All the way, we didn't say a word. The two of us were extremely nervous. I stared fixedly at the rearview mirror, while Big Mouth treated the Jinbei van like a Boeing 747, speeding all the way until we saw the faint lights in Y County, and only then did we start to slow down.
Once we entered the county, Big Mouth parked the car on the busy main road, let out a long sigh, and rubbed his hands back and forth on his pants. It was then that I noticed the steering wheel where Big Mouth had held it was wet with his cold sweat. I rolled down the car window, looked back at the car with lingering fear, pulled back my neck, and said word by word, 'I think we really did see a ghost.'
Big Mouth sniffed, lit a cigarette, and answered me word by word, 'I completely agree with your opinion.'
The two of us sat in the car for a while, and after burning through half a pack of cigarettes, we decided to take a roundabout route back—first to J City, and then take the highway back to the mountain town.
The next day when we returned to the town, we learned that the monkey, who witnessed the ghost with us last night, lamented and said he wished he had gone too. Before leaving, Big Mouth had called him, and he said he had plans with a beauty that evening and had no time to go. 'If I had known there was a ghost, why would I have gone out with a girl?' The monkey shook his round head in regret, then pointed at me and Big Mouth, saying, 'You two really embarrassed the brothers. If I were there, I'd have rushed over, whether it was human or ghost, run it over and then deal with it. If it were a ghost, I'd turn it from a living ghost to a dead ghost!'
'Hehe,' Master Wang, who had been listening to us talk all this time, finally spoke up. He said, 'If you really tried to run it over, I think it wouldn't be the ghosts turning from living to dead—it would be you little brat turning from living to dead!'
The monkey got excited at this, quickly handed Master Wang a cigarette, and grinned cheekily, saying, 'I knew Master Wang was experienced and knowledgeable. Come on, expand our understanding and tell us exactly what's going on.'Master Wang held a cigarette in his mouth, feeling around in his pocket for a lighter. Seeing this, Big Mouth eagerly lit it for him. Master Wang took a deep drag and said, "The things you encounter on the road generally fall into two types. One type is the road-blocking ghosts. These ghosts usually have no harmful intentions; they just like to play tricks on passersby, like making you trip or lose your way. They're just teasing you, nothing more. The other type is more dangerous. In our hometown, we call them 'life-taking spirits.' These are the short-lived spirits who died violently on the road. They carry grudges in their hearts and always want to take someone down with them. They're clever, too—sometimes they turn one road into two. If a driver unfamiliar with the route drives into the wrong road they created, the consequences are disastrous. That's why we often see some strange traffic accidents: a straight, long road, the driver hasn't been drinking, yet somehow they swerve off the road unexpectedly." The Monkey asked, "Master Wang, then which kind do you think they encountered last night?" Master Wang flicked the ash from his cigarette and said, "I guess Xiao Wu (Big Mouth's surname is Wu) and Fei Fan (me) probably saw the life-taking spirits." As soon as Master Wang said this, I immediately felt the hairs on my arms stand on end. Big Mouth jumped three feet high: "Damn, who the hell will dare to run to Y County in the future? I'm definitely not going, whoever wants to go, go ahead!" Master Wang waved his hand and said, "Xiao Wu, don't be too nervous. I don't think those things yesterday really meant to harm you; otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to see them." Big Mouth muttered, "They didn't manage to hurt us this time, but who knows next time?" Master Wang smiled and said, "Do you think Y County is the only road that's not clean? I'll tell you, there's no clean road in this world. Wherever there's a road, there are spirits, unless you never ride in a car or drive a car, or even walk on the road in your lifetime." Big Mouth continued to mutter, "Then why did you only tell me this road isn't clean?" Master Wang said, "I'm not telling you this to scare you, but to give you a warning. It's okay to have reverence, but what's dangerous are reckless young ones, like Monkey here." Monkey scratched the back of his head and grinned: "Oh, Master Wang, I wouldn't have guessed—you're cultured. You can even say things like ‘have reverence.'" I pushed Monkey aside and said, "Go on, don't cause trouble. Master Wang, tell us, how can we avoid these things?"Master Wang said, "People are clear, but ghosts are dark. It's very hard to avoid them; the best you can do is make sure they can't harm you. You kids have strong yang energy, and as long as you're together, that thing won't dare come near. I guess it didn't harm you last night because your yang energy suppressed it. Also, Xiao Wu, I suggest you get some peach tree branches, thread them with red string, and hang them on the car. These peach tree branches are really good; they ward off evil and suppress ghosts, very useful. But you need to pick branches that grow facing the southeast; those have the best effect for dispelling evil."
Big Mouth immediately held my hand and the monkey's and said, "Comrades, as the saying goes, at home you rely on your parents, away from home you rely on friends. In future business dealings, you two can't stand by. I'm entrusting my little life to you both. At critical moments, don't let me fight alone."
I said no problem. Although we saw a ghost last night, I firmly believe in Chairman Mao's words: all reactionaries are paper tigers! By the same token, all spirits and evil ghosts are paper tigers.
The monkey got even more excited, spitting out foam as he shouted, "I'm not afraid of seeing ghosts, I'm only afraid of not seeing ghosts!"
Master Wang patted the monkey on the butt and said, "You silly kid, you better not say such things recklessly, something might be listening."
The monkey rubbed his butt and laughed foolishly. Big Mouth spun a few circles in place, then suddenly took off toward the back mountain. The monkey called out, "Hey, where are you going?"
"Looking for peach trees!"
To be honest, I was skeptical of what Master Wang said. Even though those three eerie figures in white were still vividly in my mind, if what Master Wang said was true, then how many people in this world would dare to drive? Dare to walk? I like what Lu Xun said: actually, there were no paths on the ground; the more people walk, the more it becomes a path. Paths are made by people walking, not ghosts. On the path, humans definitely outnumber ghosts.
