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43. Ghostbusters Are Afraid of Ghosts?

Somehow,

it was already evening. The day was long in the summer, and the sun was still high in the sky,

pulling the shadows long.

The

first thing Chen Ming did after coming home was to take out the instant

noodle cup. He poured in hot water, stuck the fork on the lid, and waited to eat it.

He felt

bored and took out a book, and he laughed when reading it. Zhou Nan was

curious and saw the

dark cover with gilded names: “A Hundred Thousand Ghost Stories.”

He

was utterly shocked.

“Haven’t

you been afraid of ghosts?” He couldn’t help asking.

Chen

Ming rolled his eyes to think about it carefully. After a while, he

admitted, “Yes, I have.”

Chen

Ming, afraid of ghosts?

Zhou

Nan immediately took an interest in his shameful history and sat opposite

him on a small chair. He put his hands on his knees and stared at Chen Ming,

“Tell me about it.”

Chen

Ming put”A Hundred Thousand Ghost Stories” aside, cleared his

throat, and started.

“I

forgot how old I was. I just remembered going out with a neighboring family of

three and picking the cherries all day. They drove me home, and we had dinner

at a Xianghe Meat Pie by the road. Alas, those pies were so delicious. My mouth is watering, even when I am thinking about it.” With that, he started to smack.

Zhou

Nan showed a disdained look, “Get to the point.”

“It

was already dark when we hit the road again. The father didn’t want to go by

the highway because it was too far, so he took the shortcut mountain road.” Chen

Ming paused, pulled out the fork, and checked if the noddles were ready.

Not yet. He stuck the fork back and continued, ” At first, the street

lights on both sides worked, but they

were all out after a while, and the navigation was useless either. Just like when

you were scared to death by the fierce ghost, a standard beginning of a

ghost story.”

He

glanced at Zhou Nan and found the coward already looked nervous.

“Ah… And

then?” Zhou Nan asked gingerly.

“Then,

we wandered in the mountain for a long time and couldn’t get out. The family

stopped the car and got out to look for signs. That’s right, they left me alone in

the car.” Now, Chen Ming was still a little angry. “Leaving a

kid who was small enough to take the bus for free in the car alone. Would anyone sane do that?”

Zhou Nan was so imaginative that he almost put

himself in Chen Ming’s shoes, ” I guess it was safer in the car at that

time.”

Chen

Ming snorted, ” I wouldn’t stay put! I went out in the opposite

direction.”

Zhou

Nan didn’t make a sound. He grabbed the pillow and buried half his face,

only to stare at Chen

Ming fixedly, both afraid and curious.

“The

light of the flashlight was dim, and I tripped over the vines a few times. After

walking in the woods for a long time, I entered a small

village.” Chen Ming squinted his eyes to recall carefully, “It was

a backward abandoned village with no light or sound. I walked leaning against the dappled

walls slowly, and as I passed a crossroad, I looked to the right. There was a large

white cloth hanging at the end of the alley, drifting back and forth by the

wind. It seemed there were words on it.

Zhou

Nan cried in fear like a cat.

“I

felt those words were telling me how to get out, so I went to check it.”

“Aren’t

you afraid?” Zhou Nan was into the story, “Don’t go …”

Chen

Ming held back his smile and continued, “I approached to grab the

cloth. But the wind seemed to go against me deliberately, and I couldn’t catch

it. When I lost my balance and fell forward, the whole cloth fell and covered

me. Oh, fuck, don’t bite my pillow!”

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