Book 4: Chapter 11: Peach Banquet

Book 4: Chapter 11: Peach Banquet

I couldnt help but duck my head and narrow my eyes as I kept watching myself. It almost felt like I was watching an illicit film or something.

In the video, I sat up silently, but the light was so dim that I couldn't see my expression clearly. The three of us looked at each other for a while without speaking.

Then, I stood up and the three of us left the screen.

I leaned back against a stone, took a deep breath, and pinched my brow as I tried to recall if such a thing had really happened last night. Did I wake up last night to pee and the three of us just went together?

But I had no memory of it at all. Granted, it wasnt uncommon since I often didnt remember what happened when I was half awake in the middle of the night.

I continued to stare at the screen and found that it took about an hour before I came back to lie down. Now I was completely puzzled. I could understand if it was just a muddleheaded pee break, but that kind of thing wouldnt take an hour. Plus, there was no way I would forget about it.

I looked at the sleeping Fatty beside me, feeling at a total loss.

The rest of the video was completely normal. I soon fell asleep and then Fatty came back after a while. He cleaned himself up and fell asleep while Poker-Face moved to keep watch.

In the middle of the night, it took the three of us about an hour to do something, which I didnt remember at all.

Was this a fucking fit of hysteria or something?

I got up carefully without waking Fatty up, climbed to the edge of the boulder where Poker-Face was keeping watch, and sat opposite him. There were three electro-luminescent lamps sitting on the side, their light almost making him look like a stone statue. I could also see a pile of stones in front of him that looked like a mani stone pile. People who didnt know him would think that he got bored and started playing with the stones here, but only I knew that these were actually deadly weapons.

What do you mean? Are we going to the Peach Banquet?(2)

I turned to look at Fatty, but he immediately shook his head, "I didnt say this. We were definitely possessed."

Poker-Face stopped the phone at this time and zoomed in on the screen. We saw that Fatty was carrying an empty backpack with him when he left. Poker-Face quickly skipped to the part of the video when Fatty came back, and we found that the backpack was full and very heavy.

We immediately turned our heads and looked at Fatty's backpack. I remembered that there originally hadnt been much in it, but now it was bulging. I didnt know what it contained.

"Smartphones were designed for long fingers, Fatty murmured. Youve adapted well."

"Quit joking, I said. What did you bring back?"

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TN Notes:

(1) The actual term used is walk-in, which is a New Age concept of a person whose original soul has departed their body and has been replaced with a new, different soul. Info here.

(2) The Peach Banquet was a yearly banquet the Queen Mother of the West (the Jade Emperors wife) held in Journey to the West. The peaches were consumed by immortals due to their mystic virtue of conferring longevity on all who ate them. Info here.

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6 chapters in 1 day? I've done my duty. Til next time darlings!