this endless game of the undying finally conclude? Why were so many souls so reluctant to leave the mortal realm, going to such lengths to defy the fate they were born to?

“So tonight is when Hua Jinlan makes her move?” Old He’s single sentence snapped me out of my deep contemplation. I had almost forgotten: the immediate crisis was how to rescue Wang Jue and prevent Hua Jinlan from commencing a bloodbath. That was what we needed to focus all our effort on.

However, the old woman’s next words plunged everyone back into terror: “Tonight is the first day of the lunar month. On this day every month, all the men of the village gather in the ancestral hall to offer incense to our ancestors. The Miao Village ancestral hall is a sacred ground for ancestor worship, protecting the descendants of the Miao Village for generations from the poisons of chīmèi wǎng liǎng (demons and monsters). The ceremony begins after sunset, which is when the most people will be present. Hua Jinlan will most likely appear then, killing the maximum number of people in the shortest possible time. Afterward, she will search house by house; any living soul she touches will not escape her grasp. This task must be done swiftly and cleanly. If she doesn't accumulate 99 lives within three days of killing the first person, the contract will automatically expire, and she herself will be hunted by Hell for the wanton slaughter of innocents. Therefore, this path is one of no return; once she starts, she is certain to see it through.”

“How could she be so cruel, trading the lives of the entire village for one cold, unfeeling shell?” Aunt Hua cried out in anger. The moment the words left her lips, the fear in her eyes instantly morphed into self-reproach. For in condemning Hua Jinlan, she was simultaneously condemning the elder before her who had nurtured her.

As her statement concluded, the atmosphere grew heavy again, as if we had been plunged back into the bitterest part of winter, where one breath turned instantly to icicles falling from the air. Silence descended upon everyone.

After a long pause, the old woman stepped down from her seat, stopping beside Xiao Shu. She said gently, “Young one, you know how to perform the transcendence ritual for her, don't you? Otherwise, you wouldn't have followed Xiaoyu into the village.”

Xiao Shu nodded, recalling the words she had spoken to me in the villa, and murmured, “Find the soul’s corpse, bury it facing south with its head to the north, and invite an accomplished high monk to set up an altar and perform the rites. We also have a branch of peach wood, a gift from Hua Jinlan’s mother. If we place it on Wang Jue, Hua Jinlan’s soul will fall into a deep slumber, but the effect won't last until dawn.”

The old woman returned to her seat, took a couple of puffs from her pipe, drawing out the sound, and squinted, smelling the smoke mingling in the air. She said, half-teasingly, “Son and father are the same; they never go into battle unprepared.”

“We still have ten hours until dark. We should split into two teams: one to find Hua Jinlan’s corpse, and the other to seek out an accomplished high monk,” Old He announced, standing up. As he spoke, he put the lighter he had just used to help the old woman light her pipe back into his backpack, preparing to delegate tasks and arrange the next steps for everyone.

“Let Aunt Hua find the monk. You men, all of you, go search for the body. This old frame of mine will stay here and wait to see what she has to say when she arrives.” The old woman commanded with strong, resonant authority, showing the spirit of a Mu Guiying taking command. Yet, this commander needed no field action; just sitting on the dais with her undying body was terrifying enough.