Chapter Twenty-One: The Barn (Part Two) – The Dark Figure

Xiao Shao returned home and informed his wife, parents, and child about his business trip the next day before retreating to his own bedroom. He took out the Song dynasty Ge kiln fragment his cousin had given him, examining it closely and delighting in its beauty, eventually falling asleep with the porcelain shard in his hand.

At dawn the following morning, as the eastern sky began to brighten, Xiao Shao opened his eyes only to realize the Ge kiln fragment was missing. He bolted upright in bed and discovered it had slipped from his hand onto the mattress.

“What’s wrong?” his wife, disturbed by his sudden movement, woke up groggily.

“Ah, the porcelain piece fell on the bed. You go back to sleep, it’s barely past seven. I have to leave now.”

“Wait a moment,” his wife called him back. “I have a bad feeling. Something about this trip feels off—I sense something unusual is going to happen.”

Xiao Shao was taken aback. Her words sent a chill down his spine. He was naturally timid, and her warning made him even more anxious.

At that moment, his wife took a “Kangxi Tongbao” coin from the cabinet and handed it to him. “Old coins ward off evil. Wear this for protection.”

Xiao Shao nodded and hung the “Qianlong Tongbao” coin around his neck. Little did he know this small coin would save his life during the eerie journey ahead.

At half past nine, Xiao Shao arrived at the train station with his suitcase, puzzled that his Hong Kong cousin hadn’t shown up. He dialed his cousin’s number.

“Cousin, where are you?”

His cousin’s voice came through, but the line was filled with static, and his words were barely audible. “I’ll... be there soon. Just wait for me inside the station.” The call cut off abruptly.

Without thinking much of it, Xiao Shao sat on a bench at the station and played games on his phone.

An hour passed, and his cousin still hadn’t appeared. What’s going on? An hour already—could he be messing with me? Impossible, he already gave me the porcelain piece; there’s no reason for him not to come. Forget it, I’ll keep playing and call him again later.

Waiting was a tiresome affair. Another half hour passed, and Xiao Shao was growing impatient. He shut off his game and was about to call his cousin when he heard his voice nearby.

“Oh dear, oh dear, I was dining with a guest. Sorry, sorry!” his cousin apologized hurriedly.

Xiao Shao, a gentle-natured man, instantly lost his irritation at his cousin’s apology. He smiled and waved it off. “Come now, no need for such formality. I wasn’t standing the whole time—I had a seat.”

His cousin grinned and took two train tickets from his bag. “I booked soft sleeper tickets. We’ll be on the train for twenty-two hours before reaching Hangzhou.”

Xiao Shao and his cousin boarded the train at eleven, placing their luggage by the beds. Xiao Shao sat on his bunk.

“Hey, cousin, you didn’t bring any luggage?” he asked.

“Ah, just two days—I find it bothersome,” his cousin replied.

The two sat together, reminiscing about old times.

“How’s business this year, cousin?” Xiao Shao asked with a smile.

His cousin sighed and shook his head helplessly. “The economy is bad these days. Everyone in the industry is just struggling to get by.”

They chatted for a long time. The red sun sank in the west, the moon rose in the east, and darkness fell swiftly. Xiao Shao checked his watch—it was already past nine. Time had flown by; he’d spent nearly two hours at the station in the morning and was feeling a bit tired. He decided to turn in early. Looking at his cousin, he said, “You should get some sleep too, cousin. I’m heading to my bunk.”

His cousin nodded and lay down, closing his eyes.

In the early hours, Xiao Shao was sleeping soundly.

“I’m wronged, I’m wronged! My death was so tragic!” A chilling, resentful voice echoed in Xiao Shao’s ear.

He shivered, opened his eyes, and was startled to see a dark shadow hovering before him. Rubbing his eyes, he gasped in horror—a terrifying, ghastly, badly decomposed human head stared at him, grinning malevolently.

Frozen in terror, Xiao Shao couldn’t utter a sound; his body felt paralyzed, as if under a spell.

The skin on the horrifying head hung in tatters like a broken curtain. Bloodshot eyes had slipped from their sockets and dangled among the rotting flesh. Decaying meat, fresh blood, and exposed bone mingled together, oozing foul, orange-yellow liquid, crawling with maggots—a sickening sight.

“Heh heh heh...” The head cackled at Xiao Shao, stretching out a hand equally rotten, trembling toward his face.

With a jolt, Xiao Shao sat up drenched in cold sweat—the nightmare vanished.

He wiped his brow and took several deep breaths, suddenly realizing his lower body felt damp. He touched himself and, mortified, discovered he’d wet his pants from fright.

Embarrassed, Xiao Shao pulled out a clean pair of underwear from his luggage, glanced around, and thought, I’d better change in the restroom. With that, he took the underwear and climbed off the bunk.

He slipped on his shoes and quietly headed toward the toilet. Glancing at his cousin’s bed as he passed, he noticed the blue curtain was drawn, but his cousin was nowhere in sight.

A chill crept over him. Maybe he’s in the restroom, Xiao Shao thought. But if he’s there, what should I do? If he sees a man in his thirties wet his pants... The thought made him uneasy. After a brief inner struggle, the discomfort of his wet pants outweighed his embarrassment, and he walked toward the train’s public restroom with underwear in hand.

Approaching the carriage door, his eyes caught sight of a strange black shadow standing by the entrance. It was “strange” because the shadow was unusually large—over one meter sixty tall, but its width was like a ball, and it had no head!

His bladder quivered uncontrollably. Just as he was about to scream, a familiar voice sounded from the direction of the shadow.

“Xiao Shao, what are you doing?”

He steadied himself. Was it a hallucination? Really? The black shadow vanished instantly, and his cousin appeared in its place.

“Cousin? What’s going on? What are you doing?” Xiao Shao asked, still dazed.

“Ah, I got up for a smoke. What are you here for?” his cousin replied, cigarette in hand.

Flushed with embarrassment, Xiao Shao stammered, “I... well… just needed the restroom. Now that you mention it, I almost forgot to pee. I’d better hurry.” He dashed into the toilet.

Inside, he changed into clean underwear. He didn’t dare emerge immediately and sat for a while on the toilet, gathering his composure. He consoled himself: “If you’ve done nothing wrong, you need not fear ghosts.” I haven’t harmed anyone; I don’t cheat or hurt others. Even if there are ghosts, they won’t come for me.

He carefully cracked the restroom door open and peered through the gap—nothing in sight. He pushed it a bit further, and as he leaned out, a sudden force from outside swung the door open. A tall black figure stood before him.

Terrified, Xiao Shao shrank back onto the toilet, and the fresh underwear was instantly soaked again by a surge of fear.

He retreated, sitting on the toilet, pointing shakily at the shadow. “A-are you… human or ghost?”

“Bah! You’re the ghost here. I need the restroom—hurry up and get out, I can’t hold it anymore,” a deep, gruff voice replied from outside.

Realizing it was a human voice, his heart dropped back from his throat to his chest. He looked carefully—it was a burly man about one meter eighty tall. Xiao Shao sighed and left without a word.

Back in bed, he agonized again. Should I change my pants in the restroom once more? If I do, they might get wet again. If I don’t, I’ll have to endure it—after all, I’m in my thirties and not wearing diapers.

In the end, the fear in his heart prevailed. He finally made up his mind, closed his eyes, and tried to sleep.