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墨書 Inktalez
Liu Jian's home was not located by the roadside, so my dad could only drop us off at the nearest spot. After getting out of the car, we still had to walk for nearly half an hour to reach Field Path, a narrow trail, followed by a short stretch of mountain road.
Years had passed, and Liu Jian's family had built a new house. It was no longer the old wooden and mud-brick structure but a two-story building made of red bricks. Within a radius of five hundred meters, there was only their family. However, the upper part was not tiled, and the windows were still wooden rather than aluminum. This indicated their financial struggles because, in rural areas, a house represented one's status.
It was already quite late, but the lights were still on inside, which was unusual in a rural area where darkness fell before ten o'clock. Liu Jian shouted for his dad through the door and window but received no response at first. Growing anxious, Liu Jian began to shout louder and knock forcefully on the door.
About three minutes later, an angry voice came from inside: "Have you all had enough of this nonsense? Show me what you've got; stop pretending to be ghosts!" The voice carried anger but also fear.
It was his father's voice.
Liu Jian quickly called out from outside, "Dad, it's me! It's me! Jianbao, open the door!"
The cursing continued inside, and it seemed his father still did not realize it was his son returning. It appeared that this family truly believed they were haunted; otherwise, such a strong reaction wouldn't have occurred. Moreover, this ghost seemed to be something else entirely, using various illusions and auditory hallucinations that had left Liu Jian's parents somewhat disoriented.
I said, "Did you call your dad to let him know you were coming back tonight?"
Liu Jian anxiously knocked on the door while replying, "No, I decided after hanging up the phone; I didn't tell my dad."
I suggested he make a call since his dad might be seeing things right now. The more he yelled, the more frightened his father would become. Liu Jian nodded and took out his phone to dial. After a moment, he put away his phone and said, "My dad is coming out to open the door now."
With a push, the door opened to reveal Liu Jian's father—a man nearing fifty with beads of sweat on his forehead. Upon seeing Liu Jian, his face lit up with joy as he rushed over and grabbed Liu Jian's hand. "Why didn't you give us a heads-up before coming back? You scared us to death!"
Liu Jian replied, "I forgot! Dad, what's going on? What happened at home?"
Liu Jian's father looked at me with confusion and asked who I was. Liu Jian responded with an "Oh," then explained to his dad, "This is my classmate; he also works in Guangzhou. He came back with me this time to take a look. By the way, the Master who helped arrange Grandpa's relocation is someone he introduced to our family."
I nodded at Liu Jian's father and said, "Yes, sir. I'm Liu Jian's junior high school classmate. The Master Zhang who helped with Grandpa's relocation is my mentor. I'm back this time to lend a hand."
Liu Jian looked at me in confusion and said, "You are the Taoist priest that the Yin Yang Master sent to help our family with the ghost problem." I replied, "Yes, that's me. I didn't tell you earlier because I was afraid you wouldn't believe me. But now, even if you don't believe it, it doesn't matter. Don't worry, I think I can help. I won't charge you too much; just a token amount will do."
Liu Jian regarded me with the eyes of someone looking at a monster and then slowly said, "No wonder you know so much. I thought you were just a bookworm. Well, we'll be counting on you for this matter, brother."
His quick acceptance surprised me a bit; I hadn't shown him anything yet. However, thinking from another angle, even if he didn't believe me, he had to pretend to do so since there was no one else around.
Once we entered the Main Hall, I placed the Cloth Bag on the table and looked around for a while. There didn't seem to be anything unusual inside; in fact, I didn't even sense a hint of coldness.
I asked Liu Uncle, "You mentioned earlier that your house is haunted. What exactly happened? Did you see something?"
At that moment, Liu Jian's mother came out. After exchanging a few pleasantries with Liu Jian, she began recounting the events. His father remained silent, sitting on a nearby stool and smoking his pipe.
The incident occurred on the night of their grandfather's memorial day, just a few days ago. During the day, the brothers had burned a lot of Joss Paper and offered many sacrifices for their grandfather. That night, the elderly couple went to bed early. They were actually quite anxious about this relocation of the grave because in previous years' memorial days, they had dreamt of their grandfather lamenting. They wondered if something similar would happen this time as well. So they hoped to sleep early in hopes of receiving their grandfather's Dreaming.
However, when a person has something on their mind, the more they want to sleep, the less they can. By around eleven o'clock that night, they still hadn't fallen asleep; instead, they felt increasingly awake. Coincidentally, during that time, a major transformer in town had malfunctioned, leading to a power outage that lasted until today.
That night, unable to sleep despite tossing and turning, the elderly couple found it strange that after such a tiring day they couldn't fall asleep and felt a chill in the room. Liu Uncle decided to get up and pour himself some liquor to help him sleep faster. Just as he lit a candle with his lighter, he sensed something was off in the room.
After lighting the candle, the flame began to flicker erratically despite being indoors with all doors and windows tightly shut—there shouldn't be any wind causing the candle to sway like that. Liu Uncle stared at the candle on the table and glanced around in confusion when suddenly he heard his partner scream.
He quickly turned around and asked what was wrong. Liu Matriarch was pointing at the white wall across from them with a terrified expression on her face; she was trembling so much she couldn't speak. Following her finger's direction, Liu Uncle looked over and was also startled. On the white wall appeared several shadows that twisted and contorted with the flickering candlelight. They looked like silhouettes but were sharply defined—he could clearly see their necks, heads, limbs, and more.
This sudden situation frightened Liu Family's elderly couple terribly; their children were all out working, leaving just the two of them at home without anyone to turn to for help.
The shadows on the wall danced wildly before slowly peeling away from it. They appeared semi-transparent yet substantial; although blurry, they were undeniably real shadows no longer confined to the wall. Gradually, they began moving toward the elderly couple's bedside.
The elderly couple, already frightened, became even more terrified. The Liu Matriarch had shrunk into the corner of the wall, fearfully watching the shadows slowly encircle them. Liu Uncle was at a loss, standing protectively in front of Liu Matriarch and cursing loudly.
Many people know that even ghosts fear the wicked; sometimes, if you are fierce enough, you might scare away ordinary wandering spirits.
As the indistinct shadows drew closer to the bed, Liu Uncle prepared to fight back. He grabbed the pole from the bedside and was about to strike at them when suddenly, the candle went out with a puff. The room was instantly plunged into darkness.
After the candle extinguished, Liu Grandpa began to hear intermittent phrases near his ear. No, it was more accurate to say they were words: Joss Paper, offerings, none left, so hungry, so hungry.
Liu Uncle trembled as he fumbled for the flashlight hidden under the pillow. He hurriedly turned it on and scanned the room. Strangely, the room had calmed down again; neither shadows nor indistinct figures were visible anymore. He lost all desire for alcohol and instead held his trembling old partner close, muddling through the night. He dozed off several times, but each time it was only for a short while.
When dawn broke, he felt increasingly uneasy. He thought that perhaps the grave had shifted its eyes. After burning a lot of Joss Paper and offerings yesterday during the day, how could things have turned out like this? He began to suspect it was an issue with the ancestral grave. After breakfast, he decided to seek out Second Master.
After Liu Uncle explained everything to Second Master, he began to analyze the situation. First, he asked if Liu Uncle recognized those shadows or if they resembled his deceased father. Liu Uncle replied that he did not recognize them at all; they looked nothing like him. Second Master then asked if he had dreamed of his Old Father during their restless night. Liu Uncle said no. Second Master informed him that this had nothing to do with his father's grave relocation; it was likely that their home was haunted. He offered to introduce someone who could help.
The first watch has passed; more is still being written.
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