The Tale of the Ghost Eyes Chapter 103 The Strange Shadow in the Mirror

I shrugged and shook my head. The others came up to us.

"So, what's it matter who's buried there anyway?" Ku Tou continued in a whisper, loud enough for his roommate and Shang Haoming to hear. My eyes darted between the boys, watching their expressions melt into confusion.

I hurriedly told them what I'd seen, well…known.

"So you think he's talking with his brother's granddaughter?" Ku Tou asked at the end.

I nodded. "Yes, well…maybe. If he's just a crazy maybe he's talking to himself. But it is his family, if we spend too much time around our families tombs…"

"Ghosts happen." Shang Haoming finished.

Ku Tou smirked and let out a chuckle. "It doesn't even matter, don't worry! We're wearing masks, so even if there is a ghost it's not like it'll know who to look for." He smiled and crossed his arms.

"Ku Tou's right. I've heard something similar." Shang Haoming added. "There are tales of men who hunted ghosts, but they covered their faces so they wouldn't bring darkness back on their village."

"It's called 'scraping face'." Ku Tou added.

"The whole thing feels dirty to me." I told them, ripping the towel off my face. "Wang An is a poor old man, we shouldn't hurt him. He's old and he worked hard for these watermelon."

Ku Tou started to speak, but Shang Haoming beat him to it. "I agree. We don't need the watermelon. I do want to see the old man on the tomb though. That sounds exciting!" A grin breasted his large face.

Shang Haoming took a step forward and urged me onward before I could refuse him. I caught up to my footing and reached back inconspicuously to double-check my pack. The Peach Blossom Mirror lay securely in my bag.

As we marched towards the edge of the field I reviewed my skills in my mind, remembering each step and word that Master Liu had taught me.

We neared the edge of the watermelon field and a figure came into view. The silhouette was smoking next to a small pile of soil that must've been the tomb. Wang An's face became clear in the moonlight. He sat silently next to the grave. He raised his head to the night sky and smiled.

As I watched a small girl in a red dress crawled from the ground. I blinked my eyes to be sure they weren't deceiving me. Her little hands swung by her side as she walked out of the earth. She didn't look more than seven years old, and her cheeks were bright red like a doll's.

I knew I could see her because of my eyes, but Wang An watched her as she came as well. He raised his arms in welcome and gestured for her to sit beside him.

I raised a hand to stop my friends behind me. I heard them come to a noisy halt while I rustled in my bag to get the mirror. I murmured a meditation incantation to calm my galloping heart. Shang Haoming, Ku Tou, and his roommate huddled up behind me.

Ku Tou murmured, "That's him, but the old man is so quiet today! He usually talks to himself like mad."

I turned and motioned for Ku Tou to be quiet.

He returned my gaze with a wave of his hand, saying, "Oh don't get your panties twisted. The old man's half way to deaf. He can't hear us anyway."

I felt a rush of heat fill my head and take control of my tongue. "The old man may be deaf but his dead granddaughter can hear everything you say!" I whispered at him, feeling my teeth biting into my tongue.

As we looked on, the old man began to speak.

"Why are you so late this evening, Xiao Yi?" Wang An asked.

The transparent little girl grasped his hand and held it to her chest. "Grandpa, are you smoking again? That's very bad for you." Her hands and forearms tinged red as she spoke, bringing a heat to the night that I could almost see.

"Is she a red ghost? Or does she have the ability to mess with temperature?" I wondered.

The old man only laughed and waved his hand out of her grasp. The two continued to talk like nothing was amiss, just like a grandfather and granddaughter would at a family picnic.

Ku Tou and Shang Haoming watched the old man speaking to himself with a smile. Ku Tou planted his elbow in my ribs, "See Xiao Yong? Isn't it weird?"

I let out a deep breath, saying, "Strange! Absolutely!"

It must have been me she heard. When we looked back up the girl's eyes were fixed on our spot in the grass. She stood up without notice and then was gone.

I felt panic streak down my back and pulled out the Peach Blossom Mirror. Holding it close to my chest, I watched as the girl bid her grandfather's brother goodbye. "Grandpa, I need to go to deal with something. I'll see you tomorrow. Try to get some sleep this time!" With that she rose about a foot off the ground and then disappeared into the earth below her.

I took my hand from the mirror, feeling my skin pulse in relief, and turned to the others. "We have to go, now!"

"What is it?" Ku Tou asked.

"There's a ghost!" I told him simply. He knew that I could see them, so I hoped it wouldn't waste any time. Sure enough, it didn't.

He nodded, his brow furrowed, and he followed my every step. When we got back to the dormitory and everyone was panting, sweating, and grinning like idiots, he finally asked, "What did it look like? Was it bloody and gnarly and awful?"

I waited until I'd caught my breath and said, "Don't go back to that place. Do you hear me?" The anger flowed back into me, "Nothing good will come of revisiting that place."

"Why, what's up?" He asked, brushed off any heat like it was nothing.

"Do you remember the baby ghost? Up in the mountains?" I asked, "This is twice as bad as that. Do you hear me? Don't go back there."

Shang Haoming stepped in as peacekeeper, "Was it the farmer's granddaughter? Er- his brother's granddaughter?"

I only nodded, suddenly very tired of answering questions.

I stayed at the dormitory for a while until a twang of panic began forming in the pit of my stomach. "What if she goes after my sister? They were siblings once if they were both adopted from the same family. That's not impossible." I told myself. "What if she wants to use her?"

As the night went on the panic only grew. I roused Shang Haoming and asked him to walk home with me, just in case. We climbed the school wall and shimmied over under the cover of moonlight.

The entire way home I felt like something was following me. Whenever I looked over my shoulder though, nothing was there.

When we finally got to my house my dad opened the door. "What're you doing here? I thought you were spending the night with a friend? Hello Haoming, pleasure as always."

"We got caught in the hallways and they said I couldn't stay there. Something about the head teacher cracking down on stowaways." I quickly lied through my teeth.

"That's odd," He said. "There shouldn't be any problem with students staying at the dormitories. I'll have to have a talk with the head teacher." He said, opening the door for us to come in.

I swept the impending trouble away for tomorrow and got back to business. "Is Wen asleep?" I asked.

His eyes sharpened at that. "Yes, why? What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I said, and walked to my room. Shang Haoming followed, not saying a word. I waited until I heard my father's bedroom door close to get up and start pasting safeguarding amulets around the house.

Nothing happened that next week, and I can't explain the amount of relief I felt.

By the time summer break rolled around I'd almost gotten past the whole idea of a young ghost girl coming after my sister. Until one day, the mirror peaked ever so slightly out of my backpack.

"What's that?" Xiao Wen asked.

"It's a mirror." I said simply.

"Can I use it?" She asked, wringing her small hands together like it was life or death.

"Of course." I said. I reached into my bag and pulled out the Peach Blossom Mirror.

She looked into the reflective surface for maybe a minute before asking, "Brother, who is that in the mirror?"

I half looked up from the book I was reading, "It's you silly."

"I'm not that old…" She said hesitantly.

Fear filled me instantly. It fueled my dash across the room. I grasped the mirror in her hands and looked, over her shoulder. The girl that reflected my three year old sister was no less than seven. She had long black braids on either side of her head and bright rosy red cheeks.

"Is that her…from the watermelon field?" I thought, panic now shooting through my body.

The reflection's face mirrored Xiao Wen's expression. I pulled it roughly out of her grasp and asked, "Xiao Wen, who are you?"

She looked up at me with all of the hurt and confusion a three year old could muster. "Give it back!" She shouted.

"There's no Yin air here." I thought, and considered my tiny sister. I took a deep breath and raised the mirror to my own face, expecting to see hell, fire, a stranger, anything.

When I raised it, however, I only saw myself.

Chapter end