Chapter Seven: Knocking on the Coffin

I sat by the fire pit, lighting a cigarette, my eyes never leaving Zhang Yidan. His condition was my greatest worry. After enduring such a terrible ordeal, I feared he might lose his will to live, so I planned to suggest leaving once he seemed a bit better.

Yu Xiaoxue sat not far from me, her gaze vacant. The once beautiful young girl now looked haggard and worn out. I estimated she had reached her limit; if not for the perilous situation, she might have fallen asleep immediately.

The rooster crowed, and the sky gradually lightened to a pale dawn. I glanced back at the heavens; the stars faded away. This long night was finally over.

With the break of day strengthening the yang energy, the restless spirits lost interest in the incense smoke and began drifting away from the doorstep, seeking places heavy with yin energy.

I felt it was time to propose leaving. “We should—”

“Xia Yitian… Brother…” Zhang Yidan interrupted me.

Zhang Yidan was a rough man, never easily bowing to anyone. He addressed most elders by their names, and now, from names to terms of address, he finally called me “brother,” forcing me to take a deep breath.

If it wasn’t important, he wouldn’t have used that term. I said, “Yi, go ahead.”

“Brother, your sister-in-law died tragically… Granny said this grudge she can’t avenge, and neither can I. But she also said something else, which I’ve been thinking about these past few days but haven’t dared to tell you.” He looked at me, tears streaking down his face as if they couldn’t be wiped away.

I didn’t know what to say, quietly staring at him. Yu Xiaoxue’s eyes flickered, and she lost all sleepiness.

“Granny said she sent you a letter before she got injured, warning you not to come back. I asked why she would warn you about such danger. She said she could have kept quiet, but after more than a hundred years of karmic cycles, retribution is bitter. Even if she didn’t say anything, you would have found out from other sources eventually.

If you had held back and not returned, that would have been best. Things might have lasted another ten or even dozens of years. But since you didn’t hold back and came back, the grudge can be avenged, but the karmic debt has become huge. The future is a one-in-nine chance of survival, uncontrollable… ha… but in the end, you still came back.” Zhang Yidan shook his head, looking at me with sympathy.

There was something off in his gaze, a strange feeling overlapping. It was as if he were speaking the words my grandmother wanted to say.

Clack... clack, clack...

A chilling sound of wooden boards joining came from Granny’s coffin. The un-nailed coffin slowly and heavily opened!

I was dumbfounded. Yu Xiaoxue immediately fainted, while Zhang Yidan’s eerie gaze showed a trace of self-mockery.

Bang.

A red sleeve stretched out from the coffin, then drooped weakly, knocking against the edge.

From within the sleeve, a pale hand slowly emerged, clawing the coffin, leaving several scratch marks.

My eyes widened as if they were copper bells, my whole body frozen. My wife’s elder sister practically dragged me away. Before I could react, a loud bang shook the coffin lid open with great force!

When I regained my senses, the owner of the claws had already sprung up, turning her back to me.

She wore red clothes, her hair draped over her shoulders, her skin as white as snow, and her stature was not very tall. That instant crushed my initial thought that she was my grandmother’s reanimated corpse.

But she could never be human—no one could lay down and spring up by snapping their legs like that.

I could feel how pale and horrified my face was.

The little girl seemed to have eyes in the back of her head. She turned around, her eyes pitch black with no trace of white, staring at me. Then she revealed a terrifying smile—one that chilled the bone like snow in midsummer.

Red is either great joy or great misfortune. Red robes, black pupils—these are the symbols of a vengeful spirit.

I remembered—she was the vengeful spirit sitting on my grandmother’s shoulder in my dreams!

Back then, she waved at me, and my wife’s elder sister sensed danger and pulled me back, not letting me approach.

She looked at me, then turned her gaze to the fainted Yu Xiaoxue, and finally fixed it on Zhang Yidan.

Zhang Yidan’s face was no better than mine, his legs trembling uncontrollably, but he stood firm in place.

The red-robed vengeful spirit laughed sinisterly, and the next moment, somehow, she was in front of Zhang Yidan, clutching his neck!

Zhang Yidan struggled wildly, clawing in the air but unable to grasp a single strand of the girl’s hair. Whenever he touched her body, his hand passed right through, yet her hands seemed solid as they sank deep into his flesh!

The vengeful spirit smiled proudly.

Soon, Zhang Yidan’s eyes rolled back, his tongue lolled out.

“Stop!!” I shouted, summoning courage I didn’t know I had, lunging to tear the spirit away. My wife’s elder sister pulled me back, but I was beyond restraint.

Just as I was about to grab the spirit, her eyes snapped towards me, blood-red and fierce. Her mouth split wide open, emitting a roar like an avalanche and tsunami!

My head spun, and I was blasted backward, smashing into the wall. My stomach churned, and I couldn’t help but vomit a mouthful of fresh blood!

Seeing me bleed, the spirit hesitated, sensing something wrong. Her grip loosened. Zhang Yidan’s body went limp, collapsing to the ground; his fate unknown.

Even I didn’t expect blood to form a thin mist before my eyes, dispersing quickly into the air. Then a fierce cold wind whipped up like a tornado.

Following that, the blood morphed into a shadowy woman!

Apart from skin as white as jade, everything else was blood-red: a blood-colored phoenix crown, a blood-red ceremonial robe, blood-soaked footsteps...

The vengeful spirit saw the woman standing with her back to me, her expression like an eggplant struck by frost, wilted. She kept retreating, finally dropping to her knees in fear, bowing repeatedly.

My wife’s elder sister!?

I was speechless, ears ringing. I reached out to grab her but couldn’t touch anything.

Before I could make sense of it, the vengeful spirit was seized as if gripped by an invisible force—pinched like a small chick!

Shrill, agonizing screams filled the air as the spirit twisted in midair like cotton candy, writhing in unbearable pain, on the verge of soul disintegration.

She cast me a pleading look, as if her previous ferocity had vanished.

I thought, since this ghost could sit on Granny’s shoulder, she must be closely connected to her. After hesitating, I began to plead on her behalf, “Can you hear me? Could you… maybe let her go for now?”

“You’re a kid who can’t even handle her, and you want me to release her? Do you know she just took ten years of your life?” My wife’s elder sister didn’t even turn her head, continuing to torment the vengeful spirit.

I was startled—ten years of life? Was that true?

“Ahem… maybe you should let her go. I still want to ask her some questions.” I coughed to cover my embarrassment. Even knowing this was my wife’s elder sister, she had just shocked me badly—it was hardly pleasant.

Is she really my wife’s elder sister? She seemed very different from what I imagined—now she acted all high and mighty. But then again, she hadn’t spoken to me for over twenty years. Some resentment was understandable.

The vengeful spirit cast a grateful look at me. Though terrifying to behold, I decided to trust her once.

“She can’t even speak human language. Let’s see how you plan to question her!”

I resolved to release her, and my wife’s elder sister seemed infuriated, snorting coldly before stopping her assault.

“Were you a spirit Granny kept?” I asked the vengeful spirit. Thinking it over, this was the only possibility. After all, I wasn’t ignorant of Granny’s affairs; her keeping spirits was well documented in her books.

Sure enough, the vengeful spirit nodded quickly. This way of nodding and shaking her head annoyed my wife’s elder sister, who let out a dissatisfied hum.

I glanced at the empty coffin, ignoring my wife’s elder sister’s little tantrum, then asked, “Is Granny dead?”

This time, the spirit showed a desolate expression and nodded.

I sighed. When I saw Granny’s coffin was empty, I had held a sliver of hope. Now, even Granny’s kept spirit confirmed it—I had to accept the inevitable.

Composing myself, I slowly stood. I wanted to see my wife’s elder sister’s face. After all, she had been my wife for over twenty years; I couldn’t leave without even seeing her.

But she completely ignored me, turning away, seemingly bent on opposing me.

Fortunately, Yu Xiaoxue and Zhang Yidan had fainted; otherwise, it would have been embarrassing. But that didn’t bother me—I simply went to check if Zhang Yidan was still alive.

The vengeful spirit was chattering away, speaking to my wife’s elder sister in ghostly language. Without incense or rituals, I couldn’t understand a word. It sounded like gusts of cold wind brushing past my ears.

This must be the legendary “ghost wind.” When normal people feel a breeze at night, it’s often spirits they knew in life whispering to them.

My wife’s elder sister said nothing, so I knew the vengeful spirit’s words were meaningful to her, and she was willing to listen.

Seeing my lack of curiosity, my wife’s elder sister coldly said, “Granny put her in the coffin, planning to kill anyone who opened it at a crucial moment. She never expected it would be you. Now she knows she was wrong and wants to become your kept spirit. She asked me what you plan to do with her.”

I didn’t answer. I went to Zhang Yidan’s side, checking his breathing and pulse at his neck. He was alive—just barely with half a life remaining. Anger welled up inside me.

“If I can kill her, I will. If I can destroy her, then so be it.” I said calmly. For a spirit out of control, killing even those close to me, I couldn’t keep her around. Besides, having such a fierce ghost as my wife was already more than enough.

That vengeful spirit had followed Granny for who knows how many years; she could understand human speech. Suddenly, she kowtowed to me, and gusts of cold wind swept by, as if pleading earnestly and making many promises.

If anything, having this little vengeful spirit around would be a good defense. I had read many of Granny’s books on keeping spirits and knew she could do things others couldn’t.

Plus, my wife’s elder sister was no ordinary deity, not someone to be casually summoned. Like just now, she could snatch ten years of life with a move—I couldn’t afford many of those. At this rate, I had very few decades left.

“Fine. A spirit of this level isn’t very useful. Let her fade away.” Unexpectedly, my wife’s elder sister was ruthless. A fierce cold wind rose instantly, as if squeezing a small chick, and the vengeful spirit screamed sharply.

My heart sank. Wife’s elder sister, you really are merciless. I only wanted to train the little vengeful spirit, not truly destroy her.

But now you’re going all out. If she was someone Granny kept by her side, then you and she must have known each other well. At least show some mercy.

The end.