Mysterious Marriage Certificate

On that day, I took the Bai Pi Dao (Hundred Paces Sword) straight home. It was too precious to leave in the shop—my second half of life and the initial fund needed to investigate my father's death were all invested in it. Truly, I couldn't afford to be careless.

In fact, everyone in this line of work has this habit—the items "ripening in the pit" are generally placed in the shop.

"Ripened pit" refers to ancient coins that have been unearthed a long time ago, generally quite time-worn, with patina and rust blended together to an extent where their appearance is not too different from corroded iron coins. Their appreciation value is particularly low. We usually call these "old life pits" and they are not worth much, ranging from a dozen to several hundred yuan. They are placed in the shop just for the storefront's appeal—after all, we are in the business of antiques, and appearances must be upheld. Nevertheless, losing them wouldn't cause any heartache.

As for those freshly unearthed coins with vibrant rust, we call these "unripened pits." These are considerably more valuable, especially the ancient coins that had limited circulation at their time—some can fetch astronomical prices. Those items we would never place in the shop. Moreover, anything worth over a thousand yuan will definitely not be stored in the shop.

I still live in the old house I once shared with my father, an old Siheyuan on the outskirts of Taiyuan's Xiaodian District. It has been passed down from my grandfather's era, nearly a hundred years now. Perhaps because my family's spot is somewhat remote, it was never affected by demolition developments and managed to be preserved.

Because Uncle Li refused to drink with me and I have no real friends in this cold city to share joys and sorrows with heart-to-heart, after leaving the shop I simply bought a couple of bottles of alcohol and some peanuts and took the bus straight home.

Strangely enough, after getting off the bus and walking through the small alley where my home is located, I constantly felt like someone was following me. I can't tell if it was an illusion, but the alley felt much colder than usual. Turning back several times, I saw no one and eventually chided myself for being overly suspicious—as if the whole world was eyeing the treasure I had just obtained. Shaking my head, I approached my front door only to find a red card similar to an invitation pinned to the door handle. Curiosity led me to take a look at it, but what I saw left me completely stunned.

"Husband: Ge Tianzhong, born at the fourth hour of the fourth day of April in 1996.

Wife: Hua Mulan, born at the twenty-sixth hour of the fifth day of May in 412.

Betrothed joyfully on July 31, 2015...

That's roughly the content on the red card. I couldn't help but widen my eyes.

A marriage certificate?

And it's between me and Hua Mulan?

Suddenly, I felt like I was having the weirdest day ever. Who the hell thought it was funny to make up a marriage certificate between me and a woman who's been dead for over a thousand years? It's absurd.

I threw the red card away without much thought, and upon returning to my living quarters, I placed the Bai Pi Dao on the sofa and started drinking by myself. Ever since my father's departure, I've been quite depressed and developed a habit of drinking a bit of alcohol every night. A few ounces help me to drop off to sleep without thinking too much, bringing some solace to my heart.

Today, after acquiring the Bai Pi Dao, my mood was exceptionally good, so I drank a little too much, coddling the sword as I fell asleep. I don't know how long I was out, but I was suddenly awakened by a loud crash at the yard gate.

My first thought was that we had been burglarized. But for some reason, my body was devoid of strength, limbs pinned down as if crushed by a heavy weight, unable to even open my eyes. It felt unnaturally cold around me, a chill penetrating to the bone, raising goosebumps all over my body.

Damn, could it be sleep paralysis?

Though I couldn't open my eyes, my mind was alert, oddly coming up with such an idea. At that moment, I recalled some information I'd read—scientists consider sleep paralysis to be a kind of sleep disorder. The person's brain waves are still fluctuating, the perceptions are very clear, but the muscles are stiff, unable to move. It's not caused by any demons or monsters. Many people have experienced this phenomenon, and generally speaking, one needs only to keep breathing deeply and relax the body and nerves gradually to recover.

With that in mind, I started trying to regulate my breathing. But before I could relax, I heard the door to the main room creak open, and the cold intensified, my whole body shivering as my teeth chattered uncontrollably.

Tap... Tap...

A strange patter emanated from the living room, rhythmically, one step after another...

It seemed as if... someone was pacing in the living room!

For a good ten seconds or more, the peculiar tapping sound finally ceased. However, I felt even worse as I was somehow conscious of being closely watched by something right beside me!

"I've caught you..."

A ghastly and eerie whisper suddenly filled my ear, the area feeling icy as though someone was blowing cold air into it. Then, a moist and cold thing kept moving around my ear, an utterly unpleasant sensation as if a slimy, soft creature was squirming there, repeating the same sentence: "I've caught you..."

"I like him, too."

Another chilling man's voice echoed: "I really want to stay here and never leave..."

"Shut up!"

Suddenly, a sharp rebuke broke the silence, a woman's voice, melodious and clear.

At once, the two weird and chilling voices, along with the disgusting feeling on my ear, disappeared. That sharp exclamation made my consciousness blur, and faintly, I heard the woman's voice again, sounding very soft, as if murmuring to herself: "Is it you? I've been looking for you for so long... don't worry, we'll see each other again."

Right after that, a gust of cold wind swept past me, and the room that had been so cold suddenly warmed up again. My paralyzed limbs gradually regained movement.

"Huff..."

I took deep breaths, glanced at the clock on the wall— it was past three in the morning. Calming myself, I quickly checked the doors and windows in the living room, and after making sure everything was securely locked, I fell into deep contemplation.

Could it be that all those odd experiences were just a nightmare?

But even now, thinking back on it, I felt a pang of residual fear.

Thus engrossed in thought, I returned to the living room, but before I could shake off the creepy nightmare, I was startled by something on the coffee table—I almost jumped out of my skin!

The mysterious marriage certificate that I had thrown away at my front door that afternoon... it was back, sitting on my coffee table!!!

I was utterly shocked, and at that moment I suddenly remembered something I had overlooked—my birth information on that marriage certificate was completely correct, down to the last detail!

In our family's business, it's not rare to encounter strange things, and we take some matters very seriously. Since I was a child, my father always warned me not to disclose my birthdate and time carelessly, asserting that it could be connected to one's fate. If someone with bad intentions knew it, they could use it against me!!

Thus, my birthdate and time were always a secret; other than my father and grandfather, only I knew them!!

Damn it, how could the author of this marriage certificate know about my birthdate and time?

In that moment, I felt as if I had plunged into an abyss of ice, enveloped by an inexplicable fear...