Monkey saw that I kept silent, nudged me, and said, “Old Foster, I think this thing is too strange. How about we just hurry back?”

I knew Monkey was starting to get scared. Faced with such bizarre events, listening to that piercing wailing, and with Old Martinez filling our heads with so many ghost stories every day, who wouldn’t be afraid? At the very least, I was scared too, because I never denied the existence of these unknown things in the world.

Although I was scared inside, I didn’t want to just go back like this, because I really wanted to prove whether ghosts exist in this world. After all, it was because of these strange things that I traveled all the way to Jiangxi. If there were no such monsters and spirits in the world, then I wouldn’t have bothered to believe what the Taoist priest told my parents.

After thinking for a moment, I said, “Since we’re already here, today I must get to the bottom of the truth. How about this: you wait here, and I’ll go confront it myself.”

Monkey was shocked: “Old Foster, what else do you want to prove? Don’t you remember what Old Martinez said? If you look at an invisible fire through cloth, it’s ghost fire. How are you going to fight ghost fire?”

I picked up a stick from the ground and said to Monkey, “Whether it’s a ghost or a god, I don’t believe this thing isn’t afraid of people.”

After saying that, I grabbed the stick and prepared to charge at that ball of fire!

Just as I raised the stick and took a step forward, Monkey grabbed me. Before I could say anything, Monkey hurriedly made a shushing gesture and, with a face full of fear, pointed to the house of Old Smith behind me on the left and said, “Old Foster, look, look…”

Seeing Monkey’s panicked expression, I knew he must have seen something frightening. But I was puzzled—what scary thing could happen at Old Smith’s house? I turned my head in confusion to look at Old Smith’s house, and immediately gasped. I saw that in the window of Old Smith’s house, another identical bluish ghostly fireball had appeared!

The fireball behind the house was shrieking even louder, “gwa-gwa,” and kept swaying, as if searching for a companion.

The fireball inside Old Smith’s house jumped out of the window, then slowly crawled up onto the roof. It circled on the roof for a while, then, with a “whoosh” like a rocket, shot straight up into the sky…

After the fireball from Old Smith’s house left, the fireball that had been shrieking in front of us also shot up into the sky like a rocket, heading in the same direction as the previous one.

As they rose into the air, they trailed long tails, drawing a streak of light across the sky…

Both Monkey and I were stunned. You have to know, there are people living in Old Smith’s house—seeing a ball of fire shoot out of the house is just unbelievable!

Monkey tugged at my sleeve and said, “Old Foster, what do you think… what’s going on here?”

I snapped out of my daze and realized my back was soaked with cold sweat. I shook my head, because this was just too strange, far beyond my understanding.

By now the fire had left. Although I was full of questions, there was no point in staying here, so I called Monkey and we went home.

By the time we got home, it was already past three in the morning, and we didn’t sleep at all that night. Early the next morning, we went to the edge of the fields, pulled the village secretary Old Martinez over to a corner, and told him everything we had seen and heard the night before.

After hearing it, Old Martinez was shocked! He hurriedly pressed his hand over my mouth and whispered, “You didn’t tell anyone else about this, did you?”

Monkey and I were very confused, wondering if this matter involved some secret—why was he being so mysterious? So I shook my head, saying we hadn’t told anyone else, and quickly asked him what was going on.

Old Martinez glanced around, then finally whispered, “What you saw last night was ghost fire—it’s a ghost looking for a companion!”

I was shocked: “Looking for a companion? Even ghosts need companions? Even if it does, why did it go to Old Smith’s house? Does that mean there’s a ghost in Old Smith’s house?”

At this point, Monkey chimed in, “There must be a ghost in Old Smith’s house, otherwise how could ghost fire come out of his house! But it’s fine, the ghost was taken away, otherwise something would definitely happen to Old Smith’s family.”

I thought Monkey made sense, so I nodded, then looked at Old Martinez to see what he would say.

Unexpectedly, Old Martinez rolled his eyes at us, glanced at us like we were idiots, and said, “That ghost went to Old Smith’s house to find a companion—it’s looking for someone in Old Smith’s family.” At this, Old Martinez looked around again, then lowered his voice even more and said, “If you’re not lying to me, then someone in Old Smith’s family will die soon!”

We were shocked and cried out, “What, someone in Old Smith’s family is going to die?”

Old Martinez, probably afraid someone would hear, quickly pressed his hand over our mouths and scolded, “You brats, why are you shouting so loudly? What if Old Smith and his family hear you? Do you want to scare them to death right now?”