The Haunting Tales of the Mountain Spirits

In our area, located in the Dabie Mountains region, there are many high mountains where few people venture. The forests are dense, and the environment can be quite eerie, leading to the development of numerous ghost stories associated with the mountains.

In our village, the elders often speak of two types of outdoor spirits: mountain spirits and water spirits. Water spirits can transform into enticing forms to draw you into the water and drown you. Mountain spirits, on the other hand, have a different approach – they can drive people mad. So, when someone is found drowned, even if it's the work of a water spirit, we may never know, but mountain spirits are a different matter.

There's a woman in our village, in her forties or fifties, I'm not sure about her beliefs, but she's known as a madwoman. She's timid during the day but roams around at night. Her husband is from our village and works as a laborer.

When I was younger, I was curious about how she became a madwoman, so I asked my grandfather. He told me a story: Many years ago, when the woman was in her early twenties, she went to the mountains alone to gather firewood. However, she didn't return for an entire day. The adults from the village went searching in the mountains, and after a considerable effort, they found her. She was sitting on a mountaintop with a rocky surface, covered in mud and with mud in her mouth. There were also a few half-eaten earthworms around her. She couldn't walk anymore. Her husband carried her back home, and after a few days of rest, they realized she had gone mad.

My grandfather explained that she had been lured away by a mountain spirit. Those ensnared by mountain spirits don't know anything, and they follow the spirit aimlessly, doing whatever the spirit instructs. If the person is physically weak, their sanity may never return, and they become a madwoman or madman.