The Tale of the Ghost Eyes Chapter 64 A Wayward Baby Ghost

Zhao Jie walked up beside me and cleared his throat. The sound burst in the quiet and was quickly swallowed by the trees. "Xiao Yong," He said in what will never be a whisper, "Master Liu isn't here! What will we do if we actually find something?"

I raised my hand to the jade stone around my neck. "Don't worry." I said, "We've got all of these treasures to protect us. Plus Master Liu has been teaching me for years." We walked in silence for a minute and an idea made me laugh out loud.

"What?" Zhao Jie asked.

"It's a baby!" I said, trying to stifle my laughter. "Even if we do find something, it'll be a baby ghost!"

Zhao Jie joined in my laughter, but his eyes looked strained.

I thought back to what Master Ge had said in the tomb. Grey Heart and White Cloth ghosts aren't malicious and don't hurt people. Yellow Page and Black Shadow ghosts are both powerful and ferocious specters, like the paper man. We'd dealt with more than a few of them with Master Liu. Finally, the most powerful ones were the Red and Green ghosts, which were capable of not just hurting people, but killing them.

I said a silent prayer that we wouldn't meet anything stronger than a White Cloth ghost. "I could probably handle one of those…" I said to myself. The laughter was gone. Zhao Jie looked at me strained and silent.

Ku Tou and Bing led the way. Bing looked over his shoulder time and time again to make sure we were still there.

"Can't you walk any faster?" Shang Haoming urged moodily.

"Well shit, man!" Ku Tou retorted, sounding angrier than he looked. "After you!" He waved his hands out and bowed.

Shang Haoming, expression set and eyebrows locked together, marched past the shorter boy. "Okay."

Zhao Jie shuffled after him, trying to stay close to the compass in Shang Haoming's clenched fist.

When the sun peaked above us as we were between a heavy thick of locust trees. The late autumn air was tinged with a cold that whispered through the forest. I welcomed the sunlight that beat warmth on our party. I noted beads of sweat standing on Zhao Jie and Ku Tou's foreheads and wondered whether it was from fear or exertion.

The trees around us absorbed the sound of our footfalls. I strained my ears against the breath pulling in and out of my chest, waiting to hear something, anything.

The path sloped upwards and began to narrow. The trees on either side of us were impossibly thick. An occasional trunk lurched over the path and cast a grand shadow over us. The shadow's cool overtook me, while a separate chill skirted down my back. Casting a look behind us, my eyes darted around the trees, searching for movement. The hairs on my neck stood up like my body knew that something was following us.

"Lucky eyes." I whispered, knowing that I'd be able to see whatever we were looking for before the others.

The path curved ahead of us and opened up on the left hand side. We'd stopped in a loose gaggle of weeds and looked out over the mountain. The bushy locust trees extended into infinity across the mountains and disappeared into the mist that merged with the clouds.

Before I could warn him, Zhao Jie let out a whooping shout. The sound dropped off almost instantly, the trees absorbing the echo before it could grow. He let out a sigh of relief and turned to the rest of us. "Well, I guess there's nothing up here."

Ku Tou started to speak when a ringing screech grew from the forest on the other side of the road. Zhao Jie's eyes widened, making the rest of us turn around in fright. Shang Haoming's head rotated slowly and he surveyed the screaming forest. He took a step forward towards the trees and let out a long loud, "Hello?"

I grabbed his arm and asked, "Shang Haoming, are you crazy?"

He laughed and said, "I'm not crazy. Whatever is pretending to be a spooky monster in the forest is crazy! This is just like that stupid Scooby Doo show!"

Hot anger blossomed behind my eyes. I gritted my teeth and tried to stay calm, "Screw the cartoons! This is real! My godfather warned me about the mountains. We have to be quiet! This is their home! What would you do if someone came into your house and started screaming?"

The sound rolling from the trees faded into a low hum and then stopped. We stared into the trees and waited. Shang Haoming raised his hand and scratched the back of his head. "I didn't think about it like that."

A silence fell over the group. Ku Tou finally broke it. "Well, you guys heard it. I told you!"

"That could have been anything!" Shang Haoming said stubbornly.

"Oh come on!" Ku Tou and I said together.

"Fine!" Ku Tou went on, "I bet if we stayed until night time we'd get to see it!" His eyes were gleaming with excitement.

Shang Haoming laughed at that. "I won't stay here until night."

Before anyone could reply, the cry blossomed from the trees again. It rose in an unearthly crescendo until the five of us had clapped our hands over our ears to block out the noise. The wailing infantile cry carried a cold chill that dug into my head like an ice pick.

Ku Tou fell to his knees and held out the copper coin like a shield.

Zhao Jie stumbled close to Shang Haoming and the compass in his hand. I dropped one of my hands, wincing against the noise, and clasped the jade amulet.

Shang Haoming lowered his hands and shouted over the pulsing noise, "That's a baby! We have to help it!" His eyes were wide with concern, not fear.

Ku Tou shouted back, "Are you crazy? That's a ghost, not a baby! It'd kill us!"

Shang Haoming hesitated at that, but then raised his hand and opened it palm up. The little compass was jittering across his skin. Zhao Jie raised his own hands and tried to pull Shang Haoming's arm down. "Don't take it away!"

Ku Tou called again, still straining to be heard over the incessant cry, "Trust me! We have to go!"

Zhao Jie nodded like it was his job. "Yeah! We heard what we came to hear! Let's get out of here!" He added.

Something greater than fear sparked inside of me. A heat seemed to be pulsing from the jade amulet and I suddenly felt more curious than afraid. Unconsciously, I took a step towards the ringing trees across the road. Perhaps, I liked adventures. Maybe Master Liu had influenced me more than I knew.

Zhao Jie saw me moving towards the trees and became upset, "Xiao Yong, what the hell are you doing?" His voice cracked as it came out.

I didn't turn towards them, but knew they'd heard me, "Yeah, it's a ghost, but it's only a kid. Maybe even a baby. I want to find it and send it away."

It was Bing who spoke this time, "Do you know how to do that?"

I shook my head, "No. My master said that ghosts disappear after their ferocity is expelled. Its life and hell souls have to be separated so they can find their way to reincarnation. There's a way we can help it though."

The four boys now behind me asked in unison, "What?"

I turned towards them, feeling more confident because of the pulsing jade on my chest. "We can meet its wishes. It'll leave if there's nothing left to mourn."

I recalled something Master Liu had said about people leading ghosts back to hell and smiled at the thought. An image of me holding a baby ghost in my arms and walking towards a giant green door designed itself in my head.

The boys looked stunned. Shang Haoming in all of his bravery tried first, "Maybe that's not a good idea…let's go home." He said simply.

I stood my ground, now halfway between the forest and my friends. "It's a lost spirit!" I called to them. "It's a wayward, lost entity!" A kind of strength felt like it was growing in my chest. "Wouldn't you want help if you were lost and couldn't get home? If it wont' go peacefully we'll force it out. Either way, we can do this!"

"Can you?" A voice in my head asked. I pushed the thought away. I realized that my fists were clenched at my waist and I had been screaming. My friends stood meters from me with looks of shock and disbelief. All at once I understood that the cries had stopped. Now it was only I who was upsetting the silence of the forest.

My friends and their terrified expressions rocked me out of the trance. I unbound my fists and raised open palms towards them. "You're right…" I said, "I'm sorry. Come on, let's go back."

The others exchanged looks and walked towards me slowly. Shang Haoming put a big hand on my shoulder and started to speak, but his words were drowned in a fresh shriek from the trees. Ten eyes darted to the woods. The sound was closer now, and somehow pleading.

Chapter end