Blutsaugende Reißzähne - Kapitel 4
Reply [12]: At the same time, the bell rang loudly, and I became even more terrified.
I stumbled to open the door, but there was no one there.
But the bell was still ringing.
That's when I realized it was the phone ringing.
I grabbed the receiver, and on the other end of the line came An Ting's father's hoarse voice: "Oh no! An Ting's coffin was being carried to the cemetery when it fell over halfway there, the lid fell off, and An Ting's body isn't inside! An Ting's body is gone?!"
I felt as if a thousand arrows were piercing my heart, as if struck by lightning.
Meanwhile, outside the door, there was a sound of a key turning in a keyhole, but it wouldn't open no matter how many times it tried. The keys were making a jingling sound...
In a state of utter terror, I felt waves of dizziness and weakness in my knees, and I fainted again.
In a daze, I felt as if a thousand hands were pulling at me, and as if a thousand knives were cutting me apart. There was a pain that felt like my tendons were being twisted and torn apart, throbbing from my chest to my fingertips. I tried to open my eyes and vaguely saw a shadow in front of the bed.
A white shadow!
Ah! An Ting.
Shen Anting!
It's Shen Anting!
She's here!
The bright lights gave me a splitting headache, and I struggled to get up.
It let out a series of horrific screams, which even horrified itself.
But at that moment, I felt a pair of warm hands press me down, and a delicate, gentle, yet anxious voice sounded in my ear: "Don't get up! Lie down properly, you have a high fever!"
I strained my eyes to see clearly that the white shadow was not Shen Anting's ghost.
It turns out it was Jie'er.
"How did you get here?" I asked weakly.
“I ran into your sister on the street, and she told me everything. So we arranged to come here together. But then she forgot to buy something and gave me the key to your place, telling me to come in and sit for a while. When I came in, I saw you lying unconscious on the floor.”
As Jie'er answered, she pressed a cold towel against my forehead and kept wiping the sweat from my face.
Before I could ask anything, my sister came in carrying a washbasin. Seeing that I was awake, she went up to me and said, "Little brother, you scared your big sister to death! You had a high fever and slept for a whole day and night!"
She pursed her lips and continued, "Jie'er hasn't slept a wink for a day and a night. I told her to go back and sleep for a while or rest in the living room, but she refused. She even took leave to help me take care of you. Didn't you see the marks on her hands? When I rushed over here yesterday, I saw her trying to help you to bed, but you pushed her to the floor and scraped her skin. When you had a fever, you kept calling out Shen Anting's name, shouting and yelling, so loudly that the roof was about to be blown off!"
My voice trembled as I cried out, "Sister!"
My sister shook her head: "Don't scare yourself! It's okay, it's okay!"
I trembled: "Sister! Shen Anting's body is gone!"
The older sister's face turned completely pale: "How did you know?"
"It was Shen Anting's father who called to say it."
"Could he have made this up to scare you?"
"No, I also dreamed that her body really disappeared."
"How can you take a dream seriously?"
"But the old man at the funeral home also told me that when Uncle Shen was preparing to move An Ting's body away, her body was as heavy as an iron mountain, and even seven or eight strong men couldn't lift it. He also said that she was holding a bunch of keys that kept jingling, and that her eyes were bulging out, she was constantly crying, and her stomach seemed to be even more bloated..."
---janeadam
Reply [13]: "Then later... later was the body able to be lifted? Was it transported away?"
"Originally, it was too heavy to lift, but then Uncle Shen followed the old custom, pretending that he was the one who died, and lay down next to An Ting's body. He was also lifted into the coffin. Later... later, when the car was carrying the coffin on its way, I heard the old man at the funeral home say that even though the car was driving on a flat road, it felt like it was on a mountain road, bumping along the way and frequently stalling. In the end, they had to have Uncle Shen lie on top of the coffin so that the car could move smoothly..."
Wow! That's incredibly powerful!
"Yes!" As I spoke, a chill ran down my spine, and I shuddered. "I just woke up from a dream that Shen Anting's body was missing. The moment I opened my eyes, Uncle Shen called. As soon as I hung up, I heard the sound of a key turning in the lock outside the door, but it wouldn't open no matter how many times it tried. The key was also making a jingling sound. It must be Shen Anting's missing body trying to get to the door. I changed the key, so she can't open it no matter how many times she tries..."
"That's me! Not Shen Anting!" Jie'er exclaimed urgently.
"Jie'er, you don't understand Shen Anting's character. She won't let me off the hook. You don't need to comfort me."
"No!" Jie'er said, "I'm not just trying to comfort you, I'm telling you the truth. Your sister gave me a whole bunch of keys, and I couldn't figure out which one was the key to your place. I had to try them one by one. When I finally opened the door, I saw you collapsed on the floor. Luckily, your sister arrived soon after, otherwise I wouldn't know what to do..."
"Brother!" the older sister said in a deep voice, "No matter how fierce Shen Anting is, we don't need to be afraid of her!"
"You're not afraid, but I am."
"What's there to be afraid of! If Shen Anting really comes knocking on our door, I'll retaliate if she tries to do the first thing!"
"She's a ghost, I'm a human. How can a human fight a ghost?"
"Don't scare yourself like that all the time! There's an old saying: 'Humans are afraid of ghosts three parts, but ghosts are afraid of humans seven parts.' Unless Shen Anting wants to never be reincarnated, hmph..."
"Sister!"
"Um?"
"Did you take all those talismans meant to ward off evil spirits and bring good fortune?"
“I’ve taken everything and pasted it all up for you, one on each of the doors and windows, and one under your pillow. Don’t sweep away the rice grains and tea leaves scattered in your room for now. Also, I’ve had someone write a thick stack of the Diamond Sutra for you, and I’d like to have someone come here to recite the Great Compassion Mantra. It’s alright now! It’s alright now!”
"I'm relieved that everything is alright. I'd be willing to shorten my lifespan, even if it meant my sister. You have no idea how much I've been on the verge of a breakdown these past few days!"
"Pah! Pah! Pah!" the older sister spat repeatedly. "What nonsense are you spouting, little brother!"
Even Jie'er was amused.
Honestly, after all that turmoil surrounding Shen Anting, when I saw Chun Chun Jie'er again, I was immediately overwhelmed with a profound, almost otherworldly, emotion, and felt a sense of closeness to her. It must have been my feelings that naturally surfaced in my words and actions; otherwise, my sister wouldn't have been so tactful as to say she was leaving.
After my sister left, Jie'er and I were left alone together.
"Jie'er!"
"Um."
"Aren't you afraid?"
"What are you afraid of?"
"Aren't you afraid I'll drag you down with me?"
How did you end up dragging me into this?
"Shen Anting swore before she died that she would kill every girlfriend I had."
"laugh."
"why are you laughing?"
"I laugh at you, a grown man, for believing such nonsense!"
So you mean you're willing to be with me?
"I never said that," Jie'er said shyly.
"I don't care, I'll take it as if you said that!"
"You're so domineering!"
"Then I'll show you how domineering I can be!"
I quickly pulled Jie'er into my arms and planted a deep kiss on her lips.
She struggled at first, then softened, and after a long while, she gasped, "You! You have a high fever! You slept for a whole day and night without brushing your teeth, your breath stinks!"
I laughed heartily.
---janeadam
Reply [14]: I don’t know if it was the magic of love, or the magic talisman my sister got from the temple that worked, or the Diamond Sutra that was so powerful. In short, after the fever subsided, it seemed that all the gloom was swept away, and I was back to my former cheerful and energetic self.
Needless to say, my relationship with Jie'er has been progressing rapidly.
In the blink of an eye, half a month has passed.
Today was Jie'er's birthday.
What birthday gift should I buy for her? Roses? Cake? Chocolates? Or a ring? It's driving me crazy! Unlike Shen Anting, who always asks for exorbitant gifts, the more expensive the gift, the more likely she is to be pleased. In the past, after every suicide attempt, I would always buy her a necklace, a watch, or some designer gift to soothe her emotions. But I know that Jie'er is definitely not the kind of vain woman; she is the kind of person who appreciates romance and warmth.
Oh, right, I remember she said she liked the sound of wind chimes, the clear and crisp sound was like a lover's call.
Why don't I give her a wind chime?
And when they sent it, they sent half a dozen.
Half a dozen identical wind chimes were hung in every window of her house. When the wind blew through them, the repeated, clear and crisp sounds were just like me affectionately calling her name. How romantic and warm that would be!
So after making up my mind, I bought half a dozen of those five-tiered, pentagonal wind chimes, each a different color, and also a large bouquet of red roses. Then, at the appointed time, I went to Jie'er's house.
This was the first time I had stepped into Jie'er's room. Usually, I would see her to the door and then leave.
As soon as I stepped inside, I was hit by a pungent smell of insecticide and ant powder. My first reaction was to cough, and my second was to have my nose run uncontrollably. I had only lightly rubbed my nose against the back of the chair, but when I covered my mouth and wiped my nose, the snot touched my eyes, and they immediately stung so badly I couldn't open them.
"Jie'er, what did you do? What did you spray or spill in the room? This is terrible!"
“I filled the house with strong insecticides and ant powder.” Jie’er said with a matter-of-fact expression. “I’m most afraid of lice, and I hate ants, insects and the like, as well as termites that crawl in the cracks between the boards. Just thinking about them makes me want to vomit. So I laid a net in the house so that they would be completely wiped out.”
I looked around the room and realized that everything—the floor, the tabletops, the cabinets, all the furniture and decorations—was spotless. Oh! No, to be more precise, everything had been wiped from clean to shiny, and from shiny to gleaming. I examined it carefully and couldn't find a single flaw.
"Oh, Jie'er, do you have tinea pedis?"
"Is being a clean freak a bad thing? Does it mean you have to be all dirty?"
Being a clean freak isn't bad, but if it gets to the point where the whole house reeks of insecticides and ant-killing powder, I'd have to scream for help. Of course, compared to Shen Anting's fierceness, Jie'er's cleanliness obsession is nothing.
Good heavens! I almost forgot why I came here because I was distracted by Jie'er's obsession with cleanliness.
---janeadam
Reply [15]: So I presented you with a gift, roses, and my blessing: "Happy birthday, Jie'er!"
"Thank you." She gave me a light kiss on the cheek.