Who Stole My Eggs?

The next day, Huo Yao took Xie Zuo to bid farewell to Shi Yuan, who tearfully wished them well.

“You never know when you’ll come back once you leave,” Shi Yuan said with tears in his eyes.

Huo Yao nodded, “I won’t return in the short term. Don’t be lazy, accumulate more merits, and return to your position as soon as possible.”

“I know.”

“Let’s go.” Huo Yao, devoid of nostalgia, left.

Xie Zuo hurriedly followed, walked for a while, then turned around and waved to Shi Yuan, saying, “Goodbye, little bald donkey!”

Shi Yuan stamped his feet angrily, “No, you disgusting little monster!”

As they passed through the village, the villagers greeted them enthusiastically. When passing by Lu Xiaopang’s sesame cake shop, Aunt Lu eagerly handed them a big bag of sesame cakes, saying, “Eat them while they’re hot, crispy outside and tender inside. Not as delicious as mine, though.”

Xie Zuo accepted it unceremoniously and asked Aunt Lu, “How did Lu Xiaopang study?”

Aunt Lu looked proud, “Not bad; someone brought it to me a few days ago. The letter came, and he wrote it himself!”

Xie Zuo gave her a thumbs up, “Awesome!”

Aunt Lu was even happier, “Is Divine Doctor Huo going out to practice again?”

Huo Yao responded with a quiet “hmm.”

“Although a man has to work hard for a career, he also has to start a family. My niece is 28 years old, hardworking, and capable. Would you like to meet her, Divine Doctor Huo…?”

Aunt Lu tried to talk something but Huo Yao brushed her off and walked away.

.

Huo Yao took Xie Zuo away from the village to a flatter area, where the villages became denser with more people coming and going.

Along the way, Xie Zuo kept himself occupied, either eating snacks or fruits.

After encountering a theater troupe that had set up a stage to sing an opera by chance, he fell in love with theater again. Whenever they went to a new place, he would pester Huo Yao to take him to the theater.

On this day, they arrived at a large and lively village. Xie Zuo witnessed the experience of watching a theater and immediately found the theater troupe rehearsing the show. He couldn’t walk away.

The show this time was very different from what he had seen before. In the past, it was lively and festive, but this time the singing was desolate.

The opera singers’ costumes were not as lively and gorgeous as before. They all wore plain white costumes, and there were many props folded from yellow paper on the stage.

Xie Zuo waited beside him for a long time, but the performance didn’t officially start until night fell and a thick mist rose. With a resounding “Cang—!”, the play began.

As more people gathered, the fog thickened.

Xie Zuo sensed the dropping temperature and a cool breeze on the back of his neck. Frowning, he turned around to see a livid-faced man blowing air at him.

Xie Zuo lowered his head, noticing the man’s toes not touching the ground.

“Huh-huh-!” The figure continued blowing cold air, “Why aren’t you afraid of me…” it asked quietly.

Xie Zuo looked around and realized he was surrounded by a group of pale-faced figures, none touching the ground, each exuding a chilling presence.

“Why should I be afraid of you? Who are you?” Xie Zuo glanced towards the stage, finding the people on it looking directly at him, also suspended above the ground.

“It’s strange. You’re a living soul. Why aren’t you afraid at all? Are you a fool?”

Angry at being wrongly labeled, Xie Zuo reached out and brushed away an ugly face with a long tongue, “You are the fools; get out of here. Stay away and don’t delay me from watching the show!”

The troupe leader said quietly, “We’re invited by the Pan family to sing for Master Pan. You have to pay to watch the show.”

“I have money.” Xie Zuo patted his waist, where a money bag containing broken silver, given by Huo Yao, was hanging.

“I don’t want money; I want your soul,” said the troupe leader.

“Yes, yes, give us your soul.”

Something felt off. These beings weren’t human or demonic. What were they? So cold and disgusting!

Xie Zuo rolled up his sleeves, ready to confront them when he heard Huo Yao calling, “Xie Zuo, come back!”

A strong suction force pulled him from behind, and Xie Zuo’s body floated up involuntarily.

After a sense of weightlessness, Xie Zuo opened his eyes, finding himself half-lying in Huo Yao’s arms.

Xie Zuo sat up, looking around blankly. He was watching a show moments ago, encountering a group of eerie, cold entities. Why was he in the inn now?

“You encountered a ghost troupe, and your soul left your body and got lost. I just called you back,” Huo Yao explained, tapping Xie Zuo’s forehead.

A warm current flowed down his forehead and throughout Xie Zuo’s body, dispelling the wet and cold feeling lingering around him.

“What’s a ghost troupe?” Xie Zuo found it novel. “Are those things I encountered ghosts?”

Huo Yao nodded, “Master Pan in this village just passed away. Today is his seventh birthday. When he was alive, he loved opera the most. One of his descendants had a yin and yang connection, so he invited a ghost opera troupe to sing for him. You, as a living soul separated from the body, got attached to this substitute. It’s easy for the soul to wandered off when encountering negative things in the ghost world.”

“Oh… those are ghosts. One is uglier than the other, and all of them have green or white faces,” Xie Zuo thought, “Were they all humans when they were alive?”

“Yeah.”

At that time, he didn’t realize that his soul was leaving the body and called back by Huo Yao.

“Let’s go to Master Pan’s house and have a look.”

Huo Yao agreed after a moment of hesitation. Xie Zuo hadn’t seen the death ceremonial in the human world, so he might as well take a look.

Huo Yao and Xie Zuo disappeared, entering the Pan family courtyard.

.

Loud cries echoed in Pan’s courtyard, real sadness and reluctance on the faces of the old and young.

Master Pan’s coffin was placed in the middle of the mourning hall, surrounded by mountains of gold and silver foil. A paper stage was set up on the west side of the mourning hall. The troupe and the audience were also made of paper, all lifelike.

“Ah, that’s them!” Xie Zuo pointed to the stage, “Why are you pretending to be dead now?” The ghost troupe had been singing and dancing in full swing, attracting a group of little ghosts to join in the fun. A little angry, Xie Zuo suddenly noticed a frightening divine power. Assuming it was a great deity coming to catch ghosts, the ghosts dispersed immediately. No one dared to seek death!

Regardless of how Xie Zuo played with those paper objects, they remained motionless.

However, the Pan family suddenly discovered that the things on the paper stage were moving without any wind. They thought it was their old man who had returned. Joyfully, they gathered around the stage to kowtow.

Not wanting to be someone else’s old man, Xie Zuo dragged Huo Yao away.

.

On the way back, Xie Zuo asked Huo Yao: “Isn’t it said that people have souls after death? It’s not like we can never see each other again, so why are they crying so hard?”

Huo Yao said: “To the world, people in this life have passed away. It is true that we will never see each other again. Living people cannot see the soul of the dead, and the separation of yin and yang is a great tragedy. People after reincarnation will forget all the past events. It is also a great tragedy that relatives and lovers in the previous life will not meet each other in this life. Things come to an end, and death is the end.”

It was rare to hear Huo Yao said so many words in one breath. Xie Zuo listened very carefully, “I remember that humans can live for a very short time, right, just a hundred years?”

“Seventy or eighty is a long life.”

“Oh… it’s really short.”

“Although human life is short, it is very exciting, and love, hate, and resentment are very strong.”

“Great Thunder Deity, you seem to like mortals very much.”

“It’s okay.”

This was the first time Xie Zuo saw human death. It was also on this night that he began to think about the meaning of life.