Chapter 44: Spiritual Song
At twelve o'clock in the middle of the night, the clock in Zheng Qing's house rang, which scared me. After twelve times, Zheng Qing stood up.
"Walk."
I went out and walked towards the north mountain. The mountain was very big and was the tail of Changbai Mountain. A narrow path extended along the ridge to an unknown place. I had been to this mountain before, but I had never walked too far. The forest there always made people feel scared, too dense and too deep. I was afraid that some wild beast would come out of the woods.
It is true that there are wild beasts here, but I have never seen one. I have only heard about it. No one knows whether it is true or not.
Zheng Qing walked ahead and suddenly broke into a duo act. Liu Xiaojing kept holding my hand. She was nervous. I wondered if ghosts could be scared too. Maybe she wasn't a ghost, just a normal person like us, just with colder hands. That wasn't any different.
Zheng Qing suddenly hummed a tune that was so strange it made me break out in a sweat. It was definitely a tune I couldn't imagine. When Liu Xiaojing heard it, she tightened her grip on my hand. I knew she was nervous, too.
Zheng Qing's humming became louder and louder, and suddenly it stopped. He stopped and stood still. I was so scared that I broke out in a cold sweat. Zheng Qing was so weird. What on earth was he going to do?
After looking at Zheng Qing's back for a long time, he turned around .
"Do you know what song this is?"
Obviously, this was asked to me, and it seemed that Liu Xiaojing should also know it. I shook my head.
"It's called 'Spiritual Song.' It's been passed down for thousands of years, but now very few people know it. There are probably only two people who can hum it. 'Spiritual Song' originated from a certain nation and a certain lake. When the song plays, a boat appears on the lake, a light shining, moving in the distance. In that same night, everyone in that nation dies. Their faces are hideous and terrifying. It's said they died after listening to this song. No one knows what happened."
I don’t know what Zheng Qing meant by saying this or what he wanted to tell me.
"I'll take you to that place, the lake."
I shuddered. Was Zheng Qing trying to scare me? If so, then Zheng Qing probably wanted to get something, but I had nothing! I kept wondering what he was trying to achieve, but I couldn't figure it out.
I didn't know there was a lake in this mountain. This mountain has been closed for two hundred years. Few people go into the depths of the forest. People may get lost or die. It's normal that I didn't know there was a lake.
Zheng Qing walked easily, as if he was very familiar with the place. Liu Xiaojing was always nervous. I didn't know why she was nervous. I didn't ask her, but just looked at her. Her face, which was originally very pale, was even paler in the night, like a ghost. I couldn't help but shudder.
"Are you scared?"
I didn't say anything. Liu Xiaojing held my hand and didn't let go. As for whether I was afraid or not, she knew best.
When Zheng Qing walked until one o'clock in the middle of the night, his pace increased, which made me very nervous. Liu Xiaojing followed closely and finally caught up with him. It seemed that Zheng Qing's steps were a little strange.
The path, or sometimes there was no path at all, went through the bushes, scratching my face and making it feel hot and uncomfortable.
It was past two in the morning when Zheng Qing stopped and looked off in the distance. He saw a lake. It was enormous, shimmering blue in the night. It was truly a beautiful lake, the most beautiful I'd ever seen. However, my master once said, "Be careful of anything that's incredibly beautiful. Anything that's too perfect, too beautiful, to the point of stunning you, often harbors something deeply strange."
I felt an atmosphere, an indescribable atmosphere, which made me feel uncomfortable and creepy.
Zheng Qing said while looking at the lake.
"We'll be on that rock in a minute. That's the lake-viewing platform."
I saw a big rock by the lake with a platform on top. I was unsure. Liu Xiaojing let go of my hand at this moment and walked towards the lake-viewing platform. Zheng Qing made a strange sound and did not move. I didn't know what that strange sound was. It came out of Zheng Qing's throat in a muffled voice, as if he wanted to say something. I think this is what happened to Liu Xiaojing's strange behavior.
Zheng Qingcai said this when Liu Xiaojing was about to reach Wanghu Terrace.
"Walk."
I followed him, about three or five meters away. I couldn't get too close. At that moment, I knew that Zheng Qing might harm me but not Liu Xiaojing, so I had to keep a distance and be ready to run away at any time.
Liu Xiaojing went up to the lake-viewing platform and stood there looking into the distance. After Zheng Qing and I went up, they both looked into the distance of the lake. I couldn't see anything. Fog was rising on the lake. It was light at first, then it became thicker and came towards this side. I thought of the "Spiritual Song". If it sounded at this moment, I would probably lose my life. After the people of that tribe heard the "Spiritual Song", no one was alive overnight. It was too scary. What kind of song was that? I don't know. I have heard weird songs, but I have never heard such a deadly song. This is the first time I have heard it. This is simply the life I want .
My legs are shaking.
Suddenly, Zheng Qing moved, but Liu Xiaojing didn't move. I saw something appear from the lake and the fog. I couldn't see it clearly, but I was sure it was moving, very slowly, coming towards this side little by little.
"Corpse ship."
Zheng Qing said something in an unusual voice. It seemed that Zheng Qing was also afraid of the corpse ship . Liu Xiaojing just watched quietly without any reaction. She didn't know why it was like this. At this moment, Liu Xiaojing's fear seemed to be gone.
I didn't expect that it would be a corpse ship. The ship gradually became clear. It was over a hundred meters long, a very large ship. The ship was hung with white flags and a strange aura was everywhere. I moved.
"Don't be afraid."
Zheng Qing looked at me and said, I know nothing. Zheng Qing didn't say anything, just looked at the corpse ship. I was sure that the corpse ship was coming towards us, heading towards this Wanghu Terrace. To be precise, this Wanghu Terrace should be a pier, something like that.
So, what kind of people live here? In Northeast China, there are many ethnic minorities like this, all documented in major historical records, but smaller tribes are completely unknown, even unknown. They live hidden in the pristine forests, what should be a carefree, happy life. But how such a strange discovery could have occurred, and how the "Spiritual Song" came about, no one knows.
The boat was getting closer and closer, and there was no one on it.
"Master Zheng, tell me, what's going on?"
"Watch first."
Zheng Qing took a step back, he actually took a step back, but Liu Xiaojing walked forward and stopped at the edge. I shouted.
"Liu Xiaojing."
She didn't respond, and Zheng Qing didn't say anything either. It seemed like everything here was so weird that I couldn't even imagine how weird it was.
The boat stopped more than a hundred meters away from Wanghutai and didn't move. Liu Xiaojing didn't speak, and Zheng Qing didn't speak either. I couldn't control myself anymore.
"Master Zheng, what's going on?"
"This is a corpse ship. There should be corpses on the ship. Of course, I have only heard about it. In fact, this is the first time I have seen such a corpse ship. I never thought I would see a corpse ship."
"So you brought me here today not to see the corpse ship, but just a coincidence, right? Then why did you bring me here?"
"I don't have time to explain it to you right now. Something fatal might happen."
Zheng Qing was nervous. I could tell his voice had changed pitch and was uncontrollably changing. He was sweating profusely.
Suddenly, the big ship moved again and approached the lake-viewing platform. It was obviously approaching. Zheng Qing did not move, and Liu Xiaojing just stood there, without making any sound or movement.
The boat really approached the Wanghu Terrace, and Liu Xiaojing actually got on.
"Xiao Jing."
Zheng Qing shouted and wanted to go over, but hesitated, took two steps, and stopped.
"Liu Xiaojing, come down, you can't go up, you can't..."
The corpse boat moved, leaving Wanghutai. Zheng Qing was stunned, and so was I. It wasn't until the boat disappeared that he slapped his head, squatted down, and held his head in his hands without saying a word. I was sweating too. Liu Xiaojing boarded the corpse boat without even turning her head. I only saw her back the whole time. How could this happen? Why didn't Zheng Qing get on? I didn't know any of this.
Zheng Qing squatted for a long time, then stood up and said.
"go back."
"But……"
"No buts."
Zheng Qing got angry and yelled at me. At this moment, I really wanted to strangle this guy to death. You are angry with me for what you did, and I know nothing about it. It makes me so angry that I am dying.
When Zheng Qing and I went back, it was already daybreak. When I got home, my father was stunned when he saw me.
"You look pale. What happened?"
I shook my head and didn't want to tell my father about this, but I had to know what happened, so I wanted to ask Zheng Qing.
The next day at work, I was in a daze in my crematorium. Zhao Tie's return to the crematorium made me seem indifferent to this apprentice. He was working and I watched, but I didn't want to do anything.
Zhao Tie stood aside and said until he was done.
"Master, we're done."
"go home."
I didn't go home, but went to Zheng Qing's office. He was sitting there smoking and drinking tea. There was even a pot of dead flowers on the windowsill. It was blooming abnormally brightly, not like a normal flower. I stood at the door and didn't go in or close the door. At this moment, I was already afraid of Zheng Qing, so I had to be careful of Zheng Qing at all times. He could turn a dead Liu Xiaojing into a living person, and he could also turn a living person into a dead person. There was absolutely no problem with that.
"Come in!"
Zheng Qing took a long time to speak, and it was obvious that he had decided to tell me something.
I went in, left the door open, and sat opposite Zheng Qing.
Zheng Qing stood up and closed the door. The sound of the door closing made me shiver. Zheng Qing saw it.
"You don't have to be nervous."
After Zheng Qing sat down, he threw me a cigarette. I lit it for him and he also lit it. The cigarette he smoked was quite strange, white in color. I don’t know where he got it from. He always smoked this kind of cigarette.
"Xiao Zuo, regarding Liu Xiaojing's matter, I have to say something. Actually, I didn't bring Liu Xiaojing back to life. That Liu Xiaojing is dead, really dead. But I don't know what happened to this Liu Xiaojing. She suddenly appeared in the morgue one day and stood behind me. I was carrying the body to the corpse cart. When I saw her, I threw the body away. I was shocked. I know that Liu Xiaojing is dead. That is absolutely true. I was the one who carried her body to the refining room. There is no doubt about that, but she suddenly appeared."
Zheng Qing stopped talking here. I could see that he was still scared when he thought about this incident. Of course, if it were me, I might be scared to death. The dead person is standing next to you, or in the morgue.
However, Master Yunzheng told me about such things. In order not to scare me, he told me that such things will happen here, but you may never encounter them in your lifetime. After a person dies, there will be a kind of person who will show an apparition. They do not really exist. The apparition you see with your eyes is like seeing a real person, but it only exists for a few minutes. He has something he is attached to, so he comes to take a look and then leaves. Or you can call it the shadow of the soul. You don't have to be afraid when you see it. This is what Master Yunzheng told me. Now when Zheng Qing talked about this, I think it should be a kind of apparition. He saw it, and he was lucky, or it was nothing big, and it didn't matter. He was just scared.
"I knew about the apparition. Everyone at the crematorium should have known about it. This kind of thing would be told to everyone who came to the crematorium, because it's really scary. But knowing it made us prepared. That day, I realized it and I wasn't afraid anymore. She only existed for a few minutes, at most, and then she disappeared, forever. However, no, she spoke, Liu Xiaojing spoke..."
I started sweating, it seemed that everything was not that simple.
