NIGHT OF GRAVE DIGGING

At nine thirty at night, not a single person passed by.

Sitting against a banyan tree along the dark village road, Cuong was impatient as if there was a fire burning in his heart. Never before had he seen time pass so slowly. Feeling nervous and unable to hide the tension on his face, Cuong clumsily pulled out a wrinkled pack of cigarettes and put one on his lips. As soon as the lighter was opened, a glimpse of his red face and the half-drinked bottle of wine next to him appeared.

He inhaled continuously, releasing smoke with a long sigh.

The wind blew in gusts, a few zigzag lightning flashed as if wanting to tear through the dark sky.

"There's going to be a thunderstorm. The better!"

He muttered softly.

Just after tonight, everything will completely change. He will have money to pay off his gambling-loving father and have money to repair the dilapidated house.

And more importantly, he will have money to ask Lan to marry him, the most beautiful girl in the village whom he has loved for a long time.

Many times she went to Lan's house and offered to get married, but her parents always looked down on her and many times even hinted in front of Cuong:

- If a girl gets married, she must choose someone with economic conditions to reduce suffering in the future. But don't be blind, because of love, marry someone who doesn't have a stable job, is miserable and miserable, how can you live? At that time, we sat around cursing and berating each other all day, and regretting it was too late.

The voice of Mrs. Hue, his lover's mother, still haunted his mind:

- My husband and I only have one daughter. After more than twenty years of raising her to grow up to be this beautiful, I don't want my child to suffer in the future. If you have a stable job and a decent family, we won't stop you from doing anything because we know you truly love Lan. Over here... Anyway, you should reflect on your family's situation. Already in his thirties, what do you have?

At first, he felt sad and self-conscious, but after all, what she said was right...

Born at a disadvantage compared to others, his mother died early, his father was bored and turned to alcohol and gambling, thinking it was just a temporary moment to relieve his sadness, but unexpectedly the situation became deeper and deeper, making the family poor again. even more deprived. No matter how much money he makes, he has to worry about paying off his father's money and debts. While at his age, his friends already had enough to eat and drink, thinking about their fates, they were always in trouble, not knowing when they would have the chance to change their lives...

Cuong glanced slightly at his lover and saw her looking down as if she was embarrassed.

He said to Mrs. Hue with a tough attitude:

- I promise you, by the end of this year, I will stabilize my job and move out to live on my own. I will have plenty of money to take care of Lan fully, please believe in me...

Quickly waving her hand to interrupt, her voice became louder:

- Stop, stop! I always see him promise "will be like this, will be like that..." but then I don't know when he will be able to do it. People who have money don't need to promise for others to believe it. People who have nothing can only make promises all day long.

As she spoke, she stood up and went into the room:

- From now on, I hope you will let my daughter go. Later, find someone suitable for your situation. Don't dream anymore, moldy chopsticks can't hold a tray of lipstick. Please come back!

Although Lan loves Cuong, every day she listens to her mother's whispers, and over time, she gets used to it. Looking at my close friends, everyone who married rich men looked happy, ate well and dressed well. Those who marry poor husbands look after children, sell baskets, and run every meal. Witnessing the truth appear before her eyes, she became even more hesitant about her love life.

"If you are poor, happiness will never last long. Remember that."

Her mother advised so.

Lan began to hesitate, half wanting to break up, half wanting to give Cuong more time. If she still can't build a career, she will marry Thang. A guy with a bright future, the son of the vice president of the commune, is the person his parents have chosen. And more importantly, Thang himself has been keeping an eye on her for a long time. Even though he looks ugly, maybe she doesn't love him now, but in the future, their married life will be closer, maybe everything will change...

That evening, seeing Cuong out on the village street, she hesitantly said:

- Please take the time to take care of your work. We shouldn't see each other so much...

Seeing your lover's way of talking seems cold and distant. Cuong quickly grabbed her hand and said harshly:

- Hey, what's with your attitude? What did you promise me the other day? Didn't you say that no matter what the situation is, you still want to be my wife...

Confused, she removed Cuong's hand and struggled to explain, her voice filled with anger and bitterness:

- That's true, but life also has to be a bit realistic. After three years of love, I waited for him to settle down in his job, but I wonder when? Until when? Please answer me!

Cuong hesitated and looked down slightly.

With tears in her eyes, Lan continued:

- The house is dilapidated and lacking. His father gambled all day, and when he wasn't gambling, he drank, vandalized, and cursed. I think for you, but you also have to think for my life...

Cuong heard his lover say and suddenly felt a heavy heart. He lowered his voice to comfort:

- I will have money, just rest assured and wait a little while longer. I will go to the district town to live, I promise!

Lan silently turned back into the house. The mood was chaotic and awkward, both loving Cuong but also worrying about his fate.

Cuong told him:

- I hope you will keep your promise to me, we will get married soon...

***

Since then, Cuong has been diligent and diligent in doing all kinds of different jobs to make a living, but if he saves a little, he has to use money immediately. A few months ago, he got fifteen million, a quite large amount of money for him, he had to work very hard to accumulate it from his job as a construction worker.

Before he could be happy, his father became seriously ill and had to be transferred to the district hospital to be treated for liver disease caused by drinking too much alcohol. After two months in the hospital, he had to abandon his work to take care of him, and his money also ran out.

Difficulties piled upon difficulties, and many times he could only blame God for treating him like that. People who start a business also have the basic foundation of family. Even if they don't have material things, they can still be spiritual. Over here, he only has an empty number and a heavy burden on his shoulders.

After being discharged from the hospital, Cuong expressed a harsh attitude toward his father because of the frustrations and difficulties he caused him.

Mr. Lam also realized his mistake and said:

- I know you've worked hard. From now on, Dad promises to gradually stop drinking and gambling so that you can do business with peace of mind. But...

Cuong raised his head and asked:

- But with what else? I don't need you to make money, I just need you to sit at home and rest, don't let me be ashamed of Lan's family. That's all I need, is it not possible anymore?

Mr. Lam waved his hand, his face contorted with regret:

- I can give it up, I can give it up. But now, I still owe people another twenty million... I just need you to help me pay...

- Twenty million? Are you crazy? Do you know how big that amount of money is?

Hearing Cuong's anger, his eyes widened in anger. Mr. Lam lowered his head and muttered an explanation:

- I know I was wrong. At this age, you should be a spiritual support for your child, but dad made a big mistake. Just because I want to have a lot of money to fix the house to make it decent for people...

Mr. Lam stopped and saw his son looking thoughtfully out the door. Placing his hand on Cuong's shoulder, his voice was sad and thoughtful:

- Don't think I don't care about anything. I know that people look down on our poor family, so I have not agreed to the matter between you and Lan. That's why dad feels helpless and depressed. When I'm old, I don't have much ability to work and make money. I have to rely on gambling to find some luck. If possible, I can still take care of my children somewhat. Who would have thought it would make me suffer even more...

Cuong sighed and turned back to look at his father with more sympathetic eyes.

- Okay, I will try to help dad one last time. Dad, please leave me alone in the future, I also need to have my own life. I'm so tired...

Thanks to his resourcefulness, hard work and good fortune, Cuong asked to be part of the commune's funeral organizing team.

The initial income was not much, but it was more stable and less difficult, so he was temporarily satisfied. Although my heart is still tormented because it will take a long time to accumulate capital. Can Lan wait until then?

A few days ago, I went to the funeral of Mr. Hai, a famous and wealthy wood factory owner in the village.

A strange thing he discovered when he and his family placed Mr. Hai's body in the coffin was a large gold ring worn on the middle finger of his left hand and a necklace larger than two gold bars with precious stones hanging down. exposed through the shirt. Just by looking at the size, he calculated that it would be worth about a hundred million in cash if sold.

Gold buried with the dead, something both strange and familiar, I don't know if it was due to Mr. Hai's wish before he died, or simply because the family wanted to keep the precious jewelry that he had kept intact when he was alive. very dear. Maybe for that reason, now no one dares to remove it so that his soul can rest in peace and rest in peace. But maybe a few years later, they will bring this gold back.

But whatever the reason, Cuong doesn't care and doesn't need to find out, he just knows that this is an opportunity to change his life.

The most important thing to him now is "Money", the more the better. Money can change everything. More importantly, when you have money, no one will dare to look down on you anymore. Working for others all day long will never make you rich. If you want to do business and become rich, you must have capital.

After thinking and pondering, he made a plan for himself. A crazy job, digging up Mr. Hai's grave to steal that gold.

Tonight is the best opportunity to do it, he also needs to have money soon, too many things are waiting for this money to be solved.

Cuong calculated very carefully, after getting this gold, he would not use it because it would easily attract suspicion. Next, he moved to the district town as a person to settle down, then sold this gold for a large sum of money. There, he will find a shop to rent to open a cafe and beverage shop and welcome his lover with him. Lan won't have to worry anymore, life will be different, the future will be brighter...

Up until now, ghost stories have not bothered Cuong much, because he has never seen them before anyway.

"Death is the end." He thought that in his head.

If digging up the dead man's body scared him, then being discovered by others scared him many times more. Although he gave himself two choices, one is to have everything to change his life, the other is to lose everything, but this is not a joke, the worst thing is to be beaten by family members, the worst is to go to prison for at least a few years. , that's what worries him the most so he has to be very cautious when acting, can't let anyone see or suspect...

- Cuong, why are you sitting here?

While deep in thought, Cuong was startled and his eyes widened. Trong was standing in front of him, holding a bright flashlight.

Cuong was both surprised and annoyed by its untimely appearance. Although both of their jobs are related to the dead, unlike the funeral process team like Cuong, Trong is a specialist in tomb building in the village. They have known each other since childhood, but he does not like Trong's personality. .

With a reluctant attitude, Cuong replied curtly, shaking the wine bottle in his hand:

- Drink alcohol. Don't you see?

Trong burst out laughing, he sat down opposite Cuong, held the bottle of wine and looked at it, saying:

- Drinking here? Alone in the middle of a stormy night like this? Do you think I believe it?

Cuong grabbed the bottle with a fierce attitude:

- Leave me alone, whatever I do has nothing to do with you.

- Hey, why so hot, friend! I'm just asking. There must be some sort of mission, right?

As soon as he discovered Cuong sitting here, Trong quickly sensed something was going on. Although it was not clear, Cuong's attitude and the sack peeking out from behind the banyan tree, the flashlight light helped him realize many unusual things.

Seeing that Cuong didn't say anything, he probed:

- Is there anything I can do? There's so little work these days, I can't earn much. My wife is about to give birth again so I need money...

Listening to Trong's words, Cuong thought for a moment and decided to invite him to join him, anyway, the two of them would do it faster. But if so, he would have to divide the gold in half, which he never wanted.

Cuong's attitude has softened. Anyway, he had to be gentle to find a way to chase it away soon. He took a deep drag of his cigarette and said following the exhaled smoke:

- Um, but not now. In a few days, I will call if anything comes up.

- Great.

Trong's eyes lit up, but his doubts were still there, he asked:

- But tonight, is there anything you need my help with? Surely it's very important?

Hearing Trong's questioning, Cuong was suddenly startled and confused. He burst out laughing and said:

- Ah, no... no... It's nothing. I encountered a lot of annoying things today and felt sad, so I just came here to sit and drink.

Seeing Trong nodding, Cuong expressed concern:

- By the way, your wife is pregnant, you don't know when she'll go into labor, it's about to get stormy. Go home and take care of it, I'll call you in a few days. I'm about to do big business in the district, lots of work for you.

- Oh, remember. If you need anything, just tell me, I'm free this time.

Trong smiled happily but still glanced at Cuong's sack, he stood up:

- That's it, I have to go home.

Cuong replied:

- Yes, I'll be back too. There's going to be a big storm.

Look at the rough figure of Trong holding a flashlight as he walks home. Cuong sighed, muttering a few curses even though inside he felt much more relieved.

Tilt your neck and take a long gulp. The alcohol quickly seeped into every muscle, tingling and burning throughout the body, drowning out the vague fear that had just appeared. The mind feels a bit lightheaded and excited.

A large sack was placed under the banyan tree, inside were a shovel, crowbar, hammer, some nails and a flashlight. A small knife was kept at his side. That alone was more than enough for him to do his job. His years as a construction worker had given him a lot of experience.

Carefully holding the sack, he stood up and walked away, his shadow blurred in the vast darkness that was covering...

***

The dirt road leading to the field, or as the villagers call it, is the road to the cemetery, where Mr. Hai's grave was buried just a few days ago. During the day it was already deserted, but at night it was even darker, desolate and terrifyingly cold.

"We have to hurry, we have to finish it before dawn."

He thought to himself and walked faster with the rushing wind blowing back, his old sneakers mixed with the sound of rustling grass on both sides of the road.

In the sky, there were still several interlaced lines of lightning flashing, intertwining, revealing the silhouettes of a few graves, looming and lurking ahead.

Suddenly Cuong stopped.

There was a sound like footsteps coming from behind. An uneasy feeling suddenly appeared in my head, as if someone was following me.

Cuong stood still, turned his head around...

Behind is only a long dirt road, with a few ancient trees spreading their leaves in the wind like waving arms.

The sound of frogs croaking from the fields sounded so haunting and haunting that it made my skin crawl in the middle of the quiet night.

"Who dares to come out here at this hour?!"

He muttered and walked as if running into a cemetery.

The mist covered hundreds of graves, large and small, new and old, interwoven in long rows, spread along the entire path.

The deeper you go, the colder and gloomier the air becomes.

It was not difficult to find Mr. Hai's grave among dozens of other surrounding graves. He himself came here with the funeral team to witness his burial. Like a high mound, covered with wreaths of wilted flowers, weeds have just begun to sprout.

He sat down, staring at the portrait of Mr. Hai printed on the tombstone, which still smelled of cement. A seventy-year-old man with a broad forehead, big nose, and thick fat under his chin. The most impressive feature on his face is probably his fierce eyes, always looking deep into the hearts of the other person.

Under the resounding flash of lightning, Cuong felt that Mr. Hai was staring at him as if he were still alive, making him awkwardly stand up, not daring to face those fierce eyes any longer.

The graves here are all one meter deep, two meters long and one meter wide. With his strength and experience, it would take a few hours at most to finish digging.

So it has to be done before four o'clock in the morning.

Holding the shovel in his hand, he reflexively looked around the cemetery. The wind was still blowing and howling from time to time, it sounded like someone was crying and lamenting.

Gritting his teeth, he plunged the shovel blade deeply into the earthen grave. Before he could scoop it up, he suddenly stopped, his instincts told him that someone was around. The second time he had such an uneasy feeling that he couldn't be subjective.

He stood motionless, holding his breath, rolling his eyes. All around are cold, undulating graves of varying heights. His eyes narrowed, he glanced slowly and carefully, observing and immediately discovered a dark shadow, moving on the back of the nearby grave, looking towards him.

Then suddenly, from that side screamed: "Meooooo..."

Cuong suddenly sighed in relief, like a stray cat. He picked up a brick and threw it hard, causing the cat to growl and angrily leave.

"What a cat." He muttered curses.

People see black cats twice as big as domestic cats, often looking for food in graveyards, and are very scared, but for Cuong, perhaps it is just a wild animal, not enough to worry him.

In the cold, deserted cemetery, there was only one person. His hands, stiff and full of veins, quickly scooped up shovelfuls of soil and tossed them aside. The alcohol and the gold in this grave motivated him more than ever.

It wasn't clear how many hours had passed, his body was soaked from the rain pouring down harder and harder. Stopping to wipe the sweat streaming from his forehead, he was breathing heavily from fatigue, his clothes were stained with mud.

Seeing that his eyes were blurry, Cuong sat down and shook his head vigorously several times. The scenery around him was still gloomy and dim, accompanied by gusts of wind that blew like a ghost's wails calling out from deep in the grave.

Cuong raised his face to the sky, he fell into the rectangular hole.

Suddenly I heard the sound of shoes stepping on the wooden board. Cuong felt his heart begin to pound. He crawled, used both hands to dig up thin layers of soil, and pushed them aside. Then he quickly stood up and looked around, his eyes suddenly lit up.

The coffin was exposed.

Forgetting all his fatigue, Cuong carefully continued digging around to gain a foothold on the ground.

When he was finished, he bent down to look around, his hand patting the tightly closed coffin lid. The scent of new wood mixed with the mud and dirt created a pungent smell that made him itch his nose, sniffle, and cough a few times.

Determining the location, Cuong used the crowbar to squeeze into the board's lid, bent up and then pressed down using all his strength.

The sound of metal squeezing into wood grain was so loud it was terrifying. The nails popped out with difficulty. Cuong took a deep breath, gritted his teeth and rowed, swinging his whole body and pushing hard, the crowbar bent slightly, making a loud noise...

The lid popped off, vibrated for a while and then hung over the edge of the coffin. The stench of the dead in the process of decomposition escapes into the air, rising strongly.

Reflexively, Cuong stepped back, raised his hand and pressed it tightly to his mouth. But the abdominal muscles were curled up, pushing the food in the stomach up to the throat. Unable to bear it anymore, he lowered his head and vomited.

About four or five pig birds came from somewhere, flew around the hole, flapped their wings and then squealed "squeak... squeak..."

Cuong was breathing heavily due to fatigue, tears and runny nose were streaming down his face, and his mouth felt sour after vomiting. He quickly tore off the sleeve and wrapped it tightly around his mouth and nose.

The sky was filled with lightning and thunder exploded more and more each time.

Cuong's feet crept closer to the open coffin...

He narrowed his eyes, carefully observing with a cautious attitude. But the inside was dim and indistinct, only the image of a person lying opposite in the direction of his gaze could be discerned. Cuong trembled as he held the coffin lid, carefully tilting it upside down and pressing it against the dirt hole as if he was afraid it would scratch and damage it.

Before he could turn around, Cuong suddenly held his breath, not daring to spit. My heart was pounding like it was about to burst my chest.

There was a clicking sound and movement coming from inside Mr. Hai's coffin. Above, a flock of pig birds still hovered around, calling continuously under the flashing lightning.

The sound hadn't ended yet, he heard the sound of wheezing and urgent breathing as if someone was trying to raise their voice right behind him.

Sweat suddenly broke out from the back of his neck, cold air quickly spread throughout his body, making him want to collapse in fear.

Cuong tried his best to reassure himself. But what was happening made him unable to calm down any more.

"Could it be that Mr. Hai is still...alive?"

Thinking about that terrible thing, Cuong's mouth trembled and moved with difficulty.

"No...no...There's no way...that...is...possible."

Instead of an answer, the sound of Nazism rang out softly and then grew louder and louder, each detail could be heard clearly. The sound of the nails frantically scratching each fiber of the coffin's wood seemed to pour straight into his ears, causing goosebumps to erupt all over his body and the hair on the back of his neck to stand up in fear.

Standing rooted in a deep hole even though your hand is gingerly placed on the edge of the hole to gain momentum to climb up. But everything suddenly fell silent, those horrible, chaotic sounds suddenly disappeared.

Both surprised and curious, Cuong turned his head around...

The coffin still lay there, dimly under a little hidden light. Several blackbirds had landed around the hole, and they were competing to dig in the ground to find insects to eat.

Cuong breathed a sigh of relief: "I was hallucinating. How can a dead person come back to life? It's truly a broken soul!"

He slightly stood on tiptoe, his head raised to look above the crater, even though he always insisted that no one would dare to go to the cemetery at this hour.

The small flashlight was only now taken out of the sack. He needed to have enough light to get the gold from Mr. Hai as accurately and quickly as possible.

Cuong bent down and shined the flashlight starting from below the coffin. Shiny black leather shoes and white socks that had turned yellow appeared in the light, and bulging fabric pants hugged the bulging legs of the dead man.

Through the light that quickly reached his chest, Cuong squinted his eyes because he had just glimpsed something unusual. He trembled as he held the flashlight and slowly returned to that location.

Under the beam of light, very fresh scratches appeared on the coffin wall. In this deep hole, there was only him and the open coffin.

Cuong shined the flashlight towards the dead man's outstretched hand. Although he knew it was unreasonable, he still vaguely thought that Mr. Hai had come back to life and used his nails to scratch the wood to signal to him.

Cuong's eyes suddenly lit up, and the vague fear suddenly disappeared when the gold ring with gemstones on Mr. Hai's middle finger was sparkling under the flashlight.

As if in a dream, he knelt down on his knees, then leaned forward with an eager expression on his face, reaching out to touch the ring and gently rubbing it, feeling the coolness of the precious metal that made him ecstatic and hungry...

"Here it is. The gold is here." Cuong muttered. "Just tomorrow, my life will change, I will have money...a lot of money..."

Forgetting the stench of the corpse, he took off the cloth wrapped around his mouth and used his teeth to grip the flashlight. He picked up Mr. Hai's cold, gray hand and looked at it. The fingers were swollen with water, causing the ring to stick even tighter to the bone, causing Cuong to struggle forever and not be able to pull it out.

The more force he tried, the more the skin on the dead man's hands peeled off and fell off piece by piece.

"Eep, eek. eek..."

Suddenly, Cuong was startled by the birds and pigs flying up, flapping their wings and calling wildly, seemingly scared.

Before he could calm down, he panicked and dropped the flashlight when he discovered that inside the coffin, a pair of bright eyes appeared and stared at him.

Cuong exclaimed in a gasp of horror:

"What...what...is that?"

His pale face looked towards those red eyes, his hands frantically trembling as he groped for a flashlight. But before he could pick it up, he screamed out loud when a black shadow suddenly rushed into his face.

The cat was like a miniature black panther howling angrily and scratching, causing blood to flow down his face, making him feel pain. The first time he encountered such a huge lynx, Cuong rolled around trying to fend it off. When he grabbed the ferocious animal's neck, he had to use all his strength to throw it to the ground a few times. Nails sharper than a knife blade dug into Cuong's arm as if wanting to tear his skin into pieces.

He gritted his teeth and squeezed tightly. Its growling gradually became quieter and gave way to Cuong's curses.

Breathing in broken breaths due to exhaustion, he used both hands to throw the heavy animal into the mouth of the hole, but without running out of strength, it fell into the coffin, struggling for a while before lying still and motionless. Its bright eyes gradually darkened like a candle blown out by the wind and then blended into the dark night.

Despite the burning blood flowing, Cuong groped around Mr. Hai's corpse. He tore the gold chain off his neck and happily rolled it into a ball and put it in his pocket.

Thunder and lightning began to rumble violently, the whole night was lit up by giant centipede-shaped lightning bolts crawling across the sky.

Cuong only had time to look up and quickly hold Mr. Hai's hand to remove the remaining ring. But the ring stuck and refused to come off.

Having no other choice, Cuong reached into the back of his pants to find a Thai knife, forcing him to remove Mr. Hai's knuckles to get the ring.

He placed the dead man's cold, gray hand on the coffin's mouth and began to cut it one by one, creating a squeaking sound of metal rubbing against the bones.

Mr. Hai's finger was about to fall off, the piece of skin stuck to it, making it dangle and about to fall off.

Suddenly, Cuong was startled when the black cat began to wiggle awake, it screamed and jumped out.

Mr. Hai's body began to move, his fingers twitched, slowly spreading out in Cuong's hand. He held his breath because he was so scared, the knife fell to the ground, his whole body was cold, his face was pale and bloodless, he trembled and retreated backwards.

But before he could run away, the corpse sat up in the coffin, Mr. Hai's cold hand grabbed his wrist tightly.

Immediately after that, lightning fell from the sky, causing a headache. "Unh... Uynh..." the rain poured down like a waterfall.

Cuong's scream rang out in horror when he saw Mr. Hai's face with cloudy white eyes opened to glare at him full of resentment.

"Let...let go of me...Let go...of me...I beg you."

Cuong was panting while trying to pry Mr. Hai's hand from holding him tightly. He clung to the edge of the hole, swung his body and climbed to escape. Before he could lift one leg, a hand grabbed him tightly and pulled him back.

"Save...save me...save me...Demon...Demon entered the world..."

There was a rumbling and growling sound below, making Cuong too scared to turn around and look back. Screaming, he curled up his legs and struggled, his hands clutching the edge of the hole to rise...

"Unh... unh..."

Lightning struck and scattered the ground everywhere. Cuong felt dizzy, his mind went crazy and then he lost consciousness.

In his dream, he heard a ghostly laugh resounding from Mr. Hai's coffin, then a growling voice full of resentment accompanied by thunder, lightning, rain, and wind of the stormy night...

"Give...the...gold...to...me...The...gold...is...mine..."

The sound of splashing underwater made Cuong awake. The water had almost filled the deep hole, and a body was lying upside down floating right behind him.

Cuong squinted his eyes and discovered that Trong was also there, holding a flashlight and searching.

"It turns out you've been following me from the beginning...Very good." Cuong thought to himself, his eyes lit up because he had just thought of a plan to mistakenly blame Trong.

He gently lowered himself into the water hole, carefully to avoid being detected.

Trong bowed his head, engrossed in shining his flashlight into the hole. He also wanted to get this gold. He searched and said:

"I knew right away that you were planning something. I just didn't expect that you would dare to dig up Mr. Hai's grave to get gold. But now it's all mine..."

Cuong was startled when he heard Trong's voice. He put his face down in the water. As soon as he saw his friend's hand waving around searching, Cuong quickly grabbed it tightly and pulled it down.

Trong only had time to scream out loud and then lost his momentum and fell into a deep hole. As fast as lightning, Cuong hastily climbed up the hole despite Trong's arms and legs flailing wildly.

Planning to stay on the shore, if he saw Trong rise, Cuong would dunk his head under the water to suffocate. But down in the deep hole, something unusual was happening.

Trong's scream was trying to scream:

"Ma...ma! Help me...there's a ghost...there's a ghost..."

Trong was struggling, holding on to the edge of the hole, but someone pulled him down. Its hands still tried to reach out for help, struggling before sinking to the bottom of the grave.

Not seeing any movement anymore, Cuong crawled closer to check. He was breathing heavily, his eyes widening in horror. The grave has now become a deep hole of murky, fishy water that has swallowed Trong.

Tomorrow, when Trong's body is discovered there, everyone will think that he caused this and is dead.

As soon as he thought that in his mind, Cuong smiled with satisfaction. But before he could stand up, he was startled again when from the water hole emerged a large round human head with the gray skin of a dead person, eyes wide open and opaque, looking straight at him.

"Mr. Hai...No, that's impossible...It's impossible..."

Cuong's teeth trembled and chattered together

He panicked and crawled backwards, then staggered to his feet and ran away.

The shrill, haunting laughter that sounded bone-chilling was following him, but gradually getting farther and farther away until it mixed with the sound of the murmuring rain...

Cuong's legs wobbled as he ran down the village road, heading straight towards Lan's house.

***

Lan dreamily heard her dog barking and then suddenly howling. Her feet scraped their claws violently against her room door.

Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock,

Lan suddenly woke up. She listened attentively to the sound of knocking on the door, accompanied by the sound of someone calling her name softly.

"Cuong..." Lan exclaimed. "Is that you?"

"It's me, open the door for me..."

She hurriedly got out of bed, but when Lan suddenly hesitated at the door, she asked:

"What...what's going on? Why did you come here at this hour?"

"Open the door. Hurry, I have money..."

"Money? what money..."

Lan was confused and didn't understand what was going on, but she gently turned the door latch. As soon as she saw Cuong, she quickly raised her hand to stop her scream:

- Why...why is there so much blood on your face?

- It's okay...it's okay, I'm just slightly injured. I have to run away from here.

Hearing her lover say, Lan hesitated:

- Escape? Is it raining and windy like this?

- Now that I've earned the money, we'll go to the district town to do business. I will take care of you...

- But why do we have to go now?

- I will explain later. Let's go...

As he spoke, Cuong grabbed Lan's hand and pulled her away, causing her to panic and pull back.

- Wait a minute... Suddenly I feel very worried.

- There's not much time left. I have to leave here before dawn.

Cuong hastily explained. As if to strengthen his confidence, he dug out a gold necklace from his pocket and held it in front of Lan's face before continuing:

- I have money... We'll get married.

- Where... where did you get this necklace... Don't tell me you stole it, otherwise...

Cuong interrupted:

- No, it's ours now. Don't worry about anything, let's go.

- But... I feel so scared... Let's talk tomorrow... Go home.

Starting to feel uncomfortable, Cuong shouted:

- Are you chasing me? What did you promise me? If this isn't money then what is it? I will get married...

Cuong rushed to hug his lover in an attempt to pull her out.

- Let me go...let me go. I'm screaming now. Let go...let go...

As she spoke, Lan clung to the door, fumbled for the light switch and turned it on. As soon as the light turned on, Cuong angrily dragged her out the door, letting Lan scream loudly and fall backwards to the ground.

Lan's parents woke up, turned on the light and started running to her room.

Cuong panicked and ran away because he was afraid of being discovered. He said:

- I won't let you go, just remember that! I'll come back to take you away...

***

The next night in the hospital, sitting at my daughter's bedside. As soon as she saw her husband enter, Mrs. Hue cried and said:

- I don't understand why, when he was calm and healthy, he turned crazy like this again? Now I know what to do...

The husband looked at his daughter who was in a coma, her skin was pale, and sometimes she was startled, and he blamed:

- It's also because you forbade their love story that this happened. It's all because of you!

Mrs. Hue sniffled:

- Just because I'm worried about Lan, I want her to marry a decent husband. Is that wrong? Why are you blaming me now? But how did you go to the police? Does your family have anything to do with it?

The husband sighed:

- Now, the police have investigated, last night Cuong and Trong went to dig up Mr. Hai's grave to steal gold. Trong choked to death in a rainwater hole, his wife was still preparing to give birth...

Mrs. Hue gasped:

- What about... Cuong, have you found him yet?

The husband shook his head, his face wrinkled:

- Poor thing, the police found a gold chain in his pants pocket...

- So where is Cuong now, is anything wrong?

The husband sadly said:

- Cuong also died last night...

A moment later he continued:

- He was struck in the head by lightning, his body was floating in Mr. Hai's grave. I feel so sorry and regretful, I just hope she recovers soon and doesn't come back to haunt my daughter...

After hearing her husband's words, Mrs. Hue hugged her face and cried, both sad and scared:

- That's right, sir. No wonder, my daughter said last night she dreamed that Cuong appeared and knocked on the door and invited him to follow. When he turned on the light, he saw Cuong's head broken in half, blood still flowing down his body. I thought it was just a nightmare, but unexpectedly... Cai Lan was so scared, she went crazy...

Lan lay dreamily on the hospital bed, feeling cold as the howling wind blew loudly and blew open the window rushing towards her.

She slowly opened her eyes when she saw a figure standing outside the window calling her name:

"Lan...oh...! Come...with...me...Go...away...from...this...place..."

Lan jumped up in panic and right in front of her saw Cuong with a crushed head, gray skin, and cold hands dragging her away. She screamed in terror, her body convulsed, and her state of mind was in extreme panic.

"No, no...let me go...let me goaaa..."

The ghostly, spine-chilling laughter echoed throughout the night along with Lan's dazed, crazy face.