The ghastly ghost claims lives

That night, at around eleven o'clock, I was awakened by a push. Rubbing my blurry eyes, I saw that Zhou Jing and Zhang Jinya were already prepared, and Blackie was squatting at the door, waiting for me.

"Hurry up and get up!" Zhang Jinya urged me, stuffing a bundle of sanitary pads into my pocket and leaving two pieces of yellow paper with strange patterns on them beside me. He said, "The red dragon is for protection, and these two yellow papers are palm thunder. If anything goes wrong, use these papers to hit the chest of that woman! But I don't think we'll need them. The woman has just formed her spirit tonight and may not be harmful yet. Take these things for your own safety. Let's go, we don't have much time. Midnight is when Yin energy is strongest, and it's also when spirits form. We can't delay."

Upon hearing this, I became considerably more alert. I quickly got up from bed and put on my shoes. Luckily, I had slept in my clothes, so I didn't have to bother with dressing. I slung the Bai Bi Dao over my back and followed Zhang Jinya out the door.

When we arrived, the old village chief and four or five young men from the village were already waiting at Erniu's house. As we approached, they greeted us. "Zhang Daochang, I've prepared everything you asked for. The nine roosters are the strongest in the village."

"Very good," Zhang Jinya nodded. "Now, you all go back. Remember, tell everyone in the village not to come out no matter what they hear tonight. And don't come to this place. If anything happens, we won't take responsibility!"

"Don't worry, I've informed everyone, even Erniu's family," the old village chief assured us before leaving with the young men.

Once they were gone, Zhang Jinya led me to a small grove about thirty meters away from where Erniu's coffin was placed. He chose an old tree to lean against and instructed me and Zhou Jing, "You two must obey my commands. As soon as I give the order, untie the red ropes from the roosters' mouths and let them crow loudly to activate the Nine Yang Trapping Souls Formation I've set up, trapping that woman inside. Then we can question her. Understand?"

Zhou Jing and I nodded. We remembered the locations of the roosters clearly and knew what to do.

With the arrangements made, Zhang Jinya ignored us and closed his eyes to rest. I found a tree to lean against and patiently waited. Blackie lay beside me, strangely affectionate. So, I decided to lean against him for a more comfortable position. Perhaps due to the day's exertion, I fell asleep.

I'm not sure how long I slept, but I woke up feeling Blackie nudging my leg. Opening my eyes, I saw Zhang Jinya and Zhou Jing peering out from behind a low bush, watching Erniu's coffin.

"You're really something!" Zhang Jinya grinned when he saw me, his gold tooth gleaming. "You managed to fall asleep even when you knew a spirit was about to appear. Your nerves are almost as big as your old man's, who could sleep soundly in an ancient tomb. "

I smiled wryly. I didn't want to admit that my body was weak, and today's running around had exhausted me. Normally, I would have been knocked out already. Managing to stay awake until now was a miracle. My sleepiness had nothing to do with being nerveless. I was just tired!

Ignoring his comment, I approached quietly with Blackie.

"You're right!" Zhang Jinya exclaimed in a hushed voice. "This is definitely a malicious ghost. Just after forming, she's already becoming a vengeful spirit. If we hadn't encountered her right after her formation, we'd be in trouble once she took a few lives."

As he spoke, the lid of the coffin suddenly banged loudly. It startled me, and then I heard more banging, and the lid began to shake up and down, as if something inside was trying to get out!

The white smoke emanating from the coffin became denser, gradually forming a human shape in front of it.

"This doesn't look good," Zhang Jinya muttered. "This woman just formed her spirit, yet there's so much Yin energy. Looks like tonight's events might not go as planned."

I felt a chill run down my spine. However, before I could ask, the situation changed again. The white smoke in front of the coffin began to dissipate, revealing the silhouette of a woman.

She was wearing a bright red dress, facing away from us, her hair disheveled. Although I couldn't see her face, I could tell from her figure—it was Erniu, wasn't it? Even though her body had been destroyed, leaving a gruesome sight, her figure was still intact. And this woman in the red dress looked just like her, except for one thing—the red light emanating from her body was so intense that it made me think she was wearing red clothes. But upon closer inspection, it was clear that the red light revealed a pale, naked female body!

I suddenly remembered something I had read in a book at home about the lives of the dead. It said that in the underworld, there were no clothes to buy. The spirits wore the burial clothes they were buried in. If they wanted to wear something else, they had to rely on their living relatives to burn it for them. So, if you often dream of a deceased loved one appearing naked or without shoes, it means they don't have clothes or shoes underground, so they send you dreams to burn some for them at their grave.

Erniu died tragically, and her family barely bought her a thin coffin. They didn't even provide her with burial clothes. She was stripped naked by those autopsy butchers and thrown into the coffin. It's normal for her to not have any clothes now that she's a spirit.

Thinking of this, I felt even more pity for Erniu.

Zhang Jinya, by my side, also seemed to have noticed the secret of Erniu's appearance. He gasped and whispered, "Damn it, this is clearly a fierce ghost. Just formed, and already with blood-red eyes, full of resentment from her past life's suffering. Now she's knocking on her own door, obviously intending to take revenge on her abusive parents!"

With that, Zhang Jinya stood up from the bush, shouting, "You evil creature, I'm here. Do you dare harm anyone?"

With a swift motion, he pulled out a "Red Dragon" from his pocket and stuck it on his chest. Then, holding a string soaked in black dog's blood, he rushed towards Erniu's spirit.