2024: the beginning of everything, and the end of my story. From this moment on, I will tell you, from the perspective of a restless spirit, the sinister secrets hidden deep in the passage of time.
In my hometown, there was once a place called Ming Village, though its original name, Ming Village, had an ominous ring to it that sent chills down your spine. Later, it was renamed Bright Village. The elders said the name change was meant to bring good luck and suppress the evil spirits lurking there.
When I was young, I had a strange dream, one that remains vivid to this day. In it, I seemed to be drawn by some inexplicable force, step by step, toward the hills behind the village. Shrouded in mist all year and utterly silent, those hills were a forbidden place the village elders said no one should ever approach.
When I pushed through the layers of fog, a gloomy old mansion suddenly appeared. Its gate stood half open, seeping with a chill, and somehow I found myself walking inside. In the dim yellow light, eighteen coffins were lined up in perfect order, like sentinels waiting for a thousand years, or secret chests concealing countless mysteries.
At the time, tomb-raiding novels were all the rage. Their thrilling adventures stirred my youthful curiosity. Driven by that impulse, I slowly pushed open one of the coffins with trembling hands…
There’s an old folk saying that dreaming of a coffin means good fortune, such as a promotion or wealth. But if you see a coffin open and a corpse inside, it’s an ill omen, and disaster may befall you or your loved ones…
