Chapter 2: Debt-Owing Ghost Child

In my childhood, I once experienced such a strange thing.

Every night when it was deep and quiet, I kept having the same dream repeatedly. At the bedside, a little girl whose appearance I couldn't see clearly stood, silently watching me.

When this girl appeared in my dream, my body and consciousness would detach. Though I was fully awake, my limbs wouldn't obey; no matter how hard I tried, my body couldn't move.

At first, that girl just appeared punctually in my dream each day, standing silently at my bedside, watching me. Later, she climbed onto my bed and repeatedly whispered a phrase in my ear.

"Give it back to me, give it back to me."

Each time, I could feel that bone-chilling cold piercing my heart. But when I woke from the dream, the surroundings were empty, no girl, no sound. Yet that dream was so real.

From that day on, I started getting sick; every afternoon I would inexplicably develop a low fever. Medicine didn't help, injections couldn't reduce the fever. I wanted to tell my mother, but each time I tried to speak, my heart would suddenly tighten, I felt terrified, couldn't utter a word, could only endure silently.

Only later did the appearance of a ragged old man bring a turning point to my illness.

This ragged old man was someone my mother rescued.

According to my mother, she encountered this ragged old man while gathering firewood on the mountain behind the house.

At that time, the ragged old man had fainted on a nearby stone, his hand still forming a mysterious "orchid finger".

What struck my mother as strange was that all the trees, grass, and flowers around the old man were withered. When she approached him, her heart involuntarily trembled, as if falling into an ice cellar.

This feeling made my mother hesitate at first, but later she still rescued the old man, because my mother is soft-hearted, a kind-hearted pushover; whenever she sees someone needing help, she unhesitatingly extends a helping hand!

When I first saw this ragged old man, the image he left me was like this.

His clothes were neat, but his hair was messy like a dog's nest, he was chewing a small bunch of grass in his mouth; the deepest impression was his shoe had a hole, his toes sticking out.

Not long after, my mother was about to call the barefoot doctor from the village to examine this ragged old man, but the old man quietly woke up.

At that moment, I finally saw clearly what this ragged old man looked like: he, like me, was blind in one eye, and his left hand seemed already crippled.

After learning that my mother had rescued him, the ragged old man hurriedly thanked her.

At first, they chatted and laughed, until I dragged my dazed head out of the room and said to my mother: "Mom, I have a fever again." Then...

The ragged old man widened his eyes, looking at me as if seeing a monster.

He rushed over, pulled me to his side, and felt me all over while shaking his head doubtfully, saying: "It shouldn't be, it shouldn't be, how could one still be alive."

Upon hearing this, my mother got angry, shoved him away, and pulled me to her side.

"You ragged old man, I kindly saved you, and now you curse my son to die—what kind of heart do you have?" My mother tightly shielded me behind her and scolded the ragged old man.

The ragged old man, scolded by my mother, didn't get angry; he just lowered his head and rapidly calculated on his fingers, muttering some words we couldn't understand.

Then he slowly raised his head, stared at my mother and said: "Is this child's birthday the same as your husband's death anniversary? When he was born, your husband died, and not long after his birth, your family's house collapsed due to a torrential rain, didn't it?"

My mother was startled, incredulously saying: "How do you know that!"

The ragged old man didn't answer my mother's question, but kept asking her for my birthdate.

Rural people are very wary of birthdates; the ragged old man's question made my mother hesitate.

"I observe that your son Tian Yue is dim and lackluster; above his eyebrows, at the bridge of his nose, there is a trace of black tiger killing aura entwined. Looking at his hands, they are ice-cold, yet his forehead feels as if burned by fire—this is the sign of being haunted by yin spirits for a long time. If not saved, he probably won't survive these few days. I hope you won't hesitate; tell me your child's birthdate so I can calculate for him." Seeing my mother hesitate, the ragged old man spoke these words solemnly. Although his face was dirty, his expression was utterly solemn, and his aura instantly changed.

Upon hearing this, my mother was startled, anxiously asking the ragged old man: "You say this, is it really true?"

The ragged old man pointed at me and said to my mother: "If you don't believe, you can ask your child."

My mother turned her eyes to me and softly asked if I had recently seen anything.

I wanted to speak about what happened in the dream, but as soon as I opened my mouth, that feeling of panic and fear surged again, a chilling sensation, as if that girl were standing beside me watching me.

The ragged old man walked over to me; although he looked dirty, his body smelled fragrant, very pleasant, like the incense smelled when worshipping gods.

After the old man approached, my heart gradually calmed, the panic disappeared, and I slowly recounted what I had seen in the dream.

I told them that the older sister told me to return something to her, but I don't know what she wants me to return.

After hearing this, my mother became even more nervous; she already believed what the ragged old man said.

My mother pleaded with the ragged old man: "Sir, please save my child; as long as you drive away that dirty thing, however much money..." She said this and then lowered her head sadly.

Because our family is truly poor; since my father passed away, we have relied on my mother alone to make a living, already destitute. So when she mentioned money, she truly couldn't continue, helpless, because our family really had nothing to offer.

But the ragged old man merely waved his hand, indifferent: "Those external possessions aren't worth my attachment; moreover, my life as a Daoist priest almost ended during the yin release, and it was thanks to you, Madam, saving me. Such trivial matters cannot compare to your lifesaving grace."

Until then, my mother only learned that the person she rescued was a Daoist priest named Li Feng. After talking, she learned that Li Feng is a Daoist priest of the Daoist Sect Yin Mountain School, and he fainted on the stone behind the mountain because something went wrong during the yin release.

The so-called yin release is because excessive yin qi accumulated in the body needs to be transferred to something else; if not transferred, the body's yin-yang balance will be lost, invaded by yin qi and die. Daoist priests of the Yin Mountain School must perform a yin release at specific intervals; this period is also when the Daoist priest himself is weakest and most dangerous.

Normally, Yin Mountain Daoist priests transfer the yin qi into trees. That's why when my mother saw Li Feng on the back mountain, the trees around him were all withered.

My mother didn't understand Yin Mountain or Mao Shan, only knew Li Feng could save my life. To drive away the unclean thing clinging to me, she obeyed his words and honestly told him my birthdate.

Li Feng sat down, narrowed his eyes, drew four pillars on a paper, and calculated with his fingers. The more he calculated, the tighter his brow furrowed; afterwards, he inhaled a breath of cold air and exclaimed loudly: "Ghost child, indeed a debt-owing ghost child!"

The two words "ghost child" I have heard before. At my birth, the yin woman said it once. When those people looked at me with contempt and wariness, they almost always muttered these two words.

But what is a "ghost child"? This concept I and my mother don't understand; we only know it's a very unfortunate fate.

In my mother's doubtful gaze, Li Feng took a sip of water and slowly explained the concept of the ghost child to us.

Li Feng's words explained why I was born with a blind left eye from birth. Because the debt I owed in my previous life was too deep, I was doomed to suffer misfortune from the moment I was born, and heaven even took away my father, causing my household to be in turmoil as soon as I came into the world..