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墨書 Inktalez
According to the old man, this haunted house had already been abandoned during his time. Although the house before him had collapsed, the shadows left behind had not dissipated at all.
The old man recounted two stories about the haunted house.
The first story was told by someone else, and that storyteller had long since turned into a pile of bones buried in a desolate hill.
The protagonist of the story was surnamed Ma, a traveling merchant who sold needles and threads. He wandered from place to place without a permanent home until he arrived in this area and found it quite nice, being close to Luoyang City. He decided to settle down in this village. So, with some connections, he bought this house from the landlord. At that time, the house was not as dilapidated as it is now; the three main rooms were intact, although the courtyard was somewhat desolate.
The old man pointed to the Osmanthus tree in the center of the courtyard that had not yet fallen: "This tree was planted by that merchant. After he bought the house, he cleared out the clutter in the courtyard and brought this Osmanthus tree back from outside. Today, this Osmanthus tree still stands; every autumn, its fragrance can be smelled throughout the village, but that merchant has long since disappeared."
"Old man, could you tell your story more straightforwardly? With all these suspenseful pauses, it's making us anxious!" Xing Ruyi interjected, pointing out, "Just look at this chilling wind; if you don't hurry up and finish your tale, we might not have time to hear it!"
The old man felt a bit nervous too. He took a couple of puffs from his pipe before relaxing his expression again: "It was just as the merchant planted this Osmanthus tree that he officially moved into this home. One night, feeling an urgent need to relieve himself, he got up. At that time, it wasn't too cold; having spent years outdoors, he wasn't accustomed to using a toilet and groggily searched for a corner in the courtyard to take care of business.
Just after finishing up, he felt a chill behind him as if something were watching him. Thinking it might be a thief, he turned around to take a look.
What he saw nearly scared him to death! Standing at the door was an indistinct figure of an old woman. Although her form was somewhat blurry, her face was incredibly clear; even from a distance, the merchant could see her sinister smile. However, most of her vague body was hidden in the darkness at the door, creating an eerie and terrifying impression.
In an instant, the merchant thought of one word: ghost! Terrified, he hurriedly tightened his trousers without even bothering to pull them up properly and ran towards the front door.
In our rural areas, closing doors at night isn't as meticulous as in cities; we simply use wooden bolts to secure them. The door of that haunted house was no different. When the merchant reached the door and tried to pull out the bolt inside, perhaps due to fear, his hands and feet fumbled so much that even after partially opening it, he couldn't manage to get it fully open.
At that moment, he heard someone outside ringing a bell for curfew and shouted for help. While calling out, he kept glancing back in fear that the old woman with her sinister smile would suddenly appear before him. But when he looked back again, he discovered something even more terrifying.
In the courtyard, besides the figure of the old woman, there was another person standing in the corner where he had just relieved himself. It was a man with a fierce expression, shorter than the courtyard wall, standing in the shadows with eyes that were just whites without any pupils, staring at him intently.
Just as his legs were about to give way and he was about to fall to the ground, the door opened. The Night Watchman stood outside with a puzzled look on his face. Upon seeing the merchant crawl out, he raised his lantern to illuminate his face and asked, "Why do you dare to live in this house?"
"Why can't I live here? And who are the old woman in the courtyard and that fierce-looking man?" Si Niang felt a chill run down her spine, but with Xing Ruyi and Li Mao present, her curiosity about the situation outweighed her fear.
"I was about seven or eight years old when I first heard this story. The person telling us stories back then was the Night Watchman from our village. I can't remember his full name, but I do know that he died under mysterious circumstances later. It was also this Night Watchman who told us about the old woman in that house and the short man.
The original owner of this house had the surname Gou and was wealthy from dealing in leather goods in the city. Once people have money, they tend to develop many bad habits, and this Gou man was no exception. With money in hand, he frequented brothels and eventually contracted a terrible disease. Unable to stay in the city any longer, he returned to the village with his pregnant wife, who is now known as your city's lady, and built this residence.
Before their child was born, the Gou man died from illness. So ever since that child was born, it had been just the mother and son living together. Because they were wealthy, they looked down on the poor folks around us and rarely interacted with others.
But even mountains of gold and silver can be exhausted; by the time that child grew up, the Gou family had fallen into decline.
One early morning, the villagers were suddenly awakened by a series of firecracker sounds. Everyone gathered around when they heard it seemed like the Gou family was celebrating. When they arrived, they saw that Gou's son was pressing a beautifully looking girl tied up on the ground. Mrs. Gou saw that people had gathered and announced that this girl was meant to be her son's bride; today was their joyous day.
Although the girl’s hands and feet were bound, she could still speak. Seeing so many villagers surrounding her, she immediately cried for help. Back then, things weren't as stable as they are now; many places were still at war, and it wasn't uncommon for lonely men to buy women from outside as wives. In such chaotic times, human trafficking was rampant.
In our entire village at that time, many poor families sent their daughters to the city to become wives or concubines or work as maids. Officially it was called sending them off, but everyone knew it meant selling them. It was hard enough just to survive back then; thus no one paid much attention to such matters—especially since it involved the Gou family—people just came to watch and then dispersed. After all, Mrs. Gou would never really host a banquet for everyone.
As for that tied-up girl from the Gou family, people discussed it for a while but soon stopped bringing it up since everyone had their own lives to lead and had to think about how to survive. However, it was said that she had a very strong character; when she first arrived at the Gou family, she endured much beating and scolding and even attempted to escape several times but was always caught by Gou's son and brought back. When she didn't run away, she would receive lighter punishments; but if she did escape and got caught again, she would be beaten severely—yet no matter how hard they hit her, they still kept her alive since she was bought with money.
The mother-son duo of the Gou family were not easy people to get along with either; especially Mrs. Gou who had been widowed since her youth and had a peculiar temper. Thus privately she tormented that girl quite a bit. You see, their family used to be in the leather business—skinning animals—and Mrs. Gou had done such work when she was younger; therefore she knew exactly how to torment someone while still keeping them alive.
Time passed quickly, and the girl had been causing a stir for nearly half a year until she became pregnant. After having the child, she seemed to calm down all of a sudden. On good days, one could still see her helping Mrs. Gou with laundry and cooking, even massaging her shoulders and back. From spring to summer, and from summer to autumn, before anyone knew it, the day for her to give birth was approaching.
When a woman is about to give birth, she needs to find a midwife. Despite Mrs. Gou's usual harshness, she was still concerned about her grandchild. After locking all the doors and windows, she went out to find a midwife. There wasn't one in their village, but there was a skilled midwife in the neighboring village who often delivered baby boys.
Everyone initially thought that the Gou family would soon have another joyous occasion, but instead, it turned into a tragedy. When Mrs. Gou returned home with the midwife, they found the girl hanging from the beam in the main room, her death being extremely horrifying. As for how horrifying it was, even the night watchman likely didn't see it; we can't imagine it either. In any case, the girl was dead, and so was the child in her womb. The old lady of the Gou family was so frightened that she died on the spot!
After some time, the child of the Gou family also died. It was said that they heard Mrs. Gou calling for him that night; when they went out to check, he fell and died. People from the government office came as well; they said his death did not look like an accident but rather like he had been scared to death. When he died, his features were so distorted that he no longer looked human, and one hand was clutching his stomach. When the yard officers turned him over, they discovered that he had actually pulled out his own intestines.
After the mother and child of the Gou family died, their house became property of the court and was managed by the landlord for sale. The first person to buy the house was another wealthy villager who wanted to rid himself of bad luck; he even invited a Taoist priest to perform rituals and changed the layout of the courtyard. However, shortly after moving in, the male head of the household died while eating dinner with his family; he suddenly collapsed and when he regained consciousness, he kept scratching at his stomach. If his family hadn't stopped him, he might have torn himself apart. Then, within half a year, that household was completely wiped out.
Before that peddler bought the house, another businessman had also purchased it but later died as well; his death was similar too. Afterward, the house became known as a haunted house, and no one dared to live there anymore.
"What about the girl from the Gou family? Did anyone from the government office investigate her background?"
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