Although I was very afraid of Xiuxiu when I was little, often being chased around the hills by her, now that we have all grown up, and since she has beco both a wife and a mother, as her childhood playmate, I genuinely feel happy for her.
"Our Chaotian Village is surrounded by mountains on three sides, stretching for a hundred miles. Why not na him Feng..."
"Go away!" Xiao Feng, baring his tusk-like teeth, looked ready to devour you!
You dodged Xiao Feng’s tusks with a laugh and asked Xiuxiu cheerily, "What is the father’s last na?"
"It’s quite a coincidence, he shares the sa last na as Brother Feng."
"Oh—" you turned and raised an eyebrow at Xiao Feng.
"Li Muyun, I’m going to fight you to death!"
Seeing Xiao Feng pounce over, you reached out with a laugh, tucked him under your arm, and looked up to Xiuxiu, saying, "Parents all hope their children can grow up healthy. As an uncle, I have no other wish than for him to be like these surrounding green and enduring mountains. Hmm, let’s na him Xiao Changsheng."
"Changsheng?" Xiuxiu was stunned.
"Changsheng is good, let’s call him Xiao Changsheng." Xiuxiu’s husband seed very happy, clearly very satisfied with the na.
Grandpa En’s grave is on a hillside opposite Chaotian Village, a distance away from the old house where Mother En lives.
As a child, I once asked Mother En about the location of the grave. Her answer was simple: she could see Grandpa En first thing in the morning when she stepped out and last thing at night through the window before going to bed.
I realized it has been quite a few years since I last visited Grandpa En’s grave.
The winding mountain path is still as I rember, as if even the weeds that grew beside it were the sa as in my childhood, only now they seed a bit shorter.
In my mory, this mountain path should be very steep and wide, but now it seed rather narrow and flat; the steep slope that used to be such a struggle to climb as a child now took only a few steps to ascend.
The journey that seed so long as a child now took just about ten minutes.
This is a solitary grave, surrounded by rugged rocks and weeds everywhere. To the people of Chaotian Village, this place is not considered a geomantic treasure.
Yet, Mother En, despite opposition, insisted on burying Grandpa En here. No one understood why she did this, but in the whole of Chaotian Village, no one could sway the actions or words of Mother En.
Approaching the tombstone, without a word, both you and Xiao Feng knelt down and bowed three tis before standing up, taking the sickles brought from Mother En’s ho, and started cutting the grass at the head of the grave.
Your actions were neither fast nor slow, thodically cutting, while Wu Qiyi and the others stood respectfully on either side.
When visiting the grave, Mother En would not co; she said it was enough for her to just watch.
After cutting the grass at the head of the grave, you and Xiao Feng casually tossed it down the slope, then looked up and asked Xiuxiu, "Xiuxiu, when we weren’t here, who cut the grass on the grave?"
"My younger auntie. She cos every year."
Xiuxiu’s child was already carried back ho by her husband. She is the daughter of the village chief, and her husband had married into their family, so she had the final say at ho.
"My mother?"
You couldn’t help being slightly startled, not having imagined that your mother had been coming to tend to Grandpa En’s grave all these years.
After clearing the weeds, you and Xiao Feng placed so joss paper and gold and silver paper by the tombstone, ready to light them.
Glancing around, you suddenly realize sothing seems to be missing and you ask Xiao Feng, "Madman, did you cut the grass near the Land God?"
Xiao Feng was startled and then turned to look, noticing a small stone stele hidden among the weeds.
"I’ll do it."
Seeing Xiao Feng about to stand up, Wu Qiyi and Xian Qianling had already picked up the sickle lying on the ground and walked towards the small stone stele together.
After the two won cleared the weeds next to the small stone stele, two characters were revealed on it—Earth.
You took out so gold paper and placed it in front of the small stele, then lit two red candles, placing them on either side of the stele. You bowed your hands to the Earth God and lit the gold paper with a lighter.
Elsewhere, Xiao Feng had already started burning Joss Paper and gold and silver paper on the cleared ground.
The wind picked up, aiding the flas and carrying the ashes up into the sky...
"Since we’re here, let’s all pay our respects."
With that said, you all lined up, hands clasped together, and bowed three tis to Grandpa En’s tombstone.
Tending graves doesn’t take much ti, and just as you were preparing to leave, a baby’s cry seed to be carried on the wind.
"Hmm?"
Stopping in his tracks, Yang Kai asked, "Xiuxiu, do you have another baby in your carrying basket?"
"I only have one Changsheng, where would another baby co from?" As Xiuxiu spoke, she too heard the cry of the infant.
Normally, as a mother, she would definitely search for the source of such a sound, but this ti Xiuxiu’s face changed color, and a look of panic appeared on her delicate features.
"Xiuxiu, what’s wrong?"
"Brother Yun, let’s hurry up and go. There’s sothing unclean deep in the mountains."
You exchanged glances with Xiao Feng, who then asked, "What do you an by unclean?"
"I’m not sure, but recently, whenever the wind blows, you can hear the cries of a baby, day or night. At first, we organized a search, but Mother En said it was the doings of a demon in the mountains, and we mustn’t approach the sound no matter what."
"The mountains do harbor spirits and monsters; this is true. However, I have never heard of a spirit that spreads its voice with the wind," you mused.
Yang Kai said recklessly, "Since we have nothing better to do right now, why not check it out? We could also solve this problem for the villagers; if it’s a nace, it might harm soone, which wouldn’t be good."
Although you were sowhat interested, considering that even Mother En had not intervened, you suspected that this entity could be very dangerous, so you began to ponder.
"Little Yunyun, what do you think?" Xiao Feng asked.
"I’m just thinking that if even Mother En didn’t deal with this thing, there could be two reasons. First, it might not pose a danger to ordinary people. But since it spreads its voice through the wind and cries like a baby, it’s likely trying to lure people; that leads to the second reason. Perhaps this creature is a spirit monster that even Mother En is wary of."
"Spirit Monster?"
"Yes, spirit monster. We’ve been running the supernatural detective society for a while now, and in that ti, we’ve encountered demons, monsters, zombies, among other things. Moreover, the most common type of ghost we’ve yet to encounter is the spirit monster," your voice grew heavier, "But, spirit monsters are also the most troubleso. In Chinese mythology, the most common four characters are demon, demon, ghost, monster. Sotis people call an unknown horror a demon, and demon and monster are actually separate."
After a pause, you continued, "Let’s not talk about demons for now, their kind has already vanished after years of suppression. Now, as for monsters, generally referring to spirit monsters, these creatures have no uniform classification, and they vary from north to south. In the north, due to the simpler geographical environnt, there aren’t many types, so they’re easy to recognize. The well-known Northeastern Ho-Protection Immortal, also called the Horse Fairy, is one. The south, with its changing geography, plus the frequent changes of dynasties in ancient tis, the existence of nurous ethnic groups with different beliefs, gave rise to various spirit monsters."
Scratching his head, Yang Kai asked, "So, are we going or not?"
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