“No time for explanations, yo!” Ji Ye continued singing, “Hurry up and come with me to find something, Man Niao Niao, quick, go blow some air, yo…” After singing, he grabbed Tan Ping’er and rushed toward that stilt house, the large, dark four-cornered “drawers” tied at his waist swaying back and forth.

I initially intended to shout out loud, “In broad daylight, with a beauty by my side, being completely naked, what kind of decorum is this?” But then I realized, looking at Ji Ye’s actions, he clearly wasn’t considering propriety. Besides, I could see Ji Ye and Man Niao Niao moving about in the nude, but Tan Ping’er might not have seen them, as the torchlight flickered uncertainly and wasn't very bright. Judging by Tan Ping’er’s reaction, perhaps preoccupied with my safety, she showed no sign of disgust or bashfulness toward the two brightly decorated bodies. Furthermore, what difference would it make if I shouted? They wouldn't hear me anyway.

Ji Ye and Tan Ping’er’s figures quickly vanished into the shadow before the stilt house. I wanted to follow and see what mischief Ji Ye was up to, but the memory of the previous encounter made me feel somewhat apprehensive, so I abandoned the plan.

Man Niao Niao lay prone on my flesh body, continuously pressing his mouth against the center of the chest and blowing air. During his breaths, he hurriedly mumbled, “Damn it, what happened to your buddy?... Son of a bitch, I was almost buried by that mudslide… You bastard, why did you run off like that, running to this pitch-black place, causing me to have bad luck too… I wonder if there are any ‘Half-Puppets’ here…” Saying this, Man Niao Niao looked back fearfully, glancing around. Alas, in his eyes, there was only darkness upon darkness; he clearly couldn't see anything.

Standing next to him, I was so angry my heart felt like it was smoking. Even in this state, he still used his acquired “common vernacular” to taunt and ‘crucify’ me. Moreover, his “common vernacular” vocabulary seemed to have been updated again. Fortunately, I was clever enough to have used some of his phrases myself; otherwise, how would I have known that “Nei Wu An” in his mouth meant “testicle”?

Even though seeing Man Niao Niao filled me with an inexpressible excitement, upon hearing his complaints, my inherent thought of “If someone offends me, I will certainly retaliate” surged forth again. Just as I was preparing to strike down Man Niao Niao’s arrogance, I felt dejected upon reflection. No matter how much I cursed him, no matter how rich my “common vernacular” was, and no matter how high and impassioned my voice became, he simply couldn’t hear me. Could I even bite him?

However, playing a trick on him was still possible. I wondered what his reaction would be if I blew some air onto his neck. And the more crucial question was: could I, behind that layer of “paper,” successfully blow air onto him? I instantly regretted not trying this method on Tan Ping’er earlier.

As my mouth neared Man Niao Niao’s neck, my heart suddenly softened. Man Niao Niao feared nothing except the “Half-Puppet.” If I succeeded in blowing air onto his neck, would it startle him so much that he suffered a spasm? Or perhaps even… faint? If Man Niao Niao found out I was the culprit, wouldn't he start a huge row with me? If Ji Ye couldn't revive me, who could guarantee he wouldn't sprinkle a bag of rapeseed or pour a can of tung oil on my grave? For both his sake and mine, this action wouldn't lead to any good outcome. Better just forget it!

Man Niao Niao’s cheeks puffed out like pig bladders, leaning over my flesh body, blowing hard into the heart area until the “bladders” slowly deflated. Only then did he lift his head, take a deep breath, and let out all his pent-up complaints, “My life is so bitter… Wuwu… It’s all because I was worried about you, you bastard… Wuwu…” His voice turned into a sob, seemingly filled with infinite regret and sorrow. Hearing this, I was deeply moved and almost wanted to rush over and embrace him, weeping together. Who knew that this fellow wiped his nose, changed his tune, and said, “It’s a pity about my little jar… If I’d sold it, who knows how much money I could have earned…”

Jar? What jar? Then I heard Man Niao Niao continue his feigned lament: “If you hadn't thrown a jar up there, how would we have known you guys fell into this ‘Bo Yi’ place?… I managed to climb down holding that jar, but unexpectedly, that son-of-a-bitch mudslide washed it away? Is it really that I have no fortune in wealth… Having no fortune is one thing, but who knew you, you bastard, would end up like this? How am I supposed to explain this to your parents when I go back?… Damn it, you’re more tiring than even bragging…” His voice was melodious and rambling, finally turning into a tone of mourning.

Although I hated him enough to grind my teeth, I had no time to listen to Man Niao Niao mumbling nonsense. My mind began to spin like a machine at high speed. From Man Niao Niao’s words, could the “jar” he mentioned be that tiger-knobbed Chunyu jar that held the embroidered shoes? I recalled carefully: after that grave mound collapsed with a hole, when I grabbed Hua’er’s hind legs, I did indeed throw that tiger-knobbed Chunyu onto it. Does this mean they deduced that I, Tan Ping’er, and Hua’er had fallen into this place because of that tiger-knobbed Chunyu? Then what about the subsequent mudslide? Did he and Ji Ye also enter through that hole? How did they get down?

Before I could figure out these questions, I saw Ji Ye and Tan Ping’er return, each holding a large bundle of things. Because the items appeared entirely black to me, I couldn't immediately tell what they were.

Ji Ye and Tan Ping’er quickly rushed over to my flesh body and Man Niao Niao. Seeing them return, Man Niao Niao breathed a sigh of relief, “You’re finally back… Brother An, you promised me that after finding Ying Ying and Ping’er, you would give me fire, and a promise can’t be broken…”

Ji Ye ignored Man Niao Niao’s nagging, put down the bundle in his arms onto my flesh body, then took one of the two bundles Tan Ping’er was holding, and also placed it on my flesh body. The other bundle, Tan Ping’er placed on the ground.

“Brother An, where did you find so much straw?” Man Niao Niao stood up, asking curiously. Black liquid was constantly running down his body; perhaps he was sweating from the exertion of blowing air.

When I heard Man Niao Niao call those black things straw, my heart was shocked. What was Ji Ye doing piling this dry straw onto my flesh body? Did he intend to burn it? I was so anxious my seven orifices smoked, yet I couldn't stop him. Just as I didn't know what to do, Tan Ping’er anxiously said, “Uncle An, what are you doing? You want to burn him? How can his soul be called back then?” Exactly, didn’t Ji Ye understand the principle: “If the skin is gone, where can the hair attach itself?”

“Summoning the soul? Summoning the soul with straw?—Brother An, has your brain turned to iron? If you burn him, won’t he truly become a meat patty beaten by a flower—gone forever?” Man Niao Niao suddenly jumped up and grabbed Ji Ye’s arm.

“Less chatter,” Ji Ye sang, “Hurry up and twist some straw ropes…”

Behind that layer of “paper,” I was so angry I wanted to take a few bites out of Ji Ye. Since entering this place, the old fellow hadn't spoken a proper word. Regardless of how urgent the situation was, he always expressed himself in a bizarre singing style. I truly couldn't fathom why he was like this. If he continued this weird, chanting behavior, how would I explain myself to my mother Ji when I returned?

Fortunately, although his tune was strange, the meaning he conveyed was clear enough. At this moment, I understood he was ordering Man Niao Niao to twist some ropes from the straw. So… what was the rope for?

Man Niao Niao, sensing Ji Ye’s impatient and urgent tone, didn’t dare to delay. He spat twice into his palms, pulled a few strands of straw from my flesh body, pressed one end of the straw onto the ground with his rear end, and swiftly rubbed the straw between his hands alternately, soon twisting a passable rope. During this process, Ji Ye wrapped my flesh body from head to toe with straw, took the rope Man Niao Niao had made, and haphazardly wound it several times around the straw-wrapped body. In an instant, my flesh body transformed into a bristly, shaggy straw dragon.

Tan Ping’er stood quietly nearby, not daring to ask. Hua’er, that fellow, tilted his head, watching Ji Ye busy himself, actually showing a look of curiosity, remaining silent.

I, behind that layer of “paper,” observing the three people and one dog clearly delineated in black and white, and the flesh body on the ground bound with straw, was completely preoccupied with what other ‘ancient trick’ Ji Ye would pull next. This old fellow’s speech had turned into a singing style, and his actions were also out of the ordinary. Has this new generation of Tujia Tima elevated the mystery and inscrutability of this traditional occupation to new heights?

After binding the flesh body, Ji Ye reached into a snakeskin bag he carried and pulled out incense, inserting the sticks one by one onto the straw dragon. The straw dragon resembled a white, hairy caterpillar. “Light the incense and set it burning,” Ji Ye sang, instructing Man Niao Niao.

“Brother An, isn’t this a Straw Puppet Dragon?” Man Niao Niao said to Ji Ye while taking out his lighter.

Only when Man Niao Niao called it a “Straw Puppet Dragon” did I suddenly remember that the shape of my flesh body at that moment was indeed extremely similar to the straw dragon the early Tujia people used to drive away pests in the fields. The Straw Puppet Dragon, also known in ancient times as the “Green Sprout Lamp,” was made of straw, with incense sticks inserted all over the dragon body. At night, the incense was lit, and three or five farmers would hold it, beating gongs and drums, running and dancing in the fields. Seen from afar, the tips of the incense glowed, creating shifting illusions, just like a fleeting dragon. The Straw Puppet Dragon was a tool used by the Tujia people in ancient times, when technology was undeveloped, to drive away rice blast disease, hence it was also called the “Plague Lamp.”