Daomu Biji: A Thousand Faces

Ah Tou watched the arm—which was at least a few meters long—slowly approach the driver’s face and reach into his mouth. The driver was too scared to move but his flashlight was shining at the right spot. The two women watched as an extremely long finger gradually went into the driver’s mouth little by little.

Ah Tou almost threw up, thinking that the finger must have reached into his stomach by now. The driver seemed to be in a trance and didn’t run at all. His whole body was twitching and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. 

After about three minutes, the statue pulled its finger out. The driver immediately turned over and began to vomit. Then, they watched the statue slowly retreat into the darkness.

Once Liang Yanyan confirmed that the thing was really gone, she let go of Ah Tou, who immediately rushed over to help the driver. The driver’s throat had been scratched up so he had a hard time expressing himself, but he kept saying: Monster, it’s a monster.

Liang Yanyan hauled herself onto the roof and looked around before jumping back down, "He’s gone. Let's keep our voices down."

"What was that thing?”

"I don't know." She looked at the driver’s vomit, "Finger-induced vomiting reflex."

"It scraped my intestines, it scraped my intestines!" The driver said. Liang Yanyan looked at the vomit again and froze before squatting down and using her hands to poke through it. Ah Tou’s eyes widened in disbelief.

"It’s not vomit," Liang Yanyan took a deep breath and looked at Ah Tou. "This is cancerous tissue."

“What?”

"Sir, have you been having stomach problems recently?" Liang Yanyan asked.

The driver was still in shock, so Liang Yanyan went over and patted his face until he came back to his senses a little, "Stomach…yes. I’ve been spitting out blood a little. I was planning to see a doctor in a few days."

Liang Yanyan unbuttoned the driver's shirt, pressed his stomach, and looked at the vomit again.

"You might have stomach cancer,” Liang Yanyan said. "Why did you spit out the cancerous tissue?"

"Wha…what?” The driver made a sound of suffering from stomach cancer after making it past a disaster.

Liang Yanyan took out a travel-sized toiletry bottle from her pocket and used the cap to scrape some of the vomit into it. She then sealed the cap with a bandaid before putting it back into her pocket.

Ah Tou, who was a little mysophobic, watched in disgust as Liang Yanyan wiped her hands on the driver’s clothes and said, "The legend said Long Immortal saved people. That thing just now was very careful with its actions. Could it be that he wasn’t trying to hurt him but save him?”

"How do you know so much about medicine?" Ah Tou asked Liang Yanyan, who had grabbed the driver and was helping him to his feet. "Can that Long Immoral really save people?”

The driver nodded, "Those that visited the village were all here to seek treatment. But after he helped others cure their diseases, he would grow taller. They all said it was his merit."

"Gigantism at this level isn’t something that ordinary people can endure," Liang Yanyan said. "Could it be that he didn't die and is still living here? Maybe he was that dark shadow just now.”

"So he’s a good man?” Ah Tou asked. “Why does he want to kill me?"

"There must be a hidden truth about what had happened in this village," Liang Yanyan lit a cigarette. Ah Tou remembered the thread-bound books on the beams in the ancestral hall and suggested that they take a look at them. So, the three carefully made their way back to the ancestral hall. Liang Yanyan flipped onto one of the beams, but they weren’t that strong anymore, so she had to walk very carefully. Dust clung to her sweaty body, but there was nothing she could do about. Instead, she focused on throwing the books down one by one. 

There were probably more than a hundred books. Ah Tou flipped through them roughly and found that they were all bookkeeping journals. They were full of names and ages, types of disease, disease progression, treatment plans, and the number of payments received. All of this information was densely packed into the books. 

"He can really treat everything?” Ah Tou did a rough tally and found that there really were all kinds of diseases, and most of them were serious illnesses. "He really saved a lot of people."

"One of the most tragic things in the world is to be able to save others but not yourself,” Liang Yanyan said while flipping through another book.

The driver spoke up at this time, “Madams, let’s go. I won’t charge you. Let’s leave this place and I’ll drive you back. I can’t stay here any longer.”

"You can't go,” Liang Yanyan said. “I have connections in the general hospital and you need a medical exam.”

The driver was stunned again. "If you go to the hospital by yourself, you’ll have to register and wait in line for the CT scan,” Liang Yanyan said. “I can get all of that done for you tonight. I have a medical license. It would honestly be better for you to stay here and wait for us."

Ah Tou didn't hear this exchange, too busy flipping through the bookkeeping journals to pay any attention to them. She noticed that there was a holy number on every journal’s cover page. Ah Tou frowned, did Long Immortal arrange these journals according to his own age?

She flipped through the journals one by one until she reached the journal containing the words "Thirty Years Old". There were only a dozen names in this journal, and one word was written after each name: death.

Ah Tou thought for a while. After Long Immortal reached the age of thirty, he couldn’t treat and save the patients anymore, so they all died?

"I have a theory," Ah Tou said after summoning up her courage.

But at this time, Liang Yanyan raised the journal in her hand and showed it to Ah Tou, “No need. Here’s a chronicle of Long Immortal’s life.”

****

Yvette’s note: Hey all, sorry for the slow updates over the past month. I was super busy with school. I have a couple weeks off, so I’ll be back on track. As you’ve already seen, I also translated some featured comments. I only translated those that are meaningful, though, but it’s totally up to you whether you want to read them. I understand some readers don't like to read comments, and I totally respect that. “A Thousand Faces” Part 1 has 47 chapters, and the story is not finished at all. I don't know when Part 2 will come out, but it's worth waiting because things get super interesting in the later chapters. Thank you all for your support!