She removed all the branches and turned it into a long stick.
In one hand, she used the stick to knock down the fruits from the pointed branches of the bayberry tree, while in the other, she held an empty basket to catch them.
Over an hour later, two baskets were filled, and the loaded bayberry tree had been picked clean.
She threw away the stick, sat down at the foot of the tree, and looked up at the trunk. “I wonder which branch you, the hanging big sister, had your neck hung on? I’ve come back and forth so many times, but you never showed up to greet me! I’m still waiting to see you swinging on the tree.”
“Come on out.” She said in a friendly tone, “After I’m done with the bayberries, I might not come back. Considering how often I’ve been here before, we could be friends, right? Don’t worry, I, Su Qingyue, am friends with both the living and the dead. Being my friend is reliable!”
“Hehe…” A muffled male voice chuckled.
The sound drifted with the mountain breeze, and it was unclear where it came from.
Su Qingyue shrank back, “Ghost Older Sister, weren’t you a red-clothed female ghost? How did you turn into a man?”
Silent except for the rustling sound of the wind blowing through the tree branches.
“Oh, I get it now.” Su Qingyue suddenly realized, “So in fact, the one who hung themselves on the tree wasn’t a woman or a man, but some kind of half-human, half-ghost eunuch, right?”
“Pfft…” She couldn’t help but let out an almost inaudible muffled laugh again.
Su Qingyue narrowed her eyes, her figure flashed to the concave part of a nearby mountain rock, and in an instant, she grabbed the throat of the person hiding behind the stone. It turned out to be Li Gui, “It’s you?”
Li Gui couldn’t have expected her to be so fast. He struggled as she choked him,
Instead of letting go, her grip on him tightened, “Were you following me?” “No…” He reflexively replied.
“That’s good.” She finally released him, “Then what are you doing here?” “The village kids saw you come to Hanging Neck Mountain several times, so…
“Really?” She didn’t believe him, “There are ghosts here. Aren’t you afraid?”
His facial expression changed slightly, “What did you see?”
Seeing his guarded look, she smiled and suddenly said, “I saw your old lover. A woman in a red dress. You were having a secret rendezvous with her here, and you deliberately said this mountain was haunted.”
His eyes flashed with surprise as he immediately refuted, “I don’t have an old lover. I’ve never said this mountain was haunted.”
Su Qingyue quickly put the pieces together, “On this mountain…” She pointed at the bayberry tree, “There was indeed a woman who hanged herself on this tree. Only, there are no ghosts. You made up the ghost story to have a convenient place to meet up with your lover. Of course, you wouldn’t admit to spreading that rumor; you’d just dress up as ghosts for others to see, so they’d pass along the tale.”
He still wanted to deny it, but she snorted and said, “Stop pretending! If you keep denying it, it’s just too disingenuous. The day before yesterday, I saw the woman in red. She was closer to the foot of the mountain. It wasn’t raining yet, and the sun was shining. Don’t tell me that ghost could appear in broad daylight. She must have come to meet you and then saw me on the mountain, so she hurried away. Unfortunately, it started raining, and she had to take cover, which is when my third brother spotted her.”
Patting his shoulder, she said, “Don’t worry, it was a rainy day, so my third brother couldn’t tell if your lover was a human or a ghost. As for me….”