My name is Văn Văn. I run a paper offerings shop at the boundary between yin and yang.
My shop does business only with the dead.
I help ghosts with their affairs, and they give me merit in return, allowing my spirit to wander among the living without being led away by the ghost officials.
I turned down the pregnant woman's request to meet a ghost.
But after she left, the female ghost who had followed the married couple stayed behind.
This ghost was probably the most terrifying one I'd ever seen.
Ghosts appear in the same condition their bodies were in when they were placed in their coffins. Even when someone dies horribly in a traffic accident, their family will hire a mortuary makeup artist to restore their appearance. People believe that the dead won't feel cold if they're dressed in burial clothes, and that those who are buried with all their limbs intact won't be disabled in their next life.
But the ghost before me was wrapped in bright yellow silk covered in talismans. It had no limbs, empty eye sockets, and a mouth sewn shut with red thread. Blood dripped from the ends of the stitches.
It had no hands or feet with which to write, no eyes to show its feelings, and no way to open its mouth and speak. All it could do was weep in despair before me.
I spread my hands helplessly. “Judging by your condition, someone must have cast a spell on your corpse after you died and placed a curse on it. The talismans have suppressed your yin energy, so you can't affect the living. I can't even tell what you want. You can't speak or write, and you can't signal with your eyes. How am I supposed to help you?”
As terrifying as it was, a brilliant golden light suddenly radiated from the merit on its body, so bright I could barely keep my eyes open.
I was surprised. “Looks like you did plenty of good deeds when you were alive. You weren't some great evil, either. Who could hate you so much that they'd curse you and torment you like this? They must be afraid you'll take revenge—or even reveal a secret.”
I stepped closer, touched its forehead, and drew the golden merit into my body.
“You followed that married couple, so they must have something to do with your death! I can't harm the living, but I can help you find your body and break the curse. After that, you can do whatever you want yourself.”
The ghost couldn't express itself, but when it saw me accept its golden merit, it understood I meant to help. Sure enough, it flew out of the shop toward the couple who had left.
I took my red umbrella and followed them as they strolled down the street.
This ghost followed both of them, so they must both be involved. It was understandable that the man got angry when I told them they were about to face a great calamity. But the pregnant woman's attitude was worth thinking about. With her husband there, she pretended to be frightened; once he was gone, she showed not the slightest fear. Not only did she want to meet the ghost, there was even a hint of... eagerness in her eyes?
You have to understand, my shop does business only with the dead. The living can't see it, much less enter.
Anyone who can see the shop and walk inside either has a death in the family and has been tainted by yin energy, or is nearing the end of their allotted lifespan, with death close at hand.
I warned the couple only because I felt sorry for the child in her womb. It was incredibly difficult for a soul to be reborn.
After following them for a while, I noticed a dense aura of murderous energy radiating from both husband and wife.
They weren't sick, but there were faint signs that they would die an unnatural death.
I decided there was no point following them any farther and was about to look for some wandering ghosts to ask around, when the pregnant woman suddenly stopped and turned down another street.
A woman rushed over, grabbed her arm, and spun her around. Paying no mind to her pregnancy, she slapped her hard. “Tào Tiểu Thu, have you no shame? Vương Văn Viễn is your brother-in-law! It hasn't even been a year since Tiểu Tinh died, and your belly's already this big. Aren't you afraid the birth will go wrong and Tiểu Tinh will become a vengeful ghost and come for your life?”
The pregnant woman was struck, and curious onlookers gathered around. Using the crowd as cover, I stepped closer.
The pregnant woman held her belly with one hand and covered her face with the other, forcing a smile. “Mom, you used to say that once my sister died, their marriage was over. Văn Viễn is a single man. I didn't come between them. I only got pregnant after my sister passed away. What did I do wrong? Besides, didn't you always say Văn Viễn was a good man, and wish I could marry someone like my sister did? Now I've married him, and we're still one family. Isn't this just what you wanted?”
The woman who had hit her heard this and flushed with anger, tears streaming down her face. “You've gone mad—you really have! I shouldn't have pitied you back then. I shouldn't have adopted you. I raised an ungrateful wolf!”
She sank to the ground and sobbed, while Tào Tiểu Thu tried to help her up, speaking softly. “Mom, please don't cry. What's so wrong with marrying Văn Viễn? My sister died so suddenly, leaving little Viên Viên behind. Rather than let Văn Viễn marry some other woman to be Viên Viên's stepmother, wouldn't it be better for me, her own aunt, to take care of her?”
The woman raised her hand again and shoved Tào Tiểu Thu to the ground, cursing furiously. “You're shameless, seducing your brother-in-law. It's disgusting!”
“I'm telling you, get rid of that baby and come home with me. Otherwise, don't blame me for disowning you!”
Tào Tiểu Thu fell to the ground. Her husband, Vương Văn Viễn, didn't step forward to help her; like me, he quietly slipped into the crowd. None of the onlookers helped, either. Instead, I heard them whispering:
“Oh my God, the wife's sister seduced her brother-in-law and waited for her sister to die before taking her place!”
“That woman's got no shame. Her sister just died, and now she's marrying her brother-in-law. This whole family will be too embarrassed to show their faces anywhere. They'll be a laughingstock wherever they go.”
“I wonder how her sister died. Isn't there always some story like this, where a lousy man and the younger sister kill the older sister so they can be together?”
The whispers weren't quiet, and Tào Tiểu Thu heard them. Her initial calm vanished, and she turned into a shrew. “What are you people saying? My sister died suddenly of heart disease. What does that have to do with me? Besides, I knew Vương Văn Viễn first. If you want to talk about who came between whom, maybe I'm not the other woman!”
Though her face was bright red, seeing that no one was going to help her, she got up on her own and pulled Vương Văn Viễn out of the crowd, clutching his arm. “Mom, I know you love my sister, but now that she’s gone, Dad and you have only me to rely on in your old age. I don’t expect you to love me as much as you loved her, but at least we can keep up a show of peace. If you don’t want to see Văn Viễn and me, we’ll leave. We won’t upset you anymore. We’re going now!”
With that, Tào Tiểu Thu stormed off, dragging Vương Văn Viễn with her. The only one left was the woman sitting on the ground, crying out, “Tào Tiểu Thu, get back here! Come back!”
After the two left, the crowd gradually dispersed. Only a few older women stayed to comfort her. “Ma’am, what’s done is done. Try not to dwell on it. Just act as though you don’t know them. Don’t let yourself get so upset you die of anger.”
The woman kept crying, her sobs heartrending, but her eyes remained fixed on the direction Tào Tiểu Thu had gone.
I turned to the ghost and asked, “So this woman is your mother, Vương Văn Viễn is your ex-husband, you have a child named Viên Viên, and pregnant Tào Tiểu Thu is your younger sister—and your name is Tào Tiểu Tinh?”
The ghost, Tào Tiểu Tinh, nodded. Blood tears streamed even faster from her empty eye sockets. She wanted to go near her mother, but she knew the yin energy around her could harm her, so she could only drift anxiously nearby, hating that she was nothing but a helpless vengeful spirit, unable to do anything but watch her mother suffer.