Human Skin Lantern

performance of music and song in front of th

out his words dramatically, "Choose th

erson had been cho

ant a lifetime of serving the ancest

nds and feet tightly bound. She lay on a stretcher, wait

looked beami

ine, never to be seen again, yet her parents looked at her with

n Ruby's exposed skin wit

pped their hands an

and and shouted, "The time

ard, lifting the stretcher and

at her parents' pant legs. "Matthew! Jasmine! Pl

fortune. It will bring us the blessing of the lantern, ensuring peace and safety for our

, but she looked at me with tear-filled ey

ers began a lavish village banquet outside its doo

ng. Only when the villagers fina

ilence all around, with no other sounds e

chet and headed t

the Saint was required to st

loodstains on the ground, a red lantern inscribed with sacre

ar the Saint's shril

was because the ancestors were ex

tay with the ancestor

lickered, casting eerie shadows. Ruby was tied t

r or food all day, and her li

g the hatchet to cut through

feet were ice-cold. Her wrists and ankles were to

ere?" Her hoarse voic

't want you

suddenly heard two

he money they gave us is

wildly. What did

e these

away with all

platform, crouching in the shadowy

re

anage to s

entered, carrying a large

ey couldn't contain themselves, th

ere too, let me