Chapter Six: The Phantom in the Darkness

Chen Chen seemed to sense the unease in my heart and said, “Since we’re here, we ought to find something, right?” As he spoke, he took out two blue daggers from his backpack. “My uncle gave me these. He said they’re particularly useful against certain unclean things.”

I reached out and took one. Except for the hilt, the entire dagger was blue, and if you looked closely, you could see ripples moving within it. It was clearly a fine piece. Gripping it tightly, I asked, “How do we get in?”

“The walls around are too high. We’ll have to go through the main gate.” With that, he took the lead and strode forward.

I followed behind, clutching the weapon, but still feeling far from safe. After a battle of wills within myself, we finally arrived at the entrance of the temple.

The temple’s gate had been ravaged by wind and rain, now so decrepit it seemed a gentle push would reduce it to splinters.

Just as I was about to push it open, Chen Chen let out a sudden cry beside me.

“What is it?” I asked, nervously raising my dagger—so hastily, in fact, that I nicked my own hand.

“I... I saw a shadow. He... he...” Chen Chen couldn’t finish his sentence. He just sat down heavily, gasping for breath.

I looked around, but apart from the place’s unnerving air, I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

After a while, Chen Chen finally calmed down enough to speak. “I just saw a ghostly figure standing above the temple gate. It seemed... it seemed to be smiling at me...”

A chill crept down my spine at his words.

“Maybe we should go back,” I suggested, suddenly wishing to retreat. After all, if such things truly existed, they were surely beyond what ordinary people like us could handle.

“No. We’ve come this far. Whether it’s people or ghosts, we have to see for ourselves.”

I couldn’t help but admire Chen Chen’s courage. Anyone else would have fled in terror by now.

I stood up and exchanged a glance with Chen Chen. Together, we pushed open the double doors.

The first thing that greeted us was a field of waist-high weeds. It seemed that if we wanted to reach the temple proper, we’d have to make our way through them.

Chen Chen and I stuck close together, inching forward with utmost caution. Thankfully, nothing strange lurked in the grass.

Before long, we made it to the real entrance of the temple.

Chen Chen handed me a flashlight. “Be careful inside. If anything happens, just shout.”

I nodded lightly, glanced around to make sure there was no immediate danger, then resolutely pushed open the door and stepped inside.

The temple was enormous. The main hall alone must have covered several hundred square meters.

At the center sat a Buddha statue, but its head was missing, leaving only a battered, robed torso.

I frowned slightly. The old saying goes that a Buddha can suppress evil, but without its head, that power is lost.

I looked around again. The four Heavenly Kings that once guarded the corners were all decapitated as well.

A sense of dread welled up inside me. I had a feeling we wouldn’t be leaving so easily this time.

Next to me, Chen Chen’s face showed a flash of astonishment.

I circled around the headless Buddha and was startled to find a brand-new stone statue behind it.

But this was no Buddha. It was some strange creature—one that didn’t resemble anything from this world.

I stared at it, and it seemed to stare right back.

Suddenly, someone tapped me from behind. I turned to Chen Chen and asked, “What is it?”

He was still studying the statue, not even looking up. “Huh? What’s wrong?”

Then he must have sensed something was off, because we looked at each other in confusion.

“Why did you just tap me?”

“I didn’t touch you.”

I took off my jacket and found a white handprint on the shoulder.

My nerves instantly snapped. I crouched down and frantically wiped the handprint away.

Just as I was about to look around, I saw, outside the door, a figure standing atop the temple gate—a small, thin person in a black robe, staring at me with jet-black eyes.

I had never encountered anything like this before. Panicked, I glanced at Chen Chen, only to see a pair of ghastly pale hands slowly reaching toward him.

I shouted, “Watch out!” and, gripping my dagger, lunged forward and stabbed with all my might.

The blade went straight through both hands, and white smoke rose from the wounds. At that moment, Chen Chen noticed the pallid hands as well. After a brief moment of shock, he quickly grabbed my hand and said, “Let’s go—run!”

I sheathed the dagger and sprinted for the exit.

As I dashed through the weeds where we’d first entered, I tripped over something white.

Clutching my knee, I noticed it was a stick—pure white, with carvings along its length.

“Hurry up!” Chen Chen’s anxious voice called from ahead.

I picked up the stick, tucked it into my waistband, and kept running.

Luckily, the pale hands didn’t follow us, and we made it back to the temple gate without further incident.

Strangely, as soon as we stepped outside, a cool breeze washed over us—though inside, I hadn’t felt a trace of it.

Chen Chen and I gulped down fresh air. Though we’d only been inside for less than half an hour, it felt as if we’d been granted a new lease on life.

We each lit a cigarette and slumped down at the temple entrance. Without saying a word, we both basked in the relief of having made it out alive.