Grandfather didn’t show up until the evening because he was busy with something.
Wuchun brought a small stool and sat at the doorway, fanning himself with a slightly old palm leaf fan.
This season is always hot and dry.
Grandfather’s house is not as modern as the city. A few years ago, Father bought a fan, but when Wuchun searched for it upon arriving home, he found that Grandfather had wrapped it in several layers and put it in a box.
The old man is reluctant to spend even a little on electricity. Wuchun had heard from his mother that Grandfather only takes out the fan when they come over and then carefully puts it back in the box after they leave, as if it were a precious treasure.
After some consideration, Wuchun still decided to take the palm leaf fan from Grandfather’s bedside.
Fortunately, it’s much cooler here than at home, even during the hot summer.
“Chun Chun, why don’t you come inside? There are so many mosquitoes outside,” said the grandfather.
Wu Chun saw his grandfather carrying a small basket, which contained something he didn’t know, and a bunch of firewood on his shoulders. He first placed the firewood not far from the door, where there was already a pile of firewood.
People here pick up any piece of wood they see on the road and bring it home to use for cooking.
Suddenly, Wu Chun remembered when he came here a few years ago in the winter. The trees in the village had already lost all their leaves and branches, but he was surprised to find that there were no withered leaves or grass under the trees, as if they had been cleared away by someone.
Later, Wu Chun found out that someone had actually cleared away all the withered leaves and grass.
Wu Chun was lying on a kàng (a traditional Chinese heated bed), feeling the warmth emanating from it. He listened to his mother explain that when the leaves of the trees began to turn yellow, people would start paying attention to them. Once they fell to the ground, every morning before dawn, many people would be in the woods, some carrying brooms and some carrying forks, piling up the fallen leaves into heaps and carrying them back home. When the sun was out, they would spread them out to dry. When it rained, they would cover them with large plastic bags, afraid they would get wet.
These fallen leaves were one of the heating tools used by people here in the winter. Each time they brought a bag of leaves home, they would stuff them into the kàng and light them up, and the entire kàng would stay warm all night.
“Chun Chun, what are you daydreaming about? Grandpa is talking to you, and you’re not responding.”
The old man walked over, holding a basket in his hand, and found a rock to sit on next to Wu Chun. He took out a plate of pastry from the basket and handed it to Wu Chun.
“Eat something to fill your stomach first, and Grandpa will go make dinner for you.”
Wu Chun took the plate of tempting pastries and saw that the name of the pastry seemed to be “honey three knives.” It was a small, square piece with a knife-shaped cut in the middle and sprinkled with sesame seeds on the outside. It looked shiny and seemed to have been rolled in honey, and it was fragrant and sweet. Wu Chun really liked it but could only eat two pieces at a time; otherwise, he would feel nauseous.
“Grandpa, you take a break first. I’m not hungry.”
Perhaps because he was still feeling the effects of the bumpy car ride, even though he had only eaten a little bit in the morning, Wu Chun still didn’t feel hungry. He picked up a piece of “honey three knives” and slowly chewed it, letting the honey filling in the middle flow out, accompanied by the fragrance of sesame seeds.
The food here still tasted good to him, so Wu Chun picked up another piece and put it in his mouth.
The grandfather next to him stood up directly and said, “That won’t do. You’ve been sitting in a car all day; you have to eat something. These were all given to you by your uncles and aunts. I’ll go heat them up, and you can eat.” The old man said as he walked towards the house. The cooking place was a three-sided, ventilated shed covered on top. Wu Chun sat at the door, just in sight. He didn’t follow inside and instead leisurely waved the palm-leaf fan in his hand while gazing at the distant mountains.
The mountaintop had already been dyed red by the setting sun, with wisps of smoke rising. Occasionally, he could hear the mothers’ calls from other children in the village, calling them home for dinner.
In comparison, everything here seemed so unhurried and relaxed, allowing people to take a breath after being busy.
“Wu Chun, it’s ready.”
Wu Chun stood up, and the lights in the courtyard had just come on.
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.
It was already dark outside…
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“Pa’r cbatlcu. Gbc’a jrx jybea atfrf yjv atlcur, xlv,” atf biv wjc rjlv, qlmxlcu eq jcbatfg qlfmf bo wfja jcv qeaalcu la lc Qe Jtec’r ybki.
Wu Chun had expected this kind of reaction from his grandfather. They usually avoided telling children about these things.
But Wu Chun was who he was. He put down his bowl and went over to his grandfather, hugging his arm and acting coquettishly. “Grandpa, just tell me, okay? I’m just too curious. Look, tell me.”
The old man couldn’t resist his grandson’s cajoling and ended up telling him everything within three minutes.
“That mountain in front of the Shili Village has been restless lately. Actually, it has been like that since the landslide in ’95. People go up to the mountain every night to chop firewood. They say there’s a ghost up there with long hair and a white dress. You can’t see its face clearly. One man thought he was mistaken but then heard a voice from the mountain calling out, “Come here, come here!” and he ran away scared. Ever since then, many people claim to have seen it, making everyone uneasy.
“Is it only on that mountain?” asked Wu Chun.
“Yes, and only at night,” his grandfather replied.
“Then maybe we shouldn’t go to that mountain,” Wu Chun suggested.
But his grandfather let out a slow sigh. “If we don’t steal the wood, how can we have a fire to boil water or cook? Even the thinnest twigs are hard to find now. The authorities have banned chopping down trees, so people can only go up to steal firewood at night.”
As they spoke, Wu Chun heard someone calling from outside the door, “Old man, we’re ready to go.”
“Okay.”
Wu Chun saw his grandfather put down his chopsticks and eagerly put on the clothes he had worn in the afternoon. While he was getting dressed, he said to Wu Chun, “Didn’t we make an agreement with that evil spirit today? The master said that he will take a few people to see what the other side means tonight.”
For a moment, Wu Chun didn’t know what to say.
“Grandpa, aren’t you afraid to go out so late?” he asked.
“What’s there to be afraid of? With the master around, that thing won’t dare to come near us,” Grandpa replied confidently.
Watching his grandfather’s confident demeanour and the way he shook the peach wood sword in his hand, he looked like he was ten years younger. “After you finish eating, you can watch TV for a while if you want to, or go to bed if you don’t want to wait for me.”
These people always inexplicably believe in those who claim to be “gods.”
Wu Chun agreed to his grandfather’s words on the surface, but decided to follow and see what would happen.
Ghosts, gods—they’re all just trying to scam money. The mountain road is not easy to walk at night. What if Grandpa falls down?
Wu Chun quickly ate a few mouthfuls of rice, cleaned up his dishes, changed into clothes that weren’t as brightly colored, and sneaked out of the house.
A group of people had gathered at the village entrance.
Wu Chun saw his grandfather’s figure and had to hide in the distance. Even though he was already an adult, he would still be treated like a child and sent back home if he were discovered.
The person who claimed to be a master muttered a few words, and the others followed the master enthusiastically towards the mountain.
Wu Chun tightly grasped the small flashlight in his hand and hurried to catch up.
The night in the countryside was not as pitch-black as in the city. Although it was still dark, the stars filled the night sky, emitting a faint light that illuminated the path at night.
Wu Chun’s attention was all focused on the group of people in front of him. The mountain in front of them was not very high and looked more like a ridge. After the group of people went up the mountain road, Wu Chun followed them.
When Wu Chun was halfway there, those people seemed to have already climbed to the top of the mountain.
Wu Chun heard them scattering and shouting at the summit while he stopped halfway up the mountain.
Two hundred metres to the left of the path leading to the mountain top, there was a unique pine tree.
Wu Chun was attracted to that pine tree.
Unlike the other pine trees here, which were curved, thin, short, and rough on the surface, this pine tree had a straight trunk and a smooth surface. The strangest thing was that the trunk only grew two forks, one on each side distributed symmetrically, and it looked like a person had opened their arms when looked at carefully.
This tree grew really clean.
Wu Chun is not sure why he thinks this way, but he can only describe this tree as “clean,” just like the night sky here, bright and transparent, without any other things mixed in.
However, being located in this forest, it seems a bit lonely.
Wu Chun shook his head, seemingly unable to understand why he saw a tree as a person.
“What am I thinking? It’s just a tree.”
Wu Chun said, wanting to continue walking towards the mountaintop. But just as he took a step, he heard someone shout, “Ah! Ghost!”
Immediately, Wu Chun heard someone running down from the mountaintop. Without thinking, he hid behind that tree.
Turning his body sideways, the tree seemed to be able to block him.
Wu Chun clung tightly to the tree, his entire face pressed against it. He only let out a sigh of relief after someone ran past him.
“Wow, that was close,” murmured Wu Chun.
He had almost been caught.
However, the fact that the other party had seen something that could scare a whole group of people made him wonder.
As he was contemplating this, he heard someone else’s voice.
“What a coward, scared off by a cat’s eyes.”
Wu Chun smiled. It seemed that even with a master present, some people still couldn’t suppress their inner fear.
He propped his hand against the smooth pine tree, his fingers constantly scratching the trunk as he muttered, “There are no ghosts in this world.”
For some reason, his fingers felt increasingly comfortable as he scratched faster.
Little did he know that he was about to experience his second fall of the day.
Wu Chun didn’t know why, but it was like slipping on ice, and he fell down beside a tree.
“What’s going on today?” Wu Chun sighed, “Why do I keep falling on level ground?”
However, this view of the night sky had its own charm.
But Wu Chun didn’t forget why he came here today. He quickly got up from the ground and wanted to go find his grandfather.
But just as he got up, he heard a group of old men’s cries coming from the mountaintop.
Immediately, one after another, people rushed past Wu Chun.
They looked like they had seen something extremely terrifying and were running away in a panic. The firewood they were carrying on their shoulders fell off along the way, and they probably didn’t care about these few pieces of firewood anymore.
Wu Chun stood there, completely stunned. In this situation, no one would bother to pay attention to him.
Wu Chun saw the last person run past him, and just then, he felt something poke his shoulder. He turned around and saw a small branch with a fork on the right side of a smooth pine tree poking his shoulder.
He removed the branch with his hand, realising he couldn’t stay here any longer. He walked to the small road and saw a pile of chopped wood scattered on the ground. Remembering his grandfather’s words during dinner, he thought to himself that since they’d already cut it, they shouldn’t waste it. He decided to carry it back with him.
As a result, Wu Chun bent down to pick up a piece of wood, but his feet once again slipped out of his control. This time, he didn’t fall, but instead, it was like someone had installed an electric motor on him, and he ran quickly down the mountain.
“Hey, why can’t I stop!” he exclaimed.
Wu Chun threw away the wood in his hand as his speed increased, and it seemed like there was a force controlling him, preventing him from falling forward.
“What’s going on?” he wondered.
And so Wu Chun ran all the way down the mountain.
As his figure disappeared at the end of the path leading down the mountain, the smooth pine tree suddenly moved. Two forked branches swayed for a while before coming to a stop. Then a human form suddenly appeared from within the tree trunk.
The person indeed had long hair, and in the darkness, their expression was fierce as they looked in the direction that Wu Chun had gone, furrowing their brows tightly.
This was the first time that someone had dared to stick their face on his back and even use their fingers to scratch his neck. He was ticklish and had to resort to a small trick to make the other person stumble and fall.
It’s just a bit strange. Many people have come and gone here over the past five years, and many have chosen to rest against him.
After all, he is the most handsome tree in this place.
However, no one has ever been able to directly touch his body.
That little boy was the only one.
remembering the way he looked earlier this afternoon, as if he had the ability to challenge him, and the provocative words he said when he paid his respects.
He felt a bit uneasy.
“It seems like I need to be more vigilant in the future.”
As he spoke, a piece of something resembling tree bark appeared in front of him. He wrote a sentence on it casually, and in no time, the branches of the tree moved again, and the human figure on the tree gradually disappeared into the trunk.
Men (ghosts) with long hair >>>
Thank you for your translation 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚
»Wuchun brought a small stool..« & ».. but when Wuchun searched for it..« & »Wuchun had heard from his mother..« & »After some consideration, Wuchun still decided..« All of them: Wu Chun
»remembering the way he looked earlier..« Remembering
Yeah, okay. Having someone throwing themself into your arms at the second meeting can be a bit (lot) awkward xDD
Thx for the ch ٩( >ヮ<)۶
Scratching a ghost’s back … 🤣😂