Awakening

The elderly slowly walked to the left wall and fumblingly searched for the light switch. After a while, they heard the “pop” sound and the fluorescent light mounted on top lit up.

“Fortunately, the light still works.” The elderly said as she walked back.

Lei Yi swept his gaze around the room. He saw a metal frame on top of a table in the middle of the room. On top of this metal frame was a long wooden box. From the color of the box, who has lost its luster, it was clear that the box was quite old.

There were few curved jades and some wormwoods on top of it, but the most impressive thing was the picture of spells which covered all around it. Combined, all of these felt very strange.

The elderly said to her granddaughter, “Naoko, when you were young, I didn’t want you to know about this thing. But now that you’ve grown up, I have something to tell you. Do you remember that box?” The elderly pointed at the box on the table.

Naoko replied, “I remember there was a long sword inside that box. When I was a first grader in primary school, because the old box was full of mold and about to break, you gave me a new box and told me to put that long sword inside the new box.

“Do you know why I told you to change the box, rather than let other people or myself personally go and change it?”

“I don’t know. At the time, I didn’t think too much about it.”

“Now I am going to tell you the reason. It is because, except for innocent children, no one else can touch that sword. Otherwise, it would be dangerous to the one who touches it.”

“Dangerous? Why?” Naoko thought that the word was too serious.

The elderly patiently explained, “The owner of this sword is your grandfather’s good friend, who left this sword with us. At the time, the man said that this sword absolutely cannot be touched, because this is an evil sword.”

“Evil sword?” Naoko felt like she was listening to a ghost story.

“You might not believe it, but this is indeed an evil sword. According to your grandfather’s best friend, any person who holds this sword will die miserably. Moreover, every once in awhile, it would cause a terrible massacre. At first, I didn’t believe it either, but when something strange happened later, I cannot help but believe.” action

“What kind of strange thing?” Naoko unconsciously held Lei Yin’s arm.

“Initially, we did not put the sword here, but on the western side. One day, your grandfather saw a worker in charge of cleaning, always watching the sword with a strange look. At first, your grandfather thought that he was mistaken, but then, he found out that the man’s action became increasingly strange. Some other workers even told him that they saw that man talked to himself. Your grandfather thought that he has some mental problems, so he dismissed him. But one night, that man came back and secretly tried to sneak in to steal something. But it wasn’t long before the other workers caught him. At the time, that man repeatedly shouted, “Give that sword to me, give it to me.” When the police took that man away, unexpectedly, he suddenly went crazy and even bit one of the police officer’s ear. In the end, the doctor concluded that the man had a severe case of schizophrenia and put him in the mental hospital. Your grandfather thought that it might have something to do with the sword, so he kept the sword inside the box and locked it in this room for good.”

A few years later, your grandfather passed away. After that, a strange thing happened again! A new handyman suddenly showed a similar behavior to the previous worker. He was also often seen talked to himself and some people even saw him wandering in front of this room. Afraid that there might be an accident, I immediately dismissed him, just like what your grandfather did. By the next evening, I had arranged a few workers to guard outside. Indeed, that same evening, the handyman secretly came back and tried to break into this room. The workers quickly subdued him and gave him over to the police.”

“Did he became crazy like the previous man and bit another police?”

“No, but in the police station, the man committed suicide in the cell.” Hearing this answer, Naoko became extremely afraid and shrunk her body into Lei Yin’s arms even more.

The elderly then continued, “Because of these accidents, I examined the box carefully and found out that the box has been rotted by mold. I don’t know if it’s because of this, but just in case, I did according to your grandfather’s friend’s instruction, which was to find a child, that’s you, by the way, to change the box. At the time, I was afraid that something would happen to you, so I watched your action with trepidation. When you came out of the room safely, I immediately went to the nearby temple and invited a master here so that he can put a spell on that box to seal off the evil spirit. Although, at the time, I didn’t know if it would be effective or not, but since then, there has been no further accident. If it was not because this sword belongs to your grandfather’s good friend, I would have long thrown this sword away.” After saying this, the elderly cannot help but sigh.

After hearing what her grandmother had said, Naoko cast an apprehensive glance toward that box. She never thought that the sword she had held a few years ago was actually such a scary object.

But then, she suddenly thought of something, “Grandma, since this sword has never left this room for years, how could that man know about it?”

The elderly said, “I am not clear about this either. The reason why I called you here is to tell you that if something happens to me in the future, I want you to bury the sword under the tree at the nearby temple. Your grandfather and I have helped his friend guard this sword for many years, it should be enough. I don’t want this sword to hurt you or other people.”

Hearing her words, Naoko suddenly tensed up, “Grandma, don’t scare me, nothing will happen to you.”

The elderly said with a smile, “I am not saying that something will happen to me, but I am already old; almost one hundred years. So it is up to you to deal with this thing. But you have to remember not to open the box.”

Naoko finally felt relieved, “I know what to do, grandma.”

At this time, Lei Yin, who has been silent all this time, suddenly said, “Can I see that sword?”