The Sickly Beauty Haunted by a Gloomy Male Ghost - Chapter 4

In just a few words, Bai Weixue managed to figure out the nature of the so-called curse.

Originally, Yin Village was known as Jiangjia Village. The inhabitants worshiped the God of Progeny, and back then, the village was like a hidden paradise, bustling with people and the sounds of thriving life. Then, one day, a group of outsiders broke in. They manipulated the villagers into abandoning their original faith to worship a foreign deity instead.

As for what this foreign god was, Jiang Hui remained tight-lipped, and Bai Weixue didn’t press him further.

The foreign god brought utter devastation to Jiangjia Village. Every woman and girl in the village committed suicide by hanging themselves overnight, turning into vengeful spirits that haunted the settlement. From that day on, the village was shrouded in a curse, becoming a place where no women existed.

To protect the peace of the village, the village chief and the residents killed the intruders, smashed all the foreign idols, and renamed the place Yin Village to resume their worship of the God of Progeny. However, it seemed the God of Progeny had abandoned them. The curse of having no women and no sons did not vanish. Vengeful spirits continued to plague them; at night, the figures of female ghosts in red were often seen outside windows, and shrill, piercing cries could be heard coming from the bottom of the well.

Wen Yu’s face turned pale. “In other words, we could run into a female ghost at any moment?”

The villager nodded.

Bai Weixue asked, “Then the one I ‘married’… what is it?”

At that question, a flash of terror crossed the villager’s eyes. “He does not belong to us. He is nameless, beyond sight. We do not worship Him, but we offer sacrifices to seek peace.”

Bai Weixue lowered his eyes thoughtfully. It seemed the evil spirit wasn’t something they had imprisoned; the two parties simply maintained a relationship of mutual non-interference.

Having learned most of what he needed to know, Bai Weixue thanked him and prepared to leave. Just then, the villager took a step forward, asking nervously, “What… what is your name?”

“Bai Weixue. Why?”

Even though it was evening, a suspicious flush crept onto the villager’s dark face. “My name is Jiang Hui.”

Bai Weixue gave a slight nod, turned around with Wen Yu, and left.

After walking some distance, Wen Yu asked, “How did you know he would tell us all that?”

Bai Weixue’s lips were a vivid red from the cold. He buried the lower half of his face in his collar and said, “I didn’t.”

Wen Yu:  I don’t believe you for a second.

Upon returning to their lodgings, the large black dog was lying obediently on the ground wagging its tail, not making a sound.

Wen Yu liked dogs very much. He leaned in to pet the dog’s head while turning to look at Bai Weixue. “My family has a dog about this size, it’s very well-behaved.”

Before he could finish, he was yanked back by a sudden force and fell flat on his butt. He widened his eyes, looking up in disbelief, only to see Bai Weixue speaking with an indifferent expression. “I really don’t want to take responsibility for a client getting bitten by a dog.”

Only then did Wen Yu notice the large black dog was baring its teeth at him, having nearly snapped at his fingers.

Deeply discouraged, he walked back into the house, took off his fogged-up glasses, and wiped them. “Weixue, this village is too strange. Since we know Xiaoyu isn’t here anymore, we should leave as soon as possible.”

Bai Weixue pondered for a moment. “I think I told you that when I was in the bridal sedan, I was woken up by a nursery rhyme.”

Wen Yu thought about it. “Are you saying there are children in this village? Wait, or could it be those kinds of child ghosts? Since all the women and girls in the village hanged themselves, maybe the children turned into ghosts too.”

Bai Weixue seemed to accept this explanation. He looked at Wen Yu, preparing to say something. But at that moment, his expression went cold. He stared at Wen Yu fixedly, his face devoid of emotion.

Being stared at like that made Wen Yu’s scalp tingle instantly. He gripped his lens cloth nervously. “Wh… why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?”

Bai Weixue continued to watch him with that scrutinizing gaze. Just as Wen Yu felt he couldn’t take it anymore and wanted to run away, the other man raised a finger to his lips and hissed, “Shh.”

“Outside the window.”

Only then did Wen Yu realize that Bai Weixue wasn’t looking at him, but was staring through him at the window behind his back.

There was something outside the window!

The moment he realized this, goosebumps erupted all over Wen Yu’s body. Suppressing the urge to flee, he slowly looked down at the lens in his hand.

The lens reflected light, showing his own face, but also showing a patch of crimson covering the window behind him.

Above the crimson was a mass of blurred black shadow. Through the lens, Wen Yu discovered that this black shadow was slowly writhing downward, lowering its head as it crept toward his own.

The shrill howl of a woman drifted into his ears, sounding both near and far. The venomous voice was like an awl, stabbing violently into Wen Yu’s eardrums. His legs went weak, and he could barely remain standing.

He didn’t dare move, let alone scream. His round eyes looked pitifully toward Bai Weixue, but for some reason, the other man just stared icily at the window behind him. His expression was motionless, and he made no move to save him.

Wen Yu wanted to cry.

Suddenly, Bai Weixue walked toward him. Just when Wen Yu thought he was finally coming to the rescue, that pale, icy hand reached past his shoulder and slammed the window open!

 Wen Yu’s pupils shook with shock.

He squeezed his eyes shut, terrified that in the next second, the female ghost would bite his neck off. A cold temperature landed on his shoulder. Anticipating what was coming, his whole body began to tremble. Suddenly, he felt something and froze.

The scene of blood splattering everywhere that he had imagined didn’t happen. The hand, which carried a bit of body heat, simply patted his shoulder.

The barking of the big black dog came from outside the window. At the same time, a clear, cold voice sounded in his ear: “What are you afraid of?”

Wen Yu’s brain was in a daze. “You… you chased it away?”

Bai Weixue answered with a question: “What do you think it was?”

Wen Yu: “A fe… female ghost. The one who committed suicide in the village long ago.”

Bai Weixue looked at him silently.

Wen Yu asked fearfully, “What, did I say something wrong?”

Bai Weixue didn’t commit to an answer. “Let’s go outside and look first.”

There was a jujube tree in the courtyard. It was the middle of winter, and the withered leaves had fallen. The cold moonlight spilled down, casting the shadow of the branches onto the ground like countless skeletal, bony fingers. When the wind blew, they clawed at the air.

Next to the jujube tree was a well; the villagers relied on it for their water. The well was shrouded in the shadow of the tree, its opening pitch black. Bai Weixue leaned over to look inside but could see nothing. The well water was like a mass of thick, black oil, absorbing all light and swallowing his downward gaze entirely.

Bai Weixue suddenly felt a wave of viscous, icy malice clinging to him like a spiderweb, slowly tightening. He felt like prey that had walked into a net, being peered at by someone hidden in the shadows.

Most importantly, this malice wasn’t coming from the well, but from all directions.

The shadow of the jujube tree circled him tightly, making his own shadow look thin and tiny. The massive shadow of the tree was like a black claw, clutching at the throat of his silhouette as if it wanted to tear him into a thousand pieces.

He wasn’t sure if it was an illusion, but he saw a glimmer of light flash within the well.

It was gloomy and dangerous, not as clear as moonlight nor as soft as ripples in water. Instead, it felt like.

Someone was hiding in the well, staring at him face-to-face, and had just blinked at him.

A hair-raising chill rose from the soles of his feet. He saw the well water sway slightly, and the shadow of the tree tilted, as if it were about to pounce in the next instant, seize his throat, and shove him into the well.

Suddenly, a voice sounded in his ear: “Weixue!”

Bai Weixue snapped out of it. He took a half-step back, looking at Wen Yu with a bit of confusion.

Wen Yu leaned in, examining his pale, cold face. “Why were you staring at that well for so long? Is there something wrong?”

The sensation of icy, poisonous peering receded like a tide. Bai Weixue felt a moment of daze. He felt that the glimmer of light from just now was strangely familiar. Even though it was clearly just light reflecting off the water, he felt it was a pair of eyes as dark as an abyss.

Familiar, wet, and cold.

Meeting Wen Yu’s concerned gaze, Bai Weixue shook his head. “I must have seen wrong.”

Wen Yu breathed a sigh of relief. “You scared me to death. I thought a ghost was hiding down there. Now I don’t have to worry about having no water to drink.”

Bai Weixue’s expression vanished instantly. “Can we just not drink it?”

Wen Yu wagged a finger. “No. If you want to die of thirst, just say so.”

Bai Weixue: “…”

The big black dog whimpered and whined for a long time before finally successfully catching Bai Weixue’s attention. He walked over and crouched down, stroking the furry head. “What is it?”

Instead of baring its teeth like it did to Wen Yu, the dog tilted its head to rub against Bai Weixue’s palm and began scratching at the dirt with its paws.

Bai Weixue thought for a moment and unfastened the dog’s leash.

Wen Yu’s eyes widened in shock. He then watched as the dog led Bai Weixue under the jujube tree, dug at the ground with its paws, and actually unearthed something.

The dog pushed the object to Bai Weixue’s feet, its face full of flattery.

It was the first time Wen Yu had ever seen a look of flattery on a dog’s face. Why had his own dog at home never looked at him like that?

Bai Weixue beckoned with his finger. “Come here.”

Wen Yu walked over cautiously, maintaining a distance of ten feet from the dog. Bai Weixue held the object out for him to see.

It was a metal chip encased in mud, similar to the miniature music chips found in birthday lotus candles that play “Happy Birthday,” but this one was clearly more precise and sophisticated. Wen Yu flicked the chip, and the shrill howl of a female ghost suddenly blasted out, giving him a huge fright.

He looked up in astonishment. “This…”

Bai Weixue nodded. “Someone is playing tricks.”

Wen Yu looked bewildered. “So, the red-dressed ghost by the window was intentional too? But it vanished the moment you pushed the window open. An ordinary person shouldn’t be able to do that, right?”

Bai Weixue said, “I’m not sure, but if it were a real ghost, it wouldn’t need to do this, would it?”

Wen Yu replied, “True. Going by that logic, everything that Jiang Hui told us was a lie. And here I was thinking he looked like an honest man. But what is their goal? Could they be trying to scare us, so we’ll stay here obediently and not dare to leave?”

Bai Weixue didn’t offer an opinion, only saying ambiguously, “Let’s wash up and rest first. By the way, the water.”

Wen Yu quickly said, “I’ll go get the water. You hurry up and tie the dog back. This dog is incredibly biased.”

As he finished speaking, he suddenly saw Bai Weixue smile slightly, his voice light. “He’s very well-behaved.”

Wen Yu: “…”

I think you’re incredibly biased too!!!

Support The Sickly Beauty Haunted by a Gloomy Male Ghost