Tonight, the moon was shining bright as a spotlight.

  I stood with my back to the moonlight, casting a long, spooky shadow on the ground.

  The woman in front of me was facing the moon head-on.

  But how come, even with that bright moon, I couldn’t make out her face?

  It was like she was wearing a mask of shadows.

  She just kept yapping,

  “What are you looking for? I’m also hunting for something. Could it be we’re after the same thing?”

  She’d been harping on these few lines since forever.

  Ordinary words, but now they sent shivers down my spine.

  Her face, lit up by the moon, was still hidden in the dark.

  I was rooted to the spot, like a deer caught in headlights.

  I’d never been in such a tight spot before.

  I didn’t know if I should play dead or make a mad dash.

  If I ignored her, she’d just talk even more.

  She inched closer, muttering non-stop,

  “What are you looking for?”

  “Have you seen my thing?”

  “Where did it drop? Do you know?”

  My heart, which had just calmed down a bit, started pounding like a jackhammer again.

  Cold sweat drenched my back.

  I clung to a skinny tree for dear life, my nails digging into the bark.

  Help! Somebody save me!

  In a panic, I yanked on the red string in my hand.

  But it was like waving a red flag at a bull – it didn’t faze her one bit.

  She kept coming at me, blocking all my escape routes.

  Her body swayed in a freaky way, like a ghost dancing.

  Her voice got shriller and shriller,

  “Have you seen it?”

  “Have you really seen it?”

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  My scream got stuck in my throat, my heart feeling like it was being stabbed by a million needles.

  Where the heck were Anbay and Grandpa.2?

  Why weren’t they here yet?

  Through the shadowy haze, I thought I saw a glimmer of sadness in her eyes.

  She was almost on top of me.

  That same feeling of dread washed over me.

  I was so scared, my legs felt like jelly.

  I couldn’t run if I wanted to.

  Her body was as slender and graceful as a willow branch in the night breeze.

  But the way her waist swayed wasn’t sexy – it was just plain creepy.

  Tears welled up in my eyes from sheer terror.

  She reached up, brushing a strand of hair out of her face that the wind had blown in.

  “Did you find it?”

  She slowly looked up, and that’s when I heard a sound in my head and a nameless fear exploded.

  Her face was skinless, with bloody flesh and muscles on full display.

  Her eyeballs, without eyelids, rolled around in a grotesque way, covered in some gooey stuff that was neither red nor white.

  Even through my blurry tears, the sight made every nerve in my body go on high alert. Finally, my scream ripped through the air.

  I barely remember how I bolted, but when I came to my senses a bit, I found myself a good distance away.

  I was leaning against a round mound, my palms sweaty and sticky.

  The woman was gone.

  Had I made a clean getaway?

  I was breathing hard, trying to catch my breath.

  I leaned back to relax, but the thing behind me gave way suddenly, nearly wrenching my waist.

  That’s when I realized what I’d been leaning on.

  Under the moonlight, this bare mound looked just like a grave! Whose grave was it?

  I stood up, shaking like a leaf.

  In front of the grave was a wooden tombstone all tangled up with vines.

  With trembling hands, I pulled the vines away.

  On the half-rotten tombstone, a name was carved, all blurry.

  It looked like “Red Plum”.

  If I remembered right, that was the blind man’s wife’s name!

  Suddenly, that icy voice whispered in my ear,

  “You’ve finally come.”

  I let out a scream and spun around to run.

  Her laughter, all haunting and spooky, chased after me.

  I’d only taken a few steps when a hand grabbed my ankle.

  It was as cold and withered as a corpse’s hand.

  I hit the ground hard, and the hand started dragging me back toward the grave.

  I clawed at anything and everything around me, trying to resist.

  But the bushes snapped like twigs under the strain.

  I was so scared, my hands were bleeding from the scratches, and it hurt like crazy.

  But I knew I couldn’t let go.

  If I did, it was game over, and there’d be nobody left to save my parents.

  I gritted my teeth and held on with all my might.

  By some miracle, I managed to grab onto a tree.

  It wasn’t exactly a mighty oak, but compared to those flimsy bushes, it was my only hope.

  The hand gripping my wrist was super strong, way stronger than any living person’s.

  I clung to the tree like a barnacle, refusing to budge.

  I had no idea when Anbay or Grandpa.2 would show up, but I knew every second counted.

  I couldn’t die.

  I had to save my parents!

  Finally, I heard footsteps.

  I looked up, praying it was help.

  It was Grandpa.2!

  He wasn’t as powerful as Grandpa, but he should be able to yank me free.

  I called out weakly, “Save... save me.”

  But Grandpa.2 stopped dead in his tracks.

  He just stood there, staring at me.

  “Grandpa.2?” A chill ran down my spine.

  He squatted down, and if he just reached out, he could easily pull me away.

  But he didn’t.

  I couldn’t figure out what he was thinking.

  All I could hear was my own heartbeat, getting weaker and weaker.

  Finally, he reached out.

  My eyes lit up.

  But in the next second, my blood ran cold.

  Grandpa.2 reached out all right, but not to help.

  He started prying my fingers open, one by one.

  “Grandpa.2?!”

  Tears gushed out like a broken faucet.

  Fear swallowed me whole.

  I was so confused, but the writing was on the wall – Grandpa.2 didn’t plan on saving me.

  He calmly pried my fingers apart, saying,

  “Girl, don’t blame me for being cruel. I don’t have a choice. Who doesn’t want to survive, right?”

  Suddenly, it all clicked.

  Anger and disbelief boiled up inside me.

  “You tricked us?!”

  Dear Reader Friends,

  It's got all the good stuff - mystery, horror, and a touch of the supernatural. But before you dive in, let me give you a little heads - up.