Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Ye Chenfeng wondered if Sun Xianger would go looking for someone.
He thought of his father.
Ye Dad was at his cousin's house, worried about whether his son was in trouble. The pain of losing a loved one tormented him.
"Is this retribution? How can it come so quickly!" Ye Dad paced by the kitchen window, gazing down at the community greenbelt. A few people walked along the path: a woman carrying a basket of vegetables, a man striding purposefully toward the community entrance, and children laughing and playing as if they would always be lively and mischievous. Watching the children reminded him of Ye Chenfeng's childhood.
Ye Chenfeng was a diligent child who never caused them any worry. He preferred to keep things bottled up inside rather than speak out. Once, after getting into a fight, he returned home with a torn shirt and bruises on his face.
Seeing Xiao Chenfeng like that, both parents asked what had happened.
Ye Chenfeng bit his lip and said nothing, burying himself in his homework instead. In the end, his parents used eggs to soothe the bruised areas, which only faded three days later.
On another occasion, he came home after school having been beaten again.
His backpack was torn apart, but he still clutched his books tightly. Xiao Chenfeng didn’t cry.
His parents felt heartbroken as they checked his supplies only to discover that his pencil case was missing.
He had been severely beaten by classmates who also stole his pencil case; it was too much to bear.
Ye Mom could no longer hold back her anger and went to the school to confront them.
When she arrived, she learned that her son had been bullied since he started school. The teachers intervened, but those kids promised not to bully him in front of adults while secretly waiting in groups to ambush him after school and beat him up.
Why did these kids bully Xiao Chenfeng?
Ye Dad understood very well.
It was because Xiao Chenfeng's grandmother was a shaman.
Xiao Chenfeng wore a red ribbon around his neck, and beneath it was an Aromatic Pouch. One day, a troublesome classmate stopped Xiao Chenfeng and forced him to take off the Aromatic Pouch.
In front of Xiao Chenfeng, this mischievous classmate tore open the Aromatic Pouch, spilling out fragrant ashes and a piece of yellow paper inscribed with runes.
"Ha, your grandmother is a charlatan."
Tears welled up in Xiao Chenfeng's eyes as he clenched his small fists, glaring at the classmate with resentment.
"What’s wrong? Do you know any dark arts? Come at me then."
Xiao Chenfeng shouted, "Ah..." and bravely charged at the classmate, getting into a scuffle. As a result, both of them were punished. The teacher assigned them several times more homework than the other students and made them read their reflections over the school loudspeaker.
After that incident, Xiao Chenfeng never dared to be brave again, even when he was beaten black and blue; he would grit his teeth and endure it.
However, after being bullied, he spoke even less and became unwilling to interact with others. He preferred to stay alone in a dark room for hours on end.
Ye Dad and Ye Mom tried to communicate with their son but failed repeatedly. Eventually, they took him to the hospital.
The psychologist examined him and listened to Ye Dad's account before reaching a conclusion.
Ye Chenfeng had developed psychological barriers and character flaws, indicating mild neurological issues.
The way to address the issue is to change the habit of being withdrawn, to open up, communicate more, and make friends.
According to Ye Dad, after trying for a while as the doctor suggested, there was no improvement. Eventually, due to their busy work schedules, the couple gave up on continuing and instead placed their hopes on Xiao Chenfeng, the only person he could rely on.
The only person Xiao Chenfeng could rely on was his grandmother.
His grandmother said that Xiao Chenfeng had bad luck and would face a life-threatening ordeal, so she specially made him a protective talisman to keep with him. However, it ended up getting damaged by his classmates, and not only that, but Xiao Chenfeng's days at school became increasingly difficult.
In the end, Ye Dad had no choice but to transfer Xiao Chenfeng to another school.
However, even after the transfer, the misfortune did not end. Not long after, he was beaten again.
When Ye Dad went to the school to ask the teacher about the situation, he learned that the one who hit Xiao Chenfeng was a child from a single-parent family named Xiong. He couldn't quite remember the name of the child who had hit him and felt a bit frustrated. Rubbing his temples, he realized that his headaches had been frequent lately; every time he tried to recall certain events, it would trigger another headache.
The house was very quiet. His cousin's family had gone abroad for vacation and had let Ye Dad stay in their home for free.
Ye Dad had reached out to Xiao Chenfeng several times, hoping he would come stay for a while.
But Xiao Chenfeng always made excuses, as if he were too busy with endless tasks and never found time to visit him.
When children are small, you worry about them crying; when they grow up, you worry they won't care about you anymore.
Ye Dad felt quite melancholic. He chose not to dwell on those memories any longer and returned to the living room to enjoy some tea while watching television.
He hadn't gone back to work at his unit.
Because of the mysterious death of his spouse, Ye Dad lost interest in work; whenever he closed his eyes, he would see the scene of his partner's demise.
He had no appetite and had lost quite a bit of weight.
His monotonous daily routine was spent in solitude and cold loneliness. It must be said that his cousin's family was truly happy; he was a winner in life. He had money, a car, a house, a beautiful wife, and a pair of lovely children.
And here he was, all alone.
Even with Ye Chenfeng around, he didn’t quite understand his thoughts.
After that incident, when his son returned home again, he had completely changed.
That incident nearly made Ye Dad lose all hope.
Ye Chenfeng went to the village alone.
He left quietly; neither Ye Dad nor Ye Mom could deter him from his determination to go to the village. On the first day, their family of three had a heated argument over his decision to go.
In the end, Ye Chenfeng disregarded his parents' objections and left home alone, leaving a letter saying he was going to visit his grandmother.
Little did they know that this letter would become a farewell note between him and his parents.
Ye Chenfeng had an accident.
When Grandma called to inform them, Ye Dad felt as if the world was spinning around him; it felt like the sky was falling, and he was frozen to the core.
At the urging of Ye Mom, Ye Chenfeng's Grandmother agreed to one thing for her daughter: to borrow a corpse and bring it back to life.
Half a month later, Ye Chenfeng returned.
Along with him came his grandmother.
She had become quite frightening.
Although she had visited her daughter's home before, this time was truly different from the past.
Ye Dad personally witnessed her catching live fish fry from the aquarium and devouring them. With fish scales all over her mouth, she looked ferocious and brutal, startling Ye Dad, who had inadvertently seen her.
Ye Dad quietly asked his wife when Mother-in-law had developed a taste for the fish fry in the aquarium.
After all, Ye Chenfeng's Grandmother had previously mentioned that raising fish fry at home would ward off evil and disasters.
Ye Dad still remembered the incredulous look on his wife's face, the two of them sneaking out in the middle of the night to check on Mother-in-law while she slept, and how Mother-in-law had once sleepwalked and made strange noises outside someone else's window.
As a result, he spent a significant amount of money to downplay the situation.
Thinking about it now gave him a headache again. He coughed lightly and went to the medicine cabinet, pulling out a dark brown bottle. After glancing at the instructions on the bottle, he decisively poured out two pills and swallowed them with some water.
These were painkillers.
Initially, just one pill would do the trick, but now he needed to take two.
The pills slid down his throat and into his esophagus, making their way to his stomach.
Ye Dad's thoughts drifted back to fragments of memories.
He recalled the last time Mother-in-law visited their home and what transpired that day.
His daughter, feeling a pang of sympathy for her mother, had learned that she was genuinely interested in those tender, delicious fish fry. So, she went to the market and bought a lot of small fish fry for her mother to eat.
Because of this, he and his daughter had quite a few arguments.
Incredibly, even with fresh fish fry available for Mother-in-law, she continued to lose weight day by day like an old skeleton.
Ye Dad pondered that perhaps it was because she wasn't eating properly.
Eventually, Mother-in-law fell seriously ill and was admitted to the hospital. It wasn't until a few days later that he realized she had actually been dead for quite some time. The doctor couldn't explain how someone who had already passed away could still appear alive in their daughter's home.
It wasn't until Ye Chenfeng returned home and pulled out a strange gourd from under Mother-in-law's bed that he learned the truth.
There were indeed things in this world that Ye Dad could never have imagined.
He was reluctant to think about that taboo object, curling up on the sofa like a dispirited child who couldn't muster any energy.
The painkillers took effect; they not only alleviated pain but also helped induce sleep.
Ye Dad felt a bit drowsy but didn't think to get up and go to the bedroom. Instead, he closed his eyes in a curled-up position on the sofa and quietly drifted off to sleep.
As Ye Dad drifted into a dream, he felt an overwhelming chill. He thought to himself, curled up on the sofa without any warm coverings, that it was early spring and the temperature was quite low. Despite this realization, he couldn't manage to open his eyes.
Around him was pitch black.
The cold intensified, and he faintly heard the sound of flowing water, gentle like a small river. The water was crystal clear, revealing the pebbles at the bottom.
The pebbles were of various colors, clearly visible.
In Ye Dad's consciousness, a figure appeared.
It was a child.
The child stood quietly by the river, gazing at the shimmering surface of the water. Then, in a shocking move, he began to step into the water.
"Stop! No, child! Don’t be deceived by how shallow the water looks; it’s actually deep here. There used to be sand dredgers that came to extract materials. What you see as shallow water is hiding something sinister beneath. Don't let appearances cloud your judgment."
His cries were weak and powerless.
Yet the child continued resolutely into the water, step by step moving away from the shore. The water engulfed his ankles, then his legs, rising up to his waist, then his neck, until his entire head submerged and disappeared.
Ye Dad shouted in desperation: “Ye Chenfeng…”
Indeed, that child was Ye Chenfeng, Ye Dad's only son.
Panting heavily, Ye Dad tried to shake off the surrounding cold and inexplicable fear. Suddenly, a pair of icy hands gripped his throat, and a chilling voice whispered in his ear.
"I shouldn't be dead. Your son committed suicide; he was resurrected by dark magic and has occupied my body for a long time, preventing me from reincarnating properly. Therefore, you must die."
Ye Dad felt his breath becoming increasingly difficult, and the image of Ye Chenfeng appearing after being missing for half a month flashed in his mind, filling him with shock and panic.
This child should be even better than Xiao Chenfeng himself.
With a straight nose and well-defined lips, those bright eyes sparkled with a cleverness.
"Dad."
Ye Chenfeng called out "Dad," sounding somewhat awkward.
When he called for Mom, Ye Mom joyfully embraced him for a long time.
When Ye Dad was alone and conscious, he would repeatedly tell himself, "This is not my son; my son is dead..." But when faced with the new Ye Chenfeng, he found himself unwillingly thinking, this is my son.
Ye Chenfeng had come back to life; only Heaven knew, along with Ye Dad, Ye Mom, and Grandma.
But let’s not forget that Heaven knows, as do the spirits that pass by every day.
The retribution eventually arrived, and the first to face it was Ye Chenfeng's Grandmother.
Comment 0 Comment Count