We Monsters Are Not Allowed to Be Single

After Wang Qing left, Jiang Lan walked around in the stairway; then he knocked on Room 701’s door again.

The old gentleman answered the door again. His back was straight like a spear. His clear eyes seemed to have seen the vicissitudes of life. He said in a calm deep voice, which was seasoned by the passage of time.” Young man, It’s you again. How may I help you?”

Jiang Lan’s gaze stayed on him and pointed to his exposed skin. He asked a straight question.” How long have you been dead? Do you know you are dead now?”

The old gentleman followed his finger to look at the dark purple patches on his skin. A momentary look of confusion in his eyes was instantly replaced by a look of knowing.

He rolled down his sleeves and covered those patches. He recalled.” A month maybe?”

Then, a blank look appeared on his face. It took him a while to focus.” That day I had a heart attack. I had a heart condition for a long time. But that day, I didn’t have time to take medicine and passed out. When I woke up, I was like this.”

It was just an ordinary day when he had a heart attack. He fell on the way to retrieve his medicine. He didn’t know how long he had been lying on the floor. But when he woke up, he felt something different about himself. But he didn’t pay it much mind. He still chose to stay here day in and day out, waiting to witness those vicious men meet bad ends.

Now they just kept coming to bad ends.

The old gentleman smiled.

Jiang Lan watched the looks on his face.” You shouldn’t stay here. After a man dies, there is a place he is supposed to go.”

The old gentleman didn’t object to this.” When the time comes, I will leave.”

Jiang Lan shook his head.” And you shouldn’t take advantage of that thing to help you seek revenge. I supposed that thing has helped you kill He Laoer and He Laosi? Now it is He Laowu’s turn. I have to warn you that when this thing is filled with bloodlust, you wouldn’t be able to control it.”

The old gentleman lowered his head, and Jiang Lan couldn’t see the look on his face. He shook his head.” I don’t know what kind of master you are. But there is no one else. I am responsible for their deaths, and they deserve it.” 

As this old gentleman was talking with Jiang Lan, his facial expression remained calm. Judging by the way he spoke and behaved, he was a well-mannered man. Even though he knew he was dead, he still chose to abide by the living’s standard.

But when he said,” They deserve it,” he gritted his teeth and squeezed those words out with intense hatred and regrets.

When Jiang Lan first saw him, he couldn’t pick up the air of death from his body. If not for the purple patches he involuntarily exposed, he looked almost like a living person. But now, he was shrouded in the air of death, giving off an intense rotting stench.

This well-mannered old gentleman gradually took on the look of a vicious, hellish ghost.

With widened dark eyes, he repeated in a hoarse voice.” They deserve it.”

Jiang Pan put a hand on his shoulder and looked through him to the inside of the room. In the darkness, countless hostile eyes were watching him. These were the sunny dolls placed on the desk.

Jiang Lan took a step forward, but the old gentleman blocked him with his body. Now his face was covered by the air of death. His clear, shining eyes turned murky. But he still straightened up his back.” I killed them, but they should have been dead a long time ago. I don’t regret what I have done. If the master decided to bring justice to them on behalf of Heaven, just act now.”

His failing and decaying body blocked the doorway, but one of his arms behind his back waved to the room.

Then, those hostile sunny dolls in the darkness moved back.

Filled with malice, a pair of eyes deep in the darkness remained fixed on Jiang Lan.

Jiang Lan pointed to somewhere in the darkness.” Are you protecting them?”

The old gentleman didn’t move and said.” I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“When you were alive, you didn’t kill them. I don’t believe death will compel you to act.”

Jiang Lan signed and took a step back, indicating he didn’t mean harm. He said seriously.” I am not a master who would root out evil and eradicate ghosts. I am not your enemy. I am just tasked with finding out the truth about this case by the Police.”

The old gentleman seemed to react to the word “truth” by turning his eyeballs slowly.

“May I talk to it?”

The old gentleman watched him, then slowly shook his head. He was still guarded. “There is no one else here.”

Jiang Lan signed again. He pointed to several points on the old gentleman’s body.” Your body is now on the verge of decaying. Even that thing couldn’t bring you back to life. Have you stopped to consider when your body rotted away, and your soul evaporated? What could that thing do for you?”

If he was still unclear what that thing was before, he knew it once the old gentleman opened the door again.

He saw a small shrine in the corner of the living room.

But this shrine was not dedicated to any well-known deity but a girl aged around eight. This girl had a round face, dark eyes, and dimples in the corner of her mouth. If not for her lotus-shaped hairstyle and the broom in her hands, she looked just like an ordinary small girl.

But her dress meant she was unusual.

This old gentleman installed a shrine at his home, dedicated to the sunny dolls. But this sunny doll was not a young woman as legends had it, but a small girl around eight years old.

Jiang Lan recalled a file he had read.

Almost every villager living in the He Village had the same family name He. The only exception was a household of outsiders, and their family name was Qin.

The male head of the household was called Qin Shuyi. He was a member of Sent-Down youth[1]. After being sent to the He Village, a rural backwater, he fell in love with his wife and married her there. His parents were long gone, so he settled down in the He Village after getting married. He took up a teaching position in the village elementary school while helping his wife tend a small patch of farmland belonging to his wife’s family.

Their life together was pleasant and harmonious enough. The only regret was that they didn’t have a child. When they turned forty, they picked up an infant girl abandoned by the riverside and decided to raise her as their own.

They loved her and doted on her. But then catastrophe struck. In 1999, Jiang City was devastated by a flood. A downpouring continued for almost a month. Qin Shuyi’s wife and daughter lost their lives in that flood.

Jiang Lan calculated the timeline and concluded that when Qin Shuyi’s daughter died, she was around eight years old.

This old gentleman was Qin Shuyi, and the girl in the shrine must be his deceased daughter.

The only missing part was how the Sunny Doll was related to his daughter.

Jiang Lan’s words seemed to have an effect on the old gentleman. Hesitating a little, he said in a coarse voice.” Can you guarantee you wouldn’t hurt her? She has nothing to do with any of these affairs.”

“Ok.”

Facing the vicious eyes in the darkness, he stressed.” I am working for the Government. If it didn’t commit any crimes, I wouldn’t hurt it.”

Qin Shuyi had a hesitant look on his face, but his body seemed no longer to insist on blocking the door.

Jiang Lan took a step forward, and Qin took a step back involuntarily. Now the deadlock was finally broken. Qin Shuyi turned and led him inside.

He called someone in a soft voice.” Nan Nan?”

As a response, a sound came from the bedroom. 

Qin Shuyi said.” She is in the bedroom.”

Following him, Jiang Lan walked over to the bedroom. Halting his steps briefly, he walked inside with smooth footsteps.

Suddenly the world brightened up. There was an overcast sky above him and muddy soil under his feet. Between the sky and ground, a downpouring seemed to last forever.

Crossing a door, he had walked into another world.

Jiang Lan didn’t stop his footsteps as if he was prepared for this. Hearing the sound of people from a distance, he turned to walk in that direction.

A cluster of houses came into view. These houses were crudely built. A person leaned out of the windows with anxious looks on her flat two-dimensional face.” When will the rain stop?”

This woman had her looks and shut the windows with a worried look. A sunny doll hanging from the window gently swayed in the breeze.

Jiang Lan looked at it. The Sunny Doll smiled at him as if teasing him as if trying to provoke him.

Jiang Lan chose to ignore it and continued his walk.

This was a small village with around 40-50 households. Sunny dolls were hung from every window. Even with a wall between them, Jiang Lan could hear their worries and complaints. He learned a lot from these complaints.

This paper doll world was the He Village, and the time was around May or June. Just when the rice started to grow, endless down pouring began. This downpouring had lasted for half a month, and the water level of the nearby river had kept rising. It was near impossible to pump the water out of the rice paddy. If this rain didn’t let up, the rice in the field would be ruined.

For these farmers, growing rice was their only livelihood. If the rice was ruined, then they were hopeless.

That’s why every household hung a sunny doll outside, to wish for an early end to this rain.

But Heaven didn’t grant their wishes. Jiang Lan saw a tall paper man running near, and he tumbled down and got up again. Disregarding his wound, he again ran around the Village, shouting.” The dyke will be breached; the river will overflow the bank!”

Those closed doors were almost opened simultaneously with paper people, large or small, pouring out of the houses. Oblivious to their wet clothing, they had very animated expressions on their two-dimensional faces, the anxious and fearful looks only the living people had.

Under the pouring rain, all the people gathered in an empty slot. An old village chief stepped forward with his walking stick. Pounding the ground with his cane, he shouted.” All the men now go to the dyke with their tools.”

Then a group of paper men came back to their homes to fetch their tools and followed their chief to the dyke.

Jiang Lan saw a tall thin paper man in the crowd. Unlike other paper men, his back was straight even with the weight of his tool.

These men spent a day and a night to fill the gaps on the dyke…….finally, the near collapsed dykes were strengthened, and the gaps were filled.

Their flat paper bodies were covered with mud and rainwater. But they didn’t collapse. Instead, they dragged their tired bodies home.

Jiang Lan followed that tall thin paper man to his home.

His home was on the outer edge of the Village. Compared with nearby houses, his house was a little far from the Village, alone on the outer edge.

Soon, a woman and her daughter appeared to break this sense of loneliness. They opened the door and welcomed the paper man home with happy smiles.

The little paper girl had a round face and big eyes. Seeing her daddy come home, she looked delighted and called him with a clear child voice.” Papa.”

References↑1

urban young people sent to live and work in the countryside during the Cultural Revolution

The paper man smiled at his daughter’s greeting, feeling as if his exhaustion was gone. Holding the little paper girl in his arms, the three of them went back into the house.

The little paper girl buried her face in her daddy’s neck. But in the moment when the door was closing, she suddenly raised her face and stared at Jiang Lan with her pitch-black eyes. Her smile was gone, replaced by gloomy malice.

But in this Village, nobody was supposed to see Jiang Lan.

Jiang Lan didn’t stop here. He went from door to door to look at every household.

The rain didn’t let up, seeming to last forever. But on this tired night, doors were opened quietly from time to time with paper men walking out. They all went silently to the most prominent house in this Village.

The village chief’s home.

Jiang Lan counted the number of people there. All the able-bodied men were there, except for the tall thin man. It looked like they were excluded by the whole Village.

With the walking stick in his hand, the village chief cautiously closed the door. Then he proceeded to declare a piece of shocking news.

“The work we have done only buys us two more days. The dykes will soon be breached again, and there is nothing we can do about it when that happens.”

Shocking and frightened looks started to appear on people’s faces.

Pointing his finger to the sky, the village chief continued.” This rain has lasted more than ten days. It is the anger of the rain god. We have to figure out a way to appease the rain god’s fury, to stop this rain. Otherwise, we don’t have long to live.”

Someone muttered.” Does this mean we will offer sacrifice to the rain god?”

The Village Chief’s flat face became wrinkled, but his eyes had a strange light shining.” Yes, we have to try it. It is our only hope.”

“But which family will provide the sacrifice?”

Someone asked a question, which seemed to frighten everyone. All the paper men kept their mouths shut while looking around nervously.

Jiang Lan’s calm face began to grow grim.

The Village Chief said.” Those who have a daughter, please raise their hands.”

No one responded to this request as those paper men kept looking around, checking each other.

They were very clear about what it meant to offer sacrifices to the rain god.

This Village had practiced human sacrifice a long time ago. Before the new nation’s founding, He Village would hold a spiritual ritual for the rain god before each rainy season, asking the rain god for good weather and a good harvest. Legends had it that the rain god likes beautiful girls. So each year, a pretty girl aged between eight and fifteen will be picked from the Village to be offered as a sacrifice to the rain god.

This practice had lasted many years, and those girls being offered as sacrifices had acquired a beautiful name, called sunny dolls.

Villagers believed that those girls being sacrificed would also become gods. As sunny dolls, they were the rain god’s trusted servants. So when the rainy season comes, villagers will hang the sunny dolls made of paper outside windows. In this way, the sunny dolls would hear their family’s prayers and petition the rain god on their behalf to stop raining and bring back sunny days.

Generations of people in the He Village had faiths in this legend. This practice continued until the new government, after the founding of Hua Nation, put a stop to this.

It had been many years since the last human sacrifice was thrown into the river.

The village chief suddenly decided to resume this practice, but nobody wanted to volunteer their daughters.

The times had changed, and people’s minds had changed with it. They had become more clear-headed and more selfish.

Some attendees were silent, some were hesitant, while others seemed to have made up their minds.

Looking around, the Village Chief pounded the ground again with his cane.” You don’t want to live? If we don’t offer sacrifice to the rain god, what can we do about the overflowing river and breached dyke? What about this year’s harvest?”

A tall man was the first to raise his hand. But he didn’t offer his daughter as a sacrifice but to put forward a cowardly suggestion.” How about we ask the Qin family to contribute. His daughter is around eight and pretty. The rain god must like her.”

Many attendees’ faces brightened up at this suggestion.

Those silent, hesitant paper men voiced their agreements.

With glows in their eyes, they even started to provide the reason for this suggestion.

“Yes, Qin’s daughter was the prettiest girl.”

“His daughter was adopted. I am sure he would have no problem adopting another girl as his daughter.”

“But Qin is educated and didn’t have faith in this sacrifice and is long against any form of superstitions. What if he objects to this suggestion?”

“We can deceive him and get him out of the Village. When the deed is done, we tell him the truth.”

“Yes, he has lived here for many years. It is about time he makes his contribution to this Village.”

“………”

All kinds of voices were merged together, like a man-eating creature.  This creature opened its mouth with a stench coming out of it and said.” Now it is settled. Qin’s daughter will be sacrificed.”

And the fate of the Qin family was determined.

Outside, the rain kept pouring, and the sunny dolls outside the window were smiling, but blood was coming out of their eyes.

****

In this paper doll’s world, time went by fast. Very soon, it was the second day.

The men in the Village walked towards the dyke again in high spirits. Jiang Lan stood by the Qin family’s door, watching silently as the tall thin paper man walked out of his house with a shovel.

Now he knew what was going to happen.

These paper men’s faces now corresponded with the reality in his mind.

He Laoda, He Laoer, He Laosan…….

The living and the dead were all here.

After the tall thin man Qin Shuyi left home, they secretly went back and tied his wife and abducted his crying daughter.

They brought the girl to the Village Chief’s home, where the chief’s wife dressed her in red and green clothing and combed her hair in a new lotus hairstyle. After she finished applying makeup, she delivered her to He Laoda, urging him to hurry.” Now go.”

He Laoda grabbed the girl and walked towards the river bank.

Downstream from the newly-filled gaps, a makeshift altar had just been finished. The village Chief was now performing the role of a priest. Unmindful of his wet clothing, he knelt down and rose up alternately, sinking his shriveled body piously in the mud.

When the ceremony was done, He Laoer and He Laosan moved a boulder here. He Laowu, Laoliu tied the little girl to the heavy boulder.  Finally, He Laoqi and He Laoba raised the boulder and the girl to the riverside, preparing to throw her into the raging river.

Without thinking, Jiang Lan took a step forward, only to hear a miserable cry coming from behind.

“Nan Nan!”

Qin Shuyi’s wife rushed here with faltering steps. She was covered in mud, and blood was dripping from her lips. She had freed herself by biting through the rope. Ignoring her pain, she rushed forward to hold the girl in her arms and accused them.” This is murder! She is only eight years old. You can’t treat her like that. She is only eight years old!”

The nearby paper men stared at her in silence and a state of indifference. The same looks of cruelty were on their faces.

He Laosi came to drag her away, but she refused to let go of her girl. As a final resort, He Laosi forced open her grasp, separating her from her girl.

Jiang Lan even heard the sound of bones breaking. He took a step forward, then halted, stopped at where he was.

This was just a reenactment of something that happened a long time ago. It was like he just chanced upon a cruel puppet show. There was nothing he could do to alter the course of history.

Finally, He Laoliu and He Laoqi threw the girl into the violent river without scruple.

The woman’s loud cry and curse could be heard clearly, even in the pouring rain.

Suddenly she broke free of He Laosi’s grip and plunged into the river while calling her daughter’s name.

In mid-air, she found her daughter’s hand. But the boulder was too big and heavy, and the currents were too violent. They locked in each other’s arms and vanished into the river.

Witnessing this, the villagers panicked.

“How can we explain this to Qin?”

“There is no need to tell him the truth. Simply tell him his wife and daughter fell into the river by accident.”

“Yes, he can adopt another daughter. But losing his wife is a different matter. Qin will kill us.”

After a brief discussion, they decided on the version of the story they were going to tell.

Jiang Lan looked at the raging river.  Somewhere in the river, he saw He Laowu’s pale head, with his murky eyes bulging with horror. He opened his mouth as if calling for help, but no sound came out. A Palm-sized Sunny Doll stood on his forehead, and her eyes were fixed on Jiang Lan with a malicious smile on her mouth.

This time, Jiang Lan didn’t ignore her.

Standing by the river, he gazed at this little sunny doll.” So this is the reason you killed them all?”

The sunny doll opened her mouth, giggling. Her voice was a crisp, clear child voice but filled with profound malice.” They all deserve it.”

Unexpectedly, Jiang Lan nodded his agreement and said seriously.” Yes, I think they all deserve it.”

These villagers were all superstitious and selfish. While being unwilling to sacrifice their children, they were capable of throwing other people’s children into the river without a second thought.

They killed two people and their happy family.

And their laughable sacrifice ritual didn’t have any effect whatsoever.

The rain kept pouring, and the river finally overflowed the bank. The whole He Village was flooded. Some villagers were carried away by the flood, some of them died from the disease. He Village originally had around fifty families and a population of two hundred. Among them, only a hundred people survived the flood.

The Village Chief and He Laoba went missing in the flood, presumably dead.

He Laoer’s wife and son died from a disease brought by the flood. He Laosi was blinded by a falling branch. He Laowu was almost killed after being hit by a falling rock. He Laoliu was crippled by the collapsing house. He Laoqi had been suffering from an incurable wasting disease.

He Laosan wasn’t hurt physically.  But he went mad, always shouting that a ghost was coming back for their lives.

This is what He Village got for their evil deed.

And it was not enough.

The sunny dolls pointed at Jiang Lan.” Not enough. There are two still alive.”

He Laosan and He Laoliu were still alive.