The Return of the Soul

Chapter 7

I thought for a moment and said, "Brother, do you remember what that ghost said? He said the police found the drugs you hid in your apartment."

He was startled and turned to look at me.

I said, "Did you use that when you were alive? We're all ghosts, so it's okay to talk about it. Could it be that you overdosed?"

He slowly pulled up his sleeve to look at his arm.

I said, "It couldn't have been an injection. If it were, we would have discovered it back then. I died after you, and your death caused quite a stir. Such details wouldn't have been overlooked. But brother, you seem to know this stuff very well. As soon as I mentioned it, you looked at my arm."

He gave a self-deprecating laugh. "Isn't this an open secret?"

We sat in the convertible, bewildered, unsure where to go. I was there to find out why I died, and he was there to find out why he died. How were we, two ghosts, supposed to investigate? This wasn't our forte.

At this moment, my mother-in-law came over and looked at us, asking, "Where is this place? Why are all the things around us so strange? I don't recognize any of them." Her eyes were full of fear, and her voice trembled as she spoke.

We then remembered her and felt extremely ashamed. I got out of the car and helped her in, saying, "This place is very far removed from your era. Judging from your clothes and attire, it should be from the Ming Dynasty. Was your emperor's surname Zhu? What was his reign title?"

She took a silver coin from her pocket. I took it and saw that it was inscribed with "Wanli Tongbao" and had the character "moon" on the reverse. Silver coins were not used in circulation, and coins engraved with the characters "star" and "moon" were even rarer. This must have been a lucky coin for good fortune. Her family had put a few in her clothes as a token of their affection.

I returned it to her, saying, "Grandma, we are separated by more than four hundred years."

She was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, and asked, "Then he..."

I held her hand and said sadly, "He is not your lover. Your wish in life was for him to return. You waited for him your whole life, and you've forgotten what he looks like and who he is. Your wish in life wasn't fulfilled, and you're waiting for him to return even in death. We've accidentally enlightened you, and we hope you won't blame us for deceiving you, Grandma." My heart was pounding with anxiety, afraid she would become angry. She was a woman over four hundred years old; how could I possibly speak nonsense in front of her?

The old woman remained silent for a long time, then said, "Perhaps he has been reincarnated several times? No matter how many times he has been reincarnated, his soul is always the same, so the person I'm waiting for is not wrong. How could such a thing be wrong? I've waited hundreds of years for this one person. He's the one who made me leave that ghost realm, so I've made sure he's the one."

I was so scared I almost fainted. Looking at Luo Yi, his jaw also dropped.

Well, we two modern people are not as quick to accept things as a Ming Dynasty grandmother.

Luo Yi was both amused and exasperated. He hadn't expected that his acting spree would lead to such a mess. Fortunately, he was used to women revolving around him, so he stopped dwelling on the issue and asked, "What do we do now?"

I tapped on the leather seats of the sports car, and having made up my mind, I smiled and said when he asked, "Let's go to your house."

Luo Yi, the big star who can't act without a script, didn't understand again. He just grunted and listened to me continue.

I said, "Do you remember what that person said? They were still looking for things in your house. That means your mansion hasn't been sold yet, and it's currently empty. The three of us are temporarily homeless and have nowhere to stay. Wouldn't that empty house be perfect for us? Your house is very big; there's room for all three of us, and you might even find some clues there so I can go find my family." Luo Yi nodded repeatedly. I then asked, "Do you remember where your mansion is?"

Luo Yi laughed and said, "I remember who I am, how could I not remember this? I live in Villa No. 1, Roman Garden, and my license plate number is L1000."

I snorted and said, "Look at how arrogant you are, do you really need to be so ostentatious?"

With No. 1 as his foundation, Luo Yi spoke with a strong voice, saying, "A man who isn't a bit of a playboy in his youth is wasting his life. What do you know?"

I turned to my mother-in-law and said, "What do you need a womanizer like that for?"

The old woman looked at him with admiration and said, "My husband is truly a dragon among men."

I almost threw up, but then I thought about it and laughed, saying, "Okay, let's start haunting an empty house."

Little Ma with glasses

The empty house hasn't started being haunted yet, but places with lots of people are starting to be haunted.

Luo Yi and I were discussing how to get to the Roman Gardens. Should we stroll over leisurely, or hitch a ride to save energy? The Roman Gardens are in the suburbs, quite far from Fisherman's Wharf in the city center. My bare feet and white socks, and my mother-in-law's bound feet, made it inconvenient to walk on the dusty asphalt road. What if they got dirty? Would my white socks even get dirty? The air quality in big cities is so bad, with inhalable particulate matter exceeding 100; even the stars are barely visible when you look up. We like to describe one of the three realms we live in as "red dust," and the road as "purple path," together forming "purple path and red dust."

In the bustling world, flowers bloom in vibrant colors by the roadside. Horses gallop through spring, their hooves staining the ground, stirring up dust that is itself fragrant and soft. This phrase alone reveals the depth of people's love for the world. "The dust of the world brushes against our faces, everyone says they've returned from admiring the flowers." I find being a ghost appealing because I failed as a human being, but Luo Yi was exceptionally successful in his human endeavors; it's a real shame to see him die a lonely and desolate ghost.

Luo Yi stroked the leather seats of the sports car, then slid to the front to study the dashboard and turn the steering wheel. The neon lights shone on his face, flashing red and green, and I saw that his eyes were red. He wanted to drive fast, to relive the thrill of speed and passion; I could tell.

He pounded on the steering wheel and frantically pounded the horn, but the car didn't respond at all; the horn didn't sound, the stereo was silent. A ghost is a soul, ethereal, a shadow; it cannot touch solid matter. There are so many fun things in the world, yet none of them are for us. Luo Yi seemed to finally understand the cruelty of this situation. The despair on his face was unbearable to watch. Then he began to curse, cursing rapidly—cursing heaven, earth, Buddha, God, life itself, ghosts, and the cycle of birth and death. His curses brought his mother-in-law to tears, while I found them incredibly amusing.

I was secretly gloating, wishing he would add "Who told you to come back?" after every curse he uttered, but I wisely kept my mouth shut, looking left and right at the diners coming and going, each talking and laughing to themselves, and no one heard a ghost cursing.

After complaining about his fate, Luo Yi started cursing the people in his industry. He talked about how his agent was a bloodsucker, how unscrupulous the production company was, how perverted the director was, how idiotic the screenwriter was, how weak the audience was, how melodramatic the critics were, and how boring the entertainment reporters were. I listened with great interest; this rant was much more entertaining than the previous one. Many of the inside stories and gossip were things I didn't know before. It felt like watching a lighthearted show like "Art Life" or "The Untold Stories Between Me and So-and-So." I almost wanted to interject with words of praise like "Really?", "What happened next?", "That's outrageous!", and "You can tolerate this?", determined to be a true "Luo Yi fan" to the very end.

He was venting his anger, and I was thoroughly enjoying it, when suddenly someone roared, "Damn it, stop babbling on and on about this trivial matter! Don't you have any fresh ideas? You're supposed to be a worldly person, why are you whining like a woman? If you're dead, you're dead. If you're a ghost, be a ghost. What's there to be sad about? Do you think just any ghost can be a ghost in the human world? This is a rare thing. The fact that you came back means you're a bit different, a..." He couldn't think of a word for a moment, and as he was thinking about how to say it, he appeared. It turned out to be a tall man in his thirties wearing glasses.

Seeing him hesitate, I recklessly continued, "Auspicious omen?" This man, though wearing glasses and appearing to be a refined gentleman, had a rather unrestrained demeanor. He had a buzz cut, a thick neck, and a gold necklace as thick as a little finger. He wore a very fine suit, no less luxurious than Luo Yi's. If this ghost were alive, he would definitely be someone important. But I didn't recognize him.

People say a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger, not because it is not afraid, but because it does not understand. This ghost suddenly appeared in front of the sports car. I was just sizing him up, and I even dared to speak to him, but Luo Yi trembled and immediately fell silent.

The ghost leaped onto the hood, sat on the windshield, and pressed a button on the steering wheel. A piercing horn blared, making all three of us flinch, followed by the alarm's wailing. The alarm drew the attention of passersby, doormen, and valet parking attendants, who glanced at it before walking away. One passerby muttered, "That alarm is so sensitive, it's really annoying."

Seeing his display of skill, Luo Yi remained silent, but I guessed he was thinking to himself, "How come he can do what I can't?" Of course, this was just my guess. Being a naive young woman, I clapped my hands and said, "Brother, look at him! It's clear that experienced ghosts have real skills. Brother, do you remember the movie 'Ghost'? The male lead went to the subway to learn from a veteran ghost to protect his girlfriend. You couldn't honk the horn just now, but he could. Should we learn from this brother?"

The ghost laughed heartily, patted Luo Yi on the shoulder, jumped into the car and sat down, asking me, "This little sister is quite interesting, is she new here?"

I grunted in response and said, "He's new here. He just climbed up the Wuli River and is figuring out his next move. This is my elder brother, Luo Yi." I didn't want to reveal his identity in front of someone like him, lest I make a fool of myself. I pointed to the old woman beside me and said, "This is the old woman from the Ming Dynasty. I'm her younger sister; I've forgotten her name. What's your name, elder brother?"

The ghost laughed so hard he almost fell over, saying, "I've been a ghost for so long, and this is the first time I've ever seen a ghost with a whole family coming from over there. Brother Luo, you're something else." He glanced at his mother-in-law and laughed so hard he almost had a seizure, "A mother-in-law from the Ming Dynasty, hahaha, hahahaha, why did you bring her back?"

Luo Yi was annoyed by his laughter and finally couldn't help but speak up: "Little sister, don't talk nonsense. This is Brother Ma, one of my bosses. I made twenty movies for him for free. This Fisherman's Wharf is owned by him."

Brother Ma laughed and shook Luo Yi's hand, saying, "Very good, you still remember me. You've been dead for a year, why are you only coming back now? And you have an old lady and a younger sister? Handsome guys are always popular, women follow you everywhere. But I don't quite understand you. Your old lady is too old, and your younger sister isn't pretty. What do you need them for? When did your taste become so picky?"

Luo Yi remained silent with a cold face. His mother-in-law couldn't understand what he was saying at all. I, on the other hand, was someone who had been exposed to movies extensively. Although I hadn't seen much of the world, I knew that art imitates life but transcends it, and I immediately understood their relationship. I said, "Brother Ma, this is where you're wrong. My elder brother is a ghost who jumped into the Three Realms, not one of the Five Elements. We all came from that side, and we all know a little about the situation there. It's a matter of destiny in reincarnation; how can we control it? Brother Ma was glorious in life and understood things after death. Since you can say that you should be a good ghost, why are you acting like the elder brother you used to be? We're all the same kind of ghost; no one is any special. Treating my elder brother like this is a bit against the way of ghosts."

Little Ma cursed, "What kind of ghost path is this? I am the ghost path!" Then, ignoring Luo Yi, he asked me, "What do you do?"

I said with a worried look, "Brother Ma, I came back to investigate the cause of my death, but I've even forgotten who I am. I wonder if Brother Ma could help me out and give me some pointers?" Ever since I traveled through the ghost realm, I know how important it is to have a master to guide me, so I immediately seized the opportunity to ask about the most important thing.

Little Ma frowned and said, "Bullshit, how would I know how you died? You weren't any important person. So what about you?" He asked Luo Yi, "Why did you come back?"

Luo Yi was very cold to him, saying, "I came back by accident, I didn't mean to do anything."

Little Ma laughed as if he'd heard the funniest joke in the world, chuckling and cursing, "This is the first time I've heard of someone being able to come back by accident. If it were that easy, this place would be full of ghosts. There are no more than a hundred wandering ghosts here, and every single one of them has some kind of reputation. You think coming back is easy?" He looked Luo Yi up and down with suspicion, "I don't see anything special about you. Besides your face being a bit more handsome than others, what else do you have that's better than others? But in the underworld, being pretty isn't everything."

My curiosity was piqued, so I asked, "How did Brother Ma get back? And what was so special about him? Even if Brother Ma is the head of the Triads, Bamboo Union, Yamaguchi-gumi, or the Mafia, he might not get away with it."

Little Ma suddenly turned to look at me, the angle was wide, and the speed was almost like an owl. His eyes turned cold instantly, and he asked sharply, "What nonsense are you spouting, little girl? How much do you know? Where did such a thing come from?"

I retorted coldly, "Brother Ma, from the way you talk to my brother, it's obvious you're a gangster. You control his production company, making him make movies for you for free. He's a big star on the surface, but in reality, he's just your money-making tool. But that's all in the past. If he doesn't care, you should be happy to leave it at that. Now that he's dead, it's unacceptable for you to still be humiliating him like this."

Luo Yi's face was ashen as he stared silently at the dark river. Neither he nor Little Ma spoke, so it seemed I had guessed correctly. I had always thought he was glamorous and successful, but it turned out there was such a dark secret behind the scenes. I suddenly felt incredibly sorry for him and extremely disgusted with this so-called Little Ma. So I said, "This is Little Ma's territory. Let's not bother him anymore and go."

Little Ma wouldn't let us off the hook. He grabbed Luo Yi's shoulder and said, "What exactly did you come back for?"

Luo Yi shrugged, trying to shake off his hand, and said, "As I just said, this young lady wanted to come back to investigate the cause of her death, so Meng Po gave her a ride. The three of us were holding hands at the time and couldn't let go for a moment, so we came back together."

Perhaps it was because of Meng Po's reputation that Little Ma let go of Luo Yi's hand, dusted off her collar, and said, "This is quite interesting. It seems this young lady is indeed extraordinary."

Luo Yi said, "Of course, she enlightened dozens of wronged souls over there, and even sent away a half-ghost, half-mad ghost. I was able to come back because of her. My sister is very special, so Meng Po treats her differently."

Brother Ma's interest in me grew. He looked me over and over, his brows furrowed, as if he couldn't figure me out. After a while, he said, "In that case, I'll let you stay here for a while. You can meet the other good brothers here, so that you won't clash with each other later and end up not recognizing each other as family."

I jumped out of the car, stepped onto the roof of Fisherman's Wharf, and placed my hand on the two lobsters and crabs whose lights had been off for years. Immediately, the lights came on, and not only did they light up, but their open pincers clicked and closed. Then I saw a scene that I don't know if it was a dream or an imagination: the lobsters and crabs were fighting.

My heart skipped a beat, and I turned to look at the row of tall buildings across the street from Fisherman's Wharf. I was certain I'd seen this before, but I'd never paid it any mind. Who would have known that behind the sudden silence of the neon lights lay such a shocking secret? And since I'd seen it, I must live in one of those buildings. Other places were hidden by those buildings and couldn't see it. So, was my home among those buildings?

Wedding dress beauty vs. cheongsam lady

I stared blankly at that row of buildings, undulating in three folds so that every window could face the unparalleled, breathtaking view of the river. The row stretched for five miles, over twenty stories high, and every window overlooked this wretched, haunted Fisherman's Wharf. If I were to check every single window, I'd be skinned alive. For my child's sake, a surge of maternal love wouldn't be so bad, but I had absolutely no idea what to check inside, or even where to begin.

Luo Yi noticed me staring at the row of tall buildings and asked, "Little sister, what did you find?"

I shook my head. "No, but I guess one of the rooms in that window is my bedroom. I feel like I've seen this scene of lobsters and crabs fighting before."

Luo Yi was happy for me. He said, "That's good. You've made this discovery so soon. It's good that you have a goal. Don't worry, I'll accompany you to see them one by one."

I said listlessly, "Brother, there are probably thousands of windows here. If we look at them one by one, when will we ever finish? I'd better think of another way."

Luo Yi said, "Take your time to think it over, there's no rush."

Before I could even speak, my mother-in-law said, "You're not in a hurry, but the baby in her belly is."

Luo Yi had almost forgotten about his mother-in-law. He glanced back at her, and when she noticed him, a hint of shyness appeared on her face. Luo Yi glared at her angrily and turned away. Seeing his resentful look, I couldn't help but laugh. Their entanglement was truly amusing. His mother-in-law had followed him to the afterlife, but instead, they'd returned to the human world. What's so interesting about two ghosts in the human realm? Suddenly, a line from *Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio* came to mind, from the story "Lianxiang," which said, "When two ghosts meet, there is no joy. If there were joy, wouldn't there be plenty of young men in the underworld?"

A sudden pang of pain shot through my heart. There's no joy in two ghosts meeting, nor in a human and a ghost. This Sang Sheng, whose given name was Xiao and courtesy name was Ziming, had befriended a fox and a ghost. The ghost woman died for him, the fox woman lived for him, and she lived more than once. Only when the ghost woman possessed someone else did this ghostly bond finally end. What's so good about being a ghost? You can't taste delicious food, drink fine wine, hug beautiful women, or woo handsome men.

The three of us, heads bowed and lost in our own thoughts, suddenly looked up to find ourselves surrounded by ghostly figures. They appeared and disappeared, laughing and joking. Some were tall, some short; some handsome, some ugly; some old, some young; some male, some female. Their attire was bizarre: some wore elaborate crowns and wide belts, others had open sleeves and bare chests; some wore Western suits and Mao suits, and one beautiful woman even appeared in a wedding dress. These ghosts clearly belonged to a different era. With such a horde existing, our small group with Granny Ming Dynasty was nothing special. I was already quite used to such sights in the ghost realm, but seeing them in the human world still startled me.

They leaned against the flowers and trees, against the car and railing, greeting each other familiarly. The woman in the wedding dress studied the parked cars for a while, then suddenly floated over to our sports car, her eyes lit up, she touched it, and then looked up at us. I thought she looked like a lovesick fool, and I was waiting for her to see Luo Yi and scream, but she only glanced at Luo Yi's handsome face, snorted, turned around and walked away, muttering, "So he's just a pretty boy."

I chuckled and watched Luo Yi, thinking he was about to witness something amusing. But Luo Yi's expression was strange; he looked at this woman with a mixture of disdain and awe. My mother-in-law, however, was quite pleased; she was delighted to see someone flirting with her husband.

Judging that most of the ghosts had arrived, Little Ma gracefully slid down from the roof and sat on the small table, about half a person's height, in front of the hostess at the entrance. That table was usually used to place menus, business cards, and matches printed with the store logo. After sitting down, Little Ma crossed his legs, hugged his arms, and leaned against the hostess's shoulder.

The young lady, as usual, wore a bright red silk cheongsam with a high slit and thick foundation. Her eyebrows and eyes were perfectly drawn, making her quite beautiful. It was past lunchtime, and few customers were coming in. She dropped her ingratiating smile, rested her elbows on the table, propped her chin on her fingers, and parted her beautiful lips to yawn listlessly. She was completely unaware that something was leaning against her.

Little Ma, a man prone to impulsive behavior, glanced at the ghosts scattered on the ground below, suddenly grinned, and blew a breeze towards the woman in the cheongsam. The woman shuddered and sneezed twice. The doorman, who was nearby, quickly moved closer, whispering in her ear with a grin. The woman's face hardened, her almond-shaped eyes flashed with anger, and she gave a disdainful snort, wiping her nose with a tissue before turning her face away. In that turn, her face landed right on Little Ma's, and her red lips planted a kiss on his cheek.

The ghosts below cheered loudly, and I couldn't help but chuckle. Little Ma waved his hand triumphantly, a breeze seeming to stir beneath his sleeve, gently swirling around the ground, carrying with it the fragrance of four o'clocks. Four o'clocks, the most common flower in summer evenings, their fragrance like that of a girl next door. How long had it been since I'd smelled anything? And this four o'clock fragrance was so familiar.

Little Ma isn't your average ghost; he possesses magical powers. So many ghosts obey his summons not because he was a boss in life and wants to be one after death. He must have been born extraordinary to rise to the top at such a young age. His innate abilities likely stem from memories of his past life. With Little Ma by my side, what wish can't I fulfill? I gazed at Little Ma, who was teasing the young lady, as if looking at a savior.

When it concerns one's future and destiny, everything else becomes nonsense. Even knowing something is wrong, one can't care less about the consequences. With a heart full of self-pity, to paraphrase a popular quote from the renowned author Yi Shu, it's "not without its sorrows."

Little Ma draped his arm over the cheongsam-clad lady's shoulder and said casually, "Everyone's here, right? I called you all here for no other reason than to introduce you to three new friends who are coming from over there. It'll be good to meet them so you don't have trouble getting around later." He pointed to the three of us. "That's my old brother, Luo Yi. That little girl is his sister, which makes her my sister too. And that sister-in-law is someone important; you all know that, so don't bother her. My sister has some business to attend to, so if anyone sees her, lend a hand if you can. These days, we're running out of talent here, and it's been a long time since we've all been together. It's rare to see us all gathered here tonight, especially with new friends, so let's have a wild night together!"

The ghosts cheered and went about their business. I wondered whether to go talk to Little Ma or watch the ghosts' revelry. Just then, the woman in the wedding dress floated over and squeezed between Little Ma and the woman in the cheongsam, wrapping her arms around Little Ma's neck in a seductive pose. Little Ma, as if deliberately trying to annoy the woman in the wedding dress, pushed her away and focused on cuddling with the woman in the cheongsam. The woman in the cheongsam, unaware that two ghosts were bothering her, just felt uneasy all over. She smoothed her hair, scratched her neck, and looked left and right, as if searching for a mosquito.

Her wriggling and twisting, in my opinion, was no different from the pose of the woman in the wedding dress—both were teasing Little Ma. Little Ma, amused, hugged both the woman and the ghost to his chest. The woman in the wedding dress was now satisfied and behaved herself, instead making funny faces at the woman in the cheongsam, making Little Ma laugh heartily, kissing her here and there. The woman in the cheongsam raised her hand and lightly slapped herself, then twirled her fingers, probably looking for a mosquito. Of course, Little Ma also got a slap, but he wasn't angry; he laughed and slapped the woman in the cheongsam back. The woman in the wedding dress laughed heartily, hugging his neck.

This level of restriction is not something I should be watching, but I couldn't resist, and I even opened my eyes wide. My mother-in-law gasped and obediently closed her eyes. It seems the ancients had better manners. Luo Yi looked at the three huddled together, a cold smile on his face.

I found it strange and asked him, "Brother, do you know this woman? What's her relationship with Brother Ma?" She shouldn't be some minor celebrity, otherwise, her connection with Luo Yi wouldn't go unreported in the entertainment section.

Luo Yi said, "She was one of Little Ma's girlfriends. She kept crying and clamoring to marry him. What kind of person is Little Ma? He wouldn't get married so young; he was just playing around with her. Later, Little Ma died, and she took some pills. When she died, she wore this white dress, saying she wanted to be buried with him. Of course, Little Ma's family was overjoyed that a woman was willing to die with him, so they held a ghost marriage for them. At the time, I just thought it was a joke, but who knew I'd run into them when I came back. I just didn't expect them to come back too. Little Ma..."

I said, "He's a bit different, isn't he? It's not unfair that you lost to him. He has influence here; who can be his match?"

Luo Yi nodded and said, "No wonder, I admit it. How can a person fight against fate?"

The three of us sat in the car whispering. Little Ma, the woman in the wedding dress, and the lady in the cheongsam were arguing, while the other ghosts started doing their own mischief and having fun. Suddenly, all the brightly lit indoor, outdoor, landscape, and neon lights at Fisherman's Wharf went out, and people inside screamed. Then, the blue emergency lights came on, followed by candles. The restaurant manager and staff were truly well-trained; in the blink of an eye, they had transformed an ordinary night into a candlelight dinner.

The candles had just been lit, the voices had barely subsided, when suddenly darkness fell across the street, the sky turning mostly gray. Thousands of windows on the other side of the Wave Building had gone dark simultaneously. Streetlights went out, traffic lights went out—everything went black. Cars on the road were thrown into chaos; a cacophony of screeching brakes filled the air. There were collisions, injuries, and drivers and passengers leaned out to ask what had happened. Some got out of their cars, some started arguing. Meanwhile, in the Wave Building across the street, emergency lights, candles, and flashlights flickered on, each window a story in itself, some eager to tell their tales, others silent in their wake.

A little while later, the streets were packed with people. Those inside the buildings, unable to bear the darkness and heat any longer, emerged from their rooms and went to the riverbank, hoping for some cool air. Some were in t-shirts or pajamas, others in slippers and shirtless. At this moment, guests from the restaurant, unable to bear the heat any longer, also came out. Those in suits draped their coats over their arms, their heavy makeup smudged with sweat. The manager and waiters behind them kept apologizing.

Those troublemakers darted through the crowd, groping people's chests, assaulting their buttocks, stealing their wallets, and taking off their shoes. Then, each troublemaker occupied a car, honking their horn and turning on their stereo, creating a deafening noise on the road. People were all flustered and dizzy from the chaos.

Cold and beautiful cult leader

That night, the busiest people were the police and doctors. Police cars, ambulances, fire trucks, and rescue vehicles—red, yellow, white, and all sorts of colors—ran back and forth on the roads, flashing lights and sirens, further increasing the congestion. One moment a fire broke out, flames soaring into the sky; the next, a fire hydrant was damaged by a car, water gushing forth. Crowds followed, watching the spectacle. What was the point of going home if there was no power? They pulled out their phones to make calls, the noise deafening. After a flurry of calls to friends and family, people went off in groups to find more fun. An unexpected power outage turned into a night of revelry.

They were having a great time mingling in the crowd, a scene reminiscent of the absurdity of April Fools' Day in *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* and the madness of the Roman Carnival in *The Count of Monte Cristo*. Being a ghost wasn't very interesting, so playing pranks became their show, a constant performance with ever-evolving tricks, all about getting involved and keeping up with the times.

Power outages are a weakness of modern people. These outdated ghosts also know this vulnerability of modern people, and they cut off the power as soon as they raise their hands, leaving the self-important modern people at a loss and having no choice but to go out at night with candles.

After midnight, some people couldn't stand it anymore and went home to sleep, even though it was hot. The ghosts, however, were still full of energy and continued to entangle with the young people who remained outside. Luo Yi, my mother-in-law, and I were kicked out of the car by the owner of the red sports car and squeezed onto the road to find out who was going to the Roman Gardens so we could hitch a ride. When the sports car owner got in, he told the other two, "I'll take you to the Water View," and then we obediently got out of the car. The Water View Villas and the Roman Gardens are in opposite directions, so we didn't bother with a random drive.

Getting a ride is quite a hassle. First, private cars don't display signs on their windshields like taxis, indicating their destination. Second, we can't just stand on the roadside and give a thumbs-up to helpful strangers. I was so successful in the Ghost Realm, but now I can't seem to get by in the Human Realm; clearly, this isn't my place. Things have changed; how can I not feel a deep sense of loss?

As I was feeling melancholy, I suddenly saw a flash of red. A young woman in a bright red silk cheongsam, carrying a bag and wearing high heels, walked gracefully through the crowd, her arm linked with that of a man in a black suit. The two were chatting and laughing intimately. I stared at them, utterly astonished, and screamed, "Brother, look ahead! How did he do that?"

Luo Yi looked at them too, saying as she looked, "No wonder he could say such things. With such ability, of course he doesn't need to be afraid of becoming a ghost." It turned out that the young lady was carrying Little Ma. We weren't mistaken; Little Ma's glasses and gold necklace were still there.