Seven Days, Seven Nights

Su Er felt that there was something hidden in Ji Heng’s words, but time was limited. He didn’t ask further and continued to focus on the important points: “The red paper attracts ghosts, so the three of us can’t stay together for too long.”

Ji Heng took the red paper out of his pocket and sneered. “The Ghost King is excellent at calculating.”

Su Er hesitated for a moment: “Is the Ghost King… really powerful?”

While Ji Heng had his head bowed studying the red paper in his hand, Wan Yi replied: “Regardless of strength, the IQ of the ghost king is higher than average ghosts.”

Su Er frowned: “Soldiers against soldiers and generals against generals are well-matched opponents. It’s too much to hit me, a shrimp.” (1)

Wan Yi laughed and said, “In the world of those things, they will only pick on soft persimmons.”

Su Er stressed: “I’m not soft.”

“…”

Taking advantage of Wan Yi’s temporary speechlessness, Su Er whispered to Ji Heng: “If you put the paper in that box, can you stop the ghosts from being drawn to us?”

The ghost bone flower stopped blooming once he put it back in the box, so clearly the box wasn’t ordinary. However, there was the Ghost King in the front and the Host in the back. He dared not to make such a dangerous attempt.

Ji Heng thought for a moment: “You can try it.”

Each of the three kept only one piece of red paper, and the rest were all placed in the box. When Wan Yi saw the ghost bone flower, his eyes were full of envy. (2)

The three of them stood at the entrance to the ancestral hall. In case the ghosts gathered there, they could run away as soon as possible. When Su Er first arrived, there were still a few crows making noise on the tree by the door. Now everything was silent, and the wait felt particularly tormenting. At that moment, anyone speaking up would have made the atmosphere slightly more comfortable.

Wan Yi didn’t like to talk nonsense, and Ji Heng had nothing to say. S Er thought for a minute and took the lead in breaking the silence: “How do you think ghosts distinguish people?” (3)

Wan Yi shook his head. What kind of problem was this?

However, Su Er was serious: “If they relied on their eyes, what should they do if twins come into the game? Besides, some makeup techniques can make people look similar as well.”

“…”

Su Er: “If Person A violates the rule, Person B dresses up as Person A. Person B secretly swaps rooms with Person A, and then during the night, ghosts kill Person B by accident. Isn’t this a major work mistake?” (4)

“…”

Wan Yi had never thought about this before. Every player who entered the games only thought about how to clear without breaking the rules. Who would discuss how ghosts could find people?

With no way to respond, he couldn’t help but tilt his head to look at Ji Heng. The latter calmly said, “Perhaps each person’s magnetic field is different, and ghosts use that to distinguish.”

Time passed as the brief conversation ended. Wan Yi eased slightly as no ghosts showed up. It seemed that it was quite possible to pass through the night. (5)

They didn’t know how long they’d been standing there before they could make out the faint outline of the sun on the horizon. “Go to the graveyard,” Ji Heng said. (6)

The light gave them a sense of security. When their surroundings gradually became clear to see, Su Er let out a sigh of relief. To be a hair’s breadth away from danger were often the luckiest words a player could say. Unfortunately, this delicate sense of alleviation disappeared when they reached the graveyard. (7)

Shen Jiangbei and Wen Buyu had arrived at the entrance before them, but they didn’t go in.

Ji Heng walked over and went straight to the point: “Everyone but one will keep one piece of red paper. The rest will be given to the remaining person.” (8)

He made it seem that they had a choice, but in reality, they didn’t. Wen Buyu had lost a few when she encountered a ghost before, so Ji Heng currently held the largest number. As for the ones hidden in Mr. Shuhai’s room by Su Er… unless they were tired of living, it was too big of a risk to retrieve them.

“To whom?” Shen Jiangbei asked after a pause.

Ji Heng looked at Su Er: “If you can become the Chief Guard, you’ll be at a significant advantage when awarded points. However, correspondingly, you will also face the greatest risks until the game is cleared.” (9)

Su Er nodded without hesitation: “I’ll do it.”

He’d already wasted half the ghost bone flower. If he only got a few points after clearing the game, it’d be unbearable.

“Then you’ll be responsible for it.”

From beginning to end, Ji Heng didn’t seek the other’s opinions, but his gaze swept over them lightly.

Under the silent confrontation, Shen Jiangbei looked at Wan Yi, who was still hesitating, and ordered as captain: “Give it to him.”

Unless they could snatch all the red paper from Ji Heng, it was useless to insist on keeping their existing share.

A few minutes later, Su Er appeared in front of Zhou Linjun’s grave with a small stack of red paper.

There was a crack along the side of the coffin, and a voice echoed from within as if resentful it couldn’t achieve its purpose of killing.

Su Er: “It’s time to fulfill your promise.”

Silence befell the entire graveyard before the fallen leaves rustled and were blown into the air, followed by a violent wind, which made people’s skin crawl.

“Alright—” When the gale slowly subsided, the existence in the coffin spoke again: “The next Chief Guard is you, but… you have to survive until that time.”

Su Er was stunned and frowned. There were still three days left before the election began, which meant ghosts would attack him every night. While he was still deep in thought, the weight of the paper in his hand became heavier, and the shade had approached a dark crimson. (10)

Ji Heng said in a low voice: “Get out of here first.”

As he walked away, Su Er looked back at the tombstone, his thoughts hidden in the depths of his eyes. (11)

As the group walked down the road, Wen Buyu couldn’t help feeling a little schadenfreude, but soon her face fell. If ghosts chased him for three nights, his chances of survival were slim. It seemed that Li Shouzhang had a greater chance of winning. However, Ji Heng was here, so everything was still unknown. (12)

Su Er and Ji Heng separated from the group first. (13)

Wan Yi stared at the backs of the two and pondered: “How do we choose?”

The voting and announcements of the results did not happen immediately after the other. There was still a half-day interval between the two. They were afraid that something unexpected could happen to the candidates during that half-day.

Shen Jiangbei glanced at him but didn’t respond. Instead, he turned to Wen Buyu: “Go to Li Shouzhang and make sure he continues to administer the medicine to eliminate any other variable.” (14)

Wen Buyu nodded.

Regardless, the three brothers of the Li family must die, so they only had to choose between Su Er and Li Shouzhang.

Wan Yi said: “I’ll go around the streets and keep note if any other strong candidates appear.”

.

In the dark alley, the air was stagnant and smelled gloomy and damp.

Su Er leaned against the wall to rest, staring at the red paper in his palm: “It may not be safe to keep it in the box.”

Ji Heng nodded: “Their yin (ghost) energy is denser, at least several times stronger than yesterday.”

In other words, once night arrived, Su Er would be a moving target.

Su Er seemed to have his own plan: “I want to find out more about Zhou Linjun first.”

Ji Heng didn’t stop him.

Of course, before that, Su Er did not forget to write his experience full of insight first to fulfill his previous promises. Later, he used this as an excuse to visit the Chief Guard’s house. (15)

“Not bad.” The Chief Guard was quite satisfied with the extremely exaggerated (T/N: full of bullshit) text.

“Let me tell you, I went to the gravesite yesterday with a lot of emotion. The people in the village are still too kind to bury them.”

The Chief Guard looked disgusted: “It indeed disgusts me to the bone.”

Su Er lowered his eyes and suddenly asked: “Have you heard of Zhou Linjun?”

The expression in the Chief Guard’s eyes swiftly changed: “Why do you ask?”

“To take it as a warning.” Su Er said calmly: “The offenses on the other tombstones are highly detailed, but he only had the word ‘theft.’”

Seeing that the man meant to refuse to answer, Su Er continued to butter him up: “As the chief guard, I’m sure you’re the most familiar with these things.” (16)

The Chief guard looked at him and finally sighed: “Zhou Linjun used to be the Chief Guard.”

Su Er feigned surprise and exchanged a look with Ji Heng, who asked: “Why have we never heard of him?”

“He was only the Chief Guard for three days,” The Chief Guard said slowly: “It was found that he stole someone else’s votes… It happened more than a decade ago. After the incident, Zhou Linjun was sliced in half in the ancestral hall as punishment.”

Su Er: “Does he still have living family members?”

Next to him, Ji Heng glanced at him. The question was unexpected.

The Chief Guard nodded: “His mother is already very old, and now lives on the edge of the town. She’s a little crazy.”

Su Er whispered, “It’s inevitable to be sad when white-haired people have to send black-haired people.” (17)

The Chief Guard smiled sarcastically: “It was her who reported Zhou Linjun.”

Su Er was startled.

The Chief Guard: “The one who lost the election that year was a man she fell in love with back when she was young, so the old lady favored him.” (18)

There were few age restrictions for running for Chief Guard. As long as they were over 20 but younger than 70, anyone could run.

In this crazy place where the rules were everywhere, Su Er was constantly refreshing his three views (T/N: on life) repeatedly. (19) When they left the Chief Guard’s house, it was just in time for a meal. Ji Heng said, “What do you want to eat?”

Su Er hadn’t spoken yet when he glimpsed a familiar figure on the corner of the street. Wen Buyu looked awkward, and she walked over to show that she wasn’t eavesdropping.

“Shen Jiangbei and Wan Yi haven’t decided yet, but I will vote for you in front of Ji Heng,” Wen Buyu promised Su Er.

She was an opportunist. If she chose to gamble, maybe she could win Ji Heng’s favor. However, the other party didn’t seem to care.

The corners of Wen Buyu’s lips twitched in embarrassment. She changed the topic and asked, “Have you thought of how to deal with tonight?”

Su Er nodded.

Ji Heng made a rare joke: “Go to the host’s room?”

Su Er shook his head. That was not a good place to go: “What’s important is that Zhou Linjun has a strong obsession with the rules, even after becoming a ghost.”

The townsfolk were forced to die, and they would only think of ways to continue cruelly oppressing later generations with stricter rules. Ironically, it was because of this that ghosts had not annihilated the village. (20)

Thinking of this, Su Er’s eyes twinkled: “Remember what was carved into Zhou Linjun’s tombstone?”

Wen Buyu: “Theft?”

“There was an even more important piece of information…” Su Er raised his head and said word by word, “The birth date eight characters.” (21)

Every gravestone in the mass grave was engraved with the birthdate and the crimes committed before death.

The more Wen Buyu listened, the more confused she became.

Su Er: “I’m going to marry Zhou Linjun.”

“…”

Pretending not to see the expressions on the other two, Su Er told his plan: “We find Zhou Linjun’s mother, and then find someone to act as a matchmaker. With first the order of the parent and then the words of the matchmaker, if he kills me, he’d be guilty of breaking the rules.”

Wen Buyu’s face turned pale in fright: “… Will that ghost agree to marry you?”

Su Er was cold: “Have you ever seen it necessary to ask for the opinion of a dead person when getting married?” After a pause, he said to Ji Heng: “I know little about the proceedings of ghost weddings. Since you have a wide range of knowledge, it’d be safer if you presided over the wedding ceremony.”

The author has something to say:

Ji Heng: I always feel that something is wrong.

 

FOOTNOTES

Su Er is saying he and the Ghost King are nowhere near equivalent when it comes to strength, so he shouldn’t be picking on Su Er to begin with lol最后一人身上只保留了三张红纸 – “Only three pieces of red paper remained on the last person”Wan Yi doesn’t like to talk nonsense during tense situations/situations that require alertness or caution.“Person” was added in by me. In the raws, the hypothetical people was simply called “A” and “B”“As no ghosts showed up” was added by me. “短短几句交谈” – “After just a few words of conversation.”远处的天空 – “The distant sky;” changed this to “horizon”有惊无险 – be more scared than hurt; threatening but not dangerous; near misses (with danger) – I turned it into “a hair’s breadth away from danger.” It means avoiding danger by a very small or thin margin (I think it basically means the same thing…)“Everyone will keep one piece of red paper, and the rest will be given to a single person”结算 – settle accounts; replaced with “awarded (by system at end of game)”The red paper changed to a darker shade of red, more close to the color of blood眼底 – the bottoms of eyes; fundus; viewSchadenfreude – feeling joy in the misery of others (of course she would)Raws: “Instead of continuing to stay together, Su Er and Ji Heng left first.”“Instead, he turned to Wen Buyu” was added by me for clarityIn chapter 15, Su Er promised to write about his experience on visiting the forsaken graveyard.“苏尔先一顶高帽扣了上去” – “Su Er first buttoned up a high hat.” I’m not sure what this is referring to, but based on context he is basically buttering up to the chief guard (a.k.a flattering him into being in a better mood to reveal more information)When old people have to send young people off to the afterlife before themselves.When Zhou Linjun’s mother was young (perhaps before she had Zhou Linjun), she fell in love with a man. Years later, when that man was much older, he ran for the position of chief guard but lost to Zhou Linjun.三观 – The three views; worldviews; philosophy on life; fundamental values of a person. This phrase usually stands for 世界观 (the view on the world)，人生观 (the view on life), and 价值观 (view on how you value things).Because the townsfolk were so obsessed with maintaining the rules, the ghosts’ main obsession also became to continue maintaining the rules, not getting revenge against the people who sentenced them to death. Therefore, they did not seek out to mindlessly kill all the people in the town, but instead act as a slowly tightening noose around the necks of the people living in the town. 被迫 – be forced. 迫害 – persecute, oppress cruelly Mentioned before in Chapter 15’s Footnote 19: “Eight characters” refers to a person’s birth date given based on the Ganzhi calendar. The Ganzhi calender, also known as the sexagenary cycle or “Stems-and-Branches.” The eight characters have been used by Chinese Taoists and astrologers since ancient times to calculate a person’s future/destiny/fortune. It is also used in determining the marriage compatibility between two people.