Chapter 16: Terror at the Grave!

“Smack!”

That face suddenly turned toward me, making my hand tremble, and I pressed the head in my arms down toward my crotch once more.

“Thump, thump, thump!”

I felt as if my heart was about to leap out.

But I forced myself to hold back a scream.

The hand pressing her head only grew tighter.

I saw that head glance in my direction, then blankly turn away again.

The Taoist priest slowly walked down with the second woman.

I didn’t dare make a move.

I held my position until the priest and the second woman completely disappeared, then I finally gasped for air.

It was terrifying.

The second woman had always looked like a shrew, her face pale and expressionless.

Even my own chicken would have been scared to wet itself.

But the next moment,

I felt something wet against my chest.

I suddenly looked down at the girl in my arms.

Her head was nestled in my embrace, her body struggling outside, trying to lift her head.

The posture was normal enough.

But since I was squatting and nervous, I had pressed down a few more times.

It became awkward.

It was as if she had plunged her head into my pants and fallen into a well, unable to get out.

I quickly released her head.

The girl immediately raised her head, then, losing her balance, sat down on the ground.

Her face flushed crimson, her long hair no longer smooth but wildly tangled and fluttering.

“You… you… you’re going to suffocate me! I can’t breathe!”

She gasped, pointing at me with a scolding tone.

Her ample chest heaved with each breath.

Drool hung at the corners of her mouth.

Only then did I realize why my pants felt damp—my nervous, forceful pressing had nearly suffocated her, making her struggle to breathe and drool uncontrollably.

Seeing her like this, I awkwardly glanced at the pocket of my pants.

If it were just a bit further to the left,

that would be even more embarrassing.

I hurriedly explained, “It’s just that I didn’t want to disturb your mother’s soul retrieval. If interrupted, your mother wouldn’t be able to rest peacefully in the afterlife, and that could cause serious trouble.”

Hearing this, the girl stopped complaining and immediately asked anxiously, “What do you mean, afterlife? My mother’s alive and well. Why would she need to reincarnate?”

As she spoke,

she anxiously tugged at me, “My mother’s dead?”

Tears instantly welled up,

streaming from her beautiful eyes.

Seeing her like this, I could only sigh helplessly.

“When souls linger, it’s usually because they died a tragic death and one part of their soul fled. A skilled Taoist priest can help find that lost soul so the spirit can fully transition to the afterlife. It’s likely that second woman has already died…”

I felt no sympathy for that shrew.

In fact, I cursed her in my heart.

She had bullied my grandfather so badly—my grandfather only wanted to cool my fever with well water,

but she insulted him endlessly,

even had butcher Liao beat him up. Such a venomous woman, if she’s dead, then so be it.

I almost hoped the Taoist priest wouldn’t summon her soul back.

Still, since she was the girl’s mother, the girl began to cry, burying her face in her knees with her long hair draping behind her, hiding her face.

“Wah, Mom! Wah, Mommy!”

Curious, I asked, “How did your mother die? Didn’t you say you came here to wait for her tomb-sweeping?”

“I don’t know! I don’t know! Don’t ask me! I know nothing! Mom…”

The girl cried harder at my question.

Dawn was approaching quickly.

I couldn’t afford to delay.

I had come up the mountain alone today because the female corpse had appeared in my dream three years ago.

She told me to come up the mountain before dawn on my eighteenth birthday.

Only I could go, and I wasn’t to tell anyone—not my grandfather, nor the madman Zhao.

At first, I thought it was just a dream.

But it came repeatedly,

and I gradually believed it was the corpse’s instruction.

So I stood up and said to her, “You’d better go home. Your family has lost someone and needs to keep vigil. Go ask what happened—I have business here, so I’ll leave first.”

I said no more and started walking up the mountain.

The mountain path was littered with white paper.

It was unsettling to look at.

The higher I climbed, the more white paper covered the ground.

I frowned.

What was going on?

Usually, when summoning souls on the mountain, the white paper would be more abundant below, near the village, not here.

Why was it reversed?

Could it be that the summoning was happening below and the spirit lived up here?

Impossible.

Who would live on a mountain?

I shook my head, unable to figure it out, and stopped thinking about it.

After all, my mission today was to meet the mysterious female corpse at the summit and clarify everything.

As compensation, she promised to resurrect me however I wished, and I would obey.

Whether it actually worked or not was her concern.

Reaching the halfway point, I hummed a little tune and continued upward.

Passing by the village’s burial ground, I casually glanced over.

Not far away was a fresh grave,

adorned with many wreaths, with three people standing near.

Probably the family of the second woman.

When encountering funerary matters, it’s best not to stare.

Burning paper and paying respects are deeply private acts; watching could attract unclean spirits.

The white paper coins on the path must not be stepped on,

lest they follow you home.

That’s the basic rule.

But I couldn’t avoid it—the halfway point was covered in white paper.

As I was about to look away,

the three people at the grave turned their heads.

That sudden movement startled me.

One of the women was the second woman!

What was going on?

How could it be her?

Wasn’t she dead?

The Taoist priest was still summoning her soul!

Could it be…

the spirit of the second woman?

Before I could think it through, she looked at me and waved.

A dead woman waving at me from her grave!

I immediately took two steps back.

“Stop right there—”

Her sharp voice pierced like a blade.

I retreated two more steps.

But the second woman chased after me, moving very fast!

Her husband and brother also charged toward me.

They were all halfway up the mountain.

“I told you not to step on the paper coins! Damn it, I’m seeing ghosts!”

I shouted and dashed down the mountain.

I ran wildly, reaching the fork in the road again and saw the girl still crying.

As I passed, I grabbed her hand and shouted, “Your mother’s ghost is coming! Run!!!”

She was too stunned to react and was pulled along as I hurried down the mountain.

The wind rushed past my ears.

We ran for a long time.

I must have shaken them off because I gradually slowed and looked back.

Sure enough,

the second woman hadn’t followed.

Panting, I said to the girl beside me, “What’s going on with your mother? There’s one up the mountain and one down—who’s the ghost? You…”

Before I finished,

I looked at the girl I was holding.

Her face was deathly pale,

and from the corner of her eye streamed a streak of crimson blood tears!