The Days I Walked as a Yin-Yang Master: Secrets and Spirits

Although I was scared, I couldn't just stand there forever. Seeing everyone walking toward the west, I decided to follow them, hoping there might be some clue or lead over there. About half an hour later, I came across a square. In the square, there were two buildings: one looked like a train station, resembling the train station in our county, and the other looked like a hotel. The people dressed in black continued to walk into the hotel-like building.

There were also many people in black coming out of the hotel and heading toward the train station. Of course, all of this happened silently. Under the gray sky, the only sound I could occasionally hear was the distant train whistle.

I walked up to the hotel-like building and stared at its three stories. It looked quite old, made of red bricks. The redwood doors were wide open, with people in black constantly entering and exiting. Above the door was a large plaque with the strange inscription "半步多" (translated as "Half Step More"). It was a peculiar name, and I had no idea what it meant. However, the plaque seemed to hold some kind of magical pull, and I felt an intense urge to go inside. Since I had no other leads, I thought I might as well try my luck. But as I approached, I noticed a small fortune-telling stand by the door. An elderly man was sitting there, dozing off. I observed that he was the only one who wasn't wearing black. He was dressed in a green robe that looked like something from the Republican era, similar to what you'd see on TV shows.

This made me feel strangely familiar with him, so instead of entering the building, I walked over to the fortune-telling stand. I lightly tapped on the table, "Hey, mister, wake up."

The man slowly raised his head, and when he saw me standing there, he seemed quite surprised. I took the chance to size him up. The man appeared to be about forty-five or fifty, with a small side part in his hair, a square face, thin lips, and a small mustache. His small eyes shone with a sharp glint.

He looked me up and down before pointing to himself and asking, "Young man, are you talking to me?"

I thought to myself, Is this guy serious? I'm standing right in front of you, of course, I'm talking to you! I nodded.

The man's eyes lit up with excitement, as though he had found something valuable, making the hairs on my neck stand on end. He stared at me for two or three minutes, then asked, "Young man, do you know where this place is?"

I was dumbfounded. What? Does this old man think I know? If I knew, would I be here asking you? I shook my head, and he smiled. "Well, do you want to know?"

I sighed inwardly. This old man is really playing with me. If this were at school, I would have slapped him a couple of times by now to make him get to the point. But this guy didn't look like a good person, and I was in an unfamiliar place, so as the saying goes, "When you're under someone's roof, you must bow your head." I reluctantly said, "Mister, do you know where this place is? How did I end up here?"

The old man seemed pleased by my polite tone and smiled. "This is the Shadow Market, and you must be dead."

What? I thought. This old man is crazy. I'm standing right here, alive and well, how could I be dead?

The old man must have seen the confusion in my eyes because he added, "Young man, you should have noticed that something here is odd, right? That's because this is a place only the dead can visit."

Indeed, when I thought about it, the place did feel strange, almost like a scene from a supernatural film, but to say I was dead—this was ridiculous!

The old man continued, "If you still don't believe me, try feeling your heartbeat. See if it's three long beats followed by two short beats."

I immediately placed my hand over my chest. To my horror, there was no heartbeat!

Just as I was about to panic, I suddenly felt a heartbeat, "Thump—thump—thump—thump—thump." It was indeed three long beats followed by two short ones! My mind was in turmoil. Could what he said be true?

The realization began to settle in, and I started to believe him. But then, I started thinking: If this old man says this is a place only the dead can go, then what about him?

At that moment, cold sweat began to trickle down my back.

The old man noticed my pale face and chuckled. "Don't be scared, young man. These people here are all dead, but they're not ghosts."

What does that mean? I thought. I still don't understand, but somehow his words have a strange, calming effect on me, almost like some kind of magic.

I quickly asked, "Mister, can you explain what's going on? How did I end up here?"

The old man gestured to the bench in front of the fortune-telling stand and told me to sit down. "Alright, young man, let me explain. And as for calling me Mister, I can't accept that. Just call me Jiushu (Nine Uncle)."

Jiushu began to explain the situation to me. He said that in the world, there were three realms: gods, ghosts, and humans. These realms were all connected by various locations. The place connecting the underworld and the realm of gods was called "Three Paths Village." The place connecting the realm of gods and the human world was called "Yingzhou." The place connecting the human world and the underworld was called the "Shadow Market."

After death, souls were first brought to the Shadow Market by ghost messengers. At this stage, the soul wasn't yet considered a ghost. It needed to go to a guesthouse called "Half Step More" to receive the "ghost heart" before it could truly become a ghost. Then, the soul would board a train called "One Step Less" and head to the underworld to await its judgment. If a soul failed to get the ghost heart or missed the train, it would become a wandering, lost spirit, forever drifting without rest.

I listened intently, feeling like I had just entered a fantasy novel. I asked Jiushu, "Jiushu, does this mean I'm dead too?"

The thought of death made me feel sad. I thought of my parents, my grandparents, and how important they were to me. They had raised me, and I had never been able to repay them. I was only seventeen—how could I be dead?

Jiushu looked at me with a serious expression. "You're dead, but not fully dead, because you still have a heartbeat."

Not fully dead? What does that mean? I didn't understand most of what Jiushu said, but it seemed like there was still hope for me. I quickly asked, "What does 'not fully dead' mean? Can I still be saved?"

Jiushu nodded and asked me to tell him my last memories from the human world, then asked for my name and birth details. He then began rubbing his thumb and index fingers together, as though he were performing some kind of ritual. I thought he was asking for money, so I quickly told him, "I don't have any money."

Jiushu gave me a stern look and ignored me, continuing his ritual. I became anxious and repeated, "I really don't have any money." Jiushu sighed and muttered, "Rotten wood cannot be carved."

After a while, Jiushu opened his eyes and said, "I've figured out the general cause. You were likely harmed by a demon or evil spirit. Fortunately, you didn't stay in the water for too long. Your physical body should still be in the hospital, being resuscitated. Your three souls and seven spirits have left one soul and five spirits to come here."

The "demon or evil spirit" must be referring to a monster or some sort of supernatural entity. Suddenly, I remembered the stories my grandmother used to tell me. In a panic, I reached into my clothes, pulled out the small pouch she had given me, and opened it to retrieve the yellow talisman. The ink on the talisman was nearly illegible, soaked by the water. Could it be? Could the stories my grandmother told me actually be true? Was the old woman standing on the shore really that "Yellow Three Old Grandma" from the tales?