I watched Granny Tang stare blankly for a long while. Unable to hold back, I called out softly, "Granny?"
Granny Tang snapped back to herself, looked at me with a complicated expression, and then said, "Girl, lend me a drop of your essence blood."
I was a little bewildered, but Granny Tang's tone was firm, saying this would be of great use to me.
Over the years, Granny Tang had treated me like her own granddaughter. Apart from my mom, she was the person I was closest to.
I even thought of her as my own grandmother.
I didn't ask any more questions. I bit my fingertip, squeezed out a drop of essence blood, and handed it to her.
Granny Tang took the drop of blood, turned, and went into the temple, her back looking rather hurried.
After quite a while, she came out of the temple, her face showing an excitement and tension she could not fully conceal.
She hung a perfume pouch embroidered with red cloth around my neck and said softly, "There's mugwort leaf inside. It can ward off evil. Wear it on you for protection."
Next, she tied a braided red cord around my right wrist.
Full of curiosity, I asked, "What's this?"
Granny Tang's eyes were complicated as she smiled faintly. "It's something from the temple. It can keep you safe from misfortune. Be sure to keep it on."
Finally, she handed me a bottle of talisman water and told me to bathe in it when I got home, as it could wash away the yin energy on my body.
After doing all this, she spoke earnestly: "What your grandmother says, you should listen to in reverse. Keep your guard up."
I looked up at her and saw faint tears shimmering in her eyes, carrying a reluctance that was hard to put into words.
"Granny, what's wrong?" A wave of sadness inexplicably rose in my heart too.
Granny Tang smiled and sighed, "In the blink of an eye you've grown up this much. My duty is considered done. After this, it may be hard to see you again."
I thought she was worried that since I was going to university and would be working far from home, I would come back to see her less often.
I laughed at once, linked my arm with hers, and said, "Granny, rest assured. I'll definitely come visit you often. Once I earn money and buy a house, I'll bring you and my mom to live in the city and look after you in your old age."
Granny Tang laughed when she heard this, patted my hand, and said, "Alright, it's getting late. You should head back. Watch your step on the road."
The sky was growing dark. I had quite a long way to walk, so it was time to go back.
After saying goodbye to Granny Tang, I set off on the road home.
By the time I got home, it was pitch dark.
My mom rushed to greet me when she saw me back, asking worriedly, "Where did you go? Why are you so late?"
I glanced at the table, where the meal was already laid out. Grandmother and my dad were both there.
I thought Grandmother would surely lash out at me with sarcastic remarks, but to my surprise she came over smiling, took my hand, and pulled me into the room.
While doing so, she said to my mom, "Xiao Yin is already this grown. What's wrong with her going out to play for a while?"
Having said that, she pulled me to sit down and said with a beaming smile, "The food's all ready, just waiting for you."
Grandmother's unusual behavior made me suspect she had been possessed by a ghost.
In the past, she wouldn't just wait for me to eat. Whenever mealtime came and I hadn't cooked, she'd scold me until I was thoroughly berated.
The sun must really have risen in the west today.
After I sat down, Grandmother even specially served me a bowl of soup.
I stared at that bowl of soup and didn't dare take a single sip.
I was afraid she was going to poison me.
After she sat down, Grandmother began to repent to me, saying she had not treated me well enough in the past and felt guilty about it, and so on.
I listened and inwardly sneered. If I believed a single punctuation mark of hers, I would have wasted these past ten-plus years of my life.
I pretended to be distracted, but my mom kicked me under the table.
I hurriedly responded perfunctorily, "Grandma, it's all in the past. Those times you made me wash clothes in cold water in winter, and wouldn't let me eat in summer unless I filled the water vat... I've forgotten all about it! Please take care of your health, Grandma!"
So I could be this tea-scented too.
Still, being a little "green tea" felt... really good.
My dad's face immediately darkened, and my mom winked at me meaningfully.
Looking at my grandmother again, her smile froze on her face. She forced a laugh: "It's all in the past, all in the past. You're grown now. If you have a little brother, and since you're smart and do well in school, you must teach him well."
Suddenly I remembered Granny Tang's words, that I should listen to Grandmother's words in reverse.
I thought privately that the reversed meaning of her words was probably: "We Zhou Family raised you all this time, and now that a little brother is about to arrive at home, it's time for you to make a sacrifice."
I smiled and replied, "Of course. Once my little brother is born, I'll definitely take good care of him."
Grandmother smiled again and said, "Tonight's soup is for nourishing blood and qi. You should drink it for your little brother's sake. Drink a bit more to nourish your body. Once your little brother is born, you two siblings will have company."
I thought to myself that, reversed, this meant: your little brother is currently short on blood, so you should eat more to nourish yourself and let blood be drawn from you, so you don't drop dead before your little brother even comes out.
After dinner, I crouched outside the door feeding ham sausage to Xiao Hei.
Xiao Hei was a puppy I had picked up from the roadside not long ago. It had black fur all over, with only the lower halves of its two front legs white.
Grandmother had disliked it before, saying it was a funeral-announcing dog and unlucky.
But I didn't believe in such things, so I kept it at home.
After feeding Xiao Hei, I played with it for a while, then carried it back to its doghouse, and then went to take a bath.
Halfway through my bath, a black shadow suddenly flickered past the door, like a cat, startling me.
The talisman water Granny Tang gave me worked quite well for bathing. After washing, my body had a faint scent of sandalwood incense, which made the mind feel calm and at peace.
When I went back to my room, Grandmother specially reminded me not to forget to "offer blood" to the black jar.
I agreed verbally, but in my heart I didn't take it seriously at all.
I lay down on the bed and stayed awake until midnight before drifting off in a daze.
After I fell asleep, the temperature in the room plummeted, and a chilling, yin-filled aura spread through the air.
In my hazy state, I felt an icy large hand touch my body, and then a tall figure pressed down upon me.
I struggled to open my eyes and faintly saw a ghost-god mask. Behind the mask, those eyes were deep as an abyss.
I tried to struggle, but my whole body had no strength.
"Who are you?" I asked in a low voice.
He let out a light laugh, and his low, husky voice sounded in my ear: "After daybreak, wrap the black jar under the bed in red cloth, walk east, and find a peach tree or a ginkgo tree to bury it under."
Only then did I see clearly that he wore black clothes and a mask carved in the shape of a ghost-god.
I exclaimed in surprise, "It's you."
Then I struggled with all my strength to reach up and grab the ghost mask covering his face.
"Heh..."
He chuckled softly, letting out a faint laugh.
I forced myself to grab, but my hand passed straight through his body, and he quietly faded from view, growing fainter until he vanished completely...
In that instant, the sluggish feeling of being bound in my body dissipated.
I sat up abruptly from the bed, and the chill in the room gradually receded.
It wasn't a dream.
It was the man in the ghost mask I had seen at the temple during the day.
But this was my home. How could he have appeared here?
This matter was extremely strange.
Thinking back on Granny Tang's reaction at the time, she clearly knew something, but she seemed to have her reservations.
I decided to go find Granny Tang tomorrow and get to the bottom of it.