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The Three Ghost Stories of Jinzhong

Lin Jiao's Demonic Illness

"The Demonic Enchantment of Linjiao" is the first part of the Jinzhong Ghost Trilogy.

Jinzhong, Shanxi, formerly known as Weiyu, has been a strategically important location since ancient times. After Jie Zitui's self-immolation at Mianshan during the Spring and Autumn Period, it was designated a sacred site by Chong'er, who believed that evil spirits and demons could not enter.

Later, Lin Xiangru served as the advisor to the State of Zhao and was given the title of "Uncle". After Lin Xiangru died, his spirit traveled to his old home and ensured that the region enjoyed favorable weather and abundant harvests. During the coldest days of winter, Lin County alone remained warm, yielding two harvests a year, which was known as "frost-free suburbs of Lin".

During the Northern Song Dynasty, Prime Minister Kou Zhun returned home to visit his family and built the Mojin Pagoda on the back mountain of Linjiao, inscribing an inscription on its towering height to ward off evil spirits. From then on, the three prime ministers protected the area and ensured its peace.

When Kublai Khan, the Yuan dynasty emperor, marched south, his warhorses, fearful, turned north. His soldiers spurred them on with all their might, and the horses lay prostrate in the dust as if kowtowing, allowing the army to continue. At the end of the Ming dynasty, Li Zicheng, attacking Beijing, stayed at the Mojin Pagoda. His soldiers urinated and defecated, creating a terrible commotion, which they did not clean up before continuing their journey. They walked for several hours without leaving the pagoda. Li Zicheng, greatly alarmed, personally offered sacrifices, and only then was he freed from his predicament. The Qing dynasty emperor Yongzheng, wanting to increase taxes on Wei Yu, suffered a relapse of his illness that evening. In a dream, he saw three old men in elaborate headdresses and flowing robes, appearing as if they were immortals, who advised him to exempt Wei Yu from taxes. Upon waking, Yongzheng followed their advice and recovered completely.

The people of Weiyu, grateful for the blessings the Three Ministers had bestowed upon their village during their lifetime and for their continued prosperity after their deaths, built the Three Ministers Temple. The temple is a place of great religious activity, attracting worshippers year-round, and its prayers are always answered.

During the Cultural Revolution, the destruction of the Four Olds led to the burning of the Mojin Pagoda and the looting and smashing of the Sanxiangguo Temple, leaving only ruins and overgrown weeds where rats scurried about. The land of Weiyu lost its former glory, its vitality vanished, and it declined into a state of chaos, plagued by evil spirits and strange occurrences.

In the early 1980s, with the approval of the local government, the Sanxiangguo Temple and Mojin Pagoda were rebuilt on their original site, and eminent monks and disrobed monks were invited back to the old location. However, secular beliefs had changed, and everyone was focused on wealth. No one sincerely worshipped Buddha. The newly built temple became even more desolate, with only a few old monks who were too exhausted to go out and beg for alms, staying there as lodgers. They worked from dawn till dusk, without interacting with the villagers. Before the government connected the electricity, the temple abbot specifically went to the power bureau to request that they not be given electricity. As darkness fell, the scattered lights of the village below illuminated the majestic temple on the mountain. The chanting of the old monks during their evening prayers carried further and further into the night, spreading to the surrounding villages.

In 1989, Chunyu carried her child on her back and trudged along the winding mountain road.

Every spring, her husband would go to the provincial capital, a hundred miles away, to work odd jobs, leaving her to manage all the land. Since the Cultural Revolution, the soil had become fertile, and each year the crops were barely enough to yield a harvest. The weather was also unpredictable, with either severe droughts or floods. Even on a rare good day, wild boars would come down from the mountains and wreak havoc on the land. In a fit of anger, her husband went away to work odd jobs for several years, leaving her alone at home to farm and barely make ends meet before the New Year. Only then could she earn a little money to bring home.

Yu Ru adjusted the load on her shoulders; her two children were sleeping comfortably inside. She had gotten up early that morning to take her husband to school. She had originally planned to go alone, but her husband reminded her that a group of human traffickers had been operating in the area, and several families in the village had lost their children. That's why she came up with this plan—carrying the children to take her husband. After dropping him off, the children were already asleep again. Yu Ru looked at Along in front of her, then at Hu behind, and a smile only a mother could have appeared on her face.

"Thump!"

A bell rang, shattering Yu Ru's memories.

Yu Ru unloaded the load from her shoulder and gently placed it on the ground. Looking up at the Sanxiangguo Temple, its shadow loomed faintly in the morning mist. She could faintly hear the sounds of wooden fish and chimes, ethereal and swirling around her. She could also intermittently hear the chanting of monks.

A figure slowly emerged from the mist and walked gently towards Yu Ru.

Who is he? Judging from his gait, he should be a man; his clothes are gray. How strange, who would wear gray clothes on this chilly spring morning? Ah, it's just a straight robe. So he's a monk? That shouldn't be the case; it's morning prayer time, no monk should be leaving the temple without permission. But he is definitely a monk. He's getting closer; I can already see his bald head gleaming with a bluish light, the black alms bowl in his right hand, and his left hand held upright in front of his chest. His hemp shoes move silently on the ground. The monk's face is becoming clearer: tightly pursed lips, a straight nose, and a pair of drooping eyelids.

The monk stopped in front of Yu Ru, stepped aside to make way for her, and said in a low voice, "Please go first, female benefactor."

Yu Ruwei bowed slightly in return, squatted down and put the carrying pole back on her shoulder. As she stood up, a small pebble rolled under her feet, and she almost lost her balance. With a sway, the two children were awakened at the same time, and their cries rose and fell in the quiet morning.

If none of this had happened, perhaps, just perhaps, there wouldn't have been so much trouble later. More than a decade later, Yu Ru—my cousin's sister-in-law—is still regretting that foggy morning.

As soon as the crying began, the monk's body suddenly trembled, and he raised his head and opened his eyes.

His piercing eyes stared intently at the two children in the carrying pole for a long, long time.

What a thick fog!

The monk turned his gaze to Yu Ru, his body trembling slightly. He murmured:

"Dark clouds and smoke rise, the form is emaciated and the bones are not prominent; the eyes are slanted and the spirit is even more confused, the forty-nine will surely return to emptiness."

Yu Ru looked at the monk strangely. She hadn't read many books and couldn't understand what he was chanting. Looking at his odd expression, something suddenly occurred to her—Sanxiangguo Temple had never had such a young monk before!

Could he be—?

---janeadam

Reply [3]: Quickly, Yu Ru carried the load and walked away. She ignored the monk behind her.

After walking for a long time, she dared to slow down a little and consider the monk.

Yes, that monk must be a human trafficker from out of town. Legend has it they have a kind of "flower-slapping cake"—if you slap someone on the head, they'll be under their control. What a close call today!

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but stop and look back.

The monk stood behind her like a ghost, a strange and inexplicable smile on his face.

Their souls were scattered and their spirits were destroyed!

Yu Ru turned and ran, stumbling along the long mountain path. The carrying pole swayed back and forth, and the two children's cries grew louder. Eventually, it was no longer crying, but just howls of "Ah—" coming from their weak chests. Besides these howls, Yu Ru could always hear the "tap tap" of footsteps behind her.

what to do?

There were still several miles of mountain road to walk back to the village, and we had to pass through a dense, impenetrable forest. If the peddler made his move in the forest, I would be no match for him. The only plan now was to find a place with people. If there were people there, I thought the peddler wouldn't dare to make a move. Yes.

Thinking of this, Yu Ru immediately changed direction and ran desperately towards the temple on the mountain. Having grown up in a mountain village, climbing mountains was like walking on flat ground for her. In no time, she had reached the temple gate.

The dilapidated mountain gate stood wide open, the dust in front of it unswept for days, kicking up a trail of grime as she rushed past. The courtyard was just as filthy and messy as the outside, with layers of fallen leaves from last winter still piled up on the ground.

Yu Ru put down the carrying pole, turned around, grabbed the door latch, and slammed the door shut. In just a short while, her back was completely soaked. She pressed herself against the door, breathing heavily.

---janeadam

Reply [4]: After her mood had calmed down a bit, Yu Ru peeked out through the crack in the door. The peddler was still standing motionless in the place where she had first met him. A mountain breeze blew by, and another thick fog swallowed his figure. Just then, she heard the rustling sound of leaves being trampled behind her, and she immediately turned around.

The monk was very old, wearing a stained brown robe, and had a large belly like that of Maitreya Buddha. He stood in the courtyard, staring blankly at her.

"Where do you come from, benefactor?"

“Master, I’m from Linjiao at the foot of the mountain. I just took my husband out of the mountains, and on my way back, I encountered a human trafficker. I was terrified, so I came here to hide. I’ll leave when it’s broad daylight and the fog has cleared,” Yu Ru said earnestly to the old monk.

"What?" the old monk exclaimed in surprise. "Human traffickers? Where are they?"

Yu Ru looked outside; the trafficker was gone. "He was chasing me just now, but he stopped chasing me when I ran here. He even pretended to be a monk."

"A monk?" The old monk was shocked. "Impossible! We were all doing our morning prayers just now. No one would have gone out!"

“Yes, that’s why I know he must be a fake,” Yu Ru replied.

“Alright, let’s rest in the backyard for a bit. There are still a few of us here. He’s just a human trafficker; he won’t dare to mess with us easily.” The old monk said, slowly walking over to Yu Ru’s side.

As the old monk approached, Yu Ru suddenly felt a question, but the feeling came too quickly, flashing through her mind before she could even consider it. The old monk was already in front of her, bending down with difficulty to pick up one child from the carrying pole in each arm. He held the children to his nose, sniffing them intensely, his breath coming in short gasps: "So fragrant! I really want to swallow you both whole."

Yu Ru couldn't help but laugh, and said in surprise, "How strange, Master. Usually, these two children would cry loudly at the slightest noise, but now they are just staring at you with their eyes wide open without crying."

The old monk said, "Really? Then it seems I have a connection with these two children. It's best if they don't cry, because if they do—"

He didn't continue, because the two children were silent in his arms, but struggling back and forth. The color of his shirt gradually turned black, because Ah Long had urinated at some point.

---janeadam

Reply [5]: Yu Ru felt extremely guilty upon seeing this, and quickly rushed forward to take A Long from the old monk's arms, preparing to help him urinate. As soon as she took him, Yu Ru was shocked; the child's entire body was icy cold, as if she were holding a block of ice. She put her hand inside the little cotton-padded jacket to check, and it was also extremely cold. It seemed that he had been outside for too long. The child who hadn't cried in the old monk's arms just now had his two icy little hands tightly pressed against her face, and he cried loudly.

Yu Ru didn't have time to think about anything else. She quickly took off her clothes, hugged Along to warm her, and then took Along from the old monk and placed it in her arms in the same way. She used her own body heat to warm them. Then she busied herself apologizing to the old monk.

The old monk watched with a smile, rubbing his urine-soaked clothes with his finger. He said, "It's alright. People say that children's urine is a sacred substance, and many illnesses require it as a medicinal ingredient; however, some say that children's urine can ward off evil spirits. I never knew if it was true or not, but today it seems that people are just talking nonsense—" As he said this, he sucked on his finger.

"Otherwise, you wouldn't have run into human traffickers today!"

He bent down and gently touched the two children's faces with his finger, pressing it into their cheeks and making a dent. He sighed, his mouth agape, so focused that saliva dripped uncontrollably onto Ah Hu's face. The old monk was embarrassed; he quickly smacked his lips a few times, swallowing the saliva. At the same time, he took out a red cloth to wipe the saliva from Ah Hu's face.

That feeling suddenly reappeared, flashing through Yu Ru's mind: What exactly is wrong, what is it?

And so, carrying the two children, Yu Ru, led by the old master, bypassed the main hall and entered a side room in the backyard.

The house was dark, and it hadn't been cleaned in a long time. The smell of mold and decay mixed with the damp, earthy odor assaulted the nostrils. The old craftsman said guiltily, "Oh well, it'll have to be like this. Since the temple was repaired, very few people have come, and the house has been empty. We're all old and don't have the energy to clean it anymore. Over time, it's become like this. But it's alright, you won't be staying here for long anyway, so just make do. I'll go prepare some breakfast for you; you wait here for a moment."

Yu Ru nodded gratefully to him. Only then did she feel the baby in her arms gradually warming up. She took A Long out of her arms and found that his diaper was completely wet. Since she hadn't prepared a new diaper for the morning, she wrung it out and was about to put it back in when she suddenly heard the old monk shout, "No!"

Yu Ru looked up in fright and found the old monk looking tense, his eyes wide open, saying repeatedly, "You can't always use the same diaper, otherwise the child will smell of urine, you have to wash it—" He suddenly stopped talking and looked at Yu Ru with a strange look.

A long silence followed.

The old monk withdrew his gaze, took out the red cloth from his pocket, and said, "Change into this." He tossed the cloth into the carrying pole, glanced at the child a few more times with lingering affection, then gave Yu Ru a deep look before turning and leaving.

---janeadam

Reply [6]: The fog is getting thicker.

The old monk left, and Yu Ru sat cross-legged on the prayer mat in the room. She moved the carrying pole to her side, placed the red cloth the old monk had left inside under A Long, and then carefully put the two children into the pole. The anxiety she had felt all morning left her exhausted. Leaning against the pole, she sang to the children and drifted off to sleep.

After an unknown amount of time, Yu Ru finally woke up. Her two children were fast asleep in the carrying pole. There was no one else in the room; the old monk hadn't come either. Thick fog, like white smoke, swirled outside the door and gradually seeped into the room, making it even dimmer. Yu Ru glanced outside, but could barely see anything beyond that. Having not eaten all morning, Yu Ru was quite hungry. She thought for a moment, then looked back at her sleeping children and decided to go out alone.

She stepped out of the room and gently closed the door behind her.

Yu Ru moved slowly along the corner of the wall, passing one room after another. All the other rooms in the backyard were closed, and the entire courtyard was completely silent. Finally, Yu Ru saw a door in the corner that was half open. She gently opened the other half, and the hinges made a teeth-grinding "creak, creak, creak" sound.

A gust of wind blew by, and the mist drifted in the air for a brief moment. Yu Ru saw an iron pot set up in the side courtyard. Because of the heavy humidity of the mist, white smoke kept billowing from the earthen stove under the iron pot.

"These monks are really stupid. It's so damp outside, and they're still starting a fire in the middle of the courtyard," Yu Ru thought. "Never mind," she thought again, "old people are bound to be confused. Anyway, I have nothing else to do, so I'll just help them blow on the fire."

She walked step by step to the stove, and couldn't help but frown. The smoke coming from the bottom of the stove smelled terrible. "There are bushes, weeds, and thorns all over the mountain. What are these monks using? It smells like the iron tongs used to singe pig hair in a slaughterhouse." Thinking this, she picked up the fire hook next to the stove and stuck it into the firebox to stir.

The flames suddenly grew longer, and thicker white smoke billowed out. Yu Ru instinctively turned her head and stepped back, pulling the fire hook out of the stove. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something burning rapidly on the iron hook, dripping down with flames and making a "whooshing" sound as it rubbed against the air.

What is that? Yu Ru held the iron hook up to her eyes to examine it closely.

It was a tuft of hair that hadn't been completely burned, with transparent plastic pieces mixed in, round and quite cute.

"Oh, so that's how it smells," Yu Ru exclaimed in sudden realization. She remembered the time she accidentally burned her hair while cooking, and that was the same smell. She wondered whose hair it was this time—was it from?

Monk? Hair?

Yu Ru suddenly stood up and raised the iron hook to her eyes again.

---janeadam

Reply [7]: That's right, it's human hair, in clumps, fine and soft, slightly yellowish, with thin and pointed ends, just like, just like Ah Long and Ah Hu's hair. Yes, it's a child's hair, and this transparent round piece is, yes, yes, right, it's a child's fingernail.

With a clang, Yu Ru dropped the iron hook in her hand. Her eyes widened in fear, and her hands trembled as she lifted the pot lid.

A mist rose up.

A pale, lifeless infant lay diagonally on a steaming plate, its hands clenched in front of its chest. Its fingernails and toenails had been removed, and its hair had been shaved off. Its eyes, swollen from the heat, stared blankly at itself; its mouth was twisted to one side, its tiny red tongue motionless, displaying a horrifying smile.

My Ah Long and Ah Hu!!!

Yu Ru turned and stumbled towards the backyard, fragmented images flashing through her mind:

"It smells so good, I wish I could swallow you all whole!" the old monk said, sniffing the air and breathing heavily.

"Really? Then it seems I have a connection with these two children. It's best if they don't cry, because if they do—" the old monk said, holding Ah Long—

"I've always wondered if it's true that boy's urine can ward off evil spirits," the old monk said, sucking on his urine-soaked fingers.

"Otherwise, you wouldn't have encountered human traffickers today," the old monk said, gently tapping his child's cheek with his finger.

"Then the child will smell of urine and needs to be washed—" The old monk smacked his lips and swallowed hard.

Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!

Yu Ru rushed out of the side courtyard, dashed through the backyard, smashed open the half-closed door, and swiftly rushed into the room.

The carrying pole sat alone in its place, with Ah Long and Ah Hu sleeping peacefully inside.

Yu Ru rushed forward, disregarding everything else, picked up the carrying pole, and headed towards the door.

Darkness enveloped her. The old monk darted in from outside, and with a flick of his wrist, a rusty woodcutter's axe struck Yu Ru heavily on the left side of her neck. Darkness fell again, the world spun, and Yu Ru slowly collapsed to the ground.