As usual, I spent the day playing with Zhao Jie in the yard. Master Liu slept in the spare room through the daytime, supposedly recovering from his night at Xiao Chun’s house.

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After a while of playing, Zhao Jie's sister, Zhao Yuan, asked us to pick leek flowers on the mountain. I was so excited to do something new because mom had kept me at home for more than a few days in a row.

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I asked my mother whether I could go into the mountain and she agreed with me, “Only because you’re safe under Master Liu’s protection!” She called after me as I ran to tell Zhao Jie and Zhao Yuan. “Stay away from the Shaping!” I nodded fervently back at her. The Shaping is what we’ve taken to calling Xiao Chun’s mother’s tomb site. Nobody liked going around there.

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We went out with Zhao Yuan and met with two other girls. One was Sun Yueying, the daughter of Sun Sheng; and the granddaughter of Uncle Sun. The other was Liu Nannan, a chubby girl with a comely face. We nicknamed her, "Lao Dian", because of the way she walked.

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Zhao Yuan was the oldest one of us and she naturally took the role of group leader. She was very smart, very pretty, and very quick witted.  

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I thought she was pretty, at least. I’m sure Zhao Jie didn’t, she was his sister. No sister is pretty when they’re yours! Yuck! I once told him that I would marry her. Every time I brought it up, Zhao Jie would nod happily. I think that if I had ever said something to Zhao Yuan, though, she would have beaten me silly.

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Ah, it was such pity that I could not tell her...

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We went out the door in the opposite direction of the Shaping. The tomb developed quite the reputation and most of the villagers did not like to go near it.

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Of course there were some brave boys who made sport of daring each other to go up to the tomb. They all came back safely, which resulted in town musings that the whole ordeal was a farce.. As time went on I think more and more people stopped believing in Xiao Chun’s ghostly mother.

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We trooped along to Nanpo Mountain. There were many leek flowers at the top. From afar the peak looked like it nestled in the clouds. It was a very beautiful sight.

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As we moved towards Nanpo, there were two roads. One was the main road, which allowed tractors to pass. The other was a path that could only fit one vehicle at a time. The main road was safe, but exceptionally long. The other path was more difficult to tread, although it could save time.

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We obviously opted for the faster route as a group and started towards it. Zhao Yuan made some off hand statement that she’d be responsible for all of us and we were walking before Sun Yueying cried out, “Stop!”

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“I will not go that way!” She told us, “I won’t!” she said again, her lower lip jutting out like a fat pink worm. “Grandfather Sun’s tomb is beside that path. I…” she hesitated, but looked at me and appeared to bolster in morale. “He comes to me in my dreams. He tries to take me away… I won’t go that way.”

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When she mentioned Uncle Sun, I froze. “Why did she look at me like that?” I thought. I didn’t pull Uncle Sun’s ghost out of his body! I stepped closer to Sun Yueying and said, "Let's go along the main road then. It is safer."

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Zhao Yuan was smart and pretty, but she had a bad temper. That was the main reason I never told her I’d marry her. I couldn’t face that girl’s wrath with an army behind me. She listened to the exchange between Sun Yueying and I closely for a moment before a fire lit behind her eyes. "Don't worry.” She growled in a low purr. “I am here and I promise you’ll be safe. It’s only a tomb, you sillies! My teacher said ghosts don't exist in the real world, only in stories." She looked at me as if she could silence me with her sparkling eyes.

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“I have seen ghosts. I’ve seen many ghosts Zhao Yuan.” I looked back at her, not willing to stand down, even if she was a head taller than I. Zhao Yuan laughed a braying laugh. "Talking big without thinking, eh? I will call you Big Talker."

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“I don’t talk big...” I started, but she cut my words with a flip of her dark hair and countered me.

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I won’t play with you,” The last three words drawn out in a mocking song that sounded like “plaaaayyyy with youuuuuu.” She laughed again and taunted, “I’ll send you right back home and tell your mommy to lock you in the yard again so the big bad ghosts don’t catch you!”

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I snapped my mouth shut, partially out of anger, partially out of embarrassment from being treated like a child, and partially because I was so bored in the yard those days. I had to get away from the yard. There is nothing more painful than boredom.

Sun Yueying didn’t say a word to support me as Zhao Yuan led our party down the shorter, more dangerous route.

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Zhao Yuan led the way, and Sun Yueying followed her with a worried expression glued to her face. Zhao Jie came next, and I followed shortly behind him, trying to step on his heels every so often to annoy him. Liu Nannan pulled up the caboose of our little train.

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Liu Nannan whined that she didn’t want to be in the back. “What if something sneaks behind us? Shouldn’t one of you be in back?” But, Zhao Jie and I didn't like her very much, I can’t for the life of me remember why. I guess Zhao Yuan agreed with us, as she told the girl to follow me in the back. Liu Nannan trumped moodily behind us, as the last one in a short line on an expedition of fun.

Zhao Yuan started talking about Uncle Sun’s funeral, probably because she wanted to frighten Sun Yueying. I had been home for his funeral. After the hospital incident, I had had enough of dead people at the time, but was curious as to what Zhao Yuan was saying..

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“It was such a splendid event! Two bands, not one, but two played for him. And they were so loud! Like they put all of their energy into bidding old Uncle Sun farewell. It was very impressive!” Between each sentence Zhao Yuan would shoot a glance at Sun Yueying who had a sickly sad expression on her face. “The coffin was held and carried by all of the strong men from our village. No tractors were good enough for Uncle Sun. Isn’t that such a wonderful idea? I hope I earn enough respect to be carried by hand!” She laughed, as if the thought of her having anything but the best was unthinkable.

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“When they arrived at the cornfield, the trumpeters played the most beautiful song and the men raised the coffin with all of their strength.” She glanced back at us and caught my eye. When she continued speaking her voice was low and sharp,

“Some say that Uncle Sun’s body was rolling inside the coffin because the mountain road was treacherous. They say that it was just his body rolling inside that made the noise.”

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“What noise? Sun Yueying cried, with actual fear in her voice.

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“You didn’t hear it? You were there, you’re his granddaughter!”

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“Hear what noise?” I asked in a voice that did not sound like my own.

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“The horrible knocking!” Zhao Yuan yelled out and clapped her hands together towards Sun Yueying. “BANG, BANG I’m coming for you!” She shouted.

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"Ahh!" Sun Yueying shrieked and began crying.

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Zhao Yuan smiled and complacently comforted her weeping friend, "It’s fine, Sun Yueying. Don't be scared. He was your grandpa! He wouldn’t hurt you even if he did appear."

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While Zhao Yuan was consoling her teary friend, I screamed out. The sound that came from me was an abrupt falsetto screech that surprised all of us, even myself. Sun Yueying was stunned mid sob and stopped crying all at once, her puffy eyes shooting towards mine.

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Zhao Yuan, the first of us to regain composure, turned her now angry expression on me and shouted, "Xiao Yong, why on Earth are you screaming? You scared us half to death!"

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I raised a numb hand and pointed my index finger past Zhao Yuan. My voice caught at first and couldn’t say what I wanted, needed, to say, "You... behind you..."

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The part of my brain that controls speech seemed to take a nap and I continued to gape at Zhao Yuan. Behind her stood two figures. The larger was Uncle Sun, and beside him was the old woman who had haunted me mere weeks before. Xiao Chun’s mother stood a pace behind Zhao Yuan. Uncle Sun hadn’t changed, his face still wore a blank expression of lethargy. His eyes stared straight ahead, not even glancing at the vulnerable girl before him. Xiao Chun's mother, on the other hand, had evolved into a creature more terrifying. As if her ghost had taken notes from her physical body, her head was no longer attached. She stood a four foot six with a stumpy, would be bloody neck jutting into the air like a tree stump. Her head wasn’t missing though. It sat cradled in her right arm, being steered by the left. The face, still full of wrinkles, shined with mirth that emanated from the sickly grin.

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Zhao Yuan stopped shouting and dropped her angry façade when she saw the look in my eyes. “Xiao Yong, what are you playing at?” She looked behind her, but didn’t see anything. “Are you okay?”

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She swallowed loudly, paused for a moment, then picked up her anger again and closed the distance between us with one long-legged step. She twisted my ear and scolded, "Damn you. Stupid boy, how dare you play tricks on us? I’ll beat you raw!"

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I wanted to say that I hadn’t tricked her, but my voice was still on vacation. Even as she grabbed my ear, my eyes were glued to Xiao Chun’s mother. The old woman didn’t move her translucent feet, but was all at once directly behind Sun Yueying. The headless visage held her head out with a long right hand, and then raised it. The disembodied face rose behind Sun Yueying head. The ghost opened her horrible smile and whispered in a rasping voice, "Come here..."

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The others couldn’t see her, but I think we all felt the chill that flowed from the dead woman’s mouth. Her voice rose and fell, filled with sadness and horror. I felt my stomach drop inside of me and goose bumps tear their way down my arms and legs.

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Zhao Yuan, still twisting my ear, stopped moving and turned around towards the whispered voice. Sun Yueying, apparently hearing the words, lost all of the blood in her face and turned white. She turned her head so slowly that we could hear the muscles in her neck creak. When she turned around, her face was nose to nose with Xiao Chun's mother.

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“She’s eaten…” I remember thinking.

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Sun Yueying’s chest was moving up and down very quickly as she drew in breath after frightened breath. The old woman stood face to face with her for a thousand years, and then Sun Yueying’s chest stopped moving. She turned her head back to us, skin now turning a cold green color, and said in a voice filled with ice, "Go..."