Chapter Seven: That Was Your Grandmother

Meow...

A miserable cry emanated from within. The pair of eyes on the ground slowly rose, as if someone had hoisted them up. Following the wail came the sickening sound of bones snapping and flesh being torn apart.

Thump, thump, thump...

I turned to run, but before I could even fully pivot, I saw a face.

Ah...

I screamed. She was smiling at me, and I had seen her before. I knew her!

Upon hearing my shriek, Huang Ying appeared before me in the next second, shielding me from the door of the old house.

In my peripheral vision, I saw that face. White—deathly, pallid white.

She was looking at me too; no, she was staring at me. Her gaze was dull, and there were streaks of red blood on her ghastly white face. In her hands, she clutched the mangled carcass of a cat!

I finally understood why Grandfather had said she wouldn't hurt me. It was only after seeing her that I realized: I knew her, and she knew me. She was my own flesh and blood—my grandmother!

When I saw her, she was looking at me, and the moment our eyes met, her expression shifted. It became dazed, lost, and bewildered!

However, the moment Huang Ying stepped in front of me, Grandmother vanished. Fearing she might harm Huang Ying, I immediately retreated, and she withdrew as well.

"Grand... Grandfather, I..." I couldn't describe my current state of mind. Terror, fear, confusion, sorrow—and I felt deeply moved by Huang Ying.

"Did you see her clearly?" Grandfather looked at me and said calmly. It seemed he had known all along that the entity was my grandmother, which was why he had sent me.

"I... I saw her clearly. Oh, wait, no, I didn't!" I suddenly worried that if Grandfather intended to deal with her, what would I do?

"Wang Yu, did you see her clearly or not?" my uncle asked from beside me.

"I..."

"That thing is his grandmother!" Seeing that I couldn't speak, Grandfather blurted it out.

"What? His grandmother? How is that possible!" This time, no one believed him.

"I only found out a few days ago myself," Grandfather said.

"Ever since Wang Yu came back, she hasn't said a word..." he continued.

I thought about it, and it was true. Grandmother only spoke occasionally when she was with Grandfather, and sometimes, when I was talking to him, she would stare at us with those eerie, hollow eyes.

"That day when Wang Yu said he saw a white shadow in the restroom, I didn't believe him, because I had sent away a woman in white years ago and didn't pay much attention. That night, after Wang Yu finished using the restroom and I returned, she wasn't in bed!"

"That night I slept with Wang Yu, she came again, and Huang Ying was there too!" Grandfather glanced at Huang Ying. Her face flushed red instantly. She had intended to harm me that night, but she hadn't expected Grandfather to have known all along! Being called out on the spot, Huang Ying felt incredibly awkward.

"That was when I knew it was her," Grandfather’s voice trembled. To have someone you shared a bed with for decades turn into a ghost—or perhaps to realize they had been one all along—was something no one could easily accept.

"The next night, after dinner, she was preparing to go after Wang Yu again. I deliberately called her outside, but when you all went in, you didn't see her!" That day I had heard people knocking on things outside; that was a method Grandfather had devised, knocking on a "sheng," a traditional grain measuring tool. It was similar to lighting firecrackers during the New Year to ward off evil.

"Fortunately, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She still remembers her own grandson!" Grandfather’s hands began to shake. Soon, he would have to face his own wife in a life-or-death struggle.

"The woman in white I sent away years ago played a trick on me before she died; she turned her into this!" Grandfather gritted his teeth. His sunken mouth looked terrifying now. He was a man who hunted ghosts, yet he never expected that even those closest to him would be harmed by one. The blow was too great for him.

"Is that really the second aunt?" My uncle still couldn't believe it; he had seen her just that day!

"Enough talk. Bring me a kitchen knife!" Words were nothing but tears now. I could truly feel Grandfather's agony.

"Is there no other way?" I asked. He was powerful; perhaps there was some other solution.

"She can still control herself for now, but in a few days, she won't be able to. She is already dead!" As Grandfather said this, his tobacco pipe fell to the ground. He bent over to pick it up, his hunched back a testament to his age.

"Ah?"

"What?"

"She was talking to me just today!"

Hearing that Grandmother was already dead, my jaw dropped. I had eaten dinner she cooked just that evening!

Seeing the confusion of the others, Grandfather stood up and explained: "She must have died a few days ago. There was a smell on her a few days back—that was the scent of death. I thought she had passed away naturally, but I never expected..."

Crows are said to foresee death, but I never imagined Grandfather could too.

My legs went limp—not from fear, but from sorrow. Nothing is more painful than the passing of a loved one.

Someone handed over a kitchen knife. Grandfather took it with trembling hands and pulled a rooster from a cage. He tried to slit its throat several times but missed.

"Second Uncle, let me do it!" My uncle couldn't bear to watch.

Grandfather didn't hand over the knife. Instead, he rubbed his hands, then struck with precision. The rooster's head fell. He hurriedly caught the blood in a bowl, filled it halfway, tossed the bird aside, took another bowl, and moved to the next one.

Excluding the dog that had gone mad, there were six left. Grandfather gave the dogs to six people, then told me and Huang Ying to join them.

When Huang Ying heard Grandfather call her, she hesitated. She stood still, shocked because we were treating her as one of us.

She was a ghost—something I wouldn't have dared to imagine before!

There were eight of us in total, each standing in one of the eight cardinal positions. I stood in the Northeast, the place where the sun rises, representing pure Yang. I was young and full of vigor, making me perfectly suited for the position.

The Northeast is also where the energies of Yin and Yang intermingle, signifying renewal. If this position is auspicious, one can receive unexpected help and turn disaster into fortune.

Huang Ying stood in the North, right next to me. In the Bagua, the North is the "Kan" position, symbolizing pits and caves, suggesting low luck, coldness, sorrow, illness, and darkness. In the Five Elements, the North represents water, which is Yin. No one was more suited for this position than she.

Grandfather handed a bowl to each of us. Huang Ying was not given one; she could not withstand such potent Yang energy!

The eight of us stood in a circle, facing outward. Grandfather stood to the side, lighting his pipe once more. "We go in at midnight! There are forty minutes left." He checked a broken watch in his hand.

We waited in silence until midnight. Grandfather said that at this hour, Yin energy is at its peak, and Grandmother would be most likely to appear.

Grandfather put away his pipe, looked at the sky, and said, "When we go in, keep your positions. Use the rooster blood only when I tell you!"

After forty minutes, we moved inside. Just like last time, the house was dilapidated, filled with cobwebs. On the floor lay many mangled cat remains, some already rotting.

We didn't see her figure in the main hall. After our eye contact earlier, she had fled.

We found a side room and discovered a coffin. No one had entered this room before, and no one had noticed it. The coffin lay silently in the center. She wasn't there either, so we searched every room, but there was no trace of her!

Just as we were about to head down into the cellar, Huang Ying whispered, "Listen!"

*Rustle, rustle, rustle...*

A faint sound came from outside. Our concentration spiked instantly.

It grew closer... but then, suddenly, the sound vanished.

"Follow me to the kitchen, quickly!" Grandfather commanded, turning around. We followed him out.

*Creak...*

Grandfather pushed open the door to the side room, and a cloud of dust fell from the frame!

*Whoosh...* I blew the dust from my face. Wait... I suddenly remembered, I hadn't closed that door when we left! I couldn't help but glance back at the door, only to see dozens of yellow-green eyes staring down from above!

"Grandfather, cats! Cats!" As I shouted, everyone turned and saw the dozens of eyes on the door.

Two seconds later, the dozens of cats flew toward us. I looked closely and saw that the cats were all torn apart—not a single one was whole!

"Don't panic!" Grandfather stepped forward, dipped his fingers into the rooster blood, and traced shapes in the air. He then pulled out a yellow paper talisman and pressed it into the void, catching the blood in the air onto the paper.

*Whoosh...* Grandfather threw the paper toward the flying, dead cats.

*Whoosh...*

The paper burst into flames. The light illuminated the entire room, and the dead cats fell one by one into the firelight.

Huang Ying frowned, her face contorted in pain. Seeing this, I quickly stepped in front of her. These talismans were specifically designed to target beings with strong Yin energy!

Seeing me shield her, tears actually welled up in Huang Ying's eyes.

She was a ghost; she had been alone for long, long years. People usually avoided her at all costs, but now, I was actively protecting her. She was deeply moved, and the grievances she had harbored for so long wanted to burst forth, but she knew this was not the time. I only stepped aside once the talisman had burned to ash.