Time: 2013-03-18 09:01 Source: 'Chinese and Foreign Stories' Author: Pang Dong \1, Death by a Dog's Mouth
Zhang Dafa, nicknamed Zhang Mazi, was in his early forties, spending his days drinking, gambling, and playing with dogs. His father felt this couldn't go on, so he tried to pull strings everywhere. After many twists and turns, he finally found him a job at a tobacco company. But Zhang Mazi couldn't change his lazy nature and even sneaked a few drinks on his business trip. After just a few days at work, trouble struck. One day, Zhang Mazi went to deliver goods. The car was driving halfway when a wave of alcohol hit him. He pulled the car to the roadside and immediately entered a hotel. The wine in the bottle was empty, and his head started to spin. When he happily returned to the car, he was stunned—the compartment, once piled high with tobacco, was now completely empty. That was worth over a hundred thousand yuan! Thinking of this, Zhang Mazi's vision went black and he fainted.
Dismissed Zhang Mazi became unemployed again. One day, he returned home drunk and searched several times, but couldn't find any sign of the newly hired Tibetan mastiff "Dahei." He ran out to look everywhere, and when he reached Fugui Alley, he saw a group of people gathered around the police car with strange expressions, muttering as if discussing something. Out of curiosity, Zhang Mazi approached to inquire and learned that a heart-wrenching bloody incident had just occurred in this small alley. Half an hour earlier, a man had entered Fugui Alley, and soon a wave of heart-wrenching cries for help and barking dogs echoed from inside the alley. Nearby residents were awakened from their sleep. Curious, someone went to check and found a Tibetan mastiff biting a person who was no longer powerless to fight back. So, they made a quick call to the police station. By the time the police arrived, it was already too late. They followed the bloodstains all the way and found the man who had just died. The man lay stiffly on the ground, covered in blood, his face unrecognizable. After several patrols, the police found the Tibetan mastiff responsible for the bloody incident in another alley...... Just as Zhang Mazi was terrified, a gunshot suddenly rang out not far away, sending him shivering quite a bit. Before he could react, he saw the police dragging a dead dog onto the police car. Zhang Mazi looked closely and couldn't help but shiver, because the "lion's head" taken away by the police car was the "Dahei" he had only played with for a few days.Although the owner had already warned Zhang Mazi when he bought the dog that this dog was extremely fierce and needed to be watched carefully, seeing 'Da Hei' commit such a serious incident right now made Zhang Mazi break out in a cold sweat. Seeing that no one was paying attention, he quickly slipped away quietly.\ A few days later at night, Zhang Mazi took a few sheets of ghost money and some bones to Fu Gui Alley to pay respects to 'Da Hei.' Anyone who has experience playing with dogs knows this rule—you have to treat the dog well; otherwise, you are sure to lose in future dog fights. Just as he had lit the fire, a sudden gust of wind blew from behind. Zhang Mazi's hand shook, and the ghost money flew into the air with a 'whoosh' as if it had grown wings. Zhang Mazi was puzzled: 'It's the height of summer, where is this wind coming from?' When he turned around, he was stunned to see a man with disheveled hair, like a madman, quietly approaching him! Angrily, Zhang Mazi frowned, picked up a brick from the ground, said 'zhuo,' and threw it straight at the man's head.\ The man let out a miserable scream and disappeared into the night in the blink of an eye. Seeing this, Zhang Mazi felt secretly pleased: 'Sneaking out in the middle of the night to scare people—getting hit with a brick by me? Serves you right!'\ After Zhang Mazi finished paying respects, he had just returned home when his phone suddenly started beeping. When he answered, he broke out in a cold sweat again. It turned out that some time ago Zhang Mazi had lost money gambling and borrowed tens of thousands of yuan at high interest. With the due date approaching, he had no money to repay. The creditor, Big Beard, was a notorious mob boss known for his ruthless nature. On the phone, Big Beard threatened Zhang Mazi that if he didn't gather the money within a week, he would take his eyeballs for a stomp.\ Zhang Mazi shivered as he hung up and tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, thinking about how to deal with Big Beard. Suddenly, an idea struck him, recalling the scare from that madman—he had thought of a way to make money.||2. Pretending to Be a Ghost to Scare Money Out of People\ Zhang Mazi thought: 'A blood incident just happened in Fu Gui Alley; anyone passing by there must be on edge.' So his scheme was formed: he would hide behind a trash bin in the alley, and when someone passed by, he would appear dressed in a corpse outfit with a ghost mask. Seeing this scene, people would be terrified, and he could then take the opportunity to scare them into giving money.\ The next morning, Zhang Mazi went to 'Old Chen's Funereal Shop' in Dongcheng.\ Upon entering, Old Chen asked Zhang Mazi what he wanted to buy?Zhang Mazi's eyes turned red, and with a pout, he said in a choking voice, “I had a strange dream last night. In it, my deceased mother was crying incessantly. When I asked her why she was crying, she choked out that she was often bullied over there and asked me to buy some clothes for the dead and ghost masks to burn in front of his grave to relieve her suffering…”\
“Truly a filial son!” Old Chen, seeing how heartbroken Zhang Mazi was, hurriedly brought him the items he needed.\
Zhang Mazi took the items with a cheerful smile and went home. Once everything was prepared, he drank two small cups of wine, flopped onto the bed, and fell asleep.\
When Zhang Mazi woke up, it was already 8 PM. He put the props into a black plastic bag and hurried to Fugui Alley. That night, the sky was dark and gloomy, perfectly suited for Zhang Mazi's plan.\
Zhang Mazi first put on a set of white hemp clothes, then slipped the ghost mask over his face. To make the appearance even more realistically terrifying, he applied some red ink around the mask's eye sockets. With that done, all that was left was to “wait for the prey.”\
Zhang Mazi crouched behind a trash bin. Before long, footsteps were approaching. Getting a clearer view of the figure, Zhang Mazi could faintly make out that it was a man. When the man was only a few meters away from him, Zhang Mazi suddenly stood in front of him and, in one motion, took a flashlight from his sleeve and shone it on his own face, revealing a chilling, horrifying ghost face.\
The man seemed frightened by this sudden “demon” and shouted, “A ghost! A ghost!” before fleeing in a panic without looking back. His fleeing ruined Zhang Mazi's plan; in just those few seconds, Zhang Mazi hadn't had the chance to implement the methods he had arranged beforehand. What could he do? While Zhang Mazi was pondering this, someone else arrived.\
This time, Zhang Mazi could tell it was a girl approaching, humming a tune. As she got closer, Zhang Mazi suddenly stood up and leapt in front of her. Before the girl could react, he quickly illuminated his ghost face. The girl, being timid, seemed so scared she was paralyzed, her pupils dilated, mouth forming an O shape. Zhang Mazi took the opportunity to reveal his identity and purpose. This time was very successful; all of the girl's valuable belongings ended up in Zhang Mazi's hands.||3. The debtor has yet to repay.\
The next night, Zhang Mazi, carrying his equipment, went to Fugui Alley again. But he waited until late at night and didn't see a single person.Just as Zhang Mazi was anxiously waiting, the business finally arrived. From a distance, the figure looked like a man, walking lightly as if drunk, and after a long while, he finally reached Zhang Mazi's side. Zhang Mazi had long been impatient. When he saw the man approach, he quietly jumped over, instantly revealing his "true face." It was unclear whether the man was so frightened that he stood there dumbfounded, not even making a sound. Seeing the man's expression, Zhang Mazi couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. He looked cold, dull, and completely foolish. "Who cares who he is!" Zhang Mazi steadied himself and lowered his voice as low as possible: "I'm the one who was bitten to death by the black dog. Now my soul has nowhere to rest. Hurry up and hand over the money, or I'll haunt you forever, making it impossible for you to live or ......die." The man listened to these words, his expression unmoved, letting Zhang Mazi keep talking. "Let's hurry up and do it. If someone arrives, things will get tough!" Thinking of this, Zhang Mazi reached out and stuffed his hand into the man's pocket. But after searching around, he found nothing. Seeing the man still unmoving, he reached into another pocket. As he touched it, Zhang Mazi started to panic. He felt the pocket was bottomless, and when he touched something sticky, his hand was firmly stuck by something. Just as he was nervously at a loss, the expressionless man suddenly gave a bitter smile, then reached out with both hands and gently pulled open his shirt. Zhang Mazi was stunned by the scene before him. The man's body was a mangled mess, and his own hand was actually stuck in his ribs. Zhang Mazi was terrified to the extreme. He wanted to break free and scream, but his body and voice froze, and then he collapsed uncontrollably, bit by bit...... The man bent down, his face pressed tightly against Zhang Mazi's nose, his eyes filled with bloodshot grief and anger. Zhang Mazi looked helplessly into the man's eyes. At that moment, he felt a sense of déjà vu. His mind raced, and the image shifted between the portrait of the man bitten to death by the black dog and the man who frightened him. Suddenly, Zhang Mazi's mouth dropped open in shock—their faces were so similar!
Could they be the same person?Just when Zhang Mazi was on the verge of losing his sanity, the man suddenly stretched out his hand and struck him heavily on the head. After a cold sneer, he then used his index finger to write vigorously on Zhang Mazi's stomach as if dancing with a brush... Zhang Mazi screamed in fright and fainted. When he woke up, it was already broad daylight. At that moment, he only felt an excruciating headache and a burning pain on his stomach. Looking down, he saw that on his bare stomach, a few large, indistinct characters were written: 'Debts to dogs must be repaid!'
