little ghost."
He made his way toward a wineshop, went upstairs, and ordered a jug of wine for two. He then raised his cup and toasted the black shadow.
None of the tavern's patrons could see the shadow, so they assumed Ge was an idiot and gathered around to have a bit of a laugh.
After Ge and the shadow had drunk for a while, Ge took off his hat, placed it on the table, and said, "I'm just going downstairs to relieve myself. I'll be back in a moment."
The shadow nodded in reply.
Ge went downstairs and immediately rushed home.
The bartender later noticed that one of his guests had left without taking his hat and so he filched it. But that night he was possessed by a ghost. He spent the entire night muttering and mumbling and by daybreak he had finally hanged himself.
The wineshop keeper later said laughingly, "That ghost couldn't even distinguish between two entirely different people. She could only recognize the hat!
"That 'good little girl' was not so good after all!"
The Ghosts Who Pretended They Could Speak Mandarin
The current superintendent of transport for Hedong, Wu Yuncong, was once a secretary for the Board of Punishment. One day a festival was being held on the street outside Wu's residence, and a maid took his young son to see the fun.
While they were out, the little boy needed to empty his bladder and did so on the side of the road. Instantly he began to cry, and he kept on crying even after he had been taken home by the worried maid.
Nobody in the house could understand why he was crying until later that night, when the young boy suddenly spoke in Mandarin: "What a rude little boy! How dare he urinate on my head! I'll make sure you all pay for this insult!"
The crying then continued unabated throughout the night.
The next morning the incensed and exhausted Mr. Wu wrote a complaint against this ghost addressed to the city god. He then took the letter to the city god's temple and burned it.
The letter contained words to the effect, "I am a southerner and my young son has unintentionally offended a Mandarin-speaking ghost. This ghost is extremely wild and totally unscrupulous. Can you please investigate this case for me and bring some relief to my son?"
That night the house was peaceful, but the following night the young boy was once again tormented by the ghost.
When he spoke, again in Mandarin, he said, "You are merely a low-level official. How dare you humiliate our Brother Number Four. We are all going to take our revenge unless you give us some wine."
Mr. Wu's wife was keen to avoid any further chaos, so she brought out the wine for the ghost and his companions, saying, "Please accept this wine. I don't want any more trouble! So please, just drink it and leave."
The problem was not to be resolved that simply, however. As soon as one ghost had drunk his fill, another would demand more wine. Demands came for meat, sausages, and snacks from the Yang family shop across the road to accompany the wine. The ghosts began to make all sorts of high-pitched screeches.
The noise was unbearable, so Mr. Wu rushed forward and slapped his son about the face shouting, "You vermin! You've changed your speech to Mandarin just to imitate the officials. You'll really regret it if you're trying to pull rank on me by speaking Mandarin!"
He began to beat his son, but still the boy spoke in Mandarin.
In desperation Mr. Wu filed another complaint to the city god: "That Mandarin-speaking ghost has come back and possessed my son. I beg of you, please punish him and banish him from my home."
That evening the boy's parents heard the sound of whipping and beating from his room.
The ghosts could be heard crying out above the thuds, "Please! No more! Don't beat us any more! We'll leave, we promise!"
From then on, Wu's son had no more trouble with ghosts.
The City God Gets Drunk
A scholar by the name of Shen Fengyu from Hangzhou made his living as a secretary in the judiciary of Wukang County.
One day a memorandum
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