Chapter 45: The Sound of Dripping Water in the Columbarium
Ke Mingzhe, I want to escape from the crematorium like your mother. I didn't sleep all night and went to work at the crematorium in the morning. I really am like what Master Zhou said. I can't leave this place. I am destined to stay here for the rest of my life. Like my father, I can't escape like my mother.
I have to work in the columbarium
When I go to the columbarium, I just need to arrive before 8:30, unlike working as a refiner, where I have to arrive after 6:00 to do the preparation work.
I sat there, lit a cigarette, and looked at the door. I didn't like looking at the urns on my right. Souls and ashes were stored there. There were thousands of urns placed there, and in each grid, there was always a strange feeling, which definitely made you feel uncomfortable.
The door opened and a group of people came in. The person in front was holding an urn.
"Only three people can go in."
I used a card to open the door of the urn, took him in, and went to urn No. 909.
“Put it right here.”
After I finished speaking, they stayed inside for more than ten minutes before coming out. Their expressions were indifferent, as if they were hiding the pain. That's how it was, quiet, no one spoke.
After noon, everything was done. When I was about to leave, I heard the sound of dripping water again. It was really strange. I checked again, but still found nothing. I walked to the innermost corner, which was the northernmost corner. I heard a sound. It turned out to be coming from the wall. It was so weird. This wall was a big gable and there was no room on that side. If there was, I wouldn't be scared. Maybe it came from that side, but there was no room on the big gable over there.
I stood there for a long time without moving. The sound was clear, not blurry. I slowly approached the wall and listened. It was definitely the sound coming from the wall. That's all I can say.
I hurried out, packed my things, and left. When I came out, I looked at the columbarium. It was indeed the Great Gable. It was really strange. How could the sound come from inside the wall? There were no traces of water on the wall. This made me unable to understand and explain it. There were no water pipes or bathrooms there.
Yinyan came over with a twisted leg. Recently, Yinyan has been twisting her leg when walking. I admit that we have slept together. Does it mean that she twists her leg after slept together?
I have no idea.
"Mingzhe, let's go eat spicy hot pot tonight. I'll wait for you. The South Station branch is at 5 o'clock."
I watched Yinyan get into the car and drive away, and Zhang Xiaoxue ran over.
"Brother Mingzhe, let's have lunch together."
"Xiaoxue, no, I have something else to do."
I got in the car and left. I saw Zhang Xiaoxue shook her head and went to the office angrily.
I went to Mao Xiaoli's house. I wanted to tell Mao Xiaoli that I was in the urn and there was no chance for her to have her skin cut, so that I could get away with it.
Mao Xiaoli listened and smiled.
"It's only been a matter of a few days, and you're going back to carry a corpse."
I know that Mao Xiaoli can influence the director, but I don't know how she does it, and I don't want to ask too much. It's of no benefit to me. The less I know here, the better.
I left Mao Xiaoli's house. It seemed that she would not let me go.
I went home, the cold home reminded me of my father Ke Zuo, a father who always loved me, however, I owed him a hug. I came to the crematorium, perhaps it was fate, which could not be changed. If I didn't go to the crematorium, my longing for my father would be like a knife cutting. I don't know why, maybe it was my father's soul tempting me to go to the crematorium. My father told me that it was a quiet place, a place without disputes, and the dead were always easier to take care of than the living.
My father is right, and I believe what he says.
At night, I heard the sound of dripping water. I went to the bathroom and found that the water pipe was not closed tightly. After I closed it, I couldn't sleep. I turned on the TV to watch TV. Since my father Ke Zuo died, I always woke up at night and couldn't sleep. Maybe it was because I missed my father.
There was a movie on TV. I just turned it on but didn't watch it. I heard the sound of dripping water again. I went into the bathroom again. The faucet was dripping again. I tightened it again and it stopped dripping. I just watched it like that. It really stopped dripping. I was sure, so I went back to the living room and went into my father's room. He liked to drink. I took out a bottle of white wine from under the bed, went into the living room, opened it and drank.
Ever since I was old enough to understand, my father and mother have slept in separate rooms. I thought every family and every parent was like this, but in fact, it was not the case. My mother couldn't stand the dead smell of my father, so my father drank in his room every day. When he drank a little too much, he would come to my room to see me, but he never came in. He just stood at the door and watched me smile without saying anything.
My father wanted to hug me, but because my mother saw him hugging and kissing me once, she told him off, saying that he had the smell of a dead person and that he should not pass it on to the child.
The smell of death is always like a bronze sword in my mother's hand. Although she has never used the sword, it has caused my father to be wounded by the sword. My mother is afraid of my father, but this sentence will always scare my father.
From then on, my father never hugged me or kissed me again. Sometimes he stretched out his hands and then retracted them. I was young at that time and didn’t understand how painful it was. Now I know it. Even after I grew up and understood this, I hated my mother a little. After my father died, I really hated my mother, but she was my mother after all, and I couldn’t completely and truly hate her.
The sound of dripping water interrupted my thoughts again. I went into the bathroom again. It was strange. The faucet was dripping again. I frowned and looked at it for a long time. Finally, I closed the main door. It stopped dripping. I thought, you can't drip anymore this time.
I drank half a bottle of wine, then I felt sleepy and fell asleep on the sofa.
When I woke up, I heard the sound of dripping water again. I got up and went into the bathroom. The faucet was dripping again, which drove me crazy. I thought of the dripping sound in the urn. It was definitely not a broken faucet, but something weird was going on.
It was past three in the morning, so I didn't care about it anymore. I drank the remaining half bottle of wine and went to sleep.
I woke up in the morning with a headache, went to work, sat on a chair, and waited for the person to come and deposit the ashes.
I heard the sound of dripping water, but I ignored it. You can keep dripping as if it doesn't exist.
However, that sound made my ears a little crazy. The sound of dripping water seemed to be amplified thousands of times and rang in my ears. I had to go in to check. The big gable was still the same wall. I was listening when someone knocked on the glass door. It was the place where the ashes were stored. I opened the door, let them in, and took them to the empty space. When I was about to go out, I stopped and looked at them. A man and a woman.
"Do you hear the sound of dripping water?"
They were startled and listened carefully. For a long time, the man and the woman shook their heads. They didn't hear such a loud sound of dripping water. Was I hallucinating ? I think so.
When the man and the woman came out, they looked at me strangely and left in a hurry. I guess I was scared. How could they not be scared when they asked people in this place if they heard the sound of dripping water and they didn't hear it?
People who have never been to the columbarium will naturally feel scared and horrified when they see so many urns. No one speaks and it is extremely quiet. Could it be that Ke Zuo likes this place? It is really quiet. His father is a quiet person and he is quiet at home. He likes quietness, and his mother is also quiet. Maybe this is the only good thing his mother gave his father?
The sound of dripping water was driving me crazy, so I went to find Master Yinyan. I didn’t go to Xianglaguo last night, and I didn’t know if Yinyan would be angry.
Yinyan had finished changing in the office and was getting ready to leave. When I went in, she hadn't mentioned anything about dinner, and she didn't seem angry either. She even smiled at me.
"I heard the sound of dripping water for a few days and I couldn't stand it anymore. It was getting louder and louder."
Yinyan glanced at me.
"Where?"
"Anywhere."
“The first time.”
"The great gable of the columbarium."
Yinyan glanced at me.
"Let's go out and have a meal first."
I got into Yinyan's car and saw a lighter in front of the car. It was something men used and looked very familiar. I seemed to have seen it somewhere. Yinyan also noticed it, but she didn't say anything and I didn't ask.
I felt uncomfortable. The lighter this man used was in her car. I was familiar with this lighter. Whose was it? I couldn't remember it at the moment, but I must have seen it before. There was a skull on it, which was quite unique.
After lunch, Yinyan and I returned to the crematorium. There was no one there at the moment except the old man who was guarding the door.
We entered the columbarium and went straight into the columbarium, heading towards the big gable. Yinyan listened for a long time.
"There was indeed a sound of dripping water, but it wasn't as loud as you heard."
Yinyan looked for a while, then walked from the foot of the wall, step by step, all the way to the south wall. When she reached the end, she walked back and looked at me for a long time before speaking.
"When I came here, I also felt a little strange. Of course, I've only been here twice, so I didn't pay much attention. The size of this room is about five or six meters different from the outside."
I frowned and understood what Yinyan meant. That is to say, the indoor and outdoor areas are different sizes, which means there should be a room of five or six meters outside the wall, but there is no door. We went out to look, but there were no windows or doors. We couldn't find the door, Yinyan looked at me and whispered.
"I think the columbarium is on the second floor. What about the first floor? That room, the innermost room."
Then I understood. I couldn’t find it anywhere, so it must be on the first floor. I went up from the first floor to the second floor.
We entered the first floor and walked to the northernmost room. The door was locked, a hidden lock. We pushed it but it didn't open.
"No one has ever opened this room, and no one has ever entered it. I don't know what's inside it or what it's used for. I think my master, Li Li, should know."
Yinyan and I went to Li Li's house. The woman was watching TV and drinking a bottle of red wine on the coffee table.
"sit."
After we sat down, Yinyan told Li Li about this matter, and Li Li glared at Yinyan.
"How come you have so much to do in one day?"
Li Li seems to be a fickle person. She was so enthusiastic when she came last time, but she became cold and weird today. No wonder she can't get married. Anyone who marries her will be skinned alive if not dead. Anyway, I feel scared.
Yinyan didn't say anything, as if she was used to Li Li's temperament.
"Master, that room on the first floor..."
"You are quite clever. Few people have guessed this, and only two of you know about it. You cannot enter that room, and you should pretend you didn't hear the sound of dripping water."
"But the noise Mingzhe heard was much louder than ours, and it drove him crazy."
Li Li glanced at me, said nothing, and stared at the TV. She was thinking about something.
Li Li suddenly stood up and said.
"Ke Mingzhe, you are just like your father, possessed by ghosts."
I was stunned and unhappy, and talked about my father.
"You don't have to be unhappy. After dark, we'll go to the crematorium."
I really don't like this Li Li. What happened to my father? He's already dead, but you're still talking about him. It's a bit unkind and dishonest.
