Nghịch Tử's Blog: An unexplored mine for fantasy writers: Vietnamese culture

Chapter X: Bánh trôi nước

Translator’s note & disclaimer: The title of this chapter is the name of a famous Vietnamese dessert. It’s roughly translated to “Floating Cake.” However, we chose to keep the name in Vietnamese as the English translation doesn’t work perfectly. The dessert is also the name of a poem by Hồ Xuân Hương, an 18th century Vietnamese poet. Here is some extra information on the poem if you’re interested (The articles linked are simply for the related content, we have no other relation or affiliation to the two authors whatsoever). Additionally, here are some visual aids for you to better imagine what it looks like later on.

Disclaimer: We’re not responsible for your imagination as you read this chapter.

“Okay, you be careful now! Come back immediately after you’ve eaten a bowl of bánh trôi. And remember two things. First, you’re absolutely forbidden from criticizing the dessert in any way. No matter how disgusting it seems, you’ll eat it like it’s the best food you’ve ever tasted. Even if you want to throw up, you’ll ignore that instinct and gulf it down. Second, it’s better if you just swallow the whole thing without knowing what’s inside. That’s all I can tell you about the rules here. If you know what’s actually inside the food, you’re not allowed entrance, and our trip here would have been for naught.”

After their sampan docked at a peninsula in the river, Điền Quý gave her instructions and promised to come back with the Water Spider in an hour to pick her up.

“Aren’t you coming with me?”

“Can’t even if I wanted to. Look at that sign over there: No Điềns allowed. You can ask the ferryman if you don’t believe me.”

The Water Spider said:

“There’s indeed such rule, miss.”

After the coffin sampan left, she didn’t want to waste any more time, either, so she jogged inside the small island.

The peninsula wasn’t a big one. At the center of it stood a hill–about 20 meters high with gentle, easy-to-climb slopes–with a small temple on top. While it was unclear who was enshrined here, incense smokes can be seen coming out of it from afar. A scene such as this was very much ordinary in the world of the living, but here, in the middle of the River of the Dead full of strange things, this peninsula with the temple at the center stood out like a sore thumb.

A paved stone road connected the wharf straight to the temple. On either side, banana and pineapple trees–heavy with fruits–were grown, alternatingly, in straight rows.

As soon as she set foot on the road, Phượng Ngân felt like something was off. Even though she was entirely alone on the big road, she felt as if she’d just walked into an arena ring, with thousands and thousands of eyes watching her from all sides.

Her steps quickened as a result.

It wasn’t a long way from the wharf; she was at the temple gate in almost no time at all. Phượng Ngân didn’t rush in immediately but stopped to look around.

“No engraved, no guardian statues, either. Hmm, not sure if this temple is even enshrining anything good. Also, why go to a temple to eat bánh trôi?”

She was still thinking to herself when from inside the temple, a hoarse voice called out:

“If you’re here to eat, why haven’t you come in already?”

“Coming!”

Seeing that whoever inside was already aware of her presence, Phượng Ngân found no reason to delay the inevitable. Might as well come in to see what they wanted. Besides, if Điền Quý had wished to harm her, he wouldn’t need to bother with this many tricks.

The interior of the temple was quite simple. The yard was paved with red bricks, with bamboos planted on either side. The main hall was built in an arc as if hugging the well in the middle of the yard. All rooms were closed and carefully sealed with sealing papers[1]As a reminder, “Bùa,” as explained previously in chapter 2, is a term in Asian culture, referring to a piece of paper, white or yellow, with writings on them to use for various purposes, … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_751_2_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_751_2_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. The well was also sealed shut with a copper cap–fixed to the ground by iron chains–with design patterns from the Phùng Nguyên Era.

An old woman with a hunched back sat atop the well. On the table next to her were a large pot and stacks of bowls and spoons for eating. As the old woman lifted her head to look at her, Phượng Ngân was slightly spooked by her white eyes and creepy grin behind the curtain of gray hair.

“You’re here for the cake, yes?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Coming right up! Sit, sit! I haven’t had a customer here in a while!”

The old woman eagerly opened the pot and prepared her a bowl of bánh trôi nước. A single glance at the content of the bowl was almost enough to make Phượng Ngân throw up. The liquid was sticky and gooey, with a few dozens of black seeds–bigger than sesame seeds–floating back and forth. The cakes themselves were pale green, gave off a fishy and rotten odor, and occasionally moved. In short, the bowl of bánh trôi from the hunched-back woman looked like phlegm swimming in a bowl of toads’ eggs.

Phượng Ngân reached for the bowl and immediately withdrew her hands. It was as hot as a furnace; her fingertips were already turning red from the touch.

She never expected a bowl of dessert that looked cold would be scalding hot instead.

The old woman said:

“Sometimes life is like a bowl of floating cake; if you rush into things, you might get burnt. How about you let it cool for a bit and–if you don’t mind–talk to this dying old woman in the meantime? It’s been a long while since anyone came to this remote island in the middle of nowhere[2]Original Vietnamese expression: “khỉ ho cò gáy” (literally “monkey cough, crane roost”), an idiom used to say remote, out of the way, so far from civilization where “monkey would cough … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_751_2_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_751_2_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });.”

Not sensing any ill intention from the old woman, Phượng Ngân said:

“Grandmama, can I ask a question? Please forgive me if it offends you.”

“You want to know if I’m even a living being to be dying, right? I am, indeed, flesh and blood and everything.”

She paused and stared far away. Light reflected off her eyes as if scenes from her past were playing in front of her.

After a while, the old woman patted the hunch on her back:

“If it weren’t for this little ol’ debt, I’d be dust and bones a long time ago.”

“You are…”

“I’ve long forgotten my own name, child. Hundreds of years have passed. Flowers bloomed and withered; people came and went. Everyone just wanted to finish their business and go away as fast as they can. If no one cared who I was, what’s the point of remembering what I’m called? After all, no one ever uses their own name.”

A mortal woman who had lived for hundreds of years on this River of the Dead?!

Phượng Ngân couldn’t believe her own ears. She silently wondered how the old woman could possibly bear the loneliness gnawing at her soul after all this time.

The old lady smiled:

“Oh, pardon this old woman! I’m rambling, aren’t I? It’s been so long since I’ve had a conversation. The food should be cool now. You should hurry up and eat it so you could be on your way.”

“Grandmama, I’m actually not in any hurry. I’d like to hear your story if you’d like to tell me. What is this temple? Why don’t you leave?”

“Why would you want to know these things, child?”

“If someone dares to keep you here against your will, then I’ll take care of them for you, grandmama. I may not look it, but I’m actually very strong, you’ll see!”

Phượng Ngân said with a smile and put her hand on her heart as if taking an oath.

The old lady laughed:

“Oh, no, dear. No one is keeping me here. I volunteered to watch over this temple, child.”

“If you’ve said so, then I won’t ask about that anymore. But who does this temple enshrine, ma’am?”

“Look at this temple, child. What does it look like to you? Two rows of trees on either side, the main hall shaped like a circle around the yard, a well in the middle…”

“Hmm, what does it look like?”

“An eye, don’t you see? This temple is called ‘Linh Thị Miếu,’ or simply speaking, it’s the Temple of the Eye, child.” – The old woman answered with a laugh.

Phượng Ngân continued:

“I saw a sign near the wharf that says, ‘No Điềns allowed,’ I happen to have a friend with this last name; could you tell me why there’s such rule?”

Hearing that, the old woman’s face changed. She asked:

“Your friend’s a Điền? He didn’t come in, did he?”

“No, ma’am. He knew about the rule, so he didn’t dare set foot on this island.”

“That’s good.”

The hunched lady gave a sigh of relief, then explained:

“The Điềns are banned from this place according to Heaven’s Will. I don’t know why myself. When I took over the position here, they told me that the Điền family was an insolent bunch who didn’t respect the gods. So, they are absolutely not allowed to set foot anywhere on this island.”

The two of them chatted for a while, Phượng Ngân updated the hunched woman on current events in the world of the living. When hearing about the recent wars, chaos, and famine that lasted half a century, the old woman cried:

“No wonder why there were so many Ma Da in this river these past few decades. Oh!”

Phượng Ngân then told her of more happy news. The old woman was in a much better mood as she smiled widely.

Glancing at her watch and realizing she was late for the appointed time, Phượng Ngân hurriedly brought the bowl of bánh trôi to her mouth and took a sip. As soon as it touched her lips, the two big cakes went straight down her throat before she could taste a thing.

Phượng Ngân said goodbye to the old woman, promising to visit when she could, then ran like the wind out of the temple. With her speed, it didn’t take long to reach the wharf, where the coffin sampan had already been anchored down and waiting since who knew when. The Water Spider’s legs were crossing and uncrossing as if he was incredibly nervous about being there. Meanwhile, Điền Quý was lying on his back like he didn’t have a care in the world, his eyes seemingly glue to the paper he had in his hands. The fact he was holding it upside down outed him as a crook pretending to be a scholar[3]A common Vietnamese expression/idiom. Meaning fairly self-explanatory. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_751_2_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_751_2_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, though.

When the Water Spider saw her coming, he said:

“Oh, you’re okay? That’s good!”

She glanced over at Điền Quý and sighed.

The guy looked as calm and collected as ever, as if he didn’t care whether she lived or died. For anyone who didn’t know any better, they’d think Điền Quý was a stranger, while the Water Spider was her companion.

Phượng Ngân replied:

“What’s to worry about? She’s an easy-going woman, isn’t she?”

The girl sat down, temporarily ignoring the awe-filled gaze of the Water Spider to turn and ask Điền Quý:

“The bowl of bánh trôi was not that bad. Why did you have to overdo with the warning like that?”

He sat up:

“You enjoyed the taste?”

“Aside from looking awful and smelling really bad, it didn’t really taste like anything after cooling down.” – Phượng Ngân replied, her voice indifferent.

Điền Quý gave her a thumb up to praise her:

“That bowl of bánh trôi is the absolute worst thing anyone can taste in their life.”

“But…”

“You don’t understand. The pot was enchanted. No matter who you are–be it gods, demons, ghosts, or men–, it will taste like whatever you find most disgusting in all your life.”

“But I honestly found it normal. If what you said is true, then wouldn’t it be even more absurd?” – Phượng Ngân asked.

Điền Quý shook his head:

“Not at all. The old woman must have really taken a liking to you to have given you such special treatment.”

The Water Spider’s jaw dropped in disbelief. He stammered:

“No way! You mean to tell me someone managed to catch the eyes of that ill-tempered hundred-eyes old hag?”

“Hey! Don’t you two feel ashamed for talking behind her back like that? Wait a minute! Hang on, hundred-eyes?”

Notes:[+]

Notes:

↑1 As a reminder, “Bùa,” as explained previously in chapter 2, is a term in Asian culture, referring to a piece of paper, white or yellow, with writings on them to use for various purposes, including, but not limited to, warding off evil, sealing entities, bewitching someone, etc. As there are no one equivalent words, it’ll be translated depending on the usage between paper talisman, sealing papers, etc.

↑2 Original Vietnamese expression: “khỉ ho cò gáy” (literally “monkey cough, crane roost”), an idiom used to say remote, out of the way, so far from civilization where “monkey would cough and crane would roost.”

↑3 A common Vietnamese expression/idiom. Meaning fairly self-explanatory.

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The post Chapter X: Bánh trôi nước first appeared on Cổ Thuyết.

Chapter IX: On the River of the Dead

Điền Quý cleared his throat:

“Believe it or not, I’m also running away from home to escape an arranged marriage. As for why I’m going to Province A, I’m acting under orders from above. They said the reason why Nam’s–that’s the tào phớ seller’s name–entire clan died unexpectedly could be an object that belongs to the Yin Realm, so I was tasked to investigate the matter.”

Phượng Ngân stared at him with widened eyes:

“I know there’s that saying ‘the hero’s always late,’ but seriously?! Are you all kidding me right now?! You’re twenty years late! That’s unacceptable! Why didn’t you wait until the monster had taken a couple more hundreds lives or bred a few more generations before setting out to intervene, then?”

The young man snapped:

“Unacceptable?! We were just out of wartime! Have you any idea how much work needed to be done?! Were we just supposed to not take care of the spirits of our deceased soldiers?! And how many of them died because of bombs? They didn’t even have bodies left for a proper burial! And what about those who belonged to the other side? They died here, but their souls need to be processed according to their gods and customs. And they could have fallen in the jungle, too, could they not? What if their corpses are not found, and they turned into Ma Rừng? What then?! Or, what if a bomb accidentally unearthed an ancient tomb, and whatever the hell in there had gotten out? Were we supposed to ignore those, too?!”

Only after pouring all these out did Điền Quý finally seem to calm down. Feeling he had been rude just now, he softened his voice:

“Never mind, you’re not an active practitioner, so you not knowing all these is understandable. Let’s focus on the tomb at hand first.

The Ghost King’s Tomb was built during the Fall of the Nguyễn Dynasty, and the Nguyễn Kings were descendants of the Nguyễn Lords, who had a long-standing feud with the Trịnh Lords.

None of the construction workers were Trịnh or even Trịnh’s descendants who had changed their last names. When the tomb was finished, the chief constructor left the instructions that all Trịnhs were banned from entering. Even when the location of the grave was lost, that rule was followed. In past years, lots of people have gone seeking the tomb, but none of them had been a Trịnh.”

Điền Quý was tasked with the investigation, so naturally, his ticket was supposed to have the same destination as Phượng Ngân’s. He had also known the sixteen-word instruction from the beginning.

“You rascal! You took me to the Six-feet-under Stall as a warning! Was the train stopping here also your doing?”

Only now did Phượng Ngân finally understand why as soon as Điền Quý stepped down from the train, he was like a fish released back into the water. As it turned out, he had known everything from the start. Taking her to the underground stall was simply his way of giving her a knock on the head.

Điền Quý said:

“Not entirely. The water stand lady didn’t know everything about the tomb, so we had to stay here to gather more intel. It wasn’t until the night before when she had a spirit reported to me telling me about Nam becoming a Corpse Retriever to save his own life that I knew that last bit.”

“But why did you keep helping after she warned you against it?”

“Two reasons. First, my impression of you is that you’re not someone with bad intentions. Second, in hindsight, what if the reason no one who went seeking the Ghost King’s Tomb had been able to locate it had been because none of them were a Trịnh?”

“Hmm, don’t you find it strange, though? How did she even know my last name was Trịnh in the first place?”

“The ghosts from the train station side told her. When you bought your ticket, you had to give them personal information, no?”

After coming clean with each other, the air of attention between the two of them eased up considerably. Since the moment Phượng Ngân knew Điền Quý also left home to run away from an arranged marriage, she had started to sympathize with him.

Điền Quý then said:

“Our supervisor will come in a couple of days; we should probably take care of the thần trùng in the meantime. Only after we retrieve Nam’s missing hun and po will ‘the mute’ be able to ‘open up.’”

Phượng Ngân replied:

“I’m all for it, but first, what is a thần trùng? Is it the same as a quỷ trùng tang?”

“Yup, that’s the one.”

He nodded and started explaining:

“Thần trùng is a type of demon. It looks like a bird with a human face, with its beak and feathers as red as blood. It captures the souls of the newly deceased and tortures them for their relatives’ eight-lettered birthtime, so it can catch them as well, creating a chain of death in the process. They call households with multiple deaths within a month ‘trùng tang’ (overlapping funerals).”

This type of information is spread by word of mouth; even non-practitioners like Phượng Ngân can find out on her own if she tried looking hard enough. Still, she remained quiet and didn’t interrupt him because she understood he was only explaining them for her benefit.

He paused for a bit, then continued when she didn’t ask anything:

“As for the origin of this monster, our scholars have been arguing their theories for ages. Some believe it came from China, in a sealed box. Some say it’s a descendant of a Hell General called Quận Cú (Owl Duke), or more specifically, his yin tongue that was chopped off. Regardless of the theories, they all agree it’s not easy to deal with.

Firstly, they are invisible to normal Yin Yang eyes[1]The third eye that allows humans to see the spiritual realm. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_732_2_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_732_2_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, so it’s impossible to tell how many of them are still in existence, or even if any of them still exist or have all been extinct. That’s why the white dog from yesterday was caught by surprise.

Secondly, the more lives a thần trùng has harmed, the stronger its soul-catching prowess gets. The one we’re after has captured Nam’s entire clan of over a hundred total at the same time. From that, we can guess how powerful it is.”

Hearing all this was enough to give Phượng Ngân a headache.

How to deal with an invisible enemy whose specialty is capturing souls?

She took a deep breath, then said:

“Let’s talk about how to beat it later, but first, how can you be sure this thần trùng is still in this town?”

“Thần trùng is a persistent hunter. It’s marked Nam as its prey, so it won’t stop until it has its target. Not to mention, its soul-capturing technique is not exactly perfect. If a thần trùng only has parts of the souls in its body, it’d feel like it’s swallowed coal. Had it been you, could you take it?”

Phượng Ngân said “ah,” then suddenly recalled what happened yesterday. After she was done playing Tam Cúc, the voice from the unplugged radio had threatened her. Yet when she searched the area with her Yin Yang Eye, she had spotted no enemies in sight. That had struck her at odd at the time. After hearing what Điền Quý had just told her, she suspected the voice from the radio was very likely to be the thần trùng.

Which meant the creature probably was aware of her investigation into Nam’s clansmen’s deaths.

She immediately looped Điền Quý in on this.

***

That night, he took her to see the white dog again under the bridge. However, they weren’t there simply to talk like last time, but rather to take a raft down the river. Corpse Retriever was a unique occupation, so naturally, they used a specialized kind of ship. In the Realms of Yin and Yang, there are places only reachable on this type of sampan.

Phượng Ngân asked the dog why it didn’t report the whole thần trùng issue so that Điền Quý’s superior would send someone to deal with it sooner. The white dog was stunned for a while before answering with a laugh:

“Quý must not have explained everything clearly to you. Corpse Retriever is a unique profession, not really under anyone’s management. So, for the matter to be resolved on a priority basis, Nam must stand as a witness. Otherwise, they won’t send anyone until there’s enough evidence.”

“But… Nam can’t talk, can he?”

“That’s the whole issue. Besides, Quý is my bro, so naturally, I’ll help him in whatever way I can, but had it been someone else, well, I ain’t taking orders from anyone. But enough about that, you’d better get ready to go! It’s not every day you can get a trip to that particular place.”

The Corpse Retrievers’ ships were made from coffin wood. After years of being soaked in water, the outside looked rotten. Yet, when they stepped into one, it was strangely stable. Their ferryman today was half-human, the other half water spider[2]To be precise, the animal in this context, gọng vó, is more similar to Water Striders than Water Spiders. But in Vietnamese, the term is used interchangeable with that for water spiders (nhện … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_732_2_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_732_2_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. He waited patiently for the two of them to sit firmly inside the boat before sticking his lanky legs down in the river and using them as push poles, steering the ship down along the current.

Phượng Ngân had somewhat gotten used to the arms sticking out of the riverbanks, but that hadn’t been the worst to be seen. Occasionally, there would be air bubbles rising to the surface from the depth of the water, with human faces inside them–screaming or crying. At times, their boats went past boulders or tiny islands. On these, there were humans–their lower halves merged to the rock and dirt, their upper halves were flailing about the water or trying to grab hold of the sampan. The Water Spider acted as though he didn’t see these humans and kept pushing the ship forward. Though, as if worried his two passengers weren’t used to the tragic scene, he went on to explain:

“They are not real humans, merely illusions and reflections at the surface of souls who are trapped underwater–unable to move on. The only way to actually save them is to find their corpses and fish them out of the water.”

“Can you do it?”

Phượng Ngân asked. Looking at these poor souls – young and old, male and female – wailing in despair made her heart go out to them.

“I’m still a newbie, miss. I have to ferry passengers until I know my way around these parts before I can become a full-fledge Corpse Retriever.”

The Water Spider replied apologetically.

After some talking, Phượng Ngân could tell the Water Spider was a bit shy and introverted, quite the contrast to his scary appearance.

Finding him easy to talk to, Phượng Ngân took advantage of the situation and struck up a conversation, both for something to chase the boredom away and to learn more about the Realm of the Dead. Điền Quý, on the other hand, crossed his legs and slept soundly.

The Water Spider said:

“I’ve been to the place where you two are going a few times. You must remember to be careful, miss.”

Hearing that, Phượng Ngân recalled something from earlier…

When the white dog had asked about their destination, Điền Quý simply said he wanted to take her to eat some bánh trôi. But, as soon as he said that, the white dog – usually known for being the aggressive and fearless boss of the Corpse Retrievers of Province A – suddenly became apprehensively wary.

What was so special about a bowl of bánh trôi?

Was it just some sort of slang, or was there something else going on?

Notes:[+]

Notes:

↑1 The third eye that allows humans to see the spiritual realm.

↑2 To be precise, the animal in this context, gọng vó, is more similar to Water Striders than Water Spiders. But in Vietnamese, the term is used interchangeable with that for water spiders (nhện nước).

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The post Chapter IX: On the River of the Dead first appeared on Cổ Thuyết.

Week 15: Hồ ly tinh – the fox spirit/demon

This week on #VNmyth, we’ll go over Vietnamese Hồ ly tinh (and some of its counter parts in other parts of Asia like Chinese Hu li Jing, Japanese Kitsune, Korean Gumiho).

(Source: https://twitter.com/ghostfo92156770)

I. Differentiate the entities:

Etymology: Vietnamese hồ li tinh is a direct translation of the word Hu Li Jing in Chinese, both means “demon fox” (or sometimes translated as “spirit fox” by Western media). On the other hand, the term “kitsune” from Japanese just means “fox;” the tinh/jing – ‘demon (or spirit, depends on the translation)’ part was left out. Kumiho/Gumiho means nine-tails fox, something entirely different, though it can sometimes be used interchangeably.

Personality:

+ Until recently, Gumiho had traditionally been depicted as pure evil and ruthless. One of the most famous gumiho stories: “The fox sister,” is quite a horror show.

+ The hu li jing, kitsune, and hồ li tinh are generally depicted as mischievous, lustful, and have ambiguous moral compasses. In Liaozhai zhiyi, hu li jing were said to have many types. Some charmed people before sucking the life force out of them, but there were also those who cultivate naturally without harming anyone.

+ Daji in Fengshen Yanyi is a hu li jing who had cultivated for 1000 years. Tamamo no Mae, one of the three evil Yokai, was also a concubine. You typically don’t see Vietnamese Hồ Li Tinh get that high up in society.

II. Tales of the hồ li tinh:

1. The second conquest of Lạc Long Quân:

In ancient times, there was a white fox in the land of Hanoi today. To charm and lure village folks into its lair, it would often come out and turn into a gorgeous human, either as a handsome young man or a charming young woman. The victims were of both genders, and none ever escaped its grasp.

The dragon king was aware of this, so he came to the fox den and had a massive battle with the beast that lasted for days and nights. The demon fox finally retreated into its lair, so the dragon king flooded the cave and drowned it, creating West Lake – the biggest lake in Hanoi nowadays.

2. The story of the fox lady that saved the emperor

During the war between Đại Việt and Đại Minh (1407-1427), there was a man named Lê Lợi, who later become the emperor of Vietnam. During the early day of his uprising, he lost many battles and often had to avoid being captured by the Chinese soldiers. After losing yet another fight and being separated from his men, Lê Lợi was chased into the jungle. Thanks to his slight build, he hid in a thick bush, hoping that the sharp thorns would make the enemy too reluctant to check thoroughly and just go away. Usually, it would work. But, unlucky for him, that time, the Chinese army brought dogs to sniff him out.

As the enemy soldiers approached closer and closer, Lê Lợi saw a corpse of a woman lying nearby, an arrow from the Minh soldiers pierced her neck. Lê Lợi, out of option, pleaded to the corpse out of desperation:

“If you can save me today, I’ll avenge you someday.”

Nothing happened.

The dogs stopped at Lê Lợi’s hiding spot, then barked loudly. The Chinese soldiers didn’t want to go into the thorny bush, used spears to stab around. Le Loi was hit, but he forced himself to keep quiet. His blood, however, remained on the tip of the spear.

The Chinese soldier was beyond thrill, as capturing the uprising leader would ensure great reward. At that moment, a wounded fox jumped out of the bush, left its blood everywhere, and was promptly eaten by the dogs. That soldier, thinking the blood on his spear must be from that fox, cursed and left.

Believing it was the dead woman save him, Le Loi announced her as a deity: Hộ Quốc Hồ Phu Nhân (Country’s Guardian Madame Vixen).

3. The three demon foxes with the treasures:

Okay, so the story essentially starts with a rich (or at least middle-class) family. The father saw a flower with three-colored petals and brought it back to the house to gift his daughter. Little did he know that the flower was actually transformed into by three demon foxes. The demons’ aim was the souls of his family. Luckily for him, his daughter didn’t like the flower and demanded it was thrown away to rot. The three demons were just about to go away when the father chop down a tree nearby to make a door latch. They instead went into the latch.

After the door latch was brought into the house, one night, the leader of the three demons went out and tried to have his way with the family daughter. But because she resisted, it stole her soul and went back into the door latch. Without her soul, the young maiden fell into a coma that no doctor could cure. As the father was taking care of his daughter, the next night, the second demon came out of the latch and took his soul. Then the third demon came out and took the soul of one of the help.

A witch doctor (could be Taoist, or several other things, really, since as covered before, Vietnamese used one word for all people who uses magic) came and successfully gotten the soul of the father and the help back, but he was unable to win against the leader of the demon foxes. As the witch doctor went away in shame, the young daughter remained in a coma, the house was widely known as haunted, and people tried to stay away from it.

Until one day, a student/scholar named Long (means “dragon” in both Chinese and Sino-Vietnamese) went by the house on his trip to the capital city for the exam.

No, definitely not this Long, but anyway, back to the story at hand!

The family initially turned him away because they were haunted and didn’t want him to risk his life, but the young scholar insisted on staying; all he asked for was a lamp so he could study and a sharp knife for self-defense. That night, one of the fox demons came out in the form of a beautiful maiden to try and tempt him, but the scholar remained focused on his readings. The demon went away, and the second one came out in the form of a buffed and scary-looking man. The monster tried to scare the scholar, but he remained focused on his reading still. Finally, the demon leader came out, took one look at the young scholar before running away, screaming: “we need to get out of here; this man is dangerous!” Long was fast on his feet, though, and managed to cut off one of the demon’s feet before it could retreat back into the door latch.

The pain when its foot was cut off was so much that the demon had to let go of the maiden’s soul, and thus, she woke up. The cut-off foot turned back into a fox’s foot, naturally. The following day, the family were rejoiced to have their daughter back. The scholar showed the fox’s foot to them but refused all money rewards he was offered. All he asked for in return was the door latch.

As the scholar left to be on his way to the exam again, the three demons came out of the door latch and begged him to let them go, promising him treasures if he did. His prizes were a sun that, if taken out during the night, would make and keep it daytime for as long as it is out, a moon that, similar to the sun, could make and keep it a full moon night whenever it’s taken out, and an enchanted horse that could run across the country in hours.

How the scholar came to need these gifts is a story for another day, as it no longer had anything to do with the demon foxes. As for what the scholar did with the door latch, different version says different things.

III. Additional comments:

_ Lạc Long Quân along with his wife, Âu Cơ, by lore are the ancestors of all Kinh Vietnamese. In his youth before he met his wife, he had fought three monsters: Ngư Tinh (Fish Demon), Hồ Tinh (Fox Demon), and Mộc Tinh (Tree Demon) and brought peace to the land. After his marriage to Âu Cơ and the subsequent birth of the 100 children that went to become the ancestors of all Kinh Vietnamese, he and his wife had the first divorced in Vietnamese history, with him leading 50 sons down to the sea and his wife taking the remaining 50 to the highlands. The sons that followed Âu Cơ went on to become the Hùng Kings. After that, Lạc Long Quân would continue to help the Vietnamese people from afar, often appearing in dreams or sending his right-hand god, Kim Quy to deliver the message.

_ Some pictures of the West Lake in Hanoi

_ Lê Lợi, as you might have noticed, also have made an appearance in week 11 when we covered the Deity Kim Quy. The Madame Vixen from his lore also inspired a character in one of our old works, as well as will be appearing in book 1 of the Half-Dead Series as a supporting character.

_ According to different versions of the story, the scholar either burned the door latch so the fox demons would die and unable to harm anyone ever again, or let them go with a warning after making them swear they won’t harm human lives again, in case you were wondering.

As per usual, if you enjoyed reading these post, remember to like, share, and subscribe. See you next week!

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Chapter VIII: The Corpse Retriever

Phượng Ngân cleared her throat:

“How about I come back when you two are done bickering then?”

The white dog smiled sheepishly and said in a pacifying tone:

“My apology. Though it is his fault for talking in such a provoking manner.”

Ngân shrugged, neither agreed nor disagreed with his statement.

He then continued:

“A Corpse Retriever is simply one who fishes bodies of the drowned to give back to their family for a proper burial.”

Phượng Ngân asked:

“In this modern age, there are all kinds of ships and equipment, and dead bodies float, so why would such a thing need manual labor?”

“Have you ever heard of the saying ‘on lands, there are local gods, down in rivers, there are water deities[1]Đất có thổ công, sông có hà bá: Vietnamese Proverb, meaning there are rules and someone in charge no matter where you go. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_705_2_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_705_2_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });?’ There are ghosts and demons everywhere. Sometimes, corpses are held captive by underwater demons to practice black magic. Whenever that’s the case, a Corpse Retriever is necessary to reclaim the corpse.”

 The dog paused for a moment and sighed:

“With all the floods in recent years, the number of drowned people that were never found isn’t exactly low, is it? I mean, just look at the river banks; all those arms you see belong to Ma Da[2]type of spirits born from corpses lost to bodies of water, as mentioned in an earlier post jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_705_2_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_705_2_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, the drowned souls whose corpses were never found.”

Phượng Ngân forced herself not to look out at the riversides full of outstretched arms.

Meanwhile, Điền Quý asked:

“When he came to apply for the position, did he say who recommended him?”

While the existence of a Corpse Retriever wasn’t an earth-shattering secret or anything, there was still a due process to it all. Here, for example, the White Dog would send out the Lynx (linh miêu) to recruit a new candidate; otherwise, an old Corpse Retriever, when seeking retirement, could recommend a replacement. But, from the dog’s tone, it didn’t seem like the tào phớ seller was recruited nor recommended but instead was seeking refuge in the position itself.

The dog grinned:

“For future reference, you can stop beating around the bushes. We’ve been bros for what, over ten years now? If you want to know, just ask, and I’ll tell you.”

He said and handed over the bottle of wine as if to say Điền Quý must drink as punishment.

Only after he took a swig of rice wine did the dog laugh and continue:

“It’s true, though, at the time, I had no idea how he even found this place. But he did, and he was kneeling and begging me to take him in as a Corpse Retriever. He said if I didn’t, he’d end up dead within two days. F***, man, I didn’t believe him at first, either, ya know? I told him to hide here and let me see what kind of demons would be so daring.”

He paused, perhaps angered by the memory, yanked the bottle from Quý, and took a swig. After exhaling in satisfaction, he continued:

“Goddammit, Goddammit all, I tell ya! As it turned out, the kid was being hunted by a thần trùng[3]Thần Trùng (also known as Quỷ Trùng Tang, lit: demon of repetitive/chain funerals): Type of demon believed to be responsible for multiple deaths in a family in a short time span. More … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_705_2_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_705_2_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. Like damn, man, I’d thought that breed was extinct; that’s why I didn’t take precautions. By the time I realized the severity of the situation, a hun and a po of the kid were already taken, so I immediately made him a Corpse Retriever. Only because of that was he safe from that demon. But the cursed creature hasn’t given up, either. I can still smell him lurking nearby. And it’s because of the missing soul and spirit that the kid can’t utter a sound anymore.”

Upon hearing it was a “thần trùng,” Điền Quý winced like he was biting down on a soapnut. He muttered:

“Of f***ing course it’s a thần trùng. This is not good, not good at all!”

***

After the meal, both Điền Quý and the white dog combined couldn’t hold their liquor against Phượng Ngân and ended up drunk. After saying goodbyes to the dog and promised to come back some other time, she half-dragged Điền Quý out from under the bridge.

Following the linh miêu’s lead, they walked along the riverbank. When the stench dissipated, Hương Rừng Inn entrance was ahead of them. As she turned around to look back, neither the riverbanks full of arms nor the Lynx was anywhere in sight. Seeing that it was late at night and Điền Quý was too drunk to answer any of her questions, they parted ways, each returned to their own rooms.

“The mute opens up? Does that just mean I need to find the missing hun and po of the tào phớ seller to know what to do next? Or is there anything else to it?”

Ngân’s gaze seemed to be burning holes into the ceiling. Seeing some fireflies caught in a spiderweb at a corner of the wall, she crunched up a ball of paper and threw it at the web to free them.

Perhaps, Phượng Ngân felt as if–on this journey to the Ghost King’s Tomb–she herself was a firefly caught in a spiderweb that she sympathized with them.

Morning eventually came.

Điền Quý came to her room:

“Sorry about being drunk last night. Hope I wasn’t too much of a bother.”

Phượng Ngân continued combing her hair while saying:

“Let’s see if you’d still dare to underestimate us women’s alcohol tolerance?”

He sighed:

“Anyway, I’m looking for you because there’s an update.”

“Regarding the fight with Ma Rừng the other night?”

“Yup. While we’re still able to reason with their King, my superior requested someone to be sent to ‘assist’ me.”

At that, Điền Quý paused and shrugged:

“So, if you don’t want to be supervised, running away now is still an option.”

Phượng Ngân fell silent.

The way she saw it, she could protect herself with no problem, but the spiritual realm was as slippery as a catfish. Without specific methods, she could spend her whole life and still wouldn’t be able to sniff out any clue.

It made sense, though. If raw power was all it took to unveil all the secrets, then–with all its advanced technology–why hadn’t the scientific world discovered the metaphysical realm?

Which meant, if she wanted to find the Ghost King’s Tomb, her best bet was to stick with Điền Quý.

Making up her mind, she told him:

“Alright. Then before your supervisor arrives, shall we plan out our strategy moving forward?”

“You mean?”

“I mean, let’s take advantage of the time we have left–before some outsider arrives–to put everything on the table. Firstly, it makes it easier to trust each other. Secondly, if something was to happen, it’d be easier to improvise.

And don’t you dare ‘there are things you’d better not know’ me. I absolutely hate that kind of detail in novels, only explaining things clearly when trouble arises. If we do that in real life, there’d be no time to improvise, and we’d be dead.”

Điền Quý chuckled at that:

“To be fair, authors have to make a living, too! If they explain everything from the get-go, how are they to keep the readers’ attention? But yeah, honestly speaking, I hate those, too.”

And so, the two of them sat down to talk about everything they know regarding the Ghost King’s Tomb.

Phượng Ngân started:

“I’m a teacher–wasn’t lying about that. But I’m not seeking this tomb for the treasures in it. The truth is, for whatever reasons, my parents suddenly had me betrothed to a dead man and hid everything from me.

It was only recently–when I was teaching at school–that a distant cousin, once removed, who had been away all this time, came to tell me that I have to go to the town with the bastard’s grave. So, that’s what I’m trying to do, unearth the damn bastard and make him call off the wedding.”

Điền Quý suddenly asked:

“The sixteen-word instruction was also from him?”

“Yeah, is there a problem with that?”

“I suspect–just suspecting here–whatever you met that day wasn’t human.”

Phượng Ngân replied:

“After meeting the two hungry ghosts at the station and the trip to the Six-feet-under Stall, I suspected as much. There must be some sort of reason why Trịnhs aren’t allowed in the Ghost King’s Tomb, yet whatever I met at school that day seemed determined to break that code.”

“Knowing all that, and you still want to move forward?”

“I can’t just give up midway.”

Phượng Ngân shrugged. Then, as if realizing she’d picked up Điền Quý’s habit, she felt unnatural for a moment.

Clearing her throat, she continued:

“Think about it, though. Aside from this mysterious Ghost King, is there anyone else who would need to be all secretive about marrying someone like that?”

Điền Quý seemed to have grasped the general situation. He sighed and said:

“I’ll admit you’re stronger than most people I’ve met, but what about compared to your own father? If he was indeed threatened by someone to marry you off to him, is there really a point barging to find him on your own like this?”

“You think I don’t understand that?” Phượng Ngân lowered her head and said depressedly.

But then, she raised her head and stared straight at Điền Quý with determination and resolute in her eyes:

“But what do you expect me to do? Obediently wait for the day I get carried down into a tomb? Or go on the offense now while there’s still time? If something terrible was to happen, I could just say I didn’t think this through, and my parents would be safe.”

Not to mention, dying on one’s feet is a much better death than taking it lying down. But that was such an obvious thing that Phượng Ngân knew Điền Quý would understand without her having to waste time explaining so.

He sat up, his eyes sizing her with a different attitude.

Initially, he’d thought she was simply acting out of spite against her parents. But behind what seemed to be rash actions had been careful contemplations.

It seemed he had underestimated Phượng Ngân.

Điền Quý shrugged:

“Well, my turn now, I suppose? Let’s see now; guess I should start with why I’ve been so enthusiastic about helping you.”

Notes:[+]

Notes:

↑1 Đất có thổ công, sông có hà bá: Vietnamese Proverb, meaning there are rules and someone in charge no matter where you go.

↑2 type of spirits born from corpses lost to bodies of water, as mentioned in an earlier post

↑3 Thần Trùng (also known as Quỷ Trùng Tang, lit: demon of repetitive/chain funerals): Type of demon believed to be responsible for multiple deaths in a family in a short time span. More information can be read HERE .

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Week 14: Thần trùng – a vicious demon that torture the dead

This week on #VNmyth, a demon responsible for chained death in a family.

For lack of a better illustration, let’s go with this.

I. Description

Thần trùng (“thần” being “god,” “trùng” being “repeated,” “repetitive,” “happening again”), also known as “quỷ trùng tang” (with “quỷ” meaning “demons,” and “tang” meaning “funerals”) is a feared demon throughout Vietnam, notorious for creating chained funerals of whole families.

Appearances-wise, thần trùng manifested itself in the land of the living in the form of a bird, with a human-like face and a red beak. It frequents graveyards, preying on the graves of newly dead people.

The origin of this demon varied greatly from tales to tales. Some said they are demon gods banished from China and drifted to Vietnam in a sealed box. That box was foolishly opened by man’s greed, unleashing the abominations into the daily lives of people. Another claims that these monsters were once warlocks of the Mongols army who–along with Phạm Nhan–were killed in the battle between Đại Việt and Đại Nguyên during the 13th century. Nevertheless, thần trùng was a force to be reckoned with.

II. How it hunts:

Thần trùng used the habit of Vietnamese people to its advantage.

It’s generally believed that for the first 7 weeks, the dead souls frequently get out of and go around their own grave. The demons would then infiltrate to capture the poor soul. Then, thần trùng would torment the spirit of said person until s/he can take it anymore and tell the demon the whereabouts of and the names, date of birth (remember the whole eight lettered birthtime that acts the same way as someone’s true name?) of all their family members. With this information, thần trùng will go to the dead person’s house and kill everyone they had the info/can get their beak on. Thus, “chết trùng” “trùng tang liên tang,” other than the typical “chained death/funerals” can also be understood as “death by thần trùng.”

III. Comments from me:

_ Thần trùng might be representing the fear of being betrayed by a family member of the Vietnamese people.

_ They were also created to explain sounds similar to crying/moaning that can sometimes be heard at the graveyard.

_ The fact that this demon has two names, one of “thần” and the other “quỷ” further illustrate that in Vietnamese culture, gods and demons are judged by their deeds, not their origin or powers, and just because a being is called “thần,” does not mean people pay it respects.

_ In the old day, due to the fear of these monsters, a custom was made. The family of the dead people will send a member to the cemetery every night to guard the grave of the newly deceased for 49 days straight.

_ Thần trùng is one of the antagonist of book 1 of the Half-Dead Series, appearing as early as chapter 6, and officially mentioned by name from chapter 8.

_ Not a promo: an indie game from a Vietnamese studio featuring this monster gonna hit Steam sometime in the future.

_ Lastly, FYI, Phạm Nhan was used to call postpartum hemorrhage, with a myth that goes along with his death. We may cover it some other time.

As per usual, if you enjoyed reading these post, be sure to like, share, and subscribe to be notified of future content!

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Chapter VII: The Lynx and the White Dog

[Translator’s note: The title of this chapter is referring to the mythical creature Lynx, not the animal with the same name in Vietnamese. As mentioned in an earlier post, when the animal was introduced to Vietnam, we used an already-existing word–one originally used to refer to the mythical creature–as the translation.]

After the tào phớ seller disappeared under the bridge, Điền Quý signaled for Phượng Ngân to get down from the xích lô with him. From his pants pocket, he produced a child-shaped something–the size of a human head–wrapped inside banana leaves and put it on the seat of the cyclo. Their driver grinned widely, causing his forehead skin to crease. Under the moonlight, three more pairs of ears grew out of his cheeks. All eight ears, along with his chin, sagged down into small pouches. At the same time, the wrinkles on his foreheads opened up into eyes, all twelve in total, including the two normal ones.

“Your true form is showing. Be careful not to get seen!”

Điền Quý hastily warned.

The panicked cyclo driver drew in a deep breath and held it in, his face creased like a dried-up fruit. Then, his extra ears and eyes started to creep back under his skin, and his face returned to normal.

After the xích lô driver had cycled away, Phượng Ngân turned to ask Điền Quý:

“What kind of creature was that?”

“, what else? Nine pouch-straps, twelve eyes.”

“Wait, wasn’t ‘ba bị’ a reference to the pirates who kidnapped children? Six men each squad, a pouch for every two, three pouch-straps each bag, totaling nine straps and twelve eyes.”

“Yes. Exactly so.”

“Then the guy from earlier?”

“He’s also Ba bị.” – Điền Quý replied succintly.

“Can’t you see how contradictory the things you’re saying are?”

“Originally, the terms referred to pirates, but as people started to use it to scare naughty children, they also began to believe in a cannibalistic monster with that descriptions. Before long, their beliefs pretty much made the creature you saw earlier blink into existence. What’s contradictory about that?”

Điền Quý said as he raised one of his hands up to stifle a yawn.

Ngân looked over and chuckled:

“You’ve been sleeping all evening, isn’t that enough already?”

“Can’t help it. I was born this way.”

For some reason–probably her intuition, Phượng Ngân sensed Điền Quý wasn’t telling the truth.

***

Phượng Ngân took out her lipstick and turned it over in her hand. Her senses went into high alert, focusing on every tiny change in her surroundings. She was ready: as soon as whoever was hiding in the dark was to come out for a sneak attack, she’d take them down.

She knew for certain someone was there!

She clearly felt a gaze locked onto the two of them, searching for their weaknesses.

Meanwhile, Điền Quý had gathered firewood into a pile and started a small bonfire. He then produced a dried fish and began to cook it over the open flame. The scent of the fish turning yellow under the heat was mouth-watering. While she could have survived without food for a day, the last time Phượng Ngân had any was still early that afternoon, so the smell of food made her stomach grumble loudly.

Just as the fish was cooked to just right, a black cat slowly stepped out of the bridge’s shadow and approached the fire. The firelight illuminated snake-skin-like patterns that covered the black cat’s body from head to toes. The feline pupils seemed to radiate a ghostly emerald glow.

The cat raised one paw and started picking at its teeth with a single claw while eyeing the grilled fish in Điền Quý’s hand.

The young man threw it to the cat, then motioned at Phượng Ngân and said:

“Don’t worry, she’s no stranger to the Yin Realm.”

The feline ignored him and focused on its meal. Only after there were only bones left and it was done cleaning itself did the cat stood up:

“Follow me!” – It said.

Điền Quý and Phượng Ngân fell into steps behind the black cat. As soon as they stepped foot under the bridge, a suffocating stench hit their face and made their eyes water. The odor was unmistakeably that of rotten decay. Judging by how strong the smell was and the fact that she couldn’t smell anything just a few steps away just now, Phượng Ngân knew this bridge was under enchantments.

Cyan will-o’-the-wisps rose up from the river beside them, illuminating the riverbank path. Along the side of the riverbed slope, human arms poked out of the bricks at the bridge’s feet and swayed in the night wind like they were high grass.

The scene was both horrifying and strange.

The cat led them to a broken and abandoned bus at a corner, then scratched on the headlights a few times. The bus door opened up, revealing a white dog sitting on the driver’s seat. One of its hind legs rested on the wheel while one front paw fanning its body using a conical hat. Its nose glowed in the dark like a ball of fire.

Điền Quý yawned and asked:

“How’s business these days, bro?”

The dog stretched and replied:

“I’ve been starving, bro. You know anyone who’s hiring you wanna introduce me to?”

Điền Quý chuckled:

“There’s a seasonal job, only one trip a year. If you agree to it, I can contact the fat man for you, then you’ll be called on December 24th.”

“Oh, f*** you! I ain’t no f***ing reindeer!”

The dog barked loudly then threw its hat at Điền Quý’s face.

He ducked out of the way.

Only then did the dog saw Phượng Ngân standing on the side. It shot Điền Quý a reproachful glare, then licked its front paw before using it to smooth out the hair on its head:

“Oh, where are my manners? Apology, miss! I was having a bit of fun with my bro and didn’t see a lady was present. Please forgive my rudeness just now!”

Phượng Ngân nodded:

“It’s fine. No need to change your behavior on account of me being a girl.”

The canine slightly raised its chin:

“Ah, but miss, you misunderstood. This is how I behave normally.”

After clearing its throat, the dog continued:

“Quý must have brought you here on official business. In that case, we’ll talk business first, so as not to waste your precious time. Then, afterward, if you don’t mind, I would appreciate it if you could be my guest and allow me to treat you to a meal.”

Điền Quý intervened:

“Hey, bro, I sincerely wish to remind you humans do not like to eat dog food.”

“I know that, goddammit!”

The canine half-screamed at Điền Quý, but then it voiced cracked as if it was about to cry:

“It’s just that, on that day, I forgot to look at the date and went out during the full moon, so I couldn’t control my instincts.”

Phượng Ngân said:

“Since you’re Quý’s friend, how could I refuse? There’s no time like now, so how about we talk while we eat?”

Hearing that, the dog was overjoyed. It stood up, bent a seat into a table, then jerked its head at Điền Quý:

“What are you waiting for, boy? Take it out, don’t keep us waiting!”

Điền Quý replied:

“B**** please, I ain’t even lying when I say those smart like you are chained all over my hometown[1]Vietnamese expression, used to imply/compare someone’s intellect to that of a dog (in Vietnam, dogs are often chained to trees or dog houses). jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_631_2_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_631_2_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });.”

“Oh f*** you!”

The dog started cursing at Điền Quý. But then it glanced at Phượng Ngân, remembered it still needed Điền Quý’s cooperation, and changed to a pleading tone:

“It’s late already; no stores open at this hour. Let’s just say I’ll owe you one this time. It’s not like there are women here every day!“

Only after hearing that did Điền Quý put his hands into his pants pocket to take out all kinds of food, from fruits and cakes to canned meat and rice wine, enough for a four-course meal. Witnessing that, Phượng Ngân wondered how much his pants can hold. However, as she hadn’t eaten since afternoon and was stimulated by the grilled fish earlier, she soon forgot about that to focus on the meal at hand.

The dog also put its rice hat on and immediately turned into a man in his thirties, with hair white as snow and a ruggedly handsome face.

The three of them silently ate for a while before Phượng Ngân finally asked:

“So, the story about the tào phớ seller was all true?”

“Yep, all true.” The white dog replied, “It’s been over twenty years since. He was just a teenager back then; now he’s already old enough to be a middle-aged uncle.”

“Which means he was able to avoid the same fate as the rest of his clan thanks to your protection?”

“Nah, do we look like we have that kind of power? Hmm, how to explain this? Simply put, it’s his occupation that tied his remaining two hun and six po to his body, preventing outside forces from stealing them. That’s why he’s safe from the fate of getting his souls and spirits sucked out of him.”

Phượng Ngân said “ah” once, secretly filed away the information that the enemy could capture the souls of living people, then asked:

“That kind of benefits just for selling tào phớ?”

The white dog glanced between Phượng Ngân and Điền Quý, then burst out laughing:

“While it’s true many ghosts and demons like white tofu, that’s just like any other job. The reason that kid still got his souls is his other occupation.”

He stopped to snap his fingers. At the other end of the bus, the black cat seemed to sigh before clearing its throat and humming a dramatic tune.

“Just get to the point of him being a corpse retriever. Why are you wasting time on sound effects and sh**?” Điền Quý interrupted with a wide grin.

“F*** you, boy! That was my moment! Say, what did I ever do to you to deserve this stick-in-the-wheel[2]Vietnamese idiom, referring to the act of sabotaging someone. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_631_2_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_631_2_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); treatment?” – The white dog growled.

“Oh, I don’t know.” This time, Điền Quý didn’t back down, instead glared back at the dog, “Who was it that gave my parents the idea of marrying me off this early again?”

The dog shrunk back and cleared his throat:

“Well, you know what they say, ‘cultivate one’s body, start a family, rule the country, then pacify the world.[3]Chinese/Vietnamese proverb, meaning you need a healthy lifestyle and family before you can do bigger things in life. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_631_2_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_631_2_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });’ You need to start a family and settle down, to avoid running around and causing troubles. It’s a good thing! You should thank me for it. It’s not easy to find such a good match for you.”

“How about no? I refuse to just get married to whomever my parents pick for me.”

Notes:[+]

Notes:

↑1 Vietnamese expression, used to imply/compare someone’s intellect to that of a dog (in Vietnam, dogs are often chained to trees or dog houses).

↑2 Vietnamese idiom, referring to the act of sabotaging someone.

↑3 Chinese/Vietnamese proverb, meaning you need a healthy lifestyle and family before you can do bigger things in life.

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Week 13: A small collection of ghosts and malevolent spirits

This week on #VNmyth, instead of going through just one single myth or mythical creature, we’ll go over multiple ghost and malevolent spirits with similar pattern.

I. Ma thần vòng

“Thần” is the common word for “god(s)” but can also be understood as “the mind” (as in “tinh thần”). Since this is a relatively new type of ghost, I’m not sure which is which. “Vòng” means “a loop/noose,” which refers to the cause of death.

This specific type of ghost results from people ending their lives by hanging (now the noose in its name makes sense, right).

This type of ghost usually is hateful and raging. The spirits would find people with the right eight characters birthday/eight lettered birthtime (sinh thần bát tự, erm, think of it as the Vietnamese equivalence of true names, though it can be used as personal horoscope as well), put them in a trance so they will end up with the same fate as the ghosts. As for reasons, there is an explanation that they are constantly reliving their moment of death because they have committed a taboo (suicide). This branches into two possible conclusions.

they do it because the only way to end their suffering early is to find someone else and put them in their place.the hatred they held and the pain drove them insane and into losing their humanity => They claim more victims so more will suffer like them.

II. Ma rừng:

Now, this is arguably one of the most challenging ghosts to give you folks a proper introduction. This is because the term ma rừng (lit: forest/jungle ghosts) is so broadly used that most, if not all, ethnic minorities in Vietnam have them, and each with their own version that is in tune with their cultures. So, I’ll share what I know about this.

The voices in the forest: self-explanatory; I think this is something so familiar in mythologies around the globe that no need for an explanation. But, I do have to expand on this a little.
What is interesting about these voices is that they aren’t vague. We humans can understand them clearly, sometimes even hear our names called by the voice of a loved one.
In Vietnam, we are told not to follow nor try to find where the voices are, but we are not allowed to directly reply to them, either. Or else, nothing good is gonna happen, although the results might vary in terms of damage. Some are lost but were eventually found, some are killed or gone missing for good, and some wish they were dead, as death would be a much more pleasant fate.
But it didn’t stop there. On rainy days, they will even knock on the door, asking for water to drink. Well, god bless whoever thinks that voice was from a person.The claim of children: A custom of burying people in the forest/on a tree exists among some ethnicities. So… if a mother were to kick the can giving birth, or her child didn’t make it, etc., then it was believed that that newborn was claimed by ma rừng. Now, in some stories, a hero managed to chase those ghosts away as they came to demand the baby by using dog blood, or sometimes that of roosters. Why!? For the Kinh ethnic, the blood of rooster and dog, especially black dogs, have the property of fending off evil since the two animals are considered animals of Yang alignment. I have no idea if other ethnicities share the same beliefs, though I believe the Chinese have similar views.They lead you: sometimes if you were rude/disrespectful, they will guide you deeper into the woods and leave you there. Whether or not you can make it out wasn’t their concern.They are a bad omen and was blame for basically every bad thing, from diseases to drought or landslide.

III. Ma trành

This one actually has a counterpart in Chinese mythos (It appeared in Liaozhai zhiyi).

Ma trành are people who are killed and eaten by tigers. Long story short: tigers are fearsome entities in Vietnamese mythos, both in a physical sense and a spiritual aspect.

Ma trành are servants to the tiger. They are forced to lure people toward their master – in this case, the tiger, usually by putting the victims in a trance or making them lost their way into the tiger den. In turn, the tiger will eat those people and turn them into more ma trành. How to be freed from the tiger servitude also varied considerably between cases, depending on the story’s origin and the tiger in control. So, I’ll explain this further in another post about tigers.

IV. Additional comments:

_ The notion that committing suicide or harming one’s self is widely considered a taboo and a sin in many Asian countries. Ancient Chinese and Vietnamese believed that a person’s body and their life is not their own but was given to them by their parents. And therefore, harming one’s self is being disrespect to one’s parents, among other things.

_ The motif/trope of malevolent spirits tricking and harming humans to create more of themselves are quite common in myths around the world. You may or may not remember Ma Da, or the spirits of the drowned having a somewhat similar background. Ma Da have been mentioned in an earlier post and appear in chapter 7, 8, and more of Book 1 of the Half-Dead Series.

_ Ma Rừng make appearances in chapter 4 and 5, a Ma Thần Vòng appears in later chapters as well.

_ Ma Trành was covered in The Plane-Walkers Guidebook‘s chapter 4.

As per usual, if you’ve enjoyed reading this, like and share!

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Chapter VI: The Tam Cúc Set

Phượng Ngân stood straight, with her sword’s tip resting on the ground. She pushed her own chin up and asked defiantly:

“Do you also think me a damsel in distress?”

“Nope. Not even remotely. Do I look like a blind man to you?”

He chuckled, before continuing, “But, sometimes, the fist isn’t the answer to everything. Come, sit down for a bit, and have a drink. I’ll explain everything.”

Điền Quý pulled out a chair for Phượng Ngân and pointed at the teapot on the table. Only after she had poured herself a drink did he continue:

“You know, the age we’re living in is different from the past. Better location technology, compasses and mapping, and better roads, too. There aren’t many people who get lost and die in the jungle anymore. And there are even fewer of those whose bodies couldn’t be found and buried properly. As a result, Ma Rừng has become an endangered species, listed in the Red List.”

“Even if they are endangered, my actions last night had been righteous self-defense.” Phượng Ngân argued.

“I’m not saying it wasn’t right. However, the authorities are trying to convince these Jungle Spirits to cooperate with us completely.” Điền Quý replied, “With their help, intelligence gathering will take a giant leap, not to mention logistics and other advantages. All in all, yesterday wasn’t just a random skirmish; there are politics at play here.”

“So, that’s why you said this had nothing to do with how strong I am.”

“Oh, you’re not just strong, but too powerful. If they take it as a challenge, the consequences will be dire.”

Điền Quý poured himself a cup of tea and took a sip.

Phượng Ngân gritted her teeth:

“But then what? Are we just supposed to watch them kidnap babies?”

“Of course not! How could you even think that? Ma Rừng’s lives are precious, but that doesn’t lessen humans’ lives value, does it? But these kinds of complicated things have their procedures and regulations. We can’t simply do what we feel is right and burn through the necessary steps.”

Điền Quý waved his hand before tapping his fingers on the table

“What do you mean?”

“Generally speaking, the first thing we have to do is give these spirits a warning and convince them to retreat. If they don’t heed that warning, then we can go for non-lethal capturing. If they resist capture, then killing a few off would still be easy enough to explain away with their King. But last night, I was barely setting up step one, nowhere near step two, yet you were already slicing them into pieces. That’s what made it complicated.”

He then shrugged:

“I don’t like all these bureaucracies, either, but there’s no way around them, is there? We’re living in a new era; it’s better to have the laws on our side…”

“So, then… yesterday… I implicated you?”

“Well, not entirely. I mean, to be fair, I made the conscious decision not to stop you sooner, so technically, I’m your partner in crime.”

He laughed, lazily stood up to stretch, then jerked his head toward then door:

“Let’s forget about all these macro stuff for now, though. Someone will be taking care of it. I’ve already located the man we’re looking for. You still coming or nah?”

***

After carefully locking their rooms behind them, Điền Quý and Phượng Ngân walked out of the Inn. It was around noon; the sweltering early summer sun had dried up the entire road, erasing every trace of last night’s thunderstorm. Quý glanced at his wristwatch and said:

“We’re still a bit early. Our target won’t be out until early evening.”

“Then we split up to do our own things. Meet back there at 4 PM?”

Phượng Ngân suggested while pointing at an ancient village gate nearby.

Her companion snorted, then yawned and started to walk toward the train station, seemingly agreeing.

Ngân let out a sigh of relief, then headed for the Village Gate. A few more steps from the Gate, there was a courtyard with an old sycamore tree. Under the tree’s shade stood a stone table, currently occupied by shirtless old men drinking tea and playing Tam Cúc for money[1]While the wiki says Tam Cúc is more popular among women, while Tổ Tôm is more popular among men, this is only true back in the feudal era. By the 1990s (when this novel take place), most people … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_614_2_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_614_2_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); Their lively laughter and cheers seemed to drown out the music from the radio nearby.

[image error]A Tam Cúc set

Phượng Ngân waited for them to finish their first game, then tilted her head and said in a sweet and innocent voice:

“Wow, you’re having so much fun. May I join, please?”

The old men laughed out loud. One of them scootched over to make room for her:

“Sure thing, kiddo. Though, if you lose later, don’t say we old people bullied a young outsider[2]Old bullying young: Vietnamese/Chinese idiom, referring to those who use their age and wisdom to take advantage of or bully inexperienced youngsters. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_614_2_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_614_2_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, okay?”

The young girl kept her humble tone:

“Of course not. You can rest assured, I’ll face whatever consequences.”

“Aww, seeing she’s a sweet young girl, how about we take it a bit easy on her, fellas?”

“Then let her be the House and deal cards!”

The old men burst out laughing again, thinking to themselves they were about to make some money. None of them suspected that this had all been Phượng Ngân’s elaborate plan from the moment she saw them playing cards here.

***

“Should I feel bad for cheating like this?”

While dealing cards, she used a few sleights of hand. She was both quick and sneaky, so–of course–none of the old men suspected anything. As such, she kept winning and keeping the right to be the House. After just a few hours, all the men lost everything but the clothes on their bodies.

“That took care of the traveling fees.”

Watching the old men lumping away depressingly, even forgetting to take their radio with them, Phượng Ngân felt a bit guilty. However, no matter how much she thought about it, this had been the only quick way to get close to the locals and get information.

When she mentioned the guy whose entire clan died, one of the old men said in a trembling voice:

“I heard that around that time, his clan was trying to break ground on a piece of Fengshui land in Town A. But before construction was even finished, the entire family died suddenly and tragically. Since then, he became mute, not saying a single word to anyone. He’s a cycling tào phớ[3]A street snack originated from China (Douhua), but was changed to suit Vietnamese tastebud. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_614_2_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_614_2_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); seller these days.”

Currently, Phượng Ngân was reasonably sure the “mute” mentioned in the sixteen-word instruction was most definitely the sole survivor of that clan, the tào phớ seller. What piqued her curiosity was how the tomb builder had been able to predict his lineage’s tragedy, not to mention how the only survivor would become mute to fit into the first sentence.

As she stood up and was about to leave, the radio suddenly started to make weird sounds as if its signals were being interfered with. What’s worth mentioning, however, was that after some games, one of the old men had blamed the music for distracting him–causing him to lose–and unplugged it.

After a while, the sound was warped and came out as a high-pitched laugh:

“You only have one life. Better cherish it!”

Phượng Ngân confidently looked up at the tree crown and sneered:

“Is that threat all you got? How about come down here and see who’s afraid?”

No voice answered her, as the radio had gone utterly silent again.

The young girl brushed off her shirt, turned to leave, and left a sentence behind as she walked away:

“You should take your own advice just now. Better hang on to your life.”

On the road, the falling shadow of the sycamore tree somehow seemed eerily more still.

***

When Phượng Ngân got to the Gate, Điền Quý was already waiting on a xích lô (cyclo[4]In the 1990s-2000s, xích lô was a popular choice of transportation in Vietnam. Since sometime in the late-2000s to early-2010s, the vehicle has been restricted to serving tourists only jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_614_2_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_614_2_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });). Seeing her, he patted the seat next to him, urging her to join him. As she climbed on board, he told her:

“Later, ignore our driver, don’t try to start any conversation. Also, don’t try to talk to the tào phớ seller, either. Otherwise, all our hard works will be for naught.”

As he said this, his face showed a rare seriousness. So, Ngân simply nodded in agreement without asking anything else.

[image error]A Xích lôA Xích lô with two passengers

The two of them pulled out the roof for cover. They didn’t have to wait long before a guy–with messy hair–slowly pushing a bicycle appeared from the nearby turn. Inside the front basket was a kettle, while on the backseat tied a big basket containing a pot of tào phớ and all sorts of miscellaneous things like bowls and spoons. As he walked, every once in a while, he would ring his bike bell to signal his passing.

The town’s folks seemed used to this as occasionally, someone would pop out of their houses and call him to their doorsteps. Each and every time, he would skillfully open the pot, fill their bowls with the white tofu using a large stainless steel spoon, then pour the sugary, grapefruit-flower-scented juice from the front kettle on top and handed the foods to them. For those who brought out their own bowls and spoons, he’d simply move on after he was done. But for those who used the ones he brought with him, he’d kick down the kickstand and wait for them–still as an unplugged robot–to finish.

People must have gotten used to his behavior, Phượng Ngân suspected, as what new customers could eat while he stared at them like that?

A bowl of tào phớA tào phớ seller pushing his bike

Điền Quý and Phượng Ngân’s cyclo gently followed the snack vendor, from big street roads to small alleys. It was pretty fortunate that with all his things, the tào phớ seller couldn’t enter passages too small for the cyclo to follow anyway.

Much like the snacks seller, their driver didn’t make a single sound, either. At times, Phượng Ngân felt like the two of them were playing a game: whoever to open their mouths first would lose.

From dusk until late night, the tào phớ seller was still pushing his bike, and the cyclo was still following closely behind. Waiting all this time and still hadn’t been able to ask the guy anything, Phượng Ngân was getting impatient. Meanwhile, Điền Quý was the exact opposite. It was as if he treated their evening excursion as taking the scenic route to see the town; after a while, he leaned back and slept without a care in the world.

The vendor kept walking until around 1 AM. At which point, he turned onto the riverside road before stopping at a train-track bridge. This area was far from the town center, without any houses or shops, so hardly anyone ever trod here. There was no lighting whatsoever under the bridge, only thick darkness roiling out under the faint moonlight up above.

The sounds of the bike wheels on the road, the old rusty chains moving, and the occasional bell ringing blended into a perfect–if not freakish–symphony. The dark tunnel slowly swallowed the crooked and staggering shadow of the tào phớ seller.

Notes:[+]

Notes:

↑1 While the wiki says Tam Cúc is more popular among women, while Tổ Tôm is more popular among men, this is only true back in the feudal era. By the 1990s (when this novel take place), most people have forgotten the rules for Tổ Tôm due to its complexity, and Tam Cúc became more popular, along side Vietnamese card games using the French deck.

↑2 Old bullying young: Vietnamese/Chinese idiom, referring to those who use their age and wisdom to take advantage of or bully inexperienced youngsters.

↑3 A street snack originated from China (Douhua), but was changed to suit Vietnamese tastebud.

↑4 In the 1990s-2000s, xích lô was a popular choice of transportation in Vietnam. Since sometime in the late-2000s to early-2010s, the vehicle has been restricted to serving tourists only

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Week 12: Ba bị, mẹ mìn, and ngáo ộp – Vietnamese trinity of child kidnapping Bogeymen

This week on #VNmyth, we take a break from the usual folklore and fairytale, to dive into the more urban legends type of myth with the Vietnamese versions of the Bogeyman

Ba bị in a recent depiction

I. The lore:

Every Vietnamese grows up scared shitless of three Bogeyman figures. Whenever a child misbehaves or even takes too long to finish a meal, either ngáo ộp or ba bị would be invoked to “motivate” us to behave; whereas mẹ mìn serves as a warning for children to be wary of strangers who are nice to them.

The scariest part about ba bị and ngáo ộp is the fact they have no concrete descriptions. Parents purposely left that part blank so that children’s imagination would take over and create scarier monsters than they ever could. Meanwhile, mẹ mìn was very real and could literally just be any woman you meet on the street.

Of the three, mẹ mìn, being somewhat based on real kidnappers, do not eat the children they kidnap, only sell them for money. While the other two would actually feast on their prey.

Of the lore that bothered to describe ba bị, he’s a type of humanoid monster who would stalk in the darkness and kidnap children to eat. In some modern depictions of the creature, they were drawn with 12 eyes on the face and carrying 3 sacks, each with 3 handle straps. Another way to visualize these “three sacks”–which is definitely more modern than the rest–is that they are pouches in the creature’s mouth, where they would keep the children to eat later. You know, like those of monkeys. Ngáo ộp, on the other hand, is just a generic colossal monster with a huge mouth filled with sharp teeth.

A possible depiction of ngáo ộp

II. Names meaning and potential origin:

“Mẹ” in “mẹ mìn” means mother, while “mìn” is basically how Vietnamese shortened and changed French’s “Croque Miltaine,” which is what they call their version of the bogeyman–women who kidnap children. However, when Vietnamese children hear “mìn,” they’re more likely to think of “bom mìn” (Vietnamese pronunciation of bombs and mines), I know I did. This, essentially, serves to trigger a flashing danger alarm in our head that says:

Basically, “mẹ mìn” is how Vietnamese parents teach “stranger danger.”

“Ngáo” in “ngáo ộp” refers to a huge man from legend. However, nowadays, “ngáo” primarily means “dumb/stupid” or “high (on drugs).” “Ộp” has no meaning in Vietnamese (other than the sound a frog makes, which would make no sense here), so it’s suspected to be our pronunciation of “Ogre.”

“Ba bị” has two possible meanings. The first one is “three sags,” which is rumored to be the tool that that monster uses to kidnap children. The saying: “ba bị chín quai mười hai con mắt” (three sags, nine handle straps, and twelve eyes) is describing them. The second potential meaning is that it’s our pronunciation of “Barbe-Bleue,” based on some of the similarities in their descriptions, which raised all kinds of red flags and give a whole new meaning to how they supposedly “prey on children.”

III. My comments:

_ Regarding the origin of ba bị, there are at least three hypotheses (not counting the “Barbe-Bleue” one), and the debate is still on.

First: They are active pirates in the Middle – Northern Vietnam during the 17-18th century. They deal in human trafficking and would often kidnap children to sell abroad. They worked in groups of six, carrying three big sags, each with 3 handle straps. So three sags, nine handles, twelve eyes in total.Second: They are beggars during the famine in the 17th century that would even kidnap children to eat/sell as a desperate method to survive.Third: It’s simply a way of counting (12 eyes here could mean stitches in the sags).3.5: It could be about Phạm Đăng Hưng, an officials in the Nguyễn Dynasty. However, no reputable sources support this hypothesis, so I’ll classify it as a 0.5 only.

_ A possible explanation for why “ba bị” sounds and looks similar to Barbe-Bleue is that Vietnamese don’t just assign old names to new concepts; we sometimes borrow words and pronunciation but create or change the lore to better integrate it into our culture.

_ In times when child-kidnapping doesn’t occur too often, “mẹ mìn” has also taken on a new meaning, referring to the women who sweet talk, trick, and otherwise kidnap and force young girls into prostitution.

_ Ba bị makes an appearance in Chapter 6, 7 (and perhaps more) of Book 1 of the Half-Dead Series.

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Chapter V: The Rooftop at Three AM

From what Phượng Ngân was told, up in the mountainous area, there was a type of malevolent spirits called Ma Rừng (lit. Jungle Ghosts), essentially unfortunate souls died tragically in the jungle. Usually, on rainy and windy nights such as this, these spirits would come to people’s houses, pretending to be travelers or acquaintances asking for a sip of water. Anyone who answered their call would fall into the trap. Their souls would get taken away, led deep into the jungle where they’d get lost, and–eventually–starve to death. Of course, these spirits can only harm those with weak po[1]In Asian culture, specifically Chinese and Vietnamese, each living person has three souls and seven spirits, a.k.a. three hun seven po. Some of them can be lured elsewhere using magic. The person … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_581_2_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_581_2_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });; those with strong po are immune to their powers.

What Phượng Ngân found most annoying, however, was that she had deliberately picked an ordinary inn to relax and forget all about this spiritual and demonic mumbo-jumbo for the night, yet they still came to her doorstep anyway. If she didn’t want to avoid making a big deal out of it and potentially affecting the Inn’s business, she would have run out and beat up the damn thing, not simply letting it go with a warning.

As she was about to call it a night, she heard the cry of a newborn. At the same time, her neighbor’s door creaked open heavily.

“Could it be that since that spirit couldn’t harm me, so it turned its attention to someone else?”

If she had simply been annoyed before, Phượng Ngân was now boiling with rage.

She had given it a warning, yet it didn’t know to get the **** away? Well, that just meant it didn’t care who she was now, didn’t it?

Phượng Ngân uncapped the lipstick and turned the latched; what slipped out was no cosmetic, however, but a long blade. With the sound of an unsheathed sword, the lipstick in her hand a second ago was nowhere to be found. In its place was a long sword, about three-finger wide, made of a black metal that was neither iron nor gold[2]Vietnamese/Chinese idiom signifying a material that was strange and precious. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_581_2_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_581_2_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });.

Weapon in hand, Phượng Ngân kicked open the door and jumped out into the hallway.

She saw Điền Quý already sitting outside his room. In front of him was a bowl filled with water with a pair of chopsticks criss-cross on top. He then poured a single drop of the chicken blood he bought in the afternoon into the bowl. Immediately, all the liquid turned red and started to bubble up as if it was boiling. Điền Quý dropped a toothpick into the bowl then. It stood up straight, one end still touching the boiling liquid, the other whirled around in the air as if trying to escape but was kept in place by the chopsticks. The sounds of rainfall on the rooftop suddenly turned into humans’ running footsteps, along with whispering sounds as if someone were chatting quietly.

Seeing the toothpick beginning to push the chopsticks inching toward the edge of the bowl, he blurted out:

“****!?”

“What’s wrong?”

As Điền Quý was too focus on his own magic to notice her, Phượng Ngân approached and asked to remind him she could lend a hand.

“Someone’s giving birth.” His eyes were still glued to the bowl of liquid, but he was frowning like a monkey tasting chili pepper.

“So?”

“So, there’s a pack of Ma Rừng here for the newborn. What else? Hear that pounding rain on the rooftop? That’d be them.”

Without hearing or saying another word, Phượng Ngân jumped onto the railing and swung herself onto the rooftop in one swift movement. In the pouring rain, a few dozens of dark silhouettes could be seen on the roof. Some with long legs, others extended necks, some with hands as big as fans, others heads as small as kumquats. Their shapes kept blowing up then shrinking down; their limbs kept lengthening and shortening. Occasionally, round lumps that looked eerily liked eyes or holes that seemed like mouths would appear on their heads. The spirits were like a pack of dough monsters changing themselves to pass for humans yet had forgotten what humans actually looked like.

Amid the howling night winds, the cries of the pack of Ma Rừng were especially spine chilling.

Phượng Ngân readied her sword and lunged at the nearest spirit, easily sliced it in half. A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the sharp edge of the blade, reflecting a beautiful face with an even sharper gaze.

The Jungle Spirits started to move toward their challenger. With each movement of their hands and feet, a part of their bodies seemed to stick to the rooftop, stretching out into long strands like melted cheese.

Phượng Ngân swung her sword, drawing a crescent splitting the rain curtain. The black blade sliced through the ghosts’ bodies and limbs as if they were butter, severing anything it touched. Only then did the spirits realized what a formidable weapon it was and turned around to run away. Phượng Ngân gritted her teeth and shouted:

“Now you want to run?? Today, I’ll kill you all!”

Under the pouring rain, the young maiden gave chase, her sword a blur of slashing movements. On the rooftop, the demons cried out, their sounds that of pain and fear. Over ten deformed dark shadows were writhing painfully on the roof in almost no time at all.

Then, another bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, revealing a gigantic shadow several stories high–with jungle trees sticking out of its head–standing tall and striding toward the Inn. Seeing that monstrosity, Phượng Ngân turned the hilt over in her hand, thinking:

“Looks like the boss finally decides to show up after all its underlings got beaten up.”

The giant shadow stretched its unnaturally long arm toward Phượng Ngân. Within its palm was a huge bulging red eye full of blood veins. The eye stared at the young girl under the pouring rain warily. Only when the giant shadow reached the Inn did Phượng Ngân get a clear look at its appearance.

It looked like a huge man with a potbelly and skinny limbs like someone suffering from abdominal distension. Two feet protruded from its shoulders. Instead of fingers, it had five tongues each on each hand, surrounding an eye in the middle of its palm. Its face was as smooth as a mirror; aside from a belly button on its forehead, nothing else was there. On its stomach, where the belly button was supposed to be, there was a massive jaw of jagged yellow teeth. Its armpit grew out a few dozens of human ears. If a man could be made in a factory of body parts, then the black shadow in front of Hương Rừng Inn right now was like a deformed product made of all the leftover materials.

The monster stared at Phượng Ngân’s face, roared, then swung its hand with all the tongues up, intending to smash down on the rooftop.

She was planning to dodge and slice off its hand–before it could pull back–when a figure crawled up from the corridor below, positioned himself between them, with arms stretched out:

“Halt!!!”

The person who had just jumped in to prevent a spirit and a human from killing each other was no other than Điền Quý.

***

It was not clear what was said between Điền Quý and the giant Ma Rừng, since the language he used was a squeaking and distorted sound like that of animals. But, after a while, the gigantic shadow turned around and walked back into the jungle with its minions in tow.

On the rooftop of Hương Rừng Inn, there were only two people left.

Phượng Ngân turned her sword back into a lipstick before putting it away:

“If you have something to say to me, wait until we’re indoor and not soaking wet.”

As she watched Điền Quý talked with the giant spirit, she noticed him getting annoyed, so she guessed he was upset about something. However, after self-reflection, Phượng Ngân found no fault in her own actions. Straight trees are never afraid of dying standing[3]Vietnamese idiom/proverb, meaning if you have done thing wrong, you have nothing to be afraid of. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_581_2_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_581_2_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, aren’t they?

Điền Quý didn’t say anything, simply climbed down from the roof in a grumpy manner.

Hương Rừng Inn fell back into silence.

Phượng Ngân returned to her room, fully expected Điền Quý to come over and argue with her, but he never did. After a while, she decided to get some shut eyes.

The next morning…

The two middle-aged men–the two hungry ghosts from the train station–came all the way to Hương Rừng Inn. Điền Quý invited them into his room, then closed the door carefully behind them.

Finding it strange, Phượng Ngân pressed her ear to the wall to eavesdrop on them.

One of the two middle-aged men said:

“You’ve caused a huge problem this time, kid! You know as well as we do Ma Rừng are listed in the Red List and are under the protection of your higher-ups, don’t you? Not to mention, we’re trying to get them to cooperate completely with us. But you ended up being so rude yesterday you might have poured all our hard work down the drain this time!”

“Not just that, yesterday, you also let your underworld soldiers running all over town. That made things even more complicated now. This could blow up big time!”

Điền Quý replied:

“It’s already happened. Talking about it now won’t solve anything, will it?”

The two spirits sighed, one of them said:

“If we’d known this would happen, we would have been harsher at the station. That way, at least you wouldn’t have been implicated by that girl!”

The other one also agreed, patting Điền Quý’s shoulder and nodding:

“They weren’t wrong when saying ‘even heroes could hardly resist the temptation of beauty.’ But you must stay vigilant, Quý! Beauty has a sharp edge like a blade.”

The more she heard, the more flushed Phượng Ngân’s face got. Unable to keep calm any longer, she ran over to Điền Quý’s room, kicked open the door, then said:

“Whatever problem I caused, I’ll bear the consequences. I won’t let Quý take the blame for my actions. But if you dare consider me the type of improper girl who doesn’t dare take responsibility for my own actions, then I simply cannot stand it! Today if you two don’t apologize to me properly, then I won’t waste my breath talking to you.”

Seeing the black sword in her hands, the hungry ghosts panicked. They hastily tried to turn into wisps of smoke to escape through the window, but Phượng Ngân was faster and had already blocked it using the blade. Unable to get out, they turned back into middle-aged men and looked to Điền Quý for help.

He simply yawned and smiled:

“This is your own karma. You two insulted her behind her back and gotten yourselves into this mess; what are you looking at me for?”

The two old men clicked their tongues, apologized to Phượng Ngân profusely before running away without looking back.

After they were gone, Điền Quý finally said:

“While what they said were a bit too much, the disaster you invoked yesterday was no small one.”

Notes:[+]

Notes:

↑1 In Asian culture, specifically Chinese and Vietnamese, each living person has three souls and seven spirits, a.k.a. three hun seven po. Some of them can be lured elsewhere using magic. The person would still be able to continue living, just sickly as a result. Other theories sometimes say men have seven po while women have nine. Look into: “three hun seven/nine po” for more details.

↑2 Vietnamese/Chinese idiom signifying a material that was strange and precious.

↑3 Vietnamese idiom/proverb, meaning if you have done thing wrong, you have nothing to be afraid of.

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The post Chapter V: The Rooftop at Three AM first appeared on Cổ Thuyết.