Heng Village was vast, similarly situated by the water. From a distance, one could see large areas of white walls and black-tiled roofs, reflected in the lake along with the deep black of the stone paths and the soft ink of the green mountains.

Do not underestimate this place.

In this region, whether wealthy merchants or powerful officials, many of the mansions and family estates were located in the countryside rather than within the city. As a result, each village was almost entirely composed of people from the same surname, forming a massive clan-like community, almost like a small city. It was rare for someone like Lucas, an outsider, to live in Shu Village.

Heng Village was dominated by the Wang family, who were quite prominent, with some of their members still holding official positions in the imperial court. People of this era highly valued their ancestors and filial piety, so much so that they had built over twenty ancestral halls in the village. There was the main ancestral hall, two major branch ancestral halls, several smaller branch halls, and even some private family ancestral halls.

The current disturbances were happening in one of the major branch halls.

After some investigation and inquiries, Lucas arrived at a large courtyard and met with the Wang family patriarch.

It was a spacious hall with a skylight for natural lighting. Below, there was a water tank with turtles, and the walls and pillars were adorned with couplets. The main seat was flanked by a vase on the east and a mirror on the west. The patriarch, dressed in luxurious clothing, sat in a grand chair, his small, bean-like eyes scanning Lucas below.

"Whose descendant are you? If you get scared, it won't be worth the compensation."

"I am from Shu Village, my surname is Lin."

"Oh, one of the Lin family."

"Yes."

"You've got some guts."

"I've always been brave."

Lucas tried to remain calm. No matter how brave he had been in the past, now that he was in an unfamiliar place he didn't know well, and after hearing a year's worth of strange stories from the village elder, he couldn't help but feel a bit anxious.

Anxiety came from the unknown.

"At your age, studying and striving for academic success should be your priority. Don’t risk your health for a bit of money or a moment of bravery," the patriarch advised.

"I want to see for myself."

"Do you really want to go?"

"I really want to."

"You’ve got guts, that’s for sure. As it happens, you’ll have company tonight." The old patriarch spoke in a calm tone, as if he wasn’t too worried about the trouble at his family’s ancestral hall. It seemed like a peculiar yet not entirely shocking matter to him. "Have you had dinner?"

"Not yet, sir."

"If you have a sword, bring it."

"Give him a machete."

"Thank you, sir."

"Anything else?"

After a moment of thought, Lucas said, "It's cold at night; I’ll need a blanket."

"Anything else?"

"That will be all."

"Good lad!"

The Wang family patriarch waved his hand, both to Lucas and a servant nearby, instructing, "Prepare a blanket for him, let him have dinner here, and then take him to the ancestral hall."

The Wang family, being of scholarly and noble descent, certainly knew how to treat their guests. Dinner was bamboo shoots stewed with cured meat—a meal Lucas hadn’t had in a long time.

During the meal, Lucas noticed his "companion" the patriarch had mentioned—a large, scruffy man who reeked of alcohol and had a somewhat dejected demeanor. It seemed he was also here for the reward, which somewhat reassured Lucas.

Much of a person's unease comes from isolation. Having a companion made things much better.

After the meal, they were led to the ancestral hall. The path took them through the village, lit by smoke and lanterns.

"Keep going straight ahead."

By now, it was already late. The servant’s steps noticeably slowed, as if he was too afraid to get any closer. He simply pointed ahead, holding an oil lamp in one hand.

Lucas followed the direction he pointed to.

Ahead was a straight and narrow alley, flanked by the high firewalls of houses. The walls, originally white, had been darkened over time by rain, revealing black patches underneath, giving them a mottled, inky appearance. In the dusk, with the sky neither fully dark nor light, the high walls and narrow alley created an unexpectedly deep and eerie feeling.

Lucas took a deep breath. But when he thought carefully about what he had heard and the condition of his uncle at home, he found there was little to be afraid of and decisively said, "You can leave me here."

The servant handed him the oil lamp.

"Thank you..."

Lucas took the lamp, then stepped forward, holding the lamp in one hand and the machete and blanket in the other, walking down the alley, straight ahead.

He didn’t look back once.

Soon, he arrived in front of the ancestral hall. Lucas looked up. The large gate of the ancestral hall was open, and with the fading daylight, he could see that it was quite empty inside. He could see straight through to the back wall, where there were portraits hanging, but nothing else seemed to be there.

Lucas didn't allow himself to think too much and stepped inside.

Crossing the high threshold, there was indeed a bit of chill, but it felt no different from any other household—certainly not as eerie as he had imagined. Behind him, he could hear the footsteps and voice of the other man.

"It’s nothing after all..."

His tone clearly indicated he was trying to reassure himself.

Lucas didn’t respond, continuing to walk inside while looking around the ancestral hall.

Heng Village’s ancestral hall was similar to the one in Shu Village, with a three-section layout. The first section was the ceremonial gate, with a small space for storing things, essentially two rooms, one large and one small, one low and one high.

The first room was a large hall with tables and chairs, generally called the ancestral hall, where the clan members held meetings, honored outstanding members, or punished wrongdoers. The back wall blocked the view of the second room, but the first thing Lucas saw was the portrait of the Wang family ancestor hanging on the wall.

It was a middle-aged man with quite a dignified appearance.

He then looked at the couplets hanging on the pillars:

**"Respect filial piety to uphold human relations;**

**Revere the clan to promote harmony."**

He circled around the side, up a few steps, to the second room, slightly smaller than the first. This room housed the ancestral tablets of the Wang family and was called the sleeping hall.

The ancestral hall also had a skylight, allowing light and moonlight to filter through. The beams and pillars were beautifully carved, and the place was well-maintained.

Except for the slightly disordered roof tiles.

The hall was filled with couplets, family instructions, and clan rules.

Lucas silently read them as he looked around.

Surprisingly, he didn’t feel any eeriness; instead, he felt it was a place where descendants showed respect to their ancestors—a continuation of the clan’s cultural heritage, a sense of solemnity.

Behind him, the man spoke again.

"Kid, you’ve got guts, marching straight in without hesitation! Or are you just showing off?"

"Hey! I thought I’d be the only one here tonight. With another person, I feel much better!"

The man laid down his blanket and mat, sitting down in the ancestral hall.

Lucas also sat down, lighting the oil lamp, and started chatting with him.

They were both from nearby villages, so they talked about where they lived, who they knew, and so on. As they talked, the sky gradually darkened, and the already dim ancestral hall became even darker.

Only the small flickering light of the oil lamp remained.

"Kid, what do you think? If we run out now and find somewhere else to stay for the night, then sneak back before dawn, how would they know if we stayed here or not?"

His tone and expression grew increasingly animated, as if he genuinely believed it could work. If Lucas had agreed, he might have checked if anyone was watching and then quietly led him away.

Lucas’s first thought was that this companion didn’t seem very reliable.

"I don’t know," he answered calmly.

He didn’t dare to gamble, nor did he want to.

Since he had made up his mind to come, and had already sat down here, there was no way he would leave easily.

"Sigh."

After being refused, the man began to comfort himself.

"There aren’t that many ghosts in this world. Back when... anyway, those who claim they encountered ghosts while walking at night were either drunk or boasting."

"That’s how it usually is."

"This place is probably just some wild cats or dogs from the mountains making noise. The villagers are scaring themselves. Or maybe someone’s sneaking around here for an affair, making noise to scare people. Or, perhaps, the old Wang patriarch did something to displease the ancestors. Either way, it shouldn’t be too hard on us."

"Don’t you agree?"

Before long, the hall fell silent. It wasn’t that the two men had fallen asleep—they hadn’t dared to—but there was nothing left to say, so they wrapped themselves in their blankets and leaned against the wall, eyes wide open in the darkness.

The oil lamp continued to flicker faintly.

There was a moon tonight.

The moonlight was bright, shining through the skylight like a layer of frost on the ground.

The night

 grew deeper, and both men became increasingly drowsy.

A cold breeze blew through.

The man beside Lucas suddenly opened his eyes wide.

"What was that?"

Lucas also felt a slight shock and looked forward but saw nothing.

Just as he was about to dismiss it as the idle ramblings of a bored man or someone overreacting to the wind, he really did see a flash of light outside. Almost simultaneously, another gust of wind blew in.

The oil lamp dimmed instantly, its flame flickering weakly before struggling back to life.

"What was that?" The man turned to Lucas, his eyes wide open in fear. "Did you see that?"

"I saw it."

"What was it?"

"Maybe... a dog from the village."

Lucas wasn’t sure either, but compared to the man beside him, who appeared older and stronger, he was much calmer.

"A dog from the village?"

"Could be, could be."

The man repeated it several times, as if trying to convince himself.

But just then, they heard something again from outside.

This time, it was a voice.

"Another fool who dares to come?"

The voice was sharp and high-pitched, hard to tell whether it was male or female. It didn’t even sound like it came from a human throat.

The man was instantly terrified.

"What was that?"

He asked the same question again, but this time his voice was trembling uncontrollably, as if he had completely forgotten his earlier rationalizations.

Lucas, a student of the Shu village elder, had also been influenced by the elder’s teachings that "there is no such thing as ghosts, only tricks and illusions." He couldn’t be sure if there were real ghosts in the Wang family ancestral hall or if it was just a ruse. But hearing this strange voice, he began to lean toward one possibility.

There was no other explanation; it was just too strange.

As he hesitated, a sudden tremor came from above.

A clattering sound.

Then, the sound of tiles shaking.

Soon after, roof tiles began to fall.

With a loud crash, a tile shattered on the ground.

Another gust of wind blew in, extinguishing the only oil lamp in the sleeping hall.

The hall was plunged into darkness, with only the sound of tiles continuing to rattle above, as if swept by a fierce wind. Occasionally, a tile would fall, smashing to the ground with a sharp crack. Sometimes, fragments of tiles would even hit Lucas, causing a slight sting.

Lucas widened his eyes.

What was happening?

Could it be that there really were ghosts in this world?

Were all those strange stories from the village elder true?

No wonder so many self-proclaimed brave drunks and desperate men who came here for money couldn’t last a single night.

If there were real ghosts, who wouldn’t be scared?

At that moment, another voice came from outside the hall:

"If you want to live, leave quickly!"

The voice was still sharp, inhuman, and was accompanied by the clattering of tiles.

"Ah!"

Panicking for his life, the man beside Lucas didn’t think twice. He jumped up, barely straightening his body before crawling and stumbling his way out.

Lucas didn’t stop him, nor did he move.

He knew the Wang family ancestral hall had been troubled for some time. Not many people came to stay overnight, but there were enough, including some of the Wang family’s young men. But other than those who fell ill from fright after returning home, Lucas hadn’t heard of anyone being harmed.

Second, with this man running out, illuminated by the moonlight, he could see for himself whether it was a person or a ghost outside.

Perhaps it was a group of people pulling off a scam?

He could hear the man’s frantic footsteps growing more distant. As he left the hall, he seemed to trip over the threshold or steps, but he made it outside, where only a more terrified scream was heard.

"Ah!!"

The scream quickly faded into the distance.

The village was silent.

Most likely, many villagers had been awakened or had heard about someone entering the ancestral hall tonight and had stayed up. But now, not a sound could be heard.

The sleeping hall was left with only Lucas.

 

any comment is welcome. 

And of course, your donations are extremely appreciated.