The two turned their gaze toward the mist, and indeed, some lights were drawing closer and becoming brighter. The light seemed somewhat blinding, forcing the two to shield their eyes with their hands.
Suddenly, Liu Dashao shouted, “Ghost!”
“What’s wrong now? Why are you making such a fuss?”
Village Chief Tian hurriedly removed his hands from his eyes and was startled. Why? Because right in front of him appeared a shaky figure, hunched over with a high hump on its back, like a small hill. In its hand was a yellowish oil-paper lantern. For some reason, the faintly greenish glow of the lamp illuminated half of the figure’s face, while the other half remained in darkness. It was as if the face had been split down the middle—left side green, right side black, with wrinkled skin. If it had cried or screamed a bit, it would surely have scared anyone to death.
Before Village Chief Tian could ask who the figure was, a grumpy voice came from ahead, “Little brat, you’re the ghost!”
“You really don’t know gratitude. Liu Dashao, we came all the way to look for you, and you have the nerve to call me a ghost,” said the voice, sharp and thin, yet lacking strength—clearly belonging to an elderly person, probably an old lady.
“Who is that up ahead? How does she know your name?” Village Chief Tian looked at Liu Dashao, who shrugged, as if to say, “You’re asking me? I don’t know either!”
Could she be someone they knew? Just as this thought crossed Village Chief Tian’s mind, it was quickly dismissed, especially after the terrifying encounter they had just experienced.
As the figure approached with small, hurried steps, murmurs and curses drifted through the wind, and the two grew increasingly curious.
“Hey…” Village Chief Tian poked Liu Dashao in the armpit.
“Hey… hey…” When Liu Dashao ignored him, he poked him again.
“What’s wrong with you? Are you trying to annoy me?” Liu Dashao grabbed his arm.
“No, no, you misunderstood. I just meant, this person seems suspicious. Shouldn’t you go ask if she’s a person or a ghost?” Village Chief Tian said cautiously.
“Oh, okay,” Liu Dashao nodded. But just as he was about to move, he suddenly changed his mind, “Hey, Village Chief, you’re being really unfair. If I go ask if she’s a ghost, aren’t I just going to get myself killed?”
“How is that getting yourself killed?” Village Chief Tian smiled bitterly. “You know I’m a coward. Whenever I see ghosts, I get scared and start shaking. Have a little sympathy. It won’t cost you anything to go check, and after that, I’ll give you some mooncakes to calm your nerves.”
“Hehe, mooncakes, huh? Are you finally willing to hand them out? Just now you were stingy enough to go all the way to Beidaihe over a single cigarette,” Liu Dashao sneered.
“Hehe… here, they’re all yours,” Village Chief Tian pretended to reach into his pocket.
“Pfft, even if you gave me ten packs, I still wouldn’t go,” Liu Dashao rolled his eyes.
“Then… what do we do?” Village Chief Tian panicked.
“You go!” Liu Dashao smirked, clearly enjoying the situation.
“No, no… I won’t go!” Village Chief Tian shook his head like a rattle drum. But before he could finish, Liu Dashao gave him a push from behind, sending him stumbling forward a few steps. Unfortunately, as he lifted his head, he collided directly with the lantern-carrying figure.
“Ah! My God! Ghost!” In an instant, Village Chief Tian’s scream echoed across the graveyard, scaring several crows that had just settled down with their mates into flying up into the sky, cawing frantically. The female crows, furious, flapped their wings and screeched in bird language: “Shameless! Come down!”
“Ouch…” The figure seemed to feel the impact too, letting out a cry of pain as she fell to the ground. The oil-paper lantern rolled away and landed on the ground. The wick touched the paper wrapped around the bamboo frame, igniting it instantly. Within moments, the lantern was consumed by flames.
“Who is that? Can’t you watch where you’re going? Are you Liu Dashao?” The figure rubbed her bottom and complained. But by the faint moonlight, she could see that the person who had bumped into her was clearly not a child—at least judging by the silhouette, it was definitely an adult. “You… you’re Village Chief Tian?”
Hearing her voice, Village Chief Tian also let out a surprised “Huh?” from the darkness. “You’re not a ghost?”
Her words made the figure laugh and cry at the same time. “Look at you, scared of your own shadow. I’m Old Lady Fan!”
“Ah? Old Lady Fan!” Village Chief Tian jumped three feet high. “How come you’re here?”
Old Lady Fan adjusted her sleeves, her bound feet wobbling as she struggled to stand up. “You should watch where you’re going. You burned my lantern!”
Village Chief Tian looked at the charred remains of the lantern on the ground and felt a bit guilty. “Sorry, I accidentally bumped into you. It’s all that kid’s fault!” He glared angrily at Liu Dashao.
“Old Lady Fan, is that really you?” Liu Dashao stepped forward, eyes wide as he looked her up and down.
“Hehe, who else would it be?” Old Lady Fan smiled.
“Great! You came just in time.” Seeing it was indeed Old Lady Fan, Liu Dashao’s fear instantly lessened by half, feeling much more confident.
“Why were you walking so slowly?” Old Lady Fan stamped out the small patch of grass that had caught fire from the lantern. If left burning, it might have spread across the entire mountain in a few hours!
“You’re telling me! We’ve been stuck here almost the whole night,” Liu Dashao said pitifully.
Old Lady Fan waved her withered hand in the air as if calculating something, then said, “Oh, I see. You must have encountered a ghost wall.”
Liu Dashao nodded eagerly. “Yes, yes! You’re absolutely right! This place is terrible. You must have a way to get us out, right?” He looked at her desperately.
Old Lady Fan smiled with her wrinkled lips, confidently saying, “Of course there’s a way. If I didn’t have a solution, I wouldn’t have come here alone.”
Upon hearing this, Liu Dashao rushed forward and grabbed Old Lady Fan’s hands, saying激动ly, “Granny, you’ve got to save us!”
Old Lady Fan gave Liu Dashao a cold look and sneered, “Hmph! I was going to help you just now, but now I’ve changed my mind. Who told you to call me a ghost first? Do ghosts look this good-looking? A grown man afraid of ghosts? So cowardly.”
Liu Dashao panicked immediately and begged, “Dear Granny, I was wrong, okay? Let me apologize to you.”
“Actually, it was our mistake. We were so scared by ghosts tonight that we got confused and mistook you for one. Besides, you’re way more beautiful than any female ghost—hundreds or even thousands of times more beautiful! Like a movie star!”
Few people in the world dislike flattery. Hearing Liu Dashao’s compliment, Old Lady Fan smiled and said, “Alright then. Since you admitted your mistake, I’ll forgive you this once.”
“You know, I was worried when you two didn’t come back by evening. I guessed something must have gone wrong. So I hurried to Lingguan Temple and saw that the mountain path had collapsed. At first, I thought you had fallen down, but after searching for a while, I didn’t see anything. I figured the collapse must have happened after you passed, so you had to take the graveyard path back. So I went down the mountain and climbed up from the other side. This old body was almost worn out, and before I even got here, I saw the fog getting thicker, so I was even more certain you were here. And sure enough, when I arrived, there you were. Looks like I found the right way after all.” Old Lady Fan explained everything in detail. Judging from her heavy breathing and flushed face, it was clear she was telling the truth. An elderly woman in her seventies or eighties climbing up and down mountains must have been exhausted.
“Alright, since you two are safe, I’m relieved. Oh, Liu Dashao, did you complete the task I asked you to do?”
“Oh yes, yes!” Liu Dashao understood, quickly taking out three delicate little paper cranes from his pocket and handing them to Old Lady Fan. “But they didn’t fly like you said they would,” he honestly admitted.
“Probably because the negative energy here is too strong. The little spirits are too weak to move,” Old Lady Fan said with a grim expression.
“Alright, let’s go back now.”
“But what about all this fog? You won’t be able to tell directions once you go inside,” Liu Dashao worried.
“Hehe, no problem, watch me,” Old Lady Fan said, taking off her Buddhist prayer beads and joining her hands in prayer, mumbling something incomprehensible to the two men.
Village Chief Tian poked Liu Dashao again and whispered, “Nephew, what is she saying? Do you understand any of it?”
Liu Dashao whispered back, “Who knows!”
After a long while, Old Lady Fan finally shouted, “Open!” Then she opened her eyes and said to the two, “Don’t just stand there. The fog has cleared, let’s go.”
The two looked around in astonishment. Just minutes ago, the fog was impenetrable, but now it was slowly dissipating. Even the moonlight shone down, revealing the path ahead.
Liu Dashao and Village Chief Tian were astonished. Liu Dashao quickly asked Old Lady Fan, “Granny, are you an immortal? Can you teach me these skills?”
Old Lady Fan smiled and said, “No, no. I just learned a few tricks from a Taoist priest long ago. These are just superficial skills. Compared to real masters, I’m still far behind.”
Village Chief Tian couldn’t contain his curiosity anymore and asked Old Lady Fan, “Old Immortal Lady Fan, why were we trapped here unable to leave? And where did the fog come from? Even stranger, why were the moon and stars covered by clouds?”
“Village Chief, you’re asking me so many questions at once. How can I answer them all?” Old Lady Fan, hearing the usually antagonistic Village Chief call her “Old Immortal Lady Fan” for the first time, couldn’t help but smile widely, almost blushing. After a brief pause, she continued, “The reason you were trapped here is because you encountered a ghost wall, commonly known as a ghost maze.”
The two exclaimed together, “So we really did encounter a ghost maze?”
Old Lady Fan nodded, “Yes, those maze ghosts cast illusions on you two outsiders, causing you to lose your sense of direction. No matter which way you went, you just kept walking in circles.”
Village Chief Tian frowned, “But what about the fog? We saw it appear suddenly.”
Old Lady Fan explained, “As for the fog, it’s easy to explain. You see, this graveyard is in the middle of a forest where people rarely go, creating a kind of miasma and mist. Combined with the yin energy from the graves, it formed the fog. As for why the moon suddenly disappeared, that was just a coincidence. But it all relates to this time of year!”
Liu Dashao and Village Chief Tian asked in unison, “Relates to this time of year?”
Old Lady Fan smiled, “We still have a long way to go back. Let’s talk as we walk.”
“Alright!” Liu Dashao nodded.
After walking dozens of steps, Old Lady Fan started the conversation, “You two really have guts, daring to travel at night during this time of year, and taking the graveyard path. Do you even know what time of year this is?”
Village Chief Tian said, “It’s the fifteenth of November!”
Old Lady Fan shook her head, “You’re only half right.”
Liu Dashao suddenly blurted out, “The full moon!”
Old Lady Fan said, “That’s right.”
Village Chief Tian suddenly realized, “The fifteenth with a full moon! How could I forget? Isn’t that the time when our ancestors come down from the mountains?”
Old Lady Fan nodded and said, “Yes, the fifteenth of July is the Ghost Festival, and this time is the minor ghost festival, the time when the gates of hell open. You two really have guts, taking a detour off the mountain path and choosing this remote path. This graveyard is the closest place to the gates of hell, the place with the strongest yin energy, so you encountered ghosts.”
Village Chief Tian nodded and said, “That explains why those ghostly shadows kept following us, never leaving.”
Liu Dashao asked Old Lady Fan, “Granny, what were those shadows following us? Were they real ghosts?”
Old Lady Fan said, “Yes, they were wandering spirits. Do you know what wandering spirits are? They are spirits who haven’t been reborn or don’t have tombstones. During the time when the gates of hell are open, they can’t return home and can only wander around graveyards. During the full moon period, the underworld cannot accommodate spirits; no matter what kind of ghost you are, you will be driven out of the gates of hell and sent to the human world to reunite with your loved ones. You two were quite lucky to encounter maze ghosts.”
“Lucky?” Liu Dashao exclaimed. “What kind of luck is that? It was so unlucky. I’m just grateful the heavens opened their eyes and didn’t let the ghosts take me.”
Old Lady Fan continued, “Maze ghosts are usually mischievous ghosts who like to play tricks on strangers, making them stay for the night. Generally, maze ghosts won’t harm people because during this time, any ghost that harms people will be thrown into the eighteenth layer of hell and never be reborn. Therefore, the best way to deal with such situations is to sit down and wait until dawn when the rooster crows.”
“Oh, no wonder no ghosts came to take our lives.”
“Yes,” Village Chief Tian also said, “If we had known that, we should have just sat down and waited instead of trying to mimic a rooster’s crow.” He smiled at Liu Dashao.
Old Lady Fan also smiled, “You even tried to mimic a rooster? That’s an old trick. Even if you urinate, it won’t help if you’re caught by maze ghosts. Very few people can remain calm. Usually, people rarely encounter maze ghosts in their lifetime, almost never. By the time they understand, they can’t encounter them anymore. So you two are really lucky!”
During the second half of November, every household offers food to their ancestors and bows three times a day, lighting incense morning and evening.
Offering food means that during each meal, the family sets a table with food and wine to invite their ancestors from the past two generations to come down from the mountains and eat at home, praying for the safety and prosperity of their descendants.
Although life in the countryside was very difficult at that time, the meals during these two weeks were relatively rich, almost as good as during the New Year. If the food wasn’t good enough, the ancestors would be unhappy.
In fact, it’s similar to ancestor worship, just a ritual. The difference is that ancestor worship is done at the ancestors’ graves, while offering food is done at home.
There was once a family who, while offering food, heard some noises coming from the room where the offering was placed. They quietly pushed the door open and looked inside. To their surprise, they saw their deceased ancestors sitting at the table, chatting and laughing while eating. When they approached the table to speak with their ancestors, the figures disappeared, and the sounds of talking and laughter also stopped abruptly, leaving only a table of steaming hot food, untouched. The family head regretted his impulsiveness, feeling he had scared away the ancestors.
In fact, offering food is just a symbolic act. There’s no actual return of ancestors to eat. It’s just a tradition passed down from generation to generation. The elders did it, so the younger generation follows suit.
During the offering, the family head faces the table of food and says, “Dear ancestors, please eat and drink well! Although our family isn’t very wealthy, we won’t let you go hungry.” Then they leave the room and instruct the children not to approach the table, so as not to disturb the ancestors while they eat. About half an incense stick’s worth of time later, the family head enters the room to clear the table. By that time, the ancestors have already finished their meal, and only then can the family eat their own food, showing respect for their ancestors.
Due to weather factors, the offering food cannot be left until the next day. After the offering is completed on the same night, the family eats it, and the next day they start the process again.
The silver moonlight fell upon the ground, and the mournful chirping of crickets echoed everywhere. The unique fragrance of the night filled the air, weaving a soft, delicate net that enveloped all the scenery within it. Every object within the range of vision was covered by this gentle veil; not even a single blade of grass or tree remained as real and tangible as it was in daylight. Everything took on a blurred and illusory hue, concealing its delicate details and guarding its own secrets. At this moment, with heavy white clouds drifting low, the starry sky appeared especially vast and distant. Thus, Xiushui Village was immersed in a tranquil, dreamlike serenity.
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