Boys' Night Out (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)

0:00Today, we have two stories about some friends that just want to have a fun night out. But at some point during their fun night out, things take a disastrous turn for the worse. But before we get into today's stories, if you're a fan of the strange, dark, and mysterious delivered in story format, then you've come to the right place because that's all we do and we upload two, three, even four times every week. So, if that's of interest to you, please invite the follow button to come swimming with you at your favorite lake. But wait until they've jumped in before you tell them the lake is actually full of alligators.

0:33Okay, let's get into our first story called The Traffic Lane.

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1:32Finally, you can feel the fabric, sit on the sectionals, and even open the refrigerators. Plus, our in-store designers will help you bring it all together with free one-on-one design support for any project on any budget. Yep, we said free. Oh, and did we mention the cafe? So what are you waiting for? Come see all that's in store. Visit the Wayfair store today at Edens Plaza and Wilmette. Wayfair, every style, every home. Around 7 p.m. on Saturday, August 13, 2011, 19-year-old Wang Weijie was with his friends Ma Jun and Zhou Guo at an internet cafe in the city of Taiping, China, watching Jun play a computer game.

2:12Now, Wei Jie and his friends went to this cafe a lot, and today they had literally been there for hours by this point. But now, as Jun finished up the game he was playing, Guo announced that he was actually ready to go do something else now. So the three of these guys spent a lot of time together, whether it was at an internet cafe or elsewhere. They were like really close friends. And generally speaking, Weijia usually just did whatever Jun and Guo wanted to do, since they both had strong opinions, and Weijia was more of a go-with-the-flow type of guy. And so now, as Guo decided they were done with games, Weijia was just like, all right, cool, well, why don't we just head back to one of our places just to hang out?

2:52But Guo, he shook his head and said, no way, like it's Saturday. They didn't have to be up for school the next day, and so they could stay out all night if they wanted to. And so he said, like, we gotta find something really exciting to do. Like, we gotta make the most of this night. Now, nobody had, like, a great idea of what was gonna be super exciting, and so Guo was like, all right, well, for now, like, let's just go outside, and we can smoke first, and then we can go from there. And at this, both Jun and Wei-Jia just nodded in agreement, like, okay, that's the plan. But in In reality, Waja wasn't really sure if he felt comfortable staying out all night tonight.

3:27Because tonight was not just a normal night. Like this was a… an iffy night to stay out all night. So this particular weekend was not just an ordinary weekend. It was actually the area's annual ghost festival, a time on the lunar calendar when ghosts apparently would wander the streets after dark. And Waja's family, along with his friends' families, and frankly, a lot of other people in this area, they took this festival really seriously. They believed the ghosts really were out wandering the streets after dark because they were just very superstitious. In fact, in this area, this festival was taken so seriously that businesses would often close early so people could safely make their way home before nightfall.

4:11Now, Waja himself didn't really necessarily believe in ghosts. you know, despite his family appearing to very much believe in them. But the reality was is Weijia was just not a guy who ruffled feathers. He went with the flow. He was a rule follower. So in his mind, he was thinking, eh, it's the ghost festival. Kind of don't want to stay out late tonight. But now, Guo was already making his way towards the exit with Jun, and so Weijia didn't bother to argue. Instead, he just followed right along, and they went outside to smoke. About an hour later, Wei-Jia was sitting in the passenger seat of his own car, with Jun behind the wheel and Guo in the back, and they were driving down a road in the outskirts of town.

4:51And by this point, the sun had set, and so now they were officially in ghost festival territory. Like, presumably, there are ghosts out now out on the roads. So after leaving the internet cafe, the three of them, they had a smoke. But then, as they're out there, they couldn't come up with a compelling idea for how to spend the rest of their big night out. All they came up with is, oh, let's just like get in the car and drive around and maybe we'll figure out something to do. Now, initially when they hopped in the car, they're thinking, okay, like it's getting dark out. Like we're gonna be driving around during the ghost festival.

5:24We're bound to find something exciting to do. And so all of them are like, they're amped up. They're in the car, they're pumped. We're gonna find something fun. But after a while, they were just randomly driving around. No one's really out because again, it's this ghost festival. Everybody's, you know, in their homes. There's nothing going on. And it just became really, really boring. They're just like driving around and nothing's going on. And so at a certain point, Weija is just feeling so frustrated because it's like he didn't want to be out here in the first place. He didn't voice that to his friends, but like he didn't want to be out here.

5:54He just wanted to be home. And so he just was like, man, like, this is so boring. And he just leaned his head up against the window and just decided to drift off to sleep. And so he's like closing his eyes and he's just laying there. And June, who's driving, is just, you know, driving along. They're not really talking. And so Weija, as he's laying there, he suddenly feels the car come to a screeching stop. And Guo, in the back seat, immediately, reflexively screams at Jun, the driver, like, hey, what are you doing? Drive more carefully. And Weija, he's like looking around, like, what just happened?

6:26And he looks over at Jun, who's driving, and Jun is not paying any attention to Guo or to Weija. He's just pointing out the windshield at something on the road, and he's like, look. And so Weja, who's just sort of confused because a moment ago he was half asleep, he looks from June out the front windshield to see what he's pointing at. And there's this woman who's just sitting in the middle of the road. They're out on the outskirts of town. Like there's no really any buildings around or anything. Like they're out in the sticks and it's dark out and everyone's home for the ghost festival. And there's just this woman sitting on the ground.

7:02She's wearing this floral dress and there's a bike that she has that's next to her, just propped up. And she's almost been hit by a car. Like, they stopped very close to her. She's almost been hit by a car, and she's just sitting there staring blankly at the car. And so June, he's pointing at her like he can't believe it. He almost hit her, and we just, like, what's going on? And whoa, like, he doesn't even know what to make of it. And at some point, June sort of snaps out of it, and he leans out the window, and he yells at the woman to, like, get out of the way. Like, what are you doing? Like, get out of the road.

7:34But the woman didn't budge. She just sat there staring at them, just on the ground, not a care in the world, just looking right at all three of them. And so eventually, after sort of the tension in the car went down a little bit, June just pulled his head back in the window and he looked at his friends and he's like, I don't know. And he just drove around this woman, you know, just avoided her. And they continued driving along. For the next few hours, the three boys just continued driving around town looking for something to do, but there still was nothing to do. You know, everything's basically abandoned because it's this ghost festival night.

8:07Nobody's out. No businesses are open. There's nothing to do. And what really had not left any of their minds, even though they really didn't talk about it, was that woman. Like, that was so unusual to just see her sitting there not reacting to nearly being hit. Like, the whole thing was just so creepy, made more so because it's the night of this ghost festival. Like, talk about the creepiest night to see something like that. And so eventually, around like 1 a.m., when the boys are still just driving around, someone in the car suggests, like, hey, let's go back to that intersection and see if she's still there.

8:41Like, let's just see what she's doing. Now, keep in mind, it's been hours since they've seen this woman. Like, hours. And so they drive back around, not really expecting to see her there. They think that, like, no matter how weird that was, she has to have gotten up and left by now. But no, they turn onto that road, which again is outside of the town. It's like there's no buildings around. It's dark, minus their headlights. When they drive down this road, and sure enough, off in the distance, still sitting in this intersection, is this woman. She's unmoved. She's just sitting there in her dress with a bike next to her just hours later.

9:17No change. And so now it's like the boys can't help but feel really uneasy here. Like this isn't right. Something's wrong with this woman. I mean, also, they can't help but think, like, it's the night of the ghost festival. Are we seeing a ghost? Like, they're terrified. I mean, that's the reality is they were scared. But really, more than anything, what all three of them are thinking and discussing in the car is we got to tell someone about her. Like, there's something wrong with this woman. What is she doing? Is she mentally unwell? Is she on drugs? We don't know. But like, this isn't okay. We got to tell someone.

9:52But for now, the three boys decided that they had had enough fun for one night, and they drove to June's house, and they just all crashed there, determined to figure out what to do with this woman and what they saw the next day. And so several hours later, the boys wake up, they make their way into the kitchen, because they can hear June's mom is in there making breakfast. And right away, June tells his mom what happened the night before. And as he's regaling her in the details of the story, June and Guo also chimed in with their perspective. And then after they were done telling June's mom, they all sort of expected her, you know, being an authority figure, to know what to do.

10:29That she would very likely say, okay, we need to call the police, or we need to call a hospital, or we need to call some other authority figure and handle this professionally. But she didn't do any of that. Instead, she just kind of looked at the boys and she said, you saw a ghost.

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14:24Now, at first, all three boys were just shocked at how confidently and calmly she said this. I mean, of course they knew about the annual Ghost Festival. And of course, people in this town were very superstitious, including their own families. They knew this meant a lot, this Festival. But the idea that we're going to sit here and literally say that the woman we saw sitting on the ground last night was a literal ghost, that seemed crazy. And the boys began saying as much to June's mom. But June's mom was just really annoyed with them and just basically shot them down and said, look, you saw a ghost, but like, that's the reason you're not supposed to be out on the night of the annual Ghost Festival.

15:01It's why the business is shut down. It's why we all go home before nightfall. You knew you weren't supposed to be out at night. you were, that's why this happened. Not to mention, these ghosts, they don't just wander around, they target people. You were targeted. Now, June's mother was not just throwing that out there. She was referencing one other aspect of this annual ghost festival that lots of people in this area believed, which was these ghosts that wandered around after dark on this one night of the year, they weren't just wandering around. They were looking for people to effectively latch onto.

15:37And so part of the reason people believed you need to stay in at night and avoid being out after dark is because if you basically interact with one of these ghosts, they could latch onto you and then you become its target. In some cases, people believe it just produces really bad luck for you for potentially months at a stretch. Some other people say that once you've been targeted by one of these ghosts, they may try to kill you. Specifically, they may try to drown you. And so no one really knew, but it was like this belief that you just never want to interact with a ghost because it could be very bad for you.

16:12And so Jun and Guo, they still tried to argue a little with Jun's mother, trying to tell her that no, this could not possibly be a ghost. But their voices seem less forceful now, and Wei Cha, like he was sitting there thinking like, actually, if that was a ghost, this kind of makes sense. It explains why she didn't react at all to nearly being hit by a car. She just sat there. Also, why is she just sitting there? Strange activity for anybody to be doing. Maybe a ghost would do that. It also kind of explains why she was still there hours and hours later, just sitting in the middle of the road. Like, other cars must have gone by.

16:46Like, this is not normal behavior. And so Waja's thinking, wait a minute, maybe this was a ghost. However, just as Waja really started to feel almost sick with worry about, you know, the seriousness of what had happened, he heard June's mom tell them, don't be afraid. She said, look, I know exactly what you need to do to stay safe. Later that same day, Weija parked his car at a cemetery that was near Jun's house. And after he parked, he and Jun got out while Guo stayed behind in the car. All three of them were very tense. They were very anxious. And as Weija scanned the headstones and looked over at a cornfield that was next to the cemetery, all he was thinking is this ghost, this ghost woman is going to appear at any moment and she's going to do something to us.

17:31But she didn't. And so eventually, Weija and June began walking down the path that would lead them through all the gravestones, basically deeper into the cemetery. So the reason these two were here and now walking into the cemetery is because they were following June's mother's advice for how to stay safe now that they had potentially come in contact with this ghost. And so they had gone out and acquired a stack of ghost money, and now they were going to go spend it. So ghost money is a kind of paper sheet in China that typically is burned when a loved one dies. The idea is when you burn this money, it sort of goes to the deceased loved one and then they have money for the afterlife.

18:14You're basically giving your deceased loved one currency for the afterlife. But it can also be a way to buy protection from angry spirits. So Wei-Chi and his friends have been told to burn ghost money over their family grave plots so that their dead ancestors could essentially pay the ghost, the evil ghost, to leave them alone. Now, they'd already done this at Guo's family plot in a separate cemetery, so that's why Guo was staying back in the car, and now they were going to do Jun's family plot in this cemetery. And so Weija and Jun, they continue walking through the cemetery until finally they reach some of Jun's ancestors' graves.

18:53There, they knelt down, they pulled out their ghost money, and they began to burn the bills. And they're both just kneeling there, burning this money. And with each, you know, bill that crumpled up and smoldered, both of them were feeling like this enormous wave of relief coming over them. And so for a little while, they're just burning their money, and they're both looking down at the money on the ground. They're just kneeling there. But then at some point, Waja just looked up. And as soon as he did, he froze. Because standing right behind June, June can't see this, right behind June is that woman in a dress.

19:28And she's looking at both of them. And Weja was so scared, he shrieked, he jumped up, turned, and started running in the opposite direction. Now June is so startled by Weja screaming that he jumped up, ready to run away himself. But he's watching Weja take off, and he turns around because he could tell Weja saw something behind him, but there's nothing behind him. And he's thinking he must have seen the ghost because why else would he react this way? But there's nobody here. And so June sort of put together like, what's going on here? Like, Weja clearly spooked himself. We're in a cemetery after all.

20:04And he sees Weja and he's running and he's running and he disappears into the cornfield that was next to the cemetery. He's just gone, just running. He's gone. Now, this cornfield was pretty massive. It had not been harvested, so the stalks were really tall. And clearly, like, Weija was on a mission, and so Jun was not about to just chase after him. Instead, he ran back to the car, and he grabbed Guo first, and the two of them went after Weija. However, when they got to the cornfield and actually went inside of it, they quickly realized it was going to be really hard to find anything in this cornfield.

20:39I mean, the stalks are so thick and tall. It's so dense. I mean, every step was so slow and difficult and they're calling out for wage up, but there's no response. And so after several minutes of only moving, you know, like 10, 15 feet or so into this cornfield, making no progress, the two of them are like, what happened to him? Like either the ghost got him or like maybe he's in hiding somewhere. Maybe he's convinced that the ghost is nearby and he's just being quiet and he's in hiding and he's He's somewhere in this cornfield, but we got to find him. And so the two friends, they back out of the cornfield, and they end up calling a bunch of their friends to meet them at this cornfield and help them look for Weijia.

21:18So all these friends, they eventually arrive, and all day and into the night, these friends search this cornfield. They're looking everywhere for Weijia. Everyone's screaming his name. There's no sign of him. Three days later, and Weijia still had not been found. Now, by this point, the parents, Waja's parents had been told. They had told police. Police had looked for Waja, but there was no sign of him. I mean, they were still out looking for him, but right now, like, the talk of the town was, where is Waja? Nobody knew. And so on this day, three days after the day that Waja went missing, June was sitting in his room just feeling miserable.

21:58All he can think about is his friend and what happened to him. Like, you know, he ran off after presumably seeing this ghost. Like, did the ghost get him? Like, all these horrible thoughts are going through his head. And June, as he's sitting in his room, he hears his mom call out to him, telling him there's a visitor. And so June, he gets up, he leaves his room, he goes to the front of the house, and he sees a police officer standing in the doorway. And this officer would tell June and his mother that they had found Weja, and he was dead. His body was found in a lake that was not far from the cemetery and that he had drowned.

22:34June is completely shocked. I mean, on the one hand, he sort of was expecting bad news at this point. I mean, basically everybody was. But to hear that his friend was dead was just horrific. And he, you know, really struggled to keep back tears. But, you know, before he could really even react to this, the officer went on to say that, you know, June, we spoke to Wage's parents and they told us that you and Guo were with their son last, that you were with him before he vanished. And so we just want you to tell us, you know, now that we know he passed away, that he drowned, we want to know what happened.

23:09What did you see? Like what led to him drowning? And Jun, he just launched into the most detailed version of the story he could possibly think of. He took the officer all the way back to them at the internet cafe, you know, playing computer games. They decide they're going to stay out all night. They go outside. They're having a smoke. They're talking about what they're going to do. They decide they're going to get in the car and just drive around. They're driving around on the night of this ghost festival. They see this woman. They think it's a ghost. Like he went through this whole rendition of the ghost being really central to the story and how the next day June's mom had like said, oh, go burn ghost money in the cemetery to protect yourself from the spirits.