Chapter 3

I snapped my eyes open as if I had just been hauled from the water.

My father, my mother, Deng Gong, and Fifth Great-Uncle were all staring down at me.

“Yong, what happened?” my father asked anxiously. “You were screaming at the top of your lungs. Thank goodness your Fifth Great-Uncle is overseeing things today. He heard you and called us over at once.”

My nose stung. I threw my arms around my parents, unable to hold back my tears. Haltingly, I told them what had happened in the dream. They patted my back and said, “Don’t be afraid. We’ll take you home right now…”

My mother nodded again and again.

When he heard my father say he would take me home, Fifth Great-Uncle spoke up. “Yong’s father, think about it. Yong, Deng, and Shunwa were always the closest of friends. Shunwa was a good boy when he was alive. How could he possibly hurt the boys he loved playing with most? Yong didn’t sleep last night, that’s all. He had a nightmare today.”

My parents hesitated after hearing him and asked what I wanted to do.

I thought for a moment about all the times the three of us had played together.

If I had gone with Shunwa that day, none of this would have happened. I told my parents,

“I can stay. It was only a dream. It’s no big deal.”

Seeing that they were still concerned, Fifth Great-Uncle continued, “I have some yellow triangular talismans at home that have been properly consecrated. After I eat, I’ll bring one for Yong to keep him safe.”

That put my parents somewhat at ease. They remained with me in the room and made sure I got some proper sleep.

Sure enough, I had no more nightmares. I slept more soundly than I could remember.

When I woke, I was full of energy again. I could not help wondering whether everything that had happened over the last two days really had been nothing more than hallucinations.

At dinner, Fifth Great-Uncle brought me the yellow talisman and instructed me to keep it on my person every day for protection.

“It will cleanse the bad energy clinging to you. You must carry it at all times over the next few days.”

I took it and turned it over a few times. The scent of sandalwood mingled with some other smell and curled into my nose.

“Good boy. Put it somewhere safe before you lose it.”

“Fifth Great-Uncle, do you have another one? Deng Gong is keeping vigil with me. I want to give him one…” I said, a little embarrassed.

Fifth Great-Uncle chuckled, exposing teeth stained yellow from years of pipe smoking.

The furrows in his face looked deeper than ever. Something about him seemed unfathomable and strange.

“You’re a loyal little fellow, aren’t you? All right, I’ll look after Deng myself. You just take care of your own hide.”

Only then did I slip the yellow talisman into an inner pocket. I thanked Fifth Great-Uncle and turned to find Deng Gong for dinner.

Dinner at Shunwa’s house was wide noodle soup.

The past two days had taken a great deal out of me. I had been frightened half to death and heartsick on top of it.

When I was not keeping vigil, I had to help the men in charge put up awnings and move tables and chairs.

I picked up a huge bowl and began shoveling food into my mouth. The noodles came with chili oil and minced meat. Eating cloves of garlic alongside them, I drained three big bowls before I finally felt satisfied.

“Not bad, Yongshou,” Deng Gong teased when he saw me eating like a starving ghost reborn. “You usually look like a bamboo pole, but you’ve got one hell of an appetite.”

“If you knew what I’d seen these past two days, you wouldn’t say that. I really have been scared out of my wits.”

Maybe I was turning fear into an appetite.

Deng Gong dismissed it. “Look at you, scared of your own shadow! So you dreamed about Shunwa. I already know that. You think too much, that’s your problem. If something were really wrong, why would I be perfectly fine when I’m with you all day?”

When I thought it over, he had a point.

Deng Gong and I had eaten and slept in the same places for the past two days. If something was wrong, it should have affected us both. How could I alone be so unlucky?

It made no sense.

Seeing me relax, Deng Gong patted my shoulder and delivered his final verdict. “You think too much and frighten yourself. That’s all.”

I touched the yellow talisman in my pocket and finally set my mind at ease.

People are strange that way. It was like waking late for school and sprinting all the way there, only to spot a classmate you knew running late too.

At once, the panic would fade. Even the fear of being punished by the teacher would seem less terrible.

Having someone share a burden always felt safer than carrying it alone.

…

Fifth Great-Uncle had assigned us a fixed vigil shift. Deng Gong and I were again on duty from ten at night until six the next morning.

Afraid we would get bored, Fifth Great-Uncle gave me plenty of snacks and a deck of cards.

He told us to keep ourselves occupied during the vigil so our minds would not wander.

The first half of the night passed quickly. Deng Gong and I played Mizhugan and Piaosanye, ate a few snacks, and looked up to find it was already two in the morning.

It was time to burn more spirit money for Shunwa.

“Good Shunwa, take this wealth and eat your fill.

“Bold Shunwa, let no one in the underworld bar your way.

“Sweet Shunwa, may you be born into riches in your next life.”

Afterward, Deng Gong and I had nothing to do again.

I had caught up on my sleep during the day, so I did not feel tired.

Deng Gong, however, looked drowsy, drained, and weak.

Seeing that I could still stay awake, he asked me to watch things for a while so he could close his eyes for a few minutes.

“Go on. Sleep on the cushion for a bit. I’ll wake you later.”

“Strange. I wasn’t this tired yesterday…” Deng Gong muttered. A moment later, he began snoring softly.

Even at night, the summer wind carried heat. I fanned myself with slow, listless strokes.

Before long, beads of sweat appeared on Deng Gong’s face.

I gave the fan several dozen vigorous sweeps to cool him, thinking that life was not easy for him.

His parents were away. He had to look after his elderly grandmother, and after school each day he still had to light the stove, cook, herd the cattle, and cut grass.

After all the energy he had spent these past two days, it was only natural for him to be tired.

Then Deng Gong began mumbling in his sleep. I laughed. I had never known he talked in his dreams.

I shifted so the fan’s breeze could reach us both.

“Ha-ha.”

I had begun to nod off myself when Deng Gong suddenly laughed in his sleep.

I jolted wide awake.

I turned toward him. His eyes were still closed, but two more laughs escaped him.

“Ha… ha-ha…”

I almost woke him, but he had been exhausted these past two days, so I decided to let him sleep a little longer.

Sitting on the cushion, I drifted in and out, alert one moment and dozing the next.

I had slept enough during the day, yet a sudden weariness had descended on me.

Then someone slapped my shoulder. My mind cleared in an electric flash.

I turned. It was Deng Gong. He was staring toward the place where Shunwa lay and muttering over and over, “I knew it. I knew it…”

At a loss, I rubbed my face hard until I was more awake, then asked, “What’s wrong, Deng Gong?”