Mona Lisas blutiges Auge

Kapitel 15

You're even wearing Hanfu, do you have a thing for ancient costumes?

What time is it? Don't you have a sense of time? Are you so poor you can't afford a watch? Those who should be back aren't, and those who shouldn't be here are. Go wherever you want, and don't flit around in front of my window like a butterfly..."

"..."

"Didn't you hear me tell you to get lost? You're all crazy. Go wherever you want, and it would be best if you all disappeared and none of you came back. Xiao Bi, Deng Fei, and that Death Charlatan, go wherever you want. I don't know any of you."

"..."

"Are you deaf? Can't you understand human language? Do you think you're superior just because you're a ghost? You think you can scare people with your appearance? Go home and look in the mirror first. Put on some makeup before you come out and scare people..."

"..."

"..."

"You...you can see me?" The ghost seemed to realize what was happening and asked me blankly through the window.

Who do you think I've been talking about all this time?

"You can really see me?" The ghost suddenly laughed, a laugh more ugly than a cry, his gray face lined with laugh lines. "I saw you pull back the curtains and smile at me just now, and I thought I was seeing things, but I didn't expect you could really see me."

"..."

"Um... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." The smiling ghost suddenly lowered its head, revealing a shy expression. I touched my arm, and goosebumps popped all over my skin.

"I really didn't mean to scare you, I just... I just... got lost." The ghost muttered softly, lowering its head even further.

"Huh?" I stared wide-eyed.

"I...I...I really can't find the way. I...I...I just flew up to a high place to see where I am."

"ah?"

"You...you...can you tell me where this is? I...I'll leave right away."

"ah?"

"I just asked for directions, and you... if you're not going to tell me, fine, I'll just try to find it myself."

"Ah! Um... Hey, wait a minute, um... I didn't mean to keep it from you, I just... I actually... I don't know the way either, I... I actually have a bad sense of direction." I was almost crying this time. It turned out I had wronged a ghost and someone had hit a nerve.

"Huh?" The ghost was startled again, raised its head, blinked, and looked at me.

"Hey, wait a minute, I'll go downstairs and ask the receptionist in the lobby." I smiled at the ghost, then ran downstairs to find out the address: xx Street, xx Number; xx Road to the left; xxx Road to the right. I ran back upstairs to tell the ghost the directions. The ghost looked at me gratefully, thanked me repeatedly, and left. Before leaving, it suddenly turned back and said to me with a serious expression, "Be careful, don't go out at night for the next few days."

I said, "I know, you've all come up to visit your relatives."

He shook his head. "It's not just that. Although ghosts can be good or bad, this year is different. You are different too. In short, just don't go out. Remember that!"

Then he vanished in a flash. I stared blankly at the pitch-black night, wondering what was different and how it was different.

I started to worry when Gu Ming didn't come back at two o'clock.

Gu Ming still hadn't returned by three o'clock, and I wondered if something had happened.

At 3:30, there was a knock on the door. I rushed to open it and sure enough, Gu Ming was back. But something really had happened.

Gu Ming was pale, clutching his shoulder with one hand and supporting himself against the wall with the other. He collapsed to the ground as soon as I opened the door. When I came to my senses in shock, closed the door, and helped him up, I discovered that his clothes were covered in blood.

I had never seen so much blood before. My dark coat was soaked through, and my white blouse underneath was stained red, like large, blooming peonies painted on the ground. I opened my mouth, but found myself unable to make a sound; my body trembled like an ultrasonic vibrator in a laboratory.

"I'm fine, help me to bed." Gu Ming said in a low voice, panting. My tears started falling like raindrops. I didn't dare to cry loudly, and I used all my strength to drag him to bed.

"Let's go to the hospital," I said softly, the blood on his body glaringly red.

“No need.” Gu Ming sighed. “Take my clothes off, then take a white box from my backpack. There’s medicine inside.”

I stood up, trembling, and rummaged through his backpack. My hands were so clumsy I couldn't pick anything up, and things fell to the floor with a clatter. Finally, I found the white box, placed it by the bed, and then took off Gu Ming's clothes. A strong, pungent smell of blood hit me. I didn't dare look any longer. I went to the bathroom, got some hot water, soaked a soft towel, wrung it out, and gently wiped him down.

"The injury is on your shoulder, don't you dare rub it until it's raw." Gu Ming looked at me and suddenly laughed.

I nodded. Actually, I had noticed the cuts on his shoulder a while ago. Each one wasn't long, but they seemed quite deep, like... like someone had poked them with fingernails. The surrounding area was black, with an extremely heavy yin energy. It was obvious that no human had done it, so I carefully wiped the area around the wounds first. Only when I could see them more clearly did I let out a cold breath.

"This is...this was really scratched with a hand?" I stared wide-eyed at the wound, clutching the towel. There were five holes in total, and the outermost one still had half a thick, long fingernail remaining.

"Not just any ordinary hand," Gu Ming sneered.

What is that?

"Oh, take out that tube of black ointment from the box and apply it to me." Gu Ming didn't answer, and I didn't ask any further questions. I hurriedly took out the ointment, squeezed it onto my hand, and applied it to the wounds. As soon as my fingers touched the wounds, I felt a slight chill around them. I was startled, and my hand trembled.

"Hiss." Gu Ming gasped and glared at me. "Be gentle, be gentle. If you kill me, no one will pay your salary."

I nodded apologetically and continued applying the medicine, but I stopped when I got to the last wound. Should I just pull out this half of the nail?

"Just pull it out." Gu Ming said from the side. I reached out my hand but stopped, gritted my teeth, and felt a terrible ache in my heart.

“Xiao Mo,” Gu Ming sighed, “It’s not like I’m asking you to pull out a dagger or an arrow or anything. It’s just a small piece of fingernail. Look at your face, it’s all wrinkled up like an old potato.”

I glared at him, then with lightning speed pulled the fingernail out. Gu Ming let out a loud howl, completely losing his composure. At the same time, my hand holding the broken fingernail felt an endless chill and an indescribable dread. I wondered what kind of thing's fingernail it was, how could it have such a strong yin energy? And it was just a fingernail! If that thing stood in front of me, would I freeze to death immediately?

"You...you're trying to murder me?" Gu Ming shouted from the side, baring his teeth.

"You told me to pull it out." I threw the nail away and applied ointment to it.

"You could at least have given me a heads-up," Gu Ming said, panting with his eyes closed. "I'll either be killed by a ghost or accidentally killed by you sooner or later."

After I finished applying the medicine, I put the box away, picked up his clothes and put them in a plastic bag. "I'm going to buy some gauze."

"No need, you can apply this without gauze," Gu Ming said softly.

"I'll go wash the clothes."

"You'd better stay here and not go out." Gu Ming raised his other hand to cover his eyes. "Don't go out before dawn."

"Oh, then I'll go to the bathroom to wash my clothes."

"That guy."

"kindness."

"I'm fine."

"kindness."

"It's really nothing."

"oh."

"Lin Xiaomo!!!"

"exist."

"I'm so sleepy, I'll explain when I wake up."

"oh."

I washed the clothes, and basin after basin of bloody water filled the bathroom. It took me a long time to clean them, and then I had a terrible headache. I watched Gu Ming and I wash the clothes, and basin after basin of bloody water filled the bathroom. It took me a long time to clean them, and then I had a terrible headache. I watched Gu Ming sleeping soundly like a dead pig, and when I covered him with a blanket, I couldn't even open my eyes anymore.

When I woke up, I realized it was already dark. I looked at the clock and it was 11:30 p.m.

April 5, 2005, cloudy

At midnight, I sat on the edge of the bed looking at Gu Ming's sleeping face, wondering why he hadn't woken up yet. Then I carefully touched his nose with my hand. Hmm, he's not dead.

I quietly walked to the window, secretly pulled back a corner of the curtain, and peeked out through a small crack. Sure enough, the streets were teeming with ghosts, even more so than yesterday. In the distance, it seemed someone was burning paper money; the flickering flames were surrounded by groups of ghosts who remained motionless. I sighed to myself, thinking how greedy even ghosts had become these days.

"What are you looking at?" A voice suddenly sounded in my ear, startling me. I turned around and saw Gu Ming standing next to me, also looking down.

"Are you trying to scare me to death?" I glared at him, annoyed.

Gu Ming was stunned for a moment, then said weakly, "I've been standing next to you for ages, and you haven't reacted at all, yet you're blaming me instead."

I was about to retort when I noticed that the wound on his shoulder was almost completely healed. Except for the outermost cut where half a fingernail had once been and a little dark blood, pink new flesh had grown in the rest of the wound. It was really strange.

"Have you seen enough? I know I have a great figure," Gu Ming said with a smile.

"Huh?" I shifted my gaze from the wounds and noticed that he wasn't wearing a shirt. His skin was smooth and healthy-looking, and his muscles looked firm but not exaggerated. He was indeed very handsome.

"Xiao Mo, you're drooling." Gu Ming tapped my forehead with his uninjured hand. "You actually looked when I told you to?"

"Why not take a look? If you're going to take a look, it's a waste. Who wouldn't take a look if it's free?" I said, tossing him a pair of pajamas.

As Gu Ming dressed me, he ordered me, "Go make some instant noodles, I'm starving."

"Go downstairs and see if you can still order food."

"Hurry up, I've almost finished my noodles."

"Another soup, oh, hibiscus soup will do..."

I was being bossed around like crazy, and only after he had eaten and drunk his fill did I realize that I hadn't eaten anything at all. So I tore open a bag of beef jerky and chewed it up, my teeth crunching, wishing that what I was eating was Gu Ming's jerky.

Gu Ming lay half-reclined watching me grind my teeth, then said, "Don't you want to know what happened last night?"

I was taken aback for a moment, then nodded.

Gu Ming lazily recounted the events to me. I listened with bated breath, but he spoke casually as if it were none of his business. It turned out that when we went to West Lake to look for someone, Gu Ming noticed something strange about the lake—an indescribable feeling, as if it contained immense energy. Gu Ming felt that the lake was related to the chilling aura he heard when Xiao Bi answered the phone that day, but neither the naked eye nor any magic could detect any yin energy or chilling aura in the lake. Yet, he always had a vague feeling that something was amiss.

"Something's not right?" I interrupted.

"There are many lakes in this world, and since ancient times, there have been countless spirits who have been unable to reincarnate due to drowning or other reasons. In other words, almost every lake has ghosts, and places with ghosts naturally have yin energy. Furthermore, lakes are water, and water belongs to yin. Even if there were no yin energy in a lake, it would never be so gentle."

"Could there be a deity living in the lake?"

“No, that’s not it. Immortals have their own immortal energy. Although this lake has no yin energy, it also has no immortal energy. I just feel that the yin energy in the lake must have been neutralized by the yang energy to be so mild. But humans have yang energy, so where does the yang energy in this lake come from?” Gu Ming said calmly.

"Where did it come from?" I asked.

“I don’t know either.” Gu Ming shrugged. “But I just felt that this lake had something to do with that phone call, so I asked you for the number and made the call.”

At this point, Gu Ming gave a sinister smile. I nudged him to hurry up and tell me more. He snatched a piece of beef jerky from me and continued. It turned out that after he dialed Xiao Bi's number, the call actually went through again. Then, strange phenomena appeared on the lake. There were currents surging in the lake, and you could vaguely see the water starting to separate into layers. The upper layer had a huge flow of yang energy, while the lower layer was unclear, but you could vaguely sense that it was the opposite of yang energy, meaning it might be a huge amount of yin energy. Since it was yin energy, it could also be an extremely yin-like aura. The yang energy on the upper layer of the lake wouldn't disappear during the day; you could only check it again at night. So, that day, Gu Ming simply took me away.

"Why can't I see the layers?" I asked.

"Of course you can't see it. The fluctuations are very small. I can only see it because of the magic I've learned over the years," Gu Ming replied.

"Why did Xiao Bi's call go through? What does that have to do with the stratification of the lake water?"

Gu Ming paused for a moment and said, "I suspect that Xiao Bi's disappearance is somehow related to this place, but I can't explain why."

I looked at him and said, "So what exactly happened last night? You went to that lake?"

Gu Ming nodded and said that he went directly to West Lake after leaving last night. Because it was drizzling, there weren't many tourists. By almost 11 p.m., there was almost no one left. He kept staring at the lake and found that the yang energy was indeed gradually disappearing. The lake was no longer as calm as it was during the day. It wasn't until midnight that the yang energy completely disappeared. It was at this moment that Gu Ming finally discovered that there was endless shrill energy and various yin energies hidden under the vast expanse of lake water. It was extremely cold and gloomy. In addition, around the time of Qingming Festival, all kinds of ghosts and monsters appeared, and wandering souls gathered in heaps, as if they were underground.

Gu Ming traced the source of the wailing aura along the lakeshore and discovered that all the yin energy in the lake was swirling outwards, meaning that the point in the center of the lake was the origin of all the yin energy. At this moment, water ghosts kept surging out of the lake, and wild ghosts by the roadside also began to gather towards the lake. Although ghosts all carry yin energy, they generally do not harm people. However, these ghosts seemed to be under control and rushed towards Gu Ming. Moreover, the yin energy on their bodies actually smelled the same as the wailing aura in the lake. Therefore, Gu Ming quickly added protection to himself and used magic to quickly disperse these little ghosts.