Duskull Took Ghost to Inspect a Small Window

The warehouse door stood half-open.

Ghost pushed it open and went inside. The dried Berry rolled forward again, stopping beside the innermost shelf.

Duskull floated out from behind the wall. The red glow behind its mask flickered, then turned toward the top of the shelf.

"Up there?" Ghost asked.

It did not nod and continued floating deeper along the wall.

Xia Che followed behind with the lamp. "Looks like we're making a round."

"Give me the lamp."

"You can see."

"You're about to fall asleep."

Xia Che handed him the lamp and yawned.

Indeedee organized the warehouse during the day. Berries, cloth, empty boxes, and cleaning supplies each occupied a row. Every box had a picture label, so even someone who could not read could find what they needed. Now, the light was dim, and the paper tags fluttered softly in the night wind with faint rustling sounds.

Duskull stopped at the end of the first row.

Ghost checked the box lids, then felt along the wall. "Nothing here."

It turned toward the second row.

Freshly collected cushions were stored there, with half a claim slip sticking out from a gap in one box. Ghost pulled out the paper and tucked it into the wooden clip beside it.

Duskull continued onward.

"Is it inspecting the storeroom?" Xia Che asked.

"It's watching what I look at."

"Or maybe it just wants a walk."

Ghost raised the lamp toward Duskull. While the two were talking, it had quietly picked up the dried Berry from the floor.

Xia Che nodded. "And have a snack."

Duskull turned its back and slowly brought the dried fruit behind its mask.

When they reached the third row, the flame suddenly bent to the right.

Ghost stopped.

Duskull also stopped at the corner of the right wall. Several empty wooden boxes were piled there, the topmost covered with a dust cloth. Nothing looked unusual from the outside.

Ghost lowered the lamp and brought his fingertips close to the floor.

A cold draft slipped out from behind the boxes.

"A window?" Xia Che asked.

"A vent."

They moved the empty boxes aside, revealing a tiny wooden window only two palm-widths wide. Its latch had come loose, and the wind had pushed open a gap in the frame. Dust from outside drifted through the crack, forming a thin line beneath the wall.

Duskull floated to the window, its body lightly passing through the wood as half its skull-like face poked out from the other side.

Xia Che looked at it. "Did you come in through here last night?"

The red glow behind its mask shifted aside.

"It doesn't want to admit it," Ghost said.

"How could you tell?"

"It's avoiding the question."

Duskull quickly passed back through the wall and drifted behind Ghost.

Xia Che crouched to inspect the latch. "The wood is damp, so it won't catch properly. Tie it with some rope for now, then get a carpenter tomorrow."

Ghost had already found a short spare bolt in one of the empty boxes. He compared the length. It was a fraction too narrow, but it could still hold the window frame in place for now.

"How did you know there was one here?" Xia Che asked.

"Second row, third box."

"You saw it just now?"

"When we came in."

Duskull peeked out from behind his shoulder, seeming to inspect the bolt as well.

"Learned that?" Xia Che asked.

It withdrew its face.

Ghost secured the latch, and the flame finally straightened again. Duskull circled the small window once, confirming that it could no longer slip through the gap, then slowly descended to the ground.

"You can still pass through walls," Xia Che reminded it.

It looked up at him, the red glow motionless.

"It cares about the wind," Ghost said.

"Or maybe it cares about its own door."

Duskull immediately floated away, refusing to answer.

It did not return to the dark room. Instead, it passed through the warehouse side door and entered the outer corridor of the backyard.

Ghost followed with the lamp.

Several cleaning tools hung beneath the eaves. When the night wind blew, a small metal scoop knocked against the wall with a soft clatter. Duskull stopped in front of it, its red glow moving back and forth with the swaying.

"Too loud?" Ghost asked.

It moved closer and gave the little scoop a push.

Clang.

"It likes the sound," Xia Che said.

Ghost took down a soft rope and loosely tied the scoop to the wooden handle beside it. When the wind blew again, there was only a dull, light sound, not enough to disturb the front hall.

Duskull pushed it again.

The sound was quieter, and it seemed somewhat disappointed.

Ghost lowered the rope. "You can still hear it at night, but it won't wake anyone."

Duskull tried a third time and finally accepted it.

Farther ahead hung a row of drying rags. The white cloth billowed in the darkness, and at a glance, it looked like someone was peeking down from beneath the eaves. Duskull hid behind the cloth, leaving only its mask exposed. It clearly liked that spot.

Ghost stopped three steps away. "Come out."

It did not move.

"Someone might walk by and run into you."

The space behind the white cloth fell quiet for a moment. Duskull slowly floated out, then turned back and smoothed down the curled corner of the cloth.

Xia Che looked at Ghost. "When you say something, it really listens."

"Understanding and obeying are two different things."

Duskull slipped behind him and lightly pressed its mask against his shoulder.

Ghost turned his head.

It immediately retreated three steps, as though proving that it understood what distance meant.

At the end of the outer corridor stood a wooden barrel for collecting rainwater. Its lid sat crooked, with one side lifted by the wind. Duskull knocked twice against the barrel before floating over to hold down the lid.

Ghost straightened the wooden cover and weighed it down with a stone.

Along such a short corridor, they stopped three times. All they found were wind, cloth, and a bucket—no enemies, no major issue worth reporting.

Yet Duskull inspected everything with great seriousness. Each time a problem was dealt with, it circled Ghost halfway before going off to find the next tiny sound.

"You're quite suited to this," Xia Che said.

Ghost did not answer. He merely moved the lamp forward so it could see the path beneath the corridor clearly.

Footsteps suddenly sounded outside.

Yan pushed open the warehouse door, holding a claim slip. "Which row is my spare fireproof mat in?"

"Second row," Ghost said.

Yan turned toward the voice and saw only a lamp floating in midair, along with Ghost's expressionless face behind it.

His steps faltered. "Elder Ghost, how come you were standing here without making a sound?"

"I spoke."

"Before I came in."

"You didn't ask."

Yan took a deep breath and headed for the second row. The moment he bent down to search through the boxes, Duskull silently floated out from behind the shelf, its mask stopping right beside his shoulder.

Yan turned his head and abruptly staggered backward.

His back slammed into the empty boxes. Three wooden boxes wobbled, then fell from above all at once.

Ghost lifted a hand, and a shadow coiled around the top two boxes. Xia Che reached for the third, a beat too late—the wooden box had already come to a steady stop above his head.

Duskull could not hold up the box and could only float anxiously up and down nearby. Once it saw that no one had been hit, the red glow gradually steadied.

Yan leaned against the shelf. "What is that?"

"Duskull," Xia Che answered with the empty box balanced on his head.

"Why was it pressed up against me?"

"It wanted to see when you'd notice."

Ghost put the two boxes back, then removed the one above Xia Che's head. "Clearly, too late."

Yan turned toward Duskull.

Duskull hid behind Ghost, revealing only half its face.

"You scared someone and now you're hiding?" Yan asked.

It shrank back a little farther.

Ghost said, "Come out."

Duskull slowly floated out and stopped in front of Yan.

"Keep farther away next time," Ghost said.

Yan added, "At least make a little noise first."

Duskull looked at Ghost, then at Yan, and finally tapped the wooden box beside it.

Thud.

The sound was very soft.

"A little louder," Yan said.

It tapped it again.

Thud. Thud.

Yan nodded. "That works."

Duskull drifted behind him and, when he turned around, knocked twice on the box again.

This time, Yan merely tensed his shoulders and did not crash into anything.

"I'll count that as a pass."

Duskull happily rose half a foot, then tried to circle behind him again.

"That's enough for tonight," Ghost said.

It immediately stopped and floated back to his side.

Xia Che glanced at the scattered empty boxes. "Your discussion went very smoothly. So who's cleaning up?"

Yan walked out with the fireproof mat. "I only came to get something."

Ghost looked at Duskull.

Duskull looked at Xia Che.

Xia Che leaned back against the shelf. "I just caught one."

In the end, Ghost restacked the empty boxes while Duskull knocked twice after each one was set down securely. It grew more and more practiced, and the entire warehouse soon filled with a steady rhythm of thud, thud.

Indeedee followed the sound inside. She first noticed the closed small window, then the neatly stacked empty boxes. She took out a wooden tag, drew a window and two small circles on it, and hung it on the repair board for tomorrow.

She also brought a short brush and a small dustpan. The line of dust beneath the window needed sweeping away, and several loose wooden nails had rolled behind the empty boxes.

Ghost picked up the brush.

Duskull first slipped into the gap between two boxes and pushed out the innermost wooden nail. It could not touch anything too heavy, but pushing a nail was easy. The red glow shifted several times between the boxes, and four nails soon appeared on the floor.

Xia Che counted them. "There's one more."

Duskull turned and slipped back inside.

"Left side," Ghost said.

The red glow flashed from the left, and the last wooden nail rolled to his shoe.

He picked it up and put it into the dustpan. "That's all of them."

Duskull passed through the other side of the boxes and stopped beside him. Its movements were much more natural than the first time it had approached, and it remembered to knock twice on the box wall first.

Indeedee handed it a small piece of dried Berry as a snack for helping tidy the warehouse.

Duskull hugged the dried fruit and looked at Ghost first.

"Eat."

Only then did it shrink back beside the shelf and start eating it in tiny bites.

Ghost took the pen he had not used yesterday and added two lines to his blank sheet of paper.

Likes quiet.

Knock twice before approaching.

Duskull floated over to look at the paper for a long time, then raised a hand and touched the second line.

"You agree?" Ghost asked.

It knocked twice on the tabletop.

Xia Che raised his head from behind the counter. "This time, it heard clearly."

Ghost put away the paper and prepared to leave the shop.

Duskull followed him through the warehouse and corridor, until they reached the three-step soft rug. It still did not cross the shop door. It merely pushed yesterday's little dish to Ghost's feet.

Inside the dish lay the last piece of dried Berry.

Ghost bent down, picked it up, and placed it back in front of Duskull. "Eat it tomorrow."

Duskull hugged the dried fruit and did not retreat into the dark room.

"I'll come tomorrow morning," Ghost said.

He lightly knocked twice on the doorframe.

Outside, Yue Guan was carrying that old flowerpot back. The pale yellow wildflower had remained safe through the night, and Flabébé flew out from the windowsill as well.

One elder entered while the other left, brushing past each other on the soft rug.

Yue Guan looked at the paper in Ghost's hand. "Together tomorrow?"

"Don't be late."