Today, I'm going to talk about a very legendary person, a legendary old beauty. I don't mean any disrespect to women by calling her an old beauty; it's not an exaggeration.
I'm actually a bit at a loss about how to tell this story, as it's quite fantastical.
This story has been around for some years. At that time, I went to that place to take care of a small matter. After finishing it, my senior fellow apprentice mentioned that there was a corpse retriever nearby and suggested we go and collect some stories from him.
Of course, it's always good to hear stories. The old man had long since retired, and with the advent of modern technology, traditional corpse retrieval was no longer needed. He did tell me quite a few stories, but unfortunately, most of them had been told before, like the ones about the Yellow River's Iron-Headed Dragon King, the Yellow River's water soldiers, and the like. They were entertaining to listen to, but I couldn't write about them without risking plagiarism.
So, I asked the old man if he had any more explosive stories, as these ones had already been written about by many people. After pondering for a moment, he asked what I did for a living. I told him I was a new era storyteller, and quickly added that I was also a "divine rod" enthusiast who liked to write stories. The old man looked at my senior fellow apprentice, who nodded, and then he got up and said he would take me to meet someone really explosive.
On the way, I asked the old man who this explosive person was and why we needed to know their identity before meeting them. He said the person we were going to meet was somewhat special, and people outside our circle might not understand. Moreover, the restaurant this person ran only served people within the circle.
I was amused at the time, wondering what kind of miraculous elixir they were serving that was only available to insiders. The old man shook his head and explained that the restaurant was actually a place for insiders to exchange information, so it was not open to the public. I understood then; many places have such establishments, usually with a membership system that requires an introduction from someone within the circle.
Of course, there are exclusive clubs for various circles, not just those related to metaphysics. These places are magical; as long as you have enough money, you can buy any information, especially in places like Hong Kong, where it's said that almost nothing can't be settled with enough money.
The location of these exclusive clubs varies from circle to circle. For example, our circle's club might be in a luxury hotel in the bustling city center or in a secluded urban village. I've been to a club that was located in a valley, and it took over two hours to walk there—it was quite extreme.
The old man took me to a suburban village, which was somewhat shabby, just a large factory building with a tin roof. I doubted whether anyone would actually come to such a place.
Inside, as I expected, there was no one around, just a few tables placed haphazardly in the empty factory, with menus on them that looked clean. The old man seemed very excited from the moment we entered the factory.
It wasn't until the owner came out that I understood why he was so excited. She was truly a remarkable woman, with a classical beauty reminiscent of Lin Daiyu, with delicate eyebrows and affectionate eyes, and a stunning face.
She wore high heels and had delicate hands with slender fingers. Her beauty was so captivating that it could make geese fall from the sky. She wore a cheongsam that accentuated her curves, and those who knew what to look for could tell at a glance that her arms were not ordinary, with muscles that were clearly visible, suggesting tremendous explosive power.
At that moment, all I could think of was the phrase, "There is a beautiful woman in the north, peerless and independent."
When the owner saw us, she chuckled and said, "Oh my, you've melted my heart," and patted my head. "What are you staring at? Can't take your eyes off, huh? What do you want to eat?"
We finally snapped out of our trance, and the corpse retriever simply ordered a few dishes. The owner went back to prepare them, and I couldn't help but marvel at her appearance and figure, deciding that I had to have a drink that day, regardless of how good her cooking was.
The corpse retriever laughed and said, "Miss? Haha, miss, you probably should call her grandma by age."
I was confused because the owner looked no more than twenty-something, and it was hard to say who was older between us. But calling her grandma was just nonsense.
Seeing my disbelief, the old man took a sip of tea and said, "Really, she's over eighty, about the same age as me. We're from the same village, and she got her fortune from an incident back then, which is why she looks so young."
I was uninterested, thinking it was just another clichéd story about saving something and gaining magical powers or something similar.
The old man didn't pay attention to my skepticism and continued, "Speaking of which, this happened decades ago when we were young. At that time, she was also a corpse retriever. Our profession is generally passed down through generations, and traditionally, only males inherit it. Since she was the only girl in her family, they passed the skill to her.
"She was probably the only female corpse retriever in our area for hundreds of years. Corpse retrievers are constantly exposed to corpses, which carry a lot of yin and corpse energy, and corpses, especially underwater, are very heavy. Before her, no woman had ever done this job.
"Third Sister was naturally strong; even most men couldn't match her strength. You know, from ancient times to now, nicknames with 'three' in them are never insignificant, like Hua Mulan, right?
"Third Sister was famous in our area, and so were her father and grandfather, who were all very skilled corpse retrievers. They completely ignored our rules; there was no corpse she wouldn't retrieve. Except for the usual taboos like not retrieving bodies standing upright in water, not during thunderstorms at night, and not retrieving a body after three failed attempts.
"She would retrieve any body, regardless of the time or type, and even the most evil corpses became docile in her hands. And Third Sister never had any problems, no so-called supernatural incidents.
"Third Sister had many legendary stories. She became famous because there was a young man among us who was the top performer before her and was somewhat jealous of her. He challenged Third Sister to a diving contest to see who could hold their breath longer. She almost killed him, staying underwater for about an hour, which was when he finally conceded.
"However, the young man had ill intentions and spread rumors that Third Sister could retrieve corpses because she was too yin, and only someone with more yin than a corpse wouldn't be afraid of it, implying she would bring bad luck to her husband. This indirectly led to Third Sister remaining unmarried for life.
"The second big incident involving Third Sister was quite supernatural. There was a place in our area where people kept dying at an alarming rate, almost one a day, and each body had a black handprint on the ankle after being retrieved.
"We knew about water ghosts grabbing substitutes, but we'd never heard of anything so evil happening every day. Eventually, no one dared to go there, not even near the river. One day, an outsider fell in, and his family came to us wanting to retrieve the body, but no one dared to take the job. In the end, they offered a huge sum of money, and as the saying goes, 'No treasure is too great for a brave man.'
"The brave man wasn't Third Sister but the young man who had challenged her. He went to the area quickly and found the body, diving down and soon emerging with the outsider's body.
"Just as they were pulling the body onto the boat, a hand suddenly reached out from underwater, grabbed the body, and pulled it back down with tremendous force, almost capsizing the boat. Fortunately, there were enough people to stabilize it.
"The young man thought it was another colleague trying to poach the job because of the money. After stabilizing the boat, he dived again and pulled up the body, which was much heavier than before.
"When they finally got the body onto the boat, they found that the hand on the leg was still there. They bravely pulled upwards, and a woman in a red wedding dress emerged from the water. She was pregnant, her eyes were blood-red, and she had long fangs.
"Everyone was terrified; the corpse combined most taboos. The young man tried to pry off the woman's hand, which wasn't holding on too tightly, and they quickly rowed to shore.
"The whole group came down with a high fever that night and didn't recover for seven or eight days.
"After this incident, no one dared to go to that place anymore, but it was a crucial crossing for our village, and many people who weren't good swimmers crossed the river there.
"The village chief gathered us corpse retrievers to discuss who would retrieve the body. Obviously, the female corpse had become a zombie, and although we'd never heard of zombies in water, we had all seen the fangs, and so many people had died. What's more, the female corpse seemed to be moving.
"In the end, Third Sister volunteered, and the village chief, through a mix of threats and incentives, gathered some helpers and used the village's largest boat.
"After bringing the body ashore, no one dared to touch it, so Third Sister carried the body herself and placed it in a prepared coffin. Only then did the villagers dare to find a place to bury it, choosing an area near Third Sister's home because no one else wanted to bury it in their land for fear of trouble.
"Originally, they planned to throw it into a disused graveyard, but Third Sister felt sorry for the woman and buried her in her own land, erecting a tombstone for her.
"To be honest, we didn't know if we were overthinking it, but nothing strange happened after the burial. Later, Third Sister disappeared for a few days, and as time passed and she didn't seem to age, people thought that perhaps the female corpse had repaid her kindness with some fortune, granting her eternal youth.
"We have legends about 'corpse immortals' here. They're different from zombies; it's said that their bodies don't decay, they grow fangs, and it's a state of cultivation. Everyone speculated that the female corpse might have been a corpse immortal.
"The corpse retriever was envious as he told this story, and just as I was about to ask a question, Third Sister came out with two plates of food, saying, "There was indeed a fortune, but it wasn't from a corpse immortal. You're all just making excuses for being cowards."
I asked Third Sister what happened during those days she disappeared. After putting down the food, she didn't speak and went back to the kitchen. The old man took the opportunity to whisper, "It must have been a corpse immortal; otherwise, why wouldn't she talk about it for so many years? She's just being stingy."
Before the old man could continue, Third Sister, who had somehow appeared behind him, slapped him on the head, causing him to wince in pain.
Third Sister simply pulled up a chair, poured herself a cup of tea, and said, "Look, it's not that I don't want to talk about it; I just think you won't believe me."
A few days after the female corpse was buried, I got up early one morning to collect vegetables and heard a baby crying. Following the sound, I found that it was coming from the female corpse's grave.
I went home to get a shovel and dug it up. Believe it or not, there was a little boy in the coffin, held in the arms of the female corpse, whose belly had deflated. I pondered for a while and decided to take the child out.
At first, the female corpse wouldn't let go, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't pry her off. So I told the female corpse that if she didn't give me the child, he would die in the coffin, but if she gave him to me, he would have a chance to live. Whether she understood me or not, she eventually let go, and her eyes, which had been wide open, closed. It was amazing.
Not long after I took the child home, an old Taoist priest arrived at my door. His hair was white, but he looked quite young, about twenty-something, though he said he was eighty-nine. He came to my house looking for his disciple, and when my father said there was no disciple here, the old Taoist priest pushed open the door to my room without a word.
I was holding the child and feeding him rice porridge when he scared me. Before I could react, he grabbed the child and ran off. I didn't think much of it and chased after him. He ran incredibly fast, but thanks to growing up in the mountains, I managed to keep up.
He led me deep into the woods along the mountain path, and then suddenly disappeared right before my eyes. I ran forward, but ended up back at the temple gate. No matter how I tried to walk, I always ended up back at that gate. It was as if I took a step and suddenly appeared at the temple gate.
I gave up and stayed at the temple for a few days. To be honest, the conditions were quite ordinary, despite the impressive appearance. The furniture inside was quite simple. They made me bathe in a sticky liquid every day that smelled of Chinese medicine, but they wouldn't tell me what it was.
Later, they sent me back down the mountain. I thought it was better since it wasn't convenient for a single woman my age to be taking care of a child. I tried to find that Taoist temple again, but I couldn't locate it; it was just an ordinary hilltop, no matter how hard I looked.
After that, I've always maintained the appearance of a twenty-something, but that's just how I look. My body isn't what it used to be; my hair is dyed, and I have high blood pressure and cholesterol. Compared to normal elderly people, I just look younger.
Thinking about it now, I find it incredible, like it was all a dream.
After Third Sister finished speaking and took a sip of tea, she didn't say anything more. I found her story quite believable, except for the part about a dead woman giving birth. I had indeed heard of this kind of youth-preserving technique from the Daoist medical tradition, which is a physical method of maintaining youth. It's rare to find a school that still practices it, let alone one that lasts so long.
I asked her why she didn't care about those taboos and if she had encountered any other unexplainable incidents besides the female corpse. Third Sister shook her head and said, "After living so many years, I've only encountered this kind of thing once. The rest are just stories I've heard from you people. As for why my family doesn't care about those taboos, it might have something to do with this," she said, taking out a pendant from her collar.
It was a bead that looked like an opaque piece of glass, and seeing it gave me chills. Wow, it was a thumb-sized centipede bead.
I had only heard of such large centipede beads but had never seen one. I muttered to myself, "Such a large centipede bead, what a treasure!"
Third Sister nodded when she heard me say this, confirming that it was indeed a centipede bead. Similar to a Buddha's tooth, it's said that only centipedes that have cultivated for hundreds of years will have them. These beads are truly priceless and hard to obtain. Of course, there are different theories about the effects of centipede beads.
This bead is not some mythical inner elixir but a tangible object, usually found in the head of a centipede. It's said that some centipedes, after cultivating to a certain level, will have one in every leg, totaling exactly 108 beads, which is quite interesting. Moreover, the shape of these beads can change, switching between round, square, and polygonal shapes.
As for how she got this centipede bead, that's another story for another day. Let's end today's story here, and I'll see you next time.