THE GUIDE TO THE UNDERWORLD

In a certain city there was a grumpy old man that no one could get close to. He had no one by his side to take care of him, even when the weather was bad or when he was sick. When the neighbors came to help, he angrily cursed and chased them all away, leaving no one behind. Over time, no one cares anymore.

He lived day after day, month after month in voluntary solitude, the wooden house occasionally resounded with a dry cough that made his body buckle. Every night, painful groans and sometimes soft cries are heard. Occasionally, people see him going out to buy food, only to realize that the house is still inhabited.

haunted house

The man from the underworld stood outside, playing a melancholy flute song. It seemed like he heard the painful sound of that flute. The old man whispered:

“I miss you so much, Xu.”

The old man wiped away the tears falling on the photo worshiping his grandson and his son and his wife and sobbed, his shadow lonely in the yellow light of the house. He spread the blanket, lay down on the bed and turned on the small light bulb near the bed to create a shadow next to him, as if looking for a friend to wait with him for death.

The guide ended the gloomy flute and was about to enter the house to perform his duty when he saw a weasel holding the hem of his shirt with pleading eyes. The weasel uses his memory to recreate the image of an old man holding his grandchild's hand while walking through the forest. The two of them were indeed very happy and full of life.

The memory shows an image of an injured baby weasel, the couple bandaged it and fed it, the memory replays the scene where they let the weasel go, the old man also carefully warned, "Don't get hurt again." Little weasel, live well!”.

The guide hesitated, he raised his flute and played another song. When the flute's sound ended, the old man woke up. He was startled to see Xu lying in his arms sleeping soundly like before, his grandson in flesh and blood. He quickly touched the boy's cheek. It was indeed his Xu, he tearfully repeated over and over again, "It was indeed his Xu, it was indeed his Xu".

From that day on, Xu was with him every day, but only at night. During the day the house was still as quiet as that, but he knew Xu was real because the bowl of rice Xu prepared for him was still there, along with the glass of water. The coin he got for him hasn't gone away at all.

The old man became easy-going and healthy again. He began to go out to visit his neighbors, began to feel the sunlight shining into his garden, and at night he sat and told Xu stories while the boy punched Xu. back for grandpa.

One consecutive month has passed, the next moon is about to arrive. One full moon night, the old man coughed, he knew it was time for him to leave this world. He held Xu's hand tightly and asked Xu to stay with him until morning, not to leave like before.

Xu's face turned pale but he still promised him that he would stay with him. He held his grandfather's hand, his eyes looked like he was about to cry. He was worried that he would die, and he was also worried that he would find out he was just a weasel if he stayed until morning.

stay until morning

The old man refused to let go of Xu's hand, until dawn, when Xu returned to his original form as a small weasel. It was scared and withdrew its legs, running to the corner of the house to hide. He turned his face to the wall as if not daring to look at the grandfather he loved, his benefactor since he was a child.

“Xu, Xu, come back here, don't leave me, my dear weasel.”

The weasel's eyes widened, it ran into his arms, it turned out he had known it was a weasel for a long time. Yet he didn't say anything, he was afraid, he was both happy, sad, and lost. It will only be with you for a few days, then you will leave it far away again.

"Silly little weasel, even a dying person can see your tail. Thank you for being with me in the last days of my life. From now on, please live well, do you understand?"

The little weasel nodded, he jumped aside, at that moment the guide's music was half over. He stopped and entered the house. Leading the old man to the final path of life.

"Why do you let the little weasel do that? Aren't you afraid that the old man will continue to be attached and refuse to follow you, and then become a wandering ghost?"

"Because the dying person can see the fox's tail" - He laughed and continued his journey.