This is a story from when I was little.
One day, my older brother brought home many Japanese rhinoceros beetle larvae. I also wanted one, so I asked him where he got them, but he wouldn’t tell me.
I thought it might be in the back mountains, so the next day, my friend and I went there. We were young and didn’t know where exactly the beetle larvae would be, so we started digging randomly, but of course, we couldn’t find any.
We kept going deeper into the mountains. Then, we stumbled upon a spot where the color of the soil was slightly different. “This must be it,” we happily exclaimed and started digging.
Suddenly, from behind us, we heard a voice say, “What are you kids doing?” When we turned around, there was a stranger standing there.
“We’re searching for Japanese rhinoceros beetle larvae,” we replied. The man kindly said, “They’re not found in a place like this. Try looking elsewhere.” But we insisted, “We see traces of digging here, so they must be here,” and continued digging. After a brief pause, the man suddenly spoke in a soft voice.
“If you dig any further, you’ll turn into ghosts.”
Startled by his words about ghosts, we stopped digging. The man smiled and took us by the hand, leading us to a place where we could find the beetle larvae. I remember that his hand was trembling.
Now, when I think back, I wonder what was buried there. And whether the man misspoke when he said, “You’ll turn into ghosts” instead of “Ghosts will appear.” I don’t know the truth, but everything is buried within the depths of the back mountains…
