Chapter 5 Tragic death of the old gatekeeper

My mother put her hand on my shoulder: "Your grandpa...He passed away last night. Although I hate the Fan Family, you grandpa has been a decent man, a man of deed who was down-to-earth all his life. No one can say anything bad about him. Now he is gone and your father and I have to go back."

I was petrified. Grandfather was dead?
When I was very small, I was told that all males in our family were 'Mr. Yin & Yang' who practiced geomancy, foretold the fortune of others and hunted down evil spirits; tales about them were passed down from generation to generation.
But later, for some unknown reason, fewer and fewer male descendants inherited the mantle; such as my grandpa, with no sisters, he had two brothers, elder of which was a carpenter, specializing in making coffins and younger of which a 'Mr. Yin & Yang' while my grandpa himself was a down-to-earth farmer.

He was a man of few words, farming in the field all day long until dusk as if he never felt tired; those rough, sunburned hands had also gently hugged me in my childhood ...

It was because of his reticence that my grandma stood out. All the family affairs were decided by my grandma. Of course, when it came to the affairs of the whole clan, she would still consult the younger brother of grandpa. Grandma seemed to also know some ‘evil doings’ too;
'Evil doings' was the word of my mother, who had always despised such superstitious beliefs; fact was my grandma did know a little bit about these things.

My grandpa had always been a good man in the village, and he was very kind to me. My gender and my destiny to be married to a ‘underworld being’ seemed not to affect his views on me; he always brought me snacks, candies; he always gave me the warmest smile in the world, even though he did not speak a word to me;

I forgot to mention that I also had a mean grandaunt, the wife of younger granduncle, who I didn't mention before because I did't think she would have much influence on my life.

Each time she saw grandpa bring me snacks or hug me, she would always jeer at us: "little slut raised for nothing, why bother like this." That’s when my grandpa squeezed a word, "That's why we Fan family have to treat her better in her childhood while she could enjoy it...We owe her."
Whenever he said this, I could see the tears welled up in his eyes.

The fan family didn't like girls very much because of the doomed marriage with the dead, but my grandpa had never been unkind to me; now he died and I would go back no matter what.
By this time, I had put what that guy had said to me last night entirely out of my mind. I said to my mother, "I'll go back with you too. If I can't come back in time for the exam this year, I'll do it next year!"

Mother was a bit angered: "Nonsense?! Just stay here and prepare for your exam!"

I refused: " I listen to you on anything else, but not this! I am going back!"

My dad heard our quarrels and came over asking, "What's going on? What's all the fuss about?"

My mother vent her anger out on my father: "It took great efforts to get her out of there, and now she is going back. Why go back there?! No one there is sensible and normal; no one takes life as life, do they really superstitiously believe in ghost? And you, give up the exams? Waste another year and extra money because of things like this?”

My father dared not speak; he had always been mocked by other villagers as a hen-pecked husband just like grandpa. My father had been working outside in the town and didn't stay in the village for most of the time, and my mother also worked in this small town, so I had been living with my grandparents since I was a child.
My mom brought me here after what had happened.

Grievance filled my heart: "I will pay your back the money, as for time, I could afford another year in high school and it has nothing to do with you! You're not going to pay for my tuition; my dad would; whatever you say I'm going back!"

What I said may sound childish, but I meant it; I had to say goodbye to my grandpa. At least I had to see him for the last time before he was buried. I didn't want to have regrets for the rest of my life.

My mother was angry with me: "Had I known, I would not have brought you out. I would have left you with that crazy old woman! Why would I give birth to such a disobedient daughter like you?"

My dad couldn't bear my mom scolding my grandma, and he said, "What crazy old woman?
Can't you show some respect? Rae is also my mother's granddaughter, will she ever harm her? That's the Fan's rule..."

My mother exploded with rage as my father, at this perfect “timing”, mentioned the so-called 'rules' which implied the marriage with ‘underword beings’. It was, obviously, not a wise decision.

My mother pointed her finger at my father's nose and snapped: "The rule is to wed your own daughter to that ‘underworld being’? Has anyone ever seen a ‘underworld being’?
Do you know who went into that bridal chamber? You're such a pussy and always your mother’s baby boy; and that Master Third, what on earth does he know except to fool the others. Whatever you say, I won't let my daughter go back there. If you insist her going back, we are done here, I want divorce!"

The Master Third in my mother's mouth was my younger granduncle. Different from my father who had barely graduated from high school, my mother was an intellectual, a person a reasons and logic. He should have been out of her league. So my father was always grateful and obedient to my mother. However, what happened in the past few years had made her a lot more irritable. At home, My father and I listened to her everything. I dared not provoke her at all, but how can I compromise on this matter?

Finally, even my father gave in by advising me, "Daughter, stay here. Your mother and I will come back in a couple of days. We would leave you some cash; you can buy whatever you want to eat and prepare for the college entrance examination.”

Sensing that I did not get to go back with them at my father’s attitude change, I went straight back to my room, slammed the door shut and cried aggrievedly on the bed.

My parents soon packed up and set foot on the road back to the village, which was not so far away from here in distance; but there would be two bus changes halfway, which took some time, so it should take about 6 hours to get to the village, and after getting off the bus, they would still have to walk for one to two hours on the mountain road; with the time consumed added together, it was a long trip.

When they were both gone, I remembered what that guy said to me last night. I had completely forgotten all of it in the fight with my mother, and now I was drenched in cold sweat.
If what he said was true, shouldn't I have prevented my parents from going back?

I grew up in a superstitious environment, and if it was not 100% that I was into the theory of ghosts and gods, I believed at least 90% of it.
So I decided to go to the school and saw if the old gatekeeper was all right.

The school gate had been cordoned off by the police when I reached there.
Lots of students were detained outside of the gate and discussing what was going on.

I saw policemen coming out of the security room where the old man lived and carrying a stretcher covered with a white cloth under which the shape of a man could still be discerned.
I began to tremble, and the black cat on the window sill in the security room stretched lazily, as if there was nothing to do with him.

As if aware that I was looking at him, he turned to me and opened his mouth to show off his sharp fangs.

A gust of cold wind blew; I looked consciously to the old gatekeeper on the stretcher. The wind lifted the white cloth off the old man, and I saw the frozen look of horror on his face, and the gaping mouth...
His tongue was gone, and there was blood on the corner of his mouth. I could hardly imagine how he had died!