Jiangshi

Jiangshi is an undead predator that moves with the stiff, mechanical hop of a thing bound by ritual rather than life. Smell: a cold, damp tang like old lacquer and wet earth more than fresh rot. Sound: a hollow, rhythmic thump as it bounds, cloth rustling and the faint, uncanny rustle of paper talismans. Temperature: the air around one feels unnaturally chilled, as if a pocket of winter follows each step. In the field it reads like a corpse animated by etiquette—jade-like skin in the moonlight, Qing-era garments, rigid arms outstretched, and often a small yellow talisman pasted to the forehead.