In a gloomy town, Akiko runs a weird little shop, collecting teeth of various animals and making them into handicrafts. One day, she dreamed of a ghostly voice asking her to make a necklace pendant with teeth. When Akiko woke up, she found a human tooth in the forest, and she fell in love with the tooth. She began to suffer from insomnia and frantically searched for more beautiful teeth. One day, a strange woman appeared in her shop and asked to make pendants with her teeth. Akiko realized that this woman was the person she had reported when she was a child. The woman gave Akiko a package with all the teeth she had collected and asked Akiko to dig in the mound in the forest. Akiko did so and dug out a beautiful tooth, but found a rotten human head. She was terrified and fled back home. However, the nightmare had just begun. Akiko's mouth began to fester, and she remembered her childhood crimes. It turned out that when she was a child, she framed a girl who loved to collect teeth for her own selfish desires, causing the girl to be beaten to death. Now, the girl's wronged spirit has come to seek revenge on Akiko. With only one tooth left in her mouth, Akiko was strangled by the ghost and suffocated to death. Her father's voice came over the phone, saying he was coming to see her, but Akiko could no longer hear it. Her body fell to the ground, with her once cherished teeth scattered around her.
1. The first tooth
Akiko had a quirky hobby since she was a child, she liked to collect teeth. Every time she found a tooth, she would happily pick it up and secretly hide it in a place that only she knew.
She runs a weird little shop, which is dark and filled with all kinds of weird things. But the most attractive thing is that there are many handicrafts made of teeth. These are made by Akiko herself. Of course, they are made of sharp animal teeth.
"Can you help me make a necklace pendant with my teeth?" A ghostly voice floated over.
Mingzi was startled, it turned out to be just a dream. She smiled foolishly and got up to drink water.
However, it is strange to say that Akiko still has the habit she had when she was a child, and she always keeps the beautiful teeth she picked up.
A few days ago, she went to the forest near the city to find some animal teeth, hoping to make a more beautiful pendant. But just as she was about to go back, a flash of white flashed in the enchanting afterglow of the sunset, mixed with the golden red of the sun, which was particularly dazzling. Mingzi walked closer and saw that it was actually a human tooth.
What a beautiful tooth! There was no stain on the snow-white teeth, shining like glazed white porcelain. Mingzi picked up the tooth and held it in her hand, feeling how smooth and soft it was. Mingzi stuffed the tooth into her pocket in dismay, instead of putting it with the teeth of those beasts.
After being awakened by the dream just now, Mingzi had already lost all sleepiness. She moved the bed board and uncovered a piece of floor in the middle. Inside was a rusty iron box. Mingzi took out the box. Yes, this is where she kept her teeth. No one would know, because no one would come to pry the floor under her bed at home.
Mingzi picked out the tooth she loved and looked at it carefully. Suddenly she remembered the dream and thought that maybe she could make the tooth into the most beautiful pendant in the world. Thinking of this, Mingzi excitedly started to work on it.
Fine drilling. Every time Mingzi drilled, she would check again to see if she had damaged the surface texture of the tooth. After fiddling with all these, Mingzi chose her favorite chain and put the tooth on it.
At midnight, the cold moonlight poured down onto Mingzi's mirror like water.
The dim table lamp struggled to emit a weak light. Mingzi didn't like places that were too bright, so this table lamp was the most capable lighting device in the house, and it was under this light that Mingzi made such a mysterious and magical tooth pendant.
She walked to the mirror and put the work she had just completed on her beautiful, white neck.
She repeatedly weighed herself in the mirror and the beautiful teeth. Under the reflection of the moonlight, the teeth exuded a charming color, white to purple, faint, as if smiling, but it felt weird, completely different from the feeling when she found it in the forest that day. Mingzi took off the pendant in surprise.
She couldn't sleep any more. She fell madly in love with this tooth like a demon. But it was so lonely, hanging alone in her neck. Mingzi wanted it to be perfect, at any cost.
She searched all the teeth in the tin, but now, they were worthless in her eyes.
Mingzi couldn't sleep. She opened her eyes and looked out the window at the disgusting white sky.
2. Strange Woman
Today's weather is really not good! It's gloomy and lifeless. It seems to be raining, but it doesn't rain. It's just like Mingzi's current mood, which is suffocating and stuffy.
But business still needs to be done and money still needs to be made. Mingzi placed her beloved tooth pendant under the spotlight. The dark corner became a very conspicuous place under the spotlight. She wanted all customers who entered the store to notice her masterpiece, although it was not yet finished.
The wind chimes at the door rang crisply, tinkling. Mingzi looked up, but no one came in. She clearly heard the sound of the wind chimes, so how could no one come in?
"These are real teeth!" a woman's voice was sharp but very thin.
Mingzi looked around in horror. She calmed down and saw a woman standing next to the teeth in the darkest corner of the store under a beam of dazzling light. The light also fell on her face. She was not a pretty woman, with a gloomy face and no smile. Her long hair covered half of her cheek. It was autumn now. Although it was not as cold as winter, the autumn wind would still make people shiver. But the woman was wearing a white dress. She looked like a weak woman, thin, with white skin and visible blood vessels.
"I like to collect teeth, too." The woman spoke again, and smiled without moving her face or showing her teeth. It was a weird smile. Mingzi panicked.
"Do you want to buy something?" This was the only thing she could ask. Apart from that, Mingzi really couldn't think of anything else to say.
"But I only collect human teeth." The woman ignored Mingzi and continued speaking quietly.
"Oh, really? I also like to collect human teeth. The one in front of you now was also picked up by me not long ago. It's beautiful, right? But I won't sell it! You can take a look at the others. Although they are animal teeth, they are also very delicate pendants." Mingzi thought the woman wanted to buy her treasure, so she eagerly began to recommend her other works, forgetting her initial fear.
The woman looked at Mingzi and said, "Can you make a chain for me? I'll use my teeth." She walked up to Mingzi. Mingzi could see the woman's face clearly. She was thin, and there was very little black in her eyes. Most of the whites of her eyes were covered with turbid bloodshot, which made Mingzi want to vomit. What was even more incredible was that when the woman spoke, there were dark holes in her mouth, as if they were festering. She didn't have any teeth yet! So her speech was a little slurred, and a cold feeling arose spontaneously!
Mingzi didn't dare to breathe loudly, and she didn't know what she was afraid of.
"Can you make me a pendant with my teeth?" the woman repeated in her horrible voice. Akiko trembled and glanced at the strange woman in front of her.
Suddenly she thought, maybe, she could ask this woman to tell her where to find beautiful teeth!
"Okay, but as a condition, you have to tell me where you collected your teeth!" Mingzi was glad for the condition she proposed.
"In the woods on the edge of the city. There is a mound in the woods. You can go and dig. There are all the teeth I collected! All for you! The woman smiled mysteriously again." She left something wrapped in white satin, which must be her teeth.
After she left , the moon in the ghost's eyes was red and light. Mingzi wondered if this thin woman had no weight!
Mingzi couldn't wait to open the satin to see what the tooth would look like!
3. One Tooth Left
Mingzi was a little scared. She thought of the woman just now. How could she give her a tooth when she looked so weird and had a mouth full of ulcers?
Mingzi hesitated, but driven by curiosity, she slowly opened the satin. A bright tooth was clearly inside. Mingzi picked up the tooth in surprise and looked at it again and again. Whether it was the smoothness, texture, or color, it was a perfect match for her treasure. Mingzi wanted to refuse it for herself, and she didn't believe that such a beautiful tooth belonged to that woman. She picked up her pendant and looked at it carefully. No matter how she looked at it, it seemed like the same person's tooth. This made Mingzi even more excited. She stuffed the pendant and the tooth into her pocket and prepared to leave the store.
Mingzi closed the shop early. When someone wanted to come in, Mingzi said she was not doing business. I thought Mingzi was crazy.
She hung a wooden sign at the door – closed for a week! What did she want to do?
When Mingzi returned home, it was getting dark. In such gloomy weather, it always gets dark early.
She turned on the lamp on the workbench, spread out all the tools, some crystal beads, and of course the unfinished pendant. Just like last night, she carved it with great care, and the workmanship was so delicate that it would not damage her teeth.
The cold moonlight still shone through, but it seemed even colder and more desolate than yesterday. Mingzi's lonely figure was reflected in the dressing mirror behind her. This was the only corner of the house that had light.
Now, there are two teeth on the chain, which are exceptionally transparent and white against the backdrop of the blood-red crystal!
Mingzi stood in front of the mirror again, looking at the beautiful pendant that matched her fair neck so well, but it still seemed like something was missing. She felt that it was more than just the two teeth. Mingzi remembered the place the woman mentioned, which seemed to be the forest where she found her first tooth. Mingzi decided to go and take a look tomorrow.
At night, Mingzi wore the chain made of teeth to sleep and she was reluctant to take it off.
"Hehehe——Hehe——" There were waves of eerie laughter, the voice was very familiar, but she couldn't remember who it was. Mingzi didn't have many friends, so she could definitely recognize the voices of people she knew.
Mingzi looked around, only seeing endless darkness. Although she had long been accustomed to living in such an environment, at this moment, she was filled with fear. The fear that tore her apart bit by bit from the depths of her heart, the extreme cold that penetrated her heart and lungs swept over Mingzi's body. She was at a loss. She wanted to run, but her whole body felt like it was acupunctured and she couldn't move.
"Don't you like this very much? Aren't you willing to pay any price to find beautiful teeth? What's wrong now? Are you scared? Or are you feeling guilty about something?" It was that voice again, coming from nowhere.
Mingzi wanted to speak, wanted to ask if this had anything to do with teeth? But her lips moved, but no sound came out. She was scared, where on earth was this place? There was a little light in front of her. A woman, a woman in a white dress, her long hair was blown back, revealing a hideous face and a mouthful of ulcers. Mingzi suddenly remembered that this was the woman in the daytime.
She walked towards herself, strangled herself with her hands, and kept screaming – give me back my teeth, give me your teeth!
Mingzi woke up covered in cold sweat.
It’s still cloudy today and there’s no wind, which is pretty good.
Mingzi was frightened by this dream. She wanted to give up the idea of going to the woods, but when she saw the pendant on her neck, she made up her mind, picked up a small bag and went out.
In the past, I always searched at the edge of the forest, but never went deep into the forest. I heard from the old people that it was haunted and that the ghost of a woman would come out when the sun went down. Mingzi was still afraid. There was no sun today, so it was hard to tell when the ghost would come out. She felt a vague uneasiness in her heart, but she couldn't remember what it was. But when she thought of her teeth, Mingzi didn't care about anything else.
Mingzi groped her way around, leaving marks along the way so that she could follow the marks to get out.
Sure enough, when she walked to the middle of the forest, she saw a small mound standing out from the open space. Mingzi thought, that woman didn't lie to me, and the place where she hid her teeth was so strange. The rumor about the ghost girl was probably spread because she was afraid that others would discover her secret!
She pulled out a small shovel from her bag and started digging.
The pit was quite deep and we dug for a long time but didn't find anything.
It was getting dark. A white tooth rolled out of the soil, so beautiful. Mingzi quickly put the tooth in her pocket and continued digging.
A bit of white stuff appeared in the mud. She dug away the surrounding soil and sand and found a human head. Mingzi was so scared that she fell down one meter away.
She didn't know how this could be a human head, a head that was mostly rotten, with its eyes gone and bones clearly visible at the brow arch. There was a little long hair on the top of the head, tangled together in a dirty way, and a little disgusting rotten flesh with green hair on the face, so it was impossible to tell the face of this woman. Because of the long hair, Mingzi was sure that this was a woman. She wanted to call the police, but she was afraid of getting herself into trouble. At this time, Mingzi unconsciously looked at the teeth of the human head. Under the rotten lips, the teeth seemed to have been knocked out by a blunt instrument. There was only a little root, which had long been rotten, and occasionally a maggot twisted out from there.
Mingzi suddenly remembered that woman! It was her—a ghost! Mingzi screamed and ran away. She didn't want to stay here for another minute.
It was already dark, and she staggered out of the woods, fell headfirst onto the side of the road, and passed out.
4. Unbreakable Curse
When she opened her eyes, she found herself in an unknown home. The broken furniture and moldy walls gave off a disgusting smell. Mingzi got up in a hurry to leave.
"You've been in a coma for two days. Why are you leaving without saying goodbye after waking up?" An old, confused voice said. A hunched old man walked out from a corner of the room. But he remained in darkness and did not come out.
Mingzi was startled by the sudden voice, perhaps she had not yet escaped from the shadow of fear! But she regained consciousness immediately: "Oh, really? Thank you for your care, old man. I think I should go now and can't bother you anymore." She touched her pocket and found the money was still there. She took out 100 yuan and put it on the table as a reward.
"Don't you want to know what happened? That female ghost!" The old man said hoarsely, with a hint of chillness, and he smiled and walked closer.
My god, a wretched face, with wrinkled skin, as if it had been dried by the wind. He also had a mouth full of ulcers and no teeth! Mingzi screamed and curled up in a corner.
"No, don't come over! What do you want?" She didn't know how to respond, and she was even more afraid that she would have to respond. Apart from this, she had no other choice.
"I'm not a ghost! You don't have to be afraid. I was also harmed by that female ghost! But I survived! But I became like this!" The old man choked up. It didn't look like he was pretending. Mingzi glanced at the old man boldly, and he had retreated to the dark corner of the wall.
"This is a curse! A curse that cannot be broken." The old man said in a daze. From his voice, I could feel the fear in his heart, as if I saw the extreme panic in his eyes!
It was a long time ago, before the old man was born. There was a little girl in the village who had a strange hobby – collecting teeth from all kinds of people! Her parents died very early, leaving her alone in the village.
She always went around looking for beautiful teeth every day. When she grew up, she didn't change this strange habit. She had no friends around her. Everyone said she was a freak. The girl began to become withdrawn, but this did not shake her habit of collecting teeth!
Instead, it got worse! She became silent and her temperament became gloomy and weird!
Once, in the woods, she was looking at her collection – those white teeth! Some were even bloodshot. She started stealing teeth from the dead! She dug up graves late at night, pried off the dead's teeth, and took away any beautiful teeth she saw. She just wanted to satisfy her twisted desire to collect more teeth.
The village began to panic, saying it was haunted. How could a grave that had been properly buried be dug up? Even the teeth were pried out. But no one knew it was done by that weak girl!
She looked through her spoils one by one. She had collected a large bag! Wrapped in white satin.
"It's you, woman, ghost!" A boy from the village shouted behind him. He ran away.
But the girl smiled and continued to sit in the woods. The sun gradually went down and the woods became dark! In the distance, there was the sound of a group of people running! The girl didn't know what happened and got up to go home. But before she could put the teeth back, a man's strong arm had already snatched the girl's bag of teeth!
It turned out that the boy went back and said that the girl was a ghost. He was so scared when he saw that she had so many bloodshot teeth that he cried desperately. The child's father gathered the villagers and said he wanted to see what was going on.
They didn't give the girl a chance to defend herself. They pushed her to the ground and beat her hard! You dug the grave, you are a freak, you are a devil! The villagers screamed. The girl cried and begged for mercy, hoping that they would not kill her, but those people had no sympathy. They just wanted to kill her, this weak girl.
The girl looked at these people with resentment, and died in anger amidst the roars. The girl's blood was spilled all over the ground.
The old man in the village said that he would pry out all the girl's teeth, chop off her head and bury it in the woods with her teeth, burn the girl's body on the spot, and tell her not to step into this place again. He said that this way she could not take revenge. So they did it.
But they never expected that when everyone finished all this in the chaos, four teeth fell out. Because the girl could not come out for revenge, her wronged soul cursed the people in the village, saying that whoever picked up her teeth would die in pain like her. Then, revenge began!
"That's the curse. I'm the one who picked up the tooth." The old man said tremblingly.
"But you are not dead!" Mingzi said panickedly.
"Yes, that's because I didn't take the fourth tooth. I lost them. When I met that woman, I threw the teeth into the burning coals. She screamed and disappeared. But from that day on, the teeth in my mouth began to fall out and slowly rot. I became thinner and thinner, and my face became hideous. Is the moon in the eyes of ghosts red? No one cares about me anymore, saying that I am a ghost. This is her retribution for me!"
"What about those teeth?" Mingzi asked anxiously, an ominous feeling spreading to every part of her body!
"Thrown away in the woods…" He smiled evilly.
Mingzi subconsciously glanced at the tooth pendant around her neck.
"It was picked up by someone who also likes to collect teeth. That's you!" The old man shouted at Mingzi, "My nightmare is over because you will go to her world in my place – death! You can't escape because you took four teeth." After that, the old man disappeared into the darkness.
5. Death is inevitable
Mingzi pulled the chain around her neck desperately, but no matter how hard I pulled, it wouldn't break.
Her face was ashen, she struggled to crawl to the door, it was pitch dark. The old man was nowhere to be seen, he seemed to have run towards the woods. The old man said there were four teeth, but Mingzi only had three, she slowly walked towards her home with a lucky chance.
There was a heart-wrenching cry behind him, and that old voice resounded across half the sky. In the forest, no one knew what was happening, only such a painful cry was heard.
Then came the strange laughter… one after another, coldly echoing in the air above the forest, the dull sound seemed to want to reach Mingzi's ears – once it started, there was no escape…
At this time, Mingzi had already taken a taxi home. She knew nothing.
It was midnight again, and Mingzi was awakened by a toothache. She didn't know when she fell asleep, and she got up groggily. It was still dark. The moon was shining in as usual. She looked at the large dressing mirror in the moonlight.
"Ah——" Mingzi screamed, her mouth began to slowly fester, the speed was so fast that her teeth began to fall out one by one, and her flesh and blood were all over the place. Mingzi was terrified. But there was one tooth that was intact.
She remembered. When she was very young, she had a tooth pulled out because of tooth decay. She started collecting teeth because she saw so many cute teeth in the hospital. Later, the tooth she had pulled out never grew back, so the doctor helped her get a denture. Because the denture wouldn't be visible inside, it wouldn't affect her appearance, so Mingzi agreed.
Could it be… this tooth!
"It's the fourth tooth! You can't run away after all. No one who has taken my tooth can run away." Mingzi saw the woman in the mirror right behind me.
Mingzi sobbed, "It's not my fault that you died! Why do you have to haunt me? That old man is at least from the same village as you. But I'm nothing!" She didn't know where she got the courage from.
"Have you not remembered yet? This is the true story. The kid who went to complain was not a boy, but a girl. She was also a girl who loved to collect teeth. She went to complain because she wanted to take my teeth away! She watched me being beaten to death, but she had all my teeth in her pocket! And that girl – was you!" The voice said fiercely. The woman's black pupils were completely gone, revealing only the terrifying whites of her eyes, staring at me intently.
"I, I. Yes. Bloody memories." Akiko stared at the mirror with dull eyes.
More than a decade ago, she was still a child. Because she and a girl in the village liked to collect teeth, they were good friends. But because the other girl always found beautiful teeth to show off in front of Mingzi, Mingzi began to be jealous. She alienated the girl and told other children that the girl was a devil! The girl had no friends.
Mingzi started digging other people's graves like crazy, just to let the girl know that her collection was better than hers! However, the villagers found out that the graves were robbed and investigated the matter! Mingzi didn't know what to do, so she hid the teeth with the girl, in a treasure hiding place in the woods that only they knew!
She asked the girl to come there, and hid behind a big tree, waiting for the girl to dig out the tooth. Everything went according to her plan. She ran out, screaming at the devil in fear, and ran to tell her father that it was the girl who dug the grave and pried out the tooth. Everything fulfilled Mingzi's wish!
But when Mingzi saw the girl's horrible expression when she died, she was scared. She threw away the big bag of teeth and ran away. She didn't want to see the girl again. It was not until she moved out of the village that she forgot about the incident!
"Hmph, it's time for me to take revenge! Do you think you can escape?" As she said that, a bloody head rolled to Mingzi's hand. It belonged to the old man! Only black holes were left in his eyes, and his tongue was hanging long from the festering mouth! The woman smiled sinisterly!
Mingzi only felt that her neck was getting tighter and tighter, and she couldn't breathe!
Her mouth was already rotten beyond recognition! The fourth tooth rolled out of her mouth and fell to the door! The others were still tied around her neck! They tightly strangled Mingzi's thin neck. Her feet began to kick randomly, and her tongue slowly stuck out!
The phone rang, but no one answered. Then the father's voice rang out – leaving a message: "Daughter, I will come to the city to see you tomorrow! You haven't been home for a long time…" Mingzi's hand, which was stretched out in the air, fell down! The beads rolled down in all directions, crackling, mixed with the woman's sharp laughter.
The three remaining teeth began to tumble away.
Story evaluation
This ghost story successfully constructs a creepy and thought-provoking world with its unique plot design, atmosphere creation and character creation. The protagonist of the story, Akiko, has a quirk of collecting teeth. This setting adds mystery to the story and also reveals the dark side of the protagonist's heart. In terms of plot design, the story gradually uncovers a mystery of a curse that has been hidden for many years through Akiko's encounter with a mysterious woman. The curse originated from a girl who was treated unfairly for collecting teeth. Her wronged soul turned into an evil spirit and took revenge on all those who collected her teeth. This plot design not only conforms to the common routine of ghost stories, but also has originality, making the story fascinating. In terms of atmosphere creation, the story creates a depressing and terrifying atmosphere through the description of scenes such as dark shops, withered forests and desolate villages. Especially the night scenes, the cold moonlight, the weak dim lights, and the sudden appearance of ghostly laughter, all make readers feel a chill deep in their bones. In terms of character creation, the protagonist Akiko is a complex character. Her quirks and inner fears and desires constitute the conflict points of the story. The appearance of the mysterious woman and other characters adds more suspense and tension to the story. In particular, the old man who lost his teeth due to the curse, his appearance adds more tragic color to the story. Overall, this ghost story successfully constructs a fascinating horror world with its unique plot design, atmosphere creation and character creation. It not only makes people feel fear, but also makes people think deeply, and has a profound discussion on human nature, desire and morality.