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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 107: Dead Loop (Fifteen)
Buses are a mode of transportation that carries tourists from all directions, encompassing people of various ages. It's not surprising that unusual situations occasionally arise; I still couldn't figure out whether what just happened was something we missed or if it was Dizzy.
As I returned to Chi Ruiqiang's house with Chi Xinrong and Han Mi, my mind was a jumble, unable to make sense of anything.
The more I tried to understand, the worse it became. Eventually, I decided to stop thinking about it and focus on the situation at hand. A charred, deformed frame lay there, while the fat man sat silently, looking utterly defeated.
I was furious. This was a serious matter; he had witnessed many supernatural occurrences with Grandpa, so why couldn't he handle this situation properly?
The matter concerning Chiang still had no resolution. We couldn't just bury him hastily; we had to follow the second plan. He would have to remain at the funeral home for a month until Ghost Month passed before any burial arrangements could be made. This is the difference between the wealthy and the poor.
Both were children who died prematurely, but the impoverished could only quietly and discreetly bury their loved ones in unkempt graves. As for Chiang, I heard from Chi Xinrong and Chi Ruiqiang that they spent a considerable amount of money on a good burial plot for their son.
What needed to be done now was to find Chiang's Spirit as soon as possible.
Incredibly, I could sense his Spirit nearby, yet I couldn't locate it. The compass was useless; even with the most sensitive spirit-detecting compass, the needles remained still as if submerged in stagnant water.
Damn!
There was nothing more I could do. I sighed and planned to visit Ten-Mile Temple tomorrow to ask Qin Ye for help. Tonight, I had nothing else to do. The family gathered at Chi Ruiqiang's house for a feast of chicken, duck, fish, and meat, discussing postponing the funeral until everyone could return on the official day to collect Chiang's ashes from the funeral home and proceed to the burial site.
I needed to take rice home.
The fat man returned alone to the Funeral Home, while Chi Xinrong drove us there. The ride was silent as each of us pondered our thoughts. I guessed that Mi was still troubled by memories of her honest parents; those fleeting recollections seemed mundane yet were filled with an eerie sense that sent chills down one's spine when contemplated deeply.
The fat man was busy checking accounts, his eyes bulging as he clutched his phone calculator like it was a stack of colorful bills—he looked like a miser caught in an embarrassing moment.
Chi Xinrong was an excellent driver; I didn't worry about her mistaking the gas pedal for the brake or using her phone while driving because she never did that.
I closed my eyes, resting my elbows and blocking out all daydreams from my mind. Relaxing my body and calming my mindset, I enjoyed the comfortable rhythm of the car's gentle swaying. For a moment, I wondered how this mild rocking sensation compared to that of being in a car during an intimate encounter; if it were like that, it wouldn't matter much—those who were bored often sought trouble for no reason.
It had been a long time since I'd dreamt of Grandpa. When he suddenly appeared before me, I found it hard to believe; the other three in the car were present too, and Grandpa sat right next to me. With a kind smile and silver beard along with silver hair on his head, I thought if Grandpa grew his hair long and let his beard grow wild, he'd resemble an old Taoist priest from Ten-Mile Temple, exuding an air of immortality.
"Grandpa." I woke up realizing it was impossible for him to appear before me; my keen intuition told me that perhaps I was experiencing auditory hallucinations again.
Grandpa just smiled, a smile that sent chills down my spine.
"Qi, Grandpa is hungry... cough cough... hungry... cough cough." In my memory, Grandpa would cough endlessly when he smoked. He was hungry and kept coughing as if trying to expel something. Under my terrified gaze, he reached out to catch whatever he coughed up, then slowly opened his fingers.
A bug!
In the palm of his hand crawled a multi-legged creature. I have a phobia of clusters, and seeing those neatly arranged long legs made me feel as if they were crawling all over my body. I stepped back, panic-stricken, shouting, "No, no, Grandpa, please."
"Ma Qi."
"Brother Qi."
I suddenly jolted awake, confronted by at least two extremely tense faces—one was chubby and the other was pale with fear, Mi. Chi Xinrong kept glancing back repeatedly. I shook my head and realized I was still in the car, with no Grandpa and no thumb-thick centipede.
Even after waking up, the golden multi-legged bug remained vividly in my memory. It felt as if I had witnessed it being expelled from Grandpa's mouth, and the image of him catching it played continuously in my mind.
I rubbed my temples; there had been too much going on lately, Alexander.
How could I dream of Grandpa suddenly saying he was hungry and spitting out such a terrifying multi-legged creature?
"Brother Qi just had a nightmare?"
I shot a glance at the chubby one with an odd expression and replied irritably, "It wasn't a nightmare; it was a spring dream."
"Haha, Brother Qi enjoys this feeling of sitting in the car the most. Mi understands; we should find an opportunity..."
I reached out and pinched the fleshy part of the chubby one effortlessly. He screamed like a pig being slaughtered, grinning and begging for mercy.
Chi Xinrong didn't laugh; she said seriously, "Ma Qi, you like dreaming while sitting in the car. I enjoy driving and watching people dream. Aren't we a perfect match?"
"Nonsense! Mi and I are the perfect match." I quickly joked to avoid making Mi jealous.
Rice Noodles turned red, lowering her head to look out the car window.
Outside the window were streetlights and dazzling neon lights from buildings. Pedestrians and vehicles passed by under the swaying branches of street trees. It was late at night; we were like a group of restless night owls used to returning home tired at night, exchanging jokes to vent all the pressures and frustrations of life.
Everyone seemed to be mindful of Mi's feelings, even the talkative chubby guy lost his enthusiasm for jokes, and no one spoke. Chi Xinrong played a song, a melancholic tune that went, "If I hurt you, I hurt myself too..." For a moment, the car was enveloped in a heavy silence, as if everyone was listening to the song, absorbing the unspoken sorrow that lingered in the air.
Soon, they arrived at Han Family Village. The car twisted and turned down the village road. Mi kept her upper body in the same position, constantly gazing out of the window. After entering the village road, they passed by vast fields of greenhouse vegetables and several plant cultivation bases.
"Mi, you won't have nightmares tonight, will you?" I was still concerned about her. She had gone with me to hear the terrifying stories told by Girl's parents, and I worried she might have bad dreams.
"No, I won't. I watched a movie that was so scary I didn't want to open my eyes to sleep; I guarantee I won't have nightmares," Mi assured me. I nodded in understanding; she had once shared with me on QQ how that childhood incident left a mark on her that she couldn't erase.
Night after night, she feared going to sleep, afraid that something terrifying would appear while she was unconscious. Those frightening figures took on the likeness of the person who had once done something horrible to her.
I knew this was a psychological scar for Mi; it needed proper treatment and more care and love to help diminish the shadow that lingered in her heart.
As they approached Han Mi's destination, I quietly took hold of her hand.
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