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Zhao Dazhu was startled by his wife’s loud shout, nearly dropping Tiedan, from his hand. Tiedan woke up with a start, and Zhao Dazhu quickly patted his son’s back, comforting him, “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid.” The sharpness of his wife’s cry still echoed in his ears, unsettling in the quiet night. He himself was frightened by it.
“Why are you yelling and scaring our son like that?” Zhao Dazhu couldn’t help but shout back at his wife, while Tiedan continued crying.
Dazhu’s wife rushed over and grabbed his arm, her grip so tight it felt like her nails might dig into his flesh.
“Dazhu, Dazhu, there are shadows and green lights, ghosts!”
After her piercing scream, Dazhu’s wife seemed to lose all her strength. Her voice trembled as she pointed in a direction for Zhao Dazhu to see, shrinking behind him.
Though the sky was dim tonight, the villagers were accustomed to traveling at night. Even in darkness, after a while, they could make out shapes. Zhao Dazhu could see the direction his wife was pointing. Looking up, he was startled to see several dark figures running swiftly, shimmering with green light. Seeing this, his legs went weak.
“Oh, there are ghosts, oh!”
Tiedan had already been startled awake by his mother and now saw the green lights too, which scared him into tears.
“Don’t cry, Tiedan, don’t cry. Dad’s here, don’t cry. Dad will chase away those ghosts. Look, they’re all running away now.”
Zhao Dazhu had many faults, but he loved his son dearly. Since Tiedan had nearly died falling into an ice hole, he cherished him even more. The experience had made him treasure his son like a precious gem. So now, despite his fear, when he heard his son cry, he hurried to comfort him. In truth, he was comforting himself too; he was scared inside.
“Ah, those aren’t ghosts! If they were ghosts, how could they run away?”
Dazhu’s wife had been afraid, but when she heard Zhao Dazhu’s words, she realized something. “If they were really ghosts, they wouldn’t be afraid of people and they wouldn’t run away. But those shadows we saw—they’re gone now. I even thought I heard them talking just now, but I was so scared I didn’t pay attention.”
“They said something like ‘we’ve been spotted, run!’ It sounded like they were trying to escape. That doesn’t sound like something ghosts would say. They must be humans.”
“Dazhu, they’re humans. That green light must be something they put on themselves. Go catch those damn bastards who dared to scare me. I’ll skin them alive!”
Dazhu’s wife was always gossiping with neighbors, though it was usually about trivial matters. She had heard interesting stories too. She remembered hearing about people putting something on themselves to glow green at night just to scare others. Now that she realized the shadows were people, she understood the green light. She wasn’t scared anymore.
“Dazhu, go quickly! There are at most two of them. If you catch one, that’s one caught. It’s definitely thieves. If we catch them, we’ll benefit.”
Dazhu’s wife wasn’t thinking of catching thieves as a good deed; she was thinking of the benefits they could get.
“The reason I’m sure they’re thieves is first, those shadows ran as soon as they heard us, and second, who else would smear themselves with that glowing green stuff like ghost fire? They must be thieves.”
Zhao Dazhu’s wife snatched Tiedan from his arms and urged him to go after them. Dazhu was usually timid, but he was obedient, especially when his wife mentioned benefits. It perked him up.
The two unlucky figures ahead were running through a sweet potato field, stumbling over ridges and vines, falling several times and crying out in pain. In contrast, Zhao Dazhu moved swiftly, knowing how to navigate the sweet potato field without stumbling. He was getting closer to the two figures.
One of them fell again, while the other kept running ahead. Zhao Dazhu was lucky; he reached the fallen person before they could get up, making it easy for him to pin them down.
“You thief, I’ve finally caught you!”
“I’m not a thief, I’m not! Let me go! Don’t hit me! I’m one of the refugees who came during the day, not a thief!”
The captured person’s voice sounded young, probably in his teens, and he isn’t tall. Zhao Dazhu easily held him down and gave a few light strikes. The person quickly begged for mercy, revealing everything, just pleading not to be hit again.
Upon hearing that the person was a refugee who had come during the day, Zhao Dazhu still hit them a few times. Once he was sure the person couldn’t escape, he tied his hands with a sweet potato vine and dragged them towards his wife and child. He didn’t chase the other runner; one was enough. If he chased, he might not catch up, and he might lose. He put all his effort into catching this one and had no courage to catch anyone else.
“Wife, I’ve caught one. He says he’s a refugee who came during the day,” Zhao Dazhu said to his wife as he pulled the person along.
Upon hearing the identity of the person, Dazhu’s wife felt disappointed. She had sent her husband to catch a thief hoping to gain some benefits, not intending to hand the thief over to someone else and receive only a small reward like a few sweet potatoes from the villagers, or at most a perfunctory thank you. She wasn’t foolish; she wanted to profit from catching this thief. She thought of squeezing some silver coins out of this petty thief.
Dazhu’s wife knew that whether the thief was from the riverside village or another village nearby, they couldn’t be far. In the countryside, people cared about their reputation. If they didn’t want to lose face, they would have to give her silver coins.
However, to her surprise, this person wasn’t from the riverside village or any nearby village; they were one of those poor refugees who had come during the day. This meant there would be no benefits for her.
The person kept pleading with them, saying flattering words to try to get released.
Dazhu’s wife felt a fire burning inside her. Hearing the person offer to do anything for them only irritated her more. She wondered what use this person could be to them. But she was quick-witted and suddenly had an idea. Perhaps this person could actually help her.
“Alright, stop begging. Come with me,” she said. “I’ll tell you something. As Long as you promise one thing, I’ll let you go. You’ll agree, I’m sure. It’s a good thing that will ensure everyone has enough to eat.”
Dazhu’s wife instructed Zhao Dazhu to lead the person forward. She needed to find a place where they could talk privately. Though this area was sparsely populated, who knew if someone would come to investigate their commotion.