“Big brother, buy a lantern!” Just as Liu Dashao was lost in deep thought, a child of about ten years old, wearing tattered clothes full of patches, his face full of childish innocence, blocked his way while holding two lanterns.
“Who?—Who’s there! Don’t come near me, it’s got nothing to do with me! It was that tall guy, Pocky, and the Fat Kid who kept you five old men from sleeping. I was just passing by, just passing by!” Startled suddenly, Liu Dashao’s iron heart shattered, immediately covering his eyes and crying out in confusion.
“Big brother, buy a lantern!” The voice sounded again.
“Huh?” Liu Dashao slightly parted his tightly clenched fingers and cautiously opened his eyes.
Thank goodness, it was only a child.
“Little buddy, why haven’t you gone home yet? Your parents must be worried,” Liu Dashao asked with concern. He was delighted to finally meet a living person. This child wasn’t old and was alone. More importantly, he had often heard about child traffickers who came out in the evening to lure children away, so Liu Dashao suddenly felt a surge of goodwill.
“Big brother, buy a lantern!” The child ignored Liu Dashao’s words, speaking with a blank expression.
“Big brother won’t buy a lantern. Where do you live? Let me send you back,” Liu Dashao became somewhat anxious. His home was still a half-hour walk away, and night was quickly approaching.
“Big brother, buy a lantern!” The child still had a blank expression, offering one of the lanterns to Liu Dashao. It was only now that Liu Dashao noticed something strange about the child. In this day and age, who would still sell lanterns? Also, the child’s eyes were hollow, his face pale, and there was a red mark around his neck.
“Could it be that he was beaten by his parents and ran out?”
“But where did he get the lanterns? Did he make them himself? That seems unlikely,” Liu Dashao frowned, then reached out to feel the child’s forehead. “Little buddy, are you okay?”
“Big brother, buy a lantern.” The child repeated the same words, this time with a hint of urgency in his tone.
“If you don’t tell me where you live, I’m leaving,” Liu Dashao, naturally somewhat impulsive, grew angry after the child repeatedly ignored his words.
“There.” The child seemed afraid that Liu Dashao would leave, turned around, and pointed to the hill behind him.
“Finally, you’re speaking! Come on, I’ll send you home. You should talk things over with your parents. Don’t run away from home. You’re putting yourself in danger, you know,” Liu Dashao said, not noticing that the direction the child pointed to was actually the location of the graveyards.
“No.” The child shook his head. “My house is just over that hill. I don’t need you to walk me home. Big brother, buy a lantern!” He extended the lantern in his hand toward Liu Dashao.
“Hey, you’re such a strange kid. Why are you selling lanterns so late at night?” Liu Dashao decided not to engage with the stubborn child any further and turned to leave. After their conversation, he roughly concluded that the kid either had some mental issues or was just stuck on something.
“Waaah waaah waaah—” Liu Dashao had only taken a couple of steps when he heard the child crying behind him.
“Hey, what do you want from me?” After all, he was still a child. Despite Liu Dashao’s hardened heart, he couldn’t bear to leave like this, so he stopped again, helplessly spreading his hands toward the child.
“Waaah waaah waaah—Mom said I can’t go home unless I sell all the lanterns, waaah waaah waaah—”
“Fine, how much?” Liu Dashao grabbed one of the lanterns from the child’s hand and, after fumbling for some hidden cash in his underwear, asked. Truthfully, it was already completely dark now. Earlier, when they left the temple, everyone was so terrified they couldn’t even think about bringing oil lamps or playing cards. Right now, he needed a light source. The rural paths were difficult to navigate, and without one, he might fall into a septic tank or step on someone else’s pile of excrement at any moment.
“Two jiao!”
“Alright, here you go. Go home early,” Liu Dashao generously handed over a one-yuan note and smiled.
“Okay, thank you, big brother.” The child took the money, gave Liu Dashao some change, and then didn’t linger much longer. He turned around and hopped away. But the moment he turned, the tears on his face instantly turned a dark red, a scene so eerie that words couldn’t describe it.
“Be careful on your way!”
“Okay, I know.”
“What a strange kid,” Liu Dashao muttered to himself as he watched the child leave, then lit his lantern and walked down the lonely path.
Nowadays, even though agriculture was collectivized, incomes were still low, and people’s lives were very difficult. People worked from dawn to dusk, doing anything possible for a little money. Thus, putting himself in the child’s shoes, Liu Dashao could understand why the child might be selling lanterns alone in the evening.
It was surely due to the hardships of life!
The road home wasn’t smooth. Even with the lantern, Liu Dashao almost fell into a paddy field several times. His streak of bad luck was the exact opposite of his earlier good fortune while playing cards.
“Sigh, when will I finally get home? What’s going on here?” An hour had passed, but Liu Dashao still hadn’t returned home. In his estimation, there was still quite a distance to go. Fortunately, he still had the lantern for light; otherwise, he wouldn’t have known what to do. The countryside at night was naturally quiet, with only the occasional bark of a dog breaking the silence. A breeze rustled the trees, and even though Liu Dashao was bold and observant, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
All along the way, Liu Dashao had the persistent feeling that something was following him. But when he turned around, he saw nothing but darkness. Yet the moment he turned back, the feeling remained.
“Amitabha, Jesus Christ, protect me, Lord Laojun!” Country folk were naturally rather superstitious, believing in ghosts and spirits. Although Liu Dashao himself didn’t believe, thinking about those five spirit official statues that had transformed into monsters earlier made him uneasy, so he began silently praying.
“Rustle, rustle, rustle…” As Liu Dashao was silently praying, a sudden rustling sound came from behind him, like someone walking. There was no wind at the moment, so it couldn’t have been the trees making the sound. Then…?
At this thought, Liu Dashao was startled and quickly turned his head. A vague, short figure appeared in his vision, then vanished into the darkness again.
“Ghost!” Liu Dashao turned to run, but his legs felt like they were filled with lead, and no matter what he tried, he couldn’t lift them. Looking closely, he realized that he was so frightened his legs were trembling uncontrollably.
His fear reached its peak. Since his legs wouldn’t obey him, he silently prayed while looking around anxiously, fearing the shadow might appear again. The strange occurrences didn’t stop there. After confirming the ghostly figure didn’t reappear, Liu Dashao weakly sat on the ground, his entire body soaked in sweat from fear. He hadn’t even had time to catch his breath when he was startled to notice that the thin paper of the lantern—the only source of light for him—had a drawing on it. No, more accurately, it was a head, a child’s head, with a greenish face, bulging eyes, tears of blood streaming down, and several large holes on the face. Looking closer, it seemed as if insects were crawling on it.
“Ahhhhhhhh!” Liu Dashao frantically threw the lantern away. He could swear that when he bought the lantern from the child, there had been nothing on it. But now…
Reaching the peak of fear, Liu Dashao’s hidden potential was unleashed. His legs obeyed him again, and he suddenly stood up, feeling as if his body was filled with infinite strength. He ran toward home as fast as if flying. He couldn’t guarantee what would happen if he stayed any longer or whether he could endure it.
In the pitch darkness, stumbling and falling, Liu Dashao finally made it home. However, he had completely changed. His clothes were torn in several places by branches, his whole body was covered in mud, and he looked indescribably pitiful.
“Oh my goodness, I’m so scared, so scared,” Liu Dashao exclaimed, pounding his chest as he got home. Without even changing clothes, he bolted the front door shut, because he was home alone. His parents were spending the night at his grandmother’s house, so naturally, he couldn’t count on their help.
The entire night, Liu Dashao couldn’t fall asleep. Not because he didn’t want to, but because he was too afraid to sleep, fearing that the dark shadow might appear behind him. The whole night was spent in fear and anxiety, flinching at every slight sound.
When daylight came, Liu Dashao finally fell asleep. Even a strong and healthy young man couldn’t endure such prolonged mental tension.
When Liu Dashao woke up, it was already past ten in the morning. As soon as he woke up, without saying a word, he grabbed incense and candles to worship his ancestors. The impression left on him from last night was too deep—the five clay statues, the dark shadow, oh my, especially the pattern on the lantern. He couldn’t understand. The lantern had clearly had no pattern on it, yet later on…
Could it be that ghosts really exist in this world? Thinking about it made him break out in cold sweat all over.
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