Do you know why you shouldn’t open the curtains when taking a train at night?
When I was on the train, the mountain was blocked by heavy snow.
I saw a tall figure with long limbs in the mountain, waving at me in the thick fog.
When I was wondering what it was, my dad’s face changed drastically. He quickly closed the curtain.
Shivering, he said to my mom,
“It’s coming.”
1
“What’s coming?”
It was nearly six o’clock in the afternoon, and the sky had already darkened.
My mom was dozing off in her seat, half – asleep.
“It… it’s it. It’s coming. It’s staring straight at me in the mountain.”
My dad repeated, his eyes filled with indescribable fear.
The temperature in the carriage was comfortable. Everyone was wearing thick cotton – padded clothes and their faces were red with heat.
Only my dad’s face was as white as if he had been dead for three days.
My mom seemed to remember something. Her eyes widened, and she became fully alert in an instant.
“Did you maybe see it wrong? It’s been decades. That thing should have died of old age by now.”
My dad shook his head. “I don’t think I was wrong.”
Hearing this, my mom’s face also turned pale.
She opened the curtain a tiny crack and quietly looked outside.
After looking for a while, some color finally returned to my mom’s face.
“You must have seen it wrong. There’s nothing in the mountain.”
My mom gave my dad a hard pinch on the flesh around his waist. “You scoundrel, did you deliberately scare me when you saw I was about to fall asleep?”
The pain in his waist made my dad frown. He muttered, “Impossible. I clearly saw it.”
“Still pretending?”
My mom rolled her eyes.
“We’ve moved away for so many years, and that thing has never appeared. Why would it show up when we go on a long – distance trip?
“Do you know where this is? It’s nearly two hundred kilometers away from there.”
My dad nodded.
“You’re right. Maybe I was wrong.
“Even if that thing didn’t die, it shouldn’t be able to catch up from such a long distance.”
He was a bit reluctant. He opened the curtain a small crack again and took a look.
Just one look, and my dad trembled all over, almost jumping up from his seat.
My dad’s reaction made the people in the carriage confused, and they all looked at him.
My mom gave him a hard slap. “What are you making such a fuss about?”
My dad pulled the curtain tightly shut. It took him a long time to stop shaking.
“It’s coming. It’s really coming.”
2
Seeing that my dad’s face didn’t seem like he was joking.
My mom also took a look through the curtain crack.
The next second, she trembled and slumped in her seat.
My dad put his arm around my mom’s body. His whole body was shaking along with my mom’s, and he seemed completely at a loss.
“What should we do? It’s coming. We can’t escape.”
My mom said with a mournful face.
“Why?
“It’s been decades, and it was the mistake of the older generation. Why does it keep pestering us?”
I was a bit confused by my parents’ reaction.
“Dad, Mom, what on earth is that thing?”
My dad shook his head. “We can’t say its name. If we do, it will remember our voices, and we’ll really have no chance.”
I didn’t quite understand why my parents were so scared. Out of curiosity, I took a look through the window.
That figure was much bigger than when I first saw it. It seemed to be covered in thick hair.
Because it was too dark and the distance was far, I couldn’t see clearly what it looked like.
I only knew it was a human – shaped creature with long limbs.
Originally, it was on the halfway up the mountain, but in just a few words’ time, it had reached the foot of the mountain.
For some reason, my legs seemed to stop listening to me. They started trembling without my permission.
My mom pinched her thigh hard, and then she regained some strength.
She looked at my dad and said, “Old Li, we can’t just sit here and wait to die.”
My dad nodded.
“But the mountain is blocked by heavy snow, and the train has stopped. We don’t know how long it will be before the traffic resumes.
“That thing can catch up from a distance of one or two hundred kilometers. From such a close distance, it will be here soon.”
My dad thought for a while and then went to another carriage to find the conductor.
After a while, he came back.
“How is it?” My mom asked eagerly.
My dad’s face was extremely ugly. “The snow is too heavy. It will be at least tomorrow before the traffic can resume.”
My mom sat down on the seat weakly. “It’s over.”
3
My dad was silent for a while. Then he suddenly pulled my mom up from the seat.
“Quick, let’s go to another carriage.
“There are so many people on the train, and the smell is messy. If we change our position, maybe that thing won’t be able to find us.”
My mom quickly got up, left her seat, and took me into another carriage.
In this era, there were not many train lines. The carriage was crowded with people, and the noise was deafening.
Looking at the dense crowd around, my dad finally relaxed a little.
The three of us stood in a corner of the carriage. My parents held my hands respectively.
I could feel that their palms were slippery with sweat.
“Now we can only wait. Even if that thing is powerful, it shouldn’t be able to break the train.
“As long as the traffic resumes, we’ll be safe. That thing can’t catch up.”
My mom nodded slightly, saying nothing.
Just then, someone in the carriage suddenly let out a scream.
The originally noisy carriage fell silent instantly. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound.
The person who made the sound was a young man.
Under the dim light, his eyes were fixed on his phone, and his face was full of tears.
“Dad, Mom…”
The voice was extremely tragic.
My parents pushed through the crowd and went to take a look.
After seeing the young man’s face clearly, the two of them looked at each other, and their faces changed slightly.
“Dongzi, what happened?”
Seeing Dongzi’s tears streaming down, my mom handed him a piece of paper and asked in confusion.
Dongzi and my parents were from the same village. My family lived at the east end of the village, and Dongzi lived at the west end.
Although we hardly had any interaction in normal times, we still knew each other. I didn’t expect to meet him on the same train.
Dongzi looked up at my parents. “Brother Li, Sister – in – law, my parents are gone.”
“What?” My parents looked at each other and asked eagerly, “What happened?”
Dongzi raised his phone and showed the screen to my parents.
I was also curious and took a look. On the phone screen, there was a bloody scene.
In the picture was the yard of Dongzi’s house. Two people were lying in the yard, without heads, and their bodies were twisted almost beyond recognition.
The bodies were also chewed to pieces by something unknown, and the ground was covered with blood.
We could only tell from the clothes that they were Dongzi’s parents.
4
The passengers around looked at this scene and their faces changed.
“How pitiful.”
“Did a bear enter the village? There are such things in the mountains here.”
“That kind of harmful beast should be killed.”
The passengers whispered to each other.
Only my parents hung their heads, saying nothing.
This was the first time in my nearly ten – year life that I had seen such a scene. I felt a bit sick.
Forcing back the urge to vomit, I whispered to my parents,
“Dad, Mom, could it be that thing that did this?”
My parents quickly covered my mouth. “Don’t talk nonsense.”
Dongzi seemed to have heard my words. He suddenly looked up at me. “What did you say? What thing?”
My dad quickly said, “I told him some horror stories before. The child is naive and probably took it seriously. He’s just talking nonsense.”
Just having lost his parents, Dongzi was immersed in grief and didn’t think much about it.
He just held his phone and flipped through the photo album.
“How could this happen? I’ve only been away for a few hours. How could my parents be gone…”
In the photo album were the photos Dongzi took when he went out.
In the photo were his parents, standing outside the courtyard gate, waving at him.
Probably because of the distance, the photo was a bit blurry. We could only see the figures of the two people.
Dongzi stared at the photo, and his tears didn’t stop for a long time.
Just then, someone looked at the photo in Dongzi’s phone and let out a surprised sound. “What’s this?”
Dongzi turned his head in surprise and looked at the middle – aged passenger who spoke.
The middle – aged passenger pointed at Dongzi’s phone. “Enlarge the photo.”
Although Dongzi was a bit confused about what he was going to do, he enlarged the photo a bit.
“Yes, right here.”
The middle – aged man suddenly pointed at the corner of the photo.
Behind the courtyard wall in the photo, there was a vague figure standing.
It was stretching out its long arm, as if waving at the camera. The picture was frozen at that moment.
“What is this thing?” Dongzi’s face changed.
In the photo, his parents were standing in front of the courtyard wall, and their bodies were only a little more than half the height of the wall.
But that vague figure was a whole head taller than the courtyard wall.
That is to say, roughly estimated, that figure was probably more than two meters tall.
Seeing this, Dongzi got goosebumps all over.
5
The middle – aged man was silent for a while.
“This thing might be the murderer who killed your parents.”
“Is it, is it a bear?” Dongzi asked tremblingly.
It was winter, and there was almost no sun. Coupled with the fog that couldn’t dissipate all day.
The creature in the photo was black in this kind of environment, and it was hard to tell what it was.
The middle – aged man was silent for a while.
“Maybe.
“But such a big bear, I’ve lived so long and I’ve never seen one like this.”
Someone retorted.
“This thing is definitely not a bear.
“It’s winter. Bears hibernate. How could it come out?
“Besides, this thing has such long arms. A bear’s arms can never stretch that long.”
Dongzi’s body swayed. “Then what on earth is this?”
The passengers nearby who saw this scene were all silent. No one could answer.
My parents looked at each other.
A look of struggle flashed in my mom’s eyes. She opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something.
My dad quietly pulled the corner of my mom’s clothes and gently shook his head.
In the end, my parents didn’t say a word about that thing.
They comforted Dongzi a few words and then took me to the corner of the carriage again.
“Dad, Mom, why didn’t you tell Brother Dongzi?” I asked in a low voice.
My dad didn’t answer me. He just lowered his voice and said to my mom,
“We can’t tell this. Dongzi just came out not long ago, and he still has the breath of his parents on him.
“That thing ate the old couple. Maybe its attention will be on Dongzi. Then we can…”
My dad didn’t finish the rest of the sentence, but my mom already understood what he meant.
If that thing’s attention shifted to Dongzi, our family would have a greater chance of survival.
“But Dongzi is innocent…” My mom couldn’t bear it.
My dad looked at me, gritted his teeth, and said, “The lives of our family of three are more important. We can only be sorry to Dongzi.”
My mom fell silent.
I didn’t quite understand what my parents were talking about. I just felt that the air seemed to freeze.
Time passed by minute by minute.
Soon, it was completely dark outside. It was pitch – black outside the window, and you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.
It was already nine o’clock at night, and nothing had happened yet.
My parents’ tense nerves finally relaxed a bit.
“That thing really seems to find people by smell. There are so many people on the train. It can’t find us, and probably can’t find Dongzi either. So it doesn’t dare to act rashly.”
Just then, there was a dull thud on the top of the carriage.
It was like something heavy had fallen on it.
6
Some people who had already fallen asleep were instantly awakened.
“What happened?”
Bang, bang.
Then, there were two more dull thuds. The thing that fell on the carriage could move.
The sound was very much like footsteps, as if that thing was walking.
“What’s on the roof of the carriage?” The passengers in the carriage looked panicked.
“Old Li, is it coming?” My mom’s face was even paler.
“Quiet. Don’t let it hear our voices.”
My dad said with a serious face, hugging me and my mom in his arms.
“This thing is really strange. We’ve changed several carriages. How did it find us?”
“Could it be some large – scale creature jumped onto the train?”
“I guess it’s a tiger or a wild boar or something. Otherwise, it doesn’t have this weight.”
The passengers talked a lot. Some brave ones even used their mobile phones as flashlights and stuck their heads out to look.
“Be careful. Don’t get scratched.” Someone reminded that passenger.
That passenger didn’t say anything.
Almost everyone’s attention in the whole carriage was on that passenger.
Time passed by minute by minute.
After more than twenty seconds, that passenger still didn’t move at all.
The person next to him felt something was wrong and pushed him with his hand.
“What’s on it? Say something.”
Pushing him was okay, but this push led to a big problem.
The passenger’s body fell down limply.
The person next to him then found that his head was gone.
There was a neat cut on the neck, as if his head had been cut off by something sharp.
“Ah…”
I don’t know who let out a scream, and the whole carriage was in chaos instantly.
Everyone panicked and rushed to other carriages.
But there were already a lot of people in the carriage. It was crowded, and people couldn’t move at all.
Our family of three was directly pushed into another carriage by the crowd.
The commotion here soon attracted the attention of the train police.
When two train police saw the passenger who had lost his head, their faces changed greatly.
They quickly asked the people around about what had happened.
After listening, the train police comforted the passengers, turned around and went to another carriage, and locked the doors of the two nearby carriages.
7
After a while, the train police came back, holding a long thing in their hands.
Two medical staff also came with the train police.
“Don’t be nervous, everyone. It was probably injured by wild animals. Remember not to get close to the window. We’ll handle the rest.”
One of the train police listened to the movement coming from the roof.
He opened the window a small crack, and the long thing in his hand emitted fire.
Bang, bang, bang.
After several loud noises, the thing on the roof seemed to be startled. After leaving a mark on the roof, it stopped moving.
“Has it left?” My mom asked in a low voice.
My dad shook his head. “I’m not sure. Don’t move for now.”
The people in the window panicked. “What on earth is that thing?”
No one answered. Even the train police looked solemn.
After a few more minutes, there was still no movement outside. Everyone finally relaxed a bit.
The passenger who had lost his head had been carried away.
To avoid causing a commotion, the train police closed the carriage door tightly and sat in the carriage with the black – colored pole.
My mom looked at the two train police and seemed to feel a bit safer.
“Old Li, with the pole, we should not be afraid of that thing, right?”
My dad said in a low voice,
“You haven’t seen that thing. You don’t know how powerful it is.
“My dad was chased by it back then. The pole was smoking, but it didn’t cause much damage to it.
“I guess it left because there were too many people and it wasn’t easy to attack.
“Also, this thing is very good at bewitching people. We must be careful and not let our guard down.”
My dad and mom were chatting. I stood between them. Unconsciously, as if there was some kind of induction, I looked out of the window.
This look almost scared me out of my wits.
In the pitch – black outside the window, a pair of huge eyes were staring straight at me.
The eyes were as big as a bowl, glowing yellow. The corners of its mouth almost split to the back of its head, as if it was smiling at me.
In an instant, it disappeared into the vast night again.
I was so scared that I lost my voice, and my whole body couldn’t stop shaking.
At this time, my parents noticed my strangeness and asked in a low voice, “What’s wrong?”
It took a long time for my almost – stopped heart to recover.
“Dad, I saw that thing.”
“What?” My dad’s face changed greatly.
8
He subconsciously looked out of the window, but saw nothing.
We could move around in three carriages.
For safety reasons, my parents took me to another carriage.
Another hour passed, and seeing no movement outside, the two train police left.
Because of the death, no one in the carriage could sleep, and gradually some people started talking.
Suddenly, someone looked at Dongzi and said, “Could it be that you brought that thing here?”
Dongzi, who was not far from us, was stunned for a moment. “What are you talking about?”
That person said with reasons, “Your parents were eaten by a strange thing. Did it not have enough and come to look for you by following the smell?”
With someone starting this topic, the discussions in the carriage gradually grew louder.
“Yeah, that thing can grab a person’s head off in an instant. It must not be an ordinary wild animal.”
“Only the thing in your phone photo could do such a thing.”
Dongzi’s face turned pale. “Don’t talk nonsense.”
Someone snatched the phone from Dongzi’s pocket, turned on the screen, and showed the photo to everyone.
“Come and take a look. Isn’t this thing the only one that could be so eerie ?”
After seeing the strange creature in the photo, everyone looked at Dongzi with changed eyes.
“It’s you. It was you who provoked it to come.”
Dongzi was so flustered by everyone’s gaze that he moved towards us for help.
My dad was silent for a while and then said,
“Everyone, don’t think too much. Even if that thing comes, it’s nothing. The train is protecting us.
“Didn’t it jump onto the roof just now, but still couldn’t get in?”
Hearing this, the noisy voices in the carriage gradually quieted down.
Indeed, if the passenger who lost his head hadn’t stuck his head out, he probably wouldn’t have had an accident.
Although that was said, after this incident, almost no one in the carriage could sleep.
At two o’clock in the morning, I was so sleepy that I fell asleep unconsciously.
I don’t know how long it had passed, but in a daze, I felt someone stroking my hair.
This feeling was very comfortable, just like my mom gently caressing my head.
But this action also woke me up. I turned over and said, “Mom, stop touching.”
My mom frowned. “I didn’t touch you.”
She subconsciously looked at my dad, and saw that my dad’s eyes were wide open, and he silently shook his head at my mom.
My mom seemed to understand something and bit her lips tightly.
She hugged me and quietly moved to the other side of the carriage.
9
Shortly after we left, there was a sudden loud noise from the other side of the carriage.
A huge stone fell from the cliff, smashing a crack in the carriage.
The loud noise made the people in the nearby carriages scream.
Two passengers who were close were directly knocked down to the ground by the huge inertia and passed out.
People hadn’t reacted yet.
A long – haired arm stretched out and dragged one of the passengers out.
“Monster! There’s a monster!”
This time, someone saw the figure of that thing through the dim light in the carriage.
For a moment, screams rang out one after another.
The train police came over quickly. “What happened?”
The passenger who saw the thing pointed at the crack smashed by the big stone, trembling.
“Monster! There’s a monster! I saw it. It’s covered in long hair, and its eyes are as big as a bowl.”
The train police shone a flashlight through the crack and looked outside.
“There’s nothing. Are you hallucinating?
“Everyone, don’t panic. It was probably just wild animals in the mountains before.”
“No, someone has been dragged away. We all saw it.” Someone shouted.
The train police frowned. “There’s no missing passenger. Don’t spread scary rumors. It’s just a big stone that fell from the mountain.”
He said a few more words and then turned and left.
My dad’s face was solemn. “This thing is really terrifying. It knows it’s not easy to break through the iron box, so it pushed a stone down the mountain.”
“Old Li, you mean this stone was pushed down by it?” My mom’s face turned pale.
My dad nodded. “Its target is mostly us. Maybe it didn’t expect that I found it just now.”
Thinking of what happened just now, my dad’s face lost all color.
“Its arms are very long. Just the forearm is thicker than my thigh.”
“What should we do now?” My mom asked anxiously.
My dad shook his head. “Now we can only wait and see. Since that thing didn’t succeed, it definitely won’t leave easily. We have to be more careful.”
As soon as he finished speaking, someone in the carriage screamed again, shaking all over.
“I saw it. It’s like a hairy giant. It just flashed by outside the car.”
“What on earth does this monster want to do?”
The carriage was in a panic, and everyone was in a mess.
“Should we escape? If we stay here any longer, this monster might harm all of us.”
I don’t know who said this, and then someone started to echo. This kind of voice gradually became more in the carriage.
Even in the end, there were few voices of opposition.
10
“Are you crazy? If you run out now, you’ll just become easy targets for that monster.” Someone shouted.
Unfortunately, this kind of dissuading words didn’t have any effect.
Someone had already picked up a window – breaking hammer and smashed it at the window.
Dongzi came over from somewhere and said to my parents, “Brother Li, Sister – in – law, let’s escape too.”
My dad shook his head.
Dongzi tried to persuade a few more times. Seeing that he couldn’t convince my parents, he followed the crowd and went out.
Looking at Dongzi’s back, I always felt something was wrong. It seemed that there was an extra memory in my mind.
I tugged at the corner of my dad’s clothes. “Dad, I have something to tell you.”
“What?”
I pointed to the place where Dongzi had left just now, my legs feeling weak. “Dad, didn’t Brother Dongzi die a few years ago?”
My dad and mom’s faces froze, and they stood there in a daze.
I added, “I seem to remember that Brother Dongzi has been dead for several years. You even took me to a funeral banquet.”
My dad frowned. “Are you mistaken? When did Dongzi die?”
I patted my head, feeling a bit confused. Could it really be that I was wrong?
My parents didn’t pay attention to me anymore. Instead, they quietly looked outside the train.
It was early morning, and it was pitch – black outside, with thick fog covering everything.
Going out in this situation was obviously an irrational move, but these people just did it.
My dad seemed to remember something, and his face changed. “It’s over. Someone in the carriage has been bewitched by that thing.”
He looked at the people rushing out of the carriage with a solemn face.
If everyone really left, our family of three would become easy targets.
“Old Li, should we go out with them?” My mom asked in a low voice.
In this situation, there was no time for much thinking. My dad was silent for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, “Okay.”
“By the way, take out the clothes in the box and change into them. This can cover up our scent to the greatest extent.”
My dad said, and then took out air freshener from my mom’s bag and sprayed it on the three of us.
“We’ve been in the train for so long. Surely many people have picked up the scent of our family.
“Since we’ve changed our smell, I hope we can deceive that monster for a while.”
My dad said, and then led my mom and me out.
11
There were already a lot of people in the carriage. Except for a few who didn’t leave, almost everyone had left the carriage.
Those who had flashlights turned them on, and those with mobile phone lights turned on their phones. It made the outside a bit brighter.
But with the thick fog covering, these lights were quickly swallowed up in the darkness and couldn’t shine far.
Dongzi came over from the crowd. “Brother Li, Sister – in – law, let’s go together. I’m scared.”
My dad hesitated for a moment and then nodded. “Then take off your clothes and change into a new set.”
Although Dongzi didn’t know what my dad meant, he did as he was told.
Then, my dad sprayed air freshener on him.
Following the footsteps of the people in front, we walked towards the foot of the mountain.
For safety reasons, my dad also found a few people to walk with us.
As time passed, more than half an hour later, the crowd gradually dispersed.
Our family, plus Dongzi, and a few people my dad found, a total of ten people.
When people travel, few of them carry flashlights. Most of them have small lighting devices.
These lights were not enough to illuminate the way ahead, so we had to walk carefully along the path towards the foot of the mountain.
I don’t know how long it had passed, but suddenly, a wind blew in the mountains, and a thick fog came over.
The visibility was originally only a few meters, and now it became even worse. Only the people beside us could be seen clearly, and the visibility was less than one meter.
My dad slightly raised his voice. “Everyone, report the number every once in a while as we walk, so as not to get lost.”
Everyone agreed.
The mountain path was not easy to walk. After walking for more than half an hour, we still hadn’t gone far.
My dad stopped, cleared his throat, and started reporting the number.
“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11…”
I clearly felt my dad’s body stiffen.
There were clearly only ten people. Where did the eleventh person come from?
At this moment, everyone panicked.
A trembling voice came. “Who is it? Come out quickly.”
“Come out quickly.”
A group of people started shouting.
My dad and mom tightly held my hands, which were full of sweat.
“What are you guys doing? Why are you reporting numbers?” A person came from the depths of the thick fog.
Seeing several unfriendly gazes staring at him, the person coughed dryly. “I just took the wrong path and got separated from the people in front. Can I walk with you?”
Although everyone was a bit unhappy, they didn’t say much. They just told him not to do anything stupid again.
12
The group of people set off again.
After a few minutes, a scream suddenly came from the mountains.
My dad’s face changed. “That thing has started to harm people.”
Hearing this, my mom’s face also turned pale.
Everyone didn’t say a word, just lowered their heads and quietly quickened their pace.
Along the way, screams came one after another in the mountains. I don’t know how many people had been killed.
Fortunately, those screams were still relatively far away from us.
There were so many people in the mountains, and that monster couldn’t find us in a short time.
After about another hour, the thick fog around us gradually thinned, and the visibility was a few meters.
At this time, it was already a little past five in the morning.
There was probably a village at the foot of the mountain, and there were sounds of chickens crowing and dogs barking.
My dad’s face lit up. “Hurry up. When we reach the foot of the mountain, we’ll find a car and leave this damned place.”
Everyone quickened their pace again.
Finally, half an hour later, our group arrived at the village, and the screams in the mountains could no longer be heard.
At the foot of the mountain, the group of people dispersed, each running for their lives.
My parents and I came to the door of a house with the lights on and knocked on the door.
A young man in his early twenties opened the door. He looked at us warily.
“What are you doing? Why are you knocking on my door?”
“Well,” my dad said quickly, “the snow has blocked the road, and the train can’t move. Our family has an urgent matter, so we came down the mountain.”
The young man saw that my parents were carrying luggage, and it didn’t seem like they were lying.
After hesitating for a while, he let our family into his yard.
“It’s so cold in this winter.” The young man took out a stove from the house and casually asked, “Brother, what are you and your family in such a hurry for?”
“We have an urgent matter.” My dad thought for a while and said, “Young man, do you have a car? Our family wants to go to the nearby county to take a train.”
The young man sighed. “I can’t afford a car.”
My dad was a bit anxious. “Don’t worry. We definitely won’t let you take us for nothing.”
The young man shook his head. “I’m not lying to you. I really don’t have a car.”
13
My dad took out a banknote from his chest pocket. “Then do you know who in this village has one?”
The young man was stunned for a moment and pushed back my dad’s hand with the banknote. “The village head has a tricycle. I can help you ask.”
My mom quickly said, “Thank you, young man.”
The young man shook his head, indicating that it was no need to thank, then locked the door of his inner courtyard and turned to leave the yard.
My dad quickly called out to him. “By the way, when you come back, remember to knock on the door four times. First, knock once, then knock twice in a row, and finally knock once again.”
“What does this mean?” The young man frowned.
My dad coughed dryly. “Just in case someone else comes in.”
The young man looked a bit puzzled but didn’t say much. He nodded and left.
“Old Li, shouldn’t we go with him?” My mom asked in a low voice after closing the courtyard door.
My dad shook his head. “Forget it. I don’t know if that thing has followed us or not. If it has, and we go with the young man, aren’t we harming him?”
My mom thought about it and thought it made sense.
This was just a good time to see if that thing had followed us.
My dad didn’t know exactly how fast it was.
But if there was a car, it would definitely be faster than walking.
Before long, the roar of a vehicle came from outside the door.
It seemed to stop at the courtyard gate. Then, footsteps sounded outside the courtyard gate.
“Is it here?” My dad’s face lit up, and he was about to open the door.
Just as he reached the courtyard gate, he stopped and waited for the pre – arranged signal.
Bang, bang, bang.
A series of rapid knocks came.
My dad’s face changed. “Who are you?”
An old man’s voice came from outside the door.
“Didn’t you ask Erwa to come to me? Said you wanted to take a ride to the county.
“If you don’t want to go, I’ll leave.”
“Wait a minute.” My dad quickly said, “Did Erwa tell you how to knock on the door?”
14
“Is there any special way to knock on the door?
“You out – of – towners are really strange. So cautious. Did you do something wrong?”
That voice came, and then there was another series of violent knocks, as if trying to smash the courtyard door.
“Open the door quickly. Open the door quickly. Open the door quickly.”
My dad stepped back nervously, and my mom panicked too.
“Old Li, could it be that thing knocking on the door?”
My dad protected me and my mom in his arms and didn’t say a word.
I looked up, and my dad’s face was as white as paper.
After a while, a horn sounded, and the knocking stopped.
In less than a minute, there was another knock on the door, and a middle – aged man’s voice came from outside. “Open the door quickly. It’s cold outside.”
My dad and mom were stunned. “Who are you?”
“Who am I?” The middle – aged man seemed stunned. “I’m the village head.”
“Didn’t you ask Li Erwa to come to me to use the car to take you to the county?”
My dad got goosebumps all over, and his voice was a bit trembling. “Did he tell you how to knock on the door?”
“Oh, right.”
The middle – aged man thought for a while, first knocked on the door once, then knocked twice in a row, and finally knocked once again.
Seeing that the signal was correct, my dad opened the courtyard door.
Outside the door was a middle – aged man in his forties or fifties, and there was a tricycle parked there.
My dad looked at the thick fog around through the courtyard door and asked the middle – aged man,
“Village head, did you notice anything strange when you came here just now?”
“I seem to have seen a figure in the fog.” The village head frowned. “I thought I was wrong.”
My dad’s eyes flickered. “When we came down the mountain, we also saw something. We couldn’t see clearly. We don’t know if it was a bear.”
Hearing this, the village head quickly entered the courtyard and closed the door tightly.
15
“Brother, why didn’t you tell me earlier?” The village head was a bit angry.
“We were in a hurry to leave, so I didn’t think of it. Who knew it followed us down the mountain.”
My dad said, and then changed the topic. “Village head, can you sell me your car?”
My mom looked at my dad, as if she understood what he meant.
If we let the village head drive us, and that thing caught up, it might implicate the village head.
“How much can you give?” The village head asked.
My dad took out some banknotes from his pocket. “This is all I have. Do you think it’s okay?”
The village head counted them and then shook his head. “This can’t buy my tricycle. I’d better take you there.”
There was no other way, so my parents had to let the village head ride the tricycle to take us away.
The vehicle had just driven a short distance when the village head stepped on the brakes and stopped.
He turned around and looked at our family with a strange expression.
“Have you ever thought that you asked Li Erwa to come find me, but why didn’t he come back with me?”
My parents’ bodies stiffened. “What do you mean?”
The village head gave a sinister laugh. “Is there a possibility that I’m not the village head?”
Seeing my parents’ terrified faces, the village head suddenly burst out laughing.
“Li Erwa said your family is really strange. He wasn’t lying to me.
“Don’t be scared. Li Erwa just went to the vegetable field to pick vegetables.”
My dad gave a bitter smile. “Brother, don’t scare me. I’m timid.”
The village head started the tricycle. “Sit tight. I’m going to speed up.”
The village head stepped on the gas pedal hard, and soon we left the village.
16
After leaving the village, the fog around became thick again.
We drove for more than ten kilometers without any abnormalities, but my parents still looked extremely nervous.
The village head was in a good mood because my dad had given him a good reward and hummed songs all the way.
But as he hummed, he stopped.
“Brother, I feel like there’s something following me.”
My dad looked at the thick fog around with a solemn face, his eyes flickering.
“There’s nothing.”
The village head muttered something, then stopped talking and continued driving the tricycle.
The vehicle drove for another distance, and the village head felt more and more that something was wrong.
He looked around uneasily and suddenly saw a tall figure in the thick fog.
“What’s that?” The village head’s hand holding the steering wheel trembled violently.
My dad also shuddered. “That thing has caught up.”
My mom said, “The vehicle is driving so fast. How did that thing catch up?”
“That thing isn’t a normal animal.” My dad was silent for a moment. “If this goes on, we probably can’t escape. Only that person can save our family.”
He asked the village head, “Brother, do you know Fengmen Village? It shouldn’t be far from here.”
The village head said, “I know. Are you going there?”
My dad said, “Yes. I’m sorry to trouble you, brother.”
The village head was silent for a while. “You need to pay more.”
The vehicle continued moving forward.
Along the way, the village head drove faster and faster, and the gas pedal almost smoked.
Finally, at two o’clock in the afternoon, we arrived at the Fengmen Village my dad mentioned.
He seemed to have been here before. He directed the village head to turn left and right in the village, and soon we came to an old house.
The vehicle stopped. After my dad paid, the village head drove the tricycle and left in a flash.
He seemed to have realized that something was wrong.
My parents ignored him and quickly knocked on the door.
It was not until the person in the house came out that I understood why my parents didn’t use “he” or “she” to refer to this old person.
The old person was very old, with a hunched figure, and it was hard to tell whether it was male or female.
My dad knelt down with a thud. “You must save our family. It’s coming.”
The old person recognized my dad.
“This is the sin your family committed. It has nothing to do with me. Go back. I can’t save you.”
17
My dad’s face turned pale. He knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing.
“Even if you don’t want to save me, but the child and my wife are innocent. Can you save them?
“Moreover, the child isn’t my biological one. He has no blood relation with me…”
My dad was about to say more when heavy footsteps suddenly came from the thick fog behind.
My parents turned their heads to look.
In the thick fog, there was a vague figure, more than two meters tall, with long limbs and covered in long hair.
It was staring at us with eyes as big as bowls.
The old person sighed, walked out, and shouted at the thick fog,
“Sister, after all these years, you still haven’t let it go?”
The figure swayed but didn’t respond.
The old person looked at my dad, gently shook his/her head. “I can’t do anything either.”
My dad gritted his teeth and rushed straight out.
“If you haven’t vented your anger yet, kill me. But I hope you can spare my wife and child. They’re innocent.”
After that, my dad knelt straight down towards the tall figure and kowtowed.
My mom also rushed out and imitated my dad, kowtowing her head.
After a long time, there was no response in the thick fog.
My parents slowly raised their heads and found that the thing had left without them knowing.
The old person stood beside me, touched my head with a complicated expression.
“Back then, sister also lost a child…”
18
My parents walked in, trembling all over.
They bowed deeply to the old person. “Thank you for saving our lives.”
The old person shook his/her head. “You saved yourselves.”
My parents were stunned. “What do you mean?”
The old person smiled. “Do you remember why you went out?”
My parents looked at each other, and both saw shock in each other’s eyes.
So many abnormal things had happened along the way.
First, the mountain was blocked by heavy snow, but the train had only been running for two or three hours. If the mountain was blocked by snow, how could the train station not know?
And how could the train start?
There were obviously big incidents in the carriage, but why didn’t the passengers in other carriages react at all?
Dongzi had indeed died a few years ago.
My parents got goosebumps all over.
“Yes, why did we go out?”
“Did we really go out?”
“Was it others who were bewitched, or was it us?”
– The End –
