On this day, Jiang Xiaosi was alone in the shop. Rarely getting a chance to relax, she decided to sit behind the counter and work on her ceramic figurines. Over the past two years, in her spare time, she had crafted an entire set: miniature tables, chairs, teapots, screens, and little ceramic figures of her dad, Shen Mo, Shen Koudan, Xiao Tang, and others. They were all adorably detailed. Li Yueyi loved them so much that she constantly pestered Jiang Xiaosi to make more and even joked that once she had kids, she wanted Xiaosi to make a pair of ceramic baby figurines based on them.
Suddenly, the wind chimes jingled, signaling a customer’s arrival. Jiang Xiaosi wiped her hands clean and saw a woman walk in. She was dressed in purple, appeared to be in her thirties, and had long hair. She wasn’t a regular, and by the way she looked around curiously, it was clear this was her first time here. Though she wasn’t conventionally pretty, she had a calming presence—except for her overly pale complexion.
This wasn’t someone who would be here to buy adult products, and it was clear she was a zombie.
“How can I help you?” Jiang Xiaosi asked with a professional smile.
“I heard you sell Tuogu Xiang here. I’d like to buy some.”
Jiang Xiaosi’s smile froze. Narrowing her eyes, she scrutinized the woman more carefully.
“What’s wrong? Are you out of stock?” the woman asked when Jiang Xiaosi didn’t respond.
“May I ask your name, sister?”
“My surname is Su—Su Bi.”
“Who told you about this place?”
“No one specifically. I just overheard that I could buy Tuogu Xiang here. If you’re out, I can wait.”
“Are you aware of what Tuogu Xiang is used for?”
Su Bi nodded. “It can turn zombies back into normal people.”
Jiang Xiaosi shook her head. “Many people misunderstand its purpose. In fact, Tuogu Xiang is a medicine specifically for treating people who were accidentally bitten by zombies or vampires. These people are still human but have been poisoned and their bodies have undergone abnormal changes. If they don’t want to remain stuck in a state of being neither fully alive nor dead, they can use Tuogu Xiang to return to normal. But if someone has already died and become a zombie, Tuogu Xiang won’t work. There may be pills for immortality, but there’s no cure for death. Even if it does succeed, the price you pay will be enormous.”
“You mean even if I take Tuogu Xiang, I can’t become a regular person again?” Su Bi’s face grew even paler, and she gripped the edge of the counter tightly.
Jiang Xiaosi had faced situations like this many times before. She could only look into the woman’s eyes and say, word by word, “Su Bi, you are already dead.”
Su Bi’s thin shoulders trembled as if she was struggling to hold back tears. After a moment of silence, she suddenly grabbed Jiang Xiaosi’s hand.
“But there have been successes, right?”
“Yes, but the chances are very slim.”
“Then I want to try! I’m already dead—what’s the worst that could happen? I’d just die again.”
“It’s not just about dying again; it’s about your soul being utterly destroyed!”
“What meaning does my existence have now? I want to be with him again. I’d rather have nothing left of me than live on as a monster!”
Jiang Xiaosi was stunned, swallowing hard. She couldn’t help but think of Shen Mo.
“It wouldn’t be better just to stay with him like this? If he truly loves you, he’ll be happy you’re still alive, and he won’t care about all the other details.”
Su Bi shook her head. “You’re just a child; you don’t understand. He does love me, but seeing me like this would only make him fear and hate me. I want to marry him and grow old together. My greatest wish is to have a child that belongs to the two of us.”
Su Bi looked at Jiang Xiaosi with pleading eyes. “So please, sell me the Tuogu Xiang. No matter the consequences, I can bear them.”
Jiang Xiaosi felt an intense irritation growing inside her, and for some reason, her thoughts kept drifting back to Shen Mo.
“It’s not that I don’t want to sell it to you. As a businesswoman, I’m always happy to make a sale. But have you heard of the fairy tale The Little Mermaid? The little mermaid traded her beautiful voice for legs from the sea witch, and if she didn’t win the love of her prince, she would turn into sea foam. Taking Tuogu Xiang to become human again might come with an even greater cost. Have you really thought this through?”
Su Bi nodded firmly. “We’re getting married soon. The company sent me on a sudden business trip, and on the way, I was attacked by robbers, killed, and dumped in the desert. Somehow, I transformed into a zombie and came back to life. When I returned to Taoyuan City, I saw him going crazy, posting missing person flyers everywhere. We were supposed to take wedding photos next week…”
As she spoke, Su Bi covered her face and began to cry. “I don’t want to abandon him. He grew up in an orphanage after being abandoned by his parents, and later, his ex-girlfriend left him for a wealthy man. We’ve been through so much together, struggling for years, and just when things were getting better, he bought a house and excitedly proposed, saying we finally had a home. How can I leave him now…”
Jiang Xiaosi’s throat tightened with emotion. “You could still go back and marry him. He doesn’t know anything has happened to you yet.”
Su Bi extended her hand, and her nails suddenly grew long as she scratched her arm, leaving a wound that healed almost instantly.
“Am I supposed to go back looking like this? I can’t control myself. I want to drink blood. Whenever I smell it, my teeth grow longer. Someday he’ll figure it out. I don’t want to keep lying to him.”
Seeing the stubborn look in Su Bi’s eyes, Jiang Xiaosi finally nodded. “I’ll get the medicine for you. I hope you won’t regret this.”
She opened the secret door and walked down a long hallway. Behind each door lay all sorts of rare and mysterious items, each with its own story. Tuogu Xiang was stored behind the last door. It was considered the shop’s most prized treasure, not only because it was a rare medicine for treating those bitten by zombies but also because it truly lived up to its name—it could enable non-humans to shed their bones and be reborn, even zombies like Jiang Liu and Jiang Xiaosi.
In essence, it had the power to reverse death, though the odds of success were slim. But as long as there was a chance, someone would always be willing to try.
Yet over the centuries, how many had truly returned to normal? Jiang Liu and Jiang Xiaosi had both considered becoming ordinary people again, but no one understood the risks better than they did.
Opening the door, Jiang Xiaosi entered a room lined with tall wooden cabinets, each labeled with a number. She walked to the very back, opened a drawer, and peeled away a layer of yellowed oiled paper. Instantly, a fragrant scent filled the air. The smell was indescribable and irresistible, like something tangible seeping into her nose and every pore of her body. Every time Jiang Xiaosi smelled it, she couldn’t help but feel a little dazed.
She took out a brocade box from the drawer. Inside that box was another, and another after that. She opened seven boxes in total before finally revealing a small, silver-glowing pill wrapped in tin foil. No matter how many layers there were, they couldn’t contain the overwhelming fragrance.
Jiang Xiaosi took out the smallest brocade box, wrapped it in half a sheet of the oiled paper that sealed the drawer, and the fragrance instantly disappeared.
She stood up, feeling slightly dizzy. The scent always intensified her own desire to become human again, making it harder to resist. As she took a step forward, she accidentally bumped into a nearby wooden shelf, knocking a bottle off.
There was a flash of blue light. Jiang Xiaosi cursed under her breath, but before she could react, the blue light had already flown out of the storeroom. She crouched down and saw that the bottle was now empty.
When she returned outside, Su Bi was anxiously waiting.
Jiang Xiaosi handed her the brocade box. Su Bi slightly opened the wrapping paper, and the scent immediately hit her.
“I just swallow it, right?”
“Yes.”
Seeing the worry on Jiang Xiaosi’s face, Su Bi said, “I forced you to sell it to me. When your family returns, will you be in trouble?”
Jiang Xiaosi smiled reassuringly. “No. My dad’s a businessman. If you’re determined to buy it, he’d sell it to you right away without all the fuss. I’m just worried about you. Over the years, many people who couldn’t accept their deaths have tried to use Tuogu Xiang to return to their loved ones, but very few have had happy endings. Are you really sure?”
“I’m sure. What’s the worst that could happen?”
“Everyone’s experience is different. A very small number of people who were not meant to die might come out unscathed. Others might end up with minor disabilities. But some fail in their transformation and become even more terrifying monsters, or they turn into ashes and disappear. The most common outcome, however, is becoming an invisible person.”
“Invisible?”
“Yes, meaning no one else can see them.”
“Not even hear them? They can’t be perceived at all? That’s like being a ghost.”
“Sometimes people can hear them, and sometimes they can sense them. It depends. But unlike ghosts, they can’t fly or do supernatural things. They’re just invisible to others but still need to eat, sleep, and might still get sick. I’ve met some who became invisible after taking Tuogu Xiang. At first, it seemed exciting—they could do things they’d never dared to do before. But over time, they grew lonely and scared. When they finally die, no one will see them. Even if they’re hit by a car, no one will help. People will just smell the scent of their bodies.”
“The scent?”
“People who take Tuogu Xiang will have a unique fragrance for the rest of their lives. The more injured or ill they become, and the closer they are to death, the stronger the scent gets. If you end up like that and become invisible, I may not even be able to help you.”
“Thank you. I understand. Don’t worry about me—I’ll be fine. Here, take this ring as payment for the Tuogu Xiang. I don’t know if it’s enough, but if it’s not, I’ll find another way to pay you.”
Jiang Xiaosi looked down at the ring, set with a pink diamond. It was likely the engagement ring her boyfriend had given her, worth at least several hundred thousand yuan. She froze.
“Your boyfriend is?”
“His name is Fu Yunkai.”
Jiang Xiaosi suddenly understood. Fu Yunkai—Taoyuan City’s rising young real estate tycoon. For some reason, an ominous feeling stirred in her heart.
“It’s surprising the robbers didn’t take this.”
Su Bi smiled sheepishly. “I couldn’t let them take the ring. I swallowed it before they could.”
Jiang Xiaosi nodded and handed the ring back to her.
“No need. I hope you can wear it at your wedding. If it works out, come back and thank me with Tuogu Xiang. Good luck!”
Su Bi nodded firmly, took the Tuogu Xiang, and left the shop.
Jiang Xiaosi stared into space for a long time before finally remembering to call Jiang Liu.
“Dad, what’s in the bottle on the shelf in the back of the storeroom?”
“The shelf? Let me think… Oh, that’s the ghost baby spirit Shen Koudan caught. You remember?”
Jiang Xiaosi certainly remembered. But it had been too late to save the baby, whose body had been brain-dead. The spirit had been mischievous and refused to enter the cycle of reincarnation. Feeling responsible, Jiang Liu had frozen the body, hoping that future advances in technology might offer a solution, while the spirit was kept locked away. Now that she’d accidentally released it, it would likely cause trouble again. Jiang Xiaosi sighed.
“What’s wrong?”
“Dad, I accidentally let it out.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll catch it again.”
“I’m just afraid it’ll cause trouble.”
“After being locked up for two years, it should have calmed down a bit.”
“Let’s hope so.”
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