Seeing old friends

As night falls, the winding mountains appear even more tranquil after the sunlight disappears. Perhaps because of the abundant vegetation and the absence of various noises from the city, the chirping of insects and the croaking of frogs are particularly loud.

Even in the summer, the mountains are cooler, though sometimes a gentle breeze blows and the branches sway, creating a somewhat eerie atmosphere in the twilight.

Si Mucheng exhaled a hot breath, struggled to open his eyes, and glanced out the window. What he saw was that strangely shaped tree branch. He calmly looked away, his muddled mind filled with only one thought: He must be delirious from the fever, otherwise how could it be that for three consecutive days, no matter when he opened his eyes and looked out the window, it looked like a person was hanging from the thickest branch of that tree, swaying with the wind?

This thought only lasted for a moment before Si Mucheng fell into a coma again due to a high fever. In his daze, he heard his second aunt talking to Aunt Chen, who lived at the entrance of the village.

"...Will it be useful?"

“That child is quite capable. Her maternal grandfather was known as ‘Old Immortal’ in his younger days. He was very effective.”

"But...this is an illness, even Doctor Li can't help this child..."

"So we have to find another way! A persistent high fever for no reason, and no medicine working, is most likely caused by a nightmare, and now it's like this again... It's the Ghost Festival, could it be that we've encountered some evil spirits?"

Si Mucheng's second aunt didn't speak for a long time before finally saying as if she had made up her mind: "Alright, then please ask her to come over and take a look."

Aunt Chen agreed and went to leave. Si Mucheng felt the surroundings return to silence and couldn't help but snort in dissatisfaction. A moment later, someone approached, and the towel on his forehead, which was almost melting from his body heat, was removed and replaced with a new one. The instant coolness brought Si Mucheng a brief moment of comfort.

"Xiao Cheng?" Second Aunt called softly. Seeing that Si Mu Cheng didn't respond, she touched his neck and found that the temperature was still unchanged, still anxiously hot to the touch. Her heart pounded with worry. The busyness and grief of the past few days made her choke back tears, "What's wrong with him...?"

Si Mucheng heard this and wanted to comfort his second aunt, but he couldn't move at all. As a dignified sports student, he had trained every day since he was a child and was very tough. He could recover from any illness, big or small, in a day at most. Who would have thought that this time he was so high that he was dizzy and almost died.

He panicked and fell into a deep sleep again.

In a daze, he felt himself moving. He took a deep breath, opened his eyes, and found himself outdoors.

Si Mucheng was stunned. Wasn't he lying in the old house?

Thick fog surrounded them, and the night was dark. Si Mucheng looked up and realized it was probably late at night. There should have been stars and the moon, but the thick fog made it difficult to see the surroundings.

But the tall, dense tree canopies, the varying shades of weeds, and the uneven muddy path all indicated that he was walking on a mountain trail. How did he get here?

Si Mucheng scratched his head. Had he blacked out from the fever? If he couldn't figure it out, he'd stop thinking about it. Forget it, he should just go back quickly.

Thinking this, he took two more steps forward. The fog seemed to have solidified, without changing at all. Si Mucheng walked along the path with uneven steps, but there was no sound or light around him, as if he were the only person left in the world.

He suddenly had a thought: Was he still in Xiqiao Village?

Yes, he's from Xiqiao Village, so what's he doing here? It seems he's attending someone's funeral...

Who is it...?

Si Mucheng frowned, but his attention was drawn to what was ahead. In the thick fog, there seemed to be a small figure.

Si Mucheng strained to open his eyes wide, trying to see something clearly, but to no avail.

He spoke first, greeting, "Hello?"

But the thick fog not only obstructed the view, but also seemed to block out sound, and the other party did not respond at all.

The fog came strangely. Si Mucheng had been to Xiqiao Village many times, but he had never seen fog like this before.

He muttered to himself, raising his voice involuntarily: "Hello! Is anyone here?" As soon as the words left his mouth, he wanted to berate himself for being stupid. Who greets someone like that? He must have lost his mind. The person was already there; what else could they be but a person? And he asked, "Is anyone here?"... But was that person really a person?

Si Mucheng was startled by his own reaction, then recalled the past few days while lying in bed, when he was delirious with fever and caught glimpses of shadowy figures swaying on tree branches outside the window. But the next second, he quickly shook his head to clear the image from his mind.

He's just seeing things; how can you take it seriously? He's a true-blue socialist successor, what nonsense is he thinking?

Putting those strange thoughts aside, Si Mucheng had been walking for so long and finally caught someone. He should at least have someone show him the way. Just as he was about to say something more, a voice came from the other side.

“…Xiao Cheng…”

Si Mucheng paused for a moment. Was someone calling him? Someone he knew?

That would be wonderful.

He quickly replied, "Hey! It's me? Is it my second aunt?" Without paying attention to anything else, he took a few big steps forward.

As they got closer to the figure, the voice became clearer and clearer.

"Xiao Cheng, come quick."

Upon hearing this voice, Si Mucheng slowed his pace. The person in the mist still couldn't make out their true face, but Si Mucheng had already recognized their voice.

He frowned: "Grandma...Grandma?"

The voice on the other end kept calling out, "Xiao Cheng, Xiao Cheng, come here quickly, come over here."

Si Mucheng asked, full of doubt, "Is it... Grandma?"

"It's Grandma, Xiao Cheng, come here quickly."

The tone was calm, just like Grandma's usual tone, but Si Mucheng stopped, looking hesitant. How could it be Grandma?

"Xiao Cheng? Come here quickly, Grandma made you some steamed buns with sauerkraut filling. We're waiting for you to eat together."

Hearing this, Si Mucheng's heart stirred. His favorite food was his grandmother's steamed buns. He smiled and asked, "Grandma, did you come out to look for me so late?"

"Yes," the voice sounded faint through the thick fog, "Let's go with Grandma."

Si Mucheng nodded, and just as he was about to take a step forward, a clear, melodious female voice suddenly rang in his ear: "Don't go any further. If you go any further, you won't be able to come back."

Si Mucheng was startled. He hurriedly looked around, his head almost spinning, but he couldn't find anyone to talk to.

"You..." he began, his throat tightening, "Who's playing tricks? Who are you?!"

The man ignored him and said to himself, "You should know that what you're doing now will only kill him."

Si Mucheng was even more confused. Who? Who was killed? Him? Who wanted to kill him?

"Who are you talking to?" Si Mucheng scratched his head again. Today was really strange; he was completely baffled.

However, at that moment, the thick fog suddenly dissipated, revealing the surrounding scenery.

Si Mucheng then realized that this was a path leading from the old house to the back mountain, and that he had been going in circles here all along.

Grandma's figure came into full view. She was still wearing her favorite blue floral shirt, her silver hair neatly tied in a bun at the back of her head, and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes were like blooming flowers. She was still looking at Si Mucheng, smiling slightly, but she didn't say anything.

Just as Si Mucheng was about to feel overjoyed, he suddenly sensed something was wrong.

That smile... wasn't because she was happy.

Grandma's smile never changed, as if it had been sculpted, like... a doll.

Si Mucheng was startled. He didn't know why he thought that way, but the more he looked at the "grandmother," the more eerie she seemed.

Before he could ask anything, the voice that had descended from the sky spoke again: "Go back." As soon as the words were spoken, Si Mucheng felt his body lighten, as if he were being sucked in from behind, and he was suddenly thrown backward. The scenery of Xiqiao Village and the strange "grandmother" in front of him flashed by quickly, eventually becoming a point. Soon, as if his soul had returned to its place, he suddenly bumped into a soft and solid touch behind him.

After a moment of dizziness, Si Mucheng smelled a faint odor of burnt paper. Was he... just dreaming? What a strange dream, why was he dreaming about his grandmother?

He tried to open his eyes, but found he couldn't move. Si Mucheng found this feeling very strange; his mind was clear, but his body wouldn't obey him, and he couldn't move at all.

Just then, he heard murmuring sounds coming from the room, like several people talking. It quickly quieted down, and someone left the room; Si Mucheng instinctively knew it was his second aunt. He thought dejectedly, "I want some water! Is nobody going to care about me?!"

He thought the room was empty, but immediately heard footsteps approaching. Before Si Mucheng could even feel happy, he realized something was wrong. The person's footsteps weren't as nimble as his second aunt's, nor as heavy as Aunt Chen's; it was someone he didn't recognize.

Thinking this, the man had already walked to his bedside.

Si Mucheng wanted to know who the person was, but his eyelids felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, and he couldn't open them no matter what he did.

"Humans and ghosts are different. You have a great influence on him. If you don't leave now, he may really die."

Upon hearing the voice, Si Mucheng suddenly realized that it was the female voice that had just appeared in his dream.

But who was she talking to? Was there someone else in the room? He didn't hear any other sounds.

It was as if someone had answered something, and after a pause, the girl spoke again, but her originally indifferent tone now carried a trace of unknown pity: "Now that you've seen it, stop being so stubborn, or your spirit will be affected. Quickly let go of your obsession and enter the cycle of reincarnation as soon as possible."

Si Mucheng thought to himself, "This person's voice is nice, but why is he talking so mysteriously about spirits and reincarnation... what kind of feudal superstition is this!"

However, as soon as the man finished speaking, a moment later, he felt a lightness in his body, and the feeling of being suppressed vanished without a trace. He could move again!

Si Mucheng's eyelids twitched, and he opened his eyes. He wanted to see the owner of that voice.

The old brick house was dimly lit. When Si Mucheng was little, he was actually quite scared living here. He didn't feel it during the day, but every night, the dim light and the old objects gave off a sense of decay. The room next to the small gate in the backyard was particularly eerie and dark, with a musty smell in the air. At the very back of the room was a coffin, which his grandmother had prepared for her own funeral.

Every time Si Mucheng passed by that dark room, he felt that there was some monster hiding inside, ready to seize the opportunity to kidnap him.

At this moment, the light bulb on the roof beam was still swaying. Si Mucheng realized that it was already late at night. The light here was still as dim and yellow as he remembered. He looked away again, but suddenly stopped. He saw a hunched back. The old man was thin and was wearing the blue floral shirt from his dream.

Si Mucheng opened his mouth: "...Grandma..."

His small noise startled the people inside the room.