The camp had a total of sixteen tents, each capable of sleeping three people. After searching through all of them, we found only 40 bodies, including Li Zuoquan's.
Li Zuoquan's corpse was highly decomposed, his head smashed beyond recognition, and his skull was filled with maggots that had consumed all the brain matter.
Around Li Zuoquan, there were about twenty-odd other bodies. Their deaths varied: some had been torn apart and bled to death, while others had contorted faces, appearing to have died from fright.
However, the most common cause of death was being impaled by a wooden stick as thick as a wrist, bleeding out. Such bodies constituted the majority. After a thorough search, we couldn't find the bodies of Fang Niuzi, Kang Pangzi, or Zhao Defu, leading me to suspect they might still be alive.
I shared my thoughts with Zhang Dabiao, who nodded in agreement. "It's possible. But we need to check the cave first. If they are still alive, it would prove we didn't kill Li Zuoquan, and they might be able to tell us what happened in the end."
We then skirted Li Zuoquan's body and, without informing Fang Huixin of our intentions, headed directly for the cave. However, before we could enter, Fang Huixin, who had caught up from behind, called out to us.
I looked at her with confusion. She, who had been vomiting uncontrollably moments ago, now appeared completely normal, as if what had happened earlier had nothing to do with her.
"Where are you two going?"
"We're going to check the cave for survivors. Do you want to come along?" I replied with a wry smile.
"You..." Fang Huixin clearly understood the implication of my words. Her face paled, and she sternly said, "As far as I know, besides the two of you and Li Rui, there are no other survivors. Are you two trying to sneak in while I'm not looking, perhaps to hide something shameful?"
I was exasperated. The place was filled with dead bodies; what could possibly be hidden inside? Her words were truly audacious.
"Boss Fang, if you don't believe us, you're welcome to follow us in. Just try not to end up like before."
Seeing the situation about to escalate, Zhang Dabiao quickly intervened, "Boss Fang, we found Li Zuoquan's body. Could this be considered a clue?"
Upon hearing that Li Zuoquan was dead, Fang Huixin's eyes lit up, and she eagerly asked, "Where is he?"
To disgust Fang Huixin, I described the gruesome state of Li Zuoquan's death.
"He's over there in the open space. The person with the smashed head is him. I remember his clothes."
As expected, Fang Huixin's expression changed slightly after hearing this, but she merely glared at me before rushing off with the paper artisan. For a moment, I couldn't comprehend why she was so interested in a dead body. Could Li Zuoquan possibly tell her any secrets?
Although I knew it was unlikely, I was still curious and followed her, wanting to see what she was up to.
When I arrived, Fang Huixin was standing at a distance, holding a handkerchief to her nose, her face deathly pale. The paper artisan, however, remained by Li Zuoquan's body, unfazed.
The paper artisan took out a piece of yellow paper from his small bag, then used a cinnabar brush to write something on it. After that, he took out scissors and began cutting with a "kacha kacha" sound.
He worked very quickly. Before I could ask Zhang Dabiao what he was doing, a lifelike paper figure appeared in his hands. The figure had arms and legs, but its eyes were blank.
"Brother Zhang, why didn't he cut eyes for the paper figure?"
Zhang Dabiao thought for a moment and replied, "Have you heard of 'drawing the dragon and dotting the eyes'?"
"Of course, I've heard of it. Are you saying that giving eyes to a paper figure is similar to dotting the eyes of a dragon?"
"It should be. I once heard a story from an elder in the village about a gambler who, due to his addiction, gambled away everything he owned, even angering his parents to death. His relatives treated him like a plague, avoiding him and refusing to lend him money.
One day, for some reason, this fellow came up with a plan to swindle some money from his relatives: he would hold a wedding banquet under the guise of getting married. This way, even if his relatives disliked him, they couldn't do much.
Although the idea was good, his notorious reputation had spread far and wide. Fortunately, he was eloquent and invoked his deceased parents, managing to deceive his relatives into attending.
However, marriage isn't a one-person affair; it requires another person. This fellow was quite resourceful and came up with the idea of using a paper figure as a substitute.
He found the best paper artisan in the surrounding villages to craft a beautiful young woman to pose as his bride. Normally, weddings are held during the day, but this fellow lied to his relatives, saying his bride's family lived far away and had caught a cold on the way, so they could only hold the celebration and consummation at night.
Although some people felt something was amiss, seeing a seemingly living person covered by a blanket on the kang through the window, they believed his fabricated story.
This fellow was not only a gambler but also a heavy drinker. After receiving the betrothal gifts, he couldn't keep his mouth shut. A few cups of wine later, he blurted out the truth about the paper figure.
When the relatives heard this, they were furious. Some of the more hot-tempered ones wanted to beat him, but they were restrained by the elders. For the sake of his deceased parents, they decided to help him one last time, severing all ties afterward.
After the relatives left, the gambler, fueled by alcohol, returned to his room. Looking at the young woman lying on the kang, he felt a surge of desire. He lamented how much better it would be if she were real. Seeing that the paper figure had no eyes, he casually picked up some mud from the kang and drew eyes on it before falling asleep due to intoxication.
In the middle of the night, he woke up with a severe thirst. However, the excessive drinking made his head ache terribly, and he couldn't get up immediately. As he groaned, someone brought him a ladle of water, which he drank without thinking.
After the cold water entered his stomach, he suddenly remembered that he was the only living person in the room, the other being the paper figure on the kang. How could someone have brought him water?
He quickly looked to the side and indeed, the paper figure had disappeared. This terrified him, and he tried to scream, but no sound came out.
For several days, no one saw the gambler emerge from his room. Those who were curious went inside and found that he had been scared to death. The paper figure on the kang was also gone."
Zhang Dabiao, being a loud talker, tried to keep his voice down, but it was still audible to Fang Huixin and the paper artisan. As soon as he finished speaking, the paper artisan's gaze shifted towards him. "Paper artisans do not make wives for people. Do not slander our profession, or you will face the consequences."
This was the first time I had heard the paper artisan speak since meeting him. His voice was somewhat high-pitched, and it sounded like a woman speaking. If it weren't for the Adam's apple on his neck and his flat chest, I would have suspected him of cross-dressing.
Facing the paper artisan's threat, Zhang Dabiao chuckled. "So you can talk. I thought you were mute. My brother here hasn't seen a paper artisan before, so I was just explaining things to him. Please don't take offense at the content! My apologies..."
"Hmph!"
The paper artisan snorted coldly and turned back to Li Zuoquan's corpse. He blew a breath, and the paper figure in his hand grew with the wind. What was originally palm-sized had grown to half a meter tall by the time it landed. It walked with a wobbly gait, like a toddler learning to walk. As it approached Li Zuoquan's body, its steps became steadier.
The paper figure leaped onto Li Zuoquan's corpse, its small head searching around. Then, it lowered its head, looking like a puppy, and crawled up Li Zuoquan's legs to his head before stopping. It then began to circle on his head and, finally, walked towards the cave. Before it had taken a few steps, its body ignited, and in an instant, it turned into black ash.
Seeing this, the paper artisan's brow furrowed deeply. He gazed thoughtfully in the direction of the cave.