Chapter 19: Wild Graveyard of Ghosts (1)

“Which idiot is still not asleep in the middle of the night?” I muttered a curse. At an age when I did not yet know what fear was, I only felt that this noise, which seemed to exist yet also not exist, was disturbing my sleep.

My body started to feel a little hot. I rolled around on the bamboo forest ground trying to sleep, but I discovered that the sounds not only did not fade, they actually grew louder, mixed with what sounded like the beating of gongs and drums.

I suddenly sat up. In that instant, I felt completely awake, but the surrounding scene became strange to me. I could not describe that feeling. It was as if the bamboo forest was still the same bamboo forest, yet I could see many points of light.

Not far from me, there was a cluster of pale yellow light points slowly moving toward another smaller cluster of pale yellow light points. Then I saw the larger cluster suddenly rush toward the smaller one, as if swallowing it.

Something strange happened. The smaller cluster of light slowly turned into a dull gray mass.

What was going on? This bamboo forest felt like a strange world, filled everywhere with these pale yellow light points, some large, some small.

I shook my head, very much wanting to figure out what had happened to those changing light points. I looked more closely, and then realized there were no light points in the bamboo forest at all. The larger pale yellow cluster was clearly a snake, and the gray mass was a mouse it had bitten to death. The snake was swallowing the mouse.

I could not understand how I could see a snake in this pitch black night, but suddenly I felt fear. How could I have slept in a bamboo forest? In the countryside there were many snakes, and bamboo forests were cool and damp places that snakes loved.

I had just slept here. What if a snake crawled onto my body?

Goosebumps rose all over me. Looking around again, I still saw those pale yellow clusters of light, big and small. Looking down at myself, I also seemed to be emitting a yellow glow, but compared to those pale yellow points, my glow was much more intense.

What was going on? Had I turned into a light point too?

Cold sweat broke out all over me. With a jolt, I opened my eyes completely and only then realized I was half sitting in the bamboo forest. I had not actually opened my eyes just now at all.

What had that been? Was I dreaming?

My body grew hotter and hotter. I was very thirsty, and I also felt a kind of indescribable weakness. Wiping the cold sweat from my forehead, I lay back down heavily again, truly without the strength to move.

Thinking of that strange dream just now, I was not particularly afraid. I only felt it was very strange, but deep down I still began to hope for daylight.

I do not know how long I drifted like that. I felt like I was about to fall asleep again, when I suddenly remembered the strange dream. There were snakes in that bamboo forest. I could not stay here.

The noisy sounds were still in my ears. I used all my strength to stand up, picked up my yellow shoulder bag, and walked. At that moment, I had only one thought. I could sleep wherever I ended up, but I absolutely could not sleep in the bamboo forest.

The bamboo forest was large, but I had not gone very deep. After a few steps, I walked out. In a daze, I felt the bamboo forest was once again filled with those pale yellow light points, and even the bamboo itself seemed wrapped in a green glow, sometimes strong, sometimes faint.

Looking at it this way, it actually looked quite beautiful. I really did not feel very scared. I thought it was just the influence of that strange dream, and I was still a little dazed, like in the morning when my parents woke me for school. I was clearly not awake, yet in my dream I was already getting dressed, brushing my teeth, and washing my face, as if I had truly gotten up.

No longer looking at the strange bamboo forest, I walked forward. The lively sounds gradually became clearer, and I felt a little excited, subconsciously walking toward the loudest direction.

After walking not far, I saw rows of houses, densely packed and tightly clustered together. I found it very strange. There was plenty of land in the village, so why were houses usually built far apart? Why were they all clustered together here?

Listening carefully, it sounded like many people were talking, but I could not see a single person. I only felt that between those rows of houses there were many dark figures, and occasionally one or two red figures. These figures also seemed to be made of light points, very similar to those in the bamboo forest, just different in color.

I seemed to be in a very dazed state, lacking proper thinking ability. I only wanted to see those figures clearly. Focusing my mind, I looked again, and then felt relieved. They were not clusters of shadows at all. They were clearly people.

So lively.

My excitement surged completely. I had always loved joining in on excitement.

The second update delivered. Hehe, the shop is a bit slow in cooking dishes. Please forgive us, dear guests.

Those people seemed to be talking to each other, or perhaps not talking at all. There were just so many of them, so much noise. Something must be happening. My curiosity had never been stronger, and I quickened my steps toward them.

The strange dream in the bamboo forest had already made me uncomfortable, and now seeing people made me feel especially excited.

The closer I got, however, the more even someone as careless as me began to notice something was wrong, and I gradually slowed down.

Why was something wrong?

First, I noticed their clothes were strange. All black long shirts and trousers, with a style of traditional front-buttoned jackets and wide-legged pants. The clothing felt odd, and I seemed to have seen it somewhere before, but my memory told me it was not a pleasant place, though I could not recall it now.

Second, those people seemed to have noticed me approaching. But instead of normal friendliness or curiosity about whose child I was, they all stared at me. Their eyes seemed wary, as if I carried something they did not like, or perhaps cold and gloomy. I could not describe it, but I felt a chill in my heart.

Third, most of these people were old, with only a few young ones. Among them, one or two gave off an especially fierce feeling. I seemed to see red light on their bodies again, but it was not clear. That red light was not a festive bright red. It was a dark, oppressive red.

What kind of people were these? I could not understand. They did not seem to welcome me, and they made me feel uncomfortable, though I could not say exactly why.

“Which family’s child are you? Go home quickly. What are you doing running here?” As I hesitated, an aged voice reached my ears. The voice was somewhat gloomy, sending a chill through the body.

I shivered and looked around for the source of the voice, only to find it was an old man about fifty meters away from me. Was he the one speaking? I had not seen his mouth move. At that distance, he should have been shouting.

But I felt it was him.

It was an old man. Although his expression was also dark, almost frozen in place, I could still tell he had a kind face. I felt slightly less afraid.

But at that moment, I noticed a person rushing rapidly toward me. It was one of the few young men. He was grinning, though I did not know what he was smiling about, but I instinctively felt he had bad intentions.

“Sigh…”

It seemed the old man let out a sigh.

I could not quite make sense of what was happening. My whole body felt numb, whether from fear or confusion I did not know. In that split second, the young man rushed right up to me, trying to slam into me violently.

I instinctively stepped back, but at that moment a blinding white light burst out from my chest, faintly accompanied by a tiger’s roar. In just an instant, before I could understand what was happening, the young man screamed and retreated backward.

He kept retreating until he stopped far away. The way he looked at me was full of venom. When I looked again, the kind-looking old man had already disappeared somewhere. The place that had been crowded with people suddenly had far fewer of them.