Forbidden Land – CH 105

Zhang Chao was squatting in the outhouse defecating when suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching from the path outside.

“Smack”… “Thump”… “Smack”… “Thump”…

The rhythm was extremely slow, each footstep landing with a “smack,” followed by a soft “thump” like a cane hitting the ground.

The intervals between them were very long, as if it were a very frail person slowly walking towards him.

At first, Zhang Chao thought it was Chen Rong, so he called out, “Chen Rong, what are you doing?”

There was no response, but the “smack”… “thump” sounds suddenly quickened, as if someone were running towards him.

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After a few seconds, the rhythm returned to its previous slowness.

But Zhang Chao could tell that the sound was indeed approaching him, slowly approaching, closer and closer…

Zhang Chao’s heart sank, and he raised his voice, shouting, “Chen Rong, what are you doing!”

Several seconds passed, and still no response.

Zhang Chao looked up, his gaze passing over the waist-high wooden door of the outhouse, peering outside.

A few seconds later, the memory he would never forget appeared before him.

A woman with long, disheveled hair, dressed entirely in a dark black robe, leaning on a cane with her right hand, possessing only one leg—her left leg, her right leg missing down to the knee—carried a branch in her left hand, from which hung a tattered white paper-wrapped lantern, inside which a candle burned. Step by step, she walked slowly along the path, head bowed.

“Smack”… “Thump”… “Smack”… “Thump”…

The rhythm remained constant.

Zhang Chao looked closer and was utterly terrified, his face turning deathly pale.

The woman’s dark black robe looked… clearly it was a funeral shroud!

Zhang Chao swallowed hard, quickly switched off his flashlight, and retreated to the innermost corner of the outhouse. Ignoring the filth, he huddled in the darkest shadow, afraid to breathe, terrified of being discovered.

Long, disheveled black hair obscured the woman’s face. She seemed oblivious to his presence, her head still turned, staring blankly at the ground. Following her previous rhythm, she leaned on her cane and took a step forward.

Zhang Chao stared in utter terror, his mind a complete blank.

As the woman approached the outhouse, Zhang Chao instinctively ducked, blending himself completely into the darkness.

“Smack”… “Thump”… “Smack”… “Thump”…

The woman continued walking slowly, maintaining the same rhythm, until she passed the outhouse.

He waited a long, long time… The woman… the woman’s footsteps seemed to have stopped. Had she gone?

Zhang Chao lay prone, head down, for a long time. He heard no more footsteps from the woman. He raised his head, about to stand up, when suddenly, a sharp gaze met his above the wooden door of the outhouse.

The woman in the funeral clothes!

A wrinkled, dry face was pressed against the door, her piercing gaze fixed on him.

Zhang Chao’s teeth and muscles trembled violently.

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The woman in the funeral clothes stared at him, slowly raising her left hand and extending a tattered lantern wrapped in white paper, with several holes, into the doorway, seemingly trying to see Zhang Chao’s face clearly.

The lantern was about to be held in front of him.

“Ahh!!” Unable to bear it any longer, Zhang Chao shouted at the top of his lungs, “Chen Rong! Chen Rong! Help!”

His voice was loud, but it immediately disappeared into the empty mountain area.

Within five or six seconds, Chen Rong’s footsteps echoed along the path. Reaching the outhouse, Chen Rong paused, then launched into a tirade of curses at the woman in the funeral shroud, speaking in her local dialect.

The woman in the shroud hesitated, picked up her lantern, slowly turned around, slightly raised the lantern, stared at Chen Rong for a few moments, and then let out a strange, mocking laugh.

Chen Rong grabbed a wooden stick from the wall beside her and struck the ground, yelling at the woman in the shroud, seemingly telling her to get lost.

The woman in the shroud glared at Chen Rong, then turned and continued walking slowly down the path, leaning on her cane.

Even after the woman in the shroud had left, Zhang Chao remained panting heavily, his mind blank.

Chen Rong approached and called out urgently several times. After a long while, Zhang Chao finally came to his senses, still unable to process what had just happened. “Was that…was that…that old ghost from the mountain village?”