Chapter Thirty-Nine: Heartache

A sense of unease and dread had already taken root in my heart, suppressed only by Chan Shu's presence ahead of me. But when Wang Erjun spoke, it all erupted at once; my legs nearly gave out, and I almost collapsed to the ground.

Wang Erjun caught me and hurried me toward his house. After we passed through the bamboo grove, the temperature noticeably rose. It was only when we reached his courtyard that he finally let out a heavy breath and released my hand.

I couldn't help myself—I instinctively glanced toward the other side of the bamboo grove. What I saw was no longer a quaint courtyard of blue bricks and tiles. Instead, it was that sinister, ghostly woman's compound, the dark, pitch-black house exuding the chilling aura of a tomb.

"Xie Yuan. Snap out of it. Stop looking!" Wang Erjun shook my shoulders forcefully. I took a deep breath and replied, "I'm fine. I just took one look."

"How did you make it all the way here from Old Lady Li’s house? That's a long way. Let me tell you, you must never go near that place. Don’t even look at it."

He had no idea about Chan Shu; I could never tell him there was a female ghost accompanying me, who had already saved my life several times. But what unsettled me most were Wang Erjun’s words: he said others had gone inside before—and every one of them had gone mad.

Old Lady Li once told me that I could let Chan Shu follow me, that she would protect me—but I couldn’t communicate with her. Chan Shu’s intentions toward me were clear; otherwise, why would a ghost, a stranger to me, go out of her way to protect me from danger? Still, I couldn’t stop wondering what her true purpose was. What was it about me that drew her to me?

Lost in thought, I was startled as Wang Erjun stamped his foot and heaved a heavy sigh. "Stay here tonight, sleep until morning. Tomorrow, we’ll go see Old Lady Li together."

His words broke my reverie, and I nodded silently. Wang Erjun seemed to think I’d been scared witless and didn’t ask any further questions. Once I was inside the room and lying on the bed, he left, warning me repeatedly not to even approach the ghostly woman’s house again. He’d only caught me in time because he’d woken in the night. If I’d gone inside, it would have been all over.

His fear was a chilling reminder. Chan Shu had saved me, and I owed her more than I could ever repay, even at the cost of my own life. But my father was still in Baihu Village, and Aunt Hui’s soul was still restless. I had to follow Old Lady Li’s lead to resolve all of this, to let my father and Aunt Hui reincarnate.

But above all—Chan Shu’s purpose.

A nameless confusion, even a faint ache, gnawed at my heart. From the first moment I saw her, Chan Shu had struck me as stunningly beautiful. Even knowing she was a ghost, I couldn’t suppress my desire to be close to her. If fate had brought her to protect me for no reason, what harm was there in my yearning for her companionship?

And yet, her purpose…

And what about what Wang Erjun had said—others had all gone mad? Had Chan Shu done this to many before? The thought only made my heart sink further.

After a while, I slapped myself hard. She was a ghost—what was I thinking? I closed my eyes and forced myself to sleep. My mind struggled for a long time before I finally drifted off.

This time, there were no nightmares. Instead, I kept hearing someone call my name—sometimes a clear, unfamiliar child’s voice, sometimes my father’s.

Sleep was restless through the night. When I woke, the sunlight filled the entire room. My face was warm from the sun, and my stomach rumbled so loudly with hunger it drowned out all other thoughts.

The scent of rice porridge and salted meat wafted to me. I immediately pushed open the door. In the courtyard, a small wooden table had been set up. Wang Erjun was attacking a plate of salted meat with a large enamel bowl, the slurping sounds making my hunger even worse.

"Xie Yuan, you’re up! Come eat!" he called.

Aunt Wang came from the kitchen, setting a big bowl of porridge on the other side of the table. She still looked at me with some unease and avoidance. I smiled at her in thanks and went over to gulp down the porridge.

"Slow down, there’s more in the pot," she said, wiping her hands on her apron and managing a small smile.

I could see the deepening wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, the pain and sorrow buried in their depths, and the resentment and anger flickering in Wang Erjun’s small eyes.

Once my empty belly was filled with hot food, I was fully awake. Wang Erjun slapped the table. "Come on, Xie Yuan, let’s go to Old Lady Li’s."

I nodded, then went to relieve myself before we set off together.

Passing through the bamboo grove, we could have saved time by cutting through the ghostly woman’s courtyard, but Wang Erjun insisted on taking the long way.

"Erjun, who else has gone into her house? What happened to them?" I couldn’t suppress my doubts any longer.

He paused, then answered, "They went mad—I told you last night, all of them. They were all young men from the village, around our age. Some came into sudden wealth, some claimed to have seen a beautiful woman, but before long, for reasons no one could explain, they entered that house."

He visibly shuddered as he spoke.

"I saw it once myself, five or six years ago. A businessman who’d made his fortune came back to honor his ancestors, bringing his wife and son from the city, as well as his daughter-in-law. His son was about twenty, the daughter-in-law very beautiful. That night, I happened to wake up and saw his son sitting motionless in the ghostly woman’s courtyard.

"I was so scared I woke my mother, and she went to alert the businessman. No one dared enter the house. The whole village gathered outside. Finally, Old Lady Li took charge, had a villager tie a noose to a rope, and lassoed the businessman’s son by the neck, dragging him out.

"This sort of thing happened several times before, and Old Lady Li used different methods to get them out. But when they came out, none of them were sane anymore.

"That businessman’s family never returned to Wangjia Slope. I myself rarely stay at home for this very reason."

A chill ran through me.

Wang Erjun lowered his voice, glancing nervously toward his house. "Xie Yuan, listen to me: never let lust get the better of you. If you see a beautiful woman, it’s the ghostly woman in disguise. She wants to lure you in and steal your soul!"

I shivered all over. Was Chan Shu the ghostly woman? But if she meant me harm, it would be all too easy for her to take my soul—why would she bother bringing me back to that house?

Before I could puzzle it out, we had arrived at Old Lady Li’s bamboo hut. Her big black dog, Little Black, sniffed me up and down warily.

"Granny!" Wang Erjun called.

Old Lady Li came out from the front room. When she saw me, she visibly relaxed. "I thought you’d gone somewhere else, but it turns out you were with Erjun."

Wang Erjun immediately blurted out that I’d almost entered the ghostly woman’s house. Old Lady Li’s expression changed at once. She repeated the same warnings, but I could tell she wanted to say more, only holding back because Wang Erjun was present.

There were things I longed to ask her too. I remembered that last time, she’d told me not to get involved with Chan Shu, and that once the village’s troubles were resolved, she would explain everything.

At that moment, a shout came from the direction of the fishpond: "You old hag! What kind of riff-raff are you bringing into the village? Get him out of here! Just look at him—shifty-eyed and no good!"

My heart thudded. I turned to see a man with disheveled hair, a filthy face, and ragged clothes standing at the edge of the fishpond, waving a stick menacingly.

I was the only outsider here—was he shouting at me?

Wang Erjun was sweating with fear. Old Lady Li’s face darkened, her eyes filled with a complicated expression.

Just then, Little Black bared his teeth and began barking furiously in that direction.