The Seventh Night of the Seventh Month: The Return of the Soul

  "It's not one corpse, it's many corpses." Auntie was stunned for a long time, then suddenly grabbed my hand, I was so scared that I almost fell off the small stool. Only when she returned to normal did she say this.

  "Many corpses? That mountain, where is it?" Suddenly, a desolate mountain appeared before my eyes, densely packed with dead bodies. I was alone among them, surrounded by the corpses, and then, watching as they slowly got up, their faces twisted in ferocity, closing in on me.

  I was so scared that I trembled, and then I saw Uncle, his appearance made the corpse disappear into thin air, everything returned to normal, there were no more desolate mountains, no more corpses, a bright light appeared before my eyes, it was a beautiful landscape with clear waters, I took a deep breath, came back to myself, and only then asked Aunt.

  "The Mountain God Temple is just at the Mountain God Temple." Auntie's throat trembled slightly, seeing me so bold and thoughtful, she replied.

  "What happened afterwards, and why did Luo Zhuang Village become like this now?" Perhaps because he had seen too many ghosts with Ah Shu, a scene flashed in his mind. After Ding Jiaoniang's unjust death ten years ago, her ghost went berserk, and the grievances of her ghost were too heavy. As for how Luo Zhuang Village became like this later on, it might have something to do with Ding Jiaoniang.

  But this is just my idea, and the most real event still needs to be confirmed by Auntie.

  Later, Ding's daughter returned on the seventh night and came back to the village...

  The scene in front of me truly and deeply felt her presence.

  "Knock, knock, knock..." The sound of knocking on the door echoed in this quiet and sorrowful night. Aunt Ding held her daughter's fallen shoe in her hand, muttering to herself: "Corpse, corpse..." Her husband had no way to deal with her like this, sitting at the doorstep smoking a big cigarette, surrounded by swirling smoke, under the orange-yellow lamp light, a thin layer of fog shrouded everything, the atmosphere was heavy.

  And these three knocks on the door, neither fast nor slow, broke through such a dark night.

  "San Ya is San Ya, San Ya has come back..." Along with the voice of Ding family's aunt, her empty eyes stared at the wooden door.

  "San Ya won't be back, you stay here and don't move." The Ding family man had lost his lovely daughter, and he was already unhappy in his heart. As a man, he often had to appear more rational than women. When he heard the knocking on the door, he saw that his wife, who had been severely traumatized, couldn't even speak clearly, and she thought it was their deceased daughter coming back when she heard the knock. This made the man even more heartbroken.

  He put down his pipe and walked over to the woman in three strides, helping her sit down on the edge of the bed.

  "You sit, I'll go open the door." Seeing his wife still muttering to herself, Ding's husband furrowed his brow slightly, comforted her, turned around and walked out of the room towards the front door.

  This man, when it comes to courage, is always a bit bigger than women, but even if a man's courage is great, where can it be greater than, isn't it stronger than a ghost?

  That's right, the Ding family man was frightened this time, and it wasn't that he saw something else, but rather a ghost.

  "Three...!" The man had just gone to open the door, and in that instant, the cool wind outside blew in, causing the man to shiver. Under the dim light, the white clothes fluttered with the wind, long hair floating, and the eyes emitting a green glow stared straight at the Ding family man. The man was so frightened that he let out a loud cry and fell to the ground. When he finally saw clearly who it was, in his terror, he drove away all fear, calling out his daughter's name.

  "San Ya, is that really you?" The man stuttered, getting up from the ground. At this moment, no matter if she was a ghost or not, as parents, they wouldn't be afraid anymore. Even if their own daughter wanted to take their lives, after all, she was still their own flesh and blood, how could they bear to reject her?

  "Father, it's me." A low, mournful ghostly voice accompanied the howling of the wind, as the woman in white at the door spoke up.

  "My dear daughter." The man's voice was choked, a man has tears but does not easily shed them, yet at this moment, Ding's husband had tears welling up in his eyes, the corners of his mouth moved again and again, his agitated heart finally called out.

  The man from the Ding family stretched out his hands to pull his daughter into the house, but this daughter was a dead person. His fingers passed through his daughter's body, and the man stood still in shock, motionless.

  "Dad, I've just come back to take a look. Once the time is up, I'll be leaving." Ding San's voice was somewhat hoarse, his pale face still looked desolate, and his eyes were filled with tears.

  Uncle said that in this world, there are spirits and souls. Only when the spirit and soul come together can they form a complete person. The spirit and soul are indispensable, which is why the three realms are divided into gods, ghosts, and spirits. In the third realm, the most numerous are ghosts. Uncle once said that all the ghostly souls in the third realm are governed by Yin Po, and the heavier the resentment, the more they are favored by Yin Po.

  When my aunt told me this, I felt a chill on my back. It wasn't that I was afraid of Ding Sanyu's vengeful spirit, but rather that I was afraid the girl had strong resentment and was being controlled by the evil woman. My impression of Ding Sanyu was that she had been wronged to death.

  Going back to what Big Aunt told me, Ding Sanpiao stood at the door and didn't enter the house. I once heard Old Lady Qin in Qin Village say that if someone dies outside, they can't enter the house, one door

  Soul Mechanic No Pop-up

  Even if they die, they can't go back home, this is the custom.

  In Yunnan, there is a similar custom where the spirits of those who died outside are unable to enter their own homes and can only linger at the door.

  I'm so poor Ding San Ya!

  "San Ya..." The two trembling words interrupted my thoughts, and Aunt Ding from the Ding family came out of the house with a shoe in her arms, her eyes filled with tears as she called out to the white-clad female ghost outside the door.

  "Daughter." Another sob, Ding San Ya called out loud. At this time, the female ghost could no longer control her emotions, tears fell down, she wanted to enter the house, but after all, she was a dead person outside, her parents wanted to come forward and hug her, but she was still a ghost, her body had long been abandoned in the chaotic burial ground, a group of crows pecked at her flesh, leaving no intact corpse.

  It seemed that I saw the scene, Ding San Ya and her parents were separated by life and death, her tears flowed continuously, gradually turning red, one drop, another drop, sliding down her cheeks, falling on her white clothes, spreading out a beautiful blood flower.

  A strong wind blew outside, the white dress of the female ghost fluttered, with bloodstains on it, revealing an eerie atmosphere. That lonely soul, with the rising wind, gradually retreated, farther and farther away, hiding in the darkness of night.

  "San Ya......" With a heart-wrenching scream, Mrs. Ding's eyes widened and she fell to the ground with a thud. It wasn't until then that Mr. Ding came out of his grief over losing his daughter, picked up his unconscious wife, and remained speechless for a long time, unable to utter a word amidst his overwhelming sorrow.

  Ten years ago, it's been ten years since then, Aunt Ding and her husband last saw their dear daughter. Since then, Aunt Ding has not spoken a word. To put it nicely, she was traumatized; to put it bluntly, she became a vegetable.

  Eating, drinking, and even going to the bathroom were all taken care of by her husband. The Ding family had only one daughter, and after she died, the family's fortunes plummeted. The man spent his days getting drunk, while the woman simply stared blankly at the ceiling with wide eyes.

  Living like this, in the snowy winter, and also living like this, several times, the woman lost control of her bowels and made the house reek of filth, the man also lost his mind to take care of it, as time went on, the villagers gradually distanced themselves from the Ding family, and later, they gradually stopped visiting... until now...

  The master has been waiting for us. As for why Luozhuang Village became what it is now, I didn't continue to chat with Auntie about it because Xiaobai whispered this sentence in my arms.

  Said goodbye to Auntie, Auntie kept asking me to stay for dinner before leaving. Seeing the sky getting darker, I stroked Xiaobai's smooth fur and thanked Auntie for her kindness.

  "Yu Xiang, Yu Xiang..." Just out of the kitchen, the knocking sound accompanied by the man's shouting, the wooden door creaked open.

  "Lin Er, look at this broad daylight, what are you doing in such a hurry?" The creaking of the door was accompanied by a man's surprised voice, who then asked the visitor.

  "Yu Xiang, at my place, we're still short of two tables. We've borrowed from almost all the places that are willing to lend us some. Even my son-in-law's family brought over a few tables. You see, our village has many relatives and it's hard to find a place for everyone to sit, so...". The man who came probably wanted to borrow tables and chairs. Back in Qin Village, whenever there was a happy occasion, the whole village wouldn't have the kind of "one-stop service" that you'd find in towns or cities nowadays. Everything would be distributed among the villagers.

  The tables and chairs are not enough, everyone has lived in a village for decades, although there is no blood relationship, but after all, it's still like one family, borrowing a table or chair, there aren't many to spare, whether you're an old man who's died or a married woman, as long as you speak up, even if they're busy, they'll always make room for you.

  In this era, the villagers were so harmonious and didn't know when it started. As the city grew bigger, even relatives and friends felt estranged.

  "There's one here, and there's another in the kitchen. I'll get my sister-in-law to tidy them up for you, just take it over." The man who was called Yuxiang Ge was the master of this house, and his so-called sister-in-law was the aunt next to me who told me the story of Ding San Ya.

  "Goodbye." Before I could even walk out of his house gate, the two men walked out from the side hall and coincidentally bumped into Auntie and me who was holding a white fox.

  "Yu Xiang, you have a guest at home. Auntie." This man named Lin Er was the first to see me, his eyes paused for a moment, looking at the fox in my arms, before placing his gaze on my face, playfully smiling at Yu Xiang, and also calling out to the big aunt beside me.

  "Yes, she is a niece of one of my distant relatives. She happened to come here and I'll keep her here for a couple more days." Just as the master was still puzzled, Auntie pulled me over and said to Lin Er who had come to borrow tables and chairs.

  Lin Er's gaze fell on my face again, his eyes filled with a hint of doubt, yet also a sense of incredulity, his expression was full of questions.

  Why does he look at me like that? Who is he after all? Or, now that I've come to Luozhuang Village, could it be that there's some connection between me and this village? There's no way of knowing!