"Play with your damned ghost!" I cursed.
That corpse, its rotten hands clamped onto my cheeks. I struggled desperately.
"What do you want? I haven't done anything to you."
"Yeah, you haven't done anything to me, but it's so late at night. When I see someone come in, I just want to play."
"Let me go, let me go!"
A wave of putrid stench assaulted my nose. The corpse's head leaned in, making me so nauseous I nearly vomited.
Something cold and slimy was licking my hair. I turned my head and saw the corpse's tongue, long and extended, licking me.
"Shit!" I screamed. Suddenly, black mist poured out of me, and with a crack, I broke free from the tree roots' grip. My hands could move again. I aimed at the corpse and punched, knocking its head off. No longer bound by the roots, I fell straight down.
With a creak, I hit the ground, not feeling any pain. Luckily, I was carrying Tina Yu's corpse. She looked at me with a resentful gaze.
"I didn't mean it, I really didn't."
With a whoosh, I saw a black shadow—the person from the tree was suddenly in front of me, grabbed the sleeping bag, slung it over his shoulder, and ran off.
"Come catch me! Catch me! If you catch me, I'll give it back to you."
Tina Yu came up to me, glaring.
I got up and chased after him.
"Damn you, stop right there!"
The man ahead kept running. Strangely, the trees on both sides seemed to come alive, slowly parting to form a straight path.
I stretched my legs and chased after him.
"Haha, come on, hurry up! Why are you so slow?"
I was nearly out of breath from running, but the man stopped and spoke provocatively.
But then I thought better of it. I sat down, closed my eyes, and stopped moving.
With a sudden whoosh, I felt a cold breeze brush against my face. Something hard poked my cheek. I opened my eyes.
"Why'd you stop chasing me?" The man jabbed my face with a branch he was holding.
Suddenly, I lunged forward and grabbed him in a tight bear hug.
"Got you."
He let out a startled cry, then burst out laughing.
"Shit, what’s with you ghosts again? You think you can just come out at night to mess with people for fun? See if I don’t beat you to death."
Rage flared up inside me. I swung my fist at his face. The punch landed—dark mist seeped out, his cheek twisted grotesquely to one side, but he just kept on laughing.
"Laugh, will you? Go ahead and laugh!" I hammered his face with a few more punches. Before long, his face was caved in from my blows.
"I surrender, I surrender!" The ghost raised both hands. I got up, picked up Tina Yu’s corpse, and slung it over my back.
With a whoosh, the ghost floated up. He kneaded his face like it was made of clay, and the part I’d beaten in popped right back out, good as new.
The ghost wore a sly, mocking grin. Riding that surge of adrenaline, I gave him a good thrashing.
"You get it now? If nobody’s messing with you, don’t come out here to mess with people."
"Alright, alright, I get it. I’m sorry, okay?" The ghost bowed his head and gave a deep bow. For once, I was feeling pretty damn good. Usually, I’m the one getting scared by ghosts, but this time, I finally got to hold my head high.
"By the way, my name’s Bo Ziran. What about you, friend?"
"I’m Ethan Zhang."
Bo Ziran reached out his hand. I shook it.
"Uncle, why are you lowering your head to this kid? Isn’t that kind of..."
A faint, ghostly woman’s voice drifted through the woods. I glanced around.
"Get lost! Mind your own damn business—don’t butt in where you don’t belong!" Bo Ziran suddenly shouted.
I stared, wide-eyed.