There was no one on the street late at night, and I was walking home alone. I felt extremely depressed. It had been a few months since I graduated from college, and I couldn't even find a suitable job.
Seeing that the rent was about to be due, I felt so determined that I went directly to a nightclub to apply for a job as a waiter, and was actually hired... Although the salary was not low, after seeing the working environment and working methods there, I politely declined.
After all, I haven’t reached the stage where I need to betray my appearance.
Looking down at the lonely figure under the street lamp, I can only sigh that life is short...
Just when I had nowhere to vent my depression, a piece of paper suddenly flew towards me and happened to cover my face. My anger finally became unbearable. I pulled the paper off my face and cursed:
"I'll go! Who..."
Before I finished speaking, I was stunned because I discovered that it was actually a half-burned piece of yellow mounting paper.
After being stunned for a while, I remembered that today is Ghost Festival!
It was already depressing to walk alone in the middle of the night, but my face was covered by the paper burned to the dead. I couldn't help but secretly cursed my bad luck, and then accelerated my pace home.
At this moment, the sound of gongs was faintly heard from somewhere, which was particularly harsh in this silent night, but I stopped as if I had lost my soul and listened intently...
"Bang...bang...bang..."
No more, no less, three gongs!
I was wondering, who was beating the gong on the street in the middle of the night?
Looking around, I saw a person on the roadside that was empty just now!
The person was squatting on the side of the road with her back bent, like an old lady. The key was that she was wearing a red floral blouse, with long cuffs and trouser legs, and her hands and feet could not be seen.
This dress looks like the shroud that the dead wear during burial!
There was a brazier in front of the old lady. The brazier was full of unburned paper money and yellow paper.
I looked at her suspiciously, muttering in my heart,
"Why is this person dressed so strangely..."
I didn't dare to think too much, so I quickly lowered my head and passed her and continued walking forward.
"Young man, my brazier is not big enough. Do you think this paper man... should be burned or not?"
A hoarse and gloomy voice came from the side. I stopped and turned around subconsciously to see that the old lady was putting a tied paper man into the brazier.
But the brazier was already very full and couldn't be put in at all, but she still kept pushing the paper man into the brazier.
This incredible behavior made me feel a little nervous. I looked around again and found that there was no one else. I was sure that she was indeed talking to me just now.
"Well…"
I was about to say something when I suddenly saw something written on the paper figure in the brazier. I squinted my eyes and took a closer look, and suddenly I broke out in a cold sweat!
Because my name is written on the paper man, Lin Yu!
"Huh? Answer me quickly, this paper man... should be burned or not?!"
The old lady asked, her voice a bit colder and urgent, and at the same time she slowly turned around!
As if I had foreseen something, I turned around quickly, not daring to look at her, and then ran home as if I was running away!
Along the way, my mind kept thinking about who the old lady was, why she asked me such strange questions, and why the paper figure had my name written on it...
After thinking about it, I returned to the downstairs of the community.
The apartment I rent is an old multi-story building with no elevator. The lights in the corridors are sometimes on and off. Unfortunately, they are out of order tonight.
Normally I wouldn't care about this at all, but today I felt a little scared, so I ran up to the fifth floor with all my strength, opened the door, returned home, and immediately locked the door.
At this moment, I took a long breath...
After calming down for a while, I finally felt that the series of actions I had just taken were a bit ridiculous. Could it be that I was too sensitive?
I shook my head helplessly and reached out to turn on the light.
There was a "click" sound.
The light didn't turn on, so I was stunned. I tried again and again several times, but the result was the same.
"The lamp is broken?!"
This made my slightly relaxed mood tense again. I walked towards the bedroom to see if the bedroom light could be turned on.
As soon as I took a step forward, I felt as if I had stepped on something. I raised my foot and illuminated it with my phone. When I saw it, I was stunned.
There was a pair of red-soled floral shoes on the floor!
I immediately thought of the old lady just now. These shoes looked like the same floral shirt she was wearing, but how could they appear in my house? How could that old lady be in my house?!
The more I thought about it, the more chills ran down my spine, so I bravely checked every room. Fortunately, I didn't find anything unusual, but I knew in my heart that I was probably a ghost!
Thinking of this, I hurriedly dialed a number on my mobile phone... A few seconds later, a confused voice came from the other side of the phone.
"...Xiaoyu..."
"Hey! Mom, what's that? Stop sleeping..."
"What's wrong with you in the middle of the night?" My mother's tone became a little more sober.
"I...I seem to have hit a ghost!"
There was silence on the phone for a few seconds, and my mother didn’t ask any reason, just said calmly:
"Don't be impatient, just wait for me!"
I took a deep breath and waited quietly.
The reason why I called my mother at this time is because there is a Widow Liu in my hometown village. She is a celestial being who knows a lot about cows, ghosts, snakes, gods, yin and yang, and feng shui. People in the village trust her.
If anyone has a wedding or wedding, they must visit her first. The most important thing is that Widow Liu and her mother have always had a good relationship, because her mother once had a favor with her...
Just when I was thinking wildly, my mother's voice came from the other side of the phone.
"Xiaoyu, tell me what happened to you. Your Aunt Liu is right next to you and can hear..."
I calmed down and explained the strange things I encountered tonight in detail, for fear of missing any details.
After finishing speaking, the phone fell into silence again. After a few seconds, Aunt Liu spoke:
"Xiaoyu, don't panic. Go to the window and take a look downstairs. Remember you can only take a look, and then come back and tell me what you saw."
"Now?"
"Yes, right now, remember! You can only take a look!" Aunt Liu asked again.
I responded, then got up and walked to the window, stretched my neck and looked downstairs...
In the courtyard of the community, under the cold moonlight, an old lady wearing a red floral dress was squatting on the ground and burning paper figurines. The brazier in front of her was glowing with a faint green fire.
I felt my heart jump into my throat, and this old lady came with me!
Just when I was stunned, the old lady's face slowly raised...
