Chapter 9

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

Original Title: 挖坟挖出鬼

Genres: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Supernatural, Yaoi

This translation is based on multiple MTLs and my own limited knowledge of Chinese characters. If I have made any egregious mistakes, please let me know.

Chapter Index

Chapter 9 - Flee

The flame on the table moved.

“It’s here,” A-Yan said, and then motioned Lin Yan to pay attention to what was behind him. Lin Yan turned around and saw that there was nothing unusual. Then he saw it.

There are obviously only three of them in the room, but there were four shadows on the wall.

Different from the familiar silence, the fourth shadow on the wall was constantly moving this time, like it was pacing around the house. At first, it moved extremely slowly, and then it got faster and faster. For a while, it hurriedly walked straight in one direction, then returned, and finally started to circle around them.

“He’s looking for you,” A-Yan said softly.

There was also a strange noise outside the door, like a stone falling into the water or a tree branch breaking. Soon, the courtyard was overwhelmed by the wind, and the door and windows were all squeaking. Then there was knocking on the door, like countless people waiting to come in. Not only at the door, but there were also eager knocks from the windows on all sides. Lin Yan was terrified and turned his head to see out of the window. He was met with an old face and saw an old man standing slanting by the window, wearing a full Manchu costume, and carrying a faint green lantern in his hand.

The figures in the yard gradually increased.

“Don’t-, don’t be afraid.” A-Yan grabbed Lin Yan’s hand and whispered softly: “They usually come in at this time to eat the steamed buns in the temple. They are all poor people, and there’s no one to support them after they die.”

Lin Yan felt that even if 2012 was really the end of the world, he would not be surprised. (T/N: This novel was written in 2012 just so this comment doesn’t seem out of nowhere)

A person appeared silently in the net made by the red ropes in the room.

In the shadowy candlelight, Lin Yan saw the man; he had dark hair that parted at his forehead and hung in disarray, covering most of his face. He was very tall, with wide sleeves hanging straight and loosely on his body, splattering with old brown bloodstains. Lin Yan bit his lower lip and tried his best not to start hyperventilating. His heart felt like it was about to leap out of his chest. Almost at the same time, the temple master stood up abruptly, took out a yellow paper from the table and inserted it in the incense burner. He spread out the yellow paper and made a scratch on his finger. Using his now bloodied finger, he quickly sketched on the paper.

The “person” in the shadow of the lamp suddenly walked back and forth in the house like he had been offended. He hit the red rope and was forced to return, but he was reluctant, and he staggered back. This weird scene made Lin Yan break out in a cold sweat, and a light sigh of surprise overflowed from his throat uncontrollably, “Heh—”

The ghost suddenly raised his head, his messy hair blocking Lin Yan’s ruthless eyes. His black eyes were filled with strong killing intent, and they suddenly made eye contact! Almost without warning, his stiff body turned to Lin Yan and rushed towards him in a few strides. Lin Yan trembled all over his body and tried to hold his breath. The ghost stopped less than half a meter away from him and looked around harshly as if it couldn’t see the target anymore.

Just when Lin Yan was running out of breath, the ghost finally gave up, turned around and rushed over.

The temple master began to recite a strange mantra, and A-Yan joined in. It was obvious that only two people were speaking, but there were echoes from all corners of the room. The red ropes shook together, and the ghost’s steps became flustered. The barefooted figure smashed around like a fly in the room, swaying and almost falling to the ground. As the chanting of the mantra became louder and louder, the ghost staggered to the ground like he enduring great pain. He crawled around and tried to stand up, scanning the room frantically and impatiently but couldn’t find his target.

The temple master pulled Lin Yan’s arm, motioned him to stay silent with his glare, and then made a deep cut in his forearm with a knife. The moment the blood poured out, Lin Yan seemed to hear the ghost let out a heavy gasp. Using all fours together, he crawled over to Lin Yan from the other end of the room. Every time he moved his body, it was as slow as torture, but it didn’t stop. A-Yan picked up the cypress block with the paper figure on the table, rubbed Lin Yan’s blood on the red paper. He grabbed the wound and covered the forearm, and threw the double cypress toward the middle of the house.

The ghost let out a low groan, as if he had exhausted all his energy and rushed towards the cypress on the ground. His hands kept tearing at the paper man above. The next scene made Lin Yan completely stunned. The ghost knelt on the ground, holding the block, and he leaned down and began to kiss it. He rubbed his lips against the blood-stained red paper, like holding a lost treasure.

The expression of the temple master turned vicious in an instant. He took up the short knife on the table, bit the tip of his tongue and sprayed the blood mist on the blade. The tip of the blade was facing the direction of the ghost, and the yellow paper on the table lit on fire, crackling and burning into a ball of fire. In the raging fire, the whole body of the ghost twitched violently, and his throat kept making vague groans. However, he did not resist at all and even refused to move his body. He hugged the cypress tightly in his arms, snuggling it up to his cheek in desperation and nostalgia…

The inexplicable shock made Lin Yan take a step back. He had never seen such a look in his life; desperate, crazy, resentful, cruel and unwilling, staring straight at the wood in his arms, touching the doll covered in Lin Yan’s blood.

A big mouthful of blood poured out from the ghost’s mouth and ran down the corners of his lips. The drops stained his jade-coloured shirt. His hair scattered all over the place, and also stained with maroon blood. It was a tragic scene. Lin Yan shook his head. This was simply not right. There must be some kind of mistake. How could someone who could stare at him with this kind of eyes hurt him…

“Buzzzzzzz…”

Lin Yan’s phone was on vibration mode. The white light off the screen looked out of place in the flame light, and a text message popped up: “Gu’s autopsy report was changed. I hacked into the hospital’s archive system. The time of death on the autopsy report was different than the time the police gave us. It was three hours earlier.”

Then comes the second: “I suspect that someone is interfering in this matter. Lin Yan, be careful.”

Lin Yan thoughtfully recalled that the death certificate issued by the police station stated that the old woman died at 1 o'clock in the morning, so her actual time of death was instead 10 o'clock the night before. At that time, he was fighting with the ghost in front of him in the elevator. He looked at the time before going upstairs, there was no mistake about that.

He didn’t even think about Yin Zhou’s second text message. It was like water had been thrown onto him. Lin Yan clenched his fist, and was shocked by the disturbing scene before him. He was speechless, swallowing hard. What was he doing? He stubbornly thinks that he could never kill a living person, but does that mean he should be so willing to scatter an undeserving ghost’s soul?!

Like using cubs as bait to catch she-wolves, the methods of human beings were more despicable than ghosts.

“Stop!” Lin Yan shouted at the temple master.

The temple owner was now like the enemy: “Shut up! We’ll deal with that when we’re finished!”

A-Yan also panicked. “Brother Lin Yan, don’t say anything, it’s too late to stop now!”

The eyes of the temple master were revealed in an instant, and the short knife sprayed with blood was raised high, facing the ground. The whole house seemed to be shaken by an invisible giant hand, creaking noises came from the window frames, eaves, and walls. The wandering souls that had gathered in the courtyard also seemed to be irritated; whimpering, screaming, and wailing sounded together. A cold light flashed on the short knife, which would be pierced through the concrete floor, sending ghosts back into the ground!

With a crisp snap, the yellow paper inserted in the incense burner broke into two pieces.

The ghost slowly raised his head, staring straight at Lin Yan with red eyes under his slanting eyebrows.

It only takes a moment to make a decision. Lin Yan doesn’t know where he finds this courage. He tucked his phone into his pant pocket and rushed towards the ghost. A human and a ghost pressed together. Lin Yan wanted to grab the cypress block in his hands, but the ghost’s persistence was amazing. His hands were stuck on the wood block. No matter how Lin Yan tried, he couldn’t shake him at all.

There was another talisman paper shining. The ghost in the shadow of the lamp completely gave up resisting, curled up on the ground. He shielded the cypress between his thigh and chest, like a poor lunatic, full of unwillingness and resentment, moving backwards with difficulty.

With nothing but love on his lips, who would truly spare his life? This desperate ghost was more sentimental and righteous than humans.

With panicked thoughts, Lin Yan used his tongue to clean the wounds of his arms, resisting the pain and biting hard. The bitter and sour taste rushed into his throat with the blood, and the freshly coagulated blood was unbound by saliva and poured out again. After it started bleeding again, Lin Yan put his arm in front of the grimace, gritted his teeth and said, “I’m here, follow me!”

The ghost looked up at him suspiciously, Lin Yan whispered: “Hey, throw that stuff away.”

“Let’s go.”

“A-Yan, stop this foolish boy!”

Lin Yan grabbed the ghost’s hand and dragged him from the ground to the door, and used his feet to disperse the incense ashes. When the formation was broken, the copper coins pressed on the incense ashes bounced straight out with a few clinking noises. Lin Yan busied himself untying the red ropes. Who knew that the ropes were tied so well that there was no quick way to undo them?

Lin Yan turned back in a panic, and saw A-Yan walking towards him with a pale face, holding the talisman. He stumbled and fell to the ground, lifting his pointed face, and gently whispered, “Quickly go.”

He was wasting too much time. Lin Yan untied the ropes with his teeth, and rushed out of the temple door with the ghost!

There was a great deal of mourning happening outside the temple. the mountain owls given sullen expressions, and the small courtyard was filled with black air. The jujube tree with its crooked trunk looked as fierce as a dead body with extended bony fingers. It seems that the lonely ghosts in the hundreds of miles around the area had been attracted. In the courtyard The holy spirit banners were pelted by strong winds. On the well sat a drenched female ghost, and “people” dressed as eunuchs in ragged clothes gathered together, their paper lanterns hung in the sky. There was a dark purple constriction on the neck of the person in the front. “I am wronged by my death…”

Lin Yan dragged the ghost behind him and ran towards where he parked his car. He was trembling as he pulled out the key, but no matter how hard he pressed it, the beep sound of unlocking the door could not be heard. The magnetic field in the mountain had completely changed, and the remote keys did not work. Lin Yan shaky hands stuffed the key into the keyhole, and he finally opened the door of the car and threw the ghost into the passenger seat. But there was no chance that he could have three lucky breaks happen.

The evil spirit regained consciousness from the pain of the spell. He clasped Lin Yan’s throat with his nails, and slowly tightened, a pair of black holes in the messy hair glaring up…

“You don’t know how to fucking drive. Just sit still for me!” Lin Yan yelled at him irritably, “Who cares if you strangle me to death!”

The hands on the neck didn’t make any more moves.

Sure enough, the ghost was afraid of the wicked. Lin Yan pushed him harshly to the chair and put the seatbelt around his waist: “Take a gamble. It’s fucking worthless to be killed by this braid army!”

He slammed down hard on the accelerator, twisted the key vigorously, and, with a bang, the car started.

“Sit still.” Lin Yan clicked the corner of his mouth, holding the steering wheel, and the black Audi A4 galloped away like in the F1 Grand Prix in the night.