Old smokers all know that the cigarette tip only glows when someone is smoking it, my eyes aren't blurry, I clearly saw the cigarette tip glow. At that time, the sky was almost pitch black, and you couldn't see your fingers when you stretched out your hand. In a daze, I felt like there was a vague white shadow flashing by my bedside, and I immediately grabbed my pillow and sat up, shouting: "Who?"

  This shout alarmed everyone in the house, the lights turned on, except for the three people who were hastily looking around, the room was quiet. I got out of bed and took a look, that cigarette butt had already burned to my buttocks.

  "Someone has been here," I said, although all the doors and windows were closed and the lights came on in a timely manner, I was still very certain.

  "Have a nightmare?" Cha Wenbin asked with concern: "Don't think too much, have a good sleep, and go back home tomorrow."

  "No, someone!" I picked up the cigarette butt and said: "This is Gansu tobacco, just bought yesterday. This cigarette has a special feature, if you don't smoke it continuously, it will automatically extinguish in a very short time, and can't even burn to this point. Just now, I smoked half of it, clearly saw the cigarette head suddenly brightened..."

  Cha Wenbin didn't know why he didn't continue exploring with me, but instead continued to comfort me: "Okay, don't think about it too much, just consider it an accident."

  "It's him!" I grabbed Cha Wenbin's hand and said, "Wenbin, it's him. That guy has a habit of smoking until the filter is burnt before he stops. I used to say he was stingy, but he would always say that the second half was more enjoyable. So when we didn't have money in the past, we would share a cigarette, and he would let me smoke the first half while he smoked the second half..." As I spoke, I suddenly burst into tears, remembering all the times Fatso and I spent together.

  "I know you miss him, and so do I. Believe me, there will be an answer soon." As he said this, I saw a determined glint in his eyes, a certainty that made me have to believe him. It had been a long time since I'd seen him look like that, so I asked: "Do you already have some leads?"

  "Not sure, need to wait a bit longer."

  "How long is it going to take?"

  "Maybe it's tomorrow, maybe it's next year, or maybe it's a lifetime." After saying this, he fell asleep. Before long, Zhu Zihao's snoring started again. I was the only one quietly listening to the rain outside the window, and I didn't sleep all night.

  I'm not a person who likes to wait, just like he didn't tell me what's inside that strange big tomb, is it just a zombie? No, I don't believe it, because he's Cha Wenbin, I've seen him fight with those things at the age of 16, how could he be afraid of a zombie and burn that tomb which was the only clue? He must be hiding something from me!

  It's been a while since I returned to the village. When I got home, my old father was looking for someone to inspect the foundation of our house. In his younger years, he didn't believe in these things, but as he grew older, he became more cautious and didn't want to take risks anymore. He said that I'm also getting older and that it won't be long before I'll be thinking about finding a partner. He wants to build me a few houses, which is the biggest task for rural elderly people: helping their children complete the most important thing in life.

  The person who looked at the foundation was from a neighboring village, someone I knew. When I was young, I had a high fever that wouldn't subside, and he came to take a look. He wrote a black talisman for me to drink, but even after being forced to swallow it by an adult pinching my nose, I didn't see any improvement. He's also the great uncle of one of my elementary school classmates, who understands some Taoist principles and is an absolutely unpretentious geomancer.

  The location of my father's house foundation is actually in the original place, but the most important thing for building a house is still the direction of the gate. This concerns lighting, sunlight, and Feng Shui. I thought to myself that finding this guy was no better than letting Wen Bin take a look, but adults have their own considerations, perhaps in my father's eyes, Cha Wenbin is just a child about my age.

  The old house was a mix of rammed earth and partial brick structure, but at that time, those with better conditions had already started using brick structures, which were also faster to build. In just one afternoon, the man used a hemp rope to draw a line on the ground, which would be the direction of the future gate. The gate should straddle this line, parallel to the walls on both sides. Cha Wenbin glanced at it and nodded, saying to me: "It's not bad, but if you move one centimeter to the left, it will be even better."

  These words were spoken lightly, but they were heard by someone who hastily re-erected the compass and couldn't help but give Cha Wenbin a thumbs up: "Great, you're really an expert! You're so young, yet you know this too, it's truly rare."

  Cha Wenbin was always low-key and didn't like to talk much, so he just politely replied with a sentence: "It's just a junior showing off in front of his seniors."

  That man saw Cha Wenbin strike up a conversation and instead of leaving, he sized him up again and said: "Who did you learn from?"

  Zha Wenbin smiled and said, "I don't understand, you're talking nonsense." After that, he pulled me to leave, but unexpectedly the man caught up with us and grabbed Zha Wenbin's clothes, saying: "I remember now, are you Ma Suifeng's apprentice? Is your surname Zha?"

  "Do you know me?" Zhang Wenbin was a nobody in our neighborhood back then, always being taken around by his master since he was young, and when he came back, he would just lock himself up to read scriptures and study Taoism. It's normal not to know him, but it's actually quite strange if you do.

  "I saw you when you were young, Ma Zhenren is a superior man, and as his apprentice, it's no wonder that you can see things clearly. It just so happens that I have something to talk to you about."

  "With you?" I thought to myself, what generation is our ancestor and which generation are you from, what's there to talk about? You're just a charlatan who can only deceive ignorant rural old ladies.

  That person seemed to see through my thoughts and said, "Fellow Taoists don't distinguish between age, only fate. This young master is indeed extraordinary in experience, and also taught by a high-ranking person."

  "I'm also too lazy to be polite with him now, so I directly called out his name and said: 'Liu Lao Da, if you have something to say, just say it straight, don't beat around the bush!'"

  "I want to ask little brother for help..."

  About thirty miles away from Hong Village, there is a place called Mao Cao Bay. This place is sandwiched between two mountains and faces the river on both sides, making it an essential route to the county town. Anyone who travels at night will always find companions in Mao Cao Bay, except for a few brave ones. Why? Because this is the notorious Hook Soul Bay that even children know about.

  Years ago, a drunkard was returning home from a relative's house at night and passed by the thatched bay. He saw a woman crying on the side of the road, so he went up to strike up a conversation. At first, the woman didn't pay attention to him, so he walked around to her front to ask what was going on. But as soon as he got in front of her, the woman turned around again. The man wasn't willing to give up and circled back, but the woman was still faster and turned around once more.

  "Good fellow, I just wanted to see what you look like!" The drunkard didn't believe it and took a step back to the woman's side. However, this time he saw clearly that the woman was crouching there without moving at all. No matter which side he looked from, it was only her back of the head. The woman simply had no face!

  The drunkard sobered up a bit and tried to run away, but this time his feet were tangled and he fell to the ground. When he looked back, he saw that his foot was tied with a bunch of hair. The woman cried and told the drunkard that her house leaked rain and she couldn't live there anymore, and her family members didn't care about it, asking if the drunkard could help her out.

  The drunkard didn't dare refuse and even asked where the house was?

  "That woman said: 'Mao Cao Bayan Board Gou, seventh from the left.'"

  That drunkard heard this and immediately fainted, he was scared unconscious. What is Board Valley? It's just behind the mountain of thatched bay, where there are rows and rows of graves stacked on top of each other. I've even gone there to pick chestnuts before. In the past, when people in the village made a bet, they would say: "If you dare, go sleep in Board Valley tonight, if you go, then...then..."

  The next day, the drunkard woke up to find himself sleeping in a ditch by the side of the road with his feet tied up with straw. As soon as he remembered what had happened the night before, he rolled and crawled back home and looked for someone who knew what to do. Who did he look for? He looked for my grandfather!

  This was also told to me by my grandfather, who later helped the drunkard find the tomb. It turned out that the top of the tomb had cracked open more than an inch wide, and you could see the coffin boards inside. My grandfather asked the drunkard to find a mason to re-plaster the tomb, and they also bought incense, candles, and paper money for worship. After that, nothing happened. Later, the drunkard left for another place after a few years, some say he got rich, others say it was the female ghost's reward for him.

  In short, the story of Maocao Bay is endless. When Liu Lao Da came to find Cha Wenbin to talk about Maocao Bay, my heart skipped a beat, thinking that nothing good would come out of it. However, Cha Wenbin surprisingly agreed to listen, and so Liu Lao Da told him everything.

  Liu Lao Da is a self-taught person, and he was also acquainted with my grandfather. He has a special interest in studying strange and unusual things, and he's very enthusiastic about mysticism. Although he didn't even finish elementary school, he can recite several classic books from memory. He wanted to find a master to apprentice under, but no one would take him on. So, he came up with a plan - he'd attend weddings and other happy events to help out, but in reality, he was just trying to steal techniques from other Taoist priests. By observing how others did things, he'd copy their methods, and over the years, he managed to develop his own unique approach.

  However, he is a mixture of east and west, with a little bit of everything, but nothing seems quite right. He can fool the old farmers easily enough, but if something real happens, he's still not up to par.

  Liu Lao Da encountered this matter, which was actually someone else's problem. Someone had a run-in with evil spirits in the thatched bay, and it wasn't unusual for people to have such encounters there since everyone knew it was an unclean place. However, the person who had the encounter died under suspicious circumstances.

  How did he die? He was scared to death!