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Fear and helplessness slowly grew in the Night Watchman’s heart as he watched the slightly ajar door, the flesh on either side of his cheeks trembling lightly. The Night Watchman felt cold, especially along his spine, as if a snake was slowly crawling up it, wrapping around his neck and constricting his breath.
Suddenly, a piercing ghostly wail echoed in his ears, startling the Night Watchman, who lunged forward. His head struck the ground heavily, and the sharp pain awakened all his senses. The snake on his back vanished, the icy sensation disappeared, and he could move his legs freely again.
He gasped for breath, pressing his hand against his forehead, trying to get up from the ground. Just then, a clump of hair floated past him, followed by a voice in his ear: “What are you looking for on the ground?”
The Night Watchman lifted his head and saw a completely dark-haired head swaying in front of him. The eyes suddenly opened wide and then closed again, causing him to faint on the spot.
“His Father, what happened to you? His Father, wake up, please wake up!” Seeing the Night Watchman collapsed on the ground, the black-haired female ghost hurriedly swept her hair behind her: “What’s wrong? How did you faint? Could it be that I scared you? That’s impossible; I just washed my hair last night and forgot to comb it this morning! His Father? His Father! Oh dear, please wake up!”
The woman called out to the Night Watchman for a while. When she noticed that he not only showed no response but that his limbs were gradually growing cold, her heart sank. She quickly called her still-sleeping son to get a doctor from the pharmacy.
The Night Watchman’s son had not yet woken up. Hearing his mother calling and seeing his father lying on the ground with a pale face startled him. He couldn’t remember what his mother said; he was hurriedly pushed out of the house by her. Once outside, a cold wind blew, and he realized he had forgotten to wear a cotton coat when leaving home, making him shiver with cold. He wanted to return home but thought of his father’s condition and vaguely guessed that his mother sent him out to find a doctor for his father.
Thus, the Night Watchman’s son gritted his teeth and headed towards the largest pharmacy in Yunjiabao. At this time, it was just past dawn; there were hardly any people on the street, and most shops were closed. When he arrived at the pharmacy's door, he found it tightly shut. After calling out several times with no response from any staff, he hesitated until he noticed a fortune-telling stall set up next to the pharmacy.
Setting up fortune-telling stalls was not uncommon in Yunjiabao, especially during festivals when many fortune-tellers and monks would come out to beg for alms. However, it was still early in the morning with few pedestrians around; setting up a stall now felt foolish.
The Night Watchman’s son frowned and crossed his arms as he approached the fortune-telling stall and asked, “Daoist priest, do you know when this shop opens? My father is sick and urgently needs a doctor.”
The Daoist raised his head and carefully looked at the Night Watchman’s son. He noticed that there was a slight darkness on his forehead and pointed towards the Rouge shop: “Your father’s illness cannot be treated by the doctors in this shop. Since I have fate with you, I will direct you to a place. Walk straight down this street; after a short distance, you will see a newly opened Rouge shop. It has an easy-to-remember name: Ruyi Rouge Shop. Go inside and look for a manager with the surname Xing; she is the only one who can treat your father’s illness here in Yunjiabao.”
“Fraud!” The Night Watchman’s son glared at the Daoist: “Why are you setting up your stall here early in the morning like a lunatic? You’re just a fake Daoist trying to trick patients into buying things at that new Rouge shop.”
The Daoist looked at the Night Watchman’s son helplessly and pointed to his own face: “Do I really look like a fraud?”
"You're not just a liar; you are a liar. I've seen tricks like yours many times. Let me tell you, I'm not a fool, and I won't fall for your tricks." The Gravedigger's Son quickly rubbed his cold arms and hurriedly fled from the fortune teller's booth as if escaping from a plague.
"Truth hurts, truth hurts. I am clearly here to help the world, yet to others, I have become a fraud," the Taoist priest shook his head helplessly, adjusted his robes, sat in front of the booth, and quietly began to read a scroll.
The Gravedigger's Son searched around but found no pharmacy open at this hour, so he had to return home. At this time, Mother had already placed Father on the bed and was fiddling with an exquisite Copper Mirror. Upon seeing him enter, she hurriedly asked, "Did you manage to find a doctor?"
The Gravedigger's Son shook his head. "It’s just past dawn. I ran all over the pharmacies from the Yun Family Gathering, but not a single one was open. I called out and shouted, but no one responded; instead, I was scolded by several clerks through the walls. Mother, what happened to Father? Why is he suddenly unconscious?"
As soon as the Gravedigger's Son finished speaking, the candle in the room flickered three times before going out. The tightly shut window inexplicably blew open, and a gust of wind rushed in, making the room suddenly cold. Without thinking much, the Gravedigger's Son jumped onto the bed, pulled up the quilt, and nestled his shivering body inside. He then looked up at Mother and said, "I'm freezing! Quickly close the window. I've already been with Father for a long time; this window is loose, and we don't have extra firewood for charcoal. If it keeps blowing open like this every day, won't we freeze to death?"
"Child, what nonsense are you talking about? Death and such!" Mother spat three times, placed the Copper Mirror on the bed, and then got up to close the window.
The second wave of cold wind hit as Mother went to shut the window, causing her to shiver involuntarily. Seeing that she had left the Copper Mirror on the bed out of curiosity, the Gravedigger's Son reached over to take it. Before he could examine it closely, he shrank back from the cold wind. He turned over and used the faint morning light coming through the window to look at the back of the mirror.
Just one glance captivated him with the gaze of a woman on the back of the Copper Mirror. She looked at him shyly and timidly; her beautiful eyes seemed to contain a hint of spring warmth, and there was a playful smile at the corner of her mouth that made his heart race and his head feel dizzy.
"Mother! Look how beautiful this girl in the Copper Mirror is!" The Gravedigger's Son said foolishly while handing the Copper Mirror to Mother.
"No matter how beautiful she is, she's just an illusion!" Mother closed the window and turned to look at her son. Seeing his silly grin made her poke his forehead lightly. "Listen to your mother; when it comes to marriage, choose wisely. For families like ours, it's enough to marry a good woman who can knit well and manage household chores—strong in health with few ailments who can bear children. As for looks, as long as she has decent features that's good enough. Don't listen to your father; beautiful women are often high-maintenance. We can't afford that."
Mother reached for the Copper Mirror in her son's hand but saw him smiling foolishly as he crawled out from under the quilt and pressed the Copper Mirror against his face. "No! I want to marry this woman from the mirror."
"You little rascal! That woman in the mirror is clearly from a wealthy family! If you want to marry her, you should consider who you are first. If you have any ability, go bring home a Top Scholar for your mother," Mother said as she tried to snatch away the Copper Mirror from her son’s hands. "Hurry up and get dressed; I see your father is quite ill. You should go check at a pharmacy; maybe one will be open now."
"I won’t!" The Gravedigger's Son stubbornly replied while tightly clutching the Copper Mirror against his chest.
At that moment, the side of the bronze mirror that could reflect people was facing the woman. As she struggled with her son for the mirror, her eyes inadvertently glanced into it, and she saw a woman in black standing behind her.
The woman froze. Slowly, she turned around to look at the spot where the Black-Clad Woman stood in the mirror. Behind her was empty, but there were several faint footprints on the ground.
She had heard that ghosts were not to be taken lightly by humans, but the footprints left by ghosts could still be seen by people. Trembling, she turned her body and caught another glimpse of the bronze mirror from the corner of her eye.
Suddenly, a chilling laughter echoed from the mirror, filling the entire room. The woman instinctively covered her ears in fear, but when she saw her son still foolishly laughing while holding the mirror on the bed, a surge of maternal courage erupted within her. She lunged toward her son, snatched the mirror away, and smashed it hard onto the ground.
With a loud crash, the mirror fell to the floor, but its surface still faced the woman. The black-clad woman who had been in the mirror had now stepped forward and was looking at her with beautiful yet vengeful eyes.
The woman gazed in terror at the black-clad figure in the mirror. She intended to protect her son and escape from this room, but she found her hand moving closer and closer to the mirror while her breathing became increasingly difficult.
A cold sensation spread throughout her body as the eerie smile of the black-clad woman became clearer in her vision. Just as her hand approached the mirror, she felt an icy chill enveloping her entire being, followed by darkness as she fainted.
The sinister laughter abruptly ceased, and the lights in the room flickered back on. The Night Watchman's son sat foolishly on the bed, his eyes fixed on the fallen bronze mirror.
That evening, a woman in black holding a paper oil umbrella arrived at the door of Ruyi Rouge. She claimed to be Yun Kui's wife, the Night Watchman. Her husband and son had both fallen ill with a strange disease, and after seeking help from various doctors without success, she had come to Ruyi Rouge upon someone's recommendation, asking Xing Ruyi to please take a look at them.
At that time, Xing Ruyi was teaching A Niu how to identify various materials used to make rouge in the shop. Hearing the woman's words, she initially intended to refuse but was surprised when A Niu looked at the woman and called out "Aunt." It turned out that A Niu was actually a distant relative of this lady. Considering A Niu's connection, Xing Ruyi reluctantly agreed to help and quickly tidied up before heading to their home with A Niu and the woman.
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