Ghost Lamp Temple Fifty Years Ago

Song Shuang paused and was very pleased when he recognized the man on the motorcycle. "Bo? How come it’s you? Why are you here?"

The handsome boy was one of his three roommates, Bo, who had a country bumpkin-like name ill-matched with his handsome appearance. His surname was Lin, and he was called Lin Tubo (Bumpkin Bo).

His name had upset Bo for more than a decade, as he felt the name sucked.

He fought with his father for many years, wanting to change it.

He once even took his household register and ID card and went to police station to change his name by himself. His father found out about it, dragged him home, and gave him a good beating.

Therefore, he always asked people to call him Ah Bo, Little Bo, or just Bo.

In fact, in Shuhang’s opinion, the name ‘Tubo’ was not that bad.

It was much better than Wang Erdan1 or Liu Gousheng2.

Don't think it’s just a joke. There was really a guy called Gousheng in Shuhang’s hometown—but that guy's surname was Wang, he was called Wang Goudan.

Wang Goudan always thought he was not his father's son, or that maybe his father hated him. If not, then how could he have given him such a name?

Anyway, Shuhang didn't expect that he would meet Bo here.

"My grandfather lives in J-City, and this week me and my family came to visit him. And you? Why did you come here?"

Talking with Shuhang, Bo suddenly caught sight of the long-legged girl beside Shuhang.

He clapped his right fist with his left hand—he got it! Shuhang brought his girlfriend to have a date here!

"Tsk, tsk, Shuhang, I didn’t know you were such a ** guy. You got such a beautiful girlfriend without telling anybody? You really need to treat us to dinner!"

Bo snickered.

Though mocked by Bo, Song Shuhang didn’t even bat an eyelash. "Oh, shut up. I’d burn incense if she were really my girlfriend. She is my elder sister, Soft Feather.

She came to J-City to find a place called Ghost Lamp Temple, but she didn't know the way, so she asked me to accompany her here."

"Really?

Tubo looked at Shuhang seriously.

Shuhang shrugged, and Soft Feather smiled sweetly beside.

"Well, alright, if you say so." Tubo was not a gossiper. "Did you just say you were looking for a temple? Have you found it?

Song Shuhang shook his head. "I’ve spent a long time trying to find it online, but I just couldn’t find it, so I came here to see if anyone knows of it.

But even the hostess in the hotel didn’t know about Ghost Lamp Temple. Maybe the temple’s name was changed or it has been torn down, so I was gonna ask the local elderly about it, I thought I could get some clue about it."

"Well… why not go to my place? Maybe you can ask my grandfather about it. My grandfather is a native of Luo Xin street area of J-City. Maybe he knows that Ghost Lamp Temple you just mentioned. Tsk, this name is really shabby. With this name, the temple certainly wouldn’t have many worshipers. It must have been shut down!" Tubo said. He was obsessed with names.

Song Shuhang was very pleased to hear that, but he still asked first, "Won't we disturb your family?"

"It’s alright, my grandfather is quite hospitable. As for my father, he was desperate to have me stay with my classmates in case I keep fiddling with some strange stuff. He keeps nagging me to ‘go study, go study’ all day long, but I’m already a college student. He almost drives me crazy," Tubo laughed.

Although he kept complaining about his dad, he and his father actually got along well—as long as his father didn’t beat him.

His father firmly believed in physical education. ‘The best way to kill time on a rainy day is to beat my child’ was his catchphrase. This attitude made Tubo a little bit uncomfortable.

In the end, Tubo asked, "Can you ride a motorcycle, Shuhang?"

"Yes, but no certificate," Shuhang replied.

"Never mind. In this obscure place, who would make a fuss to check your motorcycle driver's license?" Tubo laughed, turned his head and said, "Ah Yong, borrow him your motorcycle. You can share one with others!"

"Alright."

A big guy got off his motorcycle and parked his motorcycle in front of Song Shuhang.

"Thank you," Shuhang smiled.

Ah Yong waved his hand in a relaxed way to show that he didn’t mind and got on the motorcycle of one of his companions.

In an instant, the motorcycles roared away.

Song Shuang got onto the black motorcycle and tried it.

Slightly turning the throttle, he felt the motorcycle leap forward powerfully.

"Not bad, it’s been modified?" Shuhang stopped the motorcycle and laughed.

"These guys' motorcycles are all modified by me. They’ve all got great power," Tubo laughed proudly.

Oh, I forgot this guy is a tech geek.

Although he can’t assemble a Gundam with his own hands, he often makes some interesting mechanical stuff.

"Soft Feather, get on the motorcycle."

Shuhang turned his head and called Soft Feather.

Luckily, her big suitcase was left in the hotel, or else it wouldn’t be possible to ride the motorcycle as there was no place to put it.

Soft Feather lifted one of her long legs and straddled the motorcycle behind Shuhang.

Unguarded, her soft breasts pressed against Shuhang’s back, which made Shuhang almost lose strength in both legs.

In front of them, Tubo laughed, "Follow me!"

Roaring, the two motorcycles headed into the distance...

❄️❄️❄️

Tubo’s grandfather was a very fashionable old man. He liked to make some mechanical gadgets—it seemed that Tubo’s hobby was inherited from his grandpa. As he was very fashionable, he got along well with young people.

"Ghost Lamp Temple? There are still young people who know that place?" He laughed vigorously.

Hearing what he said, Shuhang knew he definitely knew something about the temple!

Shuhang immediately asked, "Grandpa, do you know where Ghost Lamp Temple is?"

‘Grandpa’ was how people in Jiangnan, J-City, and other neighboring cities used to call old-aged men.

"There aren’t many people who know of that place, as the temple existed sixty years ago. The people who knew of it are mostly dead, so most of you young guys have never heard of it."

Tubo’s grandfather took them to the entrance of the yard and pointed to the east. "Keep walking to the east, and you’ll find a forest about 700 meters away from here. Keep going, and you’ll find a big old tomb, which is where Ghost Lamp Temple was originally located."

"An old tomb? Ghost Lamp Temple is a tomb?" Shuhang asked a silly question subconsciously.

"Ghost Lamp Temple has been demolished?"

Wide-eyed, Soft Feather found out the truth.

"Yes, more than sixty years ago, the temple was bulldozed by a guy who then built a big tomb there for himself," Tubo’s grandpa said.

It was sixty years ago, when television was not even popular yet. It was not like nowadays when people got to know all odds and ends from the well-developed Internet.

Thus, there wasn’t any news about Ghost Lamp Temple, and even local young people barely knew of it. Only some old people knew what happened back then.

"But, as far as I know, Ghost Lamp Temple is a private property, isn’t it? Hadn’t it been bought by someone many years ago?" Soft Feather asked doubtfully.

"Oh, girl, you know quite a lot about it."

Tubo’s grandpa started recalling. "As a matter of fact...

At that time, the land on which Ghost Lamp Temple was built was owned by ‘exploiter Huang’, who was none other than Huang Dagen, the owner of the tomb.

He sold the temple to a stranger more than sixty years ago.

But, before he sold it, he was about to bulldoze Ghost Lamp Temple and build his tomb there. It was then that a stranger came over and asked to buy Ghost Lamp Temple. Huang Dagan made use of the opportunity and sold Ghost Lamp Temple.

A few years later, he saw that the stranger didn’t come back, so he just bulldozed Ghost Lamp Temple and built a tomb there for himself."

"So shameless?" Shu Shuhang exclaimed.

Tubo’s grandpa said with a sigh. "Exploiter Huang was really shameless, so he deceived many rich strangers those years. Anyway, strangers were all gullible and rich."

Song Shuhang quietly looked at Soft Feather—he guessed that the man who bought Ghost Lamp Temple was probably an elderly from Soft Feather’s family.

However, there wasn’t any sign of anger on her face.

She just sighed, "Well, I guess Huang Dagen’s family have almost all died?"

Her words sounded a little bit scary.