Chapter 37: The Dark Shadow in the Kitchen

  It had been two days since Bai Qiang's incident when a strange thing happened at my home.

  It happened at night, that deep night, everyone in my house was already asleep. I actually fell asleep too, but woke up with a full bladder. After waking up, I got out of bed and prepared to go to the toilet to pee.

  The toilet in my home was behind the kitchen, and to get there I had to go through the kitchen. At that time, our village didn't have electricity yet, so my home didn't have electric lights either. I also didn't want to wake up my mom by shouting for her to help me light the kerosene lamp.

  So I can only rely on the faint light and my familiarity with home, feeling my way to the kitchen. Just as I was about to reach the door of the kitchen, I heard some faint noises coming from inside. Moreover, I can be sure that the noise is not made by mice, but rather by a person.

  However, because the kitchen was too dark, I couldn't see that person. Of course, after all, I'm just a kid, so I was still scared. I thought our house had been robbed, so I went to my mom's room and woke her up.

  "Mom, there's someone in the kitchen, it must be a thief." I whispered to her after seeing that she was awake.

  My mom immediately shook awake my dad. "Old Lu, there's a thief in the kitchen, get up and take a look." My mom said this very quietly so as not to startle the thief.

  After waking up, my dad first went to the living room, where he picked up a shovel, and then carried the shovel into the kitchen.

  As soon as my dad entered the kitchen, he saw a black shadow beside the cupboard.

  "Halt!" My dad bellowed, then took off after the dark shape with his shovel. About a meter away from it, he swung the shovel down.

  "Bang!" Along with a muffled sound, my dad's shovel dug into the cabinet. At this time, my mom also lit the kerosene lamp. What was strange was that after the kerosene lamp was lit and the kitchen brightened up, neither I nor my parents could see the black shadow from before.

  I can responsibly say that just now, at the moment I swung the shovel down, that black shadow was absolutely in the cupboard.

  Just as my parents and I were all shocked, something even more shocking happened. The back door of our kitchen was wide open.

  My home's kitchen has two doors. One is the front door, which connects to the main hall, and the other is the back door, which leads outside and opens up to my family's rear eaves gutter.

  Before I went to sleep, I saw my mom close the back door of the kitchen with my own eyes. Now, the back door of the kitchen is actually open, what's going on?

  My dad took the kerosene lamp from my mom's hand and walked towards the back door of the kitchen.

  "There's a footprint on the threshold." My dad said, pointing at the doorstep.

  As soon as my dad finished speaking, my mom and I walked over. On the threshold, there was a half mud footprint. Although this footprint was only half, it could still be seen that the footprint was left by a man. In other words, just now in the house, someone really came in.

  It's pitch black outside now, and even if my dad chased after him, he wouldn't be able to catch up. So, he didn't go after him. What we can't figure out is that just now, we clearly saw a shadow by the cupboard, but when my dad dug with his shovel, there was nothing there.

  It's possible that one person is seeing things, but it's unlikely that three people - my parents and I - are all seeing things at the same time. So, that dark shadow on the cabinet earlier was definitely real.

  "Go and see if anything is lost?" My dad said to my mom.

  My mother nodded and then began to clean up the things in the kitchen. My mother first opened the cupboard, and as soon as she did, I saw that there was spilled pumpkin soup inside the cupboard, and some fallen rice.

  "Isn't that person here to steal food? There's a lot less pumpkin and rice in the bowl." My mom said, picking up the bowl of pumpkin soup.

  The pumpkin soup and rice were what I saw my mother put into the cupboard. When she was putting them away, I clearly remember that the pumpkin soup had more than half a bowl left, with many pumpkins inside, and the rice had a full bowl. Now the pumpkin soup only has a small bowl left, and the rice only has a little bit at the bottom of the bowl. It's obvious that the pumpkin and rice were stolen by someone.

  After checking the cupboard, my mom checked other places again and found that except for the pumpkin soup and rice in the cupboard, nothing else was missing from our home.

  "It's a good thing Xiaofei found out, otherwise it wouldn't have just been a bowl of rice and some pumpkin soup that was stolen, who knows how many things would have been lost at home?" my dad said with some relief.

  "This thief is really strange, before stealing things, he even eats a meal in someone else's home." My mom said.

  "He must be hungry! Lock the door and go to sleep, it's all right." My dad said.

  Lying back on the bed, I tossed and turned but couldn't fall asleep. My mind was filled with thoughts of that black shadow from earlier. If that black shadow was a thief or a person, my dad's shovel from earlier would have definitely caught him. But that black shadow escaped, and even left behind a man's footprint on the doorstep. And also, the back door of the kitchen should have been closed, so why was it wide open?

  The back door of the kitchen should have been opened by that black shadow, there should be a sound! To know, the back door of the kitchen is a wooden door, even if it's just a small crack, it will creak. But after my parents and I entered the kitchen, we didn't hear the creaking sound of the door opening. In other words, the kitchen door should have been open before we went to the kitchen.

  As for this inference, I couldn't confirm it because when we walked into the kitchen, my parents' and my attention were all focused on the black shadow beside the cupboard, without noticing whether the kitchen door was open or not.

  However, I vaguely felt that the black shadow just now didn't seem to be a person. Because even if it was someone with extremely fast movements, it's impossible for them to be as fast as that black shadow.

  As for whether that black shadow was a human or not, I didn't dare to make any conclusions. I think only my master, the old Daoist of Bamboo Mountain, would know the truth. So, the next day, I told my mom about my thoughts. She also felt that something was off about last night's black shadow, so she agreed with me. We specially took a day off and went to Bamboo Mountain Temple together.

  "Zhang's wife!" As soon as I walked into Zhushan Temple, I saw Zhang's wife.

  "Oh! Xiao Fei, you've finally arrived!" Zhang's wife couldn't help but burst into laughter as soon as she saw me.

  "Where is my master?" I asked.

  "It's inside!" said Grandma Zhang.

  Just as Zhang Po-po finished speaking, the voice of my master, Zhu Shan Lao Dao, came out.

  "Xiao Fei is here! Come in quickly."

  As soon as Zhangshan Laodao's voice fell, I pulled my mother and walked in.

  "How did you think of finding your master?" asked Zhangshan Old Dao.

  "Last night a black shadow appeared in my home, and both my mom and I thought it was strange..." I told my master everything that happened last night from start to finish.

  As soon as I finished speaking, my master Zhu Shan Lao Dao's face immediately turned serious. "Are you here to ask me to exorcise a ghost?" asked Zhu Shan Lao Dao.

  "Uh-huh!" I nodded.

  "Come find me to drive out ghosts, and the price won't be cheap!" said Zhangshan Old Dao with a serious face, putting on an air of being a close brother who calculates accounts clearly.

  As soon as my mom saw the attitude of Zhangshan Old Dao, she was a bit hesitant. To be honest, our family is not wealthy and doesn't have much spare money. Moreover, last night we only saw a black shadow, nothing else happened at home. So, just for this one black shadow, spending a lot of money to invite Zhangshan Old Dao out, my mom was somewhat reluctant.

  "No matter how expensive it is, I can afford it." I also put on a serious face and said to the old Taoist Bamboo Mountain.

  "You little brat, do you have money?" asked Zhangshan Lao Dao.

  "I'll support you in your old age, Master! Isn't this price enough?" I stuck out my tongue and made a face at Old Daoist Bamboo Mountain.

  "You little scamp, Master is just teasing you!" Bamboo Mountain Old Dao gently patted my head and said: "What kind of master helps his disciple drive out ghosts and still charges money? If I even charge my own disciple's money, where would I put this face of mine? However, since you are my disciple, I must teach you the skills. From today on, Monday to Friday, you go to school to learn cultural knowledge. On weekends, you come to Bamboo Mountain Temple to learn the skills that Master has taught you."