A Rainy Night, Seeking Shelter in a Pavilion

Seeing the dozen or so people inside the pavilion, I froze on the spot.

It was already past eleven at night, yet this pitch-black pavilion was packed with so many people.

Amid my surprise, I carefully looked them over.

With the dim yellow streetlights, I could only make them out vaguely.

They were thin, their faces all sallow. None of them spoke; they just stared at me expressionlessly.

It would have been fine if it were daytime, but it was nighttime.

And the more I looked at these people, the more something felt wrong.

In the middle of the night, more than a dozen men, women, old people, and children were silently crammed into the pavilion.

What were they doing? Planning a robbery?

Clearly not. No matter how I looked at them, they did not seem normal. Several of them were even wearing burial clothes.

The kind worn by the dead.

I glanced farther away and found that the hero statue and memorial monument were undergoing maintenance and renovation.

The original hero statue was already gone.

When I looked back at the people in the pavilion, a chill ran down my spine.

Unable to help myself, I backed away two steps.

There was something wrong with this pavilion. The people inside were probably not alive.

I wanted to turn and leave, to seek shelter at the more distant Hero Memorial Grounds.

But at that moment, rain began pouring down with a whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

If I did not shelter from the rain, the clothes smeared with incense ash would soon get soaked, and the ash would wash away.

And aside from this pavilion, there was nowhere else in the park to take shelter.

But the pavilion was crammed full of filthy things.

I was scared just looking at them and did not dare go in...

Just as I was caught in a dilemma, an old man wearing black burial clothes spoke up from inside the pavilion. His face was covered in wrinkles.

He craned his neck and squinted at me.

Then, in a hoarse voice, he said to me:

"Beggar, you look so pitiful. Come in and get out of the rain!"

Hearing that, my heart tightened again.

A trace of confusion appeared on my face.

He called me a beggar?

Was it because of the incense ash on me and the white porcelain bowl in my hand?

Had he mistaken me for one of his kind?

Although I did not know why I had been able to see filthy things these past two days,

I understood that if the rain washed away the incense ash on me,

Zhang Qiang, that Drowned Ghost, would definitely come suck away my yang energy again and make me his replacement.

I hesitated for two seconds. Seeing the rain grow heavier and heavier, I stopped overthinking it.

Gathering my courage, I immediately nodded at the old man.

"Thank you, thank you..."

After saying that, I clutched the white porcelain bowl and nervously walked into the pavilion.

The closer I got, the more my hair stood on end.

Especially when I saw those waxy yellow faces, every inch of my body felt unnatural.

I lowered my head slightly, not daring to meet the eyes of those filthy things.

I only said in a low voice:

"Excuse me, please make some room. Thank you, thank you..."

I desperately warned myself not to be afraid, not to panic.

But when I said those words, even my voice was trembling.

My body would not stop shaking either.

The pavilion was not large, but after I entered, they made a tiny space for me.

It was beneath the stone table in the middle of the pavilion.

There was just enough room for one person to sit.

Holding the white porcelain bowl, I hugged my knees and crouched beneath the stone table.

My body trembled uncontrollably, my teeth chattering softly.

All around me were filthy things sheltering from the rain.

I could not imagine that I had actually ended up in such an environment.

They did not speak to one another. After seeing me sit down, they all simply stood there without moving.

The feet in my line of sight were all eerily standing on tiptoe, like ballet dancers.

I did not dare examine them. I just kept my nerves taut and curled up fearfully in my corner.

I did not dare breathe too heavily, move around, or touch them.

Just as I was feeling restless with unease, the old man asked hoarsely again:

"Beggar, why are you still breathing?"

The moment he finished speaking, I felt as if all the filthy things in the pavilion had turned their heads.

They were looking at me crouching beneath the stone table.

Though I could not see their faces, my insides churned.

In my panic, I hurriedly explained:

"J-just died. Haven't... haven't gotten used to it yet."

My heart clenched tight as I held my breath, not daring to inhale.

Only after a second or two did I hear the old man say, "Oh."

Then the pavilion fell silent again.

I secretly breathed a sigh of relief and did not dare move.

The rain outside grew heavier, pouring down nonstop.

Though the pavilion was packed with more than a dozen people, there was not a sound.

That deathly silence was oppressive to the extreme.

I did not know how long passed before the rain outside weakened and the wind died down.

I thought I might have to spend the entire night in this environment.

Then, a splashing sound suddenly came from outside the pavilion.

It sounded as though something had crawled out of the nearby lake.

The filthy things in the pavilion also stirred, all looking toward the lakeshore.

I could not see anything, so I just sat tensely in the middle.

But before long, a fishy stench suddenly spread through the air around me.

Then a familiar, resentful voice abruptly sounded outside:

"Mingming was here. Why can't I find him?"

Hearing that voice, my whole body jolted.

My scalp went numb, and goosebumps rose in layer after layer.

But I could be sure of it. It was Zhang Qiang.

That bastard had actually come looking for me!

Crouching in the middle of the pavilion, I did not dare make the slightest sound. I widened my eyes and looked outside.

Through a gap, I could vaguely see half of Zhang Qiang's body.

Under the dim yellow streetlight, he was circling the pavilion.

As he walked, he kept muttering:

"Mingming was here, Mingming was here. Why can't I find him?"

"..."

After repeating it several times, I heard a splash.

It sounded as though something had fallen into the water, and silence returned to the surroundings.

Zhang Qiang seemed to have left again.

But just as I secretly let out a breath of relief,

the old man who had let me into the pavilion to escape the rain suddenly spoke again:

"Beggar, that Water Monkey just now was looking for you, wasn't he?"

Hearing that, I tensed up again.

I did not answer right away.

After a few seconds, that voice asked again:

"Beggar, why aren't you talking?

If you keep quiet, I'll kick you out into the rain."

At the same time, the motionless filthy things around me all turned around.

They all faced me.

I was crouching beneath the stone table in the middle of the pavilion. At that moment, I did not dare move an inch, tense to the limit.

If they really kicked me out, the incense ash on me would definitely be washed away.

So I could not leave this place.

I steadied myself and pretended to be calm.

"No, no. I don't know him."

"Oh!"

The old man answered, then fell silent.

The filthy things facing me also turned back around, once again presenting their backs to me.

Hiding here was simply torture.

I did not dare relax in the slightest. I endured for another hour or two like that.

Then the old man's hoarse voice rang out again:

"Beggar, the rain is about to stop.

You sheltered from the rain here.

Leave your bowl and clothes behind!"

His voice was not loud, but I heard every word clearly.

And the moment he finished speaking, a pale white hand reached directly beneath the stone table.

The meaning was obvious. He wanted me to hand over the white porcelain bowl and my clothes.

But could I give them to him?

Not now. It was still dark; dawn had not come.

If I gave him my clothes and bowl, Zhang Qiang, that Drowned Ghost, would most likely come for me again.

But I was also afraid of angering them and getting kicked out right then.

So I could only answer gently:

"I'll give them to you at dawn."

But who would have thought that the moment I finished speaking,

the old man showed no courtesy at all. He even sounded angry.

"No. Give them to me now! Otherwise, I'll kick you out."

The moment he said that, an icy chill swept over me.

The filthy things with their backs to me all turned around in unison, bending slightly at the waist.

They stretched out their pale white hands and began reaching beneath the stone table toward me...