Forbidden Land – CH 063

Upon hearing Chen Rong describe the old man as strange, Zhang Chao quickly asked, “Tell me, what exactly happened?”

Chen Rong replied, “He wasn’t brought in by family members. He was sent by the town’s ‘government’ in Jiande. They said he was a fortune teller in the town, very accurate, and many people sought him out daily, some even traveling from other places. But he only did fortune telling in the mornings; he didn’t take clients at other times. Every afternoon, this old man would go to the market to buy several live chickens. He lived alone, and the townspeople initially wondered how he could eat so many chickens every day and whether he could finish them all. They also thought it was strange that he didn’t want anyone to kill them, but rather killed them himself. But it’s a personal habit; some people like to eat chicken, so no one paid much attention. Then one day, someone went to him for a fortune telling in the afternoon, but he wasn’t there. The person went to look for him in the back of his house, and that’s when they discovered the problem.”

Zhang Chao asked urgently, “What problem?”

Chen Rong said, “That man discovered a strong smell of blood in his backyard, along with chicken blood and feathers everywhere, making it look like a slaughterhouse. The man, being brave, went into a closed door in the backyard and found a table with a bundle containing a child on it. When he opened it, he was terrified to find a child’s skeleton inside, its mouth full of blood. The man was horrified and immediately ran out and called the police. Later, after interrogation, it was revealed that the child’s skeleton had been dug up from a child’s grave by the fortune teller, so the police released him. But the story spread throughout the town, causing widespread panic. Some elderly people said that since his fortune-telling was so accurate and he kept a skeleton child, he must be raising a ghost child in his house. The matter eventually reached the town government, and government officials went to his house to investigate, digging up many dead chicken bones in the backyard. This made the townspeople even more frightened. The government said he had a mental illness, so they sent him to Hangzhou.”

Zhang Chao felt a chill run down his spine after hearing this and asked, “What’s this ‘raising a ghost child’?”

Chen Rong explained, “My grandfather used to tell me stories about some rather wicked rural sorcerers who secretly raised ghost children at home. These ghost children were children who had died young. The charlatan would wrap the dead child up, place it on an altar every day, and feed it fruits, vegetables, and live chicken blood. The stronger the resentment of the dead child, the stronger its magical power would be once it became a ghost child. Fruit- and vegetable-fed ghost children are mostly good ghosts, helping people find lost items or cure simple illnesses. If they are fed blood, then the ghost child’s power is stronger; it can see a person’s past, like fortune tellers, and some can even harm people.”

Zhang Chao felt a chill run down his spine and said, “Is raising ghost children really possible? Do the corpses of children who died young really have that much power?”

Chen Rong shook her head and smiled, “I’ve only heard about it. There’s always been this talk of raising ghost children, but whether it’s true or not, only the person raising them knows. But as for its power, I don’t believe it. Otherwise, that old man over there raising a ghost child with chicken blood should have been quite powerful, yet he was still caught by the villagers and taken to the town government. I haven’t heard of him harming any villagers. Now that he’s locked up here, if the ghost child really had power, he could just send the key flying, knock the guards unconscious, and walk out easily, right? Some superstitious practices might work, but it’s probably a matter of probability; they are definitely not very effective. Otherwise, why are there fewer and fewer superstitious people these days? I’ve only heard of people being killed with knives, never of anyone being killed by some kind of ghost child or something.”

Zhang Chao said, “Perhaps there really are people who have been killed by ghosts, but nobody knows about it. Like Bai Qiu and Li Weihao, they really wouldn’t have committed suicide.”

Chen Rong sighed and shook her head. “Although I also find things strange, I still don’t believe they were killed by ghosts.”

Zhang Chao asked, “You said the same thing in your text message. What exactly happened?”

Chen Rong shook her head and said, “This is a bit mysterious. I don’t know the answer either. Originally, I just assumed it was ‘suicide,’ but after so many things happened, I can’t figure it out anymore. Like you, I always feel there’s something odd about it. I looked up some information, and there are reports of people abroad using hypnosis to make others behave abnormally. I’m not sure if they were hypnotized, but I don’t believe in superstitions about ghosts killing people, so I’m more inclined to believe that what happened at the School of Medicine was deliberate.”

Zhang Chao shook his head and sighed, “So you’re just guessing too.”

Chen Rong said, “Whether it’s guessing or not, the truth will always come out eventually. You don’t need to worry. By the way, you still haven’t told me what happened the other night.”