Ghosts Who Play with Firecrackers May Burn Themselves

In Shaoxing there was a mansion that remained, on its owner’s instructions, locked fast. It happened one day that a traveler came by seeking lodgings for the night.

The owner of the mansion informed him, "You are quite welcome to rent the eastern mansion, but you do so at your own peril."

Our travelers inquired as to the meaning of this cryptic welcome and was told, "The building was previously used for storage, and my two servants were quartered there. Late one evening we were disturbed in our nighttime preparations by a frightful howling from the mansion. We rushed over and found the servants pale and shaking, speechless with fear. It was quite some time before the regained their composure.

"They later told me,’Just before we had blown the candle out in preparation for sleep, a creature in the form of a huge stone monument came to our bedside, opened the bed curtain, and made as if to join us. Frightened beyond belief, we ran from the building screaming. This is the truth for we saw this creature with our own eyes.’ Naturally, after this strange event no one has dared live in that building."

After hearing the owner reach the end of his tale our traveler simply laughed and said, "I’ll give it a try."

His host tried in vain to dissuade him from such a reckless course, but in the end he was compelled to sweep out the dust, put down some mats, and prepare the building for residence.

On entering his temporary home the travelers, armed with his sword, went directly to the top floor. There he lit a candle and waited.

Finally, in the deep of the night, his patience was rewarded by a rustling sound emanating from the northern end of the room. He gazed in that direction and in the gloom made out the form of the ghost. It looked just as the landlord had described.

The ghost jumped onto a chair and began examining some books that had been left on the table. Soon wearying of this pastime, the ghost proceeded to empty the contents of our traveler’s luggage onto the table and inspect them one by one.

Among the various items of personal use were several batches of Huizhou firecrackers. These the demon scrutinized attentively in the light of a lamp, which by curious coincidence happened to spit a spark onto the wick of the firecrackers.

This, of course, caused a thunderous explosion, which left the ghost momentarily rolling around the floor blubbering before taking its chance to disappear.

Our traveler was greatly puzzled by these antics. Suspecting that the demon would return, he maintained his vigil until dawn. There were no more visitations, however; not a trace of the demon was seen.

In amazement the traveler narrated the night’s events to his landlord, who was equally perplexed. The following night our traveler returned to the upper floor of the mansion and passed the night without incident or evidence of supernatural presence.

From that day on, the building was free from strange events and accompanying ghosts.