This place is really impoverished and dilapidated.
On a rugged mountain road, a bus is slowly moving. Despite the driver’s attempts to slow down, the rough and uneven road is causing the bus to bounce along.
Wu Chun held a plastic bag, constantly retching. The little bit of food he ate before leaving home in the morning had already been vomited out during the eight-hour long journey.
This summer, which happened to be the year 2000, after taking the college entrance exam and receiving his acceptance letter and just after turning 18, Wu Chun’s parents arranged a unique trip for him to visit his grandfather, who lived far away.
Wu Chun grew up in a county town. His mother is a Chinese teacher at a local elementary school. When he was young, Wu Chun always heard his mother talk about how she came out of the mountains. At that time, there was a saying in the mountains that “girls don’t need to study.” Wu Chun’s maternal grandmother died of dystocia when giving birth to his mother. His maternal grandfather raised his mother alone. His grandfather was illiterate and had never been to school, but when he heard that his daughter wanted to study, he faced tremendous pressure and did everything he could to let her study.
“Your grandfather is getting old, but he refuses to come to the city because he thinks he’ll burden us. What burden? This summer, you have some free time, and your grandfather misses you so much. Just go and stay with him for a while. Come back before school starts,” Wu Chun’s mother said.
Before Wu Chun could react, he was sent on a bus to his grandfather’s house.
Wu Chun had visited his grandfather’s house a few times when he was younger, but he was too young to have a clear concept of distance.
Now, Wu Chun was lying weakly in his seat, asking the driver, “How much longer until we arrive, sir?”
There are not many people in the car, and with Wu Chun, there are only three people. The other two are snoring heavily while a bulky sack lies by their feet, presumably belonging to someone who went out to work and is now returning home.
The driver speaks with an accent that Wu Chun can hardly understand, but he manages to catch the essential information amid the gibberish.
There’s probably still half an hour to go…
Wu Chun leaned on the backrest of his seat, looking out the window with empty eyes.
The surroundings were all mountains, one connected to another, enclosing this central area and forming a defensive structure. As people clustered together again, gradually forming one village after another, it was unclear whether it was due to the lack of rain this year, but some of the corn leaves on the roadside had already withered.
It was already afternoon, past the most intense period of sunlight. In the fields, farmers could be seen working, rolling up their sleeves and holding their pant legs high, just as described in books, facing the earth and caring for the crops in the field.
Wu Chun remembered his mother once saying that for the people here, the one-and-a-half acre plot of land they have is the majority of their annual income.
“Here you are, young man,” the bus driver said, and the bus stopped at an intersection.
Wu Chun got off the bus with his backpack. At the end of the road, he could vaguely see houses hidden in the forest.
That should be his grandfather’s village up ahead.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Wu Chun took a deep breath and tightened the straps of his backpack, walking towards the village.
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The last time he saw his grandfather was three years ago. His grandfather had a kind face, a slightly hunched back, and spoke slower than most people, but he was always great with Wu Chun.
Lost in thought, Wu Chun unknowingly arrived at the village entrance. Suddenly, a shout brought him back to reality.
“Get~out~of~here~quickly!”
It sounded like the slogan of those people who exorcise ghosts that Wu Chun had seen on his TV at home.
But Wu Chun believed that there were no ghosts in the world. His parents had taught him this since he was a child, and his teachers in school also said the same. So, when it came to those terrifying ghost stories, Wu Chun didn’t feel anything at all.
He dared to walk down the night road that others were afraid of and go to places alone that others wouldn’t. The last time a classmate said that a certain dormitory was haunted and strange noises were always heard, when many students were scared and wouldn’t stay there, Wu Chun went in alone with a stick in the middle of the night. He kicked open the door and found only a cat.
“What ghosts? They’re all just scaring themselves.”
At this moment, Wu Chun was standing at the entrance of the village, watching as people one by one carried incense, food, and a bottle of wine, anxiously rushing towards the front of the village.
Wu Chun followed the direction they were heading in and saw what looked like a mountain ahead, with a lake at the foot of the mountain. The lake was not large, and there seemed to be a group of people at the foot of the mountain.
“Get~out~of~here~quickly!”
Another shout was heard, followed closely by the sound of a shaking bell. It was like the bell used in movies to summon spirits, which made Wu Chun feel uncomfortable.
The atmosphere in the whole village was not like what was written in books, with small bridges and flowing water in a human world. However, there was an inexplicable sense of oppression.
Wu Chun followed them, but nobody noticed him. Everyone was busy with their own affairs, and Wuchun followed behind the crowd. When they got closer to the mountain, he finally heard the full version of that shout.
Wu Chun was surprised that the person who shouted the slogan earlier was his grandfather?
“Grandpa.” Wu Chun tentatively called out, and the next second, he was hugged by the old man.
“Wow, you’ve grown up so much, I could hardly recognise you,” the old man said and shed a few tears, seemingly realizing that this was not the right occasion. He quickly wiped away his tears and pulled Wu Chun to the side, saying, “Why didn’t you wait for me at home? It’s not safe here; there are evil spirits in the mountains.”
Wu Chun: “…”
He really wanted to tell his grandfather that he didn’t believe in such things, but he didn’t have the heart to speak up when he saw how serious his grandfather was.
And even if he did say something, it would be useless since this kind of thinking is deeply rooted in the people here. At present, it seems difficult to eradicate.
“Grandpa, was that you who shouted just now?”
“Of course not.”
The old man quickly waved his hand, and his funny hat on his head began to tilt due to his excessive movement. He shook the peach-wood sword in his hand and said, “I’m just helping the master. Evil spirits are afraid of peach wood. If I hold this peach wood sword, they won’t come out to bully us.”
As he spoke, he showed off a couple of moves in front of Wu Chun.
If it weren’t for Wu Chun holding him in place, he would have probably strained his waist.
“Grandpa…” Wu Chun shouted helplessly.
“Okay, okay. Since you’re here, hurry up and bow to the master and let him do a ritual for you. After all, you don’t come here often. Don’t let the evil spirits get any ideas,” said the old man, pulling Wu Chun through the crowd and walking towards the front.
Although these were all feudal ideas that Wu Chun did not believe in, he was still deeply shocked when he saw the setup in front of him.
This group of people, who are not attentive to their own lives, put all their sincerity into these things, fearing that their negligence will bring disaster.
All kinds of paper offerings were thrown into the bonfire, and in no time they turned into ashes. Then people around them started cheering, believing that this year they would have favourable weather.
But in the eyes of Wu Chun, it was like throwing money into the fire.
These offerings must have cost a lot of money.
Wu Chun shook his head and sighed inwardly: “Why bother?”
“Wu Chun, come and kowtow to let the master perform a ritual for you.”
“No, no, no, Grandpa, I just did it.” Wu Chun hurriedly waved his hand to refuse.
But it was of no use; he was still pushed forward, and this time he kneeled in the front row. The master shook the bell in his hand and circled around Wu Chun, saying as he did so:
“Child, do not trespass; please do not be offended.”
“I’m not afraid.” Wu Chun couldn’t help but sarcastically think to himself, but on the surface, he still respectfully put his palms together as if he were praying.
“You’re not a local; don’t get involved.”
“I’m half a local; if you have the guts, come over here,” Wu Chun continued to refute in his mind.
“Kowtow three times in apology.”
After the so-called master finished speaking, he gestured for Wu Chun to kowtow.
Wu Chun quickly kowtowed three times, but his forehead did not touch the ground for any of them, so they said it didn’t count.
In short, Wu Chun doesn’t believe in superstition.
However, in this kind of environment, it’s easy to trigger his rebellious psychology.
But this is the general environment here, so Wu Chun can’t be too different; he can only use some cleverness.
“Hurry back, Chun Chun. Grandpa will make you dinner when he’s done with work.”
Wu Chun carried his backpack and squeezed out of the crowd. He looked back and saw them starting a new round of kowtows.
“If there really is a ghost like they say, it’s probably sporting a Mediterranean haircut,” Wu Chun whispered, then realised he misspoke and shook his head, “What ghost? Nonsense, I don’t believe it!”
After speaking, Wu Chun turned to leave, but he stumbled and fell just as he took the first step, and his backpack flew out.
Wu Chun rubbed his knee as he sat up.
The road was flat, with no bumps, stones, or twigs.
He could even fall on a flat surface.
But just now, Wu Chun had the feeling that something had tripped him up. He didn’t pay much attention, picked up his backpack from the ground, and walked home.
Yi Zhi Mao Dou:
When you’re reading the text, if you find any errors, just point them out directly. I’m really busy during this period! We’ll all work together to debug it after it’s finished!
I also don’t believe in supernatural things, I really can’t understand why people believe in ghosts. Is it because people afraid of death or it’s just consequences of believe in life after death?
Thank you for your translation 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚
Ghost sightings (or aliens) are commonly caused by:
Carbon monoxide poisoning.
Amongst other symptoms, this causes hallucinations. CO poisoning was very common in older, poorly ventilated homes that used fire/oil heating. (Happened a lot with Victorian and those old, country homes that people would close up tight to keep the heat in.)
1b. Other poisonous gases such as Radon, etc that mess with your head.
Low/high frequency sounds just out of human hearing range.
This happens in basements and frequently accounts for that feeling of ‘chills’ you get
Our experience is only limited to 3 dimensions plus time. Science has already shown mathematically that there are many more dimensions that we cannot perceive. Who knows what else is out there that we are getting glimpses of, and our brains are filtering into something we understand (ghosts, fae, aliens)?
You never know, they might be out there – because it is almost impossible to prove something does not exist.
Where I’m from, our superstitions are fueled by the many instances we’ve encountered that simply have no other explanation for it. There’s also our culture and background that involve spirits so something minor like ghosts, we believe they exist.
Also idk if doppelganger is the right word but y’all probably get what I mean… It’s not just that though, there have been sightings both irl (some ofc are not proven, but they say they saw something) and on cam. Personally, my other sister caught one on cam at night, behind them. She showed it to us and our parents, and was instructed to delete it.
It sounds like a made-up story, but it really is more common than one would think… At least in our place.
».. Wuchun’s new shoes and even his pants..« & ».. Wuchun didn’t feel anything at all.« & ».. Wuchun went in alone with a stick..« & »At this moment, Wuchun was standing..« & »Wuchun followed the direction they were heading..« & ».. which made Wuchun feel uncomfortable.« & »Wuchun followed them, but nobody..« & ».. and Wuchun followed behind the crowd.« All of them: Wu Chun
Oh? Was that a little welcome gift from our “nonexistent” ghost? xD
Thx for the ch ٩(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )و
Quite a petty ghost .. Tripping him because of his mockery.. 🤣
Thank you for the chapter!