Chapter 58: A Strange Dream
Yinyan's behavior really makes me feel uneasy. She is always so stubborn and I absolutely cannot imagine what she is going to do. She has gone to another world, which is not the human world. No matter what world it is, it is two different paths from humans and they can never be the same. So, after this trip, no one knows whether Yinyan can come back or what will happen. What is there that makes her behave abnormally? Mao Xiaoli can't explain it clearly.
Ghosts are out of control. Sergeant Lin can't control himself when ghosts are out of control. It seems that it is a big ghost. Mao Xiaoli told me that Sergeant Lin is really raising ghosts. He is a Feng Shui master, but raising ghosts is really hard to imagine. People who raise ghosts do exist, but they will not let people know and do things that can achieve their own goals.
I don't know what the ultimate purpose of Mr. Lin in raising ghosts is, but I know that he is very rich, but very low-key. As for the thing on his wrist, I know that it is amber with a worm in it, and it is worth at least hundreds of thousands of dollars. The worm is so big that it can be seen clearly with the naked eye. It is something that can only be found once in a hundred years and cannot be found in a thousand years.
I am worried and afraid of this person who raises ghosts.
That night, I went to Yunbai's mother's house. My mother's name is Yunbai. She's always been like this. Before I became a refiner, she was nice to me. After I became a refiner, she treated me like my father. She said I smelled like a dead person, just like my father, which I'd never smelled before. So, she didn't like seeing me and would always have a gloomy face. But she was my mother after all. I sold things to my grandmother, and she never ate anything my father bought. No matter what it was, she wouldn't touch it. Even after I became a refiner, she was still like this. Only my grandmother ate. I put down my things, chatted with her for a while, and then left.
My heart is cold. I lost my father and my mother's love. It is painful. From then on, this family is no longer a home. I don't know why Yun Bai married my father in the first place. If she could marry, she would marry. Why did she have to do this? If she couldn't stand it, she could divorce. She didn't divorce and endured it for decades. I really can't understand this.
I know Yun Bai's father, Yun Zheng. There is a photo of him in that exhibition room. He was my father Ke Zuo's master, an old refiner and one of the earliest generation of refiners in China. So, Yun Bai should have smelled that scent from her father Yun Zheng, but she didn't. They never mentioned how she married my father. It seemed that no one wanted to bring it up, and I never asked because I didn't dare. That was my mother's pain.
The next day, after dark, I went to Mao Xiaoli's house. Sergeant Lin was already there, drinking.
"Mingzhe, sit down and drink together."
Mao Xiaoli poured me some wine, and Sergeant Lin, who was sitting on my left, smiled at me, which made me feel a little uneasy, because that smile always had some other meaning.
I felt that there seemed to be something next to Sergeant Lin, but when I tried to look, I couldn't see it clearly. That must be the ghost raised by Sergeant Lin!
We drank until around nine in the evening and then it was over, said Sergeant Lin while drinking tea.
"It will start in a moment. Go to that room. You don't have to worry about anything. After you meet Yinyan, you will wake up naturally. Of course, the time in dreams is different from the time in reality. Just like when you dream, you will dream of many scenes, and it may not be possible to see them all in one or two days. So, the time in dreams will be longer and different from reality. One day counts as two days. You must manage your time well. No more than three days at most. Don't stay there. I'm talking about the three days here, which means you will have thirty-six hours in your dreams. Remember, watches don't work there."
I glanced at Mao Xiaoli and felt nervous.
"Don't be afraid, it's okay. I'll help you keep an eye on the time. At most I'll go over and call you back."
I looked at Sergeant Lin. His smile was a little weird, and it always gave me the urge to strangle him. I didn't know why it was like that, and I couldn't explain it clearly. It was just this weird feeling.
I entered a room. This room was really weird. There was no window. I didn't find it strange to have such a room in Mao Xiaoli's house. I always knew that Mao Xiaoli's behavior was abnormal, never normal. I thought so when I saw her wearing mourning white for the first time.
I was lying on the bed, just one bed, placed in the middle of the room. The sheets were white, snow-white, and a little dazzling.
After I lay down, Mao Xiaoli went out and Sergeant Lin came in, smoking a cigarette and locked the door. He actually laughed out loud, "Hehe", and I sat up with a start.
"Don't be afraid, sit down. It's not me laughing, it's my big ghost imitating the sound."
If Sergeant Lin didn't usually smile like this, even the big ghost wouldn't be able to imitate him. It seems that Sergeant Lin is...
When I thought of this, I got nervous and lay down. Sergeant Lin was standing in the corner, muttering something, but I didn't hear a word. When I felt something pressing on me, I started dreaming.
I entered that world, that street, and saw everything there. Mao Xiaoli and I went in there once. As I walked, I seemed to hear Yinyan calling me in a corner, but I just couldn't find it.
I don’t know how long I walked or how many streets I crossed before I met Yinyan. She was standing at the corner and I went over.
"Swallow, come home with me."
"No, there's nothing I can do about it. Go back immediately and I'll take care of it."
"You can't go back after seven days."
"I can, because I'm different from other people. You don't have to worry about that."
"Swallow, if you don't go back, we will stop communicating with each other."
"You are such an annoying man. Actually, I am very annoyed by you and I don't like you. But I have no choice. I will only be safe when I am with you. Because you are an extremely yin person, can't I see that?"
I was stunned, but I quickly realized that Yinyan wanted me to leave and said this because she was afraid that I was in danger.
"Swallow, I know you are not telling the truth."
"What I said is the truth . You can't tell lies here. Leave here immediately. I will give you an explanation when I return. Go and love your Zhang Xiaoxue!"
I was completely stunned. Was this true or not? Mao Xiaoli had never told me this.
I just kept following, and time passed little by little. The thirty-six hours were about to be up, and I thought I should go back. Yinyan didn't say a word afterwards, as if I didn't exist. It was true, I just came to this world from a dream, and I really didn't exist. Nothing I said would be of any use.
I went back because I didn't want Mao Xiaoli to come to me. The more I owed her, the more I would be unable to escape the fate of having my skin cut off for her. I had never planned to have my skin cut off for her.
I woke up and saw Sergeant Lin still standing in the corner. I got scared and when I stood up, Sergeant Lin fell down. I went over and tried to support him, but it was empty. The door opened and Sergeant Lin was standing at the door. I was so scared that I screamed and jumped up. The Sergeant Lin who was lying on the ground disappeared. I knew it was the big ghost raised by Sergeant Lin.
"Okay, I've figured out what I want to do. I'm leaving now."
When I went out, Sergeant Lin had already left. He walked very fast. Mao Xiaoli came down from upstairs.
"How about it?"
I shook my head and repeated what Yinyan said. Mao Xiaoli sat down and took a long time to speak.
"What she said is true. There are no lies in that world. Otherwise, there will be no bones left, only flesh and skin."
"Impossible, she loves me and I love her too."
"I haven't seen it. Which couple isn't always together? And you two work in the same unit, but you rarely see each other. Don't you know?"
What Mao Xiaoli said makes sense. In fact, I also feel this. But when we meet, Yinyan is always gentle to me. Maybe there is no other way. She can't live without me. If she doesn't have me, she may be in big trouble, or even die. That's why she does this. I am an extremely yin person.
I left Mao Xiaoli's house heartbroken. It was all an accident. How could this happen? Master Zhou warned me, Zhang Xiaoxue told me too, and even others told me, but I just didn't believe it. I never imagined it would be true. So what was Yinyan afraid of? If she resolved this problem in the other world, she would leave me. I turned back halfway. Despite Yinyan's condition, I still worried about her.
Mao Xiaoli was not surprised when I went back.
"I know you will come back and ask me how to save Mao Xiaoli. It depends on her own life. There is really no other way. The other world is different from ours. If you walk too far, you will lose your life. I went to Yimeng, and the most I lost was my dream. If you lose it, you will never have a dream again."
"Is there really no other way?"
"Really, if there is, I will tell you."
I came out feeling lost and went to see Master Zhou. She is Yinyan's grandmother. She will take care of it no matter what. I think Master Zhou may have a better solution.
When I went there, Zhang Xiaoxue was there and Master Zhou was sitting in the yard drinking tea. After I sat down, I told him about Yinyan's matter directly.
"I know about this. I can't do anything about this granddaughter. There are too many strange things in the crematorium. I don't know those weird ways, so there is nothing I can do."
I didn't expect that Master Zhou would be so cold.
"But she is your granddaughter."
"There's really no other way. It all depends on her fate."
I returned home empty-handed that day, and the house felt even colder. Yinyan didn't love me, and was with me only to keep herself alive. I simply couldn't believe it. I didn't know who else could save Yinyan. That apartment was actually the door to another world. So, how many doors to another world are there in this world?
I couldn't sleep that night. I kept waking up and thinking about all sorts of things.
In the morning, when I went to work, Master Zhao Juan looked at me and said.
"Today you will push the body into the dressing room and help Zheng Jun."
Master Zhao Juan noticed my condition. After making the arrangements, she went out. I pushed the first corpse in and put it on the makeup bed. Zheng Jun said.
"Master knows about Yinyan's situation. She said it was an unlucky relationship. You two should be careful not to be together."
I was stunned for a moment. It seemed that everyone in the crematorium knew about this.
It is not known whether Yinyan's master Li Li will go to rescue Yinyan now. If Mao Xiaoli says there is no way and Master Zhou also has no way, then I am afraid no one has a way.
Zheng Jun comforted me, but I didn't say anything.
The work was finished at one o'clock in the afternoon. Zheng Jun invited me to dinner. She told me jokes and talked about some light topics. I knew her intention. I drank too much that day and was unconscious. I don't know how Zheng Jun got me home. She took me to her house, and she didn't know where I lived.
When I woke up in the morning, I saw that Zheng Jun's house was really big and luxurious, the kind of luxury with temperament. I saw the photo on the wall, of an old Red Army soldier, that was Zheng Jun's grandfather, and I knew that this was a family with a good background.
While having breakfast, I saw Zheng Jun’s grandfather.
"This kid is good. He's a well-behaved kid. Junjun has good judgment."
"Grandpa, what are you talking about?"
Zheng Jun's parents both work in the municipal government, so I was wondering why Zheng Jun ended up working as a makeup artist in a crematorium. This definitely did not occur to me.
