Book 4: Chapter 13: Want to smoke

Book 4: Chapter 13: Want to smoke

We walked over to the small earthen temple and found that it was a small building the size of a dresser. It was made of packed loess and appeared to be very old based on the patterns on the eaves tiles.(1)

"This thing at least goes as far back as the Warring States period." In a sense, Fatty was considered an expert on eaves tiles, so he only needed a quick glance to know.

A shriveled human head had been placed on top of the roof tiles of this small earthen temple. But the roof was covered with herringbone eaves, so the head couldnt be laid flat. It was placed very casually, almost like a joke.

There werent any statues in the small earthen temple, and it appeared to be empty. Fatty's flashlight scanned our surroundings, but we didnt find any Tudiye (2) remnants.

"These corpses are from the Zhang family. I don't know if they were a team that came in together and all died here, or if they came in one by one and all died when they arrived here." Fatty looked at the severed hands and asked, "Is this a provocation? If its really the heavenly gift, then why did it let us wake up at this time?"

I looked at the corpses empty eye sockets, slowly sat down on a nearby rock, and started to laugh.

I couldnt control this laughter at all. It's been a month. Fuck, its actually been a month. What should we do? Are we even able to make it back? But what happened on the way here? What if there was a fork in the path?

I didnt know why, but I thought my line of thinking was particularly funny. And the more I laughed, the harder it was to restrain myself.

My subconscious mind was very shrewd. My brain wasnt actively thinking carefully about everything that had happened, but my subconscious mind was already feeling despair. This was my subconscious laughing at me.

A heavenly gift will be bestowed right here, brother. There's no point in thinking about it.

"After receiving a heavenly gift, youll find that you have another purpose in mind, right? People who are given heavenly gifts will do something, and when that thing is done, all memories will disappear. You start from scratch, no matter what youve experienced. So many moving stories and magnificent experiences are all just directly erased like a scrapped manuscript." I looked at him. "Is that correct?"

Poker-Face finally turned his head and met my gaze before saying, "There will be some left, but very few."

This was the state he was in when I first met him. But when he went to a place he had been to before, he would gradually recall something.

The things you had done in the past all became a huge mystery. What would your frame of mind even be like after this?

I pretended to light a cigarette and laughed again. Even my heart was still laughing at my persistence and rationality.

I was going to tell them my conclusions, but I looked at Poker-Face for a long time before I spoke. I couldnt help but wonder if all three of us would become other people in addition to our selves the second I opened my mouth.

****

TN Notes:

(1) Also known as wadang, it refers to the round tile at the front of the eaves, located in front of the tube tile. Its mainly used to protect the wooden cornice (by draining water away from it) and beautify the roof porch. Info here (lots of pics) and here.

(2) Tudiye (also known as Tudigong) is the Lord of the Soil and the Ground. Hes a righteous god who is in charge of land in ancient Chinese legends. He lives underground, relies on incense from worshippers, and absorbs energy. Hes the lowest level among the gods. Info here.