Jing Jiujiu and his companions arrived at Zhou City airport.
"Where is your home?" Jing Jiujiu asked.
Master Zhou replied, "Follow me."
Jing Jiujiu and Bai Yuhuai had never been here before, so they silently followed behind Master Zhou.
This following led them first to take a taxi, then the subway, and finally to rent a car from a dealership, which took them onto a bumpy, muddy road.
Bai Yuhuai looked up and asked, "Are we outside the third ring road?"
Master Zhou chuckled, "Oh, my home is probably beyond the seventh or eighth ring."
When they finally arrived, they understood what Master Zhou meant by "beyond the seventh or eighth ring" —
His home was near a highway outside Zhou City, requiring a further half-hour drive on a winding road before reaching the village entrance.
With the advancement of urbanization, fewer and fewer people were living in rural areas.
As they entered the village, it was indeed rather quiet, clearly not home to many residents.
Master Zhou led them around a few corners before stopping in front of a red wooden door.
Behind the wooden door was a small courtyard typical of rural homes, with walls of medium height and electric wires strung along the top... it appeared to be a relatively well-off household.
Master Zhou pushed open the door, releasing a cloud of dust that made him cough and sputter several times.
Jing Jiujiu handed him a handkerchief.
Master Zhou quickly accepted it and wiped his face, saying, "...I haven't been back for a long time. Haha, it's a bit embarrassing. There's dust everywhere."
At that moment, an old granny carrying a basket on her back passed by. Startled by the noise, she turned to look, "...Who's there?"
"Oh, it's old Zhou. What brings you back?"
"Didn't you say you were going to work at a construction site to earn money to find your son?"
The Old Granny asked, her words tumbling out one after another.
The smile on Master Zhou's face slowly faded. He said, "...I couldn't find him."
Old Granny: "Then what about your granddaughter and daughter-in-law?"
Master Zhou: "They're not here."
The Old Granny let out a long sigh, "Didn't they say they were going to report to the police? Did you do that?"
Master Zhou: "Yes, I did. ...But they couldn't be found." After saying this, he stepped inside the door first, then turned back to call Jing Jiujiu, "Young master, please come in..."
The Old Granny stood there, muttering to herself, "Oh my, who are these rich people he's brought? They look so precious. Is he selling this place? Why would rich people want to buy this?"
She mumbled to herself once more before walking away.
Jing Jiujiu looked back once, then obediently let Bai Yuhuai hold his hand as they entered.
He couldn't help but whisper, "Why do you keep holding my hand?"
He was already in his twenties!
Although those seven years in the ancient castle basically didn't count!
Bai Yuhuai squeezed his palm and said, "...Because we're dating."
That's right, he liked Bai Yuhuai, and Bai Yuhuai liked him too. They could now openly and rightfully date! Is this what people do when they're dating?
Jing Jiujiu had a sudden realization, his heart pounding. He unconsciously raised his hand to touch his chest, but oh, it was still as calm as ever, with no pounding heart to be felt.
Jing Jiujiu followed with light steps, but gradually, his pace slowed...
The courtyard was filled with drying corn, pumpkins hung on the wall, along with a string of red chili peppers.
But the corn was covered in a thick layer of dust, the kernels shriveled and moldy. The pumpkins had also withered, almost hollow in the middle, with cobwebs stretched across them. The red chili peppers had turned black...
What should have been a scene full of vibrant rural life seemed as if it had been painted with the wrong colors, suddenly rendered gray and desolate.
Master Zhou held the handkerchief to his face, as if to block out the dust. He gave a low chuckle and said, "I left in a hurry. Once I left... I never came back."
Jing Jiujiu gave a soft "hmm" and followed him into the living room.
Master Zhou grabbed a broom and started sweeping haphazardly, "Let me chase away the bugs first..."
Bai Yuhuai said nothing, he simply reached out and wrapped an arm around Jing Jiujiu's waist, lifting him up entirely.
This way, he wouldn't be frightened by the bugs.
Jing Jiujiu was surprised for a moment, but quickly happily leaned against Bai Yuhuai.
Dating is so nice!
He didn't even have to walk by himself!
After Master Zhou's frantic sweeping, he went to the kitchen to get cups and a kettle.
Jing Jiujiu stretched his neck to examine the living room's furnishings.
The living room was not small, but there wasn't much furniture inside, making it look somewhat empty.
On the wall hung an old group photo.
In the photo, Master Zhou was slightly hunched, with a bright smile on his face, standing between two people. Those two people were each carrying a bag of rice and a bottle of oil.
In the bottom right corner of the photo, there was a crooked line of text that read: "Thanks to the country..."
Bai Yuhuai, having learned about different character relationships for his acting roles, understood a bit more than Jing Jiujiu.
Bai Yuhuai said in a low voice, "The Zhou family used to be impoverished."
Jing Jiujiu: "Ah."
The Master Zhou in the photo and the Master Zhou now barely looked like the same person.
Bai Yuhuai turned his gaze to a stack of books on the eight-immortals table.
The covers of those books were either yellow or red, with very crude cover designs, clearly not published by any reputable publishing house.
Bai Yuhuai, still carrying Jing Jiujiu, walked over and briefly flipped through them.
The covers bore titles like "Feng Shui: From Beginner to Expert," "38 Strategies of Face Reading," "Folk Tales That Can Help You"... At the bottom was a worn-out dictionary that looked like it had been thumbed through countless times.
Jing Jiujiu, hanging onto Bai Yuhuai's waist, leaned down and pulled out a piece of paper from the books.
"Qi, refers to utensils, implements..."
There were many such notes tucked into the books, all containing pinyin and definitions for various characters.
The handwriting on these notes showed progression.
At first, the characters were crooked, looking more like drawings. Later ones were much neater.
Jing Jiujiu was slightly surprised: "...Master Zhou originally couldn't read?"
At this moment, Master Zhou returned, one hand covering his face, the other holding a tray with a kettle and cups.
"I've cleaned them," Master Zhou said, "You'll have to wait a bit, there's no water in the pipes. I'll go check the well..."
Bai Yuhuai: "No need."
Master Zhou: "Oh, but we must. You're guests in my home, and although it's quite rundown... we should at least serve tea."
As he finished speaking, Master Zhou noticed the stack of books: "Young master, please excuse me, I didn't know many characters before. I learned later..."
With that, Master Zhou hurriedly turned and left.
Jing Jiujiu pointed to a nearby wall: "Look over there."
Bai Yuhuai carried him over.
That wall was not well-lit, and a large photograph hung there. Due to the dim light, they hadn't noticed it earlier.
It was a common enlarged photo, not very high resolution, without even a frame. It was just hung on the wall with a string threaded through it, suspended from a nail.
The photo was also covered in a thick layer of dust, but the content was still vaguely visible.
Master Zhou sat on a stool, smiling stiffly as if it was his first time being photographed.
He looked younger then, wearing a military green cap, his attire very much in the style of the 1970s.
Next to him, standing by his knee, was a little girl wearing a bright red padded jacket. One of her hands was in her mouth, while the other held a pink lollipop.
Behind them was a man in his thirties wearing an ill-fitting jacket, but he was smiling brightly. Beside him was a somewhat timid-looking woman wearing a shapeless overcoat with a magenta scarf around her neck. The combination looked a bit rustic but eye-catching enough. At that time, dressing like this for photos was probably quite popular.
Bai Yuhuai said calmly, "Those must be Master Zhou's daughter-in-law and granddaughter that the old lady mentioned."
Jing Jiujiu nodded, frowning in confusion: "Did they all disappear?"
Master Zhou walked in from behind, carrying an empty kettle that swayed back and forth, making a slight noise.
He sighed and said, "The well has dried up."
Then, as if just catching Jing Jiujiu's question, he continued: "No, only my son disappeared..." He paused before saying, "My daughter-in-law and little granddaughter... they died."
Jing Jiujiu turned in shock: "Died?"
Master Zhou nodded, placing the empty kettle on the table. He didn't seem to mind the thick layer of dust on the stool and sat down heavily.
He tilted his head slightly upwards, as if looking at the photograph, or perhaps at the ceiling. With one hand still pressed against his face, he moved his lips and said, "My daughter-in-law and granddaughter lived in town. That year, my son ran back home, always saying something was chasing him, that he needed to hide. How was I supposed to know what was going on? So I let him stay at home.
"Every day he covered himself with blankets and even bought curtains to hang over the windows, blocking out all the light. He was terrified. There was nothing I could do, so I just made food and brought it to him every day... This went on for about a week, and then one day, I turned around and he was gone."
"I couldn't understand it. How could a person just disappear like that? I thought, maybe the thing chasing him had caught up? I searched everywhere but couldn't find him. The village secretary helped me report it to the police, but they couldn't find him either... There was a blind man in the village who said, what if he'd been targeted by some kind of ghost? So I bought a few books from the blind man... these ones here. I just wanted to know what kind of ghost could have such power. But after I bought them, I realized I couldn't read. We had no money back then, you know? How could we afford schooling? My son's education was funded entirely by our farming..."
"The village secretary tried to convince me, saying it wasn't ghosts. Where are there ghosts these days? He probably just went back to the city. But I wouldn't listen. I felt it must be ghosts, otherwise why would my son be so scared? When the secretary couldn't persuade me, he gave me a dictionary, saying if I learned a few characters, I could at least buy a ticket to go to town and see my daughter-in-law, and maybe find my son..."
Master Zhou took the book and flipped it roughly, sending up a cloud of dust.
He squinted his eyes tightly, pressing the handkerchief more firmly against his face.
"So I spent every day learning characters, and when I couldn't figure one out, I'd go ask the village secretary. He was a university graduate... he could read. I actually haven't finished the bottom two books yet, I only read for a month. Then the police from town came to tell me they still hadn't found him, and my daughter-in-law was missing too.
"I quickly asked the village secretary to help me buy a bus ticket, and I went to town. My son had bought a small apartment there, just over 30 square meters. When I arrived, I saw people banging on the door..."
At this point, Master Zhou's voice took on a hint of anger.
Master Zhou continued through gritted teeth: "When I saw this, I finally understood. Damn it, what ghost was he hiding from? He was hiding from debt collectors! They were all there demanding money, aggressive as hell, throwing paint and writing big characters... I told them, fine, I'll pay, I'll pay however much he owes, my son is missing, I need to check on my daughter-in-law and granddaughter first..."
"Good lord, when I asked, it was 80,000. You could kill me and I still wouldn't have that much..."
Jing Jiujiu tilted his head in confusion.
Then... why did Master Zhou later think his son had disappeared like those other people?
Wasn't he just hiding from debt?
Master Zhou mumbled: "These debt collectors cursed a bit, saying they couldn't mess with an old man... Heh, you could say they still had some morals, right? They didn't grab me and beat me up."
"After they left, I used my key to get in. Just as they said, there was no one inside. Forget my daughter-in-law, I couldn't even find my granddaughter. At the time, I thought, could it be that these people couldn't find my son, so they kidnapped them? I was frantic, so I went down to the corner store, used 50 cents to have the owner help me call the police."
Master Zhou tilted his head back even further: "When I went back to wait for the police, I kept smelling something foul. I knew that smell all too well. When I was young, to earn money, I often carried corpses for people in the village. I'd carry the ones others didn't want to. Could earn an extra 18 yuan... I suddenly panicked and searched everywhere. Under the bed, in the closets... nothing. Then I saw a big cardboard box in the living room with an electric fan on top of it. I walked over, moved the fan, and inside the box, my little granddaughter and her mother were tightly wrapped in tape, curled up together. They were already stiff. When I touched them, they were ice cold. But looking at them, they seemed like they were just sleeping..."
He mumbled softly, and finally the handkerchief couldn't hold back the tears. Two streams of murky, dust-mixed tears flowed down his face.
"What a strange way to die, isn't it? No fingerprints, no other traces. It wasn't homicide. But how could this be suicide? Could they wrap themselves in tape, suffocate themselves in a box, and then after dying, put an electric fan on top? I felt this was truly encountering ghosts, truly encountering ghosts!" The veins on Master Zhou's body were bulging.
He clutched tightly at those dust-covered books and asked Bai Yuhuai, "Mr. Bai, don't you agree?"
Bai Yuhuai: "If I could see photos of the scene, I might be able to understand what happened."
Master Zhou nodded slightly: "Oh, I'll continue with what happened next. I ended up staying in that town for three months. I didn't realize at the time that from then on, I would never return home again... But it doesn't matter anymore. With all my family dead, what home is there to return to?
"I still wanted to read some books, to figure out what kind of ghostly thing this could be. But I didn't have enough money. Books in the city were expensive, ten or twenty yuan each. How could I afford that? They told me to take my money to the bigger provincial city, saying there was something called a library there, where you could find any book, and you could borrow them for free, without paying. So I took another train to the provincial city..."
"I couldn't find anything..." Master Zhou pressed the handkerchief hard, "Nothing at all... My son was completely gone without a trace. Everything was gone... Then I heard there was a fortune teller in the south of the city who could divine the future. I went to ask, and good lord, it was 300 yuan for one reading! Why doesn't he just rob people? I listened from the side, damn it, I knew more from reading books than he did!"
Jing Jiujiu spoke softly: "...So then, you also became a fortune teller?"
Master Zhou nodded: "I started out mixing cement at construction sites. There were young people there who said, if you can't find it in books, look online. So I took my money and went to an internet cafe. There was some sort of occult discussion forum... Oh boy, things like spirit boards... all that nonsense... It was full of instructions on how to play with these things, nothing serious. And when I looked, all the posters were teenagers or people in their twenties... These people don't understand reverence. They've never seen what it's like when people die silently and horribly. It's not just scary, it's painful. When my granddaughter and daughter-in-law died, it felt like my guts were being ripped out... So I tried to persuade them not to mess around with these things."
Master Zhou let out a muffled laugh: "Ha! In the end, I couldn't persuade those kids. But someone came to find me, kept calling me 'Master,' and even gave me 10,000 yuan, saying I must be knowledgeable and asking me to do a divination for him... I'd never seen 10,000 yuan before! I took it and gave it to the debt collectors. So you see, maybe my good-for-nothing son learned it from me. We both lose our heads at the sight of money... It took me just three years to pay off that 80,000. After that, more and more people came to me for divination... I thought, I've been dealing with all these half-baked fortune tellers... maybe one day I'll run into a real immortal? Someone who can answer my questions, let me know how my granddaughter and daughter-in-law died, tell me where my son went... If I could find him again, I'd kick his head in like a watermelon."
"Oh, Mr. Bai, are you tired of holding the young master? Let me wipe this bench for you, have a seat." Master Zhou said as he used his sleeve to wipe the dust off the bench, then continued: "At that time, my granddaughter and daughter-in-law were cremated, their ashes put together in a small urn. There was nowhere to bury them. What could I do? Burial plots were too expensive. So I carried them in my backpack for four or five years, and my fortune-telling scam actually earned some money. How fresh, after death, I could finally let my granddaughter and daughter-in-law rest in the most expensive cemetery in the provincial city..."
Master Zhou finally removed the handkerchief from his face, revealing eyes swollen like walnuts and covered in wrinkles.
"But I still couldn't find my son. I don't know why he was hiding from debt, how he disappeared, or why after he left, my granddaughter and daughter-in-law died so horribly... Their deaths weren't right, and my son's disappearance wasn't right either. It doesn't seem like he was just hiding from debt."
Jing Jiujiu's face scrunched up, and he fell silent.
Unconsciously, he tugged at Bai Yuhuai's sleeve.
Bai Yuhuai reached back and grasped his cool fingers.
"Later, I ended up in detention a few times, but it seems like all the luck in my life was used up at that moment. It's as if my daughter-in-law and the others all died, heh, and I, like an old demon, sucked away all their luck. Someone introduced me to some small-time celebrities, to bring them some fortune. After that, didn't things just keep getting better? I even met the young master and Mr. Bai." Master Zhou stood up and bowed deeply, "I must thank Mr. Bai for his generosity at the time, allowing someone like me to get my hands on the Jing family's money..."
Master Zhou's face tightened, the corners of his mouth pulling back slightly: "Who would have known, I only recognized a few characters, 'money,' 'piece,' 'cents'... these words I knew."
Even fewer people knew how he had gone from being a hunched-over farmer painfully flipping through a dictionary, to leaving his village for the most prosperous city, becoming Master Zhou, able to converse with anyone and navigate social situations skillfully.
Master Zhou clicked his tongue: "This matter... well, it wasn't easy. I know Mr. Bai doesn't lack money, and neither does the young master. But, this is truly my one unfulfilled wish."
Bai Yuhuai was silent for a moment, but still couldn't help reminding him: "Even if they were ghosts, after so many years, there might not be any yin energy left in the house..."
Jing Jiujiu: "That's simple."
Bai Yuhuai: "Hm?"
Master Zhou: "Ah?"
Jing Jiujiu: "Do people die in your village?"
"Of course people die."
Jing Jiujiu: "I'll call out a few ghosts who died in your village, and we can just ask them, can't we?"
Master Zhou: "Oh my god! Young master, you're truly a living bodhisattva..."
Bai Yuhuai paused, watching as a golden light quickly flashed across Jing Jiujiu's body.
This golden light was incredibly solid, deep in color.
Jing Jiujiu was completely oblivious. He jumped down from Bai Yuhuai and swaggered out.
He scanned the area, pondering if he should act like Sun Wukong, stomping his foot and calling out, "Earth God! Earth God!" No, he should call out, "Little ghosts! Little ghosts!" And then they would appear?
Jing Jiujiu stomped his foot.
A gust of wind blew by, making the blackened, rotten chili peppers rustle loudly.
Jing Jiujiu suddenly shrank his shoulders.
This place was too much like a horror movie scene.
An abandoned farmhouse courtyard, surrounded by a sparsely populated old village, with a dried-up well not far from the courtyard... What if Sadako crawled out of it?
After much consideration, Jing Jiujiu turned and went back to the living room.
Bai Yuhuai and Master Zhou both looked at him at the same time.
Jing Jiujiu looked at Bai Yuhuai and said dryly, "Well... it's a bit challenging after all."
Bai Yuhuai glimpsed his expression and found it amusing: "Oh?"
Jing Jiujiu blinked, his long eyelashes fluttering: "Do you think... there are ghosts in the well?"
Bai Yuhuai understood his implication.
Bai Yuhuai: "I'll accompany..."
Before he could finish saying "you," Jing Jiujiu suddenly brightened up: "Oh, I have an idea. It doesn't matter if there are ghosts in the well, I'm not even afraid of ghosts in the bed!"
He ran to open the backpack he had brought, took out the statue of King Yama, quickly carried it out, placed it on the ground, and poked King Yama's head: "...Can you call out all the ghosts here?"
Bai Yuhuai: "..."
In his heart, at least eight jars of vinegar were spilled.
So he wasn't needed anymore? Hm?
Master Zhou followed them out. Last time, he had already learned from the reactions of those big shots in the metaphysical circles that this statue was one of the Ten Kings of Hell! A proper King Yama!
Master Zhou worried: "This... can we really order His Majesty around?"
Jing Jiujiu raised his slender finger and poked the statue again.
Suddenly, a tall, thin figure emerged from the statue, its head higher than the eaves of the house.
Master Zhou was so shocked he fell on his backside.
King Yama lowered his gaze and muttered a few words, sounding like ancient Chinese, then he pulled out a pen from his palm and made a stroke in the air...
A gust of yin wind blew around them, and it seemed like shrieking sounds could be heard.
Countless shadowy figures were forcibly pulled together by that pen stroke.
Invisible ropes bound them together, and with a thud, they all landed in front of Jing Jiujiu.
Master Zhou's face turned green, feeling both scared and thrilled.
I've underestimated you, young master!
So... it seems like all the luck in my life really was saved for my old age...
Jing Jiujiu squatted down and chatted with the ghosts: "Are you from around here?"
The ghosts made incomprehensible noises, as if they were confused.
Jing Jiujiu: ?
Bai Yuhuai thought to himself, finally, I'm needed.
He stepped forward and said calmly: "These are all ancient, incomplete souls of wandering ghosts. They don't even have basic consciousness."
Jing Jiujiu sighed lightly and patted King Yama's shoulder: "Then sorry to trouble you, find a smarter ghost."
King Yama was indeed diligent and obliging, silently waving his pen again.
Jing Jiujiu turned back and saw Master Zhou sitting on the ground. He thought for a moment, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a handkerchief, handing it to Master Zhou: "The previous one got dirty."
The paper doll version of Jing Jiujiu carried real handkerchiefs in his pocket, and Master Zhou reached out and took it... He chuckled softly: "Thank you, young master."
Jing Jiujiu turned his head to look at Bai Yuhuai, seeing his cold expression as he stood there without speaking.
Oh... he must be thinking, am I less important than ghosts? Why doesn't Jing Jiujiu look at me more?
Jing Jiujiu remembered that many girls online often felt insecure like this after getting into relationships.
A human-ghost relationship isn't easy, I must be an understanding and good boyfriend!
Make people want to date me again after dating me once!
So Jing Jiujiu walked up to Bai Yuhuai, leaned close to his ear, and asked softly: "Are you a little upset?"
Bai Yuhuai's heart softened: "No."
The fact that Jing Jiujiu would take the initiative to ask him had already melted away any displeasure he might have felt.
Jing Jiujiu secretly hooked his palm and whispered: "Boyfriend, don't be upset. I'll let you bite me today. We can also do this..."
He stuck out his tongue a little.
"Like this, it's wet inside, and no one can see from the outside."
Bai Yuhuai's throat tightened, he clenched his fingers, then unable to suppress it any longer, slowly and with a hint of sensuality, raised his hand to caress the young man's chin, neck, and Adam's apple.
He would offer a handkerchief to Master Zhou, and then turn to comfort him. It seemed he was born with the ability to soothe others.
Soothing his heart until it melted like water, his blood boiling hot.