Истории о привидениях - Глава 2

Глава 2

"Then let's hurry up and find him, Fatty, get up, let's all find Hongliang together," Shandou said.

---janeadam

Reply [6]: Suddenly, the sound of a baby crying came from the front of the woods. The cry was loud and clear, like the natural cry of a newborn baby.

“Listen, there’s a child crying,” Fang Hongwen said.

"Why is there a child crying in this big forest? Is it...?" Big Fatty asked curiously.

The crying began to sound pitiful, instantly evoking pity in the listener.

"Let's go take a look," Shan Dou said. "Everyone be careful, don't fall behind!"

Using the dappled moonlight filtering through the treetops, the three children cautiously made their way towards the sound of crying. Soon, they came to a slightly wider clearing in the woods. Though called a clearing, it was actually overgrown with weeds and some saplings; yet, given the tall, dense trees, it was indeed a flat area.

The baby's crying abruptly stopped here. Silence descended once more, even the chirping of insects ceased, save for the rapid breathing of the three children and the pounding of their hearts like drums.

"Strange, why is it gone?" Shan Dou said nervously.

"Shandou, this place is so scary!" Big Fatty was terrified.

"Look, there seems to be something over there!" Fang Hongwen said, pointing to the bushes in front of them. Following his finger, we saw something indeed next to the bushes.

“It’s a pair of shoes! White shoes!” Shan Dou said, staring at the object.

They held hands and walked a few more steps forward.

“Look, those are my brother’s shoes!” Fang Hongwen said nervously.

Everyone quickly ran over—yes, it really was Hongliang's shoe, but where was Hongliang? Where had Hongliang gone? In such a large forest, in such a dark night, where could he have gone so quietly all by himself? Could it be…? A sense of foreboding crept into the hearts of the children.

"Brother—" Fang Hongwen shouted, almost tearing his throat. The echo reverberated through the woods, piercing, shrill, and terrifying!

"Let's go quickly, Hongliang might have already gone home!" Da Pang was even more frightened.

“Hongwen, maybe your brother has already gone back. Otherwise, we should be able to find him.” Shandou was also scared, but he was the calmest one among them. “Why don’t we go back first? Besides, searching like this isn’t a solution. It’s getting too late, and our parents will be very worried.”

"Brother—" Fang Hongwen, holding Fang Hongliang's pair of white shoes, cried as he ran home with Shandou and Da Pang through the darkness like frightened birds.

---janeadam

Reply [7]: Three

The Fang family will be sleepless tonight.

Fang Hongliang's disappearance alarmed the entire Fang family, from the patriarch to the middle-aged master and his concubines, down to little Yiting, who was still nursing in her mother's arms. The whole family sat in the living room; some cried, some made a fuss, some sighed, and some remained silent. Fang Hongwen knelt before Fang Tiande, too afraid to move. Little Yiting seemed to have just woken from a nightmare, crying incessantly.

“I’ve told you children so many times not to go to the back mountain, not to go to the back mountain. Well, now your brother is missing, what are you going to do? You little bastard!” Fang Tiande finished speaking and lashed Fang Hongwen with his whip again.

"Master, please stop hitting him! He's just a child!" the third concubine pleaded, wiping away her tears. Fang Hongwen was her only child; the first concubine had Fang Hongliang, the fourth concubine had Fang Hongwu, and the sixth concubine had a daughter, Fang Yiting. The first concubine's cries grew louder nearby.

"Tell me, how exactly did Hongliang disappear?" Fang Tiande's whip hovered in the air, but didn't strike. Fang Hongwen was still trembling, several bright red welts already visible on his back.

“We were just playing hide-and-seek. My brother and Da Pang hid, and Shan Dou and I went to find them. Who knew… who knew my brother would disappear!” Fang Hongwen sobbed.

“We searched everywhere for him, but we couldn’t find him,” Fang Hongwen said, crying. “We only found these shoes of my brother.” As she spoke, she took out a pair of white shoes that she had been tucking into her bosom.

"What? Hongliang's shoes? Where is that person? Where did he go?" The first wife rushed over, grabbed the shoes, and asked Fang Hongwen anxiously.

"Stop arguing, I'll ask him." Fang Tiande scolded his first wife, "Hong Wen, where were these shoes found?"

"It seemed to be... in an open area in the woods," Fang Hongwen said. He suddenly recalled the strange and terrifying encounters in the woods, and his voice began to tremble. "We also heard... we heard the cries of an infant."

"What? A baby crying? How could there be a baby crying in the woods?" Fang Tiande asked in surprise. "Then, did you see the baby?"

"No, no. We followed the baby's cries until we reached that open space, and then the crying stopped."

"Strange, how could there be a baby in the woods?" Everyone started discussing.

"Also, we encountered a person with disheveled hair and wearing a red cheongsam in the woods," Fang Hongwen seemed to see that terrifying ghostly figure before his eyes, his mouth trembling and his face full of fear, "No, she's not human, she's...flying in the air, she...she's a ghost!"

"Huh?" The concubines gaped in astonishment.

"A red cheongsam, a woman in a red cheongsam?" Fang Tiande suddenly became very nervous, and the leather whip in his hand fell to the ground. "Could it be..." The image of the seventh concubine suddenly rushed into Fang Tiande's mind, the child in her belly, her raised hands... Fang Tiande's face grew paler and paler, and large beads of sweat poured down his forehead.

"Dad, what's wrong?"

"Sir, are you alright?"

"Oh, I'm fine." Fang Tiande quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead, trying to regain his composure. "I... I was worried about Hongliang!"

"Alright, it's almost dawn, everyone take a rest. We'll send someone to search for Hongliang in the back mountain first thing this morning!"

Everyone dispersed. Fang Hongwen, exhausted from excessive fear, was able to fall asleep. The young and ignorant Fang Hongwu and Fang Yiting quickly drifted off to sleep. Who else could possibly sleep? Old Master Fang sat in the living room until the first ray of sunlight shone through the glass window into the alleyway.

The woods behind the mountain were filled with shadowy figures. All the men of the Fang family had come out, except for Old Master Fang and Master Fang. Of course, Master Fang's two sons would not go.

"Young Master!" "Young Master!" The shouts echoed throughout the forest, from sunrise to sunset, from morning dew to twilight, but Fang Hongliang was still nowhere to be seen.

"My child!" The Fang family's eldest concubine's mournful cries echoed from the side room, reverberating over Pingshan Town. They mingled with the shouts from the woods, adding to the town's atmosphere of sorrow, panic, and unease. Early in the morning, every household had closed their doors and gone to sleep.

Only the Fang family's house was brightly lit.

---janeadam

Reply [8]: "Still haven't found it?" Master Fang asked the steward.

"No, we've searched the entire forest, but we haven't found a single hair," the butler replied.

"It seems my child... alas!" Master Fang lowered his head in anguish. "I'm afraid he's gone forever!"

"Sir, could she have been abducted? These are chaotic times."

"Even if someone is abducted, there's still hope—maybe we can find them! I'm afraid he's already...gone!"

"Master, no, how could this be!"

"Do you still remember what happened in the forest three years ago?" Master Fang asked nervously.

"Three years ago? What happened three years ago?" The butler thought for a moment, then suddenly leaned closer and whispered, "You mean the matter of the Seventh Concubine?"

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of!" Master Fang's face was extremely grim.

"Huh? She's been dead for three years, how could this be... how could this be?"

“I don’t think so. But Hongwen, and your Shandou both saw a female ghost with her own eyes, wearing a red cheongsam and with disheveled hair! And the baby’s crying, could it be her unborn child? The more I think about it, the scarier I get!”

"Oh dear, could it be that the Seventh Concubine has come to claim our lives?" The steward's face also turned pale with fright.

"Waaah—waaah—" The sound of a baby crying came from afar.

"That brat, still crying so late, so annoying!"

"Whoosh—whoosh—" The sound seemed to be coming from the roof.

"Sixth Concubine, you—" Master Fang suddenly couldn't speak, because the Sixth Concubine had taken the child back to her parents' home early this morning, and there was no baby this small at home. How could there be a baby crying? Could this be the baby in the Seventh Concubine's belly...? Master Fang's whole body began to tremble!

"Butler... Butler, listen!" Master Fang pointed tremblingly to the roof with his trembling hand.

"Whoosh—whoosh—" The sound was coming from the roof! Closer and closer, as if it was about to break through the tiles!

"It's...it's...a very strange...sound, it's..." The butler's scalp tingled, his legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground.

The crying stopped abruptly. A moment of silence followed.

"They've left?" Master Fang asked tremblingly.

"It seems they've left!" the butler replied in a very low voice.

"It seems that the Seventh Concubine has really come for revenge," Master Fang said in a panic.

"Master, what should we do?" the steward asked fearfully.

"I don't know either!"

"Ha—ha—" A strange, maniacal laugh came from afar. It was a woman's laughter; it sounded familiar.

"Listen! What's that sound?" Master Fang's voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz.

"Ha—ha—" The maniacal laughter grew closer, seemingly coming from the rooftop. "Ha—ha—" He recognized it—it was the Seventh Concubine's voice, it really was the Seventh Concubine's voice! The butler was terrified, his face drained of color, and he sat on the floor, his mouth agape, trembling uncontrollably!

"She's here! She...she...she's here! It's...it's...Seventh Concubine!" The butler could barely speak.

"We...quick...quick...run!" Old Master Fang tried to run, but his legs gave way and he collapsed back into his chair.

The laughter abruptly stopped. A moment of silence followed.

"They...they...they left?"

"No...no...I don't know." The butler tried to stand up but couldn't.

"Quickly...call...the servants!" Master Fang was terrified; he felt safer with more people around.

"Yes...yes, I...I'll go call them right away." The butler practically crawled around like a crab.

With a loud bang, an object suddenly fell to the center of the living room, kicking up a cloud of dust. The sound was so loud that the entire roof beam shook, the tiles shattered, and Mr. Fang and his chair tumbled backward, while the butler, terrified, fell to his knees.

"What...what is this?" Master Fang climbed over to the butler and asked, his eyes fixed on the object that had just fallen in the center of the living room. The dust had not yet settled, and in the dim light, the object looked like a person!

"Butler, go...go...take a look!" Master Fang had already hidden behind the butler. The butler was equally terrified, but at the master's command, he had no choice but to crawl step by step toward the object.

"Oh my god, sir!" The butler had just crawled close to the object when he retreated in terror, his mouth trembling. "Sir, it's...it's...the eldest young master!"

"Ah? Young Master!" Master Fang scrambled over—and lying in front of him was indeed the eldest young master of the Fang family—Fang Hongliang!

Lying before me, Fang Hongliang's face was as white as paper, his eyes were as big as copper bells, his mouth was open like a round apple, his tongue was sticking out like a snake's tongue, and his bare feet were sticking straight out. Apart from that, his whole body was intact.

Young Master Fang is really dead! He was scared to death! He was scared to death alive! Old Master Fang threw himself on Fang Hongliang's body, stroking that face as white as paper, and burst into tears!

"My child, you're so pitiful!"

"Young master, young master, wake up, wake up!" The butler rushed to the side and shouted.

The men, women, and children of all ages in the Fang family mansion were awakened by the crying and laughter earlier. Now, hearing the sound of Master Fang wailing and lamenting, they knew that something terrible must have happened, and they all rushed to the living room.

Faced with Fang Hongliang's horrific and tragic death, Master Fang was filled with pain, fear, hatred, and regret. "This must be Seventh Concubine seeking revenge! First she took my child's life, and now she'll surely take mine!" The more Master Fang thought about it, the more pain and fear he felt, especially Fang Hongliang's wide-open, terrifying eyes, which filled him with both shock and dread. Master Fang reached out to close Fang Hongliang's eyes, but suddenly, through Fang Hongliang's large, deathly gray eyes, Master Fang seemed to see Seventh Concubine standing behind him, disheveled and dressed in a red cheongsam. Seventh Concubine was giggling, but her eyes were filled with resentment as she stared at him!

"Ah—" Master Fang cried out and fainted.

---janeadam

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