In midair, the man’s body slowly turned red. The color deepened rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, he was crimson from head to toe.
He was like a man of blood, flailing as he floated in the air.
"How festive," Nanny Xiang said. The harbinger of good news suddenly stopped struggling. He landed upright on the ground, standing ramrod straight with his arms at his sides and his legs together. His back was to the room, and he faced the courtyard outside.
The Night Guards stared in terror at the harbinger, his face an expressionless mask.
Two streams of hot tears trickled from the corners of the harbinger’s eyes, washing clean paths through the crimson staining his face.
Hao Yunsheng felt as if a heavy blow had struck his chest.
The large white hand twisted gently, offering a book-sized red envelope with the character for "Fu" on it. Nanny Xiang accepted it.
In her right hand, Nanny Xiang was once again holding the pig-butchering knife that dripped black blood. The blade was black, the handle white—a stark contrast.
"The Matriarch has borne a Qilin son, but his grandmother has not returned and does not know. A harbinger is sent, to find the grandmother and show her the grandson. The yang road for the living, the yin road for the dead. Legs to walk the road, ears to hear the news, a mouth to announce the joy..."
As Nanny Xiang chanted, she used the tip of her knife to slice open the harbinger’s legs, feet, ears, and nose. Finally, she slit both corners of his mouth, carving a line all the way to his ears.
A massive, curved, bloody mouth now stretched across the harbinger’s face, connecting his two ears.
A blood-red smile.
"So very festive..."
Nanny Xiang grabbed the harbinger’s hair with her left hand and swung the knife horizontally with her right.
CRACK.
The harbinger’s head separated from his body, yet not a single drop of blood spattered out.
Nanny Xiang picked up the red Fu envelope and slowly inserted it into the harbinger’s neck stump. Fresh blood welled up and flowed out as she pushed the envelope down until it was buried deep within his chest cavity.
Nanny Xiang placed the harbinger’s head back onto his neck. She smeared her blood-stained right hand in a circle around the wound, which instantly healed, leaving only a thin red line like a scarlet thread.
She patted the back of the harbinger’s head and said, "Go on. Your grandmother is waiting for you."
The harbinger’s bloody mouth split into a grin, and with a soft chuckle, he began to walk. He moved with the stiff gait of a Puppet, slowly stepping toward the threshold.
The people standing outside the threshold scrambled backward.
The parts of the harbinger’s body that crossed the threshold vanished instantly. The moment he was fully outside, his entire body disappeared.
Two crystalline teardrops fell from midair, striking the ground and shattering in the heart of every Night Guard.
All eleven Night Guards turned to look at Hao Yunsheng.
Hao Yunsheng’s face was grim. He remained silent.
"My son, sleep well now. In the morning, you’ll wear your Tiger Head Hat, and we’ll eat red eggs together. Grow tall, grow up quickly."
The Deceitful Mother’s gentle voice drifted from behind the black drapes. Two large hands rocked him gently like a cradle, and the Sunshine Boy, overcome with drowsiness, slowly closed his eyes.
The Night Guards left the West Courtyard and returned to their common room.
Hao Yunsheng couldn’t close his eyes. He was filled with regret—not for harming the Sunshine Boy, but for his own misjudgment. He had thought the Sunshine Boy was just some ordinary Low Grade Fate Master who couldn’t possibly hurt him.
He never expected this Sunshine Boy to be so powerful, so willing to fight to the death.
Night Guard Office.
A carriage slowly drove out.
The carriage was jet black, with a black lantern hanging from each of the four corners of its roof. Inside the lanterns, a red light flickered.
Four black horses pulled the carriage out of the Capital City. As they cleared the gates, the horses’ fur suddenly rotted away, transforming them into four green-eyed skeletal steeds.
The skeletal steeds reared back and neighed at the sky. Their ribs splayed open, forming bony wings that began to beat the air.
Pulling the black carriage, the skeletal steeds angled up into the sky and flew swiftly north.
A short while later, a man in a green brocade robe appeared, riding the wind as he bounded across the rooftops. He soon arrived at the North Gate of the Capital City.
The guards at the gate saw the man’s handsome features and extraordinary bearing, and hazarded a guess at his identity. "Could you be the Beautiful Scholar, Lord Zhou Chunfeng?" one asked.
"I am."
Without another word, the guards immediately opened a smaller side gate to let Zhou Chunfeng pass.
Once outside the city gates, Zhou Chunfeng reached into his Qi Fortune Silver Fish Pouch, pulled something out, and tossed it to the ground.
The object landed with a puff of white smoke.
When the white smoke cleared, it revealed a massive, thirty-foot-tall Wooden Eagle the color of timber. Red, blue, and black Talisman markings flickered across its surface. Atop its back sat a small wooden house.
Red tiles, gray walls, and yellow wooden windows.
Zhou Chunfeng pressed his right hand to his lips and coughed lightly several times before stepping into the wooden house.
Red light flashed in the Wooden Eagle’s eyes. It rose into the air, catching the wind, and flew north carrying Zhou Chunfeng.
The next day, before dawn, the bleary-eyed Night Guards were roused by Wang Laoshu. The group once again found themselves before the Deceitful Mother Hall in the West Courtyard of the Five Goddess Temple.
They saw that the Sunshine Boy was much taller than the day before, now standing about two feet high. He wore a Tiger Head Hat, red with the black character for "Wang" embroidered on the front, a red padded jacket, and Tiger Head Boots on his feet. He was plump and pale, wobbling adorably as he walked.
Wherever he went, the two large white hands followed, hovering protectively as if afraid he might fall.
The eleven Night Guards stood in a single line outside the hall.
Wang Laoshu turned and left. A moment later, he returned carrying a brown wicker basket.
Inside the basket lay eleven pristine white eggs.
"Matriarch, I’ve brought the eggs," Wang Laoshu said with a bow.
"Pick someone to distribute them," the Deceitful Mother’s voice came, languid and gentle.
"Yes, Matriarch."
Just as Wang Laoshu was about to turn, the Sunshine Boy toddled toward him, holding up a stalk of mugwort. "Wang Laoshu," he said, "I’ll give you a stalk of mugwort."
Seeing this familiar scene unfold, Hao Yunsheng, standing outside, cursed inwardly as his temples began to throb.
"Oh! How could I possibly accept this?" Wang Laoshu exclaimed, unsure what to do with his hands. He shot a furtive glance toward the black drapes.
"My son is giving it to you. You will take it."
"Thank you, Matriarch." Wang Laoshu knelt just outside the threshold. Grinning, he accepted the mugwort from the Sunshine Boy and carefully tucked it away.
The Sunshine Boy said slowly, "Wang Laoshu, how about you choose Hao Yunsheng to distribute the red eggs?"
"Sounds good to me!" Wang Laoshu said, standing up. He grinned at Hao Yunsheng. "Hao Yunsheng, heads up."
With that, Wang Laoshu offered the basket to Hao Yunsheng.
Hao Yunsheng cursed under his breath and shot a glare at the Sunshine Boy. With a flick of his left hand, the one wearing the Qiankun Ring, he produced a brass Eight Trigrams Mirror carved with twin dragons and aimed it at Wang Laoshu.
CRACK...
The Eight Trigrams Mirror crumbled to dust. Wang Laoshu froze for a second, then offered the basket to an elderly Night Guard instead.
The elderly Night Guard’s face twisted in horror. He glared at Hao Yunsheng, his teeth clenched. "You’ll die a dog’s death! I’ll haunt you from beyond the grave!"
He then turned to his Captain. "Captain, my family..."
Before he could finish, his left arm moved like a puppet’s, reaching out to take the basket. With his right hand, he picked up a white egg and offered it to Hao Yunsheng.
"Take it," the man said, his voice devoid of emotion.
Hao Yunsheng took the white egg. As he looked into the man’s eyes, his heart gave a violent lurch.
Tears glistened in the man’s old, cloudy eyes.
The man walked mechanically to the next Night Guard.
"Take it."
That Night Guard also took one in silence.
Suddenly, the Sunshine Boy frowned. The body of the man distributing the eggs had visibly shrunk by two sizes.
The Sunshine Boy stared at the man. With every white egg he handed out, his body shrank further.
By the time he had distributed ten eggs, he stood only a foot tall.
The Night Guards watched the tiny man out of the corners of their eyes, their hearts pounding in terror.
The tiny man hopped into the basket. He began to skip around the last white egg, grinning and bobbing his head as he sang a children’s rhyme in an unknown dialect: "Red little comb, feathers so new, lays a little egg, shiny and white for you. Pointy on one end, round on the other, peel off the skin, see the bright red color..."
As he peeled the eggshell, his body continued to shrink.
Each piece of shell he removed revealed an egg white the color of pig’s blood.
Once the egg was completely peeled, he toppled over like an empty eggshell and crumbled into a pile of grayish-white dust.
A single stalk of Mugwort drifted down to land upon the dust.