On a misty, rainy afternoon, Li Si and Wu Wen found Mo Town and arrived at Gutan Village. Gutan Village was located twenty li southeast of the Mo Town water region, nestled in the crevice between three great mountains. Only one road connected Gutan Village to the outside world. The first moment Li Si laid eyes on Gutan Village, he thought of a paradise hidden from the world. If there truly existed such a paradise in this world, it should be just like this place.
The two arrived at the village entrance. At the entrance stood a massive mulberry tree, four to five zhang tall. In the shadows beneath the mulberry tree stood a statue entirely dark red in color.
Suddenly, a chubby boy around ten years old popped out at the village entrance. He looked toward Li Si, then waved at him, as if beckoning Li Si to come over.
The boy pressed his left index finger to the corner of his lips, revealing small white canine teeth, and said, “Are you called Li Si?”
Wu Wen asked, “Little fatty, how do you know he’s called Li Si?”
The boy’s eyes rolled around as he said, “I’m called Fu Xiaosheng, and my dad is called Fu Dabo. Dad told me to wait here for a person wearing blue-green clothing, with long slender eyes and a very pleasant smile. Dad said he’s called Li Si.”
“Fu Dabo…” The name flashed through Li Si’s mind—no impression.
“Why did your dad have you wait here for me?”
Fu Xiaosheng stuck out his tongue and said, “I forgot to ask.”
Fu Xiaosheng turned and walked toward the village. “Let’s go! Dad told me to take you somewhere. Hurry up now, or you’ll get drenched by the rain. Hehe, the rain in the mountains goes on and on endlessly once it starts.”
At the village entrance, Li Si got a clear look at the statue—fierce and malevolent. What left a deep impression was that the statue’s face had no eyes, only two pitch-black holes. Although the deity statue had no eyes, it gave one the illusion that it was staring at you.
Fu Xiaosheng noticed Li Si kept staring at the statue and said, “This is Gutan Village’s guardian deity. If bad people try to harm Gutan Village, they’ll be caught by the guardian deity, skinned, and devoured.”
Fu Xiaosheng’s face was flushed red like a big apple as he said, “You’re scared now, aren’t you?”
“I’m scared. What’s the name of Gutan Village’s guardian deity?” Li Si asked this because he was somewhat curious about the statue’s true identity.
“Jing Shen.”
Gutan Village was divided by a central water pond into eastern and western halves. The pond water was crystal clear, with the bottom visible. Soon, Fu Xiaosheng led Li Si to a two-courtyard residence. Fu Xiaosheng said, “Dad told me to bring you to Ding Laocai’s house. He’s a wealthy landlord, with a round fat head, no hair, bulging eyes like fish eyes. Hehe, don’t mistake the person.”
“Right now, Ding Laocai must be sleeping in the main room. You go ahead.”
“You’re not coming in?”
Fu Xiaosheng shook his head like a rattle drum and said, “His room is full of antique porcelain. I’m afraid I’ll break something and he’ll blame me.”
After Fu Xiaosheng finished speaking, he ran off chasing two or three butterflies. Wu Wen said in a low voice, “My lord, this Fu Xiaosheng is strange and peculiar. In this Gutan Village, we’re unfamiliar with both the people and the place—be careful not to fall into someone’s trap.”
Li Si’s slender eyes narrowed. “Since we’re already here, we might as well make ourselves comfortable.”
Stepping into the inner courtyard, Li Si pushed open the door to the main room. Inside the room was only one person—a round head without hair, mean triangular fish eyes. Everything matched Fu Xiaosheng’s description of Ding Laocai perfectly. Without a doubt, this was Ding Laocai.
Ding Laocai was pinned in the center of the room like a wooden stake. Upon hearing someone enter, he slowly, bit by bit, turned his face back and saw Li Si and Wu Wen.
Ding Laocai grinned in a smile. Just at the instant the smile completed, his entire body flew into midair and suddenly split into five pieces… His hands and feet shot out toward the east, south, west, and north respectively, his torso fell to the ground with a thud, while his head shot upward and rolled right to Li Si’s feet.
Li Si suddenly recalled what Fu Xiaosheng had said about antique porcelain. Ding Laocai had truly shattered like porcelain all at once.
Li Si had encountered similar dismemberment cases before. The victim was killed by an extremely fast blade or sword, then pressure point techniques were used to seal the blood vessels near the wounds. The blood vessels reversed course within the body for one cycle, producing tremendous pressure. The severed body parts were thrust apart by this pressure, splitting into pieces—just like Ding Laocai before his eyes.
The room was covered in bits of flesh and blood. Li Si and Wu Wen expended great effort to piece Ding Laocai’s corpse back together. Wave after wave of fishy stench poured into their nostrils. Li Si suddenly felt something was not quite right, but couldn’t identify what exactly was wrong. Just as he was pondering, a miserable scream suddenly came from the doorway: “Ah!”
It turned out to be Fu Xiaosheng. “Waaah!” Fu Xiaosheng, who always wanted to scare others, had been scared to tears.