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When Song Dingbo of Nanyang was young, he met a ghost while traveling one night and asked who it was. “I am a ghost,” it said. “And who are you?” Dingbo lied: “I am a ghost too.” “Where are you going?” the ghost asked. “To the market in Wan,” he replied. “I am going there too,” said the ghost. So they went on together. After a few miles, the ghost said, “Walking is too slow. Why don’t we take turns carrying each other?” “An excellent idea,” said Dingbo. The ghost carried him first for several miles, then said, “You are very heavy. Surely you are not a ghost?” “I am a new ghost,” Dingbo said. “That is why my body is still heavy.” Then Dingbo carried the ghost, which weighed almost nothing. They took turns like this several times, and Dingbo asked, “As I am a new ghost, I don’t know what we have to fear or avoid.” The ghost replied, “We dislike only human spittle.” They continued on their way. When they came to a stream, Dingbo let the ghost cross first and listened: it made no sound at all. When Dingbo crossed, he splashed noisily through the water. “Why are you making such a noise?” the ghost asked. “I have only just died and am not yet used to crossing water,” Dingbo replied. “Do not think it strange.” As they neared the market in Wan, Dingbo hoisted the ghost onto his shoulder and gripped it tightly. The ghost screamed and shrieked, demanding to be put down, but Dingbo paid it no heed. He went straight into the market and set it on the ground, where it turned into a sheep. He promptly put it up for sale, spitting on it lest it change shape again. He sold it for fifteen hundred coins and went away. At the time, Shi Chong remarked, “Dingbo sold a ghost and got fifteen hundred coins.”