The Five Rules of the Ancestral House

Grandfather passed away, and I returned to the ancestral house passed down since the Jiaqing era. Five strange rules, carved into the blood of the clan, have been passed down in the old house: during the Xu hour, only one lamp may be left; during the Hai hour, entering the attic of the west courtyard is forbidden; if you encounter a black shadow that passes through your body, do not turn back; if you hear a call in the night, you must never answer. The clan all say that the secret room in the attic hides treasures left by the ancestors, but anyone who tries to peek has without exception met with disaster. My uncle rashly broke into the attic and has been insane ever since; Agui burned incense and knelt to beg for help, but was knocked unconscious by a hard object; even an innocent child who approached the attic fell into a high fever and remained unconscious. Is it the ancestors' punishment, or fear born of human desire? When everyone pried open the dark door sealed for a hundred years, an old notebook revealed a two-hundred-year misunderstanding. But how to explain the figure in official robes that my uncle spoke of, and the kind old man the child saw? The so-called ghost stories of the ancestral house are ultimately ghost stories of the human heart. (Short story · Complete) — Description from novelcodex.orgFull novel: The Five Rules of the Ancestral House — read the rest free on N​o⁠v​e⁠l​C⁠o​d⁠e​x⁠.​o⁠r​g⁠