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墨書 Inktalez
Xing Ruyi had seen many female ghosts, but she had never encountered one like this. Although Cui Cui possessed all the characteristics that an Evil Spirit should have, she was surprisingly timid and bashful, which made Xing Ruyi, who had already entered battle mode, feel a bit deflated.
In the chilling wind, Cui Cui danced in her red dress, yet she lowered her head shyly and slowly moved into the doorway.
Li Mao initially wanted to block her path but was stopped by a glance from Xing Ruyi. She noticed that the Old Man had already risen and was walking towards Cui Cui. He held a pipe in his hand and said to Cui Cui: "Regarding the Sun Family, they were at fault first. You have punished those you needed to punish. The remaining villagers have helped you and your mother during your difficult times. I, Old Man, beg you to spare them. If you must take a soul tonight, then take mine instead. I've lived long enough; it would be fitting to follow my Wife on this journey."
Cui Cui pressed her lips together and looked up at Old Man, remaining silent for a while.
The Old Man sighed deeply and said, "I know why you are here tonight, and I understand that you don't intend to harm Simpleton. But Cui Cui, you know that Simpleton is the only root of my family. If you were alive, I wouldn't oppose your relationship with him. But right now, you are different from us; humans and ghosts are on separate paths. There is no future for the two of you."
Cui Cui tightened her lips even more.
“Grandfather!” Simpleton called out as he ran out of the room. He couldn't see Cui Cui, but he heard the words of the Old Man, so he asked excitedly, “Is it Cui Cui? Has she come? I heard from people in the village that those who suffered from hysteria saw Cui Cui before they fell ill. But… why can’t I see her?”
Upon hearing Simpleton's voice, the swirling red dress of Cui Cui gradually settled down. Only then did Xing Ruyi realize it was a red wedding gown. Cui Cui gazed dreamily at Simpleton, then suddenly knelt before the Old Man, bowing deeply three times.
“What are you doing? You are a ghost; I am a living person. Kneeling like this will shorten my life!”
Cui Cui hurriedly shook her head, got back up, but her lips remained pressed together, and her gaze shifted from shyness to grievance.
Xing Ruyi nudged Si Niang beside her and whispered, “I’m starting to understand less and less about what’s happening here. It seems like this Old Man is hiding something from me.”
Si Niang felt the chilling winds in the courtyard and was too cold to see any spirits; thus, she couldn’t answer Xing Ruyi's question.
“I’m not you and don’t see those things; how can I answer your question?” Si Niang shrugged. “Though I can’t see them, I did catch some of your conversation just now. It seems there’s something going on between this newly arrived girl, Cui Cui, and this young man named Simpleton.”
“There is indeed something!” Xing Ruyi stretched her back and said to Li Mao: “Check if Bell has woken up yet. Also, bring me that new cloak made by the fox; it seems much colder here in the countryside than in the city.”
Li Mao nodded and quickly walked outside, taking a cloak from the Carriage. While retrieving the cloak, he glanced at Bell, who was surprisingly undisturbed by all the commotion in the courtyard; she was still sound asleep, not even turning over.
"Is Bell awake?"
"No, she's sleeping very deeply. It seems that the journey has exhausted her."
"In that case, let her sleep!" Xing Ruyi wrapped the cloak around herself and casually asked, "Has the fox returned?"
"There are no traces of Yin Ye left by the Carriage."
"This damn fox just abandoned me as soon as we left the city. When he comes back, I'll make him pay for it!" Xing Ruyi huffed, tightening the cloak around her for warmth before walking over to Cui Cui.
"Do you like Simpleton?"
Cui Cui looked at Xing Ruyi, first shaking her head, then gently nodding in response to her gaze.
"Since you like him, why didn't you seek him out while you were alive? And Old Man, I remember you mentioned earlier that Simpleton is still unmarried. Given his age, he’s considered a late-blooming bachelor in the countryside. If he has feelings for you and you for him, why didn’t you support it back then?"
"Yes, Grandfather, why didn’t you agree to let me be with Cui Cui? If you had agreed at that time, perhaps Cui Cui and her mother..."
"Shut up!" Old Man scolded. "Do you really think Grandfather is that heartless? Do you think I didn't notice the feelings between you and Cui Cui?"
"Could it be that Old Man disapproved of Cui Cui's background because she is a wandering outsider?"
"I don't care where she came from; I can see that Cui Cui is a good girl. Although her mother is ill, she is also a kind Woman. If Cui Cui could truly become part of our family with Simpleton, I would wholeheartedly approve as Grandfather. But she absolutely should not have moved into that house with her mother."
"That house?"
"Yes, that house. It's our village's Haunted House. Anyone who moves in never has a good ending. Not only do they suffer, but everyone around them suffers too. Cui Cui and her mother entered the village at midnight, and on their first night, they stayed in that house for seven days. Later, even though they moved out, her mother had already been haunted by something inside. I suspect that Cui Cui was also affected at that time; she was just young enough to endure a bit longer.
Ruyi, you probably haven't married yet, so you don't understand the feelings of being a parent or a grandparent. I know that Cui Cui won't live long, and I also know that if Simpleton stays with her, it will surely bring disaster to my whole family. How can I agree to that?
"If according to Grandfather, everyone who enters that Haunted House must die, then why am I fine?" Simpleton rushed up to Old Man and said, "I’ve been in that house too, and all these years have passed; I'm still living well!"
"Living well? Do you really think you're living well?" Old Man angrily slapped his thighs twice, then looked up with a pained expression at his old wife. The old lady smiled faintly and shook her head at Old Man.
"I know you don't want to stop me because he is the only legacy left by our son’s wife. But this troublemaker still hasn't learned to repent. If you don’t stop me now, who knows what kind of disaster he will cause in the future? By then, I’ll be gone; who will protect him? Wife, he can't stay like this forever; he has to grow up."
"Grandfather, who are you talking to? Is it Grandma?"
"You just asked me why you've been fine all these years, right? I'll tell you; it's because others have borne those misfortunes for you."
"What?"
"Do you remember what happened before you turned seven?"
Simpleton shook his head.
"Of course you don't remember because when you were seven, like the others in the village, you all suffered from hysteria."
"I had hysteria?"
"Yes! In the summer when you were seven, because of the Harvest Season, everyone was in the fields. You and a few children from the village secretly sneaked into that haunted house, which is the same one we just talked about. By nightfall, each of you fell ill, dazed and confused. At first, no one thought about that haunted house because no one could imagine that you reckless children would be so bold as to ignore the adults' warnings and sneak into that place.
But in the following days, more and more children died, and the entire village was in a state of panic, believing it was a plague. Eventually, a teacher from the village discovered a pattern: all the deceased children were your close playmates. Then someone found one of the children's shoes near that haunted house, and everyone realized you had gotten into serious trouble.
The teacher came from Chang'an and was quite knowledgeable, so everyone went to him for help. He spent an entire night studying many books before he found a method to conceal the Ghost Eye and borrow a Soul. This method was extremely dangerous; if it succeeded, everything would be fine, but if it failed, the person whose Soul was borrowed would have to die in place of the one who borrowed it.
"And then?" Simpleton seemed to understand something as he nervously looked at Old Man.
"Your parents only had you as their child; how could they bear to watch you die? So they used that method, but neither of them returned. My Son and Daughter-in-law were lost just like that. Three years later, you woke up but forgot everything. Your grandmother and I could only comfort you; your parents had passed away long before due to an accident.
The talisman on the door was drawn by that teacher at the time, and that bed is indeed where you used to sleep. Later on, it was kept there to deceive whatever was in that haunted house. Even your name—we dared not use it anymore; we could only give you the name Simpleton, hoping you could live up to your parents' sacrifice and stay safe.
But you—this troublemaker—actually hid this from us and went back into that house for Cui Cui. This time, it was your grandmother who couldn't bear to see you die again, so she used that method once more, leading to her death. Do you remember what it was like when your grandmother was buried? Bound tightly with ropes and covered all over with those talismans. Do you know why?"
"For peace of soul!" Xing Ruyi interjected: "Although I don't know the specifics, I can guess. The person whose Soul was borrowed must be sealed in their coffin for eternity without any chance of Reincarnation. Simpleton's grandmother could come out because she borrowed the light from the rain; when rain seeped into the coffin and soaked those talismans, they became ineffective."
Old Man remained silent for a while, and Xing Ruyi knew she had guessed correctly. But then her heart sank again as she realized she and everyone else present had overlooked another issue.
They all believed that the hysteria in the village stemmed from that child from Sun the Shopkeeper's family and that Cui Cui buried in the forest outside was behind it all. However, given the current situation, it seemed there might be another ghost at play!
"Cui Cui, let me ask you: did you cause this hysteria in the village?"
Cui Cui shook her head!
"It wasn't me! I only scared one person—the young scion from the Sun Family."
Cui Cui pursed her lips and said, "It was that young master from the Sun Family who did wrong. Although I was angry, I never intended to take his life. I just set up a trap to teach him a lesson. That night, Grandfather was also present, so I secretly sent him out. But when I returned to get that young master out, I found that one of his souls was missing. He was never a good person, so I didn't think much of it and told him my name was Cui Cui, hoping he wouldn't disturb my mother and me again. If he agreed, I would let him go. To my surprise, he remembered my name.
As for what happened later, Grandfather must have already told you. The Sun Family dug up graves and even hired a Taoist to capture me and my mother. But that Taoist was a fraud; he didn't really practice Daoist arts. He only had powerful Black Dog Blood, which nearly cost me my life. I had no choice but to hide.
"What about the red dress you're wearing?"
Cui Cui shyly glanced at Simpleton but remained silent.
"That dress was burned for Cui Cui. I promised to marry her, but Grandfather never agreed to our union. Later on, Cui Cui... I heard that the dead and the living can marry each other. If we were married, Cui Cui could stay here with me. When I die, we would journey together and be reborn together in the next life as husband and wife. I burned the betrothal gifts and wedding dress for Cui Cui; if she agreed, she would wear the dress to find me. But I can't see her!"
"It seems we were all mistaken; the strange happenings in this village have nothing to do with Cui Cui but are related to you, Simpleton. Your grandmother was originally meant to die in your place, and her soul should have been trapped in that coffin for eternity. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, your grandmother escaped, and now the entities in the Haunted House know they were tricked and have begun to retaliate—not only against your family but against the entire village."
Xing Ruyi nodded in agreement when suddenly there was a loud crash, as if a house had collapsed nearby. The Old Man listened intently and his expression changed. He looked at Xing Ruyi and said, "That direction seems to be the Haunted House!"
"Let's go! We need to check it out; we must resolve the issues in this village," Xing Ruyi said as she stepped out of the courtyard.
The Old Man knocked his pipe and followed her outside, saying to Xing Ruyi, "I'll lead the way!"
Following the winding paths through the village towards the west, they soon came upon a ruin; indeed, the collapsed structure was the long-abandoned Haunted House that had terrified villagers for many years!
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