Chapter 103: The Disappeared Person — The “Sui”

“Sui?” Sang Chu glanced at Tu You, but Tu You just shook her head, indicating she hadn’t heard of it.

The old woman explained, “That lama said the ‘Sui’ is a monster from the deep sea. It’s neither human nor ghost, born from the grudges of the deep. It has only a shell, no soul, so it needs to devour many people’s souls to sustain itself. The place where people from the deep sea gather is its breeding ground for souls.”

“And after that…?”

The old woman fell silent for a long time before continuing, “In order to get rid of that thing, the women and some sensible children in the village waited until the men weren’t paying attention, and quietly set up the magic banners taught by the lama. These banners require pure, good-hearted boys to activate, so as soon as the children were old enough, everyone hurried to set them up, just hoping to get rid of that thing as soon as possible.”

The old woman’s expression grew strange as if recalling something painful. She continued, “It wasn’t too difficult to make those banners, and at least they could keep that thing at bay. The problem was, those men partied every night, and there were always many people guarding outside that person’s house. There was no other way, so everyone could only secretly drug the men to make them fall asleep.”

Her face grew paler as she spoke, and Sang Chu guessed something terrible must have happened, so she didn’t rush the old woman, just waited quietly for her to calm down.

“I set up a lot of banners, and I watched as those men fell asleep one by one. But when we tried to carry that thing out, all those men turned into monsters with the same face as that thing. My husband was beaten to death trying to hold them off, and I lost my sight. Luckily, the great magic banner was set up in time and saved everyone.”

As she spoke, the old woman couldn’t help but tremble. Even in a few short sentences, it was clear how terrified she must have been back then.

Sang Chu asked, “Grandma, is that thing sealed in the well?”

The old woman nodded, “Back then, the village didn’t have a proper well, not even cement. Since that thing appeared, we just decided to use the well to trap that monster. Besides, so many people were already poisoned by it—they couldn’t be saved.”

Sang Chu’s face changed. That meant there was more than one monster in the well!

“Grandma, then you…”

The old woman sighed, “There was nothing else we could do. We had to seal them all inside. But the magic banners only last for a certain time—they need to be reinforced every ten years. If there’s any mistake, the seal will fail. But what could we do? All the men in the village had turned into monsters, and when the children grew up, they left to marry and have their own families. There was no one left to maintain the banners.”

From the old woman’s tone, Sang Chu could hear her despair. She said the children grew up, but her own child had died young. Something must have happened during that time, and now, probably everyone from back then was dead.

Was it because of this that she had stayed here all these years?

Thinking of this, Sang Chu suddenly had a bold guess—maybe those magic banners were never meant to last forever.

If that was the case, then the so-called “great person” might have sealed those people in the well using some unknown method. But as time passed, the banners needed to be maintained, and the people who could do it were either gone or dead, using their lives to guard this place and desperately trying to keep the banners intact. But too much time had passed—so much that everything had faded into legend.

The sea had long since turned to farmland, but she still kept watch here.

Realizing her guess might be true, Sang Chu felt a pang in her heart. “Grandma, what if the magic banners can’t hold any longer?”

The old woman seemed to think of something, and after a long silence, she looked up at Sang Chu. “Little girl, can you do it?”

Sang Chu was stunned. “Grandma, to be honest, I’m here to investigate this matter, but right now I only have bits and pieces. I don’t know if I can do it, but I’ll try my best. But I need you to tell me everything, without holding anything back. Can you do that?”

“Alright. What do you want to know?”

Sang Chu hesitated for a long time before finally asking, “Grandma, I want to see your child’s grave.”

“Okay.”

The old woman’s voice was hoarse, and though she tried to hide it, Sang Chu could hear her sorrow. But for the sake of resolving this matter, she agreed to let Sang Chu see her child’s grave.

Following the old woman up a small hill, Sang Chu became even more certain of her guess.

The old woman stroked a tree and spoke in a low, helpless voice, “In our village, there’s a tradition: when a child dies, we put their clothes and a locust branch at the door, hoping the child won’t lose their way and can find their way home, to be reborn into this family in the next life. The locust branch is to tell the child that their parents and grandparents are waiting for them to come home.”

“But why is the branch here on the mountain?”

The old woman replied, “Putting it here means we don’t want him to find his way home. If he can’t find his way, he won’t come back. My child is buried here. You can dig.”

“But I…”

Before Sang Chu could finish, the old woman had already disappeared, and the locust branch that was once as tall as her had turned into a short, dry stick.

Tu You shivered in the night, “Ah Chu, this place is really creepy. What should we do?”

“It’s already come to this, we have to dig. Maybe we’ll find some clues.”

Tu You’s voice trembled, “R-really dig? Who knows how long it’s been, even if there is a grave, it must be gone by now.”

Sang Chu murmured, “Not necessarily.”

Without another word, she took out a suitable digging tool from her storage space and started digging.

After digging about a meter, she saw a bundle of straw, something wrapped inside. Tu You hadn’t expected Sang Chu to be so bold. She hid behind Sang Chu, burying herself in her clothes, not daring to look.

Sang Chu ignored her and used her knife to lift the straw. Inside was not a child, but a beast’s skeleton!

It had a human-like face, a short tail, and a large, bushy mane. Its bones were huge, and all of them were shattered.

“Ah Chu, are you done yet?”

“Little rabbit, do you know what we’ve found?”

“W-what?”

Looking at the skeleton, Sang Chu analyzed, “Think about it. Every time there’s a thunderstorm, children go missing, and then adults start disappearing too.”

Tu You asked, “But what does that have to do with this?”

Sang Chu replied, “Remember what the old lady said? This monster is neither human nor ghost, but a creature that feeds on resentment and takes shape—a monster without a soul. Doesn’t that sound like a thunder demon?”

At that, Tu You’s face turned pale. “Are you serious? We’re doomed, we’re doomed, we’re doomed!!!”"