Chapter 15 Yama

The White reaper twitched her mouth and explained hurriedly: "Nah, nah, nah, relax, and don’t make fun of me; how dare I reap your precious life, my lady." I looked back to check on the other villagers; granduncle and grandma sat on the ground cross-legged with granduncle holding a yellow paper with magic figure drawn on it and his mouth mumbling somethings; the other villagers huddled together and extremely frightened. "Why are you here, White reaper?!" Granduncle stopped his incantation and asked, holding a piece of paper between his index finger and middle finger. The white reaper gave out a high-pitched laugh. "Heh heh heh...These ghosts are not brought by me and my brother. We are here under the orders of Yama, the King of Hell. Besides, there are ghosts here for us to reap." I looked to the demon on the other side; he was somewhat overwhelmed in the fight; three woman ghosts seemed not that easy to deal with; and among them thrust the Black reaper. A toddler in his bellyband maybe at his two or less stood watching them, his hand clapping excitedly at the intense fight scene. What the hell... I can't help swearing in my heart, it was god damn weird... Granduncle gazed at the White reaper standing beside us nervously, his hand trembling: “You...there are ghosts over there waiting for you to reap, why are you sticking here with us!" White reaper sneered: "Master Third, those ghosts were too fierce and tough for me to deal with, Yama has to do it himself; just take care of yourself and get out of our way if you wanna live." Suddenly, a strange yet a bit familiar chanting sounded from nowhere, "The king of the underworld travel, the livings shut eyes, the ghosts keep clear the route!" White reaper said playfully: "Master Third, close your eyes, if you don’t wanna die." Granduncle called out to everyone loudly: "everyone shut your eyes! Yama is not for us to see!" I was completely caught up by that strange voice as it sounded so familiar to me . Just like what I heard four years ago! It brought me back to that night, that horrifying wedding night...I found it hard to comprehend what it was expressing; the demon, my ‘husband’, was not the King of Hell, but why it said “Empty mountains after fresh rain, the king of underworld weds new wife.” If what the voice told was right, the one I wedded to should be the King of the Underworld? Was demon the King of Underworld? Why the King of Underworld had to put up such a big fight with a few ghosts? My eyes have been fixed at demon, with my mood a bit complicated; out of nowhere flew a palanquin carried by four ghosts dressed in white? Within it, I could saw vaguely through the veil curtain a man sitting square. Was he the King of Underworld? Demon, on the other hand, turned into a trace of redness and was absorbed into the palanquin! What was going on? My heart throbbed. The woman ghosts who had been fighting with demon started panicking and wanted to flee, but seemed to be blocked by an invisible dome instantly. The toddler in red bellyband hid himself behind a woman and seemed to be very scared. Black and White reapers went up to greeted the palanquin with a bow. “Your Majesty!” Unable to think properly, I shouted to the palanquin floating in the air: "Where have you taken the demon?! I saw him being absorbed in!" Demon was, after all, a ghost; was he reaped by this so-called Yama, King of Hell as well? The palanquin sank slowly to the ground, and the four bearers were women in white, all veiled and unable to see their face. Soon the green veil curtain was pulled back by one of the four and walked out from behind it that all too familiar devil mask. It was him! Everything was blowing my mind. So that singing of ‘the king of underworld weds new wife’ was telling the truth. Demon was the ‘underworld king’ and I was the ‘new wife’; and just as what White and Black reapers mentioned in their talk, demon was a split-self the him and now, presented in front of us was his full self, Yama, the King of Hell. And I was the human girl they talked about. I could not find a better explanation. They dressed in the same clothes, wore the same masks; and the white jade pendant was exactly that of demon with a dragon curved on it. Demon’s fight with those evil spirits was hard because he was simply a split self. I suddenly felt amused by my earlier worries for him; but looking at the Yama walking towards me step by step, I subconsciously stepped back: "Granduncle...Grandma...What should I do......" Granduncle said: "Rae, it is beyond my power...I have also heard that chanting four years ago, you have married the king of underworld, Yama; you are his..." Probably, granduncle’s suspicion was, also, just being confirmed by now. I was in an emotional turmoil; demon was not just an ordinary ghost or my ‘husband’ but Yama, the King of Underworld, King of Hell; was he still the one who had escorted me along the way, what should I do... As if noticing my worries, White reapers beamed a warm smile at me: "Your majesty, don’t be afraid, Yama is here for you." Demon, or more precisely Yama, suddenly raised his hand to hold the mask, slowly took it off ... I put my hands over my eyes and couldn't look at him at all. I should have closed my eyes and be an ostrich. Now I was screwed.. "Hum, who kept calling me ‘demon’ before? What now? Are you so afraid of me?" The voice was suddenly near so close to my ears as he must have blinked to me. I did not dare to speak, but stepped back. A hand took my waist, making my body twitch. "I...I didn’t mean to offend you...I am still too young, I'm only eighteen, don't kill me..." I suddenly missed my parents as if I would not be able to see them again, as if today is my last day on earth. They stayed at home to help out in the house and did not come along to look for the body of my grandpa. "Didn't you wonder what I looked like? Don't you wanna take a look?" He said. I shook my head violently. "No, I'm not curious at all..." He let go of me: "all right, your choice, I am gonna take care of those defiant and lawless ghosts first; you stay here, and don't even move." I nodded hurriedly, not daring to exhale. I didn’t know what happened next; not earlier than fight quieted down again and granduncle patted me on the shoulder dared I put down my hands and open my eyes. They were all gone in such a short time, leaving no trace behind--the Yama, Black and White reapers, palanquin and its carriers; everything was back to normal and the insects started chirping again, as if nothing had happened before. If it weren't for the fact that the bodies of the people who had been killed by those evil spirits were still there, I wouldn't have believed this had happened. Without saying another word, the grandmother beckoned the people to carry the dead bodies back to the village. I was silent and muddleheaded all the way; granduncle walking side by side with me said suddenly: "Tomorrow morning, we will go retrieving your grandpa’s body in the hill behind our house; without Yama’s heads-up, we may never find him."