TEFSCBSS Chapter 59

Chapter 59: The Eerie Song

“Brother Li!”

The three of them were startled. Could it be that Li Tiezhu had perished just like that?

Just as they were about to check if he was still breathing, Li Tiezhu opened his eyes. “Oh, it’s you guys.”

He then struggled to sit up from the coffin. Given his towering height and muscular build, the coffin that seemed spacious for Wang Bokao and the others was quite cramped for him.

As they helped pull him out, Zhao Wen couldn’t help but think that the only coffin big enough for Li Tiezhu was probably the communal one in their assigned house.

“Brother Li, why were you sleeping in a coffin?”

Li Tiezhu remained silent for a moment before explaining, “I was placed in this courtyard with a bald guy. He told me that everyone who arrives here has to sleep in a coffin, or else they’ll bring misfortune upon themselves.”

“And you just went along with it?” Wang Bokao asked, puzzled. Li Tiezhu didn’t seem like someone who followed orders so easily—where was that fighting spirit he always had in Werewolf?

“…No, but when I refused, he started chanting scriptures nonstop. It gave me a terrible headache,” Li Tiezhu said, clearly aggrieved. “I couldn’t hit him, and for some reason, the door wouldn’t open. He told me that if I got in the coffin, he’d stop chanting. What else could I do?”

“Uh… fair enough. So, where’s the bald guy now?”

“No idea. He left as soon as I lay down in the coffin. Honestly, this thing is pretty comfortable. The moment I got in, I started feeling drowsy. If you guys hadn’t barged in yelling, I probably would’ve fallen asleep.”

Li Tiezhu let out a hearty laugh, running his hand over the coffin’s surface. It was rough and unfinished—it hadn’t even been polished. Looking around at the bare room, he recalled that his apprentice had mentioned Boss Zhao was quite poor. These coffins alone must’ve cost a small fortune. Maybe he really should consider working with Zhao Boss.

Seeing the eerie grin on Li Tiezhu’s face, the three others felt a chill run down their spines. But since they had finally found another teammate, they couldn’t just leave him behind. Quickly, they gathered him up and headed toward where Wang Bokao remembered Wan Niang had been assigned.

However, when they arrived, the place was empty—not even the coffin held anything inside.

“Strange… where could Wan Niang have gone?” Wang Bokao stroked his chin. He sighed—being the only leader in this group was tough.

Just then, Gu Qing pulled out three copper coins from his pocket. “Let me divine her location!”

With practiced movements, Gu Qing tossed the coins, flipping them five times in succession. But just as he was about to toss the sixth time, a haunting melody suddenly filled the air around them.

“Great misfortune!” Gu Qing’s face turned pale as his divination was abruptly interrupted.

“Feasting on crimson eyes, drinking the moon’s essence, ethereal and fleeting, I stand atop Mount Kunlun…”
“With love like fragrant orchids, we swore our hearts as one, but now, drowned in sorrow, I wither in a lonely grave…”
“…Cursing your heart, colder than iron, mourning my fate, trapped in the void like a caged beast…”

A sorrowful, archaic song reached their ears. The voice was hoarse and filled with grief, each note dripping like fresh blood.

“This… this is the same song I heard earlier!” Wang Bokao’s face turned deathly white. He didn’t know what was happening, but despite his fear, he forced himself to stay calm. Turning to Gu Qing, he demanded, “You’re always analyzing weird stuff—can you figure out what this song is saying?”

Gu Qing: …Was that supposed to be a compliment? Thanks, I guess.

“I can understand the general meaning. The song tells a story from a woman’s perspective. She describes how she lived a celestial life—eating only divine fruits and herbs, drinking water infused with the moon’s essence, practically like a goddess.” Gu Qing paused. “Honestly, that’s pretty narcissistic. Did ancient people hype themselves up like this?”

“Then, she fell in love with a man. At first, they were deeply in love, making all sorts of sacred vows to grow old together.”

“But one day, the man betrayed her. Not just that—he was a serial cheater.”

“The song says that while he was with her, he was also involved with other women. She only found out about it when she was already pregnant. Enraged, she exposed him, making sure the whole village knew.”

“But no one in their village sided with her. Instead, they urged her to forgive him. The scandal became too much, and to protect their village’s reputation, the people joined forces with the man. Despite her being pregnant, they forcibly sealed her inside a coffin—burying her alive.”

“Later, after overhearing people talking in front of the grave, the woman—well, by then, she was already a ghost—finally understood why they wanted her dead instead of just letting her separate from the man.”

“It was because that man had used the same tricks to deceive a woman of even higher status and greater beauty.”

“Consumed by resentment, the ghost transformed into a vengeful spirit and slaughtered the man along with everyone in the village who had helped him”

“She condemned them to an eternity trapped in the void.”

Gu Qing clicked his tongue after finishing the story. “What a wretched village! Serves them right! A scumbag man deceiving women left and right, and the villagers ganging up on a defenseless woman just for their future gains. And this is just one case! The song mentioned he had affairs with multiple women—who knows how many were tricked and met tragic ends?”

The others were just as furious.

“This song… could it be telling the story of this very village?” Wang Bokao hesitated.

“Most likely,” Zhao Wen responded, recalling the information from the historical records. “Based on the era in which this tale was recorded, Shanshi Village existed a long, long time ago. Back then, this kind of poetic storytelling was common, unlike our modern seven-character and five-character verse styles.”

“Wait a minute… If the song’s style is that ancient, then wouldn’t the one singing it also be from that time?” Wang Bokao asked.

Gu Qing frowned in thought. “That’s true… The pronunciation in the song is odd, a bit archaic, not like how we speak today. Hmm?”

The group exchanged glances. If the singer was speaking in an ancient dialect, then wouldn’t that mean… that ‘person’ had lived for centuries? Or perhaps the ghost from the song was the one singing?

A chilling wind swept past them, and they faintly heard a whisper—”Cui Lang”—before it dissolved into the mist.

It was freezing. No one dared to move. Not even a little.

Only when the wind died down and the eerie song faded did they slowly exhale the breath they’d been holding.

“So… where do we go now?” Zhao Wen forced his eyes open, afraid to glance at his surroundings in case a ghost suddenly appeared before him.

“We go find Zhao Si,” Gu Qing declared. “After that, we meet the village chief.”

Li Tiezhu, whose task was to craft pottery, had yet to meet his contact, so he had no objections.

Only Wang Bokao refused. “I won’t be going with you. I have something else to do.”

Zhao Wen looked at him suspiciously. “What task do you have?”

Wang Bokao glanced around, making sure it was just the four of them, before lowering his voice. “I’ll tell you, but you must swear to keep it a secret.”

The three of them nodded hurriedly.

“The truth is, although I’m a bodyguard by profession, my family has been safeguarding a certain item for generations. This item has remained undelivered for centuries because none of our ancestors could find its true destination.”

“That destination is Shanshi Village.”

“And this item… It’s not ordinary. It carries a curse. If the custodian fails to deliver it, they won’t live past thirty. What’s worse, every time someone tries to dispose of it, it reappears the next day, and the custodian falls gravely ill.”

“Over the years, countless bodyguards in my family have died because of it. Now, my younger brother is its current keeper. No matter what, I won’t let him die. So this time, I secretly took on a job that allowed me to bring the item out—I intend to return it to Shanshi Village and put an end to this curse once and for all.”

As he spoke, he pulled out a small, lightweight box from his bag. No one could tell what was inside.

“Now that I finally know where to go to complete this task, we should split up for now.”

“Judging from the song, the ghost isn’t truly malevolent. We haven’t wronged her in any way, so she shouldn’t have any reason to harm us.”

The three others nodded in agreement, and with that, they parted ways.

Meanwhile, elsewhere—

Wan Niang found herself feeling deeply uneasy as she stared at the people surrounding her.

She had been bound tightly with ropes and stuffed inside an old, dusty coffin.

“Shhh… It will all be over soon.”