Chapter Eighteen: The Poor Old Woman

  I casually called out to his uncle, and saw that he was slightly opening his eyes, his mouth couldn't close, and he was moaning softly in pain. I asked him where it hurt, and his mouth moved slightly, speaking in a voice smaller than a mosquito's hum, which was impossible to hear clearly. The old man raised his hand slightly, probably wanting to point out where he was uncomfortable, but didn't have the strength to lift it up.

  At this time, the old woman sighed and said that she could still eat and talk a few days ago, but in the past few days, the old man said that he always had nightmares when he fell asleep. He dreamed of many people coming into the room. These people looked strange, some with snake heads, some with cow heads, and some with fox heads. He said these strange people walked back and forth beside his bed every day, sometimes wailing and crying, sometimes screaming loudly, pulling his ears or sitting on his chest.

  The old woman said that her husband had just started with dizziness and back pain, but after dreaming of these strange people, he couldn't get out of bed. Later, speaking became laborious, and he could only eat a little porridge, she didn't know how much longer he could hold on. As the old woman spoke, tears began to flow down her face.

  I looked around the room and at the ceiling, then bit my lip and said to Ah Po that maybe I had a way to drive away those evil spirits in your dreams. You just need to prepare a piece of red cloth and an earthen jar for me. Because Uncle is ill and his body is weak, these vengeful spirits have taken advantage of it, and they usually lurk around your house! I can only drive them away or catch them, but as for whether Uncle's body can hold on, it's hard to say, so it's better to go down the mountain and ask a doctor to come up and take a look.

  The old woman was taken aback at first, then looked at me with a distrustful expression and asked how a young child like me could have such skills. She had even called in people from the foot of the mountain to make medicinal soup for her to drink and build bridges to send off ghosts, but her condition hadn't improved.

  The old woman would suspect that I had guessed it too, after all, most people in their 40s and 50s do this, and those in their teens basically don't. So I didn't hide it anymore, saying that I wasn't lost, but was taking advantage of the night to come to the mountain to catch a ghost child, and had already caught one but accidentally let it run away while bathing earlier.

  The old woman was half-believing and half-doubting, wanting to ask me something again, but in the end, she swallowed her words. I guess she thought that letting me try wouldn't hurt anything, so she had no choice but to let me give it a shot.

  Grandma said that the jar used for pickling sour vegetables at home can be washed and used, there is a red dress in the wooden cabinet, cut off a piece from it, and ask me if it's okay.

  I don't know if it will work, let's just use it for now! Catching these vengeful spirits isn't a complicated matter, nor do I understand what "jumping into a trance" means or how to invite spirits to possess me. What I need to do is lure these vengeful spirits out and then scare them into an object placed in a ceramic jar using an ancient bronze dagger. Then, I'll seal the opening with red cloth, just like catching mice. Don't underestimate the power of sealing with red cloth - it's like using an electric net to trap fierce beasts; no matter how ferocious they are, they won't dare crash into the net.

  The best object for these vengeful spirits to possess would be that black baby corpse. This specially treated baby corpse is itself an excellent vessel for ghosts, similar in nature to Tongtong's wooden puppet, but much more high-end than the wooden puppet.

  If my guess is correct, those vengeful spirits will attach themselves to the fur of those animals during the day in order to lure them out. It won't be until tomorrow night, at the hour of Zi (11 pm to 1 am), when yin energy is at its strongest. Additionally, after dawn breaks I'll have to go retrieve that black infant corpse, which will then serve an additional purpose - using it to capture ghosts.

  This little black imp was bitten by the snapping turtle, but I wasn't worried that it could get away, because once a snapping turtle bites down, it's very hard to let go unless the turtle dies. Moreover, this is a snapping turtle that has been bewitched by Tongtong. This little imp and Tongtong are different in nature; even if it's fierce, it can only harm humans, but for animals, it's just like a mouse. Tongtong is different, a true ruler of the water, generally existing with an aura of majesty, having eaten over ten young boys, which is similar to eating immortal pills in Journey to the West, with a soul as pure as that of a Buddha, not something this filthy little imp can compare to. Of course, Tongtong being able to eat over ten young boys is also her good fortune; after all, those who sneak down to the river to swim are just little brats, and it's easy to lure them to their deaths.

  I climbed the mountain road for several hours and was exhausted, plus I was wearing freshly washed clothes which were no different from being rained on. Grandma's house didn't have any spare clothes either, so she found a big pair of pants for me and a bed sheet, set up a wooden board under the wall corner covered with animal hides, and let me make do with sleeping there for one night.

  This house has a very heavy atmosphere, I just fell asleep for a few minutes and was pressed down by a ghost. My mind is very clear, but I feel like I can't move at all. I feel something using its claws to dig into my ears, digging so much that my ears are itchy, but my body can't move at all. Then I feel something sitting on my chest, pressing me to the point where I almost suffocate. But what's even more terrifying is that there's a cold-blooded thing like a snake strangling my neck, making me feel extremely uncomfortable. Fortunately, with Tongtong's help, the ghost pressing down on me instantly retreated, and I was woken up by Tongtong. Tongtong told me that this was just a dream mirror, being disturbed by these evil spirits and having a nightmare, not actually being pressed down by a ghost, just like smelling toxic gas and having hallucinations.

  It turns out that in order to avoid being disturbed by the ghost pressing the bed, an ancient bronze dagger was used to draw a circle on the ground around him, surrounding himself and blocking the evil spirit outside. Maybe this will work.

  After drawing a circle, the nightmare didn't occur again. Plus, after a night of rushing around and being exhausted, I fell asleep soon and slept until dawn.

  After getting up in the morning and leaving the house, I found that this was not just a thatched hut. There were several yellow skin fruit trees behind the house, as well as a vegetable garden. The old lady was preparing breakfast, and soon brought out a large plate of steaming hot yams, along with a dish of black cured meat. The old lady told me that it was bamboo rat meat, which they had caught dozens of last year and cured. Normally her husband would eat it with wine, but she hadn't eaten any because her teeth were almost all gone and the meat was too hard.

  The old lady gave me a big bowl of braised yam, I was so hungry that my stomach was growling, I took it and started eating it in big mouthfuls, my tongue almost got scalded. I picked up a piece of black bamboo rat cured meat and put it in my mouth, it was so delicious that I almost ascended to heaven, similar to the taste of roasted four-legged snake, but much more delicious.

  During dinner, I asked Grandma if there were any family members living at the foot of the mountain. Grandma shook her head and said that they originally had a son who was 12 years old and loved to play. He went down the mountain to secretly dig up peanuts to eat and was bitten by a poisonous snake in the field. He fainted and died without anyone finding him. It was because they lost their son that life no longer had hope or attachment, and at that time, it was during the Great Leap Forward when people couldn't get enough food, so they didn't go down the mountain again. The couple just hunted and grew vegetables on the mountain. In the 1980s, they relied on selling some mountain goods to make a living, taking the fur, shells, and other things hanging on the wall, which were harvested last year and stored for half a year. If these things were put up for sale today, they would probably be worth hundreds of thousands of yuan. However, if it were really put up for sale today, there wouldn't be that many animals to hunt, and many are protected by the state, so they don't dare sell them.

  After having a full breakfast, I borrowed a rope and an axe from Grandma and came to the creek. Along the creek, I climbed upwards for about 300-400 meters and arrived at the bottom of a small waterfall. The waterfall was not big, about the size of two quilts hanging down, with a height of about two floors.

  I climbed up the waterfall from one side, tied a rope to a tree, threw the other end of the rope down below the waterfall, and then went back down, took off my clothes, grabbed the rope and started climbing up.

  The force of the water rushing down was so great that I couldn't open my eyes, and both shoulders seemed to be about to be washed away. I tried several times but couldn't climb up, so I had no choice but to give up. If Tongtong were here, it would have taken until evening, and last night should have arrived, it was too slow. Helplessly, I returned to Ahpo's house, found a hoe, and went back to the waterfall, temporarily diverting the water flow. After digging for an hour, I dug out a ditch about 5 meters long, over 30 centimeters deep, and over 1 meter wide, diverting half of the water flow, and the waterfall was reduced by half. Only then could I climb up along the rope. On the stone wall behind the waterfall, there were several cracks, and I checked each one carefully. Sure enough, in the third crack, I saw a turtle as big as a plate, with a mouth similar to an old eagle's, biting the thigh of a black infant corpse.

  The baby's body somehow jumped into the water last night, which is considered a fake resurrection.

  What was seen in the tomb before, is it a spirit or a corpse? If it's a corpse, how can it leave no trace and drill into the wooden box under the tree root? This makes people hard to understand. Even corpses can run, I guess this is another more advanced way of raising ghosts, only the old ghost-raising master knows the mystery.

  I reached in and grabbed the snapping turtle, pulling it out along with the black baby's body. The turtle wouldn't let go, so I had no choice but to put them both in a bag and take them back to Grandma's house.

  Back home, the eagle-mouthed turtle and the baby's body were both dumped on the ground. Ah Po stared with wide eyes, curiously asking questions like a little kid.

  I told her that was the little devil who ran away last night, and it could be bitten by the eagle-mouthed turtle, all thanks to my asking for help from the mountain god and land public. I boasted about myself, and surprisingly, the old lady really believed me, and she became happy too, guessing that she already thought I, this "high person", must be able to cure her husband's illness.

  The turtle wouldn't open its mouth, so I asked Grandma if she had any way to make it work. Grandma took out a pack of matches and lit one, then lightly burned the turtle's tail with the flame, and it finally opened its mouth.

  This method is clever enough, after the eagle-mouthed turtle loosened its mouth, I wrapped a piece of cloth around the small corpse and picked it up. Except for the bite marks on its legs, there was no damage. I threw it into the earthen jar and sealed the opening with red cloth.

  Once this thing is caught and its mouth is sealed with a red cloth, even if the old ghost-raising master has great skills, he won't be able to sense the aura of this little ghost, they will completely lose contact, and I don't have to worry about the old ghost-raising master finding his way here.