Inner Demons

Chapter 133: Seeing Ghosts

A four or five-year-old boy was playing under a weeping willow tree. He was pink and chubby, utterly adorable.

The sun was high in the sky, casting a cool shade under the tree. The boy, wearing only a red dudou and with his hair in two topknots, was whipping the ground with a tender willow branch, muttering to himself as he looked up into the tree.

A young woman sat on a blue stone under the tree doing needlework, occasionally looking at the child, her face radiating a happy and joyful smile. But gradually, she noticed the boy’s behavior was a bit strange, so she followed his gaze up into the tree—

But there was nothing there. Only the morning sun filtering down through the gaps in the leaves. She quickly turned her head away and asked the boy, “Tuantuan, what are you looking at?”

The boy ignored her, still just staring at the tree. After a moment, he giggled. After laughing for a bit, he pointed up at the tree and replied to his mother, “This big brother—”

The young woman looked up at the tree again, but still saw nothing.

A sudden chill ran through her heart, and she felt the cold under the tree intensify. She quickly got up, snatched the child into her arms, and walked away quickly, glancing back at the tree several times as she went.

—Of course, she couldn't see Li Yunxin, who was currently sitting on a horizontal branch of the weeping willow, basking in the sun and lazily flipping through the thin booklet in his hand.

This was the advantage of having a dharma body. The Spiritual Soul, condensed into a physical form, could touch and feel like a real person. But with a thought, he could also become invisible to the eyes of mortals like a ghost—unless that person, like this child, was born with yin-yang eyes.

The problem was, no matter how he looked, he couldn't see anything unusual about this child.The father was a carpenter in the town. A craftsman like him would have a good reputation and standing in a place. But because his personality was too dull, he only married at thirty—he married this young woman. Four years ago, they had their only son, this boy.

Now, this boy's name was in the booklet. At the very top of the list.

This meant the boy was a "fairly important" figure in Bailuzhou, one that required a great demon like him, who oversaw a region, to personally take.

However, since he couldn't figure out the reason, he would just take him.

But… hmm. He could actually be of use.

Children easily see unclean things—this saying had a broad base of support in this era.

The woman carried her child home and told her husband about the incident.

They both doted on their son, so they didn't think it was a small matter. Because someone had died in the town before, it had already caused a panic. Now that their own son said he saw a "big brother" in a tree, the thought of it was enough to send a shiver down their spines.

So they discussed that the man would work harder this month and make an extra bucket, so they could go to a temple to pray.

They should have gone to the Three Rivers' Mouth Dragon King Temple to pray—but the incense offerings there weren't doing so well now.

That Temple Keeper, Taoist Priest Kunyangzi, was dead—and he used to boast about his unparalleled Daoist Arts—how could people still believe there was a true god in that temple?

After much discussion, they finally remembered a small temple on South Mountain, which seemed to be dedicated to a mountain god.

But a round trip to South Mountain would take a whole day, which was very far. So they planned to go and see next month when they had more free time.

But that night…

Something happened again.

That night, the carpenter went to bed early, waiting for his young wife to lull the child to sleep so she could slip into his bed.

The woman knew her husband's intentions and also felt a fire in her body. She patiently waited until she saw the child gradually close his eyes, then she gently tucked him in and quickly took off her clothes to slip under the covers with the carpenter.

But just as she lifted a corner of the quilt…

She suddenly heard the child let out a bell-like laugh.

The crisp, cheerful laughter echoed in the dim room.

It was already dark outside, and the courtyard was silent.

The carpenter and the woman froze on the spot. After a moment, they stared wide-eyed at the child.

They saw him lying on his small wooden bed, waving his hands and feet, trying to grab at the empty air, his expression one of extreme joy—after laughing for a while, he stretched out both hands…

As if something or someone was teasing him and wanted to carry him away!

The carpenter and the woman instantly broke out in goosebumps. They then saw the oil lamp on the table flicker suddenly, as if a gust of yin wind had swirled through the room!

Fear finally erupted. The carpenter grabbed his clothes and ran out of the room, while the woman scrambled to grab the child and rushed out after him.

The two stood trembling in the courtyard for a while, got dressed, but dared not go back into the house.

Outside, the stars filled the sky and the moon was bright. Their teeth chattering, they discussed for a quarter of an hour. Then they went to the neighbor's house overnight to borrow four flatbreads, about ten eggs, a bamboo basket, and two torches, and immediately set off for the Mountain God Temple on South Mountain.

Li Yunxin sat on their roof, watching a single point of fire slowly leave Bailuzhou, slowly pass through the bamboo forest, and slowly disappear into the mountain woods. He smiled and sighed, “Ah. A mother’s love.”

The couple walked without stopping for a whole night and finally reached the foot of South Mountain.

This South Mountain was also by Dongting Lake. However, the lake shore here was relatively steep, and there was no white sandy beach like the one near Bailuzhou—although the scenery was also good, it wasn't famous.

After a night of fear and exhaustion, they were cold and hungry. Now, at the side of the mountain, they saw a dilapidated post pavilion. Although it was overgrown with weeds, it was still relatively clean. Squinting and looking carefully, they could see a corner of the flying eaves of the Mountain God Temple halfway up the mountain.

So the couple felt a little more at ease—they had reached the foot of the mountain. And with the bright clear sky, there surely wouldn't be any more ghosts, right?

Thinking that they still had to climb the mountain path, and the child in the basket was tired of being curled up and was crying and fussing, the couple decided to rest in the pavilion and eat something.

The sun rose, warming the couple's bodies. The woman held the child and soothed him for a while, and the child stopped fussing. The carpenter went to the lakeside, brushed away the floating dust from the water's surface, and drank some water, also fetching some for his wife.

After eating and drinking, their stomachs were no longer hungry, so she leaned on the carpenter's shoulder, wanting to close her eyes for a while.

Who knew that once they rested, fatigue would rush in like a tide. The woman tightened her arms around the child and slowly fell asleep with her husband.

A few breaths later, low snores began to sound. The child jumped down from the woman's arms.

He stumbled upon landing, nearly falling. After muttering a few words under his breath, he started to run west with a waddling gait.

To the west was a small, unnamed river that flowed into Dongting Lake. The water was very shallow, and you could see the colorful pebbles and the green water plants among the stones in the river.

Someone had placed a few large stones in the shallowest part for pedestrians to use as stepping stones—and a path had been trodden out on both ends by the occasional passerby.

So the child walked to the side of the path and stopped, then climbed onto a blue stone on all fours and sat down.

As if feeling it wasn't quite right, he adjusted his position a few times before he finally felt satisfied.

The sun gradually rose, and the bamboo shadows by the blue stone slowly moved and shortened.

The four-year-old boy began to wait patiently.

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