Chapter 19

I'll share half my mother with you, so we can both have a home.
I'll share half my father with you, so we can both have a home.”

The girl sang the nursery rhyme and giggled. Her eerie song echoed through the courtyard and sent chills down my back. What kind of bad luck had I brought on myself, meeting ghost after ghost in just a few days?

“The stars in the sky are twinkling...”

She repeated the rhyme over and over.

Her voice drew nearer until it stopped right outside Mr. Zhang's door.

I gripped the hem of my clothes and held my breath, waiting for the thing outside to come in.

But she didn't.

She only stood outside and sang the same rhyme, again and again.

On the fourth repetition, the singing abruptly stopped.

Silence outside.

The sudden quiet didn't ease my tension.

It only made me more uneasy.

Gathering my courage, I shifted to one side, bent down, and looked through the window.

Nothing.

Had she gone?

Huh?

Why was the top of my head itchy?

I raised a hand and scratched.

Wait.

This hair wasn't mine.

My hand froze.

For an instant, I felt my heart stop.

Slowly, I looked up.

In the darkness, a deathly white face was looking straight at me.

Smiling that eerie smile.

The girl clung upside down to the ceiling.

Her head was only a fist's width from mine.

Her long hair hung down over my head.

“Caught... you again... hee hee...”

Hanging from the ceiling, she grinned at me.

“Aah!”

I screamed with every bit of strength I had.

My legs gave way, and I dropped to the floor.

She slowly lowered herself from the ceiling.

Her face came closer and closer.

I sucked in a breath, sprang up, opened the door, and ran outside.

This room wasn't safe anymore.

All I could do was get out.

I charged toward the courtyard gate.

When I reached it, it wouldn't open.

I looked back.

The girl was still wearing that strange smile, walking slowly toward me.

I pressed my back to the wall and kept my eyes on her.

Maintaining as much distance as possible, I edged left along the wall.

I reached Wenwen's door.

The sight of it made me jump away.

I couldn't let her discover him.

I couldn't let her hurt him.

She kept coming.

With my back against the wall, I had no idea what to do.

Was I really going to die here today?

“Hee hee... I'll go faster now.”

She tilted her head and smiled.

Then she rushed straight at me.

I left the wall and ran into the middle of the courtyard.

I was moving too fast to notice the water jar.

By the time I saw it, I'd slammed into it.

Crack!

I sprawled on the ground.

Ignoring the pain in my knees, I scrambled up to run again.

Then—

“Aah—!”

A scream behind me.

I turned.

Something had knocked the girl backward.

She hit the wall and fell.

Lying facedown, she looked at me with pain on her face and savagery in her eyes.

What had happened?

Was Mr. Zhang back?

I looked at the gate.

Still closed.

When I turned to her again, she was on her feet.

The eerie smile returned, and she lunged.

She was so fast I couldn't react.

But just before she touched me—

“Aah!”

She screamed again.

An invisible force hurled her backward into the wall.

I stared in bewilderment.

Something seemed to be holding her back.

I looked around the courtyard, but saw nothing unusual.

Finally, my gaze settled on the jar beside me.

The strange force had only begun stopping her after I'd crashed into it and fallen.

Could it be the jar?

Wasn't it full of smoked meat?

I'd seen Mr. Zhang take pork out with my own eyes.

Or was there something else inside besides meat?

I threw my arms around it and watched the girl.

She stared back coldly.

From her movements, I could tell she wasn't giving up.

She still wanted to charge me.

But after glancing at the jar, she abandoned the idea.

Hands on her hips, she stamped her foot and pouted.

“Hmph! This isn't any fun!”

Then she turned toward the gate.

At the entrance, she looked back at me and smiled.

“I'll come and play with you again.”

Her figure vanished before the gate.

“Who wants to play with a little brat like you?”

Perhaps having the jar as protection had given me courage.

I shouted after her from the courtyard.

Of course, no one answered.

But I kept holding on to the jar.

I didn't dare move half a step away.

I was afraid she'd suddenly come back and drag me into those terrifying games again.

So I clung to it.

Even when both my arms ached, I wouldn't let go.

I didn't know how much time passed.

Then the gate opened.

I'd been drifting into a doze.

I jolted awake and tightened my grip.

Dawn was breaking.

I could clearly see the figure at the entrance.

A thin old man.

He stood frozen, as though he'd seen something utterly unbelievable.

“Oh, Mr. Zhang, it's you. You scared me.”

Once I recognized him, I let out a breath, and my grip on the jar loosened.

“What are you doing, girl? Trying to steal my smoked pork while I'm out?”

He grumbled his way across the yard, came to the jar, opened it, and peered inside.

Raising one hand, he began counting.

“One... two... three... four...”

“What are you talking about, Mr. Zhang? I nearly died, and you're worried about me stealing your pork?”

I sank to the ground, speechless, and watched him carefully count every piece.

“...Eight, nine... Good. Nothing missing. What did you say?”

Only after counting the meat did he relax.

At last, he looked at me and registered what I'd said.

“Mr. Zhang!”

I called helplessly.

In the end, I told him everything that had happened during the night.

“A little girl... Why's there another child?”

Hands behind his back, he frowned deeply.

His face was grave.

“Mr. Zhang, what is this jar, really? I think that girl was afraid of it. It saved me!”

I stroked the jar as I asked.

“Family heirloom. It can capture ghosts, destroy them, or nurture them. When I first brought Wenwen home, he spent a long time in it. That's how he developed awareness so quickly.”

He spoke as though it were the most ordinary thing in the world.

“Mr. Zhang... you use your family heirloom... to store smoked pork?”

I truly couldn't understand him.

He treasured every piece of meat inside but seemed entirely indifferent to the jar itself.

“Yes. Convenient, isn't it? Plenty of room too.”

He raised his brows and answered matter-of-factly.

“Never mind that. How's Grandma?”

I suddenly remembered he'd gone out in the middle of the night to save her.

“She's all right now. I took her to the hospital during the night. She's been unconscious so long, she needs a doctor to check her.”

At the mention of Grandma, his voice grew unusually serious.

“How did you save her? I want to see her.”

The weight pressing on my heart finally lifted.

I braced myself to stand, ready to go to the hospital.

But after everything these past few days, I'd barely slept properly. And last night had frightened me out of my wits.

As soon as I got up, my limbs weakened, and I nearly fell again.

“Enough! Go to bed, girl. Don't think about anything. Just sleep. I need to rest too. It's nearly morning, and we have things to do tonight.”

“What are we doing tonight, Mr. Zhang?”

“Saving your mother. And settling accounts with that den of ghosts while we're at it!”

He turned and went to his room.

For once, I slept well.

No terror.

No nightmares.

I slept from the first light of dawn until the moon was high outside my window.

Rubbing my eyes, I stretched, sat up, put on my coat, and went outside.

After last night, the sight of the jar in the courtyard made me feel wonderfully safe.

Across to its right, the kitchen light was on.

I went over and found Mr. Zhang busy cooking.

Two dishes stood ready on the little table.

Something else simmered in a pot, steam rising from it.

“Wow! That smells amazing!”

The delicious smell drew the words out of me.

My stomach rumbled right on cue.

“Awake, are you? Go and wash your face. Dinner's nearly ready.”

He glanced back at me, then went on stirring the food.

“Okay!”

“Mr. Zhang, I had no idea you could cook so well.”

I ate ravenously, praising him between mouthfuls.

“All right, all right. You've buttered me up enough since last night. Eat.”

“Oh, are we going to see Grandma later?”

“She's in the hospital. I've asked someone to look after her. She's perfectly safe. We have something more important to do.”

Remembering his final words last night, I grew tense.

“What... what important thing?”

“Taking you ghost-hunting.”

He answered casually as he put a mouthful of rice in his mouth.

I was so frightened I forgot to chew.

“What... how can you say something that serious so casually? One old man and one girl—how are we going to catch ghosts?”

“You'll see. Eat. Stop talking and save your strength. You'll need it.”

“Okay...”

I wanted to ask how he planned to do it.

But his manner made it clear asking would be pointless.

I could only shut my mouth.

After dinner, he returned to his room.

I stayed at the table, my mind in knots.

The big fight was about to begin.

Could he handle those ghosts?

Could I help?

How would he deal with them?

Would Mom's body get hurt?

Question after question spun around my head.

I was excited at the prospect of learning the truth and anxious about the coming battle.

But we'd reached this point.

We had to resolve it.

We had to bring Mom back!

While I was silently encouraging myself, Mr. Zhang finished packing and appeared at the kitchen door.

He carried the same familiar black cloth bag.

“What are you staring at? Let's go.”

He turned and headed out of the courtyard.

I hurried after him.

“Mr. Zhang... what should I do later? Can I help?”

“Of course. You're the key to whether we clear the lot of them out this time. Just don't mess it up.”

“Huh... what?”

I stopped in my tracks.

Me?

What could I do?

Could I fight ghosts too?

Seeing I'd fallen behind, he turned with an impatient frown.

“What are you doing? We haven't got much time.”

“Mr. Zhang... why don't we take the jar? It's really powerful. I saw it myself last night.”

Clinging to it, I made the suggestion sheepishly.

“Fine. You carry it.”

He turned and kept walking.

I strained with all my might.

But the jar was too heavy.

After several failed attempts, I could only abandon the idea dejectedly and run after him.

We took a taxi to the entrance of the alley leading to the man's house.

There, Mr. Zhang stopped.

He frowned into its depths.

I followed his gaze.

A thick blackness covered the entire alley.

I couldn't see a thing.

Against the brightly lit street, that darkness looked all the more uncanny.

It didn't look like an alley.

It looked like another world.

Pedestrians came and went.

Many walked right past the entrance.

Not one paid any attention to it.

As though the alley didn't exist.

It seemed different from the last time we'd come.

Mr. Zhang took out a very small porcelain bowl and handed it to me.

“Take this. If you're in danger, remember to smash it.”

Pure white.

No pattern.

Apart from being a little smaller than an ordinary rice bowl, there was nothing special about it.

“Okay...”

I was full of doubts.

I didn't know what danger he meant, or whether this bowl could really help in an emergency.

Still, I carefully put it in my coat pocket.

“Let's go. Remember what I said.”

He stepped into the alley.

I followed immediately.

The instant I entered, everything went dark.

So dark I couldn't see my hand in front of my face.

I looked back.

The entrance had vanished.

Behind me, too, was endless blackness.

Only then did I truly understand.

The fight had already begun.

The moment we'd stepped inside, we'd entered their territory.

I had to stay close to Mr. Zhang.

I quickly turned and hurried after him.

“Mr. Zhang, doesn't it feel like we've been walking too long? We should have reached the junction by now.”

Scrape... scrape... scrape...

In the quiet darkness, something dragged steadily over the ground.

Clear.

Rhythmic.

When had Mr. Zhang's footsteps turned into that?

“Mr... Mr. Zhang? Why aren't you answering?”

An indescribable unease rose inside me.

Scrape... scrape...

The sound continued ahead.

It clearly wasn't his footsteps.

Then what was in front of me?

I slipped my left hand into my pocket and gripped the bowl.

Slowly, I reached forward with my right.

My heart beat faster.

My whole arm shook.

There was nothing ahead.

My hand touched nothing.

Not even Mr. Zhang, who should have been right in front of me.

Yet the scraping continued.

What was it?

I stopped.

Sure enough, the moment I stood still, the sound stopped too.

Yiyi, stay calm.

You've been through so much.

You can't be as weak as before.

Hold on.

Don't be afraid!

I encouraged myself over and over.

But in this eerie darkness, I was still filled with dread.

If there was no one in front of me, there was only one possibility left.