In the distance, the engines of large ships at the port started up, emitting a tidal roar across the sea surface.
The rising tide pushed marine organisms and small crawling animals onto the beach. Xin Hexue was like a stranded sand crab on the sand, struggling to chase the receding tidal surge.
His hands trembled uncontrollably. The pads of his fingers lost their color as he tipped two pills into his palm, covered his mouth, and threw his head back.
Lorazepam.
He had gotten it from Gu Mifeng. It worked fast, usually alleviating anxiety and panic symptoms within fifteen minutes to half an hour.
Xin Hexue bit the tip of his tongue. Following Zhong Zhen’an’s line of sight, he looked towards the well behind the meditation hall.
The windlass above the wellhead used for drawing water had long been abandoned. Countless red threads strung with countless copper coins were wound around the horizontal axle and crank handle, and woven into a net.
Vermilion paper talismans were pasted on it, making a crackling sound as they fluttered.
Last night’s “Zhong Zhen’an” said that Zhang Ying crawled out from this well.
There was a salty, fishy sea smell about Zhang Ying; he wasn’t a freshwater fish.
But no matter what, this well should connect to groundwater formed by rainfall or river seepage.
What did this mean?
Xin Hexue walked to the edge of the well. The underground part was dug very deep, and the above-ground part was built quite high. He placed his hands on the edge and looked down.
To see more clearly, he pushed aside a portion of the red threads, and a cold and sinister wind surged up from the well.
The well wasn’t dry. There was moss growing on the stone walls. Because it was dug so deep, it was pitch black below.
Gurgle, gurgle…
As if facing a visitor, the water level rose like a reservoir.
In an instant, it rose to a height visible to the naked eye.
The water surface was clear, reflecting the scene above the well.
Xin Hexue saw himself, but not entirely, because he didn’t like wearing red clothing.
The him at the bottom of the well wore a red cloud-patterned satin top with a front opening and a foreign crepe skirt with scattered flower patterns below. His pale face was expressionless, and his hands were folded and resting in front of him, beautiful in a ghostly way.
It was as if he was a white porcelain doll placed in a glass cabinet for appreciation only.
For a moment, the Xin Hexue at the bottom of the well stared intently at him, then waved a hand.
“What are you doing? Are you crazy?!”
Yu Xingzhou came rushing over.
A great force grabbed him around the waist and pulled him down.
Then came a storm of questions.
“What were you trying to do? Jump into the well?”
“Even if you’re looking for death, find a more comfortable way, okay? Is drowning simple?”
Yu Xingzhou was so angry he was practically jumping up and down. He pushed his hair back from his forehead, only to find it was covered in cold sweat.
Xin Hexue shook his head, not fully reacting yet, but the drug was taking effect, and his wandering mind was returning.
“Did I just step up onto it?”
He asked dully.
To be honest, in Yu Xingzhou’s eyes, this expression on Xin Hexue’s face was a kind of childlike innocence, still rather cute. On anyone else, it could only be called stupidity, and he would have an anti-stupidity fit and blow up any minute.
“If it weren’t for this dog crying so pitifully, I might not have found you in time.”
Yu Xingzhou pointed at the little black dog on the ground.
Xiao Hei was whining and sobbing, biting the leg of Xin Hexue’s trousers and not letting go.
Just moments before, it had bitten and tugged like this too, but it couldn’t move Xin Hexue at all. It was as if he was possessed, staring fixedly into the well before stepping onto the edge.
Not only could it not hold him back, but it also got kicked by Mother.
There was still a footprint on its body now.
Xin Hexue was heartbroken. He picked it up and patted off the dust.
A child with a mother’s love is a treasure. The little black dog took advantage of the situation, and cried even louder.
“Alright.” Xin Hexue warned lightly. “That’s enough.”
There was maternal love, but not much.
“Zhong Zhen’an is dead.”
Xin Hexue turned and said to Yu Xingzhou.
Seeing in daylight was much better than at night. With the sun shining down, he also clearly saw the truth of the meditation hall.
Yu Xingzhou grabbed Xin Hexue’s hand, frowning. “Let’s not worry about that for now. This well is too strange. Tang Amei is about to be buried. Let’s follow the living people down the mountain first.”
He pulled Xin Hexue away from this ominous well.
“Later we’ll tell the Taoist priest. They’ll definitely perform rites to release Zhong Zhen’an’s soul.”
Their voices disappeared as they went farther and farther away.
Yu Xingzhou was anxious when he pulled the person down just now, and Xin Hexue’s foot caught on a red thread, snapping it. The yellow copper coin on it rolled with a clatter to the ground, making a soft sound.
Xin Hexue walked forward while looking back over his shoulder at the same time.
A chilling wind surged up from the bottom of the well, blowing the yellow paper talismans against each other.
………
The original path up and down the mountain was only a dirt road, which was too inconvenient. The stone-paved path before them was built thirty years ago with funds raised by the people of the walled city.
For this, they also erected a monument by the roadside, engraved with the names of the donors.
The first name in the first column was Xin Cheng.
…Sincerity leads to success. He wondered if that was the meaning intended by the family who gave him this name.
Yu Xingzhou held Xin Hexue’s hand tightly, probably worried the other party would disappear if he didn’t watch closely. His mind was tense, and he didn’t care about the looks from within the funeral procession.
Xin Hexue was still recalling Zhong Zhen’an’s face from earlier.
… Was he scared to death first, and then someone else hung him on the beam of the meditation hall? Otherwise, how could a perfectly fine person hang themselves?
Of course, it was also possible that, like him(Xin Hexue) earlier, he couldn’t control his actions.
Thinking of this, Xin Hexue looked down.
The little monster was conceived in his body after all. There’s a saying that mother and child are connected heart-to-heart. So he had tried before: as long as he did it intentionally, he could transmit instructions to Xiao Hei through a strong “thought.”
A swarming shadow flowed forward, nimbly ran ahead, tripped one of the coffin bearers, and then quickly returned to Xin Hexue’s side.
Four people were carrying the coffin from four corners. One person fell, and due to inertia, the coffin also slid forward uncontrollably.
It landed with a thundering crash, and the coffin lid was also knocked open.
The crowd fell into chaos. Xin Hexue squeezed in and quickly glanced inside.
Tang Amei’s corpse was unharmed, but the white rice in her mouth had spilled out. One could see the root of her tongue; it was bitten off, leaving only a short stub.
Just like the strange being wearing burial clothes crawling on the ceiling in his dream.
Under what circumstances would someone endure severe pain and bite off their own tongue?
Tang Amei had epilepsy and stomach problems. This was also why Tan E couldn’t let go of her and returned from the city to work in the village.
This was information Xin Hexue had heard from the crowd during vigil yesterday.
He thought of Zhong Zhen’an’s terrified death state.
If fear brought strong emotional changes, it could also trigger an epileptic seizure, and the patient might unconsciously bite their tongue.
There was one thing Xin Hexue hadn’t shown Yu Xingzhou.
He had picked up Zhong Zhen’an’s identity card at the scene. Zhong Zhen’an’s last question was a practical task. The task content was…Offer incense to the Red Prince.
Matters of gods and Buddhas, even for many young people who received atheistic education, are often approached with a “rather believe it exists than not” mentality. Just look at how many parents climb mountains to offer incense before the college entrance exams every year. Some schools even organize teachers to worship at Confucius temples together.
Offering incense and worship implies having a request. Tang Amei would go up the mountain every month to offer incense to the Red Prince.
Facing gods and Buddhas, most people holding incense probably first react by mentally amplifying the content of their wishes.
Did Zhong Zhen’an make a wish when he was offering incense to the Red Prince?
………
When Xin Hexue returned to the walled city, he first went to find Gu Mifeng to understand yesterday’s situation.
Gu Mifeng told him that the group of people yesterday couldn’t wait for his return, and after not finding him in the Walled City, decided to leave.
In any case, Gu Mifeng hadn’t seen those faces last night or today.
As Xin Hexue walked back, he didn’t know if it was his imagination, but people around were looking at him and whispering.
He frowned. As he passed by a glass window, he used the reflection to check if there was something on his face or clothes.
The glass window wasn’t clear enough in the end, so he continued upstairs.
Xin Hexue’s address had already been discovered by that assassin organization. Logically speaking, he should change where he lived.
But where else could he go? If they could find 511, they could naturally find other places to stay.
Moreover, he had nothing with him now except his medication.
So he still went home.
The moment he stepped onto the fifth-floor corridor following the stairs, his footsteps stopped.
Corpses and dismembered limbs, some complete and others incomplete, lay strewn in disarray. Scarlet blood was splattered across the corridor.
Xin Hexue walked all the way down. Unit 511 was at the very end of the corridor. Now the doors on both sides of the hallway were tightly shut, and not a single neighbor dared open their door.
A mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, piled in front of his door.
From their attire, Xin Hexue deduced they were all people from that assassin organization.
What was this scene like?
It was like if you fed a stray cat outside, and to repay you, that stray cat brought you a dead mouse the next day.
Only, the dead mouse had become dead Homo sapiens, and this obviously wasn’t the handiwork of any stray cat either.
Most importantly, this wasn’t repayment.
This was a betrothal gift.
In the door crack, Xin Hexue picked up a large red wedding invitation. It wasn’t in the modern greeting card format. The text was written vertically, and the content was arranged from right to left in brush calligraphy. He could even smell the fragrance of ink between the lines.
[Respectfully set on the 15th day of the 4th month of the Gengyin year for the wedding of Mr. ■■ and Mr. Xin Hexue.]
[A joyous feast is humbly prepared, and the bride is respectfully invited to attend.]
[The banquet is set at North Island Tianxiang Restaurant, starting at the Hai hour (9-11 PM).]
[You are cordially invited.]
He had never seen anyone hold a wedding and send the invitation to the bride.
And the name of the groom was even blurred by ink blots.
This invitation was undoubtedly sent by a strange being, and this entity absolutely could not be Zhou Liao.
Because Zhou Liao couldn’t even write the word “invitation”, so he was the first to be excluded.
Gengyin Year.
Xin Hexue’s gaze fell on these words.
Thanks to his experience in ancient worlds, he understood the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches calendar system.
Sixty years make one Jiazi cycle. Gengyin is the 27th year in the lunar Gan-Zhi calendar. The most recent Gengyin years were 1890, 1950, and 2010.
So… which Gengyin year was on the invitation?
But no matter which year it was, it didn’t match the current year, 1990.
If they used the Gan-Zhi calendar system at the front, they were undoubtedly using the lunar calendar.
Lunar calendar, April 15th.
Xin Hexue pursed his lips. In the end, he didn’t step over the pile of corpses. He turned and used the key to open He Qinghong’s door.
An old-fashioned paper calendar hung on the wall in his home. Since He Qinghong hadn’t returned yesterday, Xin Hexue tore off yesterday’s page, but accidentally tore off today’s page along with it.
Lunar calendar, April 15th.
It was an ominous day for travel, but an auspicious day for a wedding.
Suddenly, a hand grasped Xin Hexue’s ankle.
And an intense smell of blood wafted over.
He had rushed in directly earlier so he didn’t notice the bloody corpse lying in the corner.
A shiver ran down Xin Hexue’s spine, and everything in his hands fell to the ground.
He Qinghong opened his bloodshot eyes. “Ahem, ahem…”
He only coughed up a pool of stagnant blood.
“Wait, hold on a little longer. I’ll call Gu Mifeng up immediately to handle this.”
Xin Hexue’s face was anxious. He grabbed the old-fashioned phone by the window, his fingers spinning the dial so fast they were a blur.
“He’ll be here right away. Stay conscious!”
Xin Hexue knelt beside He Qinghong and patted his face. He opened the home first aid kit but for the moment didn’t know where to start; there were too many bleeding spots on the man’s body.
He Qinghong’s body temperature was dropping. He was already in a state of more air in than out. His eye muscles opened weakly, and his thin lips parted slightly, looking as if he had something to say to him.
Xin Hexue lifted his head and placed it on his own knee, leaning down close. “What do you want to say? I’m listening.”
Before He Qinghong could speak, his gaze froze.
He stared fixedly at something on the floor.
Just now, he was startled and had dropped everything in his hands. From behind this invitation, another, smaller-sized invitation had slipped out askew.
The content was the same, differing in only one place.
[A joyous feast is humbly prepared, and my beloved son is respectfully invited to attend.]
Not stepson.
Xin Hexue’s face changed.
This was bad.
This little black dog wasn’t Zhou Liao’s offspring?
At this moment, sound finally squeezed out from He Qinghong’s blood-clogged throat…
“Run… quickly…”
The identity card at Xin Hexue’s waist began to feel hot.
[Please listen to the eighth question: You are pregnant. Your blind husband is missing. Your lovers are all useless. Facing his forceful possession and relentless pursuit…]
[Your choice is to…]
[A. Make a wish to the Red Prince. Let everyone go to hell!]
[B. Find another powerful stepfather. But facts prove that men are unreliable. Who else can you find?]
[C. Marriage first, love later. Although love won’t necessarily be produced, sex will definitely happen. It’s okay, you will endure this ugly, brutish husband. Who knows if a Ximen Qing might pass under your marital bedroom in the future?]
[D. Of the thirty-six stratagems, fleeing is best.]
[Oh dear, following this development, will it be a run away-with-the-ball story?]
[I heard that in novels, the ending of such stories is always being thoroughly ‘tamed’? Do you want to give it a try? Audiences all over the internet love such tropes.]
