Fantasy Farm

translator: baumkuchen  editor: ellabells

But he was absolutely innocent in the matter of meeting with it, he had only given that thing an extra glance and had ended up as a target. 

“I’ll go to the hospital to see him tomorrow, then,” Lu Qingjiu made his decision, “See if he knows what that thing is.”

Yin Xun said, “I’ll go with you.”

Lu Qingjiu said, “Don’t. It’s better if you don’t go with me. Wouldn’t it be even more troublesome if it spreads to you, too?”

Bai Yuehu, sat next to them, didn’t look worried at all. He said, “Go. If you can’t deal with it, just come back. I’ll help you.”

Lu Qingjiu nodded. An intense gratitude towards his family’s fox spirit welled up in his heart. Even though Bai Yuehu said that it would be really troublesome, he hadn’t retreated. He was really a beautiful, kind-hearted and good fox spirit.

Because the situation was urgent and Lu Qingjiu didn’t know when something would happen to Pang Ziqi, he hurried to the hospital in the city the next day.

Yin Xun insisted on going with Lu Qingjiu. Lu Qingjiu originally wanted to reject him, but he said that for better or for worse, he was a mountain god. If something really were to happen…

Lu Qingjiu asked, “If something really were to happen?” 

Yin Xun said, “I can at least call Bai Yuehu for you.”

Lu Qingjiu, “…” Really, thank you, my useless friend.

He said “call”, but in actuality, Bai Yuehu who had been living in their home for so long had never used a phone. Thinking of this, Lu Qingjiu figured that he should get Bai Yuehu a phone after this matter was over to avoid a situation in which something really did happen and the person himself was uncontactable. After all, he couldn’t transmit his voice over a thousand li. In the past, he thought that Bai Yuehu didn’t use a phone because he didn’t think highly of these kinds of things from the mortal world, but now after careful thought, him not using a phone might simply be because he couldn’t afford one…

The two people with a target took the pickup truck to the city hospital. After contacting Hu Shu, who was keeping watch in the hospital, they were able to come and visit the Pang Ziqi who had just woken up in his hospital ward. 

To tell the truth, Lu Qingjiu had made his mental preparations before coming here. But when he saw Pang Ziqi, his heart was still shaken. He saw Pang Ziqi lying on the bed and that woman on all fours above him, her umbrella covering their heads. That terrifying face turned, staring darkly at the visiting Lu Qingjiu and Yin Xun.

Lu Qingjiu and Yin Xun could only pretend to not see her. Pang Ziqi had already woken up at this point, his consciousness already recovered. Although he was unable to move from where he was lying on the bed, he could still speak.

“What did you see?” Pang Ziqi struggled out, “What you… you told Hu Shu, what did you see?”

Lu Qingjiu said, “I saw a woman, constantly following behind you.” 

“What kind of woman?” Pang Ziqi continued to ask.

“She is wearing a blue dress and holding an umbrella. On her ears are hanging red and green snakes.” Considering the person in question was right in front of them, Lu Qingjiu didn’t want to say anything too offensive. “Her eyes don’t have pupils, but other than that, she’s still really pretty.”

Everyone, “…” Lu Qingjiu, your will to live is really strong ah.

Lu Qingjiu glanced at the woman, then added, “I don’t intend to offend ah.” 

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Pang Ziqi said in a hoarse voice, “I’m afraid I can’t work quickly.” 

Lu Qingjiu was stunned. “Why do you say that?”

Pang Ziqi said, “Do you know about the Rain Master’s Concubine?”

“The Rain Master’s Concubine?” Lu Qingjiu said, “Isn’t that a monster from The Classic of Mountains and Seas?” He suddenly remembered the description of the Rain Master’s Concubine in the Classic of Mountains and Seas: dressed darkly, a snake in each hand, a green snake in her left ear, a red snake in her right ear. It indeed held similarities with the woman lying on top of Pang Ziqi. 

The reason why Rain Master’s Concubine was called that was said to be because she was the maid-concubine of the Rain Master. But unlike the Rain Master, what she wielded was the power of the sun.

“Correct,” Pang Ziqi said, “Three months ago, we found a tomb in the Shandong province.” 

Lu Qingjiu said, “Shandong? Could it be that you guys found the Tanggu?”

Pang Ziqi smiled bitterly, “Perhaps.” 

Tanggu was the place the sun rose from in legends. It was also said that it was the place where the ancient Xihe worshippers  worshipped the Sun God. Xihe was the Sun God. In the legends, it was said that she was the one who gave birth to ten suns.

As this story dragged on longer, Lu Qingjiu found a stool and sat down next to Pang Ziqi. “Just quickly tell me what happened in the end.”

“Something happened as soon as we opened up the tomb,” Pang Ziqi said, “About three or four people died. Then, it started to rain heavily. After a week of continuous rain, the higher-ups realised something wasn’t right, so they sent us over there.”

Lu Qingjiu didn’t reply, listening closely. 

“In the beginning, the higher-ups thought that it was just an ancient tomb with a relatively long history. But after inspecting it, they realised that the age of the ancient tomb wasn’t right,” Pang Ziqi said, “After we investigated, we found a few murals, funerary objects and a huge coffin in the tomb.”

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Lu Qingjiu asked, “You guys didn’t open the coffin, didn’t you?” He had a bad feeling.

Pang Ziqi said, “At first I didn’t want to, but in the end, my superior said, since we’re already here…”

Lu Qingjiu, “…” Bro, do you think you’re on holiday? What fucking since we’re already here? 

As for what came after, without Pang Ziqi telling him, Lu Qingjiu could already guess. Pang Ziqi and his group opened the coffin and saw a perfectly preserved body within. But the moment the coffin opened, it triggered something. The corpse in the coffin was directly submerged in water and huge changes began to happen in the entire tomb. Thankfully, they were able to escape in time. After leaving the tomb, Pang Ziqi had thought the matter over, but what he didn’t realise was that it was only the beginning.

As Pang Ziqi spoke, his expression was heavy, but Yin Xun and Lu Qingjiu who sat on the side listened with great relish.

“Wow, do you guys go into tombs often?” Yin Xun said, “How exciting.”

Pang Ziqi, “…” 

Lu Qingjiu said, “Do injuries as a result of being cursed count as work injuries? How much medical expenses can you claim?”

Pang Ziqi, “…”

Hu Shu asked, helpless, “Aren’t you guys going a little off-topic?”

Lu Qingjiu coughed dryly, noticing that his thoughts seemed to have gone astray. He pulled the conversation back on track, “Then did you touch anything strange? If you want to stay alive, then you’ll first need to find that thing.” 

Pang Ziqi said, “I’ve truly touched a lot of strange things, but if I had to pick the strangest…” He sighed. “Then it would have to be the Rain Master’s Concubine’s corpse.”

Lu Qingjiu asked, “You touched it?”

Pang Ziqi nodded. “When the casket entered the water, we wanted to pull out the corpse. But we found that the corpse was particularly heavy, we couldn’t move it.”

Lu Qingjiu said, “So now the corpse has also disappeared?” 

Pang Ziqi said, helpless, “Even if it were still there I wouldn’t be able to destroy it. It’s such a precious research material, if I were to destroy the corpse, those researchers would tear me apart.”

Lu Qingjiu felt like he was right.

“So all you can do is wait for death?” Yin Xun cut in from the side with a question.

“Hoo, death probably isn’t my only option,” Pang Ziqi said, “I already contacted my department, they’re sending people over immediately. I just need to stick it out for a few days…” The moment his words fell, a shattering noise sounded from the originally perfectly fine window. Glass fell to the ground in fragments, as if it had been smashed by something. 

Seeing this, Hu Shu hurried to the window to take a look but wasn’t able to find anything. Only Lu Qingjiu noticed that when the window shattered, the woman sprawled on top of Pang Ziqi’s body reached out a hand and placed it around Pang Ziqi’s neck — as if she wanted to meld her body with his.

“It’s raining.” The wind rushed in from the window, making Hu Shu shiver.

It was 36 to 37 degrees Celsius in the room, but the atmosphere was frighteningly cold. The rain that had begun to pour at some point was blown into the room by the wind.

A nurse who had heard the noise came in to check on the situation. Upon finding that the glass had been broken, she frowned and asked them what happened. Hu Shu could only say that the wind had broken the window. 

Although the nurse didn’t believe him, out of respect for Hu Shu’s status as a police officer, she didn’t ask further, turning to go out and arrange another room for Pang Ziqi.

Pang Ziqi smiled bitterly and said, “Well, I don’t know if I’ll be able to last until people come.”

Lu Qingjiu said, “You situation is really serious. You weren’t the only one to touch the corpse, right?”

Pang Ziqi nodded. “But they’re all stronger than me, so the first one to have problems was me.” 

Lu Qingjiu replied, “Then… do you know that that thing of yours is contagious?”

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Pang Ziqi, “Contagious?”

Lu Qingjiu turned, letting Pang Ziqi see his back. “Can you see it?”

Pang Ziqi stared for a moment, frowning, before shaking his head. “I can’t see it. What are you talking about?” 

Lu Qingjiu sighed, helpless. He told Pang Ziqi about the shadow appearing on his back after his gaze met the woman’s. After all, if Pang Ziqi could see the shadow, he would definitely be able to see the woman, and wouldn’t have realised something was wrong only after the accident occurred.

“It can spread?” Pang Ziqi began to tense up. “Are you saying that after I die, it’ll be you next?”

“Something like that, probably,” Lu Qingjiu said, “Also, there’s a high chance that after I die, it’ll move to someone else. So if we don’t deal with this matter, it won’t end. Do you understand?”

Pang Ziqi’s expression suddenly became grave. If only he died, he’d brought it on himself. After all, it was he who touched something he shouldn’t have touched. But if his death wasn’t an end, but rather just the beginning, then this matter could no longer be that simple. 

Lu Qingjiu and others were completely innocent. If something happened to them because of him, Pang Ziqi wouldn’t be able to accept it. He took a deep breath and seemed to come to a decision. His gaze towards Lu Qingjiu seemed to have something more. He said, “I understand. I’ll deal with this matter as soon as possible.”

Lu Qingjiu said, “I hope so. By the way…” He hesitated for a moment, before continuing in a small voice, “Do you want to know where the woman is right now?”

Pang Ziqi, “…She’s still with me?”

Lu Qingjiu nodded sympathetically. “She’s currently lying on top of you. If you just turn, you’ll be able to kiss her. Would you like to say hello?”
Upon hearing this, Pang Ziqi’s face immediately twisted. He held back for a long time, before a word forced itself out from between his teeth. “Fuck.”