Late Night Bookstore - Chapter 17

For those unfamiliar with cars, buying one can be quite a headache. It’s inevitable to consult friends or relatives who are knowledgeable, as some cars indeed have their drawbacks—whether in terms of quality or performance.

But in this case, when a car door can be burned through by a cigarette butt, it’s hard to dismiss it as merely a quality issue, right?

This could only mean one thing: this was a paper car!

The driver, a man in his middle age, has an eldest son who appears to be just of elementary school age. The driver claims the car was a gift from his son. In truth, the word “gift” (捎) could just as well be written as “burn” (烧). His son had burned a paper car for him after his death.

Zhou Ze shook his head. To be honest, he hadn’t noticed anything strange at first; it was only after getting in the car that he sensed something was off. Even so, he pretended to be oblivious.

After all, Zhou Ze himself was a “stowaway” of sorts, with no ambition to become a master exorcist. At the end of the day, he was also a ghost. If he were to take up the mantle of fighting against evil spirits, wouldn’t that make him a traitor to his kind—a “ghost traitor.”

Zhou Ze rested his hand over the small hole in the door, feigning drowsiness with half-closed eyes, pretending as if nothing had happened.

He remembered a teacher from the orphanage he grew up in. This teacher occasionally took the kids out for physical activities, and also had the side job of being the gatekeeper. His surname was Qin, so the kids called him “Gatekeeper Grandpa Qin.”

Grandpa Qin was very good at telling stories, often sharing ghost stories. He seemed quite satisfied when he saw the frightened expressions on the children’s faces as they listened to his tales. The director had spoken to him a few times about this, but he did not change his ways.

However, just before Zhou Ze left the orphanage to attend school, Grandpa Qin passed away from a heart attack. Zhou Ze vividly remembered a ghost story he once told, called “The Ghost Carrying the Palanquin.”

According to legend, in ancient times, there were many kinds of ghosts. Most people, after death, go directly to the underworld, enter the Yellow Springs, drink the Meng Po soup¹, and then be reincarnated. Very few ghosts remained in the human world.

Some ghosts, however, stayed behind. They might know they were dead, or they might not, but regardless, they could still be seen doing what they did in life. For example, as palanquin bearers.

These ghosts would appear on the roads in desolate areas or during the quiet of the night, asking if people wanted to ride in a palanquin, with prices set very low. Once a person got into the palanquin and reached their destination, the transaction would be settled.

But doing business with ghosts and enjoying their services was never as simple as it seemed. The ghosts carrying the palanquin did not seek money or material goods; they seek the passenger’s lifespan or vital energy.

In the underworld, ghosts serve as palanquin bearers for figures like the King of Hell. But what status do the living hold? Are they truly worthy?

It’s like having an eighty-year-old man kneel before you—it would surely shorten your lifespan².

Zhou Ze clearly remembered this story. In fact, he recalled many of the tales Grandpa Qin told him. Even after growing up and entering the workforce, those stories remained vivid in his mind.

Zhou Ze knew why. The day before Grandpa Qin suddenly passed away, he—who had always stayed by the front gate and never ventured into the back—broke his routine. That day, Grandpa Qin entered the children’s dormitory, inspecting each room and every child. Zhou Ze, still awake, witnessed this scene.

It seemed that Grandpa Qin had sensed his impending death and came to say his final farewells.

Just as people tend to read deep financial secrets into Buffett’s every move, so too should one pay heed to someone who knows their end is near. The ghost stories they tell may hold more truth than they seem.

The driver was still rambling on, bragging endlessly, while Zhou Ze remained calm in the back seat.

Shorten lifespan? Drain energy?

Zhou Ze wasn’t particularly afraid. After all, he wasn’t among the living anymore; he was a ghost himself.

To put it bluntly, although Zhou Ze didn’t fully grasp the hierarchy among ghosts, the fact that he could walk in the sunlight, interact with the living, and even run a business surely placed him higher than wandering spirits.

Besides, even the faceless woman from the hellish pond had been injured by his nails. When dealing with other ghosts, Zhou Ze felt a certain confidence.

“There are so many new drivers these days, and a lot of them ignore the rules,” the driver continued to chatter on. Even though Zhou Ze didn’t respond, the driver kept talking, undeterred.

“The bigger the forest, the more kinds of birds. If you let yourself get angry at each one, you’ll lose years of your life. Even though you know you shouldn’t let it get to you, some people walk around like they have a sign on their forehead saying, ‘Go ahead, hit me! Just try!’ It’s infuriating.”

Zhou Ze squinted his eyes, feeling drowsy, maybe even wanting to sleep. But he knew he couldn’t fall asleep, and this clarity was likely just an illusion.

Then, Zhou Ze let out a soft laugh. He understood why the driver had been talking so much. It wasn’t that the driver was unaware of how irritating he was being.

It was because Zhou Ze hadn’t fallen asleep yet, so the driver kept talking to maintain the appearance of normalcy. The driver wanted him to fall asleep. And Zhou Ze had always been slow to react to the need for sleep.

With a faint smile, Zhou Ze placed his hand on the seat and closed his eyes.

Let’s sleep.

The car started to slow down. As Zhou Ze drifted into sleep, the driver’s voice gradually faded. At the same time, the driver deliberately glanced back.

But at that moment, a look of inner conflict appeared on the driver’s face. Finally, he shook his head, sighed, and continued driving forward.

It seemed they were almost at the bookstore. Zhou Ze didn’t quite understand how a ghost, driving a paper car, could transport a living person with a physical body. It defied explanation because there’s no such branch in physics as “ghost dynamics.”

In ancient Chinese legends, there are references to “Yellow Turban Warriors³” and the techniques of “Qimen Dunjia⁴,” so perhaps the logic was similar to those.

Zhou Ze slowly woke up because he could sense that the driver’s body was beginning to emit light.

Interesting, it seems like I’ve been encountering good-natured ghosts.

This driver was supposed to “collect payment” from him, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. It must have been his first time trying such a thing, and through this inner struggle, he found his own redemption.

He began to dissipate.

And after he disappeared, he would descend into underworld and enter reincarnation.

This indicated that the driver’s previous ramblings weren’t entirely false. He had four children, loved being a father, and worked hard to provide for his family, striving to give his children a better life.

He had been a good father, decent in character. After becoming a ghost, he had tried to take up the trade of “palanquin bearers,” but in the end, his kind heart couldn’t go through with it.

Zhou Ze slowly raised his head and opened his eyes. The driver hadn’t noticed and continued driving the car.

Gradually, Zhou Ze saw light shining through the window. Outside, the bustling traffic on the road came into view.

The driver was about to vanish. This was likely a memory from his life.

It was similar to how lightning, combined with special conditions, can capture an image.

Zhou Ze instinctively lit a cigarette. Since the driver had found peace, even burning the car now wouldn’t matter.

In the car, a popular song, “Liang Liang,” was playing.

The driver hummed along as he drove, probably having just finished a big job. He seemed in good spirits, ready to go home, enjoy some peanuts, and video chat with his children. Life was tough, but it had its sweet moments.

Just then, Zhou Ze noticed a minibus on the road ahead.

It appeared to be a school bus, marked with the school emblem and the words “XXX Elementary School.”

At first, Zhou Ze didn’t pay much attention, but suddenly, a girl in the back seat stood up. She was facing backward, and even through the car window, she was clearly visible.

The girl wore a cute blue lily dress.

Zhou Ze frowned slightly.

He recognized her. She was the girl he had saved. According to reports, she had regained consciousness, and Dr. Lin had mentioned that her father had wanted to throw a thank-you banquet, even planning to invite Zhou Ze.

Zhou Ze’s gaze darkened. So, this driver had been the cause of that accident?

So many children had been injured, and if Zhou Ze hadn’t intervened, there might have been deaths.

“What a pretty girl, just like my youngest,” the driver muttered to himself. This was his last memory from life, so he had no idea someone was sitting in the back seat.

Zhou Ze looked around. He didn’t smell alcohol on the driver, nor did he notice any other problems. So, what had caused the driver to crash into the school bus? What led to the accident?

Was it a chain collision caused by other vehicles?

At that moment, the girl standing in the back of the school bus in her lily dress suddenly opened her mouth, and her tongue rolled out.

Yes, it rolled out, like a red carpet being unfurled, long… Very long… So long that it made one’s scalp tingle.

At the same time, the girl’s eyes glinted with a mocking smile as she stared directly at the driver.

“Oh my God, a ghost!!!!!!!”

In his panic, the driver slammed on the accelerator, and the car crashed directly into the school bus ahead.

Boom!

Sparks flew.

Zhou Ze found himself standing at the entrance of the bookstore.

All around him, the ground was covered in the ashes of the burned paper car, blowing in the wind, scattering like the last fading sparks.

Zhou Ze was unharmed, not a single scratch, and the driver had kept his promise, delivering him to his destination.

But Zhou Ze didn’t hurry inside. He still held the slowly burning cigarette in his hand.

Taking a deep drag, Zhou Ze licked his lips.

“Uncle, you can’t smoke in the hospital,” the girl’s voice echoed in his ears.

Just what had he saved?

TL Notes:

1. Meng Po Soup, also known as Mèng Pó Tāng (“soul beguiling soup”), is a drink in Chinese mythology that erases memories so that souls can be reincarnated without the burden of their past lives.

2. According to traditional belief in Chinese culture, having an elder, especially someone much older and respected, perform an act of subservience (such as kneeling) is so inappropriate or unnatural that it brings bad luck or harm to the person receiving the gesture, thus “shortening their lifespan.”

This phrase conveys a sense of moral or cosmic imbalance, where such a display of respect would have negative consequences for the younger or less senior person.

3. Yellow Turban Warriors – They have historical roots but are also steeped in legend. They are often associated with the Yellow Turban Rebellion (184–205 AD) during the late Eastern Han Dynasty, a peasant uprising led by the religious leader Zhang Jue, who practiced a form of Taoism mixed with mystical and supernatural beliefs.

In Chinese folklore and later fictional works like Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Yellow Turban Warriors were often portrayed as possessing superhuman or magical powers, granted through Taoist rituals, amulets, or supernatural pacts. For instance, they were sometimes depicted as invulnerable soldiers or warriors who had the protection of divine forces.

It represent the idea that supernatural entities (like ghosts) can have real, physical effects in the world, using magic or mystical energy to overcome the limitations of the human body.

4. Qimen Dunjia – It is an ancient Chinese metaphysical art that combines elements of astrology, divination, numerology, and time-space manipulation. Historically, it was used for military strategy, personal fortune-telling, and even esoteric purposes, such as evading danger or influencing events.

Qimen (奇门): Refers to the “strange doors” or hidden dimensions, often associated with gateways to alternate realities or supernatural realms.

Dunjia (遁甲): Refers to the “hidden armor,” symbolizing protection or concealment, particularly in battle or when navigating unseen forces.

Together, Qimen Dunjia refers to a system that allows practitioners to control and manipulate supernatural forces and time-space elements for their benefit. It’s often thought of as a means of altering reality or bypassing the constraints of the physical world.

It offers a conceptual way of understanding how the ghost might manipulate unseen forces, bending space, time, or reality to transport a living person in a non-physical vehicle (the paper car).