Original subtitles

ALL STORYLINES AND IMAGES IN THIS WORK ARE FICTITIOUS.

ANY SIMILARITIES ARE COINCIDENTAL.

Do you know who I am?

ADAPTED FROM THE PERIOD HORROR NOVEL BY THAO TRANG

IN THE LAST EPISODE

Their souls are captured,

I worry that

the kids will never wake up.

The reason the children lost their souls…

someone is in need of a lot of life force.

You're saying, someone followed us here?

Or they are already here.

Crossing the forest to get here is impossible,

unless you know the way well.

-Father! -Oh, Ti!

I am here!

The hovering man forced us in here.

Father, please save us!

‎How dare you steal my food?

What do we do now, sir?

Stay steady and we'll find a way.

If it's true

that the puppet has taken the kids

then there's only one way.

What?

Wherever the souls of the kids are,

we must prepare our altar there to call them all home.

Then maybe…

The cypress forest.

What was that?

The cypress forest.

Yes.

That's right.

The cypress itself is a tree with much death force.

The kids must have had their souls taken there.

Then we must hurry.

Dear sir…

We're all counting on you.

If the kids can't be called home,

won't it be the same as our village

meeting its end, sir?

Have Mrs. Thap gather up the women,

we now have an offering tray full of fruit, of incense.

Right at noon, life force will be most plentiful.

We'll set up an altar right by the cypress forest.

Yes.

What has happened to you, child?

My child!

How is Tutor Lam, ma'am?

Please wake up.

Still hasn't come to.

This morning when I brought the joss papers out,

he was still in one place.

-May… -Oh, husband! Oh, child!

My child!

Oh, May!

-May! -Help me!

Are you home?

May!

Oh, May!

Please help me!

My death's unjust.

Save me, please, May!

Someone threw me into the creek when I was still alive.

The carp then ate me to death.

Oh, May! Save me!

May!

Help me, May!

May!

May!

What's wrong?

Dear everyone,

we are gathered here today

for a ritual to retrieve the kids' souls.

During the ceremony,

there will be unusual events,

but please remain calm.

Namo Amitabha Buddha!

I pray to heaven and Earth, to the omnipresent awakened.

I pray to the deities guarding this land.

I ask for your permission,

on behalf of the villagers,

to call the children's souls home.

I ask you all to bear witness.

Damn all of you!

O, soul

That is afar

Be home at once

Wander no more

O, ghouls and goblins, all

Give us the souls we seek and search…

Within woods much to fear

As well the waters that can kill

We are all here for news

Offer chickens and rice to know

The gold, to hell escorts

The black, to four cardinal souls

The white, to call souls back

We've lit incense near unmarked graves

Huh? Where is the cripple?

Where has everyone gone?

People used to say,

"Fathers do ill, sons pay the bill."

The bandits who deprived the Truong clan of an heir.

Their descendants now, all the village's men,

are forced to see shadows that look like them.

Like them when they are old or young.

Tutor Lam saw himself.

And anyone who has, they have all died.

The innocent souls that fell have at last returned,

here to this village, in their scariest form.

Who's there?

It's us. Come here!

Who is "us"?

O, robber of the children's souls

Return them all with haste, I call

On barks, 'neath trees, in holes

For whom bells toll? To all, I call!

I call!

Return!

Return!

Return!

Return!

Demon!

Demon!

Demon!

Demon!

Demon!

Why did you do that?

Whatever did Tutor Lam do,

to deserve such a gruesome end?

Mommy!

Come here quickly!

-Mommy's here! -Up, they're up!

-I'm here! -They're awake.

Mommy's here!

-I'm here! -They're awake.

How blessed!

-Oh, child, awake! -Let's go home.

You get up now.

Home.

Let's go home, child.

Sir.

-Let's quickly return home. -Huh?

-We should go too. It's dark now. -Time to go home, all.

-Right. -There's the New Year's Eve ceremony too.

That's true.

I'm glad that Heaven is kind,

waking the kids up before New Year's Eve.

Tet this year will be good for the village.

-That's lovely, sir. -Yes.

This will be my first New Year at altitude.

Truly - delights at height.

You needn't worry, Tam,

there shall be more Tet occasions.

Yes.

-I offer my thanks. -No. It's nothing.

-It's nothing. Enough. -Thank you for saving them.

-All of my children. -It's okay.

-Go. You take them home. -Yes.

-Congratulations to you. -You all go home.

Go home, you all.

Hey?

Did anyone see the cripple anywhere?

He didn't show up at the ritual.

Could he be sick with something?

Heavens, he's only crippled, not at all weak.

But do you all smell something,

something that's like blood?

It is the smell of blood.

I think, it's coming from young Dai's house.

Dai's place?

NEW YEAR'S EVE

Good gods!

Go get the young men to help.

Do not alarm the whole village.

Let them finish with New Year's Eve.

Go now.

Duc.

I'm so scared.

The tutor…

Why is this, sir?

What did Tutor Lam do,

to deserve a death in pieces, huh, sir?

If this is karma,

then he paid the bill.

But why must it be so gruesome?

Why must it, sir?

Calm down, Thap.

Right now,

is no time to be weak.

All that has occurred is both constant and wicked.

I think that…

I'm so afraid

that this is not work of ghosts or demons,

but instead of a person who can plot and carry everything out.

But…

How did you meet the cripple?

Where did you see him?

I met him in Dau Village,

at the foot of the mountain.

Yesterday,

I so wanted to ask you this in front of everyone.

How is it that you aren't worried

about his background and his actions, huh?

You will face tragedy when you're…

39 years old.

Your ancestors,

have they committed a great sin?

Why does death scent your body?

And this someone died submerged, by water, I believe?

Then suddenly,

you brought him to the village.

What happened has happened.

Therefore I'm powerless to stop it now.

Oh?

Where did the two puppets go?

Mr. Thap!

Dear gods! Why is he in pieces?

Stay calm, everyone! Keep your voice down.

This happened on New Year's Eve.

No one asked for this.

May I bother folks go find some cloth,

to wrap up Tutor Lam's body?

We'll deal with this tomorrow.

Go.

What is going on?

What's going on, folks?

Uh… it's nothing.

Now, everyone return to your homes

and cook for the New Year's Eve feast.

Good heavens!

Someone is dead.

Heavens above!

-Tutor Lam is dead, everyone! -Calm down, be calm.

What's all this, Mr. Thap?

To be honest with you all,

I'm lost here.

I don't know what to do next.

Misfortune on Tutor Lam

is a thing that pains me,

as if my own family was in trouble.

Now, I really do need all of you

to be really calm.

Go home and greet New Year,

and then we will work this out.

You keep telling me to wait.

The culprits are getting away.

We should find them now.

That's right.

But how come it's been hours and the cripple still hasn't returned?

I find that man is all sort of mysterious,

with a garish appearance.

-Could it be…? -It might!

We have to find him to know the truth.

I don't know where you found him,

but you got him here and he has doomed us all.

So weird,

that the cripple would just vanish.

The two puppets

are also nowhere to be found.

I knew it.

No need to hide if you are good.

-Go, go find him. -Move out.

-Everyone… -Stop!

The children just got their souls back.

And now you want to leave and have the fireflies

snatch all of your souls at once?

Spreaders of rumors,

are punished forever.

When facts are not yet there, how could we ever indict a person?

Even if the cripple is indeed guilty,

this is still no time to thoughtlessly

go outside like this.

I need Duc

and the young men

to wrap the Tutor up.

Tomorrow we'll worry about his funeral.

So odd.

I've never seen a knife that could cut this cleanly.

Sir…

I now have no idea what to say to Madam Lam

and the rest of the children.

For this matter…

Darling!

Darling! My husband!

Where is my husband?

How is he?

Darling!

-Where are you planning to take him? -Madam Lam.

What are you all doing?

Where are you taking him?

-Madam! -What?

Please, ma'am, calm down and listen.

Tutor Lam is gone.

Please let everyone lead him on, ma'am.

Or else he'll be trapped here.

Going nowhere.

But where are you taking him? Huh?

Madam Lam? Ma'am?

-Let go. -Please stay calm, ma'am.

-Madam Lam. -Let go!

Get away!

Who?

Who killed my husband?

Darling!

-Madam Lam. -Darling!

Madam Lam!

I told you.

Enter my house uninvited,

you will be punished.

I told you.

Enter my house uninvited

and you'll be punished.

You all deserve that.

Dai.

You deserve that.

Dai.

May.

-Don't go over there, May. -Dai.

-Stop it, Dai. -May! May!

Dai.

You deserve that.

Enter my house uninvited and be punished.

FIRST DAY OF NEW YEAR

Tutor Lam dedicated his life to educate the village.

How could something like this happen to him?

Ti.

Why are you standing around?

Go see where your mother is.

Sir.

Today is the First Day,

so why aren't you at home

but instead out here laying out offerings and all?

-Good day. -Good day, sir.

Hello, all.

-Greetings, sir and madam. -Ah, yes.

-Good day, sir. -Sure.

The days before Tet,

all sorts of things were in our village.

And if I did get a break,

I couldn't come to the graves.

Our forebears have this tradition,

that by the end of every year,

we must clean up where our ancestors lie.

Then,

we invite spirits and forebears to return home.

This year, our village is in a rough state,

but at the same time,

I don't want it to be that New Year is here

and we've lit no incense.

Are you unwell inside, sir?

No.

I don't feel unwell.

But then,

with all the great troubles in our village,

it's hard to be celebratory.

Oh, sir,

what happened is done.

No matter how hard we try

we can't change a thing.

Sir.

But why…?

Why would Heaven pick this moment to punish us?

Ah…

Later,

I may need you to bring offerings to Tutor Lam's funeral.

I am…

so afraid to see him like that again.

Sir…

it's only the First Day,

should we even host a funeral?

Oh?

Why would you think that?

We tend to each other 'til the end,

but then make an exception for the tutor?

If this whole village,

and we're not that many,

are all scared of death on New Year,

then are we casting Madam Lam aside?

If you don't want to go,

then I will.

Sir!

I'm just saying,

but I would never do such thing.

You best get home and rest.

I will go and visit Madam Lam. Will that do?

Oh, sir…

Here, peel it and eat.

Poor you.

Maybe you haven't had a bite to eat since last night.

Thank you, Granny.

If you hadn't given me this rice cake,

I'd have forgotten today was the First Day.

Well, now, let's let bygones be bygones.

We'll all be well.

It's New Year, so it's time for rice cakes.

Yes.

-Ninh! -Here, Granny.

Ninh.

Give each person a cake, you hear?

Yes, Granny.

Here they are.

-Here, you have one. -Do watch your step, ma'am.

Yes.

Have one, please.

You all enjoy the cakes.

You know…

I heard the news and I just shattered.

He was so very kind.

But then…

From now on, you will be needed.

You take care of the kids

and help Madam Lam that way.

Otherwise…

But now where has she gone?

Madam Lam's inside with her children.

Maybe you should console them a bit.

I'll do that now.

Madam Lam.

Madam Lam.

I'm here to offer my condolences.

Can I do anything to help?

Why the fuck are you here?

I…

I'm here to…

Fuck the hell off!

Madam!

You colluded with the cripple to kill my husband.

Now you dare come over

to wipe me and my kids out?

M… ma'am, what's wrong?

Madam Lam… it's me.

I…

I didn't kill the tutor.

-Ma'am… please be calm. -Shut up!

-Madam Lam, please be calm. -Shut your damn mouth!

Shut your mouth.

No! Don't!

I will kill you.

Revenge for my husband.

No!

-Don't, please don't! -You bitch.

Will you stop, you bitch?

Madam Lam. Madam Lam.

Oh, Madam Lam.

-Madam Lam. -Get away!

Madam, Madam Lam!

Granny has nothing to do with your husband's death.

-Please stop. -Let go.

I have to slice you up.

Madam Lam!

-Madam Lam. -Good heavens.

-Granny didn’t do anything. -Murder.

Madam Lam!

-Good gods! -Madam Lam!

-The things you've done to my man. -Madam Lam.

Madam Lam!

Let me go.

You sons of bitches!

-Pull her away! -Curse you!

-Madam Lam, be calm. -Granny!

Be calm, please.

-Granny. -That…

that…

is… not…

not…

Madam…

Lam.

Granny.

Granny!

Do you think that

your entire village is currently paying a colossal debt?

However many lives you took, that much cost you'll pay.

It is time, isn't it?

Time to pay the blood debt.

Mr. Thap!

They are eating people.

This is done by a person, not a ghost or a demon.