361 Paper Doll Procession

 

“The lyrics of the song have to do with soul summoning and the dirge has to do with that as well. They both ring out on the Night of Resurrection, is that a coincidence?” Han Fei shivered when he considered the fact that his enemy might have foreseen this. How was he going to fight someone who could predict the future?

The dirge came closer to him in the stairwell. He resisted the fear and poked his head out the banister and looked up. On the 10th floor, there was a trail of white lanterns swaying. Intensely white pairs of hands settled on the rusted banister. They looked like the hands of paper dolls.

‘A paper doll funeral procession?’ The dirge was still a distance away from the 4th floor. Han Fei decided to rush to the 6th floor before the dirge arrived. It would be best if he could get into Room 4064 before then. Han Fei made his move immediately with no hesitation. ‘Since I can’t log out from the game for most of the night, I’ll have to be extra careful.’

The dirge got louder. Most residents were hiding inside their room but Han Fei ran towards the dirge, heading to the 6th floor. When Han Fei covered the last few steps, the dirge was already right about him, they were extremely close to each other.

‘Quick!’ He pulled on the safety door but before he entered the corridor, he looked up. Colorful paper faces looked out from above at Han Fei. The painted faces lit up due to the light from the lanterns. They were paper dolls but they looked so alive. Han Fei shivered being stared at by the dolls. He didn’t stay to make more observations and rushed into the 6th floor corridor.

‘Paper dolls! They are all paper dolls! They are similar to the paper doll boss at Yi Ming Convenience Store but they are also much larger than it was!’ The dirge was very close to him. Han Fei didn’t dare to turn back as he raced down the 6th floor corridor. But as he ran down the corridor, he noticed the corridor was not less creepy than the paper doll procession.

Each room at Ziggurat had a bowl of white rice before their door and around the bowl scattered burnt paper money. However, the strangest thing was, for a few families, they had paper ladders made from yellow paper and rope pasted on their doors. The ladder extended from the small window located at the top of the door.

‘Are those paper ladders meant for the ghosts?’ Han Fei remembered this old Chinese culture. This was called a spirit ladder. It was inauspicious for living humans and ghosts to share the same entrance so the living made spirit ladders and pasted it on the doors so that the ghosts would climb the ladders to enter the room through the windows, instead of using the doors.

Han Fei didn’t stay to study them, he ran all the way to Room 4064. By then the dirge was echoing between the 6th and 7th floor, the paper doll procession was coming his way!

An old paper ladder hung on the door of Room 4064. The rice in the bowl at the door had aged into dried balls. But most importantly Han Fei noticed 2 blurry footprints among the ashes of the burnt paper money, like someone had just stepped on them earlier. ‘My soul has taken the spirit ladder into the room?’

Han Fei grabbed the doorknob and turned. The door didn’t budge but the window above the door did open a small gap. ‘The window is not locked?’

The dirge sang in the 6th floor. Painted faces appeared on the glass window of the safety door. The dolls’ eyes slowly opened. Bad quality paint smudged the glass. It was hard to tell if this was a person wearing a paper doll costume; or if the paper doll had on human skin. ‘They have living eyes on their faces! The eyes are still moving!’

The fear overwhelmed Han Fei. The paper dolls moved incredibly fast. It didn’t take long for them to slide through the safety door and move towards Han Fei. Han Fei grabbed the edge of the door and climbed as fast as he could. He was going to enter the room through the window like a ghost would. Han Fei was a very thin and lean person but even so he was still too large to fit through the window. When he was at a loss, the previously locked door was opened.

The door opened for a small gap and a small boy appeared behind the door. The boy was clearly expecting someone else because when he saw Han Fei, he froze from fear.

Using this opportunity, Han Fei pushed the door open, slid in and closed the door. ‘It was too dangerous out there.’ To prevent the boy from making any noise, Han Fei closed his hand over the boy’s mouth.

The moment the door closed, the dirge entered the 6th floor corridor. The paper doll procession surged past Room 4064!

Han Fei hugged the boy tightly, leaning against the locked door. Through the mirror in the living room, he could see the window above the door. There were a few paper faces looking through but they didn’t enter the house, they merely leaned on the window and looked around. The dirge stayed for 4 minutes before it faded away.

A bad smell tickled his nostril and Han Fei lowered his head to notice the boy had peed his pants from fear. The boy’s eyes were filled with terror. He couldn’t speak. The stain spread on his pants and his hands were spasming.

“I’m sorry, I mean no harm.” Han Fei let go and when the boy got his freedom, he quickly ran away. He didn’t get far before he tripped and fell to the ground. He half-crawled and half-ran to hide behind the couch and poke his head out to look at Han Fei.

The child took a serious countenance. He looked at Han Fei for a long time before he said, “You’re not daddy. Mommy said daddy will come back tonight!” The combination of fear and disappointment caused the boy to bite on his lips and cry. He was clever, he knew not to make loud noises even when he cried.

“Your daddy will be home soon, I just saw him downstairs, he was purchasing a gift for you…” Han Fei looked around the living room, he noticed various toy car models stuffed under the television cabinet. “It’s the latest car model, the kind that can transform.”

Hearing Han Fei say that, the boy sobbed quieter. He rubbed his eyes with his tiny hands. “You really saw him?”

“Of course, an adult won’t lie to kids.” Perhaps it was the passive effect of Pied Piper, Han Fei realized the boy was no longer that fearful around him.