Story of Mountain Village Liaozhai
The late seventies.
In late autumn, the crops in the fields have been harvested by farmers. The fields are strewn with bundles of straw, which look like tipi tents from a distance.
It is already very late. Two old men who had been doing farm work for a day dragged their tired bodies and walked slowly along the field path. They are a couple who are over sixty years old, and they are also the last couple to return home late.
"Old man, please go back first! I'll pick up some firewood on the way." Grandma Qi said to her husband.
"Oh, don't be too late." Grandpa Qi left alone.
The half moon had just risen, and the surroundings were plunged into darkness. Grandma Qi held a small bundle of straw under her right arm and walked alone on the "quiet road" back to the village.
There is a figure in front. Grandma Qi has very good eyesight and can see very clearly from a short distance away. She is dressed in white with long braids hanging down at the soles of her feet. It must be a young woman.
"Hey, whose girl is this? Wait for me!" Grandma Qi asked kindly.
There was no promise before. The man didn't seem to hear him and didn't even look back - he continued walking. Grandma Qi didn’t say anything again... as she was approaching the entrance of the village. That white shadow disappeared in the blink of an eye? There is a deserted cemetery on the side of the road at the east end of the village. (The people buried there are all members of the former 'landlord' families. According to the old people, it is a 'feng shui treasure land'.) When Grandma Qi passed by there, a strange scene appeared in front of her eyes; 'high walls, majestic gates' . ’ It’s that kind of ‘big house’ for rich people!
"What age are we in now, why do we still have the nickname 'landlord'?" Grandma Qi said to herself.
As I walked to the gate, I heard the hustle and bustle in the courtyard. There were all kinds of voices from "men, women, old and children", it was like a wedding was being held, it was very lively!
"Hey, whose family is this? It's so prosperous! Go in and take a look." Grandma Qi put down the straw and climbed up the steps.
Standing in front of the door, he stretched out his hand to get ready - then he felt a chill! It came straight out from the door... Grandma Qi shivered. Only to realize that the door is ‘jet black’? (In rural areas, there are many colors for courtyard gates. The most common ones are 'red? yellow? green? gray? white'. The most taboo is 'black'! I heard that 'black' does not belong to the earthly world.) "It's better to go back first. Tell the old man, whose house is this? This has never happened before!" Grandma Qi picked up the straw again... and returned home. Grandpa Qi was sitting by the kang smoking a dry cigarette - waiting for his wife to come back to make dinner. Grandma Qi recounted to him the strange things she had just seen at the entrance of the village.
After hearing this, Grandpa Qi filled a pot of cigarettes with an expressionless face, took two puffs, and hummed a few words: "Thankfully you didn't go in."
It never happened again.