Poison City

 

Fuman Coffin Home, a small place for the locals to temporarily place their dead, had two people working there today. One was Sue Xu, the mortuary makeup artist, and Gloria Lee, the temp who served as watcher while the full time watcher was traveling.

 

It was not the first time Gloria served as the temp watcher, yet she still carried the watcher’s notes around and took it out every few hours just to make sure she had every little detail in mind.

 

There were nine coffin spots in the coffin home, five on the left side of the door and four on the right. Eight of them were filled, with incense burners placed at their feet. There were three incense sticks burning in each incense burner, and one crucial job of the watcher, was to monitor the condition of the incense sticks every 15 minutes. If there was anything abnormal with the coffins or the incense sticks, they would need to handle it and report to a local temple as soon as possible.

 

Among the eight bodies, three of them were from this day and the day before, which were the reasons Sue needed to be here.

 

“I don’t think we have enough makeup and lipstick for today..” Sue said to Gloria as she was stuck halfway trying to beautify the pale skin of a middle aged man who died of overdrinking and liver cancer: “Gloria, can you make a note for us to buy it tomorrow? We need both red and purple. It’s getting late, so we’ll have to wrap up tomorrow.”

 

“Okay. Gosh wish I noticed it earlier.” Gloria sighed as she put down the notepad hanging from a wooden pillar in the main room. “And we need additional paper talismans and incense sticks as well. Why is everything running out so quickly?”

 

“Their portions are getting smaller, even though the prices remain the same.” Sue sighed and chuckled: “I mean, just barely a year ago, the lipsticks would last almost twice as long, and the makeup boxes did not have any paddings at the bottom.”

 

“What changed?” Gloria shrugged.

 

“I don’t know, maybe because the materials are getting more expensive? Maybe the workers at the plants need higher wages?” Sue smiled while continuing with her work: “But what can you do? These people still need to rest looking decent.”

 

“Hello? Is anyone here?” An old woman with two young men behind her came to the door of the coffin home: “We have someone here we would like to place.”

 

“Hi, my name is Gloria, I am the watcher today.” Gloria immediately rushed to the door. The two young men behind the old woman were carrying a wooden coffin on a bamboo shoulder pole. The coffin looked new and crude, with a red talisman drawn with golden patterns sticking to the top. “My apologies, we didn’t know you were coming. Do you have the death certificate with you? And do you have a placement order or application?”

 

“Here. The placement order from the local chapter of the community collective.” The old woman nodded and handed Gloria a small red envelope .

 

According to the death certificate, the one in the coffin was a young man, barely 19 years old. The cause of death was noted as an accident, and the date of death was two days ago.

 

“Okay, but before the coffin could be placed, I’ll need to check the body.” Gloria sighed, the certificate looked authentic, just that it was way too simple and vague on the cause of death. The placement order had an authentic seal from the community collective as well. Even though things seemed somewhat strange and even a bit suspicious, she did not really have much of a choice.

 

“Yes, but please be quick, and respectful.” The old woman nodded and signaled the two young men to put the coffin down.

 

The two young men pulled some bamboo sticks from behind their backs, laid them on the ground and put the coffin on them so the coffins would not touch the ground. Then one of the young men stood on the side to hold it steady, while the other pulled the lid ajar.

 

The upper body of this unfortunate deceased was burned beyond recognition, there was but a shriveled charred head on the equally boney and shrunken shoulders. The lower part of the body seemed to be in better condition. But still, nothing with which for Gloria to verify the identity.

 

Gloria double checked the photo on the death certificate then frowned: “Apologies again, I cannot identify this body at all. It would be a bit - out of the norm and unorthodox to accept a body like this. I hope you understand.”

 

“And I hope you’ll understand, a young man with no family, having tragically died in a fiery accident, is in dire need of a place to rest. It’s almost three days, you as a watcher should know how urgent it is.” The old woman sighed but responded with a stern tone: “So please, take him in. Too much time has passed already.”

 

“Okay. ” Gloria checked the death certificate and the placement order once more. With the placement order alone, she did not really have that much of a say in the matter anymore. “We’re at capacity now. So have you brought - ”

 

“Green bean cakes. Here.” The old woman handed Gloria red cloth wrap, then waved at the two young men behind her: “Bring him in, be careful.”

 

The young men put the coffin in the last spot in the main room, then the old woman handed Gloria a bag of yellow paper coins, made of relatively good quality paper, along with a small wooden box. “These are for the already placed. And the box is for this house, prime cinnabar, I’m sure you’ll put it to good use.”

 

“Thank you, Sifu Kuo will definitely appreciate it. ” Gloria handed Sue the green bean cakes to free up her hands for the paper coins and wooden box.

 

There were certain processes and rituals needed when new coffins arrived and when the coffin home was filled. The green bean cakes were the “gifts” from the “newcomer” to the ones that were already there. The paper coins were just add-ons as signatures of goodwill. Additionally, all the incense sticks at the foot of each coffin needed to be replaced, so that all the incense sticks in the room would be burning in sync.

 

A small piece of green bean cake in a small porcelain plate was placed at the foot of each of the coffins, on the left side of the incense burners. The paper coins were placed on the right side of the burners, with small wooden paperweights on top. All of this was to make sure that the ones who were placed earlier would “welcome” the newcomer, as the newcomer had brought them snacks and money for them before they went on their way.

 

There was barely any skin on the new body’s face, so there was very little Sue could do to make him look better. The most she could do was try to get a suit of decent looking shroud. Luckily for both of them, there were quite a few of them safely and soundly stored in a box made of Pao Rosa wood.

 

“Let me help you.” When Sue picked a shroud and was ready to put it on the new body, Gloria rushed over to lend a hand. It was a sign of respect for both the already placed and the new body that every one of them was dressed before the sun set.

 

They managed to put the shroud on at the last light of the sun, and the time to close down. A night alone awaited Gloria, since Sue’s work here was done.

 

“Alright, long day. Good luck. See you tomorrow..” Sue let out a sigh of relief, grabbing her coat and her purse and was ready to head out the door: “Hope you can get some sleep tonight.”

 

“Yeah, me too.” Gloria shrugged and shook her head: “Just a minute, I need to check on the incense sticks first.”

 

Sue nodded and waited by the door for Gloria to check on all of the incense sticks. Her eyes couldn’t help but drift towards the incense burner at the foot of the new coffin. 

 

Out of the three incense sticks, the two on the side seemed to have burned extra fast and only had half its full length. But the one in the middle barely burned, sticking up like a sore thumb.

 

“Gloria - this doesn’t look right…” Sue asked with a trembling voice, and with a hand on the door, her fingers became slightly pale.

 

Gloria turned to where Sue was pointing at. She froze for a moment. And before she could react, Sue already stumbled out of the door. 

 

“Wait! Sue! Come back!” Gloria’s left feet tapped the ground and launched her body towards her friend. Sue felt a sudden pull on the back of her collar, and with a surprised scream, she was yanked back in.

 

“You can’t leave, not now. This is the worst kind of burn.” Gloria steadied Sue’s body with her left palm on her back: “We’re likely both marked. We need to stay somewhere safe through the night. Then we should go to the Kshiti Temple tomorrow, that’s the closest temple to us.”

 

“What - what’s happening?” Sue had been working at this coffin home for quite some time, yet this was her first time seeing something like this.

 

“I don’t know. But I’m afraid we don’t have a choice.” Gloria immediately locked the front door, then she rushed to one of the pillars in the main room and pulled on a red rope. Two large red nets rolled down from the ceiling, enclosing the coffins to the left and right parts of the room. She then grabbed Sue by the arm and rushed into the back room and bolted the door, separating them from the main room. There were talismans on the door as well as symbols carved on the door frame that would serve as their protection. They should be safe for now. Should. For now.

 

“Oh my god. Oh my god. What’s gonna happen to us? What is happening?” Sue burst into tears the moment Gloria locked the door and a breath of chilly breeze blew through the gap under the door, lowering the room temperature and making the candles flicker. “I - I don’t wanna die! I don’t wanna die!”

 

“We’ll be fine. Stay here.” Gloria looked under the altar in the room, and pulled out a small bag of paper talismans, two thick red candles and a small jar of thick light yellow liquid: “Sit on the mat, recite some scriptures, close your eyes and block your ears.”

 

“Okay - okay!” Sue immediately sat down on a hay mat in front of the altar, blocked her ears with her hand and started chanting scripture verses with her eyes closed.

 

Gloria, on the other hand, had to act according to the notes for the watchers. There was a short straight sword made with peachwood with red threads wrapped around its blade on the altar, between two red candles. There was one small metal jar right in front of the peachwood sword, inside stored some blessed oil and some grains of sticky rice.

 

Bang bang bang! Someone or something banged on the door. Sue jumped from where she was and hid in the corner of the room behind the altar, trembling but still reciting scripture verses. The hairs on the back of Gloria’s neck stood up and her back tightened. But she needed to proceed according to the notes.

 

Gloria picked up the short peachwood sword with her right hand, opened the metal jar and put a grain of oil-soaked sticky rice on her left index finger. She then dipped this finger on the flame of one of the candles. The rice caught on fire, along with the oil on her finger. Not even flinching, she pushed the grain of sticky rice on the bottom of the peachwood sword’s pommel. Under normal circumstances, she would not want to do this in front of Sue, for it would only draw unnecessary attention. But now she just did not have a choice.

 

Bang bang bang! The door was banged on once again. Sue whimpered and curled up harder in the corner.

 

“Who’s in there?” A hoarse voice came from the outside: “Who’s in there - let me in!”

 

“Hang in there. I’ll deal with this.” Gloria patted her friend on the shoulder, then snuck towards the door with raised heels. She could see a pair of pale bare feet through the gap under the door, covered in black root-like veins.

 

There was a small sliding window on the door, but it was clearly not a time to use it. Gloria bit her right middle finger and drew a little bit of blood from her fingertip and smeared it on the body of the wooden blade. At the same time, she concentrated her Qi and infused it into the wooden blade. Not many could work against manifested spirits, and she hoped that this could, like the notes suggested.

 

After putting the candles at both sides of the door and waiting for a moment, the feet behind the door started walking away, mumbling. After a few breaths, she slid open the sliding window with trembling hands.

 

Not the burned young man like she was thinking, but a middle aged man with only half his face covered in makeup and unfinished lipstick. Right now, the incense sticks at the feet of all the coffins were still burning. The man stood in the middle of the main room with his hands in the air. Smoke rose from the incense and somehow from the coffins. The smoke condensed and weaved into long threads, slowly flowing into the man’s nostrils and mouth.

 

Gloria did not know what this man was doing, but with her Qi concentrated on her eyes, she could see a blood red glow on the man’s shoulders and chest getting brighter and stronger. Whatever it was, it must not be good for anyone.

 

After a short moment of hesitation, Gloria moved the two candles to Sue’s side, then walked back to the door.

 

“What are you doing?” Sue asked.

 

“Handling this.” Gloria said as she opened the door.

 

“Wait! Gloria!”

 

Sue only heard the slammin of the door responding to her cry. 

 

The middle aged man was clearly not expecting anyone to fight back. His attention was only drawn to Gloria when a glowing wooden blade in her hand pierced through the barely visible shield of gray mist shrouding his body, along with his skin and flesh. Orange and red sparks burst from his wound. He was thrown to the side as if he was hit by a speeding car.

 

The man disappeared in a puff of dark smoke before he hit a red net. Gloria felt something coming at her from behind. She jumped forward and rolled right. Her leg was scratched by a cold claw and sharp nails. After the sharp pain, a chilling sensation was trying to seep into her muscles from the wound.

 

The middle aged man was barely donning a human shape anymore. His skin was cracking up, leaking dark and blood red tar. Gurgling roars gushed through his crooked, stained teeth from his seemingly charred throat. After letting out an ethereal and high pitched scream, his eyes turned dark red and melted away. With his arms extending forward, he lunged.

 

Gloria tapped her feet on the ground and leapt toward a red net with her Qi coursing through her meridians and muscles. The man disappeared in a puff of dark smoke again. The same sense of danger struck her. Out of pure instinct, Gloria tossed three folded paper talismans in her left hand to her left.

 

The paper talismans ignited and exploded like firecrackers. A deafening scream made her ears ring and her visions blurred. But she was only stunned for a brief moment, before she spun around and sunk the peachwood sword in the middle aged man’s chest, pushing him into the red net behind him.

 

The red net stuck to the man’s body like a spider web. His cracked skin started melting and crumbling. Pungent tar-like liquid gushed from his eye sockets, his nostrils and his ear holes. The peachwood sword ruptured and burst into flames, and Gloria had to let go of it, leapt back with the last remaining paper talisman in hand.

 

The man struggled for but a few more seconds, before his entire body burned up and ashed. Leaving a dark human-shaped mark on the red net, and a lingering smell of charred, rotten flesh.

 

Only until the next morning, when the first light shone through the window, did Gloria and Sue dare step out of the back room. The last talisman was luckily not needed, and the middle aged man was the first and only source of danger throughout the whole night.

 

When Gloria checked on them, all other bodies showed some kind of cracking of the skin, and their figures all became slightly thinner than before. The body of the middle aged man, on the other hand, seemed to be totally burned down and carbonized.

 

The new body, the one whose face was almost completely burned beyond recognition, also underwent some change: the area of burn seemed to have grown for some reason; his arms seemed to have shifted in positions. And most obvious and jarring of all, his head turned. If he still had eyes, they would be staring right at the coffin in which the middle aged man lay.