The Haunted Chapter 121

Chapter 120◀︎Table Of Content►Chapter 122

Chapter 121 Funeral

🌺Translated by Nessie 🌺

 

After that, Ye Yingzhi and Song Jin and his wife helped Chi Yan with Grandpa’s funeral.

 

Grandpa was not a native of R City. He was assigned to R City because of work assignments when he was young. Later, he married Chi Yan’s grandma and settled down. Chi Yan was also a student with few social connections, so there were not many people who came to the funeral. Only a few students who had a good relationship with Chi Yan at school, two relatives from Grandpa’s hometown and some of his old colleagues who had been in contact came to the funeral. A few of Song Jin’s colleagues came to help too but the main thing was still done by Ye Yingzhi’s men and everything was done properly.

 

At the funeral, Ye Yingzhi and Chi Yan followed the same traditional etiquette to pay respect by the grandsons of the deceased, which was more elaborate than Song Jin’s. It was said to the outsiders that Ye Yingzhi treated Chi Yan just like his blood brother, but after a long time these days, Song Jin and his wife had already realised the relationship between Ye Yingzhi and Chi Yan. Chi Yan was a little embarrassed but he admitted to them about his relationship with Ye Yingzhi, so the two didn’t think there was anything wrong with it.

 

Three days after the funeral, Chi Yan’s mood gradually stabilised and returned to normal. Ye Yingzhi was still a little worried about him, but something happened to the Ye family and he had to go back to deal with it. Chi Yan agreed to let him go back, and asked him to look out for Xu Rui’s situation for him. Ye Yingzhi hurried back after agreeing.

 

There was only one person left in Chi Yan’s house. The only difference was that Grandpa was gone and he set up an altar table for Grandpa inside his room. The custom here in R City was that the family of the deceased must continue to give offerings to the deceased for at least 7 days.

Translated by The Red Oak Tree

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Chi Yan didn’t have much to do. At night, he would watch TV alone on the sofa in the living room and fall asleep while the TV was still on.

 

Half-dreaming and half-awake, he heard someone calling him by his nickname and the voice was very familiar. Chi Yan closed his eyes and listened carefully. It was not an illusion or a sound from the TV.

 

He opened his eyes and saw Grandpa standing in front of the sofa looking at him.

 

Chi Yan woke up suddenly with a shock and looked at the familiar elderly in front of him, “…Grand… Grandpa?”

 

After confirming that the person in front of him was Grandpa, Chi Yan immediately asked, “Why are you back? Is there anything wrong?” Even though he was reluctant to part with the elderly, he was still clear-headed in his reasoning. Grandpa shouldn’t come back, it was best if Grandpa passed away without any worry.

 

The elderly shook his head, looking a little at a loss. “Grandpa also doesn’t know ah. Grandpa… shouldn’t it be time to leave? Why am I still back here again?”

 

It seemed that the elderly also understood his situation, but he dared not say it directly.

 

Chi Yan asked Grandpa to sit on the sofa, stood up and comforted him, “Don’t worry, I will think of a way.”

 

Grandpa nodded repeatedly, “Grandpa is not in a hurry. Xiao Yan can think slowly.”

 

Chi Yan slowly thought about the clues in his heart. After he came back, he learned more about the cause of Grandpa’s sudden fainting. Grandpa liked to eat crabs, and he ate them very carefully. Song Jin and Tao Juan Juan bought crabs that day. They knew that Chi Yan was not around and Grandpa was being looked after by the caregiver, so they deliberately picked two large crabs, steamed them and sent them to Grandpa. The crab was still hot when delivered and Grandpa was very happy. He started to eat at the table. He lowered his head and concentrated on eating for more than half an hour, but he fainted after that.

Translated by The Red Oak Tree

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So logically, when Grandpa passed away,  he had no pain or regret. 

 

Chi Yan asked the elderly cautiously, “Grandpa, can you think again if there is anything you are still worried about?”

 

The old man looked around at one side of the home furnishings, and finally turned his eyes to Chi Yan, “No, Xiao Yan has already grown up, there is nothing to worry about. You have to take good care of yourself in the future and have a home, then Grandpa will feel assured.”

 

Chi Yan couldn’t help as his eyes reddened again, “…Then I will try to send you away?” Staying in the world of the living for a long time would not be conducive to reincarnation and this was not a good thing.

 

The elderly man nodded.

 

Chi Yan naturally also had some simple methods of sending off the dead. He tried to set up a formation circle in the living room and performed a ritual to send Grandpa away for rebirth. The elderly man sat quietly on the sofa.

 

Chi Yan only felt that his throat and eyes were sore and uncomfortable. After his Grandma and mother’s deaths, he and Grandpa depended on each other, but he had to bid farewell to his closest kin twice. He closed his eyes and knelt in front of the circle. Tears fell on the floor every time he chanted a death spell. He dared not look at his Grandpa, fearing that his reluctance and bondage would hinder the elderly man’s reincarnation plan. After performing all the rituals, he knelt on the ground completely and cried.

 

Then he heard the familiar, slightly puzzled voice of the elderly man, “Xiao Yan, is it finished already?”

Translated by The Red Oak Tree

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Chi Yan raised his head. Grandpa was still sitting upright on the sofa, looking as if he was afraid of disturbing him when he was “casting a spell”. He didn’t even dare to move.

 

Chi Yan was a little embarrassed and stood up, “…it seems to have failed. Grandpa, don’t worry, why not rest at home first, I know of a very powerful friend. We can wait for him to come back and then send you off.” In Chi Yan’s heart, the fact that Grandpa passed away had been watered down. Although he knew that Grandpa was no longer human, for some unknown reason, he had to stay here in another form temporarily. During this short time of getting along with ghost Grandpa, he had become very used to it already. In his eyes, Grandpa was still Grandpa, his only kin.

 

“Haiz, Grandpa is not in a hurry. Let your friend take his time too, don’t rush others.” The elderly man had a good temperament. After a while, he went back to his bedroom to rest as usual and still fully retained his living habits.

 

Chi Yan sent a message to ask Ye Yingzhi for help. Ye Yingzhi simply said to wait for him. He would be back soon and Grandpa would be fine. Chi Yan still couldn’t rest assured, so he took advantage of the time to read the notebook that Ye Yingzhi gave him.

 

The elderly man went out habitually early the next morning. At 7:30 in the morning, Grandpa used to go out for morning exercises at this time.

 

But now that it was not what it used to be, Chi Yan was worried about him, so he took a few yellow paper charms and followed the elderly man. He saw the elderly man familiarly following the crowd waiting for traffic lights, crossing the crosswalk, passing two intersections, and arriving on the square in the nearby park. There were already quite a few elderlies standing there. When Grandpa saw a familiar face, he wanted to go up and say hello, only to find that the other party couldn’t see him, so he seemed to remember something. He stepped aside quietly and watched the other elderly men and women greet each other and chat.

Translated by The Red Oak Tree

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After a while, the elderly people lined up, stood in four rows, and began to shout slogans to do “Pai Da Gong*” under the leadership of an elderly man. Grandpa also got to the last position at the end of the team and followed everyone’s rhythm.

*Pai Da Gong – an exercise routine popular amongst elderlies in the community.

 

Chi Yan hid behind the pavilion and watched. He was very sad, but he didn’t dare to let Grandpa discover him, so he could only hide behind and watch quietly. He waited until almost nine o’clock when the elderlies finished exercising before following Grandpa home. When he was about to reach their home, he took a few quick steps and entered the house before Grandpa and then pretended that nothing happened.

 

The next day, Grandpa still went out to the park and stood behind all the elderlies to exercise. Chi Yan followed all the way quietly until the elderly returned home safely.

 

Grandpa didn’t need to eat anything, but he said a lot in the past two days, and it seemed that there was too much to say to Chi Yan. Because they knew that there was not much time left, and because they had already lost it once, the relationship between Grandpa and grandson seemed particularly valuable. It was only then that Chi Yan realised he hadn’t been spending time with Grandpa and sitting down with him to talk for a long time.

 

On the third day, Chi Yan followed Grandpa to the park for morning exercises. Like the previous days, he sat in the pavilion quietly watching the happenings in the direction of the small square. However, he found something was wrong when he sat down that day.

 

As soon as Grandpa walked into the small square, a few elderly men and women surrounded him and greeted him enthusiastically. Grandpa stood there at a loss, just like when he saw Chi Yan at home on the first day.

Translated by The Red Oak Tree

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Chi Yan hurriedly walked out of the pavilion and rushed over. As soon as he approached, he could hear several elderlies asking questions such as “Lao Su, why didn’t you come recently?”, “Are you sick? I heard that you were hospitalised?”

 

Chi Yan quickly walked to his Grandpa and said, “Grandpa, come home with me. Your health is still not good and you mustn’t come out.” These morning exercisers were all elderly people living near the park, and none of them had participated in Grandpa’s funeral. But R city was a small place. It was possible that some people might have heard the news that Grandpa had passed away, but then they suddenly saw him and were not sure about it. It was better not to create more trouble and to leave quickly.

 

The elderly ladies next to him said after seeing Chi Yan, “You are Lao Su’s grandson”, “You are really filial, Lao Su, quickly go home with your child, and come back again when you are well.” Chi Yan was basked in the perfunctory enthusiasm of the old people. He quickly brought Grandpa home.

 

When they reached home, Grandpa looked baffled and asked Chi Yan, “Xiao Yan, how come Lao Li and the others could see Grandpa?”

 

Chi Yan shook his head, “I also don’t know, let’s wait for my friend to come back, he will definitely be able to solve it. You should not go out these days.” At first he thought that only he could see Grandpa because he and Grandpa were related by blood and he had seen more ghosts and monsters when he practiced the magic techniques. But suddenly everyone could see Grandpa, which really puzzled him. He flipped through the notebook left by Ye Yingzhi, but couldn’t find a reasonable explanation.

 

After Chi Yan had dinner, Song Jin came to visit again. When he heard the doorbell, Grandpa hid in his room and closed the door.

 

Song Jin just got off work and he wanted to pay respect to Grandpa in his room as soon as he walked in. Chi Yan didn’t dare let him in. After all, there was really no way to explain why Grandpa suddenly appeared again, and everyone could see him. Not everyone could accept this kind of thing. So he made up a random excuse and pulled Song Jin into the living room to sit down.

Translated by The Red Oak Tree

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Song Jin was fine, except that he knew that Chi Yan was at home alone, and Grandpa had just passed away, so he came over to chat after getting off work to see how he was doing. When he saw that he was in good spirits, he was relieved. He started to talk about his latest job.

 

Song Jin lifted the  cup of tea and sipped “Chi Zi, you say if this is strange or not? I’ve just received a missing case. The informant was the wife of the missing person. She said that her husband had been missing for two days and she couldn’t find him. In the end, we found the victim’s body in a hotel, and based on the results of an autopsy, her husband had been killed at least seven days ago.”

 

Translated by The Red Oak Tree

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Chapter 120◀︎Table Of Content►Chapter 122