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墨書 Inktalez
The saying goes, "Debt has its owner," and this ghost appearing must have its reasons.
Xing Ruyi carefully examined the Wooden Door, which still bore a trace of the ghostly presence.
"It seems she left a mark."
"She has been here before, standing outside this door. Since it wasn't night yet, the door wasn't tightly shut. Perhaps she saw me and chose not to enter. But I know she is more powerful than I am, dressed in blood-red clothing, with eyes just as red, resembling what people call a Vengeful Spirit. I'm just an ordinary ghost; I doubt I could contain her."
"Vengeful Spirit?" Xing Ruyi shook her head. "I don't think so. While there is a ghostly presence on this door, it doesn't seem malicious."
"People say she is a Vengeful Spirit in red attire; how could she be anything but dangerous?" The old woman scoffed. "Actually, it's not just me who fears her; everyone in this village is afraid of her."
"Oh?" Xing Ruyi lightly responded, her gaze shifting to the Old Man. "Old Man, can you tell me about what happened in this village?"
"Well, there's not much to say. It's just that Sun the Shopkeeper's Son was bewitched by that female ghost. In rural areas, people are superstitious about such things, so everyone has been keeping a close watch on their family members. Plus, it's winter now, and there's not much work in the fields, so they might as well stay home for safety."
"Bewitched by a female ghost? So you've seen this female ghost too, Old Man?"
"What's so surprising about seeing her when you're half-buried in the ground? That female ghost—or rather that girl—I know her. Her name is Cui Cui; she fled here during a disaster. She originally lived with her mother in an old house in the village. After winter set in, her mother caught a Cold Wind illness and couldn't afford treatment. After suffering for a while, she passed away, and it was the villagers who helped arrange her burial." The Old Man then knocked his pipe against his shoe and started smoking again.
"And what about Cui Cui? How did she die?"
"She died from illness, just like her mother—also from Cold Wind. At first, we villagers felt sorry for her and gathered some Silver to buy medicine for her. But this girl was weak; even a couple of doses of medicine didn't help at all. She lasted a bit longer than her mother but eventually passed away too. I even helped arrange her funeral; she was buried in the Forest outside the village next to her mother's grave. After all, they were mother and daughter; at least they could look after each other on their journey."
"So she should be grateful to the people of our village and has no reason to come back to harm anyone."
"As for Sun Family's Son, he brought this upon himself. This boy never let his father rest easy and became a nuisance in the village. When he turned twelve, his father sent him to a school in the city hoping that the teachers there would discipline him properly. But who would have thought that he learned little but gained even more mischievous thoughts? He hid them well when he wasn't causing trouble; he looked like a proper scholar most of the time."
"What did he do? Did he bully Cui Cui?"
"Not exactly; by the time he returned from the city, Cui Cui was already gone." The Old Man took another couple of puffs from his pipe before continuing, "We have a saying in our countryside: 'Death is paramount.' Regardless of what someone did in life—whether good or bad—we don't discuss it after they're gone, let alone engage in any inappropriate actions."
"Old Man, you're trying to drive me crazy!"
Xing Ruyi listened to the story, feeling uneasy about the heavy breathing. It was like going to a teahouse to listen to a tale, only to find that the main character never appeared, leaving only bits and pieces of stories that, while not bad, felt lacking somehow.
"People get older and tend to ramble more; I’ll get to the main point soon," Old Man said, glancing at the old woman still standing in the corner. "That night, I heard water entering the house in the middle of the night. I opened my eyes and saw my Wife standing in the water. I asked her what she was doing, whether she wanted me to follow her, but her lips moved without sound.
I have only one Son, who married a Daughter-in-law and had a Grandson named Simpleton. Unfortunately, my Son's wife passed away before me, and now my Wife is gone too. To be honest, I don't have much desire to live anymore. That night, seeing my Wife looking so wronged made my heart ache, so I thought about going out for a walk."
"Just going out for a walk?" Xing Ruyi asked.
"Just going out for a walk!" Old Man stiffened his neck, clearly not telling the whole truth.
Xing Ruyi did not press further and quietly waited for Old Man to continue.
"People in the countryside go to bed early. When I left that night, it was still before dawn. The moon was hazy and dim, just like tonight. Feeling sad, I kept my head down and walked out of the village. As I walked, I overheard a few people talking; one was from the neighboring village named Gao Zhan, and the other was The Only Son of the Sun Shopkeeper.
I had no intention of eavesdropping on their conversation. This group never came up with anything good. But just as I turned to leave, I heard Gao Zhan mention Cui Cui. Gao Zhan is usually a bit of a troublemaker, always up to no good; I don't know how he ended up with The Only Son of the Sun Shopkeeper. Then I heard him encouraging Sun the Shopkeeper's child to take a stroll around Cui Cui's grave, betting on a piece of jade he wore.
"Did that child from Sun the Shopkeeper go?"
"He did! The kid from the city academy looked down on us country folks and had a reckless personality; he wouldn't shy away from anything. Although that child from Sun the Shopkeeper is disappointing, his father is a kind man. I was worried and decided to follow him."
"What did he do? Is he that child from the Sun Family?"
"At first, he seemed relaxed, strolling along with his head bobbing toward the Forest. But then he stopped as if he heard something; his demeanor changed as if waking from sleep—his body stiff but his steps light.
Seeing him like that made my heart skip a beat. Just as I thought about calling out to him, he suddenly vanished, and thick fog rolled in around the Forest, making it hard to see the path."
"It seems someone didn't want you to stop that young master!"
"At first, I didn't think much of it. But later, when I couldn't find my way out after wandering left and right, I realized I might have encountered a Ghost Wall. I tried sweet-talking it at first, but it didn’t work. In my panic, I remembered an old method passed down through generations and started cursing loudly. I cursed everything unpleasant until I'd exhausted all my lifetime's worth of insults." Old Man shook his head: "Though this method isn't exactly proper, it really worked; after cursing for a while, the fog cleared. To my surprise, I found myself back at the village entrance."
Old Man adjusted his clothing slightly, his expression becoming less natural.
"Although I've lived for quite a long time and have heard many strange stories, when I actually encountered one myself, I felt scared. Especially when the mist began to rise again, I felt all the hair on my body stand on end. With fear in my heart, I couldn't care less about that child from the Sun Family. However, I knew deep down that something was amiss. If I were to intervene, I would need to gather more people from the village, especially those with strong vitality and yang energy like the Young Man."
"Everyone experiences fear; it's normal for an Old Man to feel scared in such situations."
"That's true, but if I had had a bit more courage at that time, perhaps the child from the Sun Family wouldn't be in such a predicament now." The Old Man tightened his grip on his pipe and continued, "Let me return to what I was saying. At that moment, I was frightened and thought about quickly returning to the village to find someone. Just as I was about to step forward, I suddenly heard another person's footsteps behind me!
I thought someone was following me, maybe it was that child from the Sun Family, so I hurriedly turned around to look, but there was nothing behind me. However, when I turned back, the footsteps seemed to be right behind me again, closer than before.
I was so tense that cold sweat broke out all over me. Eventually, I mustered up some courage and looked back again. At first, there was still nothing there, only the increasingly thick fog. But then, I heard a voice calling me, and it sounded very clear."
"It was Cui Cui!"
"Yes!" The Old Man nodded gently. "It was strange; even when I heard that voice, I was still very scared. If I had been younger, I might have just run back to the village. But when Cui Cui appeared in that fog, my fear dissipated. I talked to her and hoped she could spare the child from the Sun Family and that she and her mother could move on soon to be reincarnated and live a peaceful life in the Next Life.
Cui Cui stood there in the fog and glanced at me without saying a word before turning away. All my strength seemed to drain away in an instant, and I collapsed onto the ground without being able to get up for half an hour. It was only later that Simpleton came looking for me and brought me back home.
After regaining my composure at home, I asked Simpleton to hurry over to the Sun Family and inform Sun the Shopkeeper about his Son's situation. Sun the Shopkeeper didn't hesitate; he immediately hired more than ten Young Men from the village and headed out to the Forest. They searched all night but couldn't find the child from the Sun Family. It wasn't until the next morning that they discovered he was wandering around a Tomb Mound—the very Tomb Mound of Cui Cui."
"If it were just a bet to walk around that Tomb Mound, he wouldn't have been caught in Cui Cui's Ghost Wall or had his soul taken. Did this child from the Sun Family do something else?"
The Old Man remained silent for a while before finally speaking up: "When the child from the Sun Family returned from town, he stopped midway in the Forest for convenience. While in there, he saw two new graves and played a prank by scattering filth on their Grave Mound. This mother and daughter were already unfortunate souls; having died once was bad enough without being bullied like this—wouldn't they be angry?
That night when I encountered them, the child from the Sun Family was bragging with Gao Zhan about this incident. Gao Zhan didn't believe him and encouraged him to go back again to leave some evidence at that Tomb Mound for verification. If something happened, he would give his ancestral jade to the child from the Sun Family; if not, then he would owe Gao Zhan five hundred taels of silver."
"So this is how your village got haunted?"
"No!" The Old Man firmly denied it. "Cui Cui's anger stemmed from what the Sun Family did afterward."
"What did they do afterward?"
"Well! After returning home, the child from the Sun Family became abnormal. Sun the Shopkeeper specifically went into town to hire a doctor who diagnosed him with hysteria. He was completely dazed and kept mumbling Cui Cui's name."
This child is the only son of Sun the Shopkeeper, spoiled and indulged like a precious treasure; otherwise, he wouldn't have turned out to be such a disappointing figure. Right now, the child is sick and keeps muttering the name Cui Cui, clearly enchanted by her. In a fit of anger, Sun the Shopkeeper not only hired someone to exorcise spirits but also dug up graves, forcibly unearthing the remains of the mother and daughter.
"To go so far as to dig up graves? That's ruthless!" Xing Ruyi shook her head in disbelief. No wonder Cui Cui had become a Vengeful Spirit.
"If it were just that, it wouldn't be so bad," the Old Man lowered his head.
"Could there be something even more outrageous?" Xing Ruyi couldn't fathom what could be worse than digging up graves. Could it be something like desecrating a corpse, similar to someone from history?
"Black Dog Blood! After seeing that exorcism didn't help his child, Sun the Shopkeeper got a basin of Black Dog Blood and poured it over Cui Cui's corpse, intending to scatter her soul. You understand these matters; tell me, what good would pouring Black Dog Blood on her corpse do, even if it can subdue demons?"
As soon as the basin of Black Dog Blood was poured down, it instantly turned dark and ominous. The person who did it was so frightened that he immediately fled. Though he escaped, he incurred a debt that night when several Young Men lost their souls; they were all those who had helped the Sun Family dig up graves and pour Black Dog Blood. Consequently, the village became filled with fear, and everyone paid extra attention to outsiders.
"Because Cui Cui and her mother came from outside?" Xing Ruyi stretched her body and asked.
The Old Man nodded twice with his head down and whispered, "Yes!"
"How many people in your village have lost their souls so far?"
"Aside from my family, each household has one person affected, all showing symptoms similar to Sun Family's child, as if they have hysteria! If my wife is correct, then tonight it should be my Simpleton's turn."
As soon as the Old Man finished speaking, a gust of wind swept through the courtyard. The old lady swayed and floated in front of Xing Ruyi, urgently saying, "She's coming!"
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