New Novel - Read Here
On the night of Ma Laosan's wife's burial, the corpse had actually already broken out of the coffin and left the grave, because at midnight, during the Zi hour, Ma Laosan's wife had come to our house.
At that time, Jiushan Village was extremely poor. There was still no electricity in the village, and almost every household relied on candles and kerosene lamps.
Even so, the villagers were reluctant to use them, so most people went to bed early.
In the middle of the night, my parents were sleeping soundly when they suddenly heard a banging sound coming from the bedroom window. It was very rhythmic. Three long knocks followed by one short knock.
My parents had been exhausted after working all day in the fields. When they first heard the sound, they thought it was merely the wind or perhaps a bat crashing into the window, so they paid it no attention.
But after a while, the sound continued, growing louder and more insistent, but it was still three long knocks followed by one short one.
My father groggily climbed out of bed and opened the window, wanting to see what was making the noise outside.
He never could have imagined that the moment the window opened, a foul, rotting stench rushed straight into the room.
Then he saw a swollen, bloated face covered in corpse spots.
It was none other than Ma Laosan's dead wife.
There was still that eerie smile on the corners of her mouth, the same strange smile she had worn at the moment of her death.
The instant my father saw that horrifying face, he became completely awake. He let out an extremely terrified scream and collapsed backward onto the floor.
His scream woke me and my mother.
I will never forget the terrifying face of Ma Laosan's wife. It haunted my dreams and gave me nightmares countless times.
When my mother saw Ma Laosan's wife, she was so frightened that she could not even make a sound. She simply hugged me tightly, her entire body trembling.
At that moment, Ma Laosan's wife suddenly spoke.
First, she let out a creepy, chilling laugh. Then she stared directly at me.
“Four days left. Four days left…”
My father's screams woke my grandfather, who was sleeping in the eastern side room. He rushed in carrying a gleaming broadsword.
He glanced at my father, who was sprawled on the floor, and my mother, whose entire body was trembling, then he followed their gaze toward the window.
The moment he saw what was there, even he shuddered in fright.
After all, my grandfather had once been a soldier and had fought against the Japanese invaders. Although he was nervous inside, he was still far calmer than my parents.
“Third Brother's wife, I know you have grievances in your heart. But this is all fate. You can't blame anyone else. This old man advises you to leave immediately. Otherwise, don't blame the broadsword in my hand for showing you no mercy. I don't even know how many Japanese soldiers have died beneath this blade. You think you're more ferocious than those Japanese devils? I don't mind adding one more to the list.”
As he spoke, Grandpa waved the gleaming blade in his hand.
This broadsword had been left behind from the time Grandpa served in the military. It was something he kept as a memento. Whenever he had nothing else to do, he would take it out and polish it. It was so bright that it could reflect a person's image.
Perhaps because Grandpa had revealed that broadsword, Ma Laosan's wife actually turned around and began limping away.
As she left, she let out another eerie laugh and repeated the same words from earlier, “Four days left. Four days left…”
After Ma Laosan's wife left, everyone in the family was too frightened to sleep.
The whole family kept wondering what exactly Ma Laosan's wife had meant when she said there were four days left.
Early the next morning, an old man from the village who was out tending his sheep discovered that the new grave of Ma Laosan's wife had been dug open.
However, when Ma Laosan personally brought people over to inspect it, everyone took a careful look and realized that the grave did not seem to have been dug open from the outside.
The soil had all been turned outward, while pieces of the coffin lid were scattered around the grave, already smashed to pieces.
No matter how they looked at it, it seemed as though Ma Laosan's wife had climbed out of the grave herself.
Just imagining such a scene was enough to send chills down one's spine.
In the dead of night, the grave of Ma Laosan's wife had suddenly split open. Ma Laosan's wife, who had already been dead for three days, had crawled out of her grave and then staggered toward the direction of the Wu Family's house.
She had even knocked on their window.
However, Ma Laosan had no idea that his wife had gone to our house in the middle of the night.
Grandpa and my father did not tell anyone about it. Our relationship with Ma Laosan's family was already extremely strained, and our family did not want to create any further trouble.
Ma Laosan only assumed that someone had stolen his wife's corpse.
In those days, there were many people who stole corpses, and young women's corpses were especially sought after. There were many reasons and purposes for this, but there was no need to go into them here.
Although Ma Laosan's wife could not be considered beautiful, she was very young, not even thirty years old, so her corpse was highly sought after.
If someone had stolen the corpse, that would actually have been a good thing. Unfortunately, that was not what happened, because on the second night, she came to our house again.
Because she had already come and knocked on the window the previous night, my mother was so frightened that she did not dare to sleep at all. My father tried to reassure her, telling her not to be afraid and saying that the Third Brother's wife's corpse had simply been stolen.
My mother was terrified and directly asked Grandpa to sleep in the main room. If he heard any unusual noise, she told him to come over with his knife.
Although my parents had spent the entire day working in the fields, they were still frightened. Nevertheless, they went to bed early.
Unexpectedly, in the middle of the night, while the two of them were sleeping soundly, they were once again awakened by the sound of someone knocking on the window.
The moment my father heard it, he became completely alert, and he suddenly sat upright in bed.
Using the bright moonlight shining through the window, he saw a dark figure standing outside, rhythmically knocking against the window.
My mother was already crying from fright. She hugged me and curled up beneath the blankets, trembling all over.
“Dad… she’s back again…”
My father held a wooden stick in his hand. He did not even dare get out of bed, simply guarding his wife and child tightly behind him.
As expected, Grandpa was still the man who had fought the Japanese. The moment he heard the commotion, he rushed straight in, once again carrying that gleaming broadsword in his hand.
When he saw the figure standing outside the window, that swollen face was clearly visible.
“Third Brother's wife, are you fucking done already? I'm an old man who's lived long enough. If you've got the guts, then kill me! Once I become a ghost, you won't have an easy time either!”
As he spoke, Grandpa directly thrust the large blade in his hand through the window, forcing it open.
Standing just outside the window was Ma Laosan's wife.
An eerie smile hung from the corners of her mouth. Her eyes were deathly white, and in an extremely shrill voice, she said, “Three days left… Three days left… Hee hee hee…”
Even Grandpa, who had always been remarkably courageous, could not help drawing a sharp breath when he saw the horrifying appearance of Ma Laosan's wife.
Fortunately, after saying those words, Ma Laosan's wife began walking toward the doorway, balancing on the tip of the one foot that had been reduced to nothing but stark white bones.
In just a moment, she disappeared from sight.
My father suddenly realized something, and he spoke in terror, “Dad… Yesterday, Ma Laosan's wife said there were four days left, and today she says there are three days left. Does that mean that after three days, our entire family will be killed by her?”