Folk Ghost Tales: Bold Talents

During the Tomorrow Apocalypse, there is a Confucian student named Wan Bin in Pingyang Mansion, Shanxi, who is quick-witted and courageous, earning him the nickname "Bold Show Talent". One day, Wan Bin went out to run errands and stopped at a tea shop to taste tea and rest. He overheard two people at the next table discussing ghosts in a certain location, which piqued his curiosity, prompting him to approach them for more information.

It turned out that there was a village called Yang Village three miles away, where four or five abandoned, dilapidated houses stood to the east of the village. The owners had moved out long ago, and a black lacquered coffin was found in one of the houses. Villagers passing by at night often heard noises coming from inside. They were too frightened to approach the house after dark. Eventually, a lone traveller stayed in the dilapidated house, but in the middle of the night, he ran out in a panic, shouting that there were ghosts. Once the news spread, no one in the vicinity dared to go there.

Upon hearing this, Wan Bin was eager to investigate. He inquired further with the two individuals, then went home to fetch a futon and pillow, waiting for nightfall before setting out to explore.

After a long wait for sunset, Wan Bin arrived at Yang Village. At the village intersection, he spotted four houses standing alone in the wilderness by the roadside, their walls broken and dilapidated. Wan Bin strode in and saw an object in the middle of one of the rooms—it was a coffin. The doors and windows of the house were missing, and a low wall stood across the entrance. As darkness fell, Wan Bin spread his bedding next to the coffin, lay down, and fell asleep. He was startled awake by the sound of a half-broken wall outside the door, quickly getting up to jump onto the wall to observe.

He heard a continuous "bang" sound, and finally, with a loud crash, the coffin lid fell off.

After a while, a woman sat up from inside the coffin, with black hair, a red dress, and green sleeves. The jewellery she wore clanged as she emerged from the coffin.

Wan Bin looked closely and saw that the woman was young and beautiful, with willow-like eyebrows and a captivating appearance. After she emerged, she sat on the futon Wan Bin had brought and carefully arranged her hair with both hands. Once she finished, she looked around and floated out.

Wan Bin watched her disappear into the darkness, unsure of what to do, so he lay on the wall and waited. As it neared the fourth watch, Wan Bin was hazy and suddenly saw a light floating into the house like a ghostly fire. Upon closer inspection, he realised the woman had returned, her attire unchanged, but her cheeks slightly flushed, her face radiating warmth. Wan Bin was intrigued and wondered if this ghostly figure had gone out to play tricks. He was confused, only to see the woman sitting on his futon, gathering her hair. After a while, she stood up and walked towards the coffin with gentle, graceful steps, preparing to return to it.

Wan Bin had once heard that zombies cannot enter without a coffin lid, and seeing that this ghostly figure appeared soft and weak, he thought it might not be powerful. He decided to jump down and push the coffin lid to see what she would do. With this thought, Wan Bin leapt off the ground with a "whoosh". Just as the woman lifted the coffin lid and was about to emerge, Wan Bin rushed into the house, pushed the lid down, and it closed with a "click". The woman was initially stunned by this change, waiting to see it clearly.Wan Bin was even more stunned, staring at him with a pair of apricot eyes. Wan Bin was not afraid, and glared back at the woman. After a moment, the woman stretched out her hands and wanted to push the lid open; seeing this, Wan Bin pressed his hands to the other end. The woman was so small that she pushed for a long time, but she had no choice but to stop, still staring at Wan Bin. After a while, he suddenly smiled coquettishly, his face was pink, his apricot eyes were full of spring, and his eyes flowed. Wan Bin said in his heart: This is tempting me, don't be fooled. So he strengthened his mind, no matter what kind of flattery the woman made, let it seduce and tempt in every way, but she didn't see it. The woman saw that the temptation was useless and was very anxious. Suddenly, he lost his smiling face, his face turned a miserable blue, his eyes were blood-red, the size of a bell, his lips were black and purple, his mouth was open and his tongue was sticking out, and his cloak was pouring straight in. Seeing this, Wan Bin couldn't help but be shocked, and hurriedly dodged around the coffin. The woman chased after her with her arms outstretched. Seeing that the situation was critical, Wan Bin ran out of the door and jumped onto the wall. When the woman saw him go up the wall, she didn't chase him, but turned back to the house and pushed the lid of the coffin. When Wan Bin saw it, he jumped into the house again and pressed against the lid of the coffin again. The woman couldn't, so she got up and chased after her. After so on, the woman just couldn't get into the coffin. Suddenly, when she heard the rooster crowing outside the window, the woman's face changed greatly, she was miserable, and she fell down with a loud cry, and remained motionless. Wan Bin was overjoyed in his heart, pointed at it and said triumphantly: "Don't you know that my name is Bold Xiucai?" At this time, it was already dawn, Wan Bin found nearby villagers, and a group of people put the body into a coffin, carried it to the field and burned it clean. When he went back to get his futon, he found that the place where the woman had sat had been salted and ashes.