“I was a specially hired orderly at the Yidu Clinic back then, and the only special nursing assistant. When it comes to the dead, no one knows more than I do!”
“Could it be that you are Master Su San, the only surviving mortician from Yidu at that time?”
“Yes. At the time, several doctors and nurses at the Yidu Clinic had died, and no one dared to work there. Only an old fool like me would dare to handle corpses among the dead!”
“But even if you worked there, it would be hard to remember every dead person’s name so clearly!”
“I might not remember others, but I could never forget Feng’er!”
“Why?”
“Because he lived with me for three years right after he was born! I was the one who gave him his name.”
“What? Such a thing happened? That rascal never mentioned it to me!”
“Ah!” The old man looked gloomy, even somewhat dejected. “Some old stories are better left untold…”
“Old stories?” Cheng Jun stared blankly at the old man. It seemed Master Su San was a man with a past.
But since the old man refused to say more, Cheng Jun didn’t press him. He only said, “But I clearly received a WeChat message from Lin Feng. How do you explain that? Besides, he and I had a special secret signal! Even our other classmates didn’t know about it…”
As he spoke, Cheng Jun scrolled up on his phone screen, revealing a strange combination of letters and numbers. But the mortician didn’t even glance at it and pushed the phone away. “I don’t understand these newfangled things, but it’s absolutely true that Lin Feng is dead. I personally cremated his remains…”
The mortician grew somewhat agitated.
“But Master Su San…”
“No buts!” The old man glared at Cheng Jun, his expression complex. “Young man, for miles around here, not a blade of grass grows, and there’s no sign of human life. Aren’t you afraid? Leave now!”
The mortician’s last words were almost a command. A gust of wind swept by, and Cheng Jun felt a sharp pain at the back of his head. Darkness fell before his eyes, and when he woke, it was already the afternoon of the next day.
He opened his eyes to find a strange middle-aged man looking at him. “Young man, you’re awake?”
“Yes, uncle. Where is this? How did I get here? Who are you?” Waking up in an unfamiliar place, Cheng Jun couldn’t help but feel nervous. He nodded, somewhat dazed, but his mind was sharp as he fired off questions in succession.
He tried to sit up but felt dizzy and weak, unable to rise.
“Stay lying down for now, young man! This is Niujiao Village. When I closed up at dusk, I found you unconscious at my doorstep. I couldn’t wake you no matter what, so I carried you inside.”
“Thank you for taking me in, uncle! I’m sorry for the trouble!”
“Not at all! Don’t mention it!” The uncle, dressed like a farmer, was capable and sturdy. As he attended to Cheng Jun, he called out, “Old woman, bring a bowl of hot soup! The boy’s awake!”
A middle-aged woman entered, carrying a bowl of hot soup. She seemed like a straightforward village woman and said as soon as she came in, “Young man, your face looks a bit pale. Drink this hot soup to ward off the chill and evil influences…”
Before she could finish, the uncle immediately cut her off, glaring at her fiercely. “Old woman, what nonsense about ‘pale’! You’re not needed here. Go pull some radishes from the vegetable patch!”
“Oh, I almost forgot,” the aunt said sheepishly, walking a few steps before turning back. “That big red rooster—should I kill it, or will you?”
“I’ll do it myself today!” the uncle replied.
“Kill a chicken?” Cheng Jun noticed their expressions were a bit odd. “Uncle, if it’s for me, there’s no need!” Cheng Jun thought about how, after inexplicably passing out last night, if not for the uncle’s kindness in taking him in, he wouldn’t know what would have happened. Now they were talking about killing a chicken or something, and he felt a bit embarrassed.
“It’s necessary, child. Your face is looking pale—we must kill the big red rooster to ward off evil…” The aunt was clearly the type who couldn’t keep things to herself, and the words slipped out again, earning her a scolding from the uncle: “You old woman, can’t you keep your mouth shut?”
“Face looking pale?” Cheng Jun frowned. “Aunt, could you bring me a mirror to look?”
The aunt handed him a large round floral mirror. Cheng Jun took it and looked, startling himself. It wasn’t just pale—his face was practically a deathly gray, with bloodshot eyes.
“Child, you must have gone to an unclean place! Is it…” The aunt looked at Cheng Jun mysteriously but was met with a fierce glare from the uncle.
“Old woman, get out!” the uncle snapped at her. “Hurry up!”
Clearly, the aunt’s words carried hidden meaning, and Cheng Jun felt it necessary to clarify some things. “Uncle, let her finish what she was saying!”
“Child, drink this soup while it’s hot first!”
Cheng Jun took just one sip and felt the soup was a bit strange—a faint, odd fishy smell, something vaguely familiar.
Seeing him frown, the uncle said, “Child, this soup is a bit hard to drink, but it’s very effective for dispelling cold…”
The aunt chimed in, “Yes, yes, drink it all while it’s hot. Once it cools, it won’t ward off evil anymore!”
The uncle and aunt were inherently honest people and wouldn’t harm him. Cheng Jun hesitated slightly before gulping down the entire bowl. Instantly, he felt a warm current spread throughout his body.
“Child, how did you end up collapsing at our doorstep last night?” The aunt was straightforward and loved to ask questions.
“I… I don’t know either…” Cheng Jun was genuinely confused and could only recount roughly what happened the night before.
Cheng Jun had barely spoken a few sentences when the aunt’s face turned fearful, her lips trembling. “Ah—so you really went to Yidu! Oh dear! That ghostly place is not to be visited…”
And when he mentioned the hidden loft, the uncle’s expression suddenly changed. “What? That old man was actually Su Laosan, the only surviving Paigulao from Yidu back then?”
“Yes.”
“Paigulao Su Laosan?” The aunt gasped in shock, her mouth agape. “Didn’t Su Laosan disappear over a decade ago?”
“I find it strange too,” the uncle said. “That plague killed over a thousand people, and Su Laosan was the one who collected all the bodies. After handling the aftermath, Su Laosan also vanished. In these fifteen years, not just us, but even the villagers within a dozen miles of Yidu haven’t seen Su Laosan once!”
The uncle was clearly someone who had experienced a lot, his brows furrowed tightly. “But Su Laosan’s disappearance is just the official story. In my opinion, although that Paigulao was exceptionally strong and robust back then, handling over a thousand corpses of those who died untimely deaths, he likely contracted that plague too…”
“Old Zhao, are you saying Paigulao also died in that plague in the end?” the aunt asked.
The uncle didn’t give a clear answer, but his expression grew increasingly complicated. However, the aunt’s words were refuted by Cheng Jun, “That’s not right! If Master Su San is dead, how could I have seen him?”
“Silly boy, I told you that place is unclean. Even in broad daylight, no one dares to go there. What you saw must have been something unclean too!” the aunt exclaimed dramatically.
Having been raised with materialist education since childhood, Cheng Jun never believed that ghosts or spirits truly existed in this world. He retorted, “Are you saying what I saw was a ghost?”
“Perhaps it was!” Even the uncle began to sound suspicious at this point. “Earlier, I passed by Yidu with a few young men…”
“What? Old Zhao, you actually went to Yidu behind my back! Have you lost your mind?” The aunt reacted strongly.
“It was daytime, not nighttime. We just passed by the area!”
“You shouldn’t go even during the day! That kind of haunted place is eerie even in the vicinity!” The aunt scolded a few words, then seemed to recall something. “No wonder you and those young lads all fell seriously ill for no reason after Qingming Festival last year!”
“Stop being so dramatic. I’m perfectly fine now!” the uncle replied. “That day, the vegetable delivery was urgent, and there was no other way. We had to take a shortcut!”
“You must never do that again. What would I do if something happened to you?” the aunt complained.
“That kind of haunted place—even if you forced me, I wouldn’t go back!”
Seeing how frightened the uncle and aunt were, a shadow of unease settled over Cheng Jun’s heart. He looked at the uncle and asked, “What happened? That day, did you encounter someone?”
“Someone?” the uncle said. “It was lifeless and eerily silent. We didn’t see a single person, not even a bird. We only passed by the area, but even in broad daylight, it felt ghostly. After Qingming Festival, the weather should have been warming up, but that place was unusually cold and gloomy, with chilling winds blowing. A few tattered cloths fluttered like spirit banners, and there were shadows moving around…”
The uncle, at least nearly 50 years old, paled as he spoke, showing signs of lingering fear. The aunt, listening beside him, trembled slightly at the corners of her mouth.
The uncle added, “The beef rice noodle shop you mentioned—is it the one at the entrance of Firewood Alley?”
“That’s the shop in Firewood Alley!” Cheng Jun nodded, replying with certainty.
Having survived the era of warlord conflicts and World War II, and endured Japanese army raids, Yidu Street was the only century-old street in Wuguang City at the time. Firewood Alley was a narrow, elongated side alley branching off to the right of Yidu Street, essentially a smaller commercial street. In the prosperous days of Yidu, this alley was once a well-known firewood market.
According to the elders here, during the 1930s and 1940s of the last century, when there was no electricity or coal, people relied on firewood for heating and cooking. Woodcutters from places like Yellow Earth Slope and Grass Meadow, dozens of miles away, would carry firewood to sell here, while many city residents came to buy firewood, forming the largest firewood market in the entire city at the time.
Later, with the introduction of coal, electricity, and liquefied gas, firewood gradually disappeared from the market. However, Firewood Alley remained intact and became a bustling commercial street where small vendors and traders gathered.
Its original site is even older than Yidu’s main street, said to be the birthplace of Yidu Street itself—something even the young folk from nearby villages might not know. Cheng Jun’s confident answer left the uncle and aunt rather surprised, both staring at him: “You know about Firewood Alley?”
“I’m from Yidu, of course I know Firewood Alley. I passed through it every day on my way to school as a child!”
Since Cheng Jun had been rather vague about the events of the previous night and hadn’t mentioned that he was originally from Yidu, the two were unaware of his background. Cheng Jun explained a bit more.
“What? You’re a survivor of that epidemic?” After learning Cheng Jun’s identity and the reason for his visit, their expressions suddenly changed, and the aunt’s face grew even more troubled. She quickly pulled the uncle outside and whispered to him.
“Before, there was another young man just like him who came looking for Xiao Yi… and he never returned…”
Cheng Jun couldn’t make out their conversation clearly from inside the room, but he caught the aunt’s last few words: “He’s already dead, an ill-fated man…”