Are there really ghosts? Why do you say that? What did you find in the Baiyun Mansion?" Xie Yilin's words made me curious, so I couldn't help but ask.
Upon hearing my question, Xie Yilin recounted her experience exploring the Baiyun Mountain Mansion with Han Tianjiu back in their sophomore year of college. According to Xie Yilin, she and Han Tianjiu had been in a relationship since their second year of college, which lasted for a year. During this time, their favorite thing to do was climb Mount Modu together and visit its scenic spots.
Of the eighteen scenic spots on Mount Modu, they had visited all except for Leichi Peak at the summit. Among these spots was the Baiyun Mountain Villa which they had visited three times before. However, during their first two visits they only toured ten other Republic-era villas that had already been renovated and did not enter the Baiyun Mountain Mansion because they knew it was haunted. Since Xie Yilin was very timid, she never went inside to play.
Han Tianjiu's personality was completely opposite from Xie Yilin's; he loved exploring haunted houses for excitement from the beginning and strongly wanted to go into the Baiyun Mountain Mansion.
During their first two visits when Xie Yilin refused him entry into mansion due to fear of ghosts or spirits lurking within it , Han Tianjiu didn't go inside either . On their last visit however ,Xie Yilin could no longer resist his repeated requests so finally decided to accompany him inside .
According to her account at that time when they arrived it was already afternoon and by then sun has set behind them while surrounding area around mansion were covered by dense forest making light conditions inside mansion extremely dimly lit naturally creating an eerie atmosphere . Throughout journey towards mansion,Xie yulin remained nervous throughout clinging tightly onto Han Tianjiu's arm, fearing they might encounter something scary.
Han Tianjiu was very brave and fearless, chatting and laughing all the way. His state of mind affected Xie Yilin, making her gradually relax as well. Then the two walked all the way to the back garden of mansion where there was a secluded villa called Yunshen Bieyuan which is also known for being haunted.
When Xie Yilin arrived at the entrance of Yunshen Bieyuan, she felt a chill on her body and inexplicably developed goosebumps so she did not want to go in. Moreover since it was an abandoned house located deep in mountains with no one around ,she also worried that Han Tianjiu would take advantage of this opportunity to do something inappropriate towards her .
At this point in recounting her experience,Xie Yilin's face clearly turned red . She emphasized: "Although I had been dating Han Tianjiu but I always maintained my boundaries . When we were together, we just played around or held hands at most without any overly exaggerated actions."
"What kind of overly exaggerated actions?" I couldn't help but ask with a smile.
Xie Yilin gave me a white look and said displeasedly: "Curiosity killed the cat. If you really want to know, I can show you instead. Do you want to see?"
I chuckled but didn't say anything so Xie Yilin continued with her story.
According to Xie Yilin, Han Tianjiu's intention when he took her to Baiyun Mansion was definitely not pure. His goal was to scare Xie Yilin and then make some intimate moves with her. He might even want to do something directly with her in the Yunshen Villa.
Xie Yilin's deduction is not groundless because after they entered the Yunshen Villa, Han Tianjiu took her deeper into it and finally came to a courtyard covered by leaves and vines, where there was a dry well.
Here, Han Tianjiu hugged Xie Yilin tightly, started touching her all over and forcibly kissed her. The situation can be imagined.
Xie Yilin was very nervous. Although she had an outgoing personality, she was a very traditional person at heart. In her opinion, a girl's first time should be kept until after marriage. Therefore, at that time she struggled and wanted to resist but didn't expect Han Tianjiu would be so tough-minded that he threatened to throw her into the well if she did not comply.
Xie Yilin cried out of fear at that moment feeling helpless; later on under duress gave up resistance.
However, what made her feel strange was that after giving up resistance, Han Tianjiu became embarrassed instead of taking further action against Xie Yilin. Not only that but also spoke softly apologizing for his behavior towards Xie Yilin.
This made Xie Yilin feel very weird; she didn't say much about it but quickly walked back while Han Tianjiu changed his mind again.
Later on they left Baiyun Mansion; due to what happened earlier between them,XieYiLin felt angry along the way without paying attention or respondingtoHanTianJiu who kept apologizingand promising never doing such things again in future .
XieYiLin didn't want to have anything to do with Han Tianjiu anymore and decided to break up with him.
As a result, Han Tianjiu explained that he was just trying to create an atmosphere and deliberately scare her. He also said that he never intended to do anything bad towards her; it was just a joke.
Xie Yilin did not believe his nonsense at all and continued to demand a breakup. Han Tianjiu had no choice but asked Xie Yilin: "What's wrong with you? Why don't you believe me after I've explained so much? Don't you think about it? There were so many people in the courtyard at that time, how could I possibly do something like that in front of them?
Han Tianjiu's words scared Xie Yilin. She remembered clearly that there were only the two of them in the mansion at that time, and there was no one else. But why did Han Tianjiu say there were many people inside? What was going on? Did Han Tianjiu lie intentionally? But why would he do that?
This idea seemed too far-fetched to Xie Yilin, who didn't think Han Tianjiu was lying because she recalled his behavior in the mansion - he showed no signs of fear or anxiety. He must have thought there were many visitors in the mansion, which made him feel brave.
However, the key problem was that Xie Yilin did not see anyone else in the mansion. This contradiction puzzled her: what were those people that Han Tianjiu saw? Why could he see them but she couldn't?
"Can you imagine how I felt at that time?" Xie Yilin subconsciously hugged herself with a lingering fear.
I also got goosebumps listening to this story and found it very eerie upon reflection. I looked over at Jietou and noticed he still had his eyes closed without any change in expression as if he hadn't heard anything from Xie Yilin.
The monk's reaction left me feeling helpless, so I turned my head back to Xie Yilin and asked: "What happened later? Did you figure out what really happened?"
"No," replied Xie Yilin nervously shaking her head. "Because something happened to Tianjiu on that same night after we parted ways due to my insistence on breaking up with him since I felt uneasy about his abnormal behavior."
"I never expected him to have an accident because of this decision, so I've been feeling guilty all these years and want to know what exactly happened on that night.