Chapter 032 Chest of Drawers
I remember that my mom, dad and I lived in a house on the second floor of a residential building near the north. There was a neighbor at that time, an aunt. In my memory, this aunt was very beautiful. She often wore a crimson one-piece pajamas and her hair was always curly with a curling iron on it.
She was very kind, especially to us kids, often giving us delicious food, and had a good relationship with the neighbors. Maybe it was because she was a beautiful woman living alone, there were always some rumors after a long time. We kids didn't understand that, and we still went to her house to ask for candy or eat for free. Then one day, my parents came home and whispered something behind my back, as if talking about something. Later, my mother called me to the kitchen and solemnly told me that I was not allowed to go to the red-dressed aunt's house to eat or eat candy in the future.
I asked what was going on. My mother said unhappily, "Why do you ask so many questions, kid? Just do what you are told to do."
She has a bad style, Dad added, standing at the door.
I was wondering what bad conduct meant, but seeing my parents' serious faces, I knew it was not a good word, and I felt alienated and disgusted with that aunt.
One night, I played with my friends until very late. My parents went out to work and had not come back yet. I was hungry and was about to go home to eat instant noodles. When I was about to go back, I saw the aunt in standing at the door of her house. She smiled at me gently and said, "Xiao Cong, you haven't eaten yet, come to your aunt and I'll make it for you."
When I recall that scene now, it is as clear as an oil painting. The sky background is dark blue with some golden sunset glow. There is smoke from cooking in the courtyard. Many houses have their doors open. The air smells of food and you can vaguely hear the sounds of frying, stir-frying and deep-frying. The aunt in red clothes stands at the door, against the backdrop of the sky. She is very beautiful.
But I had already developed a dislike for her at that time, so I shook my head and said, my parents don't allow me to play with you anymore.
Why? asked the aunt.
Somehow, I always felt like she was crying.
My mother said, you have a bad style. I said.
After that, I took out the key, opened the door, and went into the house. After entering the house, I felt like I had stolen something. I was very nervous and scared, and there was also an indescribable sense of guilt. I secretly looked out through the gap in the screen window and saw that the aunt stood in front of her door for a long time. Her eyes fell on the horizon. There was something in her that I, a child, could not understand. She sighed deeply, opened the door, and went back to the house.
I didn't see her the next day.
On the third night, when I was having dinner at home, I heard a commotion in the yard and the sound of police bells. I put down my bowl and chopsticks and ran out to see what was happening. Many police officers were there, and the atmosphere was very serious. Soon, several people came out of the corridor carrying a stretcher with a person lying on it, covered with a white cloth.
There were crowds of neighbors watching the fun, and the area was packed with auxiliary police officers, who were maintaining order.
At this moment, the person on the stretcher suddenly dropped his hand, a white and tender woman's hand. I stood on the second floor, holding the railing and looking down, trembling all over.
I heard a few words from my parents when they were whispering, and later when they were playing with other children, they also pieced together a lot of information from the adults. Then I learned that the aunt in red had committed suicide at home on the night I last saw her.
Her death was very strange. She was hanged in the chest of drawers, and it was said that she was hanged with a clothesline. She did not come out the next day. On the third day, someone went to her house to look for her and finally found her body in the chest of drawers.
For a long time afterwards, I had nightmares, and I always felt that the aunt in red clothes was wandering around the compound, and the aunt in red clothes seemed to appear next to me. When I thought of this scene, I felt physically uncomfortable and had goose bumps all over my body. Not long after that, our family moved again, and many years passed.
When I was in school, my classmates recommended me to watch horror movies like "The Ring" or "The Grudge", but I couldn't finish watching halfway through. The scenes and feelings in the movies always made me immersed in the extremely vague memories of my childhood, which was very bad.
At this moment, the memory came to my mind again, like a childhood nightmare resurrected.
I stood in the middle of the room, looked around, and finally understood why I felt this place was so familiar. This bedroom was the room where the aunt in red clothes lived. I had eaten here many times, and she also took us kids to read comic books.
My eyes could hardly move and fell on the chest of drawers opposite. For a moment, my hair stood on end and my throat tightened. Could it be that the body of the aunt in red was hidden in the closet?
Because I was so frightened, I dared not move and stood there as if frozen. After a long time, I was able to move my body. I forced myself to calm down. First of all, this is the bardo realm, not the real world. Everything in front of me is just from my subconscious memory.
The goal is to get out within 24 hours. From an objective and calm point of view, the fact that I am in such a bedroom with such a chest of drawers in front of me can prove one thing: the clue to get out or the core secret to crack the mechanism should be in this chest of drawers.
I wanted to call Wang Yue in, but I was so scared that I couldn't open my mouth. After hesitating for a long time, I slowly moved my heavy steps and walked to the chest of drawers step by step.
Looking at the tightly closed cupboard door, my heart almost jumped out.
It was at this moment that I truly realized why I was so scared and why it left such a deep shadow on my childhood.
In addition to the fear of the aunt's suicide, in the deepest part of my subconscious, I also have a subtle sense of guilt. The aunt died because of me. The words I said to her at that time may have been the last straw that broke the camel's back. No matter what, I am responsible.
My hands were on the cupboard door handle, trembling so much that I wanted to open it but didn't dare. It felt like there was a huge obstacle in my heart blocking my action.
I was sweating profusely and finally couldn't stand it anymore, so I staggered to the outer room. Wang Yue was holding a desk lamp, concentrating on looking at the paintings on the wall. She was surprised to see that I looked very bad, and hurried over to help me sit on the sofa and asked what was wrong.
My heart was beating fast, so I calmed down for a moment and told him what was going on in the bedroom.
Wang Yue thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll go open that door."
I gritted my teeth and said, "I'll go with you."
When I went in, I asked her what she found. Wang Yue shook her head and said, "There's nothing outside. I've looked through all the documents on the desk, and they're all blank. I think there's something wrong with the painting. Also, did you find a phenomenon?"
What am I asking.
Wang Yue said: "Many clues only appear after we trigger certain conditions. For example, the countdown clock and the painting on the wall did not exist at the beginning. They only appear after certain conditions are met."
I was too exhausted to think and was in a bad mood, so I just asked casually what it meant.
Wang Yue frowned: "It means that with the existing clues, we can definitely do something. We are still stuck in the bottom of the mystery."
We entered the bedroom, and Wang Yue walked quickly to the chest of drawers and whispered, "Don't hesitate about what to do. The more you think about it, the more scared you will be. It's better to just do it first." As she spoke, she pulled the door. But after pulling it a few times, the door was locked tightly and didn't open. She pulled it a few more times, but it still wouldn't open.
I wondered: "Do I need a tool to pry it open?"
As soon as the voice fell, Wang Yue suddenly said: "Lin Cong, come here and look!"
I came to her side and looked at the chest of drawers. Many strange patterns slowly appeared on the surface of the cabinet, spreading at a very fast speed. It was as if an invisible pen was outlining the patterns at a very fast speed. We held our breath and watched carefully.
After a while, a large pattern appeared on the surface of the cabinet. This pattern was the three friends of winter , namely pine, bamboo and plum. Under these plants, several old men were drinking quietly. One of them raised his hand and wrote in the sky. The handwriting was clear, and it was four words called "Meeting the forest and blooming".
"Blooming wherever there are trees?" I murmured, what does this mean?
"Ah!" Wang Yue screamed, "Lin Cong, your name, no, your last name, your last name is Lin, so you should open it when you meet Lin."
I moved my throat and pointed at the cabinet door and said, "You mean, you can't open it, so I have to open it?"
"Yes, only you can drive." Wang Yue stepped aside.
I stretched out my hands and placed them on the handle of the cabinet door, gritted my teeth and tried to pull it out. But it didn't budge; the door was still locked tightly.
No, no. I pushed again, and this time the door moved, opening a gap. Although the gap was thinner than a spider web, it was still an improvement.
Wang Yue and I looked at each other.
I increased my strength to open it again, but the cabinet door handle suddenly twisted by itself.
I was startled and quickly pulled my hand back, only to see the two handles rotate on their own, joining end to end to form a ring. This ring was made up of four colors: black on top, red on the bottom, green on the left, and yellow on the right.
