Ye Changgeng’s parents died when he was young, and his grandmother raised him all by herself. Her home was a huge old courtyard where he could run and play anywhere, except near the abandoned little alley in the southwest corner, which had been blocked off with benches.
Ye Changgeng was curious by nature. Once, while his grandmother was home, he secretly took a look. It was the backyard, where there stood a red house with a tattered lantern hanging above it. Red cloth and wooden boards covered the windows, and a rusty long lock secured the battered door. A talisman was pasted on it too, making the place seem mysterious.
After that, Ye Changgeng couldn’t stop wondering: what rare and precious treasure could be hidden inside?
One night, Ye Changgeng sneaked into the little alley. The red lantern hanging there had lit up. He pulled away the wooden boards, but just as he took a step, his grandmother grabbed him by the collar and gave him a beating. Then she blocked off the alley with stones.
Several years passed in a flash, and Ye Changgeng grew into an adult. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, his grandmother called him over and told him a lot of confusing things he couldn’t understand. He didn’t pay much attention, curling up in her arms and falling asleep drunk.
The next morning, Ye Changgeng woke up and his grandmother was gone. At first, he didn’t think much of it. But by evening, then the third day, then the fourth... he started to panic and searched everywhere for her. It was as if she had vanished into thin air. No one outside had seen her.
Ye Changgeng stood in the courtyard, scratching his head in distress. Suddenly, the stone wall blocking the southwest corner collapsed. A fluorescent blue butterfly flew out, and a woman’s voice rang out of nowhere:
“I know where the person you’re looking for is. Follow me...”
P.S.:
A spirit medium who gets into trouble by pretending to know what he’s doing (bottom) & a soul controller with overwhelming possessiveness and greed (top)
An unconventional, innovative infinite-flow story. Come give it a read!
Theme: The courage to fear nothing.
