Chapter 12: Just a Haunted House
The calico cat pressed her four paws firmly against the ground, each paw pad splaying out. She bit a weed tuft, trying hard to pull it out.
“Plop…” The weed growing in the crack between the stone slabs was uprooted.
The calico cat quickly steadied herself to avoid tumbling. Then she dragged the weed tuft to the doorway.
There was a small pile of about a dozen tufts. Next to it was a larger pile, about half a human’s height.
The calico cat paused and turned her head to glance at Song You, who was bending over not far away. Then she looked again at the significant difference between the two piles of weeds. Her small face was expressionless but she secretly envied the dexterity of humans. Then she ran back immediately to continue her weeding mission.
An hour later, the courtyard became neat.
“Lady Calico.”
“Yes?”
“Could I trouble you to go onto the roof and remove the wild grasses growing on the tiles too?” Song You stood almost at the doorway, craning his neck to look at the roof. After hesitating for a moment, he finally decided to let the Dunce Caps be. This was despite the folk saying that having them grow on the roof causes a household’s downfall and signifies bad luck.
But they really were beautiful. “Remember not to pluck out those Dunce Caps that look like flowers.”
“Got it.” The calico cat nimbly climbed onto the roof in a few swift moves. The tiles clattered for a moment.
Seeing the courtyard house gradually become more habitable due to his and the calico cat’s great efforts, Song You felt quite satisfied even if the house was just a rental.
He spent the rest of the morning chopping unruly bamboo and trimming plum branches.
The afternoon was spent purchasing various items.
Song You was in no rush to buy everything at once and immediately turn the whole courtyard house into a perfect fit for his lifestyle. Instead, he strolled through the streets outside with Lady Calico, buying things whenever he saw the need without overthinking it.
Surprisingly, this took up the entire afternoon.
Throughout the afternoon as they went in and out, neighbors continued to cast curious glances at him. Song You considered asking about the house's history in order to understand his temporary lodgings and his neighbors better. However, he got busy and felt it wasn’t necessary.
To others, a haunted house might be extremely terrifying. To him, it was just a bit tainted.
No big deal.
Before he knew it, it was evening again.
Song You carried an old chair and sat down in the courtyard. He listened to the wind rustling the bamboo leaves and watched the scattered cumulus clouds tinged with sunset glow in the sky.
The calico cat wandered around the courtyard, occasionally chatting with him. For example, complaining about the lack of mice in the courtyard house and mentioning that the neighbors also had a cat. He would usually respond patiently and chat with her for a while.
In this era, a day was neither long nor short. Song You woke up very early everyday but also went to bed very early due to the lack of entertainment activities.
Compared to his life in the previous world, he gained the early morning just when dawn broke. A day is more complete when one experiences the dawn. On the flip side, he lost much of the night that just began after dark.
Once he got used to it though, he found it quite good.
The clouds overhead gradually turned golden with the sunset, then briefly dyed pink before darkening to a deep gray, like ashes after a fire. It was as if the pure sky was reminding Song You of the era he was in.
“Night has fallen…”
The courtyard gradually darkened.
Song You felt a gust of ghastly wind, and a cold chill spread over from the direction of the bamboo grove. He turned his head and noticed a faint shadow, blurry and indistinct.
At the same time, the calico cat ran over at once and stopped in front of Song You, looking around warily.
“Are you protecting me?”
The calico cat didn’t reply, and continued looking around.
A shadow flickered among the bamboo.
Song You looked closely and saw what seemed like someone dancing.
The ornamental bamboo grew close to the white walls. As the light dimmed, it became hard to distinguish between bamboo and shadows against the white wall. There was a human shadow intermittently visible among the bamboo shadows, as if the white wall was her performance’s backdrop. Each time he saw her shadow, she was in a different pose. She was as agile as a crane and moved freely at will.
He rented a cheap house and it even came with song and dance performances.
Thinking about it, it was quite a bargain.
Only after the dance ended did Song You stand up and bow towards that direction. He said, “Lady, since you’ve become a ghost, why do you linger in the house of the living? Is there some secret or lingering attachment?”
No response, just like yesterday.
Song You pondered and realized…
She was likely driven by obsession, remaining as a ghost was already her limit. However, she no longer retained all her memories or intelligence from when she was alive. Such ghosts had low intelligence. If they were malevolent ghosts, they were simply vengeful spirits who only knew to harm people. Even if they didn’t harm people, they were difficult to communicate with. They would just engage in some activities they habitually liked to perform while alive.
So be it, as long as they didn’t disturb each other.
Song You stretched and waited for the ghost to disappear. He looked down at the calico cat by his feet and suddenly asked, “Lady Calico.”
The calico cat quickly turned her head at his call. “Yes? What is it?”
“Were you originally a house cat or a stray cat?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Just curious suddenly.”
“I wasn’t a house cat.”
“Were you a stray cat?”
“I had a mother.”
“And then?”
“She starved to death.”
“I see.”
The term "stray cat" here refers to homeless cats without owners, not wildcats.
Lady Calico was obviously not a wildcat. She was an exquisite and beautiful long-haired calico cat. According to her story, her mother was likely a house cat that had left her owner. A kitten’s attitude towards humans is significantly influenced by the mother cat’s teaching by word and example. Her mother was used to interacting with humans, which explained why she was intimate with humans.
“I’ve always wanted to know how you became a demon.”
“I just did.”
“Fair enough…” Song You shook his head, not pressing further. After thinking for a moment, he asked the calico cat again, “In that case, Lady Calico should be a female cat, right?”
The calico cat immediately looked at him as if he was an idiot.
Song You could only shake his head again, pretending he never asked.
He sat in the courtyard for a while longer, and listened to two more tunes. With nothing else to do, Song You went back to his room to rest.
He had a sort of premonition that perhaps his future nights would be spent like this for a long time. Thinking of this, he had to thank the ghost in the courtyard house. She more or less added some entertainment to the boring nights.
***
A few days later.
Song You went out to buy an oil lamp and also filled a jug with lamp oil. He even spent a huge sum on a book called Yudi Jisheng[1].
Yudi Jisheng was a relatively popular travel guide in this world at the moment. It detailed many well-known scenic spots, travel routes, accommodations, local specialties and delicacies etc. It also described some immortal mountains, famous rivers, as well as Daoist and Buddhist temples.
It helped Song You to get an overview of the realm.
Upon returning home, he saw a group of people sitting under the large tree next door. Some were enjoying the cool shade while others were playing chess. He couldn’t help going over to have a look.
Several old men were playing Chinese chess.
Two were playing, while three or five others watched.
Not far away, another group sat and chatted about trivial matters such as someone’s daughter getting married and whose son couldn’t find a wife.
Mosquitoes were numerous and vicious during summer days. The people here wielded palm-leaf fans and the night was filled with the sound of fans hitting their bodies.
Over the past few days, Song You noticed a visible change in the neighbors’ attitudes toward him.
Initially, they had the attitude of watching the show, not believing he would be able to stay long. They often privately discussed how many days he would last. However, they just observed him come and go each day without any panic or fear over the past few days. He appeared to have settled in. Combined with his initial arrival dressed in a Daoist robe, the neighbors began to regard him with respect.
After Song You had watched for a while, someone came over and started a conversation.
“Young Mister, have you had dinner?”
Song You turned to see that it was the lady from the house diagonally across the street. He vaguely remembered that her husband seemed to be a public official.
“I have.”
“This house hasn’t been rented out for years. Even when someone rented it, they would break the lease the same day.” The lady curiously asked, “You live here and hear this ghost’s singing every night. Are you really not afraid at all?”
Her question drew many curious glances aimed at Song You in the dim evening light.
Clearly, everyone was interested in such a topic.
Perhaps this haunted house had provided them with much fodder for conversation during their boring leisure time over the past few years. They had talked about it for a long time, but this was the first time they saw someone living in it for so many days. Naturally, it added a new topic about the house to discuss.
Nevertheless, Song You just watched the old men playing chess, and said with a smile, “Don’t you all hear it too?”
So he really wasn’t afraid!
Some people felt a chill in their hearts.
They had thought he might have gone to bed early or slept soundly and missed it.
Everyone looked at one other.
“We know the ghost can’t leave this courtyard. Besides when it’s not occupied, she only acts up every few days.” The lady said, “Moreover, we don’t do shameful deeds during the day, so we don’t fear ghosts knocking at the door in the night.”
“That’s true.”
Song You continued watching the old men play chess.
The wooden chess pieces clattered sharply and clearly against one another.
Humans would become ghosts after death. By nature, ghosts were weaker than humans. Any ghosts stronger than humans would have had some cultivation skills. Most ghosts would be weaker than humans.
Many malevolent ghosts could only harm people through deception and intimidation. A normal person who was neither greedy nor fearful had little reason to fear ghosts.
Song You has even heard of a strong man encountering a ghost at night who turned the tables by bullying the ghost instead.
At this moment, the lady asked again. “Since you have the skills, why didn’t you exorcize the ghost?”
“It’s just a wisp of a remnant soul. I owe her gratitude for allowing me to rent such a cheap house. How could I repay kindness with enmity?” Song You turned towards the older married woman and bowed with a smile. “Besides, long nights can be dull. With her around, it adds a bit of interest.”
Hearing this, many listeners immediately understood.
This young Daoist priest was not only really unafraid but he truly had skills. To him, a ghost that ordinary people would hasten to avoid was unworthy of attention.
1. A comprehensive celebrated geography book from Southern Song dynasty by Wang Xiangzhi. ☜
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