WARNING: MTL
Volume 1: Days Moving Bricks at the Construction Site
Summoning the Soul to Replace Life
On March 23rd, Ren Yue Returns
The night always brings people many fantasies.
In the northern city, after ten o’clock, the streets are sparsely populated, and on non-main roads, there are hardly any cars.
The boundless night shrouds the earth, and the street lamps on the sides of the road are dim and unclear. On this road, the street lamps are spaced very far apart, and there is always a small dark area between the lamps that isn’t illuminated. Every time she walks through the middle, she can’t help but quicken her pace.
The piercing wind sounds as if it’s penetrating people’s fragile eardrums. At first, it sounds like the wind, but upon careful listening, it resembles a woman’s voice, exhausted and piercing in her cries, making one’s hair stand on end.
From the moment she left the house, Shen Maomao felt something strange. She clutched her best friend Ren Yue’s hand tightly, feeling somewhat uneasy.
As they quickly advanced, the shadows at their feet shifted accordingly, sometimes towering sky-high, and at other times shrinking close beside them…
“How about we go back?” Shen Maomao suggested.
Ren Yue, still with her head down, was looking at the map to find the location: “We’ll be there soon. After all, she came for me, and I can’t let anything happen to her!”
Usually not very brave, Ren Yue was unusually bold tonight. After receiving an SOS from her female online friend, she immediately went out to rescue her, bringing along Shen Maomao, who had relatively higher combat skills, for company.
The situation is like this—
Ren Yue has been playing a very popular online game, and she met this female online friend through it. The two have become very close, playing together for nearly two years. Recently, both of them had the idea to meet in person. The female online friend is a wealthy woman, and upon hearing that Ren Yue was attending university in Jiangcheng, she flew directly to Jiangcheng to see her.
They originally planned to meet at the university town intersection tomorrow. However, who would have thought that after nine o’clock tonight, the wealthy online friend would suddenly send Ren Yue a voice message asking for help? She said she was at a place called Shengshi Internet Cafe, where a little hooligan insisted on taking her home. Terrified, she told the hooligan that her friend would arrive soon and then went to the bathroom to send Ren Yue this message, pleading for her to come quickly and save her.
If Shen Maomao had to choose, she would definitely call 110 to report it. Whether the situation was real or not, how could a few girls possibly compare to the professional police officers?
Unfortunately, Ren Yue, for some reason, was determined to go out and rescue her online friend trapped in a dire situation. Shen Maomao had no choice and, worried about her best friend’s safety, could only silently resent why their dormitory had no curfew.
The Shengshi Internet Cafe was not far from the university town, at most just a ten-minute journey. She suggested taking a taxi, but Ren Yue refused.
In Ren Yue’s own words, “It’s too late, and I’m afraid to take a taxi. What if the driver sees my beauty and has evil thoughts?”
From that moment, Shen Maomao felt that something was not quite right with Ren Yue.
Nmd1, you’re afraid to take a taxi at night, yet you’re willing to walk the streets at night? What kind of nonsense logic is that? And if you’re so righteously going to rescue your online friend, isn’t it better to arrive as quickly as possible?
But Ren Yue’s thinking has always been a bit different from normal people, so at that time, she didn’t think much of it and just let Ren Yue, with her head down, use the map to search for Shengshi Internet Cafe, leading her through the vast night.
The location of this Internet cafe was very remote, and the two of them passed through several small alleys, getting farther from the main road, and finally walked into a community with few street lights.
Shen Maomao’s suspicion reached its peak: “Could your wealthy friend be a con artist?” Why would a rich woman live in such a sketchy place? And why wouldn’t she carry a laptop instead of needing an internet cafe?
Ren Yue replied: “Impossible, Maomao, you’re overthinking it. My mentor in the game has spent quite a lot of money on me; cheating me twice wouldn’t even cover the costs.”
Shen Maomao glanced at her very beautiful face and secretly thought to herself that perhaps people aren’t necessarily after your money.
Besides, a kidney seems to be quite valuable…
Her hand remained in her pocket, where her phone was already set to dial 110, ready to call immediately if any problem arose.
As they continued to walk forward, there were no street lights at all.
This community was also very strange; it was only ten o’clock in the evening, yet most residents had their lights off. Looking up from downstairs, only rows of dark windows could be seen.
Using the two of them as a dividing line, in front lay a stretch of darkness, while behind, the only remaining street light emitted a dim yellow glow, as if they were in two different worlds. They advanced, step by step, into the darkness…
“Here it is!”
Ren Yue’s sudden voice startled Shen Maomao, and she looked around, searching for the sign of Shengshi Internet Cafe.
They were situated between two eight-story buildings, with the front door of the back building before them and the back door of the front building behind them.
Nearby, only a fruit shop still had its lights on, and nothing looked like there might be an internet cafe.
Shen Maomao asked her, “Are you sure?”
The map’s cold mechanical female voice prompted, “You have arrived at your destination…”
Ren Yue also looked up and surveyed the surroundings: “Eh? The map shows it’s here… is the location off?”
Shen Maomao said, “Let’s go ask.”
The two of them walked into the fruit shop, and Ren Yue asked a woman who was tidying up the place, “Excuse me, is there a Shengshi Internet Cafe nearby?”
The woman opened her mouth and spoke in a dialect from an unknown city, and they couldn’t understand a word.
Communication became difficult, so Shen Maomao said, “Big sister, we don’t understand your dialect. If you understand Mandarin, please nod your head.”
The woman nodded.
Shen Maomao asked, “Is there this internet cafe nearby? If there is, nod your head; if not, shake your head; if you don’t know, wave your hand.”
The woman waved her hand.
The two thanked her, exited the fruit shop, and stood confusedly by the flower bed in front of the shop.
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“How about…” Shen Maomao suggested, “we take a look behind?”
So Ren Yue re-navigated, and the two of them went around this building and walked past another one behind it.
The prompt sound suddenly announced, “You have deviated from the route, recalculating the route for you, please turn around… please turn around… please turn around…”
For some reason, Shen Maomao felt a sudden chill at the back of her neck. She shivered, feeling somewhat uneasy inside.
With her vivid imagination, she had already conjured up various “turn around” scenarios.
Ren Yue was still looking at the map to find the Shengshi Internet Cafe, and on the map, the small red dot representing their location was separated from the destination by a right-angle turn. And the destination was the fruit shop where they had just asked for directions.
They circled around back to the original point, and in the short time since they had left, the fruit shop that had been open had unexpectedly pulled down its shutter door!
The surroundings fell completely into darkness, with only a bright moon on the horizon tirelessly emitting light.
Something is definitely not right!
Shen Maomao grabbed Ren Yue’s hand: “I don’t feel good about this, maybe you should call her…”
“How did I not think of that!” Ren Yue immediately switched the interface and started dialing. After a moment, she blankly put down the phone, “She didn’t answer…”
“F*ck…” Shen Maomao cursed quietly and immediately dialed 110.
“Beep… beep… beep…”
Her heart was beating faster and faster, as if it was about to leap out of her throat.
“Sorry, the number you dialed is temporarily unavailable, please try again later…”
Can 110 really be like this?! Although she had never called 110 before, this situation is clearly not right, okay?!
She pulled Ren Yue to walk under the street light: “Forget about your online friend for now, you try calling the police. If that doesn’t work, we’ll immediately head back and think of other ways.”
Ren Yue dialed the phone, and after a while, with an expression almost on the verge of tears from fear, she said to Shen Maomao, “No one answered…”
Shen Maomao comforted herself: “Perhaps the police officer went to the bathroom. Let’s walk back while calling. You call your friend, and I’ll call 110.”
The wind tonight was very strong, but apart from the sound of the wind, it seemed that between heaven and earth, there were only the sounds of their footsteps and the busy tone from their phones.
They really began to panic, unable to understand why such a situation would occur.
After stopping the calls and the signal was restored, the mechanical female voice repeated: “Please turn around… please turn around… please turn around…”
“Turn off this piece of sh*t quickly!”
Ren Yue frantically fiddled with her phone, and that scalp-numbing turn-around prompt finally stopped.
Just a little further ahead was a streetlight. People are naturally drawn to light, and being in the light made Shen Maomao feel much more at ease.
“Something is definitely wrong tonight…” Shen Maomao said while dialing 110, “Ever since we entered this residential area, I’ve had this creepy feeling behind me. Your rich lady friend definitely has some issues, and if she doesn’t, then we’ve seen a ghost.”
Ren Yue was almost in tears from fear: “Don’t say that… I’m scared…”
“Now you know fear?”
“I’ll never go out at night again…”
After walking a little while, the gate of the residential area finally appeared before their eyes. They hadn’t noticed it when entering, but when leaving, they could immediately see the name of the residential area—
An Le2 Residential Area.
“What a garbage name, f*ck.” Shen Maomao turned back and spat towards the residential area gate, using this action to boost her courage, “Living in this kind of scary residential area, I’d rather be euthanized!”
“Stop it, Maomao!” Ren Yue tugged at her sleeve, her whole body shaking, “You… look ahead…”
Ahead?
Shen Maomao turned her head to look, and not far ahead was an intersection, with a person standing right in the middle.
It was unclear if the person was male or female, cloaked in black, squatting at the crossroads burning something.
“Woc3, is he not afraid for his life?”
Today, the wind is from the southwest, and the two of them were standing at the northeast side of the intersection. The strong wind, carrying ashes, blew towards them. Ren Yue pinched Shen Maomao’s arm tightly and swallowed hard: “Maomao… what should we do…”
Shen Maomao said in a deep voice: “We’ll take a detour.”
If we can’t confront it, can’t we at least avoid it?
She reassured Ren Yue: “It’s okay, he might be calling back a soul.”
In Jiangcheng, there’s a local custom: If a family’s child is frightened to the point that their soul seems detached, they go to an intersection, light incense and ghost paper, and wave the child’s clothes over the flames while calling the child’s name, to help the soul return to the body.
But she had never seen anyone calling back a soul in the middle of a damn road! Although there were few cars nearby, this person was really bold.
The two of them turned around and walked in the opposite direction. The wind seemed to carry the person’s words to their ears—
“East rice grain, west rice grain, north rice grain, south rice grain, four great five directions rice grain, March 23rd Ren Yue come back ah…”
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Ren Yue come back ah…
Ren Yue suddenly let out a scream, and Shen Maomao quickly covered her mouth: “Don’t respond!”
In this situation, who knows what consequences replying to him might have.
Ren Yue nodded while sobbing, tears streaming down her face. Shen Maomao let go of her hand, grabbed her wrist, and led her stumbling forward as they ran.
They heard urgent footsteps coming from behind, accompanied by that person’s repeated calls getting closer…
While running, Shen Maomao turned back and saw that the person was only a few steps away from them!
“Ren Yue… come back ah…” The man’s raspy voice, like sandpaper over a tabletop, exploded in their ears, and Ren Yue’s legs went weak, causing her to suddenly fall to the ground.
Shen Maomao’s hair stood on end, and she hurriedly went to help her friend.
But Ren Yue was so scared that her limbs were weak, and she simply couldn’t stand up. She broke down crying: “Shen Maomao, go quickly! Don’t worry about me!”
Fart!
Shen Maomao had been in so many fights and never once left her sisters behind to run!
In just a blink of an eye, the man was already close at hand. His face was completely covered by a hood, exposing only his scabby-skinned chin. Holding a stack of round, five-hole white paper money, he called Ren Yue’s name while sprinkling it on her, and his line changed: “Ren Yue… take money…”
The fierce wind blew the paper money all over the sky, sticking to the two girls’ bodies.
Shen Maomao blocked the incoming paper money and dragged Ren Yue backward, shouting at the man: “Get lost! We’ve already called the police!”
The man remained unmoved, still approaching the two step by step, while the paper money in his hand grew less and less.
Ren Yue, over a hundred pounds, was a heavy burden, and Shen Maomao’s strength was simply not enough, making it very hard to escape together with her.
Dark clouds covered the moon, and the street lamps all extinguished, plunging the earth into deeper darkness.
Here, the street lamps actually extinguish right on time!
Shen Maomao gritted her teeth; as a dignified socialist university student, could she still believe in ghosts and gods?
She put down Ren Yue and directly rushed toward the man.
The man acted like he didn’t see her and continued calling Ren Yue’s name, as if he wouldn’t stop without getting a response. The paper money in his hand was scattered one by one, like butterflies dancing in the wind.
He definitely wasn’t calling souls!
Calling a soul involves using the lost child’s name, and the paper money is used to light a fire to roast the child’s clothes. There’s no need to call someone else’s name or sprinkle paper money on them.
According to her experience, the man’s behavior seemed more like calling a soul to replace a life!
While both involve calling a soul, adding the words “replace life” makes the meanings of the two types of soul-calling very different.
Calling a soul to replace a life involves a ghost master burning paper in an open place to call nearby souls. If someone responds, their soul leaves the body. The ghost master then lights the paper money in hand and hands it to that person. If the person accepts, it’s called “receiving fire,” and they need to die for someone.
So that stack of paper money is actually the key.
At this point, treating a dead horse as a living one. Shen Maomao reached out and snatched the paper money from the man’s hand, then turned and ran: “F*cker! Your money is in my hand!”
The wind abruptly stopped, and all the paper money floated mid-air, as if the pause button had been pressed. Ren Yue’s crying suddenly became very distant, her voice so small it was barely audible.
None of this could be explained by science. If the situation allowed, Shen Maomao would have loved to record a video and upload it online, showing the silly netizens what it means when gravity takes a holiday.
She ran a few steps back to the original intersection and turned to look at the man.
The man gave up on the nearly fainting Ren Yue, stood straight, and walked toward her, saying, “Shen Maomao… come back ah…”
Though there was still some distance, the voice clearly reached Shen Maomao’s ears. She was momentarily in a trance and even thought about responding directly.
Luckily, she snapped out of it in time and decisively turned to run away.
The night was deep, and she ran forward without raising her head. The trees along the road clawed at the air, and the bushes rustled, as if bidding farewell to her departure.
An icy hand covered the back of her neck, and then her left shoulder sank as a hooded head rested on her shoulder, faintly saying: “Shen Maomao… give money…”
Shen Maomao was so scared she nearly dropped dead on the spot.
She let out a scream, frantically clawing at the sudden head, hitting, crying, and cursing: “F*cker, get off me ah ah ah ah ah!!”
Withered and icy fingers covered her face, and Shen Maomao involuntarily shivered, breaking out in goosebumps. Her physical disgust overcame her fear as she forcefully grabbed the inhuman wrist. Her other hand spread its five fingers, letting the paper money scatter everywhere, and she clutched the hood and the face beneath it, pulling outward with all her might.
It is said that ghosts fear people who curse energetically. Even at this moment, she didn’t forget to shout logically and clearly: “All the money is scattered for you! Quickly pick it up to save for your mom’s grave! Don’t bother me!”
She didn’t know if that sentence worked, but Shen Maomao felt the hand holding her loosen, and the heavy head moved away from her shoulder.
Maybe it really bent down to pick up the paper money.
But Shen Maomao didn’t dare to look back and ran away frantically.
She had clearly run far away, yet she felt as if she were still in the An Le community. The usually bustling university town night market was empty, the roads were deserted with not a single car, and all nearby shops were tightly closed…
What on earth happened tonight?!
Fear quickly drained her strength, and soon she couldn’t run any further.
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She bravely looked back twice, but the man hadn’t followed. Behind her was only an endless road, and it seemed as though the whole world had left her alone.
Loneliness is the most frightening thing, especially in this situation. The unknown is always scarier than what has already arrived. If she weren’t usually so bold, she might have already been scared senseless.
She bent over, gasping by the roadside, her back pressed tightly against a street lamp pole, as she raised her hand to wipe her face. The tears had dried on her face, making the skin around her eyes feel tight and very uncomfortable.
Suddenly, a burst of music broke the silence in the air, successfully startling her into a shiver.
Shen Maomao belatedly realized—it was her phone ringing.
She took out her phone, and the caller ID displayed Ren Yue’s name.
“Are you okay?” As soon as the call connected, she impatiently asked.
Ren Yue said, “I’m fine… he went to chase you. I’m now at our dorm entrance, waiting for you to come back.”
Shen Maomao breathed a sigh of relief, “That’s good. I shook him off and will be back soon.”
On the other end of the phone, Ren Yue didn’t speak for a long time.
Shen Maomao frowned, “Ren Yue?”
Ren Yue softly called, “Maomao…”
Shen Maomao subconsciously responded, “Hm?”
In an instant, her vision blurred, and the surrounding buildings began to twist and deform. She once again felt the cold wind blowing through her body and heard the sound of car engines and honking on the road.
Suddenly, her right palm felt a burning, stabbing pain, and with her last bit of consciousness, she looked down—
What appeared before her eyes was a bright flame.
Footnotes
- Nmd: Short for “你妈的” (nǐ mā de), which is a colloquial and somewhat vulgar phrase used to express annoyance, similar to saying “f*ck” or “motherf*cker” in English.
- An Le: Translates to “peace and happiness” or “comfort and joy”.
- Woc: An internet slang term in Chinese, often used as a phonetic representation of the exclamation “卧槽” (wò cáo). It’s an expression of surprise or disbelief, similar to saying “wow” or “what the heck” in English.