Chapter 5: The Nightmare

  When I opened my eyes, the scene in front of me was no longer that eerie corridor, but my own bedroom, the most familiar and warm place.

  I don't know what happened in that hospital before, whether it was real or just a dream. Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I tried to recall the events before, but all memories stopped when I walked into the corridor leading to the underground warehouse and saw the woman's figure for the first time vaguely. After that, maybe someone knocked me out from behind, or maybe something else happened, but as for what exactly happened, I couldn't remember anymore.

  I twisted my neck, and a sour pain suddenly made me moan lightly. The woman's shadow I saw last night in the corridor leading to the underground warehouse couldn't help but remind me of the "you hun" (wandering soul) that my grandfather used to tell me about when I was young. You hun is a kind of ghost that doesn't like to harm people, but they are often those who were wronged to death or have some unfulfilled wishes and still exist in the world. Like the ghost that Da Zhuang and I saw last night, it must be a you hun too. If it were another kind of ghost, it would have caused us trouble long ago instead of ignoring us.

  Regarding ghosts, Grandfather once said that when people die, they are dead and gone, with no reincarnation. Life only happens once, and a person's existence in the world is only nine-tenths of their lifetime, while the remaining one-Tenth is spent as a ghost slowly disappearing after death. What remains in the mortal world is only the spiritual power transformed from that one share of nostalgia, which can last for a long time. However, for those who are evil or guilty of unforgivable sins, their final share of spiritual power will be extinguished forever, eliminated by the spread of suffering.

  I remember my grandfather telling me that in the past, when he was in Majiazhuang, there were no houses like we have now. Most of the houses in Majiazhuang at that time were grass huts. The village head of Majiazhuang had two daughters. The first daughter was named Ma Yue and later married my grandfather. The second daughter was named Ma Yue (same pronunciation but different character) as my grandmother.

  At that time, Majiazhuang was very chaotic due to the outbreak of war, and all kinds of people were present. The village chief of Majiazhuang also became a nominal village chief with no real power. One day, when Grandpa and his eldest daughter Ma Yue went down the mountain to buy household goods in the city, a group of bandits entered Majiazhuang and raped several women, including the youngest daughter of the village chief, Ma Yue.

  Traditional Ma Yuejing couldn't withstand the blow and didn't want to live a miserable life, so he hanged himself. When Grandfather Ma returned to Majiazhuang, he learned about this matter and was furious. Grandfather Ma wasn't a kind person to begin with, so he inquired everywhere about the whereabouts of the horse thief, preparing to cut him down. That night, while Grandfather Ma was sleeping, he felt a cool breeze blow by, which woke him up. The wind wasn't very cold, but it gave people a very chilling feeling. Grandfather Ma got up to relieve himself, but before he went out, he saw someone he shouldn't have seen again - Ma Yuejing. Grandfather Ma had seen the world and was originally a master of reversal, so when he saw Ma Yuejing, who was no longer human, he wasn't as shocked as an ordinary person would be. Ma Yuejing told Grandfather Ma where the horse thieves were and how many there were. Grandfather Ma took his knife and the handgun he had brought with him from the Northern Warlord's army and went to the place where the horse thieves were with Ma Yuejing. With his quick hands, Grandfather Ma easily killed the five sleeping people without making a sound. However, at that time, there was still a sixth person among the horse thieves, who had gone out to relieve himself halfway through and hadn't been discovered by Grandfather Ma. That person wanted to stab Grandfather Ma in the back and end his life. At this time, Ma Yuejing, who had already become a ghost, naturally couldn't be hurt by knives or guns anymore and appeared in front of the horse thief. Seeing that Ma Yuejing had become a ghost, the horse thief shouted "Ah!" with eyes wide open and wanted to run away. However, Grandfather Ma reacted quickly and killed the horse thief with one knife. After avenging himself, Ma Yuejing sat on the ground and disappeared in front of Grandfather Ma, finally turning into a wisp of light that floated towards the stars.

  As I thought of this, I got out of bed, the soreness in my neck telling me that what happened last night was definitely real. The blow to my back last night, and yet I woke up in my own home - it must have been Da Zhuang who sent me back. At this moment, not seeing Da Zhuang makes me uneasy. If it wasn't Da Zhuang who gave me that blow last night, then someone else must have done it. And if it was someone else, then what's happened to Da Zhuang now?

  Three five minus two, I walked out of the house, Da Zhuang's house is not far away, it's just a ten-minute walk from my home. In this era, if you have some money at home, you will live in a more populous and prosperous place. If you don't have much money and are relatively poor, then you won't live on the street or at the end of the street, but directly in the suburbs.

  It wasn't long before I arrived at the entrance of Dazhuang's home, and the somewhat dilapidated house in front of me was enough to reflect his family's economic situation. Dazhuang's parents had passed away when he was young, and it was his grandfather who had raised him. Dazhuang's grandfather was an old friend of my grandfather from his time in the Northern Warlord era; otherwise, I wouldn't have known Dazhuang and grown up playing with him. Just two years ago, Dazhuang's grandfather also passed away, and since then, Dazhuang has had to rely on himself for everything. However, Dazhuang is not the kind of person who is bound by work; he can change jobs several times a year. During periods when he was unemployed and stayed at home doing nothing, he didn't hesitate to ask me for loans.

  I took out the key that Dawei had previously given me and opened the iron door with the crooked "Fu" character on it. I still remember when Dawei gave me this key, he said to me, "Little Ke comrade, you can say that I've handed over all my property to you to take care of. If you have a girlfriend in the future, you can bring her to my house and you two can get things done."

  As soon as I entered the house, I smelled a stench of smelly clothes and socks. It's not that Dazhuang is to blame; this solitary person at home has to be frugal in everything, and originally he didn't have any income anyway.

  The big house is not small, as soon as you enter the house, it's a hall, with bedrooms on both sides and a kitchen in the back. I walked into Da Zhuang's inner room where he usually sleeps, took one look at the bed, and this kid was still sleeping! I couldn't help but curse, "Damn, can really sleep!" It's already past three o'clock in the day, even the person who was knocked unconscious by me yesterday has woken up, but this kid hasn't woken up yet.

  Looking at Dazhuang's strange sleeping posture, with both arms up and legs slightly apart, as if he was tied to a wooden board. I pushed Dazhuang gently, but he still didn't wake up. I used more force to push him again, yet Dazhuang remained asleep. If it were someone else, they would have woken up no matter how big their sleepiness was with such a strong push.

  As I looked at Da Zhuang, I couldn't help but wonder how this kid could sleep so soundly and still not wake up. Suddenly, I found something on his face. At that moment, Da Zhuang's expression was very strange, completely different from the normal sleeping expression of a person. It seemed as if he had been awake for a long time, but was forced to keep his eyes closed and remain motionless.

  And this sleeping posture and expression, I seem to have heard my grandfather say that it's called "ghost pressing bed". This kind of thing belongs to a spiritual suggestion or can be said to be possessed by evil spirits, encountering something unclean.

  My grandfather once said that 'ghost pressing bed' is the most trivial and most serious kind of 'ghost style'. This ghost style is also a manifestation of the appearance of ghosts or the influence driven by ghosts, which affects people's lives or leads to abnormal situations or death. My grandfather said that if someone falls victim to this 'ghost pressing bed' but is freed within a short period, either by others or because they have strong yang energy and can free themselves after a brief time, then it will not affect their future life. However, if someone remains under the influence of 'ghost pressing bed' for more than ten or twelve hours, they will remain in this state, unable to open their eyes, move their mouth, or take action, and will live on in this way, indistinguishable from death. Although they can still feel external vibrations and sounds, their world will forever coexist with darkness.

  As I looked at Da Zhuang in front of me, I was certain that he had definitely fallen victim to the "Ghost Pressing Down on the Bed" technique. Otherwise, no matter how hard you pushed him, he wouldn't wake up. Looking at Da Zhuang's eerie expression, I pinched my hand and shook it off. Previously, I had asked my grandfather about this ghostly technique and how to break it, but my grandfather gave me a very straightforward method. He said that someone in his unit had also fallen victim to this technique before, but was accidentally broken by another person in the team. Thinking of this, I said "Sorry, Mr. Li Donghai!" and then I slapped Da Zhuang hard with two loud slaps.