13.
The screams clearly riled up the little ghost. A bone-chilling gust swept over us, making me shiver. The small shadow sprang onto Lý Lượng’s bed like a wild animal, pounding the mattress with a series of shrill “thwacks” before yelling at him, “Mom says I play badly, and you all say I play badly too! You’re all bad people!”
Only then did we get a good look at her. She was a little girl ghost, about seven or eight years old, with her hair tied in two braids. But the bloodshot eyes in her sockets made it clear she was full of resentment!
Even more terrifying, the little girl had no palms—as if her hands had been cut off. She was pounding the bed with her bare arms, like clubs!
Lý Lượng opened his mouth to scream. Afraid he might lose control and anger the little ghost, I leaped onto the bed and quickly shoved a lump of specially made clay into his mouth to gag him. With adult ghosts, I could skip the pleasantries and summon a puppet to beat them up. But with a child, even if Senior Brother hadn’t told me to, I’d still try to reason with her gently.
I smiled and greeted the little girl ghost. “Hi, little sister. No one said you play badly. We all think your music is wonderful!”
The little girl’s angry, contorted face suddenly froze. Her eyes filled with suspicion. “Y-you’re lying! I heard everything you said! You even cursed at me!”
I reached out and patted the little girl ghost on the head. “Little sister, your big brother here never lies! Lying is for puppies! I’m this old and still can’t play the piano, but you’re so young and already better than me!”
“If you don’t believe me, ask the others. Can any of them play the piano?”
The little girl ghost actually turned to look at Lý Lượng and the others. They were so scared all they could do was nod stiffly.
I’d made the little girl ghost laugh, so I added, “But you should practice during the day. Everyone’s tired at night and needs to rest.”
The little girl seemed to understand, and much of the black aura around her dissipated. I was about to take the opportunity to persuade her to go back and rest when the little ghost suddenly grabbed my hand. “Okay, I won’t play the piano anymore. Then will you play with me?”
Me: ?!
14.
Having to play games with a little ghost in the middle of the night—I was afraid I’d drop dead on the spot!
This was the moment for my puppets to step in.
I waved my hand and summoned paper puppets, iron puppets, cat puppets, dog puppets… and lined them all up.
I winked at the little ghost. “What do you want to play? Pet the cat, play with the dog, or hawk-catching-chicks? I’ve got it all…”
After a moment of surprise, the little ghost quickly caught on. She ran over to the puppets, looking them up and down, delighted beyond words.
I even made them a paper house, where we could sleep while they played inside without getting in one another’s way.
At last, it was quiet.
When my roommates and I woke up, the little ghost was gone.
I discussed it with my roommates. “This won’t do. She’ll definitely come back for us. We need to find out what unfinished business the little ghost has and help her settle it.”
It didn’t take long for Giang Dã, who was from Thanh Châu, to find some information.
The little ghost was none other than the “Piano Ghost,” one of Qingchuan University’s most infamous horror legends.
They say the girl’s mother was a piano teacher at Qingchuan University. She was extremely strict, believing that “strict teachers produce outstanding students” and that “a good child is beaten into being.”
The Piano Ghost had shown extraordinary talent for the piano from a young age. To raise her into a concert pianist, her mother drew up a rigorous practice schedule, requiring her to play for seven or eight hours every day. If she didn’t finish, she wasn’t allowed to eat!
What’s more, the girl’s mother never encouraged her. All she did was criticize and lecture her.
“What’s wrong with you? You’re as stupid as a pig! How could you play the wrong note here?”
“That was awful! Even an idiot could play better than you!”
Once, when the girl played a wrong note, her mother locked her in the piano room. Late that night, a criminal broke in, killed her, and cruelly cut off her hands…
But practicing the piano had become an obsession for the girl. Even after she died and lost her hands, she kept practicing.
And our dorm used to be her piano room.
After hearing her story, we felt deeply sorry for her and became even more determined to help the Piano Ghost!
15.
That night, the little girl ghost who loved the piano came to see me again. As usual, I brought out the puppets so she could play with them to her heart’s content.
When the little girl was about to leave, I called after her. “Little sister, I think you’re adorable, and I really like you. I want to give you a present!”
Then I led her to a brightly lit classroom. Inside, a girl was listening to an English lesson through her headphones when, all of a sudden, a man in a black bucket hat and a large face mask smashed through the window, brandishing a knife and slashing at her.
I was just about to summon a puppet when the little girl ghost who loved the piano swooped in. One kick sent the man sprawling, and then she repeatedly hammered him with her stumps. “You evil bastard! Killing me wasn’t enough—you want to hurt other people too? You monster!”
“I’ll beat you to death! I’ll beat you to death!”
The puppet cat I’d given the little girl ghost as a pet leaped into the attack too, clawing the man’s face until it bled.
That’s right, this was the man who had killed the little girl ghost who loved the piano. His own child was lazy, never studied, and envied the other children for working hard and behaving well. When he saw the girl studying diligently late at night, he got the idea to kill her.
When the little girl ghost had beaten him within an inch of his life, I finally called the police. The full force of the law awaited him!
After the police took the criminal away, I gently said to the little girl ghost who loved the piano, “I really like you and don’t want you to leave, but you can’t stay in the human world forever. It’s time for you to be reincarnated.”
“Do you have any other wishes? Tell me, and I’ll help you fulfill them.”
The little girl ghost thought for a moment, a trace of sadness in her eyes. “My wish… is just for Mom to kiss me, hug me, and tell me I play the piano beautifully! But now I don’t even have hands. I can’t play as well as I used to… Mom will hate me!”
“I miss Mom… *sob*…”
What a thoughtful and kindhearted child!
She had never hurt anyone!
Seeing her sob so bitterly made me sad, too. I hurriedly said, “I’ll make you a new pair of hands! Even more nimble than your old ones!”
The little Piano Ghost stopped crying and looked at me. “Really?”
I thumped my chest and promised, “Of course! I’m a master puppet maker, after all!”
16.
Out of compassion for the “Piano Ghost,” this time I brought out the high-grade puppet materials I’d been saving for ages.
Those who know, know: paper puppets and clay puppets are just stopgap measures for when materials are scarce. There’s no comparing them!
In just a few minutes, the pliable, flesh-colored lump beneath my hands had turned into a pair of small, adorable hands.
When the Piano Ghost brought her injured hands close, the new ones immediately clung to them, as if they’d always belonged together!
As soon as her new hands grew in, the first thing the Piano Ghost did was sit down at the piano and play a few pieces for me. Only after seeing me praise her nonstop did she ask me to take her to find her mother.
After her daughter’s sudden death, the Piano Ghost’s mother had lost her mind and was plagued by nightmares. In the end, she had to leave the job she loved and return to her rural hometown.
When we found her, she was in a garden full of fresh flowers, making little wooden swings. They were something her daughter had always dreamed of, but she’d dismissed them as useless!
Though the wooden splinters had torn her hands, she paid them no mind, murmuring, “Xiaoting, look! I made the dream house you’ve always wanted. Come back and see it, sweetheart. I know you’ll love it!”
“Xiaoting, I was wrong. I’m sorry. Won’t you come back and see me?”
The Piano Ghost, standing beside her, was already teary-eyed. She rushed toward her mother.
The girl told her mother she had never blamed her. She understood that her mother had only wanted what was best for her, but hadn’t known how to show it.
Mother and daughter embraced tightly.
The Piano Ghost played her mother “Ballade pour Adeline.”
This time, the melody was beautiful, beginning like a stream flowing gently along.
Gradually, the music grew more powerful, and I could almost see a beautiful, vibrant girl dancing across a grassy field.
At last, the music grew softer and softer until it faded away. The girl slowly ran down the hillside, turned back to smile and wave goodbye to her mother and me, then disappeared.
After seeing the Piano Ghost off, I got a call from my senior brother, Wu Xin.
I was thrilled. “Senior Brother! Senior Brother! Are you coming to bring me home?”
“Senior Brother, I’m having such a hard time here. I can’t eat or sleep well, and I’m busy working all day. I’ve lost so much weight!”
My senior brother’s usually cold voice seemed to carry a hint of mischief this time.
“Master says you’ve been doing exceptionally well and have adapted beautifully to life over there. Take care of a few more ghosts before you come back!”
Huh?
“No! That can’t be! No!”
“Beep, beep, beep…”
-THE END-