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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 20: The End
After returning to school, it took me a month to break free from my fear. Later, we deliberately inquired about the Ghost Tower incident, exploring the origins of the event. We visited some elderly residents of Auspicious Village and learned that the first owner of the building was a major general from the Kuomintang before the liberation, named Huang Dajie. At that time, the Kuomintang stationed the 78th Division of the 34th Army, led by Hu Zongnan, in the Yellow River area of Shaanxi. This building was constructed by Huang Dajie while he was in Xi'an. Later, both his first and second wives died in the building, and the general moved away. After the Chinese Civil War and the defeat of the Kuomintang, General Huang went to Taiwan. The building changed hands several times, but each new owner moved out shortly after.
Just when we thought we had run out of leads, we met an elderly man at the west end of the village. When we asked him about that small building, he told us: "You kids came at just the right time. I heard from someone in the village committee that General Huang's first wife's granddaughter returned to Auspicious Village a few days ago because her grandmother died in that building, and she wants to go inside to take a look and pay her respects." We bought the old man a pack of Furong Wang cigarettes, and then we asked to meet her. The old man happily took us to a relatively upscale hotel in the village where we found this lady.
Her surname was Liu, named Liu Hua, probably in her thirties, quite beautiful and gentle-looking, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. We explained our purpose for visiting and shared our terrifying experiences inside the building. Initially, we thought she would be scared; unexpectedly, before we finished speaking, tears streamed down her face, leaving us bewildered. She insisted on going back inside the building with us. We hurriedly waved our hands to refuse; that night’s experience was too terrifying for me to recall.
Later, she begged us repeatedly and nearly knelt down before us. We were puzzled as to why she was so eager to see inside; finally, she told us the truth: she wanted to retrieve her grandmother's remains from inside. We were shocked; no wonder we encountered a female ghost that day—her grandmother's remains were indeed in there! Then she shared a tragic story with us.
Huang Dajie, who was also her grandfather, had a close relationship with Liu Hua's grandmother, Li Yuexian. They were both born in a small mountain village in Danfeng County, Shaanxi. The adults from both families got along well, and Huang Dajie and Li Yuexian often played together since childhood—eating meals and going to school together; they were childhood sweethearts without any suspicion of each other. When it came time for college entrance exams, Li Yuexian ranked first in Danfeng County and was admitted to Xi'an Women's School, becoming a pride of their village with a bright future ahead. Meanwhile, Huang Dajie struggled academically and could only tend cattle and do odd jobs in the village. Li Yuexian worked part-time while at school and sent all her earnings back to Huang Dajie without forgetting their old feelings despite their different statuses.
However, Huang Dajie felt inferior due to his lack of education and believed he was unworthy of Li Yuexian. So he left without saying goodbye and joined the army. Li Yuexian dropped out of school to search for Huang Dajie. She asked many people and spent three years almost traveling throughout Shaanxi but could not find him.
At that time, Huang Dajie was fighting against Japanese invaders in Shanxi. Due to his bravery and intelligence in battle, he achieved merit in several minor skirmishes. Within three years, he was promoted to company commander. Later on, after achieving great success in battle at a young age, he could no longer suppress his longing for Li Yuexian and returned to find her; they married and started a happy life together.
The story seemed perfect until one of Huang Dajie's private nurses named Zhou Xiaorong fell in love with him at eighteen years old; she was very beautiful and cared for him daily during his illness without leaving his side. Moved by Zhou Xiaorong's deep affection for him, Huang Dajie accepted her love and they became intimate. Soon after, Zhou Xiaorong became pregnant; seeing that things had progressed too far for her to intervene now, Li Yuexian reluctantly allowed Zhou Xiaorong into their home.
They built that two-story small building together and moved inside. It is common for men to grow tired of their partners; Huang Dajie increasingly pampered Zhou Xiaorong and spent several months without sleeping once in Li Yuexian's room while ignoring her completely. Gradually, Li Yuexian fell into deep depression and pain. This suffering grew until it culminated in tragedy.
One day when Huang Dajie went off to war, Li Yuexian took advantage of his absence to put sleeping pills into Zhou Xiaorong's food. She then bound her up, splashed water on her face until she woke up, injected her with anesthetics, and severed all four limbs from Zhou Xiaorong’s body while she watched helplessly as they were cut away—this horrifying sight scared Zhou Xiaorong to death. Li Yuexian thought: since you want to be with Huang Dajie so badly, I will grant your wish.
She dug open the earthen bed made of blue bricks in the bedroom of Huang Dajie and Zhou Xiaorong, bricking Zhou Xiaorong's corpse inside and sealing it with blue bricks and plaster, returning it to its original position. When Huang Dajie returned, she couldn't find Zhou Xiaorong anywhere and felt despondent, losing her appetite for food and drink. Later, she often had nightmares where Zhou Xiaorong lamented her tragic death and asked the General not to press down on her every night. The General grew suspicious and happened to discover that the earthen bed had been tampered with. Coupled with the decaying smell of a corpse in the house, he ordered the blue brick bed to be dug open, revealing Zhou Xiaorong bricked inside.
Huang Dajie was furious and tied up Li Yuexian to beat her. Unable to withstand the pain, Li Yuexian confessed to killing Zhou Xiaorong and bricking her into the wall. In a fit of rage, Huang Dajie shot Li Yuexian and personally bricked her into the wall of the bedroom, avenging Zhou Xiaorong.
That night, Huang Dajie left Xi'an to fight elsewhere. Later, the house began to be haunted, and an old priest from a local Daoist temple surrounded the Ghost Tower with stone pillars and trapped their spirits using a Soul Locking Spell. That day, we saw bloodstains on the bed and a woman's face in the wall, likely belonging to these two unfortunate women’s vengeful spirits.
As the story goes, we all shed sympathetic tears for these two unfortunate women.
Later, Liu Hua found a well-known Daoist priest in the Guanzhong area named Gao Xuanhu to help her retrieve the bones from the Ghost Tower. Gao Xuanhu was truly skilled; after entering, he engaged in a Duel of Spells and successfully defeated the vengeful spirits of Li Yuexian and Zhou Xiaorong without any danger. He then found Zhou Xiaorong's bones inside the bed and broke open the wall to retrieve Li Yuexian's bones, placing them in two different ceramic jars covered with red silk before handing them over to Liu Hua. He performed a ritual on-site to help both souls move on, hoping to resolve their resentment.
At first, the ritual did not go smoothly; neither spirit was willing to reincarnate. Seeing this situation, Liu Hua took out a tape recording made by Huang Dajie before his death. The recording expressed his deep regret towards these two unfortunate women, wishing for their forgiveness so they could reincarnate soon and meet again in their next lives if fate allowed.
After playing the tape, Gao Xuanhu recited an incantation and then took a deep breath, saying: "It’s done! May you both find a good family in your next life!"
Later, I returned to school feeling unsettled for a long time, so I decided to document this true story as a tribute to these two women who sacrificed themselves for love. I hope they find peace on their journey! (The End)
Next, let me tell you a story about my grandfather.
This story was told to me by my grandfather. When he was young, he was a horse trader known throughout our region. Back then, horse traders often traveled far and wide to buy and sell horses. Transportation was inconvenient at that time; most of the time they traveled on foot. Therefore, when going out for business, they had to set off early—sometimes as early as 3 or 4 AM.
One winter morning, my grandfather left home around 5 AM for business. Although it was in the south, it was still cold with strong winds and thick fog during winter mornings. However, such weather conditions were nothing unusual for people of that era; thus my grandfather paid no mind and set out as usual.
After walking for about an hour or so, my grandfather reached a small hillside where the winding path disappeared into the forest ahead. At that moment, he saw someone not far away holding a torch that flickered uncertainly as if it could extinguish at any moment. People back then were simple-hearted; my grandfather thought it would be nice to catch up with that person for some company.
Grandfather jogged over, but the figure seemed to speed up as well. After chasing for a while, Grandfather thought that the person must be in a hurry too, and if he couldn't catch up, it was no use, so he slowed down. Unexpectedly, the figure ahead also slowed down, maintaining the same distance from Grandfather. So Grandfather shouted, "Hey friend up ahead, slow down, let's walk together." Logically speaking, at that distance, the person in front should have been able to hear him, but the figure showed no reaction and continued walking at that distance. At that time, My Grandfather was considered bold, but he felt a bit uneasy; what exactly was that thing ahead? Was it a person or a ghost?
Of course, My Grandfather was not Mausoleum Taoist and could not determine what the figure ahead was. Grandfather thought to himself, "What does it matter what it is? At least for now, it doesn't seem to pose any harm to me." So he continued walking without paying it any more mind. Later, when Grandfather turned a corner out of the forest, he no longer saw the figure.
Afterward, when Grandfather returned and told the older generation about this incident, they said he had encountered a Guide Ghost, claiming it was a good spirit that specifically guided people. They mentioned that if he hadn't had that ghost leading him that day, who knows what might have happened. After hearing this, Grandfather bought some Beeswax Candles and burned them at the village entrance, saying it was to pay respect to those who had passed and wandered around. (The End)
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