As a child raised by a “witch,” Li Xiu’s courage was already very great compared to his peers. He had originally thought that after seeing so many of the tricks his grandmother used to fool people, he had long been indifferent to myths and ghost stories.

However…..

Since returning from the Xiao family villa the other day, Li Xiu had encountered so many strange things. 

Even though he had nerves of steel, he was still more or less afraid.

Before the sky grew completely dark, Li Xiu had already forcefully suppressed the uneasiness in his heart and ran back home like he had wings.

Thud, thud, thud. He stepped on the edges of the glistening black concrete stairs all the way to the door of his house. Before Li Xiu opened the door, he once again heard the familiar sound of sobbing.

Was it still the customer who regularly came to his grandmother’s house? Li Xiu lowered his head and tried to adjust his breathing. While neatly placing the slightly well-used women’s shoes at the door, he pushed the door open and entered the house.

Everything was exactly as usual.

The room was still extremely dark. His grandmother still sat before the shrine in the dark living room, muttering, and the middle-aged woman with her back to Li Xiu had her head lowered as she cried sorrowfully.

The familiar scene relieved Li Xiu as he peered through the door curtain.

“Grandmother, I’m back,” he called out of habit.

His grandmother seemed to give a light hum in response from deeper in the living room, her voice vague and unclear.

Li Xiu didn’t mind that they had a guest. He went to his room with his school bag on his back.

He had just changed out of his school uniform and was about to go to the bathroom and wash his face, and when he turned around — he saw his grandmother’s stooped form. The old woman made very little movement, and Li Xiu didn’t know how long she had been standing there.

Her black eyes had become blurred many years ago, and their edges were covered in a layer of gray haze. When she looked at someone, they always seemed to be only half open. And due to old age, the fat under her shriveled skin had long been lost and there was only a thin layer of skin left. Two thin membranes drooped between her chin and neck.

“Grandmother?!”

Even Li Xiu was given a shock.

Feeling uncomfortable under his grandmother’s direct gaze, he could only ask: “What is it…..did the guest leave?”

His grandmother was silent for a long while, and then slowly blinked her eyes.

“A-Xiu, go deliver food to your gege,” she murmured without answering the question.

“You must give your gege enough food…..only after he has enough food will he be obedient…..”

Ever since his grandmother had become confused, similar things had happened more than once or twice. The old lady had been shrewd and cunning in the past, and could trick guests just relying on her mouth. Now it seemed that there was just one thing left in her mind, and that was to feed Li Xiu’s non-existent “gege.”

The old woman seemed to be extremely afraid that his “gege” would not have enough to eat.

But if Li Xiu asked specifically, she would only give a vague response, never explaining in detail.

After several repetitions, Li Xiu could only assume that his grandmother had a strange personality and delusions of victimization due to Alzheimer’s disease, and stopped worrying about it.

As always, Li Xiu comforted his grandmother and said: “En, I know. I’ll go after changing clothes.”

However, just as he was about to go to the kitchen and serve up the rice, he happened to recall what the pale-faced woman in the park had told him.

[“Making food offerings is not something a tiny child like you should do. The things crawling out of the Hungry Ghost Path are all ferocious, not to mention the one you’re carrying now…..”]

“Grandmother…..”

Li Xiu paused slightly, and the words were out before he realized it. “What on earth is the meaning of delivering food to gege, ah? Is this what those people say about offering food to hungry ghosts?”

The youth’s voice grew smaller and smaller.

In fact, before going home, Li Xiu had used his cell phone to look up the “food offerings” the park woman had spoken of. It was a metaphysical method of giving offerings to beings on the Hungry Ghost Path so that they could escape that evil realm.

But Li Xiu thought about it and realized that he didn’t recite sutras or mantras when he fed his gege, and there were also no prayers. It didn’t seem to have anything to do with offering food to hungry ghosts.

“What? It’s just giving your brother a meal, what else could it mean?!”

Sure enough, even if he asked, his grandmother would be bewildered.

Looking at her, Li Xiu subtly felt that she might not even know the term “offering food to hungry ghosts.” Although he didn’t want to admit it, Li Xiu had always known that his grandmother was actually a fraud with no professional knowledge at all.

But for some reason, Li Xiu felt a little more relaxed when he thought of this.

…..Just take it as Grandmother’s superstitions, Li Xiu told himself.

Then, as usual, he filled a bowl with uncooked rice in the evening, carried it to the cramped, narrow room, and placed it under the bed.

“Ge, time to eat,” Li Xiu said habitually.

After setting down the bowl, he remained in the room without knowing why.

This time, there was no sound of the bowl being knocked over beneath the bed.

On the contrary, heavy footsteps came from upstairs, followed by a muffled bang. The shadow of something dripping wet fell upon the dusty table in the middle of the room.

Startled, Li Xiu looked around but couldn’t clearly see what was hanging outside the window, just that it was a soft, dark object.

Like…..a mop?

Li Xiu’s brow furrowed slightly as he regarded the blurry, slightly swaying shadow and the wet marks it left outside the window glass.

The building he lived in was extremely outdated, so most of the tenants were not of high quality.

Li Xiu surmised that after the person upstairs washed the mop, they placed it on the protruding anti-theft window grate and the mop head stuck directly to Li Xiu’s window.

Many similar things had happened before, but Li Xiu was truly exhausted at the end of this day and really couldn’t spare the energy to go upstairs and start a confrontation. Plus, there was nobody using this room…..

Forget it.

Rubbing his temples, Li Xiu left the room in exhaustion.

*

“Wuwu— —”

Of course, the exhausted Li Xiu was unaware that after he left, the “mop” outside the window began to tremble.

The bloodshot eyes of the hanging man shook with terror. 

Putrid traces of water seeped out of his body constantly, brushing out branch-like moisture trails on the surface of the window, where dust had been accumulating for who knows how long.

In the silent, cramped room filled with clutter, a tall, thin figure appeared.

He sat upright on the dusty double bed, slender, nailless fingers carefully resting on the edge of the bowl filled with uncooked rice.

[My family’s A-Xiu, ah…..]

A faint murmur came from the shadow.

[So incredibly cute.]

The tall figure slowly leaned down and buried his face in the bowl.

One bite. Another bite.

He devoured the uncooked rice in the bowl with satisfaction. Constant chewing sounds came from the shadows.

[So, he always provokes things like you…..]

[Ai, what would my A-Xiu do without me?]

_______

The Author Has Something to Say:

Water Ghost Fish: …..fuck.

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Chapter 16 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 18