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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 15: Ghost Month Taboos (Part Five)
Damn it, always putting rice first, as if it's unfair to Chi Xinrong.
No more nonsense.
The person slumped over on the bench outside the intensive care unit was the young man who had attacked me alongside the Monkey Spirit.
As I watched him, he recognized me and awkwardly lowered his head. His hands rubbed against each other nervously, and his eyes were fixed on the clean floor. The ground was spotless, reflecting his shadow; it was as if he were staring into a mirror made of shiny tiles.
"Hi, how are you?"
I took the initiative to greet him. He startled and suddenly looked up, revealing a pair of terrified eyes beneath his messy hair. "Y-You."
"Is he okay?" My 'he' naturally referred to the Monkey Spirit lying in the ICU.
"Not good." The young man's appearance resembled that of the Monkey Spirit, leading me to believe they must be related. Sure enough, under my and Qin Jian's focused gaze, he fidgeted and stood up awkwardly. I gestured for him to sit down. He introduced himself, "I'm Hou Dequie, a cousin of Hou Dewen. We're both from out of town; our hometown has a lot of fish. We have a temporary sales point here and also handle orders and fish delivery services. Everything was going well until something happened! My cousin's wife is at the hospital taking care of him; last night something attacked my cousin and his wife."
I felt it was a pity that Chi Xinrong wasn't a news reporter; she was suited for social interactions, and being a reporter could be one of her career choices. She asked him in a reporter-like tone, "What do you think attacked your cousin?"
Hou Dequie shook his head helplessly and mumbled, "I don't know."
Chi Xinrong wanted to continue questioning him, but I snapped, "Chi Xinrong, you can go." She paused in surprise, her face flushed with anger but unable to express it in front of Qin Jian. Given the need for silence in the ICU, I knew that no one had ever dared to speak to her like that before. She suppressed her rage and stepped aside while Qin Jian and I focused on the matter of Hou Dewen being attacked by an unknown entity, leaving us little time to pay attention to her emotional shift.
Hou Dequie trembled as he offered a cigarette to both me and Qin Jian. Almost simultaneously, we pointed at the sign on the wall: "No smoking here."
Hou Dequie awkwardly stuffed the cigarette back into its case after seeing the mess. Unfortunately, the cigarette was too soft and broke, scattering tobacco everywhere. He couldn't be bothered to continue stuffing it and simply put the broken cigarettes along with the case into his pocket. Then he forced a smile at me and said, "I heard from Fat that you have some skills. At that time, my cousin didn't believe it; if it weren't for you, he might have lost his life right there."
Qin Jian was surprised and whispered, "Do you know each other?" He was currently in disguise, so Hou Dequie naturally didn't know his true identity as a People's Police officer. If I revealed what happened when they tried to rob us, it might pique someone's interest enough to drag him into the station for questioning.
Whatever happened to me was fine. A step back allows for a broader view; sometimes it's best to endure for the sake of peace! I feigned nonchalance and replied, "It's nothing, just a friend of Fat's."
"Oh."
Qin Jian didn't say much more and soon disappeared from sight. I smiled at him and said, "You should go look for her; she’s probably throwing another princess fit." Once Qin Jian left, I intended to tell Hou Dequie the truth about what I saw in the surveillance room at Hongqiao Supermarket.
I pointed to a chair for Hou Dequie to sit down and then seriously told him, "Your brother witnessed the death of Yuyaya at the entrance of Hongqiao Supermarket but chose to ignore it. This is his karmic retribution; everyone comes into this world with their own burdens. Hongqiao Supermarket and Yuyaya are his burdens in this life."
Upon hearing this, Hou Dequie broke down in tears, stammering, "My cousin has always been someone who stands up for others. I don't know what happened last time; he came back from the market gloomy and started gambling occasionally to vent his frustrations. Recently, his luck was particularly good—he won money every time. Fat owes him money, and so do I. We're cousins, so we figured we wouldn't pay him back, but Fat's debt must be settled. That's why we were lying in wait for you after receiving Fat's message, and then this happened."
"Regret won't help now; what we need to do is wait and see how things unfold. If it's convenient for you, call your family and bring incense and Hell Money to Yuyaya's grave to burn paper offerings at midnight crossroads to send off wandering souls—it's a way to avert disaster."
"Yeah, yeah. I believe you have some skills; my cousin doesn't believe in your tricks—they're just scams aimed at old folks. But I trust that you must have a way to save him, right?"
"Let whatever happens happen; I can't stop someone who's already on the brink of death."
Hearing my tone clearly implied that Hou Dewen had no way out. Hou Dequie hurriedly waved his hands and looked anxious as he tried to stand up again. "Master Ma, please! Even if my cousin made mistakes, they were unintentional. He’s just straightforward and doesn’t consider others' feelings, which has offended many people. My cousin carries a heavy burden—he has an eighty-year-old mother at home and young children who depend on him. His wife hasn’t given birth to a son yet; they've had several daughters instead. My cousin feels frustrated because there are so many mouths to feed relying on him selling fish to support the family."
What could I do about such pity? Unless... but that method wouldn’t work, and I wasn't willing to try it either. As morticians with some understanding of causality, we shouldn't provoke situations that could lead to condemnation.
But hearing Hou Dequie's words stirred genuine sympathy in my heart—what should I do?
I had always wanted to visit Yuyaya's relatives, but considering my peculiar profession, I feared that my casual visit might bring them misfortune. Several times I brought it up, only to dismiss the idea myself. Yuyaya's parents were not in the city, making it even more difficult to find them.
"Ma Qi, have you thought of a way?" Qin Jian truly had a charm that could conquer the troublesome Chi Xinrong. Seeing her obediently following him made me chuckle inwardly; it seemed that even the most difficult could be subdued.
As long as Qin Jian was involved, Chi Xinrong would no longer pester me, which was for the best.
Hou Dequie sighed heavily; Qin Jian was relentless. I wasn't having an easy time either. If I went against Grandpa's Mortician taboos, I would face condemnation.
In desperation, I asked Hou Dequie, "Can you give me your brother's Ba Zi?"
Hou Dequie provided me with his cousin's Ba Zi. I didn't believe in fortune-telling; the more one sought it, the thinner their fate became. This was something Grandpa had privately told me. Some people liked to consult fortune-tellers simply to satisfy their vanity, hoping to hear something good for psychological comfort.
The saying "eight or nine out of ten" and "ten sheep, nine not whole" reflects this very principle.
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