After Zhang Tiezhu stepped in to defend someone at a bathhouse or barbecue stall in the city and beat up a few bullies a little too badly with his real kung fu, he landed himself in trouble. His grandfather dragged him back to Mountainback Village to lie low. Only a few days after his return, strange things began happening in the village. The chickens at Old Wang's place had their blood drained overnight, with bite marks on their necks. Old Li's child kept crying in the middle of the night, saying they had seen a “dark figure lurking by the window.” From the woods behind the mountain came chilling wails after midnight, as if a whole crowd were crying. Tiezhu didn't believe in the supernatural at first. He figured it was a weasel spirit causing trouble, or some misbehaving kid, and grabbed a stick, ready to go “beat the crap out of it” in the woods. But he really did run into several “coal-black ones,” the vengeful spirits of miners whose bodies were pitch black, smelled of coal dust, and moved stiffly. He nearly came to harm, and only barely escaped thanks to his solid kung fu and sheer guts. Even so, he suffered a touch of “yin chill,” leaving his arm covered in bruises…
