The Gold Mine's Strange Tale

On the day of job assignments after graduation, Shen Yu's placement certificate read: China's No. 1 Gold Mine, Huadian Pigou Gold Mine. Everyone in town lived off gold. When I got there, I learned that this place didn't nurture people. It nurtured ghosts. The mine shafts were full of snakes. They were everywhere. The old miners said that if you saw a snake, don't hit it or run. Just let it pass, or something bad would happen. I didn't believe them. Later, I did. None of my colleagues in the technical office were ordinary. Ji Xilun, a veteran, said Jay Chou's songs could ward off evil. I thought he was joking, until I saw a line of Japanese soldiers' spirits marching past the mine manager's office, and the copper bell in my hand cracked on the spot. The Japanese army occupied the Huapigou Gold Mine in 1934. They conducted gold experiments underground and created 12 "Golden Soldiers": gold shells driven by vengeful spirits, impervious to blades and bullets. They still needed a thirteenth. And Shen Yu was born on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month. Granny Wang, a shaman on the mining grounds, said I was born with a spiritual connection, and that a snake immortal's messenger had been following me for over twenty years. She said I hadn't come to Huapigou because of my job assignment. Someone had "lured" me here. Shen Yu's previous life was called Shen Tianci, a spirit-medium disciple from Changbai Mountain and a member of the resistance. In 1945, Captain Yamamoto killed him underground with a ritual knife. His blood became the thirteenth...