If I had known Xiang’s body would be exploited by grave robbers, I would have stayed awake every night to guard her until the forty-nine-day period had passed. I never used to believe in ghosts, but after handling so many corpses and hearing Chow’s tales of yin and yang taboos, I’ve come to accept that there’s a world for the dead. In other words, as my skills in corpse retrieval improved, the worldview of a corpse retriever gradually took shape in my mind.
Life had to go on, and it was the peak season for corpse retrieval—a great time to make money. However, because of Xiang’s situation, Chow didn’t let me enter the water again. According to him, I was now entangled in Xiang’s karma and shouldn’t form contracts with other spirits. I asked him when this would end, and after a long silence, he said, “It depends on how far she’s willing to go. My guess is this won’t end peacefully. Think about it—Xiang’s life was full of suffering. After losing her mind, she was mistreated for years. Now, after death, her body was dug up and sold for a ghost marriage. Her resentment might rival that of the Yellow River Maiden.”
I had to agree. Xiang’s life and death were both tragic. If it were me, I wouldn’t rest peacefully either.
Rural life is full of events. When I’m away, it’s fine, but now that I’m back home, I can’t avoid weddings, funerals, and other ceremonies. An old scoundrel from our village, Cai, had died, and as a junior relative, I was obligated to keep vigil for him.
Cai was a despicable man. Even in his old age, he hadn’t reformed, often harassing widows and tricking young girls with candy. Xiang had been one of his victims, and some even said he had violated her. People say the good die young while the wicked live long, and Cai had lived into his seventies, still strong enough to overpower young men when drunk. No one expected him to hang himself naked from the old locust tree at the village entrance.
No one mourned his death—only remarked that he got what he deserved. That night, only a few of us, close relatives who couldn’t refuse, kept vigil.
Keeping vigil is tedious, and young people crave excitement. Knowing I worked with Chow as a corpse retriever, they asked if I’d encountered anything supernatural. Bored, I shared a few eerie tales I’d heard from Chow. Talking about real events, though, I most wanted to talk about Xiang, but her karma wasn’t resolved, so I didn’t dare mention her.
“Lan, I heard you retrieved the body of Xiang, the foolish girl from Shili Crossing,” my cousin Ann suddenly asked.
I didn’t confirm or deny, asking why he brought up Xiang. Ann glanced at Cai’s memorial tablet on the altar and whispered, “Lan, I saw Cai the night before he died.”
Ann had become obsessed with fishing after catching a nine-pound red carp in the Yellow River, often fishing through the night. He said that around midnight, he saw Cai walking naked through the village.
“Maybe he was sleepwalking,” I suggested.
“Besides Cai, I also saw…” Ann paused, swallowing hard.
“Saw what? Did he have a rope? Did he accidentally hang himself while sleepwalking?” Po, a brash villager, chimed in.
“Lan, let’s talk outside. Some things are hard to say in front of Cai.”
Outside Cai’s courtyard, I handed Ann a cigarette.
“Lan, I’m telling you this because I know you’re brave. I saw Cai running naked, and behind him, there was a woman.”
“What kind of woman?” I asked.
“Just a shadow. I couldn’t see her face, but the way she walked reminded me of Xiang from Shili Crossing.”
“Are you sure?” I felt a chill but kept my composure.
“Of course not. If I were sure, I wouldn’t dare tell you. I was so scared I didn’t even turn on my flashlight,” Ann said.
“You’re brave enough to keep vigil tonight, though.”
“I didn’t want to, but we’re close relatives.”
Though Ann wasn’t certain, I suspected Xiang was involved. First, Cai would never willingly kill himself. Second, he had wronged Xiang.
After chatting with Ann and reassuring him that ghosts were just people’s imaginations, we returned to the vigil. The first half of the night was filled with conversation, but by the second half, exhaustion set in, and the hall was silent except for the crackling of candles.
Around 2 a.m., the others were asleep, and I was about to doze off when a cold wind swept through the hall, followed by a cat’s meow.
“A cat resurrects, a dog startles the soul.”
I wondered where the cat was when a black shadow flashed before my eyes. A large black cat was now perched on the coffin.
The black cat was Cai’s. Despite being hated by his neighbors, he had treated this cat like a son. The cat stared at me with piercing eyes. Knowing cats were bad omens, I waved my mourning stick to scare it away, but it didn’t budge. I even thought I saw it smirk.
Panicking, I wanted to wake the others, but then came a series of thuds from the coffin. My hair stood on end.
Resurrection is terrifying, especially for a corpse retriever. If Cai climbed out of the coffin in front of me, how could I ever retrieve corpses from the Yellow River again?
The noise grew louder, but the others remained asleep. Fortunately, Cai’s coffin had been nailed shut early, so he couldn’t get out immediately. Coffin nails, or “descendant nails,” are made of brass and nailed by descendants on the day of burial. Cai had no descendants, so his coffin was nailed shut early, mainly because his death was suspicious, and they feared supernatural disturbances.
As the saying goes, “Better the monk die than the beggar.” I decided to flee before Cai could climb out, leaving the others to their fate.
I turned to run, but the heavy wooden doors creaked shut, refusing to open no matter how hard I pushed.
“Damn it, I’ve already surrendered. Can’t you give me a way out?”
Pressed against the door, I turned back to face Cai’s coffin. It shook violently, as if the ground itself trembled. The black cat’s smirk grew wider and more sinister.
“Meow!”
With a piercing cry, the cat leaped onto the beam, and the coffin lid was pushed open, crashing to the ground. Cai, dressed in burial clothes, sat up, his pale, lifeless face and dull eyes scanning the room. When his gaze finally settled, it locked onto me.
“Hehehe…”
Cai cackled as he jumped out of the coffin. The black cat, timing it perfectly, landed in his arms.
I’ve never seen anything so eerie: the resurrected Cai, holding the black cat, slowly advancing toward me.
In this desperate moment, I steeled myself. Running wouldn’t save me; facing it might not be the worst.
I’m Lan, born under the sign of the Nine Dragons Governing Water. Spirits avoid me. Why should I fear a dead man?
I gripped my mourning stick, ready to deliver a decisive blow when Cai got close. But before he could, the black cat, seemingly more hostile than Cai, leaped from his arms, claws extended, straight at me.
“To hell with you, die!”
I swung the stick with all my might, aiming for the cat’s head.