As an apprentice, one has to do so handyman tasks for the master—serving tea and water, cleaning the house, running errands, passing ssages, and even helping the master with cleaning each of the ritual tools...
Among these tasks, the most important one is buying corpses.
Mr. Ghost Hayes has been training ghosts for so years, so he has a fixed source for corpses. Several clinics in town have had dealings with him, but since he’s getting old and the journey from the village to town involves a long mountain road, he sends his apprentice to run the errands.
Mr. Ghost Hayes rembered clearly that the weather was bad on that day, overcast and dreary, yet the old master said this weather was good, as it deepens the resentnt of little ghosts.
Having studied for so ti, Mr. Ghost Hayes had learned a bit and knew that not everyone who dies can beco a ghost; it must be soone with deep resentnt and heavy obsessions, whose spirit lingers persistently, to be refined into a little ghost.
Being the first ti doing such a thing, he was trembling with fear the entire way, and when he reached the clinic’s back door, he still didn’t know how to negotiate with the person inside.
The middle-aged nurse inside seed to be used to this sort of thing, glanced at him indifferently, and after a mont, ca out carrying a baby.
The baby was wet, sticky, enclosed in a dical waste plastic bag. Mr. Ghost Hayes grabbed it unprepared, his chest quivering with panic, his limbs growing weak.
He said to the nurse: "Uh, big sister! Sothing seems wrong... this child, is she still alive? I see her nostrils are still moving!"
"Impossible." The nurse frowned, took the baby back, muttered sothing under her breath, and turned to walk back inside.
After about two or three minutes, she returned, handing the baby to Mr. Ghost Hayes once more, urging him irritably, "Take the thing and leave quickly, don’t let anyone see."
This ti the baby was truly dead, but her body still retained so warmth. Holding her in his arms, Mr. Ghost Hayes felt indescribable emotions.
Induced labor mostly involves using drugs to poison the fetus first, then triggering contractions to expel the dead fetus. Sotis, the fetus might still be breathing, which the nurse would have to handle imdiately, cruelly though it may be. Even if they survive under the effects of induced labor drugs, such fetuses are likely to be unhealthy in the future.
Mr. Ghost Hayes rembered the rain was not heavy that day but particularly cold, seeping into his bones.
He held the dead infant, still warm, surprisingly feeling a pang of compassion, using his sleeve to shield her from the rain as he walked back, murmuring softly, "Don’t be sad... beco a formidable ghost in the future, so no one will dare treat you like this again..."
Since then, Mr. Ghost Hayes occasionally went to town to buy corpses.
From clumsy to skillful, from tense to numb, yet what stayed in his mory the deepest was the first baby girl he encountered.
He learned many skills from the old master, but as the master was stingy, he was never willing to impart his true expertise, seemingly guarding against him stealing his business.
Mr. Ghost Hayes originally lacked perseverance. Seeing no gains, he left without a word.
This ti, he went to beco a taoist priest.
He didn’t stay a taoist priest for long either, being dismissed for laziness, unrefined character, incorrect thoughts, not following the regulations, and a slew of other reasons.
Yet he gained so fa from the skills he patched together over the years, aided by so luck.
Later, he offended a local big shot and returned to his hotown for refuge once again.
By then the hotown was no longer called Cloud Residence; outsiders referred to it as Ghost Village.
During a family reunion al, he toasted the old master, rembered the baby girl he first brought back, and asked casually.
The old master sighed, saying the little ghost had been returned. Returned ghosts are hard to sell again, and if unable to find another buyer, they must be dealt with personally.
To deal with ans to kill.
Upon hearing this, he felt uneasy but said nothing.
Not long after, a young man from outside the village ca to ask for help, but Mr. Ghost Hayes couldn’t assist him and said offhandedly, "The household at the very western end has a ghost they’ve raised for many years. If you can buy it, perhaps it might help."
Unexpectedly, the young man really bought it...
Then many things happened...
No matter what, Mr. Ghost Hayes couldn’t help but pay attention to its fate, watching in silence like a spectator, as it went through countless hardships until it finally had a good outco, bringing him a sense of relief and redemption.
Reflecting on his life, full of deceit and wrongdoing, the only, the single good deed he ever did was perhaps that day, under the overcast and dreary sky, reaching out a hand to shield her from the rain.
...
Reviews
All reviews (0)