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Is There a Truly Horrifying Ghost Story?

My elder brother and I were twins, but unfortunately, we were conjoined at the legs. My brother sacrificed one of his legs so that I could have a perfect body. Since childhood, my mother had demanded that I share everything I loved with my brother. Until the wedding night, when my brother entered my bridal chamber.

I left the village, and three years later, my mother called urging me to return. “Your brother is dead! Come back…” After three years, my mother finally said these words. I knew she had always wanted me to come back, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask. She paused, and the next sentence struck me like a thunderbolt. “Your brother is gone!”

What? My elder brother was gone! How could this be? Forcing myself to calm down, reason slowly returned. Did my brother’s death mean my life would finally belong entirely to me? But how should I face Tonghua?

As soon as I set foot on the return journey, the images of that night flooded my mind. When I staggered out of the toilet, my brother had already hopped into Tonghua’s room like a toad. I burst in furiously, only to find Tonghua stripped half-naked by my brother. The wedding “double happiness” characters on the wall glowed red in the candlelight, like dripping blood. I held back my nausea and fled the village, running to the provincial capital without looking back.

“Chunlai, you must always think of your brother. Your life is a gift from him,” my mother had drilled into my head since childhood. So I reflexively shared everything with my brother—delicious food, fun toys. I thought that was enough, until the night I married Tonghua, when I realized the depth of my debt to him was terrifying.

We were twins, conjoined at the legs. On the doctor’s advice, our parents chose to sacrifice my brother’s leg to save my perfect body. Unlike most disabled people, my brother never used a crutch. He could squat on his single leg and hop forward like a toad. At first, I didn’t notice anything different about him playing with us. But as we grew older, unable to bear the strange looks, he began to stay indoors, rarely going out except for the toilet during the farming off-season.

The more reclusive he became, the stricter my mother’s demands on me grew. Every time I came home, I had to bring him my favorite things. He never spoke, just took them and chased me out.

At 18, my family introduced me to Tonghua. Though I wasn’t keen, my mother said I couldn’t take care of the family once I went to work in the city. Marrying early would give her a helper—she was too old to manage alone. Thankfully, Tonghua was my type—a typical mountain girl, clear-eyed, fresh, and untouched by worldly dust.

Since we met, I couldn’t stay away from her. Once, while our parents were in the fields, Tonghua and I stole into the cowshed and kissed passionately. As I trembled to undo her buttons, a pair of blood-red eyes at the window scared me cold. It was my brother. His gaze was icy and murderous, as if I were stealing what belonged to him.

By then, my brother looked nothing like me. I was fair and gentle, while he was muscular and rugged. Whether by choice or from lack of sunlight, his angular scalp was shiny, and his broad upper body was covered in muscles. Squatting on his single leg, he looked like a mutated giant toad. Tonghua was still laughing beneath me, but my mood was gone. I feared he might leap through the window and pummel me. I dressed quickly and pulled Tonghua out. After that, I never dared to be intimate with her at home again.

On my 20th birthday, Tonghua married me. Her parents were dead, and she lived with her sister-in-law. My mother slapped down all the money I’d saved from working onto her sister-in-law’s table. Her sister-in-law readily sent Tonghua off in the bridal sedan. But the wedding night I’d longed for was shattered by my mother’s urgent knocking.

I was drunk that night. After hurriedly drinking the nuptial wine with Tonghua, I felt a sudden urge to pee. Staggering to the toilet, I returned to witness a scene that would haunt me for life.

“Don’t ask, Chunlai. Come back to see your brother off for the last time. Since Tonghua got pregnant, she’s changed completely. She… she… Well, you’ll understand when you come back,” my mother said evasively on the phone, her voice barely above a whisper, as if hiding from something. No matter how I pressed, she wouldn’t elaborate, just kept urging me to return.

Listening to the dial tone, my mind swirled with confusion like mountain fog. Tonghua was as frail as a chicken under my burly brother. Could she really have killed him? There was no time to think. I rushed to hand over my city job and returned overnight to our hometown, a remote village behind Egret Bay.

“Ouch!” Before I could knock, a panicked figure almost bowled me over. It was Fourth Uncle Zhao from the west of the village. He’d changed a lot in three years—his once round face was now a gaunt triangle, his yellowish skin wrinkled, with sunken black eye sockets. His belly was gone, and he looked like a walking corpse, as if sucked dry by something.

“Y… yes… Chunlai’s back! Good timing!” Fourth Uncle forced a laugh, fumbling at his waist. “Damned bastard! I’ll break your legs next time!” My mother’s curse came from the courtyard. Watching Fourth Uncle flee, I remembered he’d served time for molesting the 60-year-old woman next door. A chill ran down my spine as I dashed into the yard.

“Slap!” Before I could steady my mother, she backhanded me. “Who told you to come back? Isn’t your brother’s death enough? Get out now!” I was stunned. “You called me back again and again! I rushed back after walking 30 li because no one answered the phone! I just want to see my brother one last time—why are you driving me away?”

At the mention of my brother, my mother suddenly slapped her forehead and burst into tears. “I was too angry with Zhao Si to think straight. Your brother has been gone for two days. Your father collapsed from the shock. I need you now, son. Come, let me take you to see your brother. That bitch Tonghua can’t even keep vigil properly—she’s been inviting strange men every day.”

My mother’s attitude did a 180-degree turn. She pulled me briskly toward my brother’s main room, moving so fast for a 60-year-old that I panted to keep up. The room looked the same as before, except the red wedding decorations had become fluttering white funeral banners. This was where we’d set up our bridal chamber. Was it my imagination, or did a flash of excitement cross my mother’s face as she lifted the coffin lid?

My brother lay still inside. His muscular body had withered into shrunken skin, looking as emaciated as Fourth Uncle Zhao. His single leg was curled up, like a dried toad specimen. Tonghua knelt beside the coffin, blank-faced, stroking her impossibly large belly. The spirit she’d had three years ago was gone, replaced by the stout, sallow look of a village shrew.

“It’s this whore who killed your brother!” As I stared at Tonghua, my mother threw her shoe, striking Tonghua’s mouth and drawing blood. She lunged to tear at Tonghua, and I barely pushed her back. At the door, I glimpsed Tonghua turn toward us. Her bloody mouth curled into a sinister smile.

I finally dragged my mother back to her room, but she raved and tried to rush out again. “Ahhhh…” My father’s long groan silenced her. She trembled as she poured a bowl of bloody water and carried it in. I was shocked to see my father—his face was just skin and bones, indistinguishable from my brother’s if not for his heaving chest. I hugged him painfully, and my mother sighed, “We should never have married that curse.”

According to my mother, after the wedding night, Tonghua refused to live with my brother and kept running to find me. Luckily, she never escaped Egret Bay, though she was beaten severely. One day, my brother pushed her too hard by the bay, and she fell into the river. The village searched all night but found nothing. But when they returned hopelessly, Tonghua was home cooking breakfast, suddenly docile and obedient. She not only accepted my brother but also changed completely.

Hearing the loud sounds from their room, my parents rejoiced, thinking my brother would finally have an heir. But despite their “diligence,” Tonghua’s belly didn’t grow. As other young wives got pregnant, my mother grew desperate. After failing with doctors, she tried everything—making Tonghua eat half-feathered chicks, drink incense ash from the Goddess of Fertility’s altar, even boil meat from my brother’s leg. Nothing worked.

Finally, she resorted to a last resort: “戳子” (chuō zi). “戳子” was an old custom: if a man couldn’t impregnate his wife, the family might allow her to sleep with another man. But there was a risk—many women fell in love with their lovers and never returned. Knowing many village men coveted Tonghua, my mother set up a thatched hut in the remote Egret Bay. Every night, my brother would drug and strip Tonghua, leaving her there. My father was to notify Dongzi, the village accountant’s son—”decent” enough for a bastard.

Egret Bay was notorious; bodies of trafficked women were often dumped there, and the egrets grew too fat to fly from eating human flesh. Villagers avoided it, considering it cursed. That night, my mother and brother hid in the grass, waiting for Dongzi. But instead, a stench from the lake hit them, followed by splashing water and panicked egrets fleeing something invisible.

Hearing rustling in the grass like an army advancing, they saw Zhao Si, the old bachelor, emerge first, followed by more—all village degenerates, some wife-beaters, some who’d bought and killed wives. My brother charged at them, but they swarmed like mindless beasts, pushing him down and storming the hut. My mother screamed, but Tonghua didn’t respond. At dawn, the men left like zombies. To their surprise, Tonghua woke unharmed, even glowing, as if nothing had happened.

My brother suspected Dongzi had leaked the plan, but Dongzi was in the city that night, drunk at a hotel. Tonghua never left the house. The mystery was terrifying. Worse still, every midnight after that, men who’d been to Egret Bay began invading our home like ghosts—climbing walls, breaking windows. We lived in constant fear, and even my father fell under the spell. My brother couldn’t bear to tie up my father, but soon he too wasted away like the other men. Older bachelors fell ill within a month, all looking drained.

My mother blamed Tonghua, urging my brother to beat her, but he showed her Tonghua’s slightly rounded belly. Overjoyed, my mother forgot her fears and ran to buy meat. Tonghua’s belly grew rapidly, and she ate voraciously—dozens of catties of fish and meat daily. Despite the rumors, my mother felt proud at the sight of her huge belly. But with nightly vigilance and Tonghua’s “charm,” my brother’s health also deteriorated rapidly.

A week ago, my mother pitied my brother and let him sleep while she kept watch. That night, my father broke free and burst into Tonghua’s room. When my mother entered, my brother was dead, and my father stood over him with a knife, before my mother knocked him out.

“Wait—did Father kill Brother?” I gasped. “Nonsense!” my mother shouted. “That bitch is possessed by a ghost! She’s bewitched all the men to kill each other. Chunlai, bury your brother and leave. I only want you safe. Once she has the baby, I’ll settle with her.” Her eyes bulged as if Tonghua stood before her. I felt a chill, but before I could ask more, she yawned wearily, turned gentle, and waved me away.

Worried, I tried to stay, but she flared up, ordering me to lock my door and not come out for anything. My mind a mess, I wanted to confront Tonghua, but my mother stood guard. I reluctantly went to bed.

Hours later, a strange fragrance woke me. A thud outside—was my mother right? Were men really coming for Tonghua? I grabbed a stick and peeked through the door. A shadow slipped into my mother’s room. Creeping closer, I heard lewd laughter. The fragrance grew stronger, making me dizzy and hot, as if pulled by an invisible force.

At the window, I saw my mother in a sheer nightgown, rolling with Zhao Si. Blood stained his hands and the knife by the bed—my father lay there, chest open. My mother looked strangely seductive, her mouth at Zhao Si’s ear, laughing in a voice I didn’t recognize. It hit me—my mother was the possessed one!

Panicked, I jumped into the courtyard water vat. The cold jolt cleared my head. As I grabbed the stick, Zhao Si ran out, clutching his neck, and collapsed. My mother cackled, dropping to her knees to suck at Zhao Si’s neck like a beast. Then she rose gracefully, tiptoeing to my door.

“Knock, knock, knock…” “Chunlai, open the door, my son. I’m scared. Let me sleep with you,” she cooed in her gentle motherly voice. I hid behind the vat, trembling. Too much had happened in two days. I wanted to run, but she blocked the door and walls. After a few knocks, she paused, then tiptoed toward the mourning hall.

Tonghua! She was in danger! I’d failed her once; I had to save her now. I dashed into the hall and barred the door with my brother’s coffin just as my mother arrived. “Chunlai! Tonghua! Open the door!” Her knocks grew frantic. I found Tonghua cowering in the corner, shaking. Hesitantly, I approached, but she threw herself into my arms.

“You’re finally back! I’ve waited so long. I’m not a whore! I didn’t sleep with your brother willingly. I wanted to die, but I had to explain to you face-to-face!” Emotions surged as I held her. “I know, I’m sorry for letting you suffer. Father is gone too—I can’t lose you.”

Tonghua sobbed that after “戳子,” my mother had gone mad, attracting men who broke in nightly. When family tried to stop them, she attacked with knives. During the day, she forgot her actions, convinced she was a “ghost prostitute” sucking men’s energy. My brother and father, exhausted from guarding her, had collapsed. Father, scratched by my mother, had also fallen ill—my brother was killed in his sleep.

Before she finished, the window shattered. My mother’s head poked through, hair streaming like Sadako. I threw water at her, but she charged at Tonghua with a knife. Tonghua, heavy with child, fell, and dark liquid pooled beneath her. I lunged, but my mother was impossibly strong, pinning me down and punching me. She dropped me and approached Tonghua again. With my last strength, I swung the knife—she fell.

Tonghua was in labor. I tried to carry her, but she cried, “Too late!” Blood gushed from between her legs, and a bloody mass emerged. Holding her cold hand, I heard her whisper, “Now they’re dead. Help me deliver the baby, and we’ll be together forever.”

“I… I have a girlfriend in the city. We’re getting engaged this year. We can’t be together, Tonghua.” I pushed her away. “No! You loved me! You left because of your brother, but they’re dead! I’m yours now!” She crawled toward me, trailing blood. “You said you’d love me forever! Let’s be together, even in death.”

I backed into my brother’s coffin, trembling. “The truth is… you were betrothed to my brother. Your sister-in-law took double bride price. We tricked you into falling for me so you’d marry. The wedding wine was drugged—my parents begged me. I owed my brother his leg; he needed an heir.”

Tonghua’s laughter and sobs mingled with a baby’s shrill cry. “Then die together! You wanted me to bear your brother’s child—now it’s here! Why won’t you love me? Die! Die…” “Did you curse Mother and the others?” I demanded. She didn’t answer. As she shrieked, she dissolved into dust. From the bloody mass crawled a red baby with green eyes, climbing onto my neck and biting into my throat.

Thirst consumed me as I stopped struggling. In my fading vision, I saw Tonghua being raped by my brother, beaten by my parents. When she tried to find me, he pushed her into Egret Bay. White shadows in the water—spirits of murdered women—swam around her and entered her body.

On the “戳子” night, they emerged, sucking the men’s energy, some possessing my mother…

The baby’s fangs deepened, and everything went dark.

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