Chapter 6: The Opera Ghost
Paper money was something Jiang Si had in spades. He pulled out another handful, and the female ghost’s eyes lit up. She picked up an ingot, cradled it in her palm, and took a deep, intoxicating breath.
“Ah, that’s the stuff. Absolutely perfect…”
Jiang Si smiled. “My family is in the paper craft business. I’ve got plenty of this stuff. Can you continue now?”
“But of course.” The ghost mulled it over for a moment. “Today is the thirtieth of the lunar month, which is the day of the local temple fair. Xiao Fengxian loves to sing, and she insists on putting on a show with the other ghosts every month. She probably grabbed him to use as a laborer for setting up the stage.”
“And where are they setting up this stage?”
The ghost covered her mouth with her hand and giggled. “Well, isn’t this a coincidence? I was just on my way to watch the opera myself. How about this: you drive, I’ll give directions, and we can go together.”
“Sounds good to me,” Jiang Si said, turning to her. “Once I find my friend, you’ll be handsomely rewarded.”
“I just love a man who’s so straightforward and generous,” the ghost sighed. “You have no idea how cheap men are these days. Just the other day, I saw a guy insist on splitting the cost of a single bubble tea with his girlfriend. And he still had the nerve to say women are gold diggers.”
“Tsk, tsk… each generation is worse than the last.”
Jiang Si nodded in agreement. “I can’t stand guys like that either.”
“Hey! See? That’s what I’m saying!”
The ghost got excited. “Right? How much can one bubble tea cost? And he had to be so petty about it.”
“Well, you can’t look at it that way,” Jiang Si said, a nostalgic, world-weary look in his eyes. “Back when I was working, even a 9.90 yuan coffee had to be expensed through the company.”
“The point isn’t the price, it’s what it’s spent on. A person shouldn’t—or at least they ought not to—spend their own money to be a corporate drone.”
The topic suddenly grew heavy. The ghost felt the cheerful atmosphere evaporate, replaced by a wave of resentment rolling off Jiang Si that was even stronger than her own. She was taken aback.
“What’s wrong?” she asked quietly. “Don’t universities guarantee jobs for their graduates anymore?”
“…”
The look on Jiang Si’s face grew even more desolate, leaving the ghost completely bewildered.
.
The car weaved through the forested highway, driving further and further into the remote countryside until it reached a small rural town.
By the time Jiang Si parked, dusk was settling in.
The ghost pointed toward a patch of woods ahead. “It’s in there. Just follow me, it’s not far.”
“Alright.” Jiang Si readily pulled the key from the ignition and slung a black backpack over one shoulder.
“What’s that?”
“Just some offerings. Think of it as a ransom.”
The ghost looked pleased. “You’re smarter than you look. Don’t you worry, I’ll be sure to put in a good word for you.”
She floated ahead with Jiang Si trailing behind her. After a few turns down a narrow path through the dense trees, the woods suddenly opened up into a clearing. A wave of clamorous noise washed over them.
Dozens of figures were bustling about the clearing. Their clothes were a mishmash of styles—some wore modern t-shirts, others wore the coarse linen of a bygone era, and there were even a few in traditional long robes and jackets.
Jiang Si did a quick scan. Many of them were old ghosts, dead for over a century.
This was going to be tricky.
He silently raised his guard.
But a living person among a throng of ghosts was as conspicuous as a lighthouse in the dead of night. The moment Jiang Si stepped into the clearing, a ghost shrieked.
“I smell a living person! Someone is here!”
“What? A human!”
“I smell it too! Where are they?”
…
In an instant, every ghost turned to stare in his direction. The female ghost who had led him there had vanished without a trace.
“It’s a human—a human has actually stumbled into our territory.”
“I think… I think he can see us…”
Jiang Si cursed the ghost for her disloyalty. His eyes darted across the crowd and landed on a headless ghost, who was holding its own head as it spoke.
He tightened his grip on his backpack and spoke up. “Everyone, I’m here looking for someone. I mean you no offense. As soon as I find them, I’ll leave immediately.”
The ghosts chattered amongst themselves. A few of the bolder ones had already floated right up to Jiang Si, eager for a closer look.
One of them, a hanged ghost, drifted in the air, its lolling tongue nearly flicking Jiang Si’s arm. Its bloodshot eyes bulged from their sockets, staring at him as if sizing up a meal.
Jiang Si’s lips formed a thin line. He reached into his backpack and flung a handful of something into the air.
Countless yellow paper bills fluttered down, instantly igniting a frenzy among the ghosts.
“Holy hell, it’s money!”
“Someone’s making it rain! Grab it!”
“Get the money, quick!”
Jiang Si took the opportunity to toss out a few more handfuls. As the ghosts shoved each other aside, gleefully scrambling to pick up the money, he slipped past them unnoticed.
In the center of the clearing, a half-finished stage had been erected. Jiang Si planned to circle around to the back to look for Haidi.
Suddenly, a female ghost in a red opera robe floated out. Seeing the chaos, she frowned and barked, “All of you, stop this at once!”
“The show is about to begin! What do you think you’re doing?”
This had to be Xiao Fengxian. From her southern water-town accent, Jiang Si felt he understood her a little better.
He wasn’t far from her, and being the only living beacon in the area, he naturally caught her attention immediately.
In a breath, the red-robed ghost was before him. Her face was covered in exquisite opera makeup, but her eyes held a murderous glint.
“What is a living person like you doing here?”
“I’m looking for a friend.”
Xiao Fengxian sneered. “Do you take me for a fool? This place is full of ghosts. Where would you find a friend here?”
Jiang Si glanced around, his gaze sweeping through the crowd of ghosts, but he didn’t see a familiar face. He turned his attention back to her.
“My friend is the soul you spirited away this afternoon.”
Xiao Fengxian raised an eyebrow. “So that’s what this is about. Him! Humans and ghosts belong to different worlds; you shouldn’t be together. Today is the day of my performance, so I’ll give you one chance to leave. Otherwise, I’ll pull your soul right out of your body too.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that. I made a promise to him. I have to take him with me.”
“It seems you’d rather do this the hard way!”
Xiao Fengxian floated high into the air, her opera robes billowing around her as if in an invisible wind, her hair flying dramatically. She looked like the classic female ghost from a movie.
Jiang Si had to fight the urge to let his lips twitch. He glanced behind her.
From somewhere, two paper-craft fans were being furiously cranked by other ghosts, creating a powerful gale to complete Xiao Fengxian’s performance.
He stood there, speechless, unsure whether to be impressed by her professionalism or by the fact that the ghosts had modernized enough to use props.
“Well? Are you scared now?” Xiao Fengxian threw her head back and laughed. “I’ll give you one last chance. Get out of here. This is not a place for you.”
“…”
Jiang Si held up a hand. “Look, how about I trade you something for him?”
Xiao Fengxian’s narrow eyes narrowed further. She looked him up and down, her tone dismissive. “And what could you possibly have to trade with me?”
“It’s not more money, is it? Let me tell you, I’m not the sort to be swayed by riches. Don’t even think about bribing me.”
At this, Jiang Si’s expression finally changed. He stared at her as if she were an alien. “A ghost that doesn’t love money. What a rare sight.”
The female guide-ghost reappeared, squeezing her way to the front with an eager smile. “This man is a paper craftsman! He’s incredibly skilled. Even the ingots he folds are top quality.”
“A paper craftsman?” Xiao Fengxian scoffed. “Just someone who plays around with folding paper. What good is that?”
Even with his good temper, Jiang Si felt deeply offended. They were both artists, so who was she to act so high and mighty?
Was this the opera students looking down on the visual arts students?
The animation folks were known for being all-rounders!
Jiang Si pointed at the half-finished structure. “I’ll build you a complete stage. One that you can move anywhere you want. How about you give him back to me then?”
“Fine. If you can actually build it, I’ll give him back to you.”
Xiao Fengxian touched her toes to the ground, spinning gracefully as she drew back her long water sleeves. “I’d like to see if you really have the skill.”
Jiang Si didn’t move. “Let me see him first. What if he’s missing an arm or a leg?”
“Tsk, men are so much trouble.” Xiao Fengxian waved a hand. A ghost behind her immediately floated off and returned a moment later with another ghost, also dressed in an opera robe. This one, however, was tall and slender, clearly a man.
Jiang Si only recognized him when he got closer. “What happened to you?” he blurted out in shock.
“My troupe is short a performer,” Xiao Fengxian explained. “Although he’s a man, he has good features. I figured I’d bring him back to fill the role. He’ll work with us, and I won’t treat him poorly.”
Haidi, wearing a wig and an expressionless face, gave a stiff nod. The hairpins in his hair jingled with the movement. His features were delicate, his brow bone strikingly defined. In the dim light and heavy makeup, it was honestly difficult to tell his gender at a glance.
Jiang Si tried to hold it in, but he couldn’t. A grin spread across his face, and he burst out laughing.
“I have to say, it doesn’t look out of place at all. Hahahahaha…”
He bent over laughing, taking a moment to catch his breath. When he straightened up and met Haidi’s thunderous glare, he finally managed to rein in his amusement. Adopting a serious expression, he took a tablet out of his backpack, tilted his chin at Haidi, and said with a prim smile, “Watch closely. I’ll have you ransomed in a jiffy.”
His graduation project had been titled Hermitage and had incorporated numerous elements of Chinese opera. He and his classmates had visited several opera museums for research and had drawn up countless sketches.
He had a ready-made stage design right there.
Jiang Si pulled up the file, took out a stack of yellow paper, and sat right down on the ground to begin his work.
A crowd of curious ghosts gathered around to watch. Seeing the growing mob, Xiao Fengxian snapped impatiently, “What are you all standing around for? Get back to your preparations! The show starts as soon as midnight strikes.”
Then, she added a final word to Jiang Si, her eyes, made even narrower by her eyeliner, squinting at him. “If you don’t have something for me by midnight, you can just stay here and keep us company forever.”
Working by the light of his phone, Jiang Si’s hands moved with lightning speed. He had grown up watching his grandfather make these paper crafts; he could fold the basic shapes after just a single glance at the blueprint.
Paper craft generally fell into four categories: effigies of gods, effigies of people, architectural models, and funerary objects. He had once seen someone pay his grandfather a fortune to commission a paper mansion. The client demanded not only a magnificent exterior with gilded railings and carved phoenixes, but also exquisite interior details, including a full set of furniture and even a modern washing machine and television. The final product was as tall as a grown man, large enough for a small child to play inside.
It was a complex piece of art that had taken his grandfather two months to complete. The stage Xiao Fengxian was demanding was child’s play in comparison. As long as the basic structure was sound and usable, the timeframe was not a problem for Jiang Si.
Haidi awkwardly gathered the long sleeves and hem of his costume and squatted down, quietly observing Jiang Si’s movements. He noticed that when Jiang Si was completely focused, he blinked far less often than most people. His long eyelashes stood out starkly in the dim light, trembling only after long intervals. Watching him, Haidi felt an odd itch in his fingers, a desire to reach out and touch them just to see his reaction.
“Hey! Everyone else is busy. Why are you idle?”
Xiao Fengxian floated over, breaking Haidi’s train of thought.
Haidi was startled. He glanced around and saw that the other ghosts were indeed still hard at work, none daring to even peek in their direction. It was a testament to Xiao Fengxian’s authority.
Before he could speak, Jiang Si looked up from his work. “He’s with me. Since I’ve already agreed to ransom him, you have no right to order him around. Unless, of course, you’re backing out of our deal?”
Xiao Fengxian’s two slender eyebrows shot up. Her gaze fell on the object taking shape in his hands. Remembering the high-quality gold ingots from earlier, she was beginning to believe in his abilities, but she refused to back down verbally.
“So confident. I’m very curious to see what you can possibly come up with.”
Xiao Fengxian huffed, flicked her sleeve, and departed. After she was gone, Haidi’s eyes were dark as he faced Jiang Si. He asked, baffled, “Why did you come to save me?”
Unexpectedly, Jiang Si just laughed. He adjusted the angle of his phone’s light and calmly continued folding. “Meeting is fate, isn’t it? Now that we know each other’s names, there’s a karmic bond between us. I couldn’t just let you get captured for nothing.”
Haidi pressed his lips together and said nothing.
Seeing him fall silent again, Jiang Si couldn’t help but tease, “Are you that moved? If you really want to repay me, how about you sing me a song?”
He drew out the last word with a lazy drawl. Meeting his mischievous gaze, Haidi turned his head away and ignored him.
After seeing so many ghosts with missing limbs and gruesome injuries, it was a novel experience for Jiang Si to interact with one so… normal. He couldn’t resist a little fun.
The banter didn’t slow him down. He picked up another sheet of yellow paper and started folding. He had brought glue with him, and soon he was assembling the base, railings, and eaves. The basic shape was complete.
He gently placed the arm-length paper stage on the ground. Haidi looked at the model. “Is that it?”
“Time for a magic trick.” A rare hint of pride flickered in Jiang Si’s expression. He took out a lighter and set the paper model ablaze.
The flames instantly consumed the paper, pushing back the surrounding darkness. The orange fire danced and swayed in the wind, drawing the eyes of every ghost in the clearing.
Mountains of gold and silver are all but paper, A burned mansion becomes an underworld home—
An eerie wind swept through, and the pile of ashes on the ground swirled into the air.
With lightning speed, Jiang Si grabbed his backpack with one hand and pulled Haidi back several steps with the other. By the time everyone else realized what was happening, a full-sized, perfectly replicated stage had materialized in its place.
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