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Human Bone Belt
墨書 Inktalez
The most terrifying legend in Thailand is probably the story of Ghost Wife Nana, which almost every Thai person claims to be true.
There was a couple, the wife named Nana. Just as she became pregnant, her husband was forced to enlist in the military. Later, Nana died during childbirth, and the midwife stole her wedding ring, ordering someone to bury the bodies of both mother and child. That night, the midwife looked at the ring under an oil lamp when Nana's head appeared from the ceiling, saying, "Return my wedding ring..."
Because she loved her husband dearly, she did not want him to know she was dead. So she took back her wedding ring and waited at home with their child for his return.
The villagers wanted to tell the husband that Nana had actually died, but those who spoke out mysteriously perished. The husband loved her deeply and could not believe that the woman living with him was already dead, especially with a child present.
One day, while Nana was making papaya salad, a lemon fell. She reached down and picked it up. Thai houses are typically built on pillars, elevated about two meters off the ground like a pavilion. Amazingly, Nana managed to pick it up effortlessly, causing her husband to start believing the villagers' rumors. He bent down to look through his legs at his wife and child, only to find a pair of decaying corpses.
The husband fled to a temple. Disappointed yet still loving him, Nana begged him to return outside the temple. However, ghosts cannot enter temples; Nana made the light from the temple's Buddha flicker violently. She harbored hatred for the monks and killed anyone who tried to keep her apart from her husband.
People called upon a powerful monk to subdue Nana, crafting her skull into a belt buckle. Her soul was sealed inside it; if worn by someone compassionate, it would keep her contained. But if it fell into the hands of a wicked person, Nana would be released.
Legend has it that this belt buckle is still passed down among the people in Thailand today. If you travel there and someone tries to sell you small trinkets or charms, be very careful!
We hurried back to the hospital in disarray, startling the night-shift doctor. Fortunately, we had stolen two pieces of clothing hanging in a farmhouse; otherwise, entering the hospital bare-chested would have landed us either in jail or in a psychiatric ward on the 18th floor of Chiang Mai Hospital after a few doses of anesthetic or electric shocks.
As I watched Mooncake feed Jack and the nurse worms we had brought out with us, I felt a twinge of schadenfreude. When they finally coughed up black balls resembling mouse droppings, I remembered that goldfish I had kept in my stomach for so many years; it made me feel nauseous again.
Both were still unconscious as Mooncake carefully returned the nurse to her station and sat in a chair in our room staring blankly ahead. I didn’t want to disturb him; he had carried too many burdens over the years. Now that he was finally free from them, it was natural for him to feel some melancholy.
Sometimes with friends, it's not necessary to ask how they are doing; just sitting beside them is enough.
Before long, Mooncake had kicked off her shoes and settled into the chair, falling into a deep sleep.
As dawn broke on the horizon, I figured I wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway, so I picked up the Thread-bound Ancient Books that Mooncake had given me to pass the time. The corners of the two ancient books were curled up, and they felt crisp and hard in my hands, suggesting they were quite old. I opened the first page and was greeted by eight large traditional characters: "To cultivate divine skills, one must first undergo castration!"
Sunflower Manual?
Flipping to the next page, I found another line in simplified characters: Pumpkin, just kidding—Yue Wuhua.
I couldn't help but laugh; Mooncake surprisingly had a good sense of humor.
I casually flipped through the book to kill time. It contained writings on feng shui, the five elements, and traditional Chinese medicine theories—topics I had never encountered before. Much of it was difficult to understand at first glance, along with various simple diagrams of formations. Yet, I found myself engrossed in reading.
The more I read, the more interesting it became.
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