Chapter 46

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 46

The girl simply pulled up a chair and sat down, and said inexplicably: “There are other things. Grandma said that before I was born, many people from Beijing went to the tomb and hired people from the town. And then I don’t know what happened but they dispersed without a result, and the people who came back were so frightened that they said…” The girl pretended to be mysterious and approached Lin Yan’s ear, lowering her voice, “It’s haunted.”

“Yo, it’s not far away, you’re not haunted, are you?” Yin Zhou teased her.

The little girl rolled her eyes in disdain: “Our store has good feng shui, otherwise why would you rush to come here?”

The girl babbled and talked a lot. Whose children met zombies in the wild, whose house was haunted by weasels*, which man came back from work and was tortured by ghostly things all night. Everything she mentioned, Lin Yan heard. He always suspected that Xiao Yu was a village official who had been conscientiously frightening ignorant people for decades.

*(T/N: In China, it is considered bad luck to kill a weasel, as they’re said to be wandering spirits (shen) that can steal and replace people’s souls; killing them brings bad luck or death to the killer and their family.)

The wild cat on the roof let out a cry. The night was getting deeper and deeper. These people weren’t in the mood to listen to her nonsense anymore and went back to their rooms to sleep.

The room was on the second floor. Its layout was simple. The door smelled musty. The place wasn’t big; there was only the bed, wardrobe and a TV that who knows how many years old it was. There were beer cans on the window sill. The window pane is wooden, painted with green paint, and a faded ribbon wind chime is hanging on it. Lin Yan opened the window for ventilation, and the brass bell was blown by the wind, clattering.

The white porcelain basin in the bathroom had not been used for a long time and is caked with a layer of scale.

“The place is broken, can you make do with it?” Lin Yan asked.

“All I need is you here with me.”

Lin Yan nodded tiredly and turned off the lamp.

“Go to sleep. I’ll unpack my things tomorrow. I’m tired from running around all day.”

The mountains were damp, and the damp quilt was heavy on his body. In the little moonlight, the mildew on the walls looked like a group of large moths. Lin Yan tossed and turned and couldn’t sleep. He got up and leaned on the bed to smoke, one hand casually ruffling Xiao Yu’s hair. The ghost’s eyes were closed. His black hair flowed behind him, his skin showing a sickly bluish white.

Lin Yan looked at his face, and suddenly a thought flashed in his mind. What did he look like when he died? Wearing a white scholar’s uniform, blood pouring out, his face gradually losing its colour, his lips turning purple. He was lying in the coffin alone, his skin grew corpse spots, rotting, and oozing thick yellow corpse fluid, and the bones were vividly visible.

He shuddered at his own imagination.

The room was so quiet that you could hear the wind whistling through the mountains, and the water tank in the courtyard was bubbling. Xiao Yu caught Lin Yan’s hand and said softly: “What she talked about, I didn’t do it.”

Lin Yan smiled: “I know, my nobleman’s son is a ghost with modesty.”

Xiao Yu dragged him under the blanket. Lin Yan snuffed out the cigarette in his hand and turned back to kiss the ghost’s lips. Their legs were entwined and rubbed against each other, and the kiss was so urgent that he couldn’t control it.

Something hard pressed against Lin Yan’s legs, and Xiao Yu stared at him in the dark like his eyes were on fire.

“Do you want to?”

Xiao Yu asked Lin Yan to turn his back to him. He clasped his waist with both hands, burying his cheeks in his neck, moaning and then he stopped moving.

Lin Yan stroked along his fingers: “Just one time.”

“That won’t be enough.”

The two looked at each other and smiled helplessly. They calmed down after a while, hugged each other and slowly fell asleep.

It was cloudy and raining. The dog that was lurking somewhere was barking desperately. Lin Yan broke out of Xiao Yu’s arms and pulled his shoes to open the door to go downstairs. There was no one on duty at the service counter on the first floor. A short distance across the street was the wilderness. The mountains in the distance were dark, the moon couldn’t be seen at all, and there were unknown little white flowers blooming everywhere.

Lin Yan walked forward unconsciously. He always felt that someone was waiting for him in front of him. As he walked, a lone light appeared in the wilderness. It was a lonely house. The old-fashioned windows were covered with white paper, revealing a long dark shadow, resembling a man with drooping shoulders, hung from the window lattice and looked out.

He immediately remembered the girl’s words and quickened his pace to go around. When he reached the door of the bungalow, the door suddenly opened. A rural couple came out and slowly waved to Lin Yan. The woman’s hair was twisted into braids and the man was thin and tall. Their faces were extraordinarily pale, and their movements were slower than normal. Lin Yan didn’t dare to stop, so he lowered his head and trotted up.

Surrounded by mountains, the shadow of the town could no longer be seen. There was no one around.

The wormwood grass was getting higher and higher, and the road became difficult to walk on. Lin Yan broke a branch and held it in his hand. He crossed a large field of wild sorghum and came to a flat wasteland. Right in front of him, there was a large coffin more than half a person tall. The coffin, soaked in rain, reflected the wet white light.

He knew this black coffin, sealed with 64 copper nails, made of golden silk, and immortalized for thousands of years.

A strike of lightning flashed. The coffin suddenly opened, and a figure sat up silently, wearing a bright red and purple burial costume, black hair drooping, and a pair of malicious eyes staring straight at Lin Yan.

It was Xiao Yu.

Lin Yan couldn’t help taking a deep breath. Why was Xiao Yu here? He thought in confusion while picking up his pace by a few strides, could it be that he saw him going out and waited here on purpose? Or… was he simply calling him here?

The face of the person in the coffin was pale as if it had been painted with powder, but his lips were a sickly red, and his blue-white fingers tightly grasped the sides of the coffin. Seeing Lin Yan step forward, the corners of his mouth pulled upwards, revealing a strange smile.

“I’ve been waiting for you for a long time…” His voice was raspy and slow. Every word he said was accompanied by a strange hissing sound as if there was a leak somewhere.

Lin Yan used his sleeve to wipe the rain from Xiao Yu’s face and heartily gathered the soaked black hair together.

“I’m here, aren’t I? Let’s go. Come back with me.”

Xiao Yu smiled grimly in the night. His cold hands clasped Lin Yan’s neck like a metal claw. He suddenly felt that something was wrong, but the hands on his neck tightened even more.

“Look at me, Lin Yan. Look at what I really look like.”

Lin Yan’s eyes widened in horror. The ghost’s face slowly changed. Green corpse spots began to grow and his lips began to rot, revealing white teeth. Because the muscles at the corners of his mouth were atrophied, he seemed to be smiling all the time. Strands of hair hung down, and his skin was heated like wax and began to drip down.

A soft object fell in Lin Yan’s hand, and when he looked down, he saw it was an eyeball.

His skin felt like it was being stabbed by thousands of needles. Lin Yan wanted to push Xiao Yu away, but when his hand touched his shoulder, he slid away. His muscles were like rotten soap, soft and slippery. Just a touch would sink in…

Lin Yan shouted loudly, shouting Xiao Yu’s name indiscriminately and struggling hard. The hand on his neck had become a withered bone, but his strength was unbelievably strong. The skeleton approached him, and his voice became high-pitched: “See what I really look like!”

“Go away… go…” Lin Yan gritted his teeth. His chest felt stuffy, like a sack of rice was pressed against it, and he couldn’t move.

“Lin Yan, wake up!”

Someone was shaking his shoulder hard.

Lin Yan struggled to open his eyes. What he thought was a shout was just a mindless murmur. The light of the lamp was warm. Xiao Yu’s face came into view up close, his eyes concerned. The image of the skeleton in the dream world came to the surface. Lin Yan jerked up and rolled backwards, cowering in a ball against the head of the bed.

“Go away.” He said aggressively. The nightmare was really unlike anything he’d had before. His clothes were wet with cold sweat, and they clung to him coldly.

Xiao Yu pulled Lin Yan’s arm from around his knees and held him in his arms despite the resistance. He soothingly kissed the side of his face. It took a while for the man in his arms to stop shaking. He still lowered his head, not daring to look at him

“A nightmare?”

Lin Yan nodded and said hoarsely: “I… I dreamed of a coffin, and you, you…”

“What I looked like after death.” Xiao Yu calmly said.

“How did you know?”

Xiao Yu was silent for a moment then said softly, “Lin Yan, you’re very afraid of me. You often show that expression, as if I would suddenly become an evil demon mandrill, the god of plague, or something else.”

“If you don’t want to see it tomorrow, don’t go. I became a pile of bones long ago. After watching this, I don’t know how many nightmares you’ll have again.”

“I didn’t mean that. Don’t think too much about it…” Lin Yan awkwardly tried to hug Xiao Yu, but he quietly avoided it.

The two lay side by side on the bed, each thinking about their own thoughts. Lin Yan stared at the ceiling. The mildew on the wall seemed to be magnified in the darkness. He heard Xiao Yu sigh, but he didn’t know what to say to comfort him. The old-fashioned window frame couldn’t close tightly, and the wind got in through the crack of the window, making a rustling sound.

“Are you asleep?”

“No.”

“Let me tell you a story.”

The ghost didn’t answer. Lin Yan said softly to himself: “It’s a famous ghost story about a couple climbing a mountain with their friends. Halfway up the mountain, the girl couldn’t walk and decided to let the rest go up the mountain first. She stayed at the camp and waited. Unexpectedly, an avalanche occurred soon after everyone left. The girl waited for seven days with fear and trepidation. When she thought there was no hope, she suddenly saw a group of people returning from the blizzard. It was her friends, but among the group of people, the only thing missing was the girl’s boyfriend.”

“The friends told the girl that her boyfriend had died in the avalanche. The girl was heartbroken. Three days later, everyone gathered around the campfire to keep warm. A man with blood on his face suddenly rushed out of the mountain. It was the girl’s boyfriend. As soon as he grabbed the girl’s hand, he said: ‘We encountered an avalanche on the mountain. Everyone else died. I’m the only one who survived.’”

“Tell me, who is the one who died?”

Xiao Yu turned his back to Lin Yan and continued: “What do you think?”

“I don’t know.” Lin Yan sighed. “But if it were us instead, I’d go with you.”

The ghost didn’t answer. Lin Yan rested the side of his face on Xiao Yu’s back. This time he didn’t hide and let him hold him.

“I don’t know what will happen this time, but no matter what the circumstances are, let me choose, and I will choose you.” Lin Yan grabbed Xiao Yu’s shoulder and whispered embarrassedly: “Turn around and sleep. I’m a little bit afraid of you… But when I can’t see your face, I’m even more afraid.”

Xiao Yu chuckled. He turned around and pressed his forehead against Lin Yan’s. He reached out his hand and pinched his face: “Wait and see what you do when you turn into a skeleton.”

“Boil a big pot of bone broth.” Lin Yan put his chin on Xiao Yu’s shoulder with a smile. “Nurturing and nourishing…”

Before he could finish speaking, the smile on his face suddenly froze.

There was a face outside the window. A white and blue face was quietly staring at them. It was round, wearing an empty earthy yellow robe, and its head was tilted to one side. Seeing Lin Yan looking at him, the corners of his mouth were pulled upward in a strange smile. It disappeared in a flash.

Outside the window, only the ink-like night and the whistling wind remained.

Lin Yan pointed out the window and was speechless for a long time. Xiao Yu frowned. He couldn’t help the thumping in his heart.

Ten minutes later, Yin Zhou, the little Daoist priest and Lin Yan gathered on the dirt road in front of the hotel and looked around. The group was drowsy. Yin Zhou was dragged from the bed by Lin Yan and took a dagger from under his pillow. He was only wearing shorts at the moment, standing on the empty street looking a little dazed.

“Brother Lin Yan, did you fall asleep and get confused?” A-Yan asked suspiciously.

Lin Yan shook his head: “I haven’t slept at all.”

Yin Zhou changed his usual confusion and suddenly said, “Lin, what did you see?”

“The temple master. I’m sure it was his face. he found us.” Lin Yan said. “We have to be careful…”

“No way.” Yin Zhou stared at Lin Yan’s face, “Think about it. You’re staying on the second floor.”

Lin Yan froze. After a while, he took off the slippers on his feet, glanced at the soles of the shoes, and said solemnly: “I had a nightmare just now. I dreamt that I went into the wilderness and saw a coffin… The problem is that these disposable slippers are from the hotel. I’ve never worn them before going out. How can there be mud and weeds on the soles?”