Toon Chapter 16

“Sheng Sheng stepped on the graves in the field, she must have upset them! She’s been weak lately, so those unclean things must have gotten close to her!” Auntie Sun said.

Zhou Lingchun was somewhat skeptical. He turned back to look at Liansheng, who was lying in bed, eyes closed, having just been coaxed to sleep. He asked, “Really?”

“Of course it is!” Auntie Sun’s eyes widened, and she lowered her voice a few notches. “Lingchun, I told you before, that land shouldn’t be leased. Their eldest son is buried in that graveyard. He was so fierce when he was alive. I heard that things often got knocked over in their house at night afterward.”

Seeing Zhou Lingchun deep in thought, clearly still unconvinced, she continued, “The resentment of the dead is naturally strong. Sheng Sheng rashly stepped on their grave and spoke disrespectfully. When they saw Sheng Sheng in this state, they must have developed malicious intent!”

“Didn’t you say Liansheng mentioned someone chasing him and strangling his neck in his dreams? It must be that person going into Liansheng’s dreams to scare him.”

Just as she finished speaking, Liansheng, who had just fallen asleep, suddenly woke up with a startled cry. Zhou Lingchun immediately rushed through the door, picked him up, and sat him on his lap, patting Liansheng’s shoulder. He whispered, “Don’t be afraid, I’m here.”

Liansheng opened his eyes, which were sticky with tears. His voice was still hoarse as he grabbed Zhou Lingchun’s clothes. “Where did you go? I told you to stay right next to me.”

Zhou Lingchun said, “I was just talking to Auntie at the door, right next to you.”

“I’m scared… my head hurts terribly. Stay with me.” Liansheng grabbed the man’s hand. The man’s hand was too large for him to cup entirely, so he settled for clutching a few fingers.

Zhou Lingchun frowned. “Your head hurts too?”

“Mhm, in waves, like there are worms crawling inside.”

Outside the window, the sky had already darkened, and the black branches swayed silently.

When it rains, it pours. Why did the headache start as soon as it got dark? The hospital in town was almost closed and deserted.

If this pain lasted all night, what would happen?!

The man grew anxious. “We’re going to the city.” He was sure the fever had damaged his brain; Liansheng already had a head injury.

Upon hearing this, Liansheng quickly shook his head. “Why go to the city? I don’t want to go, it’ll be fine in a bit.”

Auntie Sun also stopped Zhou Lingchun. “Lingchun, don’t rush. It’ll be the middle of the night by the time we get to a big hospital, and besides, there are no cars going to the city this late.”

A pair of rough hands stroked Liansheng’s head. It was Auntie Sun. She used her fingers to press on acupoints, saying, “When I was young, I learned a few techniques from someone over there. I’ve massaged quite a few heads.”

Auntie Sun was used to hard labor, and her fingers were strong. When she first pressed down, Liansheng winced in pain, momentarily unable to tell if it was his brain hurting or his scalp hurting from Auntie’s pressure. But after getting used to it, he genuinely felt his brain stop aching. As Auntie continued to press with steady force, he gradually felt relief.

“Sheng Sheng, does your head feel better?”

“Much more comfortable, thank you, Auntie.”

Auntie Sun massaged Liansheng for about ten more minutes, stopping only when Liansheng said the pain was gone.

Not long after, Grandma walked in, leaning on her cane. Her hand reached out and touched Liansheng’s hand. “Liansheng, are you awake?”

Liansheng called out to her, “Grandma.”

“Ai,” Grandma responded. “Don’t be afraid. Grandma will go get Big Black from Auntie’s house. You won’t have nightmares tonight.”

Auntie Sun’s Big Black dog stood half a person tall, majestic and highly intelligent.

Liansheng hummed in acknowledgment, his nose stinging. Tears rolled uncontrollably from his eyes. The light in the room was dim, illuminating Liansheng’s cheeks with a translucent sheen, like a lifelike doll displayed in a city cabinet.

Zhou Lingchun’s heart ached faintly at the sight, as if a thin thread was taut, cutting a wound and drawing fresh blood. He couldn’t bear to see Liansheng suffer, especially when he was suppressing his pain like this. He would rather Liansheng wake up, throw a tantrum, and make a scene than cry secretly in his arms.

He tenderly wiped Liansheng’s tears. Liansheng felt embarrassed in front of Auntie and Grandma, so he rubbed his cheek against Zhou Lingchun’s chest, burying his head and closing his eyes. In his ears was the man’s strong, rhythmic heartbeat.

This time, he felt much more secure in his heart. Perhaps he was exhausted, for he soon fell asleep again.

During the day, Zhou Lingchun took Liansheng to the town hospital. The doctor said it might be because the previous fever was too severe, and his body hadn’t fully recovered. His head wasn’t hurting anymore, and the brain scan showed no issues, but for some unknown reason, Liansheng kept having nightmares and sweating profusely when he slept. The hospital prescribed some calming medicine.

In the evening, Auntie Sun brought her Big Black dog over again and tied it to Liansheng’s bedpost. Zhou Lingchun had no choice but to finally believe Auntie Sun’s words. He asked, “Auntie, if it really is because of that matter, what should we do?”

Auntie Sun leaned close to Zhou Lingchun’s ear and whispered a few words, afraid Liansheng might overhear and be scared. “You need to burn some offerings to apologize to them, or have your Grandma send a message to Grandpa. They have spiritual awareness underground and will surely help their grandson’s wife.”

Following Auntie Sun’s advice, Zhou Lingchun went to the village store, bought some spirit money, and burned it for the person buried in that field, offering some fruits and pastries as well.

Grandma also took Grandpa’s memorial tablet from the room and placed it on the high table in the main hall. The table was old but polished bright. Grandma instructed Zhou Lingchun to kneel down and said, “Old man, you must tell that family’s child that our Liansheng didn’t mean it. Please, don’t let him cling to our Liansheng anymore. Bless Liansheng to be well.”

Zhou Lingchun fiercely kowtowed several times to the tablet on the ground.

The large dog brought from Auntie Sun’s house sat in Liansheng’s room, ears perked, watching the two of them with bright eyes.

Perhaps the calming medicine from the hospital was working, or perhaps the spirit money they burned and the kowtows they performed that night truly had an effect. That night, Liansheng slept soundly.

The autumn wind rustled, and leaves drifted down. The days quickly flowed by in the low murmurs and the swaying shadows on the wall during the nights that followed. It wasn’t until Liansheng stopped waking up startled at night that Zhou Lingchun felt a sense of reality, and his heart finally settled.

This day, Liansheng was sitting by the door, basking in the sun and holding an orange. When he saw Zhou Lingchun’s figure, he quickly stood up and ran over, leaping onto the man, hugging his neck, and happily asking, “What good food did you bring me today?”

Zhou Lingchun said, “I didn’t bring anything. I came back right after going to the market.”

Liansheng tilted his head and complained, “Then what did you go to the market for? You even forgot to bring me food! I told you I wanted to go with you, but you wouldn’t let me!”

Zhou Lingchun told him not to worry and pulled a small box from his pocket. Liansheng curiously opened it. Inside lay a translucent red crystal, shaped like a teardrop, polished smooth and round, tied with a braided black cord.

Liansheng lifted the black cord, and the red crystal dangled and swayed in the daylight, looking like a suspended drop of blood. He held his wrist out to the man, asking Zhou Lingchun to put it on him. “What is this? Where did you buy it? It’s so pretty!”

“Fish Spirit Stone,” Zhou Lingchun said, securing the cord around Liansheng’s arm in a snug circle. “I didn’t buy it; I had it made in town.”

It was late one night while coaxing Liansheng to sleep that a phrase suddenly popped into Zhou Lingchun’s mind, something he had heard at the market before: “Hey, young man, want to buy a Fish Spirit Stone? It can ward off evil, attract fortune and prosperity, and prevent children from being startled.”

The next day, he went to the river, caught a large fish weighing over ten jin, extracted the stone beneath its occipital bone, and sent it to a craftsman in town to be processed and deodorized.

The translucent, bright Fish Spirit Stone, threaded with black cord, rested on Liansheng’s fair wrist, looking as if it were soaked in blood under the sunlight. Liansheng shook his arm, watching the crystal’s luster. He said, “It’s so beautiful, I think it’s even prettier than a pearl! Why did you make this? To please me?” Saying this, he squinted his eyes, curved his lips, and kissed the man on the corner of his mouth. “I love it so much!”

Zhou Lingchun smiled. “As long as you like it.”

He whispered, “Wear this, and you won’t be afraid at night anymore.”

He didn’t know if it would work, but if it truly did, he only hoped Liansheng would never have nightmares again, and that it would bring him fortune, prosperity, and peace.

——————–

That’s right, I don’t plan on letting Liansheng remember.