It was the autumn of 2020. With fallen leaves filling the courtyard, I stood by the row of inviting ginkgo trees on the quiet street. Looking up, I saw ginkgo leaves dancing in the air as if they could speak.
A gust of strong wind blew, scattering the dry leaves. Some fell into my hand. I looked down, captivated.
A gentle breeze then whisked the leaves from my hand away. My gaze followed them as they drifted further and further. In a daze, I heard a familiar yet strange call from behind, "Muye."
At that moment, the fallen leaves on the ground swirled up with the wind, scattering before my eyes. Unconsciously, my mind drifted back to a story my mother used to tell me when I was a child.
My mother said that the year I was born, there was a severe drought in the northwest. Few families had enough to eat, and even our family of eight had to huddle in a simple, yellowed adobe house, boiling thin porridge around the stove. It was then that we suddenly heard the sound of a scepter bell from outside.
The bell sound seemed to come from afar yet also from nearby. The children all perked up their ears, listening curiously.
Grandmother asked doubtfully, "Is someone coming?"
Dad pouted, "Everyone is so hungry now, who has the energy to run around."
Mom chimed in, "This bell doesn't sound like it's from the village. Did someone buy a new bell?"
Dad scooped a bowl of porridge and took a mouthful, casually saying, "Who cares? What does it have to do with us."
Mom and Grandmother agreed with him and asked no further questions.
However, no sooner had the three finished speaking than a strong wind suddenly swept in. It rushed in like a torrent of beasts. With a loud "Dong!", it blew open the already dilapidated door. Instantly, a sky-obscuring sandstorm surged in, blinding everyone. Dad, squinting with effort, looked outside. The sandstorm was so thick that he couldn't tell the sky from the ground. Dad hurried towards the door, bracing against the gale.
Suddenly, he saw a strange monk walking out of the sandstorm. The monk held a scepter and wore a red kasaya. He looked to be only thirty or forty years old. Dad quickly walked into the sandstorm and welcomed the master.
As the monk followed Dad slowly to the front of the house through the sandstorm, the tempest seemed to recede as if by magic, as if it had never been there. Everyone found it strange.
Mother also hurried to greet him, "Master, please come in and sit."
The master, however, stood stiffly at the doorway, his gaze sweeping across the room before finally settling on the infant in Grandmother's arms.
Dad followed the master's gaze, feeling very puzzled, but said nothing, only remarking, "Where do you come from, Master? If you don't mind, please have a simple meal with us."
The master ignored him, his gaze fixed on the infant. After a moment, he suddenly burst into laughter, "Hahaha, Muye, Muye."
Then, shaking his head, he turned and left.
Dad, Mom, and Grandmother exchanged confused glances. Looking down, they saw the infant in Grandmother's arms smiling happily. Father then realized, slapping his forehead, and exclaimed excitedly, "Oh, Muye, Muye! This child shall be named Liu Muye."
From then on, I was renamed Liu Muye from Liu Baofan.
Whether it was true or not, I always felt a surge of pride whenever I thought about it.
"Sigh!" I let out a long sigh, suddenly feeling proud and thinking that I was indeed a remarkable woman.
Just then, the class bell rang. I sat by the window, gazing at the dark night scene outside. Seeing my reflection in the glass, I couldn't help but praise myself.
"My heavens, is there truly such a beautiful woman in the world? This fair skin, alluring lips, sexy chin, and captivating eyes – only a celestial being could possess such beauty. It's simply beyond compare. Alas! For a peerless beauty like myself, there is no one to appreciate me. Truly, the eyes of the world are blind to beauty."
Thinking this, I couldn't help but stroke my smooth, delicate face, chuckling and unconsciously twisting my body.
A patrolling student council member stood silently outside the classroom, a small notebook in hand. She observed the quiet, studious students, then suddenly noticed one person who stood out from the rest.
Upon closer inspection, she saw the girl sitting by the window, smiling foolishly as she gazed outside. The unrestrained curve of her lips revealed her arrogance and prejudice. Her exaggerated expression was filled with a beautiful, otherworldly fantasy. Her self-admiration, even more sincere than her own feelings, made a fifteen-year veteran scholar feel inadequate.
Seeing a scene that reminded her of her youthful days, the student council member couldn't help but twitch the corner of her mouth, which was slightly wet with saliva, and her legs trembled, wanting to offer themselves. She was ready at any moment to rush into the classroom and declare her a master in front of everyone. However, the sacred and elegant duty she held forced her to remain strong, to return to her cold and emotionless self.
But the irresistible expression and self-admiring attitude made her dizzy. How she hated that she couldn't reach such a level! Thus, she turned sorrow into hatred, transforming into a cold, unfeeling robot and striding in.
To everyone's surprised gaze, she appeared beside me.
In that world of fantasy, a sudden chill swept through, like the flying snow of February, quietly settling upon me, making me shiver.
Returning to my self-imagined realm, I suddenly noticed a pair of "fierce" eyes beside me. It was the student council inspector. I grinned awkwardly at her and immediately buried my head, pretending to be diligent and studious. However, my personal charm, several times greater than hers, still sparked her jealousy, compelling her to make a note in her little book for this class.
"Liu Muye, lack of concentration, affecting the overall learning atmosphere. Frequent foolish smiling may indicate manic delusions. Class management is lax, deduct one point."
I really don't understand. Are people's eyes so superficial nowadays? They can't see that the future leader is sitting right in front of them, yet instead of trying to please me, they dare to record my faults. Fine! It's all jealousy of my peerless beauty, hmph!
After a few resentful thoughts in my heart, this unfair treatment was finally pacified. Seeing her retreating back, I slowly turned my head and once again immersed myself in my own world of beauty.
After she had gone, a gossip-loving girl turned to the girl behind her and started talking about a strange incident that had recently occurred in the girls' dormitory.
"Hey, have you guys heard? They say that in the girls' dorm, a creepy voice keeps greeting people every midnight."
"No way, that's impossible." The person opposite didn't believe her at all, knowing full well she loved to make things up.
However, this time she was very certain, "Someone in our dorm has heard it, and not just once or twice."
"Really?"
"Of course it's true. I heard them say that every time they hear someone greeting them, they get up to check, but they never see anyone. They only see the empty space outside, the pale moonlight, and the dark shadows. And it always happens late at night, in the dead of night."
"Stop talking, stop talking, you're scaring me."
"I know you don't believe me, but I'm not talking nonsense. If you don't believe me, get up at three o'clock tonight and listen for yourself. They say the voice always appears precisely around three o'clock."
Although she spoke with reason and evidence, few people still believed her. Everyone dismissed it as auditory hallucination.
Two girls interrupted her, "Alright, alright, we won't listen anymore, you're scaring us."
"Three o'clock in the morning, I'm already asleep. Let's form a group to listen someday when I have time. I wonder if it's someone having a secret rendezvous? I heard many people are dating at school recently."
"I heard that too. It seems that handsome guy from the next class is also in a relationship."
"Really? That's a shame, I quite liked him."
"Hahaha, no chance now."
As they chatted, the two girls steered the eerie topic towards dating.
However, I, who had accidentally overheard, became frightened.
I have a bad habit of waking up in the middle of the night. Every time that happens, it's the dead of night, just as she described.
So, after class, I hurried back to the dormitory, took a shower, and went to bed early, falling into a deep sleep to avoid hearing any terrifying sounds.
Although nothing happened during the night, for the next few days, every time I lay down in bed, I felt a sense of dread. I had no choice but to sleep and wake early. However, after several days without hearing about this terrifying rumor or the so-called greeting, my worried heart gradually relaxed.
Until one night, as usual, I woke up from my sleep. It was already three in the morning. The people beside me were sleeping like logs, and the surroundings were eerily quiet. A sense of unease welled up within me.
I lived in the girls' dormitory on the third floor, by the window. I could see outside. Tonight, there was a full moon, its bright moonlight like a spotless, yet terrifyingly pale piece of paper scattered in the courtyard. A cold wind blew, rattling the half-open window with a creak.
A sense of fear gradually grew within me. I cautiously looked out the window.
In a daze, I saw a man in black standing below. In the clear moonlight, I could vaguely make out that he was wearing a tall black hat and was thin. From afar, he looked like a phantom.
He seemed to sense someone watching him, so he looked up, took off his hat, and waved at me.
I felt a little scared. I recalled that I hadn't seen anyone dressed like that at school. Could he be from outside the campus?
As I was wondering, suddenly a strange and terrifying cry came to my ears, "Hi! Hi! Hi!" The entire "hi" echoed in the courtyard, as crisp as a mobile phone ringtone, impossible to turn off.
This suddenly reminded me of the terrifying rumor my classmate had mentioned a few days ago. I was immediately so scared that I scrambled into my blanket, trembling in terror, clasping my hands together, closing my eyes tightly, and muttering, "Namo Amitabha, Great Compassionate Guanyin Bodhisattva, Western Tathagata Buddha, protect me, protect me."
At that moment, there was a loud "Bang!" as if something had fallen from the bed and hit the ground hard.
I held my breath in fear, my mind churning with guesses that a ghost had entered. Then, I took a deep breath and silently prayed, "Don't scare me, don't scare me. If you must scare someone, scare someone else. I've done good deeds, so don't scare me."
However, I suddenly heard the sound of someone getting up. Mustering my courage, I lifted the blanket and saw the girl on the opposite bed, Xiaoying, getting up groggily. I felt like I had found a life-saving straw and quickly called out to her, "Xiaoying, Xiaoying, did you hear anything strange?"
She ignored me, like a soulless marionette, and walked directly towards the door. She turned the doorknob and walked out alone. I was bewildered, thinking, "The restroom is in the room, where is she going?"
I felt a bit worried, but then I thought, "If she's not afraid of ghosts, then there probably aren't any ghosts." So, disregarding my fear, I quickly got out of bed and secretly followed her. She swayed as if she had lost her anchor, like a head-nodding patient, staggering towards the stairs. I followed closely behind.
Just then, a cold, eerie wind blew, accompanied by the pale moonlight. It suddenly blew open the locked door. Squinting, I saw Xiaoying swaying unsteadily out of the door in the wind. I guessed she must be sleepwalking, so I rushed forward to grab her, intending to drag her back to the dormitory.
However, the terrifying thing was, as I grabbed her, she also grabbed me back tightly. In her sleep, her strength was astonishingly great, like a zombie, dragging me forward.
I was almost scared to death and quickly shouted, "Xiaoying! Xiaoying! Where are you taking me? I'm so scared. Let me go, you go by yourself."
She seemed to completely ignore my words, walking forward on her own.
At this moment, the surrounding lights grew dimmer. Further ahead was a dark forest, whose shape was barely discernible.
I struggled with all my might, but she didn't let go, dragging me into the woods. The surroundings gradually darkened until the last trace of light was swallowed by the darkness. Terrified, I desperately grabbed a large tree and shouted, "Xiaoying! Please let me go! I'll burn paper for you every year."
This time, she seemed to hear me and voluntarily released my hand. I comforted myself, telling myself not to be afraid, thinking she must have woken up. So I called out to her, "Xiaoying, let's go back."
However, she remained silent. I was a little confused and called out again, "Xiaoying, let's go back."
She was still the same, silent, like a lamb led to the slaughter.
I was very worried and bravely reached out to pull her. As soon as I touched her, I realized something was wrong. Her hand was extremely cold and stiff, as if it had been left in a blizzard for seven days and seven nights.
So, I became suspicious. I cautiously felt my way up. When I reached her wrist, I suddenly found it empty, with nothing there except a cold palm. My mind went blank for a moment, and after a long while, I screamed, "Ah!!!"
I quickly shook off her hand and ran wildly in the dark, my mind racing with thoughts, "I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die."
I kept praying, "Uncle, Aunt, Elder, Elder Aunt, Great Compassionate Guanyin Bodhisattva, save me!" Cold sweat poured down my forehead, my heart pounded, and my vision blurred.
At that moment, a strange, sinister laugh came from behind, "Hee hee hee." Immediately after, I heard the sound of footsteps chasing me.
"Ah!" I was once again terrified and panicked, scurrying around, shouting, "Mom! Mom!"
Just then, a red light flickered in the darkness ahead. I ran towards the light and found a blood-red wooden door. Without a second thought, in my panic, I opened the red door and darted inside.