“I’m worried about you.”
“I’m fine. Are you home yet?” She asked me.
“Yes.”
“Then you should eat when it’s time to eat and do whatever you should do after eating. Don’t worry about it.”
She hung up the phone anxiously without waiting for me to reply.
I didn’t call her again. I thought about it and let her go. I assumed nothing would happen as long as she had the ghost subduing talisman on her. I was just afraid that she would be careless and didn’t take it seriously.
My aunt heated the dishes and brought them out one by one.
She kept grumbling at me while eating, “Mind your own business if you have nothing else to do. Just take care of yourself, graduate from university regularly, and find a job.”
“I know.”
My aunt taught me not to interfere with other people’s business if I shouldn’t have to care about it. One could get through this life by letting things drift off if they do not affect one personally. Maybe it was because I was born with abnormal eyes. She told me this way more than once, lest I stirred up trouble for myself. However, I didn’t think I had such a personality. Maybe I could ignore that matter if it was someone I didn’t know. However, I had known Cheng Fengfeng for so many years that I couldn’t just ignore her matters.
I lowered my head to eat. My aunt refilled my bowl with some food, and murmured, “Where is your blindfold? Are you not wearing a blindfold now?”
“I will wear it.”
She didn’t believe it, got up, and ran into my room. She had a rummage through my backpack.
She found out the blindfold and turned it upside down intentionally. She then yelled at me when she didn’t see the talisman, “Where is the ghost subduing talisman?”
“I gave it to Cheng Fengfeng.”
“Why did you give it to her? You can’t even protect yourself. You still dare to care about her?”
I lowered my eyes and was lectured by my aunt. I didn’t even dare to reach over to pick up food with my chopsticks.
She had a good rummage and found a ghost subduing talisman. She folded it and stuffed it into my blindfold and asked me to wear it all the times to not to be entangled by ghosts.
I nodded my head agreeably. I instantly put on the blindfold as I was afraid that she would nag again and ate obediently.
…
I had endless nightmares on the bed that night. Cheng Fengfeng kept on appearing in my dreams. She slept in the bathtub, nude. What filled the bathtub was not water but red blood.
I woke up several times. I would have the same dream again every time I fell asleep after my heartbeat slowed down.
I was scared and didn’t dare to sleep after midnight. I stared at the dark ceiling with my eyes opened wide and lost in thought.
I thought that I could hold on till dawn, but I didn’t know when I fell asleep drowsily again. I didn’t dream of the bathtub full of blood again, but Cheng Fengfeng still appeared in my dream. She stood by my bed and was drenched. There was a wound on her wrist that was cut by a saber. The bloody flesh was exposed, and the blood flew out.
She just stood there stupefied and turned her head sideways to stare deadly at me.
I woke up again and was covered in sweat. Fortunately, it was already dawn. I could hear the voice of my aunt chanting while burning the incense sticks. There was a faint smell of incense sticks in the air.
I breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from my face, and got out of bed faintly.
I was going to wash off the clothes I brought back after I went to clean up myself, but my aunt grabbed all the dirty clothes and said, “You don’t need to do this. Do your homework.”
I was in a daze.
There was no homework this week. Teacher Four-eye almost lost his life. He had no energy to assign homework to us.
Aunty had a strong attitude. Even though she had no time to wash the clothes as she was cooking porridge now, she still did not allow me to do the housework.
I returned to the room with resignation and took out a book from my school bag to revise my study.
However, I couldn’t read a word. The series of terrifying dreams I had last night kept flashing in my mind.
I wondered if Cheng Fengfeng was fine or not. I felt a little insecure in my heart.
I glanced at the phone on the desk. I hesitated a moment and dialed Cheng Fengfeng’s number. Would she be angry with me for waking her up so early?
Or should I hang up?
Well, I hung up, so as not to be scolded by her!
The other side answered the phone when I was about to hang up. However, what came out of the phone was not Cheng Fengfeng’s voice, but the voice of a very haggard woman.
“Who is calling?”
It sounded like a middle-aged woman. I guessed that it was Cheng Fengfeng’s mother.
“Hello aunty, I am a classmate of Cheng Fengfeng. My name is Sixi.”
She did not reply, I asked, “Is Cheng Fengfeng still sleeping? If she is sleeping, I won’t bother her.”
I just wanted to hang up, but the woman replied in a way that made me horrified, “She will forever be asleep.”
“What do you mean?”
“Feng Feng committed suicide.”
I was so shocked that my heart was chilled.
Cheng Fengfeng committed suicide?
How could that happen…?
“Did she cut her wrist in the bathtub?” I asked carefully, but the other side was surprised, “How did you know?”
“I… I had a dream of this last night. I made this call as I didn’t feel good about it.”
I didn’t know if she would believe my words, but I couldn’t think of a better reason other than that.
She sighed and told me to come to the funeral at that time. I asked for the address. She told me on the phone.
I wrote down the address handily. I got ready to go over and took a look.
Cheng Fengfeng’s soul must still be wandering there. The ghost in the blood jade must also be there.
Cheng Fengfeng wouldn’t commit suicide from what I know about her. It must be that ghost…
I had tried so hard to save Cheng Fengfeng, but her life ended in this way? I couldn’t accept this fact. I felt uncomfortable as if something was missing in my heart.
It took me a long time to recover after I hung up the phone.
I must go over and find out what happened. I couldn’t let Cheng Fengfeng die unjustly.
I couldn’t wait for breakfast anymore and rushed out the door.
My aunt chased me out of the house and yelled at me, “Where are you going?”
“I’m in a hurry. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be back in a while.”
“You can go after eating.”
“I will pass.”
I was afraid that my aunt would catch up with me and pull me back so I dashed fanatically out of the house.
“Sixi…”
I couldn’t hear my aunt’s voice.
I waited for the bus at the entrance of the village and got on, heading to the county seat in a rush. After getting off the bus, I had to stop one or two passer-bys as I was not familiar with any road sections in the county seat. They all gave me different directions, to the point where I didn’t even know where I was anymore.
I made up my mind and forced myself to call a taxi in the end. I successfully arrived at Cheng Fengfeng’s residence.
Cheng Fengfeng’s family was wealthy. They lived in a bungalow villa in an affluent area.
Several cars were parked in the courtyard of the villa. There were cries coming from the house, one following another. I guessed that a lot of the relatives had arrived after they heard the news. It must be very chaotic inside.
I put on the blindfold, summoned up the courage, and knocked on the door. The door was left unlocked. The door slightly opened as soon as I knocked on it.
I pushed the door open carefully, and walked in gently.
Many people gathered in the house. Most of them were middle-aged or older. But all of them looked sad; some had red eyes from crying, some lowered their heads to wipe their tears, and some were screaming and shouting frantically.