Folklore Supernatural Stories Heard from the Older Generation（3）

故事一：

My grandmother's third sister's husband, my third aunt's father-in-law, left me with a memory of someone who appeared quite honest and diligent. He was a simple, hardworking, and honest man who didn't talk much. One afternoon, he suddenly woke up from a nap and didn't go to work in the fields after his nap. Taking advantage of the moment when my third aunt's mother-in-law went to a neighbor's house to help them sew a new quilt, he inexplicably hanged himself in the small storage room where he kept odds and ends, and he hanged himself on the radiator while kneeling.

Usually, if someone hangs themselves from a high place, they might suffocate due to their own body weight during the act, which is somewhat understandable. But at such a low position, and while kneeling, it's difficult to imagine the mental state someone must be in and the effort required to slowly strangle oneself, using such a slow, painful method, gradually succumbing to asphyxiation. Thinking about it feels incredibly uncomfortable. My third aunt's mother-in-law almost fainted when she came home and saw this scene, and she rushed to the neighbor's house in a panic to call for help.

I remember this incident very clearly because I was in elementary school at that time. My grandparents went back to their hometown to help my third aunt's mother-in-law with the funeral arrangements after receiving the news. With no one to look after me, I went to work with my mother. I was happily eating an ice cream and telling my mother's colleagues that I didn't go to school that day because my third aunt's father-in-law hanged himself and my grandmother went back to our hometown. Looking back now, I feel that the ignorant and hurtful words of children are really terrifying—how children speak without restraint, how children speak without restraint...

I recall that my grandfather returned home after one day, so my enjoyment of not going to school came to an end quickly, and my grandmother stayed at my third aunt's house for several days because my third aunt's mother-in-law was frightened. Many years have passed since this incident, and I had long forgotten about my third aunt's father-in-law. Later, my third aunt's mother-in-law found another partner, and she has been living quite contently.

It wasn't until Chinese New Year this year that my second aunt and others unintentionally brought up this third aunt's father-in-law. They said that he had trapped a yellow weasel rat in a mousetrap at home and then beat the yellow weasel rat to death... And then...

Once upon a time, in a village where my great-grandmother lived, there was a villager who was working in a watermelon field. He used a shovel to kill a yellow weasel rat that was stealing watermelons. As a result, not long after, his wife went mad. She ran to the street naked, screaming and cursing her husband for killing her. She remained crazy and wild, often running around naked and screaming on the streets during the festive New Year season.

Story Two:

It seems that there are legends and tales of the supernatural from reservoirs and major rivers all over the country, and it's said that one or two people die there every year or something like that. My great-grandmother told me about a true supernatural event.

This happened about forty to fifty years ago. In their village, there was a young man working in a factory in the town. Because the factory was far from home, he didn't come home often and stayed in the dormitory at the factory. Communication conditions were poor at that time, and news wasn't very timely.

One evening after work, someone from the village brought word that the young man's mother had fallen ill. This news greatly distressed the young man, and he quickly took a leave of absence, borrowed a bicycle, and rushed back home. On his way back to the village, he had to pass by a fairly large reservoir. The scenery around the reservoir was beautiful, with vast rippling waters. During the summer, many people would go there to swim and cool off, but it was said that there were whirlpools and undercurrents beneath the reservoir, leading to drowning incidents every year.

The young man was in a hurry to reach his ailing mother, pedaling hard on his bicycle. When he arrived at the reservoir, it was already quite late in the evening. Suddenly, from seemingly nowhere, two children appeared and ran over, grabbing onto the back of the young man's bicycle. They pleaded with him desperately, saying, "Please, take us with you, take us away..." They even clung to the young man's legs, refusing to let go.

By the time the young man returned home, it was already morning. He stumbled into the house, rushed to the kitchen, scooped up some cool water from the water tank, and then collapsed to the ground. He remained sick and bedridden for several months.

After recovering, the young man hesitatingly recounted the incident. He had initially been puzzled when the two children appeared. It was late at night, and there shouldn't have been any kids around. Upon closer inspection, he recognized them as two children from the same village who had drowned while swimming in the reservoir a while back. Once they started grabbing onto his legs and wouldn't let go, he was utterly terrified and they kept entangling him throughout the night. Strangely, as soon as the sun rose in the morning, the two children suddenly vanished. That's when he hastily rode his bicycle back home.

These two children were probably trapped as spirits in the reservoir and unable to move on. They must have yearned to return home, which is why they desperately implored the young man to take them with him on his bicycle, to take them away...