A Young Woman's Heart

"Flashlights weren't common back then, at least not in rural areas."

"Well……"

"Go on, back then my dad went back to my mom's house, which is my maternal grandma's house. My maternal grandma's house is in the mountains. The car can only go up to the tunnel a little bit. Outside the tunnel is a cement road. After the tunnel, there is no road. If you want to get to the village at the top of the mountain, you can only take the mountain road."

That night, his relative, who lived at the foot of the mountain, drove him to the tunnel entrance and left. He was alone, carrying an oil lamp, trying to cross the tunnel.

"During the day, the tunnel doesn't feel very long, but at night, it feels like it takes forever to reach the end."

"The light from the kerosene lamp was dimmer than a flashlight, only illuminating a small part of the road ahead. There was no moon that day, and it was pitch black outside, just like inside the tunnel. You couldn't see the end at all."

Ye Wen, as expected of a Chinese teacher, had already created an atmosphere with just a beginning where nothing had happened. Even Mo Xueyao, who wasn't particularly afraid of ghosts, couldn't help but immerse herself in the story.

To be honest, although she's not afraid of ghosts, she really wouldn't dare to walk alone on those mountain paths at night...

Even if there are no ghosts, it would be terrible to encounter some wild beast.

Even wild boars are not something an ordinary person can handle.

Wang Jiale swallowed hard, burying her face in the blanket. The calm and composed Li Wanyan beside her gave her a great sense of security.

“When my dad was walking at night, he heard a few fox calls. There’s a legend in my grandma’s hometown that there are fox spirits there. But there’s no need to be afraid, because the fox spirits there are good and won’t harm people. If you hear a fox call when you’re walking at night, it means that the fox spirit is protecting you in the dark.”

"Phew... thank goodness it was a fox spirit, not a fox demon." Wang Jiale breathed a sigh of relief, then asked anxiously, "What happened next?"

"Later...later my dad heard a fox's scream that pierced the night sky, like the sound of being torn apart by five horses. It was very sharp and piercing, and it lasted for a long time. It is said that even people in the villages on the mountain heard it that day."

"Ah...the fox spirit was killed?" Ye Banxia asked softly.

“I don’t know, but my dad said that he felt the surroundings suddenly get cold, and then the fox calls that used to come from time to time disappeared. In their place was a strange sound—like someone was talking to him all the time, but if you listened carefully, it felt like it was coming from a very far place, like a group of people chatting. If you didn’t listen carefully, it felt like someone was whispering next to you.”

Mo Xueyao felt a chill run through her body.

"He started walking quickly, then began running, and finally burst out of the tunnel. The sky outside was still dark, with no moon or stars."

"He began to look for the path up the mountain by the dim light of the kerosene lamp. There was a grave not far from the path, but perhaps it was too dark that night, and he couldn't find the signpost. As a result, it took him a long time to find the path up the mountain."

"It would be terrifying to see graves at night..." Lu Chengyuan muttered.

"No, because that grave belongs to a revolutionary martyr. An elder from the village died in the War of Resistance against Japan and was buried here. He is considered a hero. The grave of a hero doesn't make people feel cold; on the contrary, it makes people feel warm. I have walked that road at night several times, and every time I go up the mountain and see that grave, I feel very at ease."

Ye Wen paused, as if recalling something, and after half a minute, she continued, "After my dad confirmed that it was the path up the mountain, he went up. Then he felt a faint footstep behind him, as if something was following him. At first, he thought it was a wild boar in the mountains, but wild boars wouldn't follow him like a hunter would. Later, he thought it was a wolf, so he secretly looked back."

"What did you see?" Wang Jiale felt a chill run through her entire body.

"To prevent wild animals from lying in ambush along the road up the mountain, most of the bushes and trees that would obstruct the view have been cut down. People can see clearly whether there are wild animals behind or in front of them at a glance. So my dad didn't see anything. There was no trace of wild animals at all. The bare hillside was completely exposed. If there were wild animals, it would be impossible for them to hide."

"But it could also be in a more distant place," Mo Xueyao analyzed relatively calmly.

"Yes, that's what he thought too, so he quickened his pace and walked to a relatively gentle ridge."

"The path on the ridge is relatively flat, so he can walk faster, but after walking for a while, he found himself back at the place where he had just walked up the ridge."

"He went again, but ended up back where he started."

"A ghost wall?" Mo Xueyao asked.

"Maybe so. In any case, it seemed like he couldn't get out. That night, fog rolled in in the mountains, and he couldn't see the road clearly. So he had no choice but to grit his teeth and keep going. He even heard someone calling him halfway through the journey."

"The voice called him by his name directly and said he was his uncle."

“But that’s my mother’s family home, my maternal grandmother’s home. Where did his uncle come from? There were no relatives from my hometown there that day.”

"Is there really that sound?" Lu Chengyuan asked nervously.

"Anyway, that's what my dad said. He later heard breathing very close by and felt like he was about to be caught. He said that at this moment, you absolutely cannot look back, or you will be caught by a ghost."

"Then he thought of a way to exorcise evil spirits, which was to use something filthy to do so, so he urinated... The fog did indeed thin out a lot, and he started running wildly without thinking, but he found that he could not find the way back to the village. Although he did not return to the starting point, he was still lost."

"What happened next?" Wang Jiale was a little afraid to listen.

"Later, he ran into my maternal grandparents' graves. That place was quite far inland, beyond the village, deep in the mountains." Ye Wen's voice grew increasingly somber. "My dad felt like something was circling around outside, but he was too afraid to go in. Plus, he couldn't find his way back, so he spent the night anxiously by the graves. The next day, when the sun was high in the sky, he dared to go back. After returning, he brought a large group of people to my maternal grandparents' graves to pay respects. They placed many offerings there. The older generation in the village said it was a fox spirit..."

"Were they killed by other monsters?" Mo Xueyao asked.

"No, it was the fox spirit that was killed by itself. Evil thoughts were born from its body, and then it killed the good thoughts. It wanted to possess my father and return to the human world."

"Then why not possess someone?"

"He must have been weak at the time, and my dad didn't turn back. He was also quite young then, when his yang energy was at its peak. Plus, he escaped to the graves of my maternal grandmother's ancestors, and with their protection, he managed to escape this calamity."

Just when everyone breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the story was over, Ye Wen said, "The next day, everyone found that the tombstone of the martyrs by the roadside was completely broken, and there was a dead fox in the tunnel. It had no wounds, but its internal organs had been eaten."

"Later, people quickly repaired the martyrs' cemetery and raised money to bury the fox, so that such things did not happen again. The older generation said that the evil spirit had left its body and could not survive. The buried fox spirit would not be 'resurrected' because of resentment. In this way, although there was no longer a fox spirit to protect the mountains, such 'terrifying' things would not happen again."

"How is this possible? There are no wounds, but all the internal organs have been eaten? What animal could do that..." Mo Xueyao muttered softly, "It can't be real..., can it...?"

"Yes...it's true. My mom also said it's true. Although I wasn't born yet at that time, there were indeed many witnesses."

At this moment, Mo Xueyao desperately hoped that Mr. Xue would be by her side, because if he were there, he would definitely be able to explain this chilling story with scientific principles.

Even Sanhua Tongjue was so frightened that her face turned pale. She didn't dare to lie down near the door, but instead pushed Aishuer to squeeze inside.

Of course, there was still one carefree guy—

For example, Hua Yinyin, who was snuggled in Mo Xueyao's bed, fell asleep when she heard the scariest part of the story. It seemed that this level of horror and eeriness couldn't frighten her at all.

Actually... thinking about it carefully, it's not that scary. After all, it only frightened people, without any real ghosts or dead people appearing.

But at the time, everyone was immersed in the story, and the occasional sounds from the countryside, whether from wild animals or something else, made everyone feel so scared.

But surely this shouldn't be enough to make you fall asleep while listening...

Is this guy completely heartless?

Mo Xueyao chuckled to herself and couldn't help but lean closer to Hua Yinyin.

"So, who's next to speak?"

“I’ll do it,” Lu Chengyuan volunteered, cleared her throat, and began to speak.

Everyone took turns telling ghost stories, but as they went on, they started talking about other gossip, completely veerging off-topic.

In the end, no one knew who fell asleep first, and the room fell into silence.

The door was suddenly pushed open gently, and Mo Xueyao, who was not fully asleep, suddenly opened her eyes, startled and covered in a cold sweat.

Then I saw a dark figure standing at the door...

Then, the light from the flashlight shone on Ye Wen's face.

Qiu Yi's helpless voice rang out: "Wenwen, why are you sleeping here..."

"Huh? Eh?" Ye Wen opened her eyes groggily, only to be dragged back by Qiu Yi.

At this moment, Mo Xueyao was thinking about—

Could this Teacher Qiu be a fake?

……

Chapter Ninety-One: Pleasant Journey

The rain fell all night, only stopping briefly in the early morning. When the bus arrived at the open space to wait, the downpour resumed.

With such heavy rain on the way back, the car definitely couldn't go fast.

It wouldn't be surprising if it took twice as long as it did to get here.

The students had already packed their luggage and were waiting on the bus.

"Aren't we leaving yet?" Mo Xueyao walked up to the homeroom teacher, who was talking to the driver, and asked.

"Yes, the rain is too heavy. It's a downpour right now, so driving is quite dangerous, especially for large vehicles like this. Let's wait until the rain subsides a bit before we set off."

What if it doesn't get small?

"That's unlikely. If that happened, there would be flooding. We can set off as soon as the rain stops falling from a downpour to a heavy downpour." Ye Wen ran her fingers through her long hair at her temples. "Let's all wait a little longer on the bus."

"Oh—" Mo Xueyao nodded and decided to go back to her seat to sleep, thinking that she might wake up and find herself there.

If the roads are difficult to drive on, it will probably be three or four o'clock by the time we get to school.

It's already 8 o'clock, and who knows when this downpour will subside.

Upon learning of the departure delay, the students simply turned the bus into a large living room. Some even laid newspapers on the floor and sat down together, eating and chatting.

The torrential rain outside the window only served to highlight the lively atmosphere inside the car.

On the way back, the person sitting next to her was no longer Hua Yinyin.

She was pulled aside for a chat by Lu Chengyuan, even though the latter wasn't in her club, they seemed to share common interests...

So Li Wanyan sat next to Mo Xueyao. The noise in the bus seemed to have nothing to do with her. She was still very focused on the novel in front of her. Mo Xueyao glanced at the cover, which read "Cat City".

The author's pen name is "Lao She".

"What novel?" Mo Xueyao asked curiously, snuggling close to Li Wanyan.

"By Lao She."

"I was asking what kind of subject matter it was," Mo Xueyao said, resting her head on Li Wanyan's shoulder.

"Science fiction."

"Huh? Science fiction?" She didn't have much of an impression of Lao She, only having read a few of his articles in textbooks.

My impression of him is that he died in 1966, and his most famous book is called "Rickshaw Boy," which describes the tragic fate of ordinary people during the warlord era...

That's roughly it, but I didn't know he also wrote science fiction.

What kind of story is it?

"The story of a cat and its companion traveling to Mars by plane."

"Huh? Science fiction novels like this existed back then?"

"Haha, but that book isn't exactly science fiction." Mr. Xue's voice came from the side. Li Hongran was urging him to drink a can of beer. Since they had bought a whole case and there were still quite a few left, it would be too much trouble to take them back, so he simply started sharing them on the bus.

"Xiaoxue has seen it too?"

“Yeah, I’ve seen it before. Science fiction is just the most superficial layer. In reality, it’s like fairy tales and fables. They just use a fictional world to tell a story about reality.” Mr. Xue said, opening a can of beer and taking a sip. Li Hongran then took the rest and went to share them with the others, completely satisfied.

“Oh…” Mo Xueyao fell silent. Actually, she didn’t like reading novels that were full of preachy ideas—except for those by Lu Xun.