Chapter 029 Memories
Wang Yue stood up, took my hand, and said softly, "Auntie, how did you become like this? I want to know the reason."
I read sincerity in her eyes, thought for a moment, and said, "Come with me."
I took her out of the hospital and drove to my home. I entered the bedroom and pulled out a rattan box from under the bed. It was old-fashioned and had four corners.
"My parents both work in the exploration team of the North China Institute of Geology. I'm not sure what they do specifically." I looked at the box, sat on the floor and said, "I remember that day clearly. I received a call from their unit, asking me to go over. When I arrived at the leader's office, there was an old man, who should be in a very high position. He told me, Xiao Cong, you have to be mentally prepared..." When I said this, I choked up a little.
"He told me that my father went missing during a geological survey, and when my mother was rescued, she had become a vegetable." I burst into tears.
Wang Yue looked at me sadly, and she gently stroked my hair with her hand.
I barely controlled my emotions. "Two years have passed. During these two years, I have repeatedly appealed to my father's good friends and colleagues to find out the whole story, but they told me that this matter is confidential and has been sealed in the archives, and I cannot violate discipline. After a long time of persuasion, an uncle saw that I was too pitiful and revealed three words."
Wang Yue asked, which three words.
"Phoenix Mountain." I said word by word.
Wang Yue was puzzled: "Which Phoenix Mountain?"
"It's where Jiangbei meets Gansu." I said, "I went there a few times later. The mountain was too big and the range was so long that I had no idea where it was. I also thought that the places the geological survey team went to were definitely not accessible to ordinary people. I had no information and was completely lost. I returned home in disgrace."
The expression on Wang Yue's face seemed a little thoughtful.
"What's wrong? What did you remember?" I asked quickly.
Wang Yue hesitated, "I don't know if I should tell you, but as far as I know, there should be a Taoist temple deep in the mountains of Phoenix Mountain. That place is very unusual, a building left over from the Song Dynasty. It is said to be the Taoist temple of Meng Po in the world of the living."
I gasped, "Have you been there?"
"I don't know where it is, I just heard about it." Wang Yue said: "I heard from other ghost messengers that my Taoism is at the bottom among the ghost messengers, and there are many great gods above me."
"That's not right." I said, "I heard from Uncle Zhong that your abilities are among the best among the Yincha."
"That's because he's praising me." Wang Yue concentrated: "Actually, how should I put it? Every Yincha has his own strengths and knows different things."
"So how many Yincha are there?"
Wang Yue said: "There are ten of them in total, known as the Ten Great Yin Messengers. However, we rarely communicate with each other. Even I only know five of them, and there are a few others whose names I only know but not who they are."
"Don't worry about the others for now." I said anxiously, "I just want to know where on Phoenix Mountain that damn Taoist temple is located?"
Wang Yue shook her head: "Even if you know where it is, you can't go there. There is a barrier, and it depends on chance. Auntie's soul is in the bardo realm now, and she is related to Phoenix Mountain, so I thought of that place right away."
I opened the rattan box and found it was filled with stones. My tears started to fall. "Every time my parents came back for vacation, they would bring me fun things, mostly stones. They also gave me some basic geological knowledge. I thought I could enjoy my retirement after they retired, but I didn't expect something like this to happen. What should I do?"
Wang Yue looked at me distressedly, and after a long while she said, "Lin Cong, do you have the courage?"
I wiped my eyes and looked at her: "As long as it can save my mother, I have the courage!"
Wang Yue said: "Okay, I still want to go into the bardo to save my father. This time you come with me, and we will also go to save your mother!"
My heart started beating faster and without even thinking, I said yes loudly.
Wang Yue said: "Everyone who enters the bardo realm will go through seven levels, and the difficulty of each level increases. You have seen my situation. When I reached the third level, if my aunt had not appeared there by chance, I am afraid I would be dead now. There are still four levels to go, which is completely unimaginable. Are you mentally prepared for this?"
"Wait." I said, "I have a question. Is the bardo different for everyone? According to your first three levels, it seems that the puzzles are tailor-made for you. If we two go in together, will the puzzles be based on you or me? Another question, if the bardo is a fantasy created specifically for each person, can they be connected to each other? Can Zhang San's bardo and Li Si's bardo be connected to each other, or are they a world of their own?"
Wang Yue thought for a while and slowly shook her head: "I can't answer any of the questions you asked. I can only tell you that the bardo is not the mortal world where we live. We can't think about it in the usual three-dimensional way. We are like tiny two-dimensional creatures, ants, and the bardo is the Möbius strip. We will never be able to understand the composition of that place. We can only take one step at a time based on what we see."
"There are still places like this in the world." I sighed.
She looked at me and said, "Are you really going to enter the bardo? It's very likely that you'll never get out again."
I looked into her eyes quietly, remained silent for a long time, and nodded slowly: "I want to go."
Wang Yue and I had a deep conversation. We put aside our previous feelings and relationships and discussed this matter seriously. I then knew the magic of the bracelet she left for me. This bracelet could take me into the bardo realm, but I had to undergo training before I could enter and leave the realm.
Wang Yue told me that we were still short of one person. After we two entered, we needed someone to liaise outside and run errands for us. When it came to this person, the first person that came to my mind was Li Daming.
I told Wang Yue about Li Daming's situation, and she nodded : "I've heard of him at work, he's a big shot. He's good."
I asked if she had any similar candidates. Wang Yue told me that the people she knew would not easily make a move, like Uncle Zhong, unless there was a big favor or interest involved, not as pure as the relationship between me and Li Daming.
In the next few days, Wang Yue will prepare to enter the bardo again, and I will have a good rest. This time it is not a joke, I will personally enter that strange and unpredictable realm.
On the third day, I went to Aunt Wang's place. Today was the day Li Daming woke up, and I was really worried.
Aunt Wang led me in. As soon as I entered, I felt that the atmosphere was not right. The curtains were drawn on all sides, and the room was dark with no light. I asked her where Li Daming was. Aunt Wang pointed to the living room and told me that Li Daming had just woken up. She had cooked porridge and was eating breakfast.
I hurried into the living room and saw Li Daming sitting alone at the dining table in the dark room, drinking porridge.
"Damin." I called his name softly.
Li Daming's reaction was a little slow. He paused for a few seconds and then looked up at me.
He stood up, and we hugged each other tightly. I patted his back and said, "Are you okay?"
Li Daming let go of me and smiled: "It's okay, it's nothing. It's nothing."
I breathed a sigh of relief: "Do you know what happened afterwards? It was really scary."
"I heard from Aunt Wang." Li Daming said, "Come on, you're hungry too, sit down and eat something."
I looked at him. Because the light was too dim, I could only see his outline. "Are you still feeling a little uncomfortable?"
"Not really, I'm just a little afraid of the light." Li Daming said, "I guess it will take some time to get used to it."
Aunt Wang brought me dishes and chopsticks, and the three of us had a hearty breakfast. After we finished, I tried to open the curtains, and the light from outside shone in, falling on Li Daming. His face was a little pale, but after a while, he felt that there was nothing wrong.
We chatted with Aunt Wang for a while and said goodbye reluctantly. Li Daming and I walked out of the house and onto the sunny street. Li Daming walked with one foot deep and one foot shallow, and he was out of breath after walking a short distance.
I helped him to a coffee shop to rest. "Damin, are you okay?" I asked.
Li Daming looked at the pedestrians outside the window with a dim gaze: "I feel a little weak. Lin Cong, during the three days of coma... I had a very long dream."
I looked at him.
Li Daming took a deep breath. "The dream was very strange. I seemed to have returned to college, and went with a friend whose face was blurred to interview a strange man who had come back from the dead. The strange man had a heart attack in the cold water while participating in winter swimming, and died suddenly. After his death, he was resurrected by an unknown master. Then, he claimed that he had been to the underworld. In the dream, I went to interview him and found many suspicious points about him. Following these doubts, I went to find the master who called his soul back, and ended up entering a painting again... All kinds of strange things, just like real things."
He kept talking, and I got goose bumps all over my body. I quickly interrupted him and said, "Damin, this is just a dream, don't think too much about it."
"I had this dream for three days," he said. "It didn't seem like a dream, but like some distant memory."
