There were many things I could not forget, memories branded into my mind like a curse.
Whenever I woke from dreams at midnight, those memories would unknowingly spread through my mind, leaving me sleepless and wracked with pain.
So I often sat alone until one or two in the morning, sometimes even until dawn.
During those sleepless hours, I would leaf through an old photo album.
Looking at the people in those photographs, I would recall those soul-stirring experiences from the past.
Those people and events happened after I stumbled by accident into another world.
That world was filled with mystery and strangeness; all manner of demons, monsters, and spirits beyond ordinary people's reach existed there.
I had originally wanted to bury these matters forever in the long river of time, but I also felt they should not be forgotten.
Now, I too was about to leave this world for another place.
On the eve of my departure, I was once again unable to sleep. So I decided to record these events.
It all began when I was seventeen.
I vaguely remembered that year. Because my grades had been rather outstanding,
I was exceptionally admitted to a local university, and I had been overjoyed at the time.
It was during one holiday that year that I returned to my hometown.
I never dreamed that this trip home would change my entire life.
From then on, I weathered the wind and slept in the open, drifting without support. The direction of my life and my way of thinking both underwent tremendous changes.
My name was Li Yutong. I was seventeen that year, a poor student.
I had neither a handsome face nor any exceptional talent.
My family was dirt poor, and no heavenly omens had appeared when I was born.
Summer vacation had arrived, so like most students, I set out on the road home.
My home was in a small village called Lin'an Village. Because the economy was relatively underdeveloped, all the roads were dirt roads.
The potholes jostled me all the way, and by the time I got home, dusk had already fallen.
The moment I entered, I saw Da Huang from my family performing the rites of Duke Zhou with Xiao Bai from Uncle Liu's family!
(Da Huang was my family's dog, and Xiao Bai was Uncle Liu's dog.)
I immediately let out a furious shout. "Hey! In broad daylight, you two actually dare commit such filthy acts here!"
The words had barely left my mouth when Da Huang and Xiao Bai sprang apart. I grabbed Da Huang and dragged him toward the house.
As we walked, I said with heart-wrenching anguish, "Do you even know what kind of situation our family is in?
Do you have any idea how expensive dog food is? What if you make puppies? Who's going to raise them?"
Four questions in a row left Da Huang dumbfounded. Then he lowered his dog head in shame.
After putting down my luggage at home, my stomach was already growling, so I ran toward the kitchen.
When I opened the kitchen door, I saw steaming hot dishes already prepared on the table.
I called out to my father, but after waiting for a long time, there was no response.
I circled the courtyard once more, but still did not see anyone.
I figured he had to be at the back mountain. There was a mountain hollow behind our village, and the village graveyard was nearby as well.
Ever since I could remember, my father had always run off to the back mountain, whether he had business there or not.
Whenever I asked why he always went there, he would give me some absurd answer to brush me off.
My father's name was Li Daorong. He was in his forties, and ever since my grandfather passed away, I had lived with him.
When I was little, I asked my father why other children had mothers while I did not.
My father would always tell me with a lonely expression that my mother had left when I was very young.
Countless times, I asked my father where exactly my mother had gone.
My father said it was not yet time for me to know. When the time came, I would naturally find out.
In my memory, my father was a very strange person. I did not know whether it was just an illusion, but it seemed his appearance had barely changed at all.
Logically speaking, a middle-aged man in his forties should have put on weight, had crow's feet at the corners of his eyes, and sported a beer belly.
But he had none of those things. Aside from his slightly sallow complexion, he also ate very little.
Often, he would take just a couple of bites, set down his chopsticks, say he was full, and then watch me eat with a faint smile.
I did not think much of it then. After closing the kitchen door, I ran straight toward the back mountain...
Stumbling all the way to the back mountain, I found, just as expected, that my father was there.
"Dad, it's getting dark. What are you doing here?"
My father turned and glanced at me. "You're back?"
"Yeah, summer vacation started."
"Nothing. Just looking around. You've been on the road all day and must be tired. Go home and eat first."
He had changed the subject again...
With no other choice, I nodded and followed my father home.
While eating, I noticed the table was wobbling. Looking closer, I found that one table leg was missing a piece.
A book had been wedged underneath it. Perhaps it had been there too long, because it had sunk in somewhat.
"Dad, put something else underneath it."
My father nodded. I ran into the room, took out a book identical to the one already wedged beneath the table corner, and stuffed it in without a second thought.
My father sighed. "Sigh! A Tong, you should read those two books more often."
What was there to read? They were just two lousy books without even titles.
When I opened them, the first page merely said Volume One and Volume Two. The paper had turned yellow.
When I was younger, I had read them out of curiosity. They contained little stories about gods and ghosts.
There were also all kinds of messy lines that I could not understand at all.
Besides, I was a university student. I had received higher education, after all. Would I believe in such feudal superstition?
Just as usual, my father took a couple of bites and said he was full.
I wolfed down my meal, put down my bowl and chopsticks, and prepared to clear the table and wash the dishes.
"No need. I'll do it! Go take a bath first. It's already prepared," my father said.
My face fell. "Can I not take a bath? Can't I just wash with clean water?"
My father said sternly, "No. Go soak right now."
"Fine, I'm going."
Ever since I was little, my father had found all kinds of strange herbs and unknown things for me to soak in.
Now that I was away at school and rarely came home, I soaked much less often.
Back when I lived at home with my father, basically every so often,
he would make me take one of those baths mixed with strange things. The smell was truly beyond praise.
I once asked my father why he always made me soak in such stinking baths. He said they could strengthen the body and improve health.
At the time, I asked him, "Huh! Strengthen the body and improve health? Then why am I as skinny as a monkey, without even two ounces of flesh on me?"
Then my father grinned, belt in hand, and I obediently soaked in the large wooden tub.
The next morning, just after I got up and was about to relieve myself, I saw several people walking toward my house from far away.
At the front was a middle-aged man in a suit who looked very gentlemanly.
There was also an old man with a head full of white hair, wearing a somewhat tattered Taoist robe.
The old man carried a peachwood sword on his back and wore an arrogant expression, his nostrils practically pointing at the sky.
Behind him followed a red-lipped, white-toothed youth. In modern terms, he was the Little Puppy type.
With sword-like brows, starry eyes, and fair skin, I definitely could not compare to him.
The gentlemanly uncle walked over to me.
"Hello, little brother. May I ask whether Li Xuande's home is here?"
I froze. "Are you sure you mean Li Xuande?"
The gentlemanly uncle smiled and nodded. "Yes. By age, he should be over eighty now."
"Did you come to the wrong place, or is it someone with the same name?
My grandfather was also called Li Xuande, but he died more than ten years ago!"
After hearing what I said, the gentlemanly uncle's pupils suddenly contracted.
Because he was close, I saw it very clearly, though it lasted only an instant.
The gentlemanly uncle asked urgently, "Then what is your father's name?"
"My father is Li Daorong. Do you have business with him?"
The gentlemanly uncle muttered to himself, "That's it... that's it... then there's no mistake."
"May I ask who you are?"
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Xie Yun. My father, Xie Xuanwu, was an old friend of your grandfather.
Today, I came because I had business with your grandfather. I never expected that he had already ridden the crane westward.
I am of the same generation as your father, so you may call me Uncle Xie."
Although I did not quite understand why it sounded so impressive, I still said, "Uncle Xie, please come in."
Uncle Xie nodded and walked into my home. I hurried inside and called out, "Dad, someone's here to see you."
My father came out of the room and asked, "Who is looking for me?"
"An uncle named Xie Yun."
My father furrowed his brow and said he understood. Then he strode out of the room to greet him.
After being delayed by those people, I remembered that I had been about to relieve myself. Waves of urgency hit me...
Without another word, I ran straight to the toilet. Only after a long while did I finally feel comfortable in body and spirit.
Then I thought about going back to listen to what they were saying.
When I reached the outside of the room, they suddenly fell silent, so I poked my head over curiously to look.
My father said, "Go cook. I'm going to chat with your Uncle Xie."
I was not stupid. I knew my father was trying to send me away, but I did not think much of it and returned to the kitchen to prepare the meal.
Just as I was nearly done cooking, Uncle Xie and his group came out, preparing to leave.
I hurried outside and said, "Uncle Xie, the meal is almost ready. Stay and eat before you go."
"No, we still have somewhere else to go. It's quite far, and we're afraid we won't make it before dark."
That was clearly just an excuse, but I did not say anything more. I merely replied,
"All right, take care." Uncle Xie nodded, and the group strode away.
I asked my father why they had come. With a grave expression, he said something might happen.
"Something might happen? What's going to happen?"
My father shook his head without answering, then returned to his room.
I saw him rummaging through boxes and cabinets, though I had no idea what he was looking for.
I did not ask, because I knew he would not tell me even if I did.
Just as I finished cooking and was about to call my father out to eat, he came out.
Then he said to me, "A Tong, I need to go out. I'll be back tomorrow morning, or at the latest, I'll make it home by evening.
After you eat, take a bath yourself. I've already prepared it. Once it gets dark, lock the front gate and go to sleep."
"What are you going out for? Aren't you eating?"
My father spoke urgently. "There's no time to explain. Eat by yourself. I'm leaving first."
"All right! Be careful out there."
My father nodded. Before leaving, he still did not forget to remind me to lock the front gate and take a bath after eating.
I did everything as he said. I ate a little by myself, cleaned up, and then went to take a bath.
It was that same foul-smelling water again. After soaking, I rinsed myself with clean water and came out.
Then I read for a while, and before I knew it, the sky had begun to darken.
Because I was not very hungry, I only forced down a couple of bites for dinner before stopping.
Then I double-locked the front gate and returned to my room.
Lying in bed, I thought about what had happened that day. What had Uncle Xie and his group said to my father? Why had they come looking for my grandfather?
In my scattered memories, my grandfather was just a skinny little old man who carried a small wooden box everywhere.
He said he was handling matters for people. Every time he returned home, he would pick me up and prick my face with his stubble.
Because I had been so young then, perhaps three or four years old, I could not remember many things clearly.
Then I wondered why my father, who had always kept a low profile and rarely gone out over all these years we had lived together,
had suddenly gone out. As I thought and thought, I fell asleep.
In the middle of the night, I was awakened by a wavering, drifting voice that seemed to be calling me.
"Brother A Tong... Brother A Tong..."
I woke groggily and listened carefully. The voice was coming from outside my front gate.
I got up, put on my shoes, grabbed a flashlight, and planned to go outside to take a look.
When I opened the bolted gate, I saw someone standing at my entrance. I shone my flashlight over.
I saw a woman dressed entirely in white, her hair hanging loose and her face deathly pale.
I jumped in fright. Looking carefully, I saw it was Qianqian, Uncle Liu's daughter.
Trembling, I asked, "Qianqian, what do you want with me?"
Qianqian stood where she was, continuously beckoning to me. "Brother A Tong... come out... come out..."
I swallowed and said,
"Uncle Liu said you weren't coming back during this vacation. Why did you come back in the middle of the night?"
Qianqian sobbed. "Brother A Tong... I'm in so much pain. Come save me, please."
I asked Qianqian what had happened, but she kept shaking her head and telling me to come outside.
Then she stared at the stone lions by my front gate. I was terrified, and with a ruthless resolve, I slammed the gate shut.
Then I leaned against the door, gasping for breath, and suddenly remembered the stone lions by the gate.
My father had said Grandpa made them himself. They had once been two Shigandang warding stones.
Then Grandpa carved them into a pair of stone lions, placing one on each side of the main gate.
He said they were meant to guard the house and ward off evil and whatnot. At the time, I had scoffed at it.
Then I hurried back to my room, crawled under the covers, and pulled the blanket over my head.
My calves had been trembling with every step I took back to my room.
I stayed like that until broad daylight before I dared to leave my room and take a look.
I cracked open the front gate and pressed one eye to the gap, peering outside for a long time.
Only after I found no one there did I dare slowly open the gate all the way.
I stood at the gate in a daze for a long while, as though everything from last night had been nothing but a dream.
Impossible. It had felt so real. How could it have been a dream? I thought to myself.
I looked again at the stone lions by the gate and was shocked to discover that both were covered in cracks.
It looked as if the slightest touch would shatter them into countless little pieces of stone.
I immediately ran to Uncle Liu's house. The moment I reached the door, I shouted, "Uncle Liu! Uncle Liu! Are you home?"
Before long, Uncle Liu opened the door, and I hurriedly asked,
"Uncle Liu, did Qianqian come back? I think I saw her last night."
Uncle Liu's eyes were red and swollen. Looking utterly lost, he said, "A-Tong, Qianqian was harmed."
"How could that be..." I froze where I stood.
Uncle Liu said hoarsely, "She came back last night and told me. She asked me to save her. She said she was in so much pain."
I asked Uncle Liu, "Who harmed her? Where is she?"
"I don't know. She said she didn't recognize that place. She said it was so cold there and begged me to save her."
Then this morning, I kept calling her phone, but I couldn't get through. I had only spoken to her yesterday morning.
Then that night, she came back and said someone had harmed her. I don't know what to do either."
Hearing that, I asked Uncle Liu, "Did you call the police?"
"I did, but the police said it hadn't been forty-eight hours yet, so it didn't count as a missing-person case. They fobbed me off with a few words and hung up."
"A-Tong, help me watch the house. I'm going to Qianqian's school to look for her. Dead or alive, I have to find her. I'm leaving right now."
"Okay. I'll watch the house for you. Go on."
Uncle Liu got up and left at once. He didn't return until nightfall.
After it had gone completely dark, I heard knocking on the door and someone calling my name from inside the house.
"Knock, knock, knock..."
"A-Tong, I'm back." It was my father's voice. I immediately ran out to open the door.
The instant I opened the gate, I saw my father covered in dust and grime, so I asked what had happened to him.
My father said we'd talk inside. I said okay, and we went back to the room. He sat there in silence for a long time.
My father just stared at me blankly, staring until I felt uncomfortable.
I suddenly remembered what had happened last night, so I told my father that I had seen Qianqian last night.
My father asked me what had happened.
So I told him everything that had happened from last night until today, including how Uncle Liu had gone out to look for Qianqian and asked me to watch his house.
After hearing it, my father sighed. Then he closed his eyes and said, "Sigh! Go, then! Go! If one can get away, then let one get away."
I didn't understand, so I asked what he meant.
As though he had made an enormous decision, my father said to me, "A-Tong, do you trust your father?"
I was stunned for a moment, then replied, "Of course I do. You're my father. If I don't trust you, who am I supposed to trust?"
My father smiled, and it was a truly happy smile. He rubbed my head and said, "Good son. You haven't let your father down."
Then my father's gaze sharpened, and he said solemnly,
"A-Tong, remember every sentence, every word your father says next. You absolutely must not forget."
Seeing him so serious, I grew nervous too and agreed, "Okay. I'll remember."
My father nodded and said, "Your grandfather was no ordinary man, and neither is your father.
Strictly speaking, we belong to Maoshan, though certain things happened and we broke away from it.
As for what those things were, you'll learn that later.
Talking about all that old sesame and rotten millet now will only waste time. You only need to remember what I tell you.
Then do as I say. Don't ask why.
Because too much is involved, and there isn't much time left for either of us."