When I was nine years old, it was a summer, and it was the double harvest season in the countryside. Rural people should know that it means harvesting rice in spring and planting it in autumn. My family had few fields and the work was almost done. My third uncle had many fields, and it was going to rain in a few days, which would affect the rice planting, so my mother asked me to go to my third uncle's house to help harvest the rice!
It was around six in the morning and the weather was a bit cold. I happily walked to my third uncle's house. I had been there with my parents long before. It was only four or five miles away, not far. I was young at that time and could get there quickly by skipping and hopping.
To get to my third uncle's house, there are two roads on the way. One road has several old and new graves and is sparsely populated. The other road has several houses, but you have to take a detour a little distance. Relatively speaking, the closest one is the one with the graves.
But I didn't dare to take the road with houses, because every household had dogs. When I went to my third uncle's house with my dad, even if my dad rode a bicycle with me, the dogs would chase me for a long distance and bark all the way. I was young at that time and a little afraid of dogs. It would be bad if I was bitten, so I chose the road that passed by the graves.
I passed that road smoothly and went to my third uncle's house happily. I was thinking that I could eat delicious food again when I went to my third uncle's house. I was tired after a whole day. After dinner at around 7 o'clock, my third uncle asked me to stay overnight at his house, saying that it was too late and it was not safe for me to go back. I stayed at my house overnight!
I said yes at first, then no! I had to go back, because I suddenly remembered that my family told me to go home quickly after dinner, not to stay overnight at my uncle's house, and not to bother them. Thinking of this, I quickly told my uncle that I wanted to go home. My uncle couldn't persuade me, so he had to say I would take you back!
Although I was young at that time, I was very brave. I said no, I can go back by myself, I know the way well! My uncle said firmly, I must take you back! It was a little dark at night, it was not safe for you as a child. So my uncle took me back. When he took me halfway, that is, when we were almost at the grave, I refused to take him back. I said that your rice was still in the field, so I should go back and harvest it.
My uncle thought that since we had come this far, the road back was relatively wide and there were people along the way, so he said that it would be better for me to go back alone, be careful and don't play in the water on the way. I said okay. Don't worry, I won't play in the water!
My uncle actually thought I would take the road with people, but I was actually afraid of the dogs on that road. It was getting dark and I could see the road clearly, but as night fell, I was very conflicted standing at the junction of the two roads. After much thought, I was still afraid of dogs, so I decided to take the road without dogs.
So I started walking along the road with the graves. I felt a little scared as I walked. Graves are where the dead are buried. I have never properly seen what a grave looks like. When I passed by it before, my parents always brought me there and I was not allowed to look around!
I walked to the side of the tomb. I was a little brave. I don't know if I was blinded or what, but I walked directly to the side of the tomb and took a closer look. I thought to myself, I'll just take a few glances and leave, it's okay! I approached the tomb and saw it clearly. There were a few bulging earth mounds with various small holes, a few large stone slabs with the words "tomb of so-and-so" written on them, and some of them had some incense and candles inserted. There was nothing to see. Just when I was about to turn around, I looked up and felt that there was something very brightly colored. I went around the back of the tomb and saw a beautiful red paper ball!
The paper ball was not big, just the size of a small leather ball we played with when we were children. It was made of red paper. It did not stand up but fell to the ground. I thought it was quite interesting. I had always wanted to see how it was made, so I picked it up, held it in my hand, held it up, and ran back with it.
On the way to my home, I suddenly remembered that I couldn't take it home. If I took it home, my family would scold me. My family taught me not to take other people's things or pick up things from the ground. So I hid the red paper ball in the straw in my own field and covered it with straw. I just didn't expect that a small paper ball would bring me so much trouble.
After returning home and taking a shower, I told my family what I did at my third uncle's house, what I ate, etc. Suddenly, I felt a little dizzy, so I said I was a little dizzy and wanted to sleep. My mother thought so too, because I was tired from working with adults these days, so it would be better to rest early.
At that time, I had a single room by myself. I felt very hot in the main room (the living room), but when I walked into the door of my room, I suddenly shivered, as if a cold winter wind blew. I fell on the bed, feeling very dizzy, with stars in my eyes. My head was too heavy to lift up, and then I felt weak all over, and my head started to hurt. I was very strong-willed when I was a child, and I wanted to hold back and not tell my family and make them worry, so I closed my eyes and waited to fall asleep.
I don't know if I fell asleep or not. I suddenly became drowsy and my head felt like it was blown by the wind. I touched it with my hand, but there was nothing. Then I felt someone talking in the dark. I also felt a figure in front of my bed. It was a very old grandmother. She smelled like rotten soil. She was wearing black silk clothes, which were a little tattered. Her trouser legs were very big and fluttering. She was skinny and had a very obvious mole on her brown face. Her eyes were sunken and her eyeballs were gray. Her hair seemed to be blown away by the wind one by one. There seemed to be a little dark blood with a little foam on her lips.
She blew air at me, and I smelled pesticides. She said to me, "Little boy, what did you take from me?" Then she smiled at me sinisterly, revealing her liver-colored tongue and no teeth. That smile was like the look of a corpse in a movie that suddenly turns into a zombie and wants to eat people. The old lady in black smiled and held a black bottle at me, saying, "Come on, come on, little boy, I'll give you some sugar water."
I suddenly screamed, turned on the light, opened my eyes, but I couldn't see anything, not even the old lady in black. Under the dim light, I somehow found some dirt and grass ash on the ground, as well as some vague footprints, which made me even more scared, because I was wearing clean slippers when I went upstairs.
I forced myself to get up, ran to my parents' room and told my mother that I was not feeling well. I asked my father if he had been to my room. My father said no, so I held back and did not tell him about the dirt and footprints. My grandmother heard the noise and came to my parents' room. Seeing me like this, she was very worried and asked me if I had caught a cold or bumped into something when I came back at night. I said that I was a little cold on the way back, but I didn't bump into anything.
My mother touched my forehead and said in surprise: "Why is your head so hot? It's so hot! Hurry up, his father, ask Dr. Li to come and take a look!"
Doctor Li is a doctor in our village. He has decades of medical experience and is well-known. He is the only one in the village with good character and good medical skills. After coming to my house, Doctor Li touched my forehead and took my temperature directly. He looked at me with a strange expression and said that I might have caught a cold and had a fever. Let's give me an injection first and see. So he gave me a lot of injections.
I returned to my room in the middle of the night, but I still didn't feel well. I still had a headache, fever, and weakness. I started whining, and I didn't know what I was saying.
My mother took one look and said that the injection was useless, what should I do? My father said that maybe the drug had not taken effect yet, so we should wait and see, and then I fell asleep.
It was early in the morning, and I didn't know whether I was in a coma or a hazy state of consciousness, but I felt that I saw the old lady in black clothes standing in front of my bed with a strange "hehe" laugh. The moonlight was dim and yellow, and I saw that she was still holding a black bottle in her hand, and there were stains of black blood on her dry black lips. There was a smell like pesticide in the room, yes, it was the smell of pesticide – chlorpyrifos.
The old lady in black kept moving her mouth and saying something like "What did you take from me?" "Do you want some sugar water? I still have a little bit for you to drink. Come on, open your mouth and drink it!" "You will feel better after drinking it. If you don't want to drink it, I will come back tomorrow to give you some."
I was scared and wanted to get up to tell my family, but I felt hot and cold all over and was so weak that I couldn't get up. I quickly pulled the thin quilt covering my stomach and covered my eyes, and my body began to shake uncontrollably!
I don't know how long it took, but the roosters around me started crowing, and I secretly opened my eyes and found that the sky was getting slightly brighter in the east, and the old lady in black clothes had disappeared. I breathed a sigh of relief, but the headache and weakness, which alternated between cold and hot, became more obvious.
At dawn, I heard the sound of my parents drying rice, so I struggled to get up. I went downstairs, and my mother saw me and asked if I felt better and if I still had a fever. I said I felt very uncomfortable. I saw an old lady in the room wearing black clothes and smelling like a ghost, asking me to drink pesticide.
"What are you talking about, you are talking nonsense. Where did you come from, old lady En?" My mother glared at me and said to me with a rather unpleasant expression. I was a little anxious and quickly said it was true. Then I told her what happened at night , where I came from and where I would die , but I concealed the fact that I found the red paper ball beside the grave.
My mother looked a little unhappy after hearing this. My father said to her, "Is the fever still not gone? It's so serious. Should we see Doctor Li and get an injection?" My mother thought for a while and said, "Okay, take him to Doctor Li's room to see if he's there. If he is, treat him right away. It's going to rain in a few days, so hurry up and come back to dry the grain."
My father took me to Dr. Li's house on his bike. When we passed the turning and saw the house of an old madman who usually acted crazy, the old madman, who usually danced with joy when he saw people, stared at me and then became quiet, turned around and went into the inner room.
When we arrived at Dr. Li's house, Dr. Li was having breakfast. When he saw us, he asked us if we had eaten. Dad didn't answer him. He filled a cigarette for Dr. Li and said, "Doctor Li, my kid had a fever last night and it's getting better. Can you take a look at him again?"
Doctor Li took my hand, felt my pulse, and looked at my forehead. He asked me when I started to feel uncomfortable and whether I had gone out at night. I answered Doctor Li honestly and told him everything about the graveyard I passed by, but I still didn't tell him that I had picked up a small red ball. After listening to him, Doctor Li said to my father, "This boy's forehead is a little black. I actually saw it yesterday, but it was only a little bit, not as obvious as today, so I didn't say it yesterday. I was afraid that he might have caught a cold, so I gave him an injection. It hasn't healed yet and it's even worse today. I have to say that the boy in your room might have touched something unclean. I will try to calm him down little by little, but I may not be able to solve it completely. I'll tell you someone. Go to Sunjiawuchang and find an old man named Sun Xiazi. He is over 90 years old. It's more than 20 miles away from here. When you get to Sunjiawuchang, ask Sun Xiazi and someone will show you the way. He may have a way to solve it. Don't give him money, he won't take it. Just weigh a pound of meat and buy two packs of cigarettes before you go. When you get there, just say I asked you to come."
After Dr. Li finished speaking, he turned back to the inner room, took out a piece of light yellow paper with something drawn on it, took out a bowl and filled it with cold water, then took out three incense sticks and a red candle and put them in the canning bottle and lit them, waved the yellow paper in the air for a few circles, closed his eyes, and mumbled something incomprehensible, and when the paper was almost burned to ashes, he threw it into the water bowl, stirred it with chopsticks for a few times and handed it to me, asking me to drink it. I closed my eyes and drank it obediently, and put the bowl on the table. Dr. Li stared at me and said, "Answer whatever the male grandma asks you! You know, you can't lie!" Then he turned to my father and said, "Take him there quickly, if you go too late, I'm afraid he will go out and wander around, and you won't be able to find him."
My father and I thanked Dr. Li and turned to leave. When we got home, my father told my mother about the incident. She almost cried with red eyes and said, "I should have told you not to go to your third uncle's house. You are a little kid and you have run into something like this." My grandmother stood by and looked at me and said to my father, "Go to Sun's house quickly. Go quickly. I said it doesn't look like a cold. I'm afraid you may have been touched by something. When Dr. Li looked at you, his expression was not right. He also has some ability to calm down and remove evil spirits."
After saying that, my father changed his clothes immediately. I washed my face and tidied myself up. After drinking the bowl of black water from Doctor Li, I felt a little better. My neck didn't hurt anymore and I wasn't so dizzy anymore.
Dad rode his bike with me on the back seat. We first went to the store and bought two pounds of pork and two packs of Baisha cigarettes. We rode quickly all the way to Sunjiawuchang. The countryside at that time was not as smooth as the beautiful new countryside now. The main road was only about four meters wide, with gravel and dust all the way, and it was very bumpy. It felt like we rode for a long time. When we arrived near Sunjiawuchang, Dad and I got off the bike and met an old man turning over rice. So we went over to ask him. The old man stood up and looked at me, saying, "Are you looking for Sun the Blind to see the evil spirit?" We said yes, and the old man laughed and said, "Go quickly, because he just came home after a stroll." Then he pointed to a small road in the east and said, "Go straight along this road, turn right, and the eighth bungalow is it!"
Following the path, we found Blind Sun's home, a red brick bungalow with three doors, one of which was open. It was a little dark inside, with candles lit. When I walked into the door, I smelled a faint smell of incense, which suddenly made me feel refreshed and relaxed. My father asked me to carry the pork and took me to a half-hidden small door. He knocked on the door a few times and asked, "Is Grandpa Sun here? I'm from Ganjiao Ling. Please take a look at my little boy."
There were soft footsteps, and the door opened. An old man with his eyes closed opened the door. He was wearing a green robe like in ancient times, a pair of cloth shoes, a string of beads on his hands, white hair and white beard, but his eyes were invisible. There was a faint smell of incense on his body, which was very pleasant. The old man looked up and seemed to look at me with his eyes and said, "Little boy, there is evil spirit on your body. Did you touch something?" After saying that, he smiled and invited us in.
After entering the house, I quickly put the pork on the dining table. Dad took out a cigarette and said with a smile: "Old man, I'm really sorry, it's a bit rude. I didn't buy anything and I don't know what you like to eat!" Then he turned to me and said: "Hurry up and call grandma!"
I looked at the old man obediently and said, "Grandma, please let me take a look."
The old man smiled and said, "Come on, no need to buy these. It was Doctor Li Lianzhong who asked you to come to me, right? When did you feel sick?" Then he touched my head and took my hand and walked into the room with incense. I answered the old man as we walked, saying that I felt sick last night, with a headache, dizziness and no strength!
The old man asked me to sit on a chair and said to me, "Don't be afraid, dear boy. It's nothing serious. You must have been near the grave last night. Did you touch something or pick up something? Did you bring the thing you picked up to the side of the house? You started to feel uncomfortable at night, didn't you? Doctor Li gave you some magic water to drink?"
When I heard this, I thought, "What a great guy! He knows all this!" So I dared not hide it anymore and told the old man everything. When my father heard it, he threatened to hit me, saying, "You bastard, what are you doing with things from that place? You still want to take it home? Those are things for dead people! Yesterday I asked you but you didn't tell me. Today when I went to Dr. Li's room, you didn't tell me where I came from and where I will die . Why are you so annoying?"
The old man stopped my father from hitting me and said to him, "He's just a kid. He saw something he didn't recognize but liked so he must have picked it up. Luckily he hasn't taken it home yet. If he had, it would have been a disaster. Don't blame him. Look at how thin he is. He's weak due to malnutrition. It's easy for him to get involved with dirty things. Some things are destined to happen. You can't avoid them. You can't encounter them even if you want to. Don't blame the kid."
Dad stood aside in dismay, and the old man looked at me and said, "It's okay, come, listen to grandma's arrangements, grandma will tell it to stop bothering you, and it will be fine in a while."
After saying that, the old man asked me to kneel on the straw mat on the ground, take off my T-shirt and face the altar. Then the old man picked up three pieces of yellow paper, the same ones used by Doctor Li, with some crooked red words densely written on them. The old man asked my father to bring a bowl of cold boiled water and put it in the middle of the altar. The old man folded the yellow paper three times and lit it on fire. Suddenly, the flames turned golden. The old man shook the burning paper in front of my chest and back a few times, as if writing, and muttered something while shaking it. Finally, he used his hand to move from my forehead to my chest gently as if pinching something, and then suddenly shook his hand and put his fingers into the bowl of water. At this time, the yellow paper had burned to the bottom. The old man threw the yellow paper ashes into the bowl and stirred it a few times with his hands. During this time, my head was fuzzy, and I kept watching his hands shaking, wondering why no paper ashes fell off when it was burning, and why he could move so freely even though he was blind?
There was another bowl of black water. The old man dipped a little with his thumb and smeared it on my forehead, then asked me to drink the rest of the water. I took the water and gulped it down. The old man looked at me and said that it was okay, and the evil spirit had been eliminated! Then he took out a red string from the altar and put it on me. He said to me, wear this red string on your hand for a week, even when you take a bath. After a week, you can wear it or not. When you go back, take the things you picked up and put them back to their original places. Don’t pick up things on the ground casually in the future. After that, he smiled and patted my head and said, well, go back and eat more, and ask your parents in the room to give you more nutritious food, so that you can grow taller in the future. Don’t think about how I can do things without seeing my eyes. Little boy, grandma tells you that the mind is the eye.
After thanking the old man, we prepared to say goodbye and go home. The old man insisted that we take the pork and cigarettes back, but we refused and just pushed and shoved each other on the lawn. The neighbors around the old man came over and looked at us, and said to us to take the things back. Uncle Sun never accepts money or things, he just comes because of who we are!
The old man said, "Yes, I also look at people. I can feel whether they are good or bad. You take the things back. The boy is young, so give them to him. If you are interested, you can send me off when I die." My father couldn't refuse, so he had to hand it to me and forced the cigarettes on the old man, saying that the two packs of cigarettes were not valuable, but I must accept them and do it, otherwise I would not be able to hold my head up when I go back.
After leaving Sunjiawuchang and returning home, I was worried whether my mother would beat me or whether my grandmother would protect me. But I was overthinking. When my parents found out about the situation, they didn’t say much to me. Instead, they blamed my father for bringing the meat back. Then they immediately took the things out of the straw in the field and put them back in place, and taught me a few words. When we were coming back from the graves on that road, we met an old lady from the next village. This old lady knew my grandmother and my mother. We had met before, so we started chatting. When my mother told the story, the old lady was shocked and her expression changed slightly.
The old lady told us that the grave contained an old person from their village who had been dead for two years. When she was young, she gave birth to a son and a daughter, but her children died early and she had no one to follow her and no relatives. She had a bad temper, was stingy, and a bit sneaky. She liked to tease other people's children and sometimes had some mental problems. No one in the village wanted to associate with her. She had been single for more than ten years. Maybe she was too depressed to think straight and committed suicide by drinking pesticides in her own vegetable garden. She was accidentally discovered by passers-by. It was a sin that she didn't even have a coffin when she was buried!
After returning home, I was completely recovered and full of energy. I wore the red rope that the old man gave me on my hand for a year.
But I have been wondering and can’t figure out one question: who put the red paper ball that I picked up on her grave?