Book 3: Chapter 12: Putizhang and Banquet Attendees

Book 3: Chapter 12: Putizhang and Banquet Attendees

My whole body went cold as I looked at the corpses, zipped my pants up, and walked over to Poker-Face.

This time, the feeling was too strange. Throughout all my past experiences, I had never encountered such a large-scale strange situation aboveground. But this time, I could see the fins very clearly, so I immediately asked Poker-Face, "Do you see those fins? What are those things near their ears?"

Poker-Face thought for a while and then turned to look at me, "I can't see them."

I glanced at himhe wasnt the type to jokeand then turned to look at the corpses again. Sure enough, I could clearly see that there was something in their ears.

I immediately broke out in a cold sweat, but this time, the cold sweat was very specialI could smell death in the sweat.

This was the first time that I had seen more information than Poker-Face. I didnt know what was so special about me, but if Poker-Face couldnt see it and I could, it meant that Poker-Face's vision was limited. If a problem arose and my judgment on the situation was unclear, it might cause him trouble.

Poker-Face would hardly let anyone get hurt if he could control the whole situation but I couldnt do it. In fact, I had never done it. People around me kept having accidents, and this time, there was also Jin Wantang, who was our core weak link. Although this guy was a bastard, I didnt want anyone around me to die.

I turned around and called Fatty and Jin Wantang over to see the situation for themselves. When Fatty brought the binoculars over, the both of them looked pale. We really hadn't encountered this kind of situation before. It was just like a confrontation. I asked Fatty if he could see those fins.

Fatty also found it strange, "Fins? What fins?"

I looked at the corpses and strange things in their ears and felt my hands start to go numb. Fatty can't see them either, I thought to myself. Its over this time.

"Little Master Three, have you recently opened your heavenly eye and can see people's putizhang?" Jin Wantang asked.

I gave him a look that seemed to say, I really don't know what putizhang is.

"Its just that some people can see strange things that other people are carrying on their bodies. These things are related to a persons fate. Some are inscriptions, some are plates, and some are dead pieces of wood. This is called putizhang. People who can see putizhang are the ones whose head sutures don't close (1). You know that a person has two heavenly eyes, one of which is on top of your head. Once this heavenly eye is opened, you can see spirits. People usually cultivate this eye to see things that are outside of the five elements. There is also a heavenly eye near the temple, but it can be on the left or right side. This eye lets you see putizhang."

"Do you understand this?"

This kind of thing was absolutely impossible to digest, and it was so heavy that it definitely would be hard to eat.

I cut the other corpses stomach open and found the same thing. Were all these stones eaten at the banquet? I wondered. I took one and stepped aside to clean it.

The moon was still high in the sky and the clouds seemed to be dense. I put the stone grapes next to that ceramic figurine piece, which happened to be a part of the face. The paint on it had been blackened by the fire earlier. Just as I was carefully thinking about it, Ping Lian suddenly stood up and began growling at something in the distance.

I stood up and looked at the moon again but found that it was still there. Thats odd, I thought to myself. I took a few steps and suddenly saw several lights appear on the grassland, passing by us slowly.

Herders?

I grabbed Fatty's binoculars from off to the side and saw that it was a group of people. I knew at a glance that it was one of Jin Wantang's teams. There were about five unkempt people sitting on horses and heading in the direction of the woods. I couldnt see their ages but their rucksacks were bulging.

They all had lights on their shoulders, and one of them was probably a local guide.

The bonfire in our camp was very big, but they didnt seem to have any interest in it. Instead, they just continued in the direction of the grove. When I adjusted the magnification on the binoculars and zoomed in, I saw that they were all holding the banquet porcelain that the other corpses had been holding before.

Are these the last two tables for the banquet?

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TN Notes:

(1) Per Tiffany: The spaces between a typical babys skull bones are filled with flexible material and called sutures. These sutures allow the skull to grow as the babys brain grows. Around two years of age, a childs skull bones begin to join together because the sutures become bone. In Chinese culture, some people say that babies can see paranormal beings because the bones of their skulls havent joined together. That is how one of the heavenly eyes is considered to be on the top of the head. Once the bones join, the babies will stop seeing paranormal beings. Heavenly eyes can also be called "inner eyes" in some cultures.

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After driving 10+ hours and listening to my sister bitch about my driving the whole time (I swear, you'd think I drive blindfolded with my feet or something), all I have to offer you are 2 chapters. I might get something out tomorrow or I might sleep like the dead. We'll see. Til next time darlings~