chapter 11

The furniture was all unloaded quickly, after which we got the old furniture out and threw it in the yard. After giving the home a big sweep, the new furniture was moved in. When I walked into the room again, it was as if I had entered the room of an ancient man. My house has become unusually spooky.

Old Shen washed his face and rushed off. Hu Shisan and I sent him to the door, and not far away, I saw the old man holding a candle ,staring lifelessly at my house. He didn’t approach and didn’t look like he was planning to leave. Hu Shisan glanced at the old man with his eyes and said, “Brother Xing, do you see, as long as we leave here, this guy will come down on us.”

I said, “Why is that?”

“Looks like he’s coming for Jia!”

As soon as I heard that, I got a little angry and shouted at the dry-haired old man, “Come at me if you can, don’t touch my family!”

Hu Shisan pulled me aside and said, ”Well, do you think he’ll listen to you? I’m telling you, this old man is not as simple as you think.”

He dragged me back and closed the door, patted me on the shoulder and said, “Brother Xing, things haven’t gotten to the point where we can’t get along, at least you and I are still alive and Jia Jia is still alive, right?”

I nodded and pulled out a cigarette to continue smoking. I took a deep drag on my cigarette and my mood stabilized. I said, “It really is like a dream, how can it feel so unreal? I was just going to go to Old Shen to find out, but Old Shen came. What do you call that? And the furniture, it’s worth a lot of money, but now it’s good, it’s all coming to my house, I used to need money the most, but now I have money, my family’s life is gone. This damn yard.”

“If it wasn’t for this yard, you wouldn’t see your family anymore; it’s this yard that keeps them. You still have to thank the yard to do that.” Hu Shisan took a deep breath and said, ”Maybe things aren’t as bad as you think! All we can do now is wait, and come Saturday, we’ll take a trip to Jinzhou. I’m curious about this old Hu, do you think he could be my father?”

I froze as I listened and said, “What do you mean?”

“I haven’t had a dad since I was a kid, and my mom kept saying my dad was dead. But I have a feeling that my dad is not dead. You do know that everyone has a dad. My surname is Hu, and this old Hu’s surname is Hu, especially the way he shoved the dime into the corpse’s mouth, I remember this scene hazily. I was very small at the time, but as soon as you said it, the image came back to me.” Hu Shisan looked at me with a red face at this time and said excitedly, ”I really remember doing this thing with my father when I was a child. It was also then that I knew I had yin and yang eyes and saw ghosts often, and I remember my father telling me not to be afraid.”

When he said that, I began to scratch my head and said, “Master Hu, if you say that, it’s a lot of information, this thing is getting us all mixed up, why exactly?”

Next, Hu Shisan was silent for a long time, and finally he said, ”The most crucial thing right now is that old guy outside, he’s been trying to catch Jia Jia, what exactly is it? What hatred these two have is not unraveled like that with him out there, neither of us can get out.”

Just at this time, the sound of the car’s engine came from outside. Hu Shisan turned his head towards the door in an instant.

The moment the door was knocked, it was so good to think it fell silent for a moment. My dad and my wife, who were supposed to be outside, went into the house, and the next thing I knew, the lights in the house came on instantly, and Jia came out of the house and became that three-year-old again.

I went back to the house and looked around, where was everyone else in the house? Hu Shisan also entered the house at this time, shrinking into the shadows behind the door. I knew that it was the police again, but this time, instead of that stifling feeling, I stepped out into the courtyard and opened the gate.

When this door opened, I saw the female forensic scientist. Her car was parked right in front of the door, a Ford two-truck sedan. She wasn’t wearing a police uniform and at first glance wasn’t here to work. When she saw me, she said, “Are you guys okay! I knew you guys must be back.”

As soon as I said I was about to go in, I pushed her shoulder and said, “What are you going to do?”

“What’s going on? Can’t I even go in there?” “I came because I was worried about you guys,” she said.

“That was a dream you had, don’t you think too much of it.” I said. “Don’t come in, I’m doing you a favor!”

It was only after this sentence was said that I realized how stupid I was and that there was something very wrong with the logic of this sentence. Since it was her dream, how could I possibly know?

She didn’t dismantle me, but looked at me with a smile, held up the bloodied shirt I had and said, “This is what you left behind in my dream and I sent it to you.”

She slammed her clothes on top of me and came in with a shove on my shoulder, then looked at Jia in the distance and said, “Jia, auntie is here to see you!”

Jia Jia ran over seemingly in a happy manner and jumped straight into the female forensic surgeon’s arms, who picked her up. Jia Jia, however, leaned over the female’s shoulder and looked at me , smiling weirdly. I sensed that Jia Jia had no good intentions in this smile, and I had a strong feeling that she was going to do something to this female forensic scientist.

Soon afterwards, the female forensic scientist carried Jia Jia into the house, with me following close behind. She put Jia Jia on the kettle in my house, turned to me and said, “Where is the murderer? Who the hell are you people?”

Hu Shisan walked out of the doorway at this time, I had no idea where exactly he was hiding just now, he was like a ghost at this moment.

I looked towards Hu Shisan , who at this moment happened to be right behind the female forensic scientist. Realizing that there was someone behind her, the female forensic scientist turned around and was so startled that she directly pulled out her gun and pointed it at Hu Shisan.

As a result, Hu Shisan didn’t move, and this female forensic scientist directly threw the gun on the ground. The gun quickly froze and became an icy pile.

The female forensic scientist was facing Hu Shisan at this time, her back turned to me. I saw that on the back of this female mage, a talisman had been affixed by Hu Shisan. The talisman was glowing red, fending off the chill around it.

The eerie atmosphere gathered at once, and I didn’t know what to say, and the female forensic scientist stayed on the spot. Suddenly, Jia pounced and laughed, then stood up and held out her arms to the female forensic scientist.

The female forensic scientist picked up Jia Jia as soon as she did and said, “Auntie take you away and leave this hellhole.”

After saying that he didn’t want the gun either, she hugged Jia Jia and headed out. I was going to chase after her , and Hu Shisan pulled me aside and said, “This matter is strange, Jia seems to have the intention to approach this woman.”

“But what about that old guy out there? He’s bound to follow them!” I said sharply.

At this point, both my parents and wife came through the walls. The wife insisted that I get Jia Jia back, and Shisan Hu explained, “Sister-in-law, it’s Jia Jia’s own choice, she just has to leave with that forensic doctor, there’s nothing we can do.”

Soon, I heard the sound of a car engine outside. Apparently, the female medical examiner took Jia away. This female mage walks the path of the masculine. And all I can see is the way to the underworld. This courtyard seemed to become a universal inn between the netherworld and the yang.

At this point I opened the door a crack and went outside to look and the old guy with the candle was gone. Hu Shisan came up behind me at this time and said, “After we’ve eaten and drank enough, we can go to Jinzhou.”

I said, “Is it Saturday yet?”

Hu Shisan nodded and said, ”Soon. I warn you, don’t wander out of here on your own, the way you can see now is the way to the Underworld, only I can take you to the Yang, understand?”

I nodded, then looked at Hu Shisan and asked, “Master Hu, am I dead now?”

Hu Shisan nodded, then shook his head again and said, “You are neither dead nor alive, you are a living dead man!”