Chapter 41: Paper Person Makeup

"Outside the gate stands a ten-foot-tall wooden pole. Once you hear the singing in the play change abruptly and confirm that the ghosts have possessed the bodies, you must immediately raise the red Lantern to signal the people by the lake to act. This is exactly what you must do tonight."

After the task was arranged, Kuang Hongyi bowed to the old man and turned to walk out of the courtyard. The old man gave one final reminder: once you step out of the courtyard gate, you must never look back.

"Don't worry, old sir," Kuang Hongyi replied loudly.

The old man turned stiffly to look at Yang Xiao, and only after a long while did he speak: "Young man, the task you must perform tonight is the most dangerous. You must sit among the lonely ghosts and wandering spirits attracted to watch the play, and replace the consumed Incense and offerings in time. Once your identity is discovered, you will have no place to be buried."

Yang Xiao took a deep breath and nodded heavily. "I will be careful. I ask for your guidance, old sir."

Raising his arm, the old man pointed to the stage. One could see several plates of offerings placed right next to the stage, consisting of four main categories from left to right: raw meat, rice and flour, melons and fruits, and candies and preserved fruits.

In front of each offering stood a Triangular Incense Burner, with a thick stack of Yellow Paper Money pressed beneath it, and many unlit sticks of Incense inserted into the burner.

"When you hear the sound of the gong, you must use the fastest speed to light the Incense in all the burners, then return to your seat and sit properly."

Following the old man's guidance, Yang Xiao noticed an empty seat left at the far left of the first row of benches by the stage; no Paper Person was occupying it.

And under the bench, there were four bamboo baskets covered with red cloth.

"Inside the bamboo baskets are the four types of offerings. When the offerings on the stage are nearly consumed, you must replace them in time." The old man glanced at Yang Xiao with a meaningful look. "Remember, ghosts only consume the essence of food—that is, the vital energy of the food, or what is called the scent of Incense. You cannot tell from the appearance of the offerings; you must observe through the burning Incense in the burners."

"The faster the Incense burns, the more fiercely the ghosts are eating. At that moment, you must set off in advance to replace the offerings; otherwise, once the ghosts finish eating the offerings, they will look for something else to eat."

Looking at the Incense in the burners, Yang Xiao committed the old man's words to heart. "Are there any taboos for replacing the offerings?"

"Wear Red Paper Shoes, walk the funeral path, avoid looking back, and do not open your mouth," the old man said strictly. "Besides that, you must treat the offerings with gravity. On the way to replace them with new offerings, you must absolutely not let the new offerings fall to the ground, or it would be a great sign of disrespect."

After speaking, the old man, as if performing a magic trick, pulled a pair of Red Paper Shoes from his bosom. The paper shoes were very small, the kind for bound feet, and the two shoes were tied together with a piece of hemp rope. The old man casually hung the hemp rope around Yang Xiao's neck, with the two Red Paper Shoes dangling against his chest.

Yang Xiao had never heard of the saying about wearing Red Paper Shoes, but since only the dead wore paper shoes, he figured it was a way to mask the aura of a living person.

Yang Xiao knew the rules of walking the funeral path: the ankles of the dead are stiff, so they cannot turn in arcs or lift their feet to walk; therefore, they are often blocked by high thresholds or dead walls.

Walking the funeral path meant learning to walk like the dead. It is generally only used when sending off corpses with heavy grievances for burial. The technique emphasizes moving by rubbing the soles of the feet, and one must pay special attention to the stride of every step; the heel must not go beyond the toe of the other foot, otherwise, it is also a great sign of disrespect.

Avoiding looking back and not opening one's mouth were easy to understand; those who often walk at night know that one should not look back easily, otherwise, it is easy to blow out the yang fire on one's shoulders. The yang fire represents a person's life luck, and those with low fortune are more easily entangled by those ghostly things.

And while amidst a pile of Paper People, once one opens their mouth, the vital energy of a living person will leak out, leading to discovery, and the outcome can be imagined.

"People bully the weak and fear the strong, and ghosts are the same. Tonight's matter cannot be dismissed with just the word 'caution'; one must also have both courage and strategy." The old man seemed very satisfied with Yang Xiao's reaction and added a few extra pointers. "As for the degree, you must grasp it yourself. As the saying goes, wealth is sought in danger. You can be considered half a person in the trade; you should understand some of these principles."

While they were talking, the old woman walked out from behind the stage, still wearing that annoying, foul face. The old woman instructed Yang Xiao to sit down, then took out rouge and powder from the bamboo basket slung at her waist and actually began to apply makeup to Yang Xiao.

The process was very rough, taking only two minutes. When she held up a small Bronze Mirror for Yang Xiao to see, Yang Xiao was completely stunned. In the mirror, he saw a big white face, dark circles under his eyes, eyebrows thicker than a brush—the left one even more exaggerated than the right, thick and long—and bright red lips. What a shoddy Paper Person makeup!

Only then did Yang Xiao remember the goodness of the Paper Maker. If he were still alive, he would have been the one to apply the makeup tonight, and it certainly wouldn't have been this ugly.

Seeing Yang Xiao's deeply furrowed brows, the old woman's tone became increasingly impatient: "Not satisfied? If you're not satisfied, I can redo it!"

"No, no, no, no need for the trouble, just like this... just like this is fine." Yang Xiao wanted to pull off a satisfied smile, but in the mirror, his own smile looked even more terrifying than a ghost's.

After the old woman packed up the rouge and powder and slung the bamboo basket back on, she swayed her waist and walked out. "Remember, once the gong sounds, tonight's play has begun. You have one stick of Incense's time left."

It seemed the old woman was in a hurry to apply makeup for Kuang Hongyi outside the gate; after all, both of them had to disguise themselves as ghosts tonight.

The old man reached into his bosom and this time took out an exquisite cloth bag embroidered with a few white lotus flowers. Upon opening it, there was a wrinkled piece of Yellow Paper inside.

The Yellow Paper was damp and sticky. Before Yang Xiao could lean in to see it clearly, the old man picked up the Yellow Paper and slapped it onto Yang Xiao's face with a *slap*.

Yang Xiao: "???"

"Don't move, this is a good thing." The old man pressed down on Yang Xiao's shoulder with one hand, while his other hand quickly smoothed out the edges of the Yellow Paper. The Yellow Paper was perfectly positioned, covering exactly Yang Xiao's right eye.

At this moment, Yang Xiao smelled a strange odor. It wasn't water on the Yellow Paper; it was oil—wax oil.

"Try it, see if you can open it."

Yang Xiao blinked his right eye gently. He could open it, but the wax oil stung his eye, making it impossible to keep it open for long. If he closed his left eye, everything around him turned into blurred outlines through the translucent Yellow Paper.

"Use the left eye to see people, and the right eye to see ghosts." Using a Silver Needle to pierce the skin above his eyebrow, the old man stitched the Yellow Paper onto Yang Xiao's face with a few stitches. "Young man, remember what I told you. No matter what happens, do not panic until this grand play comes to an end."

After finishing all this, the old man left. At this moment, in the vast courtyard, only Yang Xiao remained.

No, that's not right; there was also Su Tingting behind the white cloth.

But Yang Xiao could not see the shadow of Su Tingting left on the white cloth behind the stage. He guessed that either Su Tingting had crouched down, or... or she was lying down. Before and after the white cloth, it was like two different worlds.

Steadying his mind, Yang Xiao walked to his seat. Standing there, he realized how bizarre those Paper People were—each with different postures, their makeup even more indescribable, and some didn't even have hands or feet; they were completely shoddy products rushed to completion.