Secret message T-T please read at inuekohouse.wordpress.com
When Chen Caixing and Yuan Jiuwan went out, it was already dark.
The doors of every house were closed tightly. If it was past eight o’clock in the summer of modern times, there would be many old people and children enjoying the cool air out in the village. But everyone here seemed to be afraid of something. Once it was dark, they would not leave their homes, and no one would answer the door at night.
On the first night, when Zhou Zihan and Mei Qing came back, they had knocked on every door, but no one had answered.
There were no street lights in the village, so it was pitch black outside with only the faint moonlight illuminating the path.
“Are you afraid?” Chen Caixing asked.
Yuan Jiuwan shook his head and said cutely: “I’m a man full of yang energy. Sister, if you’re afraid, you can hold onto me tightly.”
Chen Caixing was amused, pinched his younger brother’s cheek, and said, “Okay.”
There were too many trailing paths in this place that you would get lost if you walked during the day, let alone at night. But fortunately, the Sang family was holding a funeral tonight, and there were sounds of a suona and gong. The two of them followed the sounds and soon arrived smoothly.
Looking from afar, there were four figures in the square in front of the ancestral hall. All of them were men.
One of the two men in front was beating the gong and the other was playing the suona. With a knock and a blow, one of them shouted: “Please bestow your light, ancestors. Let us borrow a lantern.”
Behind them should be the two brothers, Su Le and Su Da. Each carried an oil lamp in hand, illuminating their figures dimly.
“You can go in now. Be careful.”
“We- We’ll wait for you outside.”
The two men playing the suona and gong said.
It was too dark here, not even the moonlight could shine through, as if it was being blocked by something. Chen Caixing looked at the sky and frowned.
Creak-
It was clear that none of the four men had moved, but the originally closed ancestral hall door suddenly opened.
A gust of cold wind rushed out. The two men, who were leading the group with musical instruments, shouted in alarm. They were so scared that their legs and feet became weak, saying:
“I-I’ll wait for you at the head of the path.”
“Me too.”
The two men ran away without saying anything more, leaving the two brothers where they were.
Chen Caixing saw that Su Le’s legs were shaking in fright. He was also scared of this creepy place, but he was a single mother who still had to raise a child. Chen Caixing followed the script of a pregnant female college student and touched his belly with a worried expression.
It seemed to have become a little rounder?
He must’ve eaten too much in the afternoon.
“Waiting for us?” Chen Caixing didn’t think too much about it and led his little brother forward.
Su Le was startled by the sudden voice. Seeing that it was Chen Caixing and Yuan Jiuwan, his young and tender face was dripping with cold sweat under the oil lamp, and he said in a panic, “Sister Yuan Xing, you should leave quickly. You can’t go in.”
“You guys should go back,” Su Da said. “There are ghosts in the village.”
Chen Caixing looked at the pitch-black ancestral hall with countless memorial tablets and said: “Aren’t they your ancestors? Don’t be afraid. Let’s go in and take a look.” He held Xiao Jiu’s hand tightly in one hand while the other touched the protective talisman in his pocket.
He needed to put in some effort to show that the talisman that cost him 190,000 yuan was worth its cost.
Even if it was all an act, he couldn’t afford to lose face.
Chen Caixing seemed to be walking calmly before turning back to look at the two brothers. “Still not following?” He was a pregnant woman with a child at his side. It was very scary for him to take the lead ah!
Su Da and Su Le carried the oil lamps and followed. In front of them was clearly a pregnant women who spoke gently and softly. But now, her figure from behind had become very dependable in their hearts. Su Le thought of something, and his eyes became sour. He raised his hand to rub them and didn’t let his tears fall.
The ancestral hall was sealed in all directions, and the air was stuffy with the smell of rotting wood. However, Chen Caixing’s nose was sharp, and he detected the dusty scent of blood. Right in front of them were several rows of densely packed memorial tablets. According to Jia Di, the Holy Maiden Ceremony had a history of hundreds of years. Whenever the village elders died, their memorial tablets would be put in here.
Those memorial tablets were obviously inanimate objects, but Chen Caixing always felt as if there were countless eyes staring back at them.
Behind them were two doors. When they took a step forward, they could see countless tall and slender traditional lanterns hanging on the beams.
The lanterns swayed slightly. Under the weak light of the oil lamp, these slender shadows appeared like the swaying of ghostly figures.
“How do we get them?” Chen Caixing asked the two brothers who were stunned in place.
“H-Hang them on the pole.” Su Le said.
The beam was high, and the lanterns were narrow and thin while hung on this high beam. If they wanted to take the lanterns down, they needed to use an iron hook on a pole. But the hanging pole was placed next to the table full of memorial tablets. If they wanted to get it, they had to walk through a row of lanterns.
They knew what the lanterns were made of, so it took a lot of courage to walk through them.
Chen Caixing felt that his retribution had come. He had just told a ghost story to Zhou Zihan, which scared the girl enough to make her scream. Now his scalp was numb, and his hair stood on end. Who told him to talk so big in front of Jia Di and his sons in the afternoon?
“I’ll get it.” Su Da said.
Su Le was scared. “Brother, I’ll go with you.”
“Go where? Don’t stop me, I’ll go.” Chen Caixing encouraged himself in his heart. It was up to him to break the superstition and curb violence with violence. Tonight, he was the messenger of justice, the incarnation of the Virgin Mary.
It was time to step up to the challenge.
Chen Caixing didn’t wait for the two brothers to respond before he took a step forward with the courage of having expensive talismans. Yuan Jiuwan followed behind him without letting go of his hand. When passing under the lanterns, Chen Caixing felt a cold wind blowing from the top of his head to his neck, brushing against his skin.
It caused him to break out in goosebumps.
There were auditory hallucinations of young girls’ soft and delicate voices saying:
“It hurts so much.”
“My skin is gone.”
“Your skin is so good, can you give it to me?”
“Give me your skin, please?”
Chen Caixing had a wooden expression on his face.
Sister, your last sentence was plagiarized. Can’t you change the line you speak?
Only by complaining like this could he calm down a little.
Yuan Jiuwan smiled at Chen Caixing, who seemed to be comforting himself mentally, but when he raised his head and swept a glance at the row of lanterns on the beam, his chubby little face had no expression at all. It was gloomier and scarier than a ghost’s.
The auditory hallucinations suddenly disappeared.
Chen Caixing went to the table of memorial tablets and took a closer look to see that these were just pieces of rotten wood tablets. He quickly took the hanging pole and turned his head to see Xiao Jiu staring at the lanterns in a daze. He was startled, saying: “Xiao Jiu, what are you looking at? Let’s go quickly.”
Yuan Jiuwan withdrew his gaze and said obediently: “Okay.”
There seemed to be a flash of red light in Xiao Jiu’s eyes. Chen Caixing looked carefully again, but there was no red light. His little brother’s almond-shaped eyes were widened due to fear. They were round and cute along with his chubby cheeks. If it weren’t for being in the wrong place, he would have loved to pinch them.
Chen Caixing held the pole in one hand and led Xiao Jiu to the lanterns, casually picking one at random.
The wind was calm now, and there seemed to be no ghosts.
The young girls’ cries of pain earlier seemed to be just auditory hallucinations.
It was so smooth that Chen Caixing wondered if there was a trap waiting for him.
As a result, when they stepped outside with the lantern, the ancestral hall door slammed shut behind them. The sound of the door slamming was very much like driving away an unwanted guest. Chen Caixing was emboldened by his own imagination.
“Nothing happened.” He gave the lantern to the two brothers and said: “Take it back.”
After seeing Chen Caixing smoothly taking the lantern, Su Le became tense, and blue veins popped out on his forehead. Su Da’s face was gloomy and ugly. The two brothers didn’t say anything and left with the lantern.
Chen Caixing looked at their departing figures and finally remembered something.
At the very least, they should’ve left an oil lamp with him.
The way back was too dark.
“Xiao Jiu, do you know the way back?”
“Brother, I remember.”
Chen Caixing: …The child was better than himself.
“Xiao Jiu, you’re the best.”
One big and one small walked back together. When they passed by the willow tree, the drooping branches gently brushed against Chen Caixing’s shoulder. Chen Caixing felt that his shoulders were itchy, and the summer T-shirt he wore was too thin. When he turned his head and saw the willow branches, he thought of the walnut tree in the previous world, and his heart skipped a beat.
The leaves rustled.
Because it was too dark, the willow tree seemed very sturdy with thick branches, and there were many clusters of hanging branches at the very top that swayed with the wind. It was impossible to see anything clearly, but he felt that something was in the tree.
“Brother?”
“Nothing, let’s go.” Go back first.
Xiao Jiu really did remember the way and quickly brought them back.
The courtyard door wasn’t closed and was slightly ajar. Chen Caixing pushed it open and saw an oil lamp lit in the main room. Jia Di was sitting under the lamp, holding a pipe in his hand. When their eyes met and Jia Di saw it was only them, he lowered his head and continued smoking.
Jia Di seemed to be waiting for his two sons.
“They went to send the lantern. They should be back soon.” Chen Caixing said. Without waiting for an answer, he took Xiao Jiu to the backyard to wash up and went upstairs.
The original quilt in the room was returned, but the thin embroidered quilt had not been taken away either.
Chen Caixing took off his shoes and went to bed. When he touched his trouser pocket, his fingertips felt something hot, so he took out the contents of his pocket. Half of the safety talisman that he bought for 190,000 yuan had turned into ashes.
“Xiao Jiu, what about you?” Chen Caixing’s heart ached. First, he was distressed about the money. Second, he wondered when the talisman had saved him tonight.
Yuan Jiuwan took out the talisman paper from his pocket. The yellow triangular talisman paper was still intact.
It couldn’t be the ancestral hall. Both of them had entered the ancestral hall together. Maybe it was because Xiao Jiu hadn’t used the hanging pole to pickup the lantern. But Chen Caixing had an intuition that the talisman had been triggered when the willow branch touched him.
Could the ‘ancestor’ be a willow tree spirit?
The ancestor’s choosing depended on wiping the blood of a girl’s palm on a willow leaf.
No matter whether the ‘ancestor’ was the willow tree or not, the willow tree was definitely not a good thing.
He would ask Su Le tomorrow. After what happened tonight, it should be much easier to get information from the two brothers. Chen Caixing’s mind was in a mess. He wasn’t very sleepy after sleeping all afternoon, but he was deep in his thoughts and felt a little restless. He patted Xiao Jiu’s chest to coax the child to sleep and finally fell asleep after awhile.
“Sis, Sis, I want to pee.”
Someone whispered in his ear. Chen Caixing was sleepy and thought it was Xiao Jiu. He answered: “Wait a moment, Sister will take you.” After saying this, he immediately woke up.
Xiao Jiu had never called him ‘sis’ before.
Chen Caixing’s heart sank. He didn’t know if the half-burnt talisman would still be useful. Xiao Jiu was sleeping on the inner side. The room was so quiet that he could hear the child’s breathing while asleep. The voice was clearly not Xiao Jiu.
The voice on the outside of the bed was still saying: “Sis, why are you ignoring me? Can you look at me?”
Chen Caixing cried: Was it okay not to look? He really needed to pee now.
“Sis, I know you’re awake. I just want you to help me…” The girl’s voice was filled with tears.
Chen Caixing thought: Help you by giving you my skin?
That’s absolutely not possible.
“Sis, Sis…”
Chen Caixing’s scalp went numb. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. “Ah Xiang, if you have something to say, just say it. Don’t call for me like this. I’m pregnant and can’t stand being scared. If the baby is gone, we, mother and child, won’t let you go even if we become ghosts.”
The voice beside the bed suddenly stopped, as if frightened by Chen Caixing’s words.
Secret message T-T please read at inuekohouse.wordpress.com
inueko: I was rereading and realized that I sort of miss reading Xiao Jiu calling Chen Caixing ‘gege‘ lol. Do you think it would too much if the only thing I really kept pinyin was this? (˶˃ᆺ˂˶)
(*ˊᗜˋ*)/ᵗᑋᵃᐢᵏ ᵞᵒᵘ*
inueko's house 
Go for it! The gege is pretty cute.
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hehe I just might!! might keep the pinyin for the titles they call each other when speaking ^^
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