Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was said that at a better age Gongmen Town held the reputation for not only its beauty, but its tenfold strength. But such an age meant nothing to those that remained there now. Gone were the elegant palaces of old and what remained of the shredded walls the villagers had turned into the foundations of their homes. Gogmen Town had decayed into a place ignored, a place where only the lowly commoners tend their fields and those even lowlier hope to steal away spare money from unwary travelers who had the bad luck to land in Gongmen Town.

While the officials and magistrates cared little for Gongmen Town outside, villages nearby whispered of a darker reputation: Gongmen Town as place that eats soulss. Those that stray in Gongmen Town for too long died or vanished. An evil lived in that city, they said, one that hungered for the warmth of the living. For those that stopped by and left Gongmen Town would remark one more truth: whatever the time of year, no matter the weather or where the sun stayed, half of Gongmen Town was always cold.

But some souls fear ignominy and debt far greater than death. So if Gongmen Town found itself in want of new souls, tit would never go without want for long. For there were no shortage of fools seeking their fortune.

At the far side of town, a group of wolverines with one polecat in tow made their work of digging up the splintered and trashed remains of one of Gongmen Town’s towers.

“Hurry up,” a senior wolverine overlooking the work growled, “I don’t wanna wait all night to freeze to death.”

As one of the gang shoveled out a heaping of dirt and timber, they looked over their shoulder, “I’m more worried about the monster than some cold.”

One thief working aside him balked at such fears, “Bah, monsters. They’re just superstitious old folk.”

“Superstition or not,” the boss said, “Some stories have a little truth in them. That’s why I brought them.” She pointed at the polecat.

“A Daoist priest? Ha! Like some prayers and fire tricks will do much against a wild animal.” the surly thief tossed a pile dirt over their shoulder.

“No animal can do what they say this monster does,” the timid thief added, “A person’s life sucked dry in just moments. Their body, crushed.”

“Bah! Spreading wive’s tales,” grunted the surly wolverine, throwing down his shovel as he swiped a jug from his belt, “If we’re going to work so hard for nothing, I prefer to warm my belly.”

The surly thief stepped into the deserted square where little else remained but ages-rotted timber where homes once stood. Gongmen townspeople learned to leave this place be ages ago. Still those in the other side of the village would tell stories of some whispy cloud that gave dark portents, a sign before the monster whisked them off.

The thief thought nothing of it as he drank with the thief crew to his back, “Bullshit…” As he finished his drinking he felt a chill wind kick up around him. He spat, “So bad here even alcohol can’t warm me up…”

As he said that, the timid thief in the pit stuck her head out, pointing to the almost flat dark of the town, “Over there...it looks like a white robe…”

The surly wolverine squinted through the shadowy pantomime of hewn splinters against the bejeweled sky. Indeed, it looked like a flimsy noble’s sleeping gown tossed about in the wind, “Huh...some foolish palace boy tossed out a valuable robe by mistake...their loss.”

The wind picked up speed as the clothing spun and suddenly dove from its regular corpse. It looked as if it would fall before it sped up and skirted the edge of the ground. The surly thief regarded the event with a little ‘heh’ before his eyes widened with shock. As the cloth touched him, a path of crimson opened across his chest. Then another slash opened down his arm and another down his other arm. The thief’s careless attitude turned into panic as he fought with the seeming cloth, more wounds quickly opening across his body, “Get it off me!!!”

In the pit the timid wolverine thief alerted her boss, “B—boss!!! The cloth it-it-”

The leader of the thieving gang shot up, her eyes shocked by what she saw. The robe...in a second she saw clothing, but in another she saw...feathers? She rung the bell, alerting the crew, “Help stave off that damned object!” Wolverine thieves piled from the pit rushing to aid their brother.

As they brandished their clubs and knives, the cloth latched off the surly thief and buffeted from thief to thief in the melee. Wounds miraculously opened from one wolverine to another. All this happened without the defending gang making aa single attack.

The surly wolverine collapsed shuddering in fearful cold, “I-I-can’t move!”

The boss saw less of a fanciful piece of clothing and more something living...a peacock? She roughly shook the polecat Daoist, stirring him from his sleep, “Priest! Do your exorcism!!!”

Startled, the polecat shot awake before he saw the apparition wreaking havoc among the thieves. All but one dropped in fearful paralysis, their bodies rent in slash marks. He remarked after quietly observing the spirit, “Yuan Gui…”

“What is that?” asked the timid wolverine.

“A spirit,” he started to ward the air around the site with a small tool what looked to be a staff with hair, “Who cannot rest. They died in great tragedy with unfulfilled lives.”

“Knowing what it is won’t stop it from killing my men!” growled the boss.

Slowly the priest got to work starting a fire, “Look again. Those wounds are shallow. A Yuan Gui inflicts the living with a madness like fear.”

The cloth twisted and turned in the air, something of a face appearing in the robes.

“That’s right. I know your game.”

Slowly appearing above the pit the timid wolverine saw the face of the ghost: a haughty peacock, one of pale feathers and a courtly features. She awed, “He’s beautiful…”

“Stop,” urged the priest, “It cannot hurt us, but it’s no less dangerous. It’s spent years corrupting this land, allowing it to do its dirty work.” The fire finally started, the priest dipping his staff in flame, “No longer.”

“Shows what you know,” taunted the ghost peacock.

The priest raised his torch, holding a warding inscription in the other hand, “You can’t fool me, spirit.”

As the ghost made a little chuckle, something whistled in the air. The timid wolverine turned, pointing the night sky, “What’s that?!”

In fatal distraction, the polecat turned. A speck had propelled itself into the air, far higher than any thing should. And now it started to fall, a meteor making its way to them.

The priest cried out, the ghost slicing them across the stomach. His protection spell and torch fell.

“No!” shouted the boss.

With a great struggle the priest started dragging himself across the ground, “I won’t...fall...for your tricks.”

“It’s not me you need to worry for,” scoffed the ghost.

With a crunching thud, a great beast landed on one of the fallen men. They saw a wolf, a body stiff as if recently dead. Dressed in armor of times far before this one and bearing a seeping wound across his neck, the wolf loomed over the pulverized thief crying in yowling pain. Their face looked peaceful, as if sleepwalking.

Spurred by greater urgency the priest crawled towards the men. The wolf’s breath turned wheezy as they inhaled deep. The body below him cracked and dried up, becoming a desiccated corpse as if all life were sucked from it.

The timid wolverine leaped from the pit, taking refuge behind the boss, “WHAT what! What is that thing?!”

“Jiangshi…animated corpse…” the priest could scarcely believe it, “A Yuan Gui and Jiangshi...what could make the two work together…?”

Another slash slowed the priest as the ghost mocked, “Maybe if you nosed your spirit manuals, you’ll find the answer you dull little thing.”

“No...I won’t give...I can banish you both…” gasped the priest.

The wolf straightened up with a snap of his bones, leaping with inhuman force before landing on the next victim in that same sickening crunch.

“Maybe by the time you’re through, he’ll be satisfied after picking your corpses...”

“Taunt me all you want!” exclaimed the priest, “I—”

The boss scooped up the priest, throwing him over her shoulder.

“Stop, what are you doing?” cried the polecat.

With the timid thief over her other shoulder, she lead the three into retreat, “A good thief knows when to back off.”

“But the other men!!” cried the polecat.

“They know the risks of this kind of life,” she chastised, “Don’t throw away your life and livelihood for thieves.”

“She’s right,” nodded the timid wolverine with sympathy, “Listening to her is how I stayed alive for so long.”

The ghost Shen watched the surviving thieves flee this cursed site. This village was theirs. Sooner or later, they would both catch up with them.

He had more important matters at hand.

The apparition drifted to where Wolf Boss gorged on his fourth body, inhaling the life force as the body below rapidly sped to death. Shen gently stroked their neck, encouraging him, “That’s it...get your fill you beautiful oaf…”

After the body snapped into a twisted desiccated corpse, drained of all its life, Wolf Boss blinked awake. His head snapped to and fro, not capable of the full range of motion yet the same dopey Wolf Boss grin crept up his face, “My...lord…?” Blood squirted from his neck with each word, “I...ha….bad dream.”

“Yes, I know…” sighed the spirit, taking the jiangshi’s head in his hands as he nuzzled his face against Wolf Boss’, “Every time we’re apart is like a bad dream…”

As though falling back into an old routine, the living corpse nuzzled back, “Missed...you...lord…”

Shen inhaled deep. The same play every night. Tasked to deliver the nourishment that made his most loyal beast more than a stupid corpse. Tasked to keep alive the very man he sent to the grave. The food kept him sapient for awhile, but it would never last. He would always need more. And Shen would hunt more food for him, the noble now made servant to a corpse.

He plied the beast’s mouth with his beak, exchanging shallow kisses deepened by their mingling tongues. He tasted nothing physical only his living corpse’s wounded puppy love, his bittersweet romantic lust, all intangible things with unearthly flavors. This was his hell. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Now finish your food,” Shen chastised with a feathery stroke beneath Wolf Boss’ ear, “I need you strong and virile for the night...”

Wolf Boss closed his eyes, his stiff tail wagging, “Yes...sir…“