My Ghost Lover Is Too Annoying

1. A Ghost in Narrow Lane

Translator: Flora

It was a pitch dark summer night.

Dark clouds covered the moon, and the street lights on both sides unfortunately went out. The lane in front of him was so narrow that there was no end in sight.

Zhou

Nan swallowed nervously and rubbed the luggage on his back. The sweat running from his palm had soaked the strap somehow. He regretted not having brought a flashlight.

He was panicking, just because of the darkness around him. He had been a notorious coward and every day he could hear his neighbors making fun of him. In the face of the night road alone, he wanted to step further but couldn’t.

Today, however, he had a reason to move forward.

“Zhou

Nan, it’s the 21st century. Ghosts are unscientific things.” Muttering to himself, he patted his face, and courageously moved on.

The lane was deeper than expected. It was flanked by traditional farmhouses. The high walls made it even more depressing. Brushing his hand over the wall, he immediately got a layer of paint on his palm. Zhou Nan felt that he was a little mouse stuck in the pipe that could only advance but not retreat.

It

was extremely quiet.  There were no birds chirping or the sound of cicadas. It was unimaginably queer. There was only the sound of the shoe soles rubbing against the sand and the increasingly dull heartbeat.

There was a cool breeze, which should have been refreshing in ordinary times but now turned chilly.

Zhou Nan went limp and he just wanted to run through the lane. But without warning, the small jade ring on his chest suddenly broke into two and fell to the ground.

Such a precious thing could never be left in this shabby place. Zhou Nan squatted, groping slowly on the ground in pitch-darkness.

After searching for a while, he only found half of it which was warm and moist in his hand. He raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead and intended to continue fumbling.

Somehow, he seemed to hear some new sounds.

Zhou Nan paused, held his breath, and listened carefully.

“Zhou Nan… Zhou Nan…”

It was a charming female voice in the wind and the ending sound was as intermittent as flickering candlelight.

Zhou Nan’s heart pounded – he had observed when he came to this shabby place. He didn’t see anyone along the way. How could a young lady spring out of nowhere? And…

He suddenly clenched the broken jade in his hand.

Jade broken, this was a bad omen.

The voice came closer and closer. Whether it was superstition or not, Zhou Nan became frenzied straight away and wanted to get up and run away, but his legs became weak.

“No turning back, no turning back…” When I was a child, my damn desk mate bluffed me by saying that we had three lights on our body that could keep out ghosts and that turning back would put out one. If I got to this point, I would not be afraid of  those dirty things.

Zhou Nan covered his head and huddled himself. It was as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, shuddering like a sieve, and the cold sweat dripped down.

The female voice gradually became clear, moving from his back to his ear. Her breath in his ear was cold.

Zhou Nan closed his eyes and continued to mutter, “Can’t see me, can’t see me…”

However, a cold hand was on his shoulder. The fingers seemed to be boneless. Like five snakes, they slowly wrapped around Zhou Nan’s neck.

Zhou Nan trembled like being struck by electricity. He raised his head, only to see a pair of black pupils and a split mouth. He felt his blood gushing up, and his ears could not hear anything, including his screams.

And then?

He passed out.