Night Talks from Liaozhai

Night Talks in Strange Tales

I am a ghost, or more precisely, a skeleton without flesh. My late parents gave birth to me, but they didn't treat me well. When I was still very young, they wrapped me in a straw mat and threw me into the wilderness. I've forgotten exactly why I died, why my end was so miserable.

[Ancient Era: 001 Painted Skin]

1. Ghost

In the pitch black of night, I was sound asleep in my brand-new coffin when a heavy, pungent smell of blood wafted in from the cracks in the lid. I sniffed it gently, then couldn't resist lifting the lid and slowly sitting up. My bones creaked and groaned, making an unpleasant grinding sound, which embarrassed me. Without the nourishment of blood, my bones felt like an old, broken-down car.

I am a ghost, or more precisely, a skeleton without flesh. My late parents gave birth to me, but they didn't treat me well. When I was still very young, they wrapped me in a straw mat and threw me into the wilderness. I've forgotten exactly why I died, and why my end was so miserable.

When I remembered, I had already become a wandering ghost. A lonely soul rejected by the King of Hell, gradually absorbing the smoke and fire of the human world, would gather spirits and become a ghost. I was a wandering soul who hadn't even gotten a coffin, so where would I get the money to bribe the Ox-Head and Horse-Face guardians of the gates of Hell? Therefore, I had no choice but to fall into the life of a wandering ghost. Until the old Taoist priest with the ox-nose took me in.

Sometimes I am a male ghost, and sometimes I am a female ghost. The reason for this confusion about my gender is mainly due to the human skins that the old Taoist priest made for me.

In the cemetery under the moon, there was a newly dug grave. The mahogany coffin was gleaming with cypress paint. When the old Taoist priest with the bull's nose dragged the young girl out of it, this coffin became my new home.

Now, I reluctantly sit up in this new home and see a scene that is all too familiar.

The old Taoist priest with the bull-nose nose skillfully peeled the skin off the little girl's corpse, bit by bit, with a thin, gleaming, sharp knife.

"What a fine skin!" the old Taoist priest with the ox-nose exclaimed in admiration.

Yes, it's nice, pink and translucent, and very fresh.

Wearing it, I, this ugly skeleton ghost, immediately transformed into a beautiful woman.

Her clothes were of excellent quality, so light and soft as smoke. Under the bright moon, the beauty danced and swayed, her sleeves fluttering. However, the setting was not ideal. In a vast expanse of dark graves, no matter how beautiful she was, she would not be mistaken for a living person.

I didn't look at the bloodied corpse, and with great reluctance, I gave the beautiful coffin back to her. "Look," I muttered, "you have a next life, much luckier than me. I'm just borrowing your skin for a while." I muttered a few more words to myself, lest she become a ghost herself and we all feel awkward seeing each other.

The old man ignored her completely. After placing the female corpse into the coffin, he wiped the blood off his hands, picked up his wine gourd, took a swig of spicy wine, stroked his wet beard, and then hummed and groaned as he lowered the coffin into the grave.

"Come and lend a hand!" the old Taoist priest with the bull's nose shouted breathlessly.

Poor old man, he's lost all his former energy, but in order to prolong his life, he continues his grave-digging and corpse-stripping business.

2. Wang Sheng

Early in the morning, my wife asked me to borrow some money from my father-in-law to make ends meet. Actually, I could support my family, but my wife has been spoiled since childhood and can't stand simple meals. She wants to eat well and dress well, and the little money I earn from teaching is never enough to cover her expenses.

Getting to my father-in-law's house involves passing through a cemetery, and I've walked through it countless times, but I still feel a bit scared going through it again.

The wind swirled around the grave mound, and a piece of paper money meant for the dead was blown into my eye. I quickly stopped, hurriedly brushed off the yellow paper, straightened my clothes, and bent down to dust off the dirt that had fallen on me. Just then, I suddenly heard a soft sobbing sound.

It was the delicate, sweet cry of a woman, mournful yet melodious. If even her cries were so beautiful, one could only imagine how stunningly beautiful she must be.

Unable to resist looking in the direction of the sound, I saw a woman in white kneeling in front of a grave, weeping bitterly, not far away by the roadside.

"Why are you so sad, young lady?" Seeing her crying so pitifully, I couldn't help but go over and ask.

The woman stopped crying and quietly raised her head. Her delicate, tear-streaked appearance stirred something within me, a newlywed.

“My father and I depended on each other for survival. We came to seek refuge with relatives, but unexpectedly, my father had just passed away from illness. Those relatives actually wanted to sell me to an eighty-year-old man as a concubine. My life is so miserable. I couldn’t help but run to my father’s grave to cry and complain.” After saying this, she started to sob again.

It's so pitiful that such a beautiful girl met with such misfortune. Beauty is often short-lived.

"Then run away! Escape from here, and no one will force you to marry this old man."

"Escape? Where can a weak woman like me escape to?"

"How about this, there is a backyard where I teach, and there is an empty room in the backyard. No one usually goes there. You can go there to take refuge for the time being."

Upon hearing this, the young woman burst into laughter through her tears. She weakly tugged at my clothes and stood up, swaying like a willow branch in the wind as she walked with me.

The private school was originally a temple, but because it wasn't very popular, the villagers demolished the clay statue of a Buddha and used it as a place for students to study. The room in the backyard was actually where I lived when I was single. After I got married and received a generous dowry from my wife, I had a more decent new home, and this room became vacant.

The woman seemed quite dependent on me, making no attempt to conceal her presence along the way, tugging at my clothes as if she had already decided on me and wanted to keep me as her mistress. Heh heh, such a blessing delivered right to my doorstep, why not enjoy it?

3. Ghost

This Wang Sheng is indeed a lecher. As soon as he entered the room, he started touching me inappropriately, stroking my stinking body from head to toe, squeezing it until my bones ached.

A foul-smelling mouth bared up at me; this guy's supposed to be a teacher, how shameless!

Squeeze and squeeze, it's just a shell anyway. I laughed and dodged, but Wang Sheng got even more excited and pounced on me like a wolf pouncing on a lamb.

"He's the wolf, and I'm the sheep?" I laughed loudly, startling Wang Sheng. Seeing my half-exposed breasts, he couldn't help but start going crazy again.

Sunlight gradually streamed in through the windowpane. I gently removed Wang Sheng's hand from my chest and, feigning shyness, got out of bed to groom myself. In the bronze mirror, I saw a beautiful woman, her skin as white as snow, and I couldn't help but fall in love with this appearance. Perhaps my past self was just as beautiful, only I hadn't met Wang Sheng then.

Wang Sheng looked up at the window, then hurriedly got up and left the room. He told me not to go out, and then rushed out.

Why can't I go out? With this body, I'm not afraid of the sun.

I watched Wang Sheng walk away coldly, my bones creaking in my skin again. I had to be patient; the bull-nosed man hadn't gotten the money he needed yet. I couldn't eat his heart and liver now.

When Wang Sheng came again, he brought me a hairpin. I guessed it belonged

……