The Pacification of Ghosts - Chapter Six: The Short-Life Ghost Captured at Mother-Child Mountain

After burning down the Temple of Non-Cultivation, Zhong Kui received reports of disturbances at Zi Mu Shan (子母山 - Mother-Child Mountain). This mountain was named for its twin peaks, one large and one small, resembling a mother holding a child.

The local villagers were terrified. "Lord Zhong Kui, children who go near the mountain age rapidly, while elderly people become younger but lose their memories. It's as if time itself is broken there!"

Han Yuan studied the ancient records. "This mountain has always been associated with family bonds and the natural cycle of generations. Something must be disrupting that cycle."

On the mountain, Zhong Kui discovered the source—a Short-Life Ghost (短命鬼) who had died as a child but carried the bitterness of never experiencing a full life. This ghost had created a temporal distortion, trying to steal years from the living to extend its own existence.

The ghost appeared as a child who constantly shifted between different ages—sometimes a baby, sometimes a teenager, never stable, never complete.

"Why should others live full lives when I couldn't?" the Short-Life Ghost demanded. "I died at seven years old! Seven! I never knew love, success, or even failure! Just... ending!"

The Short-Life Ghost had developed a perverse system. It would steal years from children (who had many to spare) and memories from the elderly (who had lived full lives), trying to construct a complete existence from stolen fragments.

"Look at my collection!" the ghost showed Zhong Kui a cave filled with glowing orbs—stolen years and captured memories. "I'm building myself the life I never had! First steps, first words, first love, retirement—I'm experiencing everything!"

But the combination was monstrous. The ghost would rapidly cycle through different life stages, experiencing a baby's first cry followed immediately by an old man's final breath, a child's laughter morphing into middle-aged worry.

At the smaller peak, Zhong Kui found another ghost—the Short-Life Ghost's mother, who had died of grief after losing her child. She was trapped in an endless loop of mourning, constantly searching for her lost son.

"My baby, where is my baby?" she wailed. "He was just here, just seven, just playing..."

The two ghosts were connected but couldn't properly reunite. The Short-Life Ghost's temporal instability meant that even when they met, they existed in different timestreams—she always saw him as seven, while he shifted through all ages.

Fu Qu suggested a direct assault, but Zhong Kui recognized this required more finesse. "We can't simply destroy them. They're victims of tragedy, not evil by choice."

Instead, Zhong Kui devised a temporal trap. Using the mountain's natural energy, which governed generational cycles, he would force both ghosts to experience time normally—but this meant making them confront their loss directly.

"You want to live all ages simultaneously," Zhong Kui told the Short-Life Ghost, "but life isn't meant to be experienced all at once. Its meaning comes from sequence, from growth, from the journey between birth and death."

When Zhong Kui tried to stabilize the temporal field, the Short-Life Ghost fought back, creating rapid age fluctuations in everyone present. Fu Qu aged to an old man then regressed to a child within moments. Han Yuan experienced his entire potential lifetime in seconds—seeing futures that might have been.

"Stop!" the Short-Life Ghost screamed. "If I accept linear time, I accept that my time ended! I refuse!"

But the mother ghost intervened. "My child, please... let us both accept what happened. Our denial is hurting other mothers and children."

Zhong Kui offered them a choice: "You can continue this temporal chaos, stealing fragments of life from others, never truly living any of it. Or you can accept your seven years as complete—short but real, ended but meaningful."

The Short-Life Ghost began to cry—not the bitter tears of rage but the genuine grief of acceptance. "Seven years... that's all I get?"

"Seven years of being truly loved," his mother's ghost said, finally able to embrace him at his true age. "Seven years of real joy. That's more than some ever experience."

As they accepted their reality, the stolen years and memories began returning to their owners. Children stopped aging rapidly, elderly people regained their memories.

Rather than passing on to the afterlife, the two ghosts chose to become guardians of the mountain, protecting the natural cycle of generations. The Short-Life Ghost would help children appreciate their youth, while the mother's ghost would comfort parents who had lost children.

"Our tragedy becomes our purpose," the mother ghost said peacefully. "We'll ensure others don't suffer as we did."

But as they settled into their new roles, the Short-Life Ghost delivered a warning: "Lord Zhong Kui, we weren't the only ones stealing life force. There's a Poor Ghost in Five-Li Village who's stealing something even more precious—hope itself."

This would lead to the next challenge—confronting the Poor Ghost who drained not years but ambitions.

Continue reading: Chapter Seven: The Wine Shop in Five-Li Village Collects the Poor Ghost