There was a painted round fan by Li Song of the Southern Song dynasty. At the center was a skeleton wearing a futou headcloth, seated on the ground. In its right hand, it held up a little skeleton that looked like a marionette. The little skeleton was waving at a toddler opposite it.
The toddler lay prone on the ground, reaching toward the little skeleton. Behind the child stood a young woman with both hands outstretched as if to stop him, though she wore a smile, making it seem as though they were playing.
Behind the large skeleton was a carrying pole laden with goods, as if he were a peddler. Beside it was a woman nursing a child. As she watched the scene before her, her expression was strange—she seemed unable to bear looking at it, yet also as if she had already gone numb.
During Yuan Shundi's reign, a sensational and bizarre case occurred in Shaanxi. The plaintiff in the case was an invisible ghost. Broadly speaking, a small child had been harmed by a wicked Daoist, who used the child to commit various misdeeds. The child's ghost then exposed him.
The "Skeleton God" was mentioned in Lake and Sea News: Continued Records of Yi Jian, written during the Yuan dynasty. Though the book was compiled in the Yuan dynasty, it actually recorded stories from the Jin and Song dynasties. "Skeleton God" took place during the Southern Song dynasty. A villager's ten-year-old grandson suddenly vanished. Notices were posted and everyone searched everywhere, but there was no trace of him.
One day, the villager went out to search for him himself, only to be caught in a heavy rainstorm. While sheltering beneath the eaves of a house, he suddenly heard a child calling for Grandpa. Once he recognized it