In the deep silence of the Reincarnation Temple at night, I held my breath, peeking from behind a pillar at the movement within the black iron door. Through the slightly ajar door, an arm stretched out. Under the moonlight, one could clearly see that the arm was covered in soft, white fuzz, and its sharp nails shimmered faintly. The arm had only emerged halfway when it suddenly froze, its five fingers spread wide, gripping the stone floor, as if it too were scrutinizing what lay outside the door.

I thought, This is bad; we’ve actually run into a Jiangshi—a White Fiend, no less. But I had brought nothing but a flashlight. Still, a Jiangshi's fingers shouldn't be able to bend, the Lama had said that the black iron door beneath this Reincarnation Temple represented the hell into which the most heinous sinners were cast. Whatever crawled out of there, even if not a true Jiangshi, would be no easy adversary.

I saw the Fatty pressed just as tightly against his pillar, not daring to let out a breath, beads of sweat covering his forehead. At the time, I didn't know he was desperate to pee; I assumed he was as overly tense as Ah Dong. I made a subtle gesture to the Fatty, signaling him to pull down the mask on his cap to avoid exposing our scent and alerting the thing inside the door.

I pulled down the thermal mask of my mountaineering hood as well, making it look like I was wearing a large face covering. This way, even if it were a Jiangshi, it wouldn't easily detect us. Now, we could only watch and wait for the right moment to flee.

By this time, the sparse clouds in the sky had passed, and the moonlight grew brighter. A thing crawled out of the door. It resembled a human form, naked, covered all over in fine white downy hair—denser and longer than human vellus hair, but not as thick and shaggy as beast fur. Though the moonlight was bright, the creature's face remained indistinct.

Hiding behind the pillar, I felt an involuntary chill creeping up my spine, a wave of nervousness setting in. But I quickly realized this thing crawling from the iron door was probably not a Jiangshi. I saw its eyes flashing, bright as fierce lightning. Though I had never seen a Jiangshi, legend held that their eyes were decorative—they couldn't see anything. Yet, this thing’s eyes glittered like electricity in the dark... What exactly was it?

Afraid of being discovered, I dared not steal another glance. I shrank back behind the pillar and listened intently to the sounds within the temple hall. Pressing my ear against the stone, I could only hear the sound of light, shuffling footsteps on the ground. The creature—part human, part zombie, part animal—seemed to be circling Ah Dong’s corpse.

I had no idea what it intended to do, only hoping the thing would leave quickly. Anywhere else would do, as long as it vacated the ruins of the Reincarnation Temple, we could make our escape instantly. Just then, a bizarre laugh, like that of an old owl, echoed through the temple, a sound more grating than a night cat's howl. If my hands hadn't been clutching the pillar, I would have clamped them over my ears to block it out.

The Fatty, behind his pillar, pointed at his stomach and frowned at me repeatedly. His meaning was clear: the sound was too piercing, and if it continued, he wouldn't be able to hold it in any longer; he would surely wet himself.

I quickly waved my hands at the Fatty, urgently signaling him not to pee. Human urine has a strong odor, and if he let loose, we would immediately be discovered by this White Fiend-like monster. This bizarre, owl-like laughter truly sounded like the noise legends attributed to Jiangshi. I didn't know what trick the thing was playing, so I deliberately slowed my own breathing and cautiously peeked again from behind the pillar into the hall.

I saw the White Fiend-like creature looking down at the corpse on the floor, laughing maniacally with its palms open, as if it had found some priceless treasure. Then, it circled the hall once more, walked beneath a large hole in the roof, and stared up at the moon, whimpering, its sounds indistinguishable between crying and laughing.

The Fatty and I were beside ourselves with misery. We had been hanging onto the pillars for at least half an hour, our limbs growing numb and stiff. The lamps affixed to the pillars weren't very secure, making us afraid to shift our weight lest we knock something over and give ourselves away immediately. How could we possibly deal with a White Fiend empty-handed? Yet, this thing insisted on dawdling indefinitely in the hall. We had no idea what its purpose was.

Just as this precarious stalemate continued, an unexpected event occurred. I saw a large, vividly patterned Snow Spider slowly descending from the roof on a strand of silk. The silk swung back and forth and landed directly in front of me, less than half a centimeter away, almost brushing against my face.

Snow Spiders are the most venomous creatures on the plateau, usually white. But this one, though only the size of a fingertip pad, already bore distinct, bright crimson markings on its body—red clearly delineated against the white. This suggested it had lived for at least a hundred years. Its venom could instantly kill a wild yak. The spider swung a few times on its thread and landed, neither too far nor too near, right on the cap of my forehead. At that moment, I felt close to suffocating. I strained my eyes upward as far as I could, managing to see only one of the spider's intricately patterned legs. It seemed to dislike the woolen hat and proceeded directly down towards the space between my eyes. Only my eyes and the bridge of my nose were exposed on my head. Seeing the spider about to crawl onto my face, I had no choice but to find a way to deal with it first. But I dared not flick it off with my hand, as I wasn't wearing gloves and feared poisoning.

In that critical moment, I cared little about exposing myself to the White Fiend. I tilted my head up and gently bumped my forehead against the pillar. With a faint crack, the sound of an insect shell shattering, the Snow Spider was crushed by the pressure between my forehead and the stone. I hadn't used much force; just as I crushed the spider, I instantly jerked my head sideways, flinging the corpse, which hadn't yet managed to release its venom, aside.

However, that slight noise did draw the attention of the creature inside the hall. A pair of eyes, gleaming with icy light, suddenly shot towards the red-lacquered pillar where I was hiding. It began to approach, step by step.

I cursed under my breath, thinking, Great, I’ve run into bad luck again today. I wanted to signal the Fatty to get ready, that I would distract the creature, and then the Fatty could unexpectedly grab a large brick from the ground and strike it. But the Fatty behind the other pillar seemed to have died; he showed absolutely no reaction now.

I gritted my teeth and cursed inwardly. My only recourse was to repeat the trick I had used on Ah Dong. I picked off a shard of wood from the pillar and flicked it toward Ah Dong’s corpse, hoping to divert the thing's attention.

Worried the sound wouldn't be loud enough, I deliberately chose a relatively large piece of broken wood. This shard struck Ah Dong squarely in the face, making a distinct smack in the silent Buddhist hall. The white, fuzzy creature indeed heard the noise and turned its head back alertly.

Then, the most unexpected thing happened. Ah Dong, who we thought had been frightened to death, suddenly let out a violent bout of coughing, lying on the ground gasping for air. It turned out he was still alive, having merely choked on a breath from the extreme shock and the high-altitude oxygen deprivation, causing him to faint.

Ah Dong hadn't stopped breathing for long; a breath had simply gotten lodged in his trachea. Although he began breathing again, he was still unconscious. When the thing that crawled from the door saw Ah Dong was still alive, it erupted in uncontrollable fury, screeching incessantly.

Before I could even figure out what it intended to do, the creature lifted a stone brick and brought it down viciously onto Ah Dong's head, smashing it like a rotten watermelon. Brain matter splattered everywhere, yet it didn't stop, continuing until the entire head was smashed flat.

It then prodded Ah Dong’s corpse with its claws, confirming Ah Dong was truly dead. Its anger shifted to glee, and it let out a series of strange laughs. It then stooped down, embraced the corpse, ripped off the horribly mangled head, stripped the clothing, and positioned its mouth over the cavity, sucking the blood clean with loud slurping sounds. It then proceeded to chew the marrow and bones; it wouldn't waste a single edible bit.

Watching from behind the pillar, I felt my whole body go numb. This scene of man-eating was too gruesome, especially amidst the deathly silence of the ancient temple ruins, listening to the incessant crunching of teeth on bone. I remembered the way cats gnawed on captured mice; the scene before me was exactly the same.

When Heaven inflicts disaster, it can be forgiven; when man commits wickedness, there is no pardon. Ah Dong's greed for that silver-eyed Buddha statue was the cause; without it, he wouldn't have opened that black iron door. Although he brought it upon himself, the retribution felt far too swift and brutal.

I suddenly recalled the murals in the corridor of the "Dharma Protector Hall" just before the "Reincarnation Temple"—scenes depicting the tortures of hell. Among them was a cruel depiction of a cat-headed beast in the black purgatory, humanoid in shape with a tail, gnawing on the corpse of a sinner. I remembered the Lama saying back then that this was the Shizui Balu (Sin-Eating Balu) of the Reincarnation Sect. Since the sect had vanished from the world, later generations couldn't determine if this Shizui Balu was a fictional hungry ghost from the descriptions of hell or a beast actually trained by the religious enforcement body to punish offenders. (Balu meaning hungry ghost or sinner).

The murals depicting hellish torture were startlingly similar to what I was witnessing. It was highly possible that what crawled out of the door was the Reincarnation Sect’s so-called "Sin-Eating Prisoner." Hiding behind the pillars was not a viable long-term solution. Our hands and feet were growing progressively numb; we estimated we wouldn't be able to hold on much longer before falling. But lacking any immediate plan, we could only hold out for as long as we could.

The Sin-Eating Ghost had eaten half of Ah Dong's corpse in moments. I felt this was an opportunity: while it was completely engrossed in feeding, we could sneak out without alerting it.

Just as I was about to signal the Fatty to retreat, the Sin-Eating Balu, which had its back to us, suddenly whipped its head around, sniffing the air wildly, as if detecting some unusual scent. It instantly became alert.

I quickly concealed myself. Moonlight leaked through the temple roof, slanting onto the Fatty. The sweat on the Fatty’s forehead had lessened considerably, and he kept winking at me, seemingly trying to convey something. I winked back, asking what he meant—why was he playing dead earlier?

The Fatty dared not make a sound. He performed a very helpless gesture, shrugging his shoulders and looking down near the base of the pillar. Following his gaze, I saw a large patch of wetness on the red wooden pillar. I immediately cursed internally: Damn it, you actually did pee your pants!