Chapter 0068 The Arjan of Eastern Thailand
The scenery and style of Eastern Thailand were completely different from the central region. There were no beaches or tourist attractions here—only massive mountains and dense forests. The roads, however, were surprisingly well-built, supposedly constructed by the Khmer Rouge years ago. When we got off the bus in Ban Nam Rong, the surroundings were a thicket of lush vegetation, towering trees, and low shrubs, with one large and one small dirt path extending into the distance.
It was high noon, and the sun beat down mercilessly. Aside from the buzzing of cicadas and the chirping of birds, there wasn't a soul in sight. Old Xie made a phone call, and in less than half an hour, a battered Nissan pickup truck drove down the small path to collect us. Old Xie greeted the driver warmly in Thai. The driver was a dark, sturdy young man who asked Old Xie, "Is he the one who needs the exorcism? What's wrong with him?"
Old Xie pointed at me. "That's him. He's haunted by the lustful spirit of an eighty-one-year-old man. He keeps molesting women. He wants the Master to clear the Yin energy from his body before he gets beaten into a permanent disability."
The young man looked at me and chuckled. "A pity the Master doesn't keep women here, otherwise I'd love to see what you look like when you have an episode."
I forced a smile, thinking to myself: If it were your wife being molested, let's see if you'd still be laughing.
The truck twisted and turned through the dirt paths. I lost my sense of direction almost immediately, thinking that if I were left here alone, I'd probably never find the road back to Rayong in my entire life. We drove for thirty minutes, occasionally spotting houses half-hidden in the trees—some wooden stilt houses, and some nicer, two-story brick buildings. After two more turns, the truck stopped in an open area in front of a row of wooden huts. The space looked like a courtyard, with brick steps at the front and two tall lamp stands acting as a gateway.
The three of us got out and walked up the steps into the clearing. The young man took a cigarette from Old Xie and said, "The Master is talking business with a guest from Germany. Sit in the outer room for a bit." The outer room had a long wooden table set with fruit and water thermoses. The walls were covered with photos of an Arjan Master standing with altars, amulets, and clients.
Old Xie grabbed a mango, sliced it with a small knife, and began to eat. I asked, "You even have contacts in a place this remote?"
"That's how you do business," Old Xie replied, juice dripping from his mouth. "Not just the Eastern border—I have business in Northern Thailand, Southern Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, and the Philippines. As long as you ask, Brother Tian, there is nothing I... can't get done!"
He choked slightly on the mango juice and coughed. I told him, "Eat slower, no one's taking it from you. What's the rush?" Old Xie nodded while chewing, unable to speak. When I asked for the Master's name, Old Xie acted as if he were focused on his food and gave a vague non-answer. He was clearly trying to keep his source a secret.
Just then, two people walked out of the inner room: the sturdy young man and a blond, blue-eyed Westerner. The man looked to be in his forties, tall and strong, but his face was etched with misery, looking as though he were suffering from a terminal illness.
the Westerner sat slowly at the table opposite us. The young man told me, "His name is Hans, from Germany. He was traveling in Thailand and couldn't find a toilet, so he just relieved himself anywhere. He didn't realize the spot was an old graveyard, and now he's being haunted. He's nearly at death's door. If I hadn't sensed the Yin energy on him, he probably wouldn't have survived the past week."
I asked the young man for his name and how the Master would perform the exorcism. He said, "My name is Raja. The Master will perform the ritual for you and Hans tonight at the Ten-Thousand-Grave Hill (Wanzanggang)."
"Ten-Thousand-Grave Hill?" With my level of Thai, I didn't immediately grasp the full weight of the term.
Raja explained, "About five or six kilometers west of this house, there is a large hillside that used to be a camp for illegal immigrants. Later, a huge number of them were trapped there; more and more died of hunger or disease. Over the decades, it became a mass grave. Four years ago, the Master happened to pass by and sensed the voices of tens of thousands of wronged souls. That's when he realized there are at least several thousand, maybe ten thousand, bodies on that hill."
This terrified me. Forget a "Ten-Thousand-Grave Hill"—when I was a kid visiting my grandmother, there was a tiny village cemetery on the back hill. Every time I passed it while playing with my siblings, the sight of those uneven mounds and tombstones would make me cry. Seeing the fear in my eyes, Raja looked at Old Xie with a mocking grin. Old Xie said, "Brother Tian, if you want to be cured, you have to be mentally prepared."
Raja added, "I'll drive you both there in a bit to look around and get familiar with it. It should help reduce the fear." I nodded repeatedly. Raja gestured to Hans; I wasn't sure if Hans understood, but the man just kept nodding along desperately.
After sitting for a bit, Raja took us to set out. Old Xie stayed seated. I asked, "What, you aren't coming?"
Old Xie stammered, "Ah, I... I think I'll skip it, okay?"
I decided I wasn't going to let this guy just sit back and relax, so I hauled him up. Old Xie struggled, refusing to go, but Raja said impatiently, "Let's go, don't waste time!" Unable to resist further, Old Xie joined us in the truck.
Since there was no direct path, the truck drove north for a dozen kilometers, circled west, and then headed south—essentially a giant inverted U-turn. By the time we arrived, it was late afternoon. Because of the heat, the windows were down. As soon as we entered the area, I smelled a strange odor—not quite fishy, not quite rotten, not quite sour. We got out and trudged along. The trees were dense and there was no road. Raja seemed to know the way well; after fifteen minutes of hiking over uneven terrain, we reached a large clearing.
Many simple bamboo huts had been built here, looking dilapidated and long abandoned. Old Xie said hesitantly, "M-my head hurts a bit. Can I go back to the truck and rest?"
Raja said, "You only mention it now? I can't exactly take you back." I told Old Xie to stop faking it—with so many people around, what was there to be afraid of? Then I asked Raja, "This is the camp for the immigrants, but I don't see any bodies."
As soon as I finished the sentence, I froze. Old Xie asked, "Why did you stop?" I saw a row of a dozen bodies lined up under one of the bamboo huts. They might have been there for years; the corpses had turned into mummies, with just a thin layer of skin stretched over the skeletons.
Old Xie followed my gaze. His eyes widened, his face turned pale green, and his cheeks suddenly puffed out as he leaned over to vomit. Raja said with disdain, "You can't handle this? Then what will you do further ahead?"
"W-what else is further ahead?" Old Xie's face was deathly white; he looked pitiful. Raja ignored him and kept walking. Hans followed, leaning on a carbon-fiber cane, panting with every step as if he had tuberculosis.
This camp held hundreds of bodies. Some were neatly lined up under bamboo floors, some were tossed into large pits, and some were piled in the open like small mountains. The most terrifying were the nameless corpses that seemed to have died only a few months ago—they weren't fully decomposed yet. Rotten flesh still clung to the bones, and countless maggots and flies swarmed around them. The stench was overwhelming; even Raja had to cover his nose. My stomach turned, and Hans looked visibly distressed. Old Xie finally couldn't hold it back anymore and ran off to the side to vomit.
Leaving the camp, we reached a large open space filled with countless rectangular, kiln-like structures made of brick and stone. They looked much like traditional Chinese brick kilns. Some kilns had rotting food, fruit, and soda bottles with straws in them sitting on top. Raja sat cross-legged on the ground, chanting under his breath. I walked over to one of the small kilns and peeked inside, only to pull my head back in horror. Inside were several skeletons piled on top of each other, half-buried in the soil.
Old Xie asked tremblingly, "W-what's in there?"
I rolled my eyes at him. "Why don't you look for yourself and find out?" Old Xie didn't have the guts and swallowed his words.
Raja said, "This clearing has hundreds of 'corpse kilns.' Each one contains a dozen bodies—all illegal immigrants from the 70s and 80s. There are thousands of them here, and they have all become 'Grave Guardians' . Since most had no merit in life and no relatives to perform rituals for them, they are stuck here and cannot leave. The Master and I frequently bring food to offer to these spirits so their existence isn't too miserable. I just used a mantra to guide them so they don't mistake the four of us for intruders. I told them that tonight, the Master will use his power to help some of their souls cross over, so they should be happy."