Reino Fantasma

Capítulo 13

"Are you having trouble sleeping?"

I nodded.

"Me too." Suddenly she gestured for me to be quiet. "Listen."

All around was silent; even the wind had stopped.

"What are you listening to?" I shook my head.

"Shh, here it comes again, listen—"

"I didn't hear anything." My hearing is still pretty good.

"Yes, not anymore. That person is gone."

"Who? Who went there?"

"Didn't you really hear that? It was the sound of slippers, listen—tap-tap-tap, the sound of footsteps through the mud. I heard it very clearly, how could you not hear such a clear sound?" She asked me with wide eyes, and the sound coming from her mouth sent chills down my spine.

Just then, the wind picked up again, and the reeds swayed. Hearing Xiangxiang's words, I suddenly felt a little scared. I stood up and looked around for a moment. Impossible, there couldn't be that sound of slippers; there wasn't a soul around. I decided to go deeper into the reeds to check.

"Don't go." Xiangxiang stopped me. "This afternoon I heard from the villagers here that many years ago, a female educated youth who came to the countryside to settle down drowned in this pond. They said that every night since then, the sound of slippers can be heard by the water because that female educated youth drowned while wearing slippers."

"But I didn't hear anything." But my heart started beating faster and faster.

“People in the countryside say that ordinary people can’t hear it, and if someone does hear it, that person will die soon,” she said quietly.

Don't believe that nonsense.

"Hehe, I don't believe you. I'm just kidding, but I really did hear the sound of slippers."

"Let's go back." I was really scared.

We walked around the stream, parted the reeds, and headed toward our tent. Suddenly she stopped, looked up at the deep blue sky.

"What's wrong now?" I asked her.

"It's so beautiful." She was still gazing at the night sky.

"What's so beautiful?"

"A shooting star. I just saw a shooting star fly right over my head," she said wistfully.

"You're really lucky." I looked at the sky, feeling a pang of regret.

Back at the camp, we crawled into our respective tents.

That night, I dreamed of a female educated youth wearing slippers and with two small braids.

The next morning, as soon as I crawled out of the tent, I saw Xiangxiang. She smiled at me, and I smiled back.

Later, we split up to do our own thing. Many people went to the beach, and I went too. When we came back, we realized Xiangxiang was missing; it seemed she hadn't gone to the beach. We searched everywhere for her, but couldn't find her. By nightfall, everyone was very anxious, some even crying. We borrowed kerosene lamps and flashlights from the locals to continue the search. Suddenly, I remembered a place, so I led everyone to the small pond where Xiangxiang had swum the night before. When we reached the water's edge deep in the reeds, we shone our flashlights on the surface. In the dim light, I saw something floating on the water. I had a bad feeling. I rushed to the water's edge and smelled a fragrance.

The one floating on the water is Xiangxiang.

Several boys who could swim jumped into the pond and pulled Xiangxiang ashore.

Xiangxiang is dead.

She lay peacefully on the shore, eyes closed, seemingly asleep. Just last night, she was here telling me about the sounds she heard. I remembered her words, and tears streamed down my face. After Xiangxiang was carried away, I was left alone here. The night was quiet, and I wasn't afraid at all. I desperately wanted to hear the sound of slippers, but I heard nothing.

The autopsy report for Xiangxiang stated that she died by drowning. But Xiangxiang was the best swimmer among us; no one could understand why. According to regulations, Xiangxiang's body had to be cremated locally. We all attended her memorial service. At the service, I walked past her glass coffin, looking at Xiangxiang's face lying quietly inside. I could almost still smell her fragrance.

It smells so good, so good, so good.

I miss her.

My biggest wish is to turn back time and bring her back to life.

I know this is impossible.

Every year during Qingming Festival and Winter Solstice, I visit her grave to offer a bouquet of flowers.

Now, her face is clear again, and her scent has satisfied my nose once more.

Because of ROSE.

February 16th

Nanhu Middle School is located in the center of a large group of old houses. When viewed from above, it looks like a patch of low shrubs that has been destroyed by some animal, and that blank patch is the school's playground.

Ye Xiao and I entered this Soviet-style teaching building constructed in the 1950s. In the spacious and tall corridors, we passed the principal and arrived at the archives. The 1966 files were complete, but they were of no use to us.

The old principal kept rambling on, "The Red Guards and the like won't be included in the files or student records. That year, hundreds of students joined the Red Guards, and they split into dozens of groups to 'make revolution' in various units. Trying to find out which people went to 125 Nanhu Road is like looking for a needle in a haystack."

"Who else here is familiar with what happened back then?"

"Well, those old teachers have all retired, and we can't find them right now. It might be a bit difficult."

Suddenly, the middle-aged woman in charge of the archives interjected, "Principal, wasn't Mr. Yu, the history teacher, a graduate of our school in 1966?"

"Oh, right, I'll take you to him."

The principal led us out of the archives and into an office. The principal said to a middle-aged man who was engrossed in reading, "Old Yu, aren't you a graduate of our school from the class of '66? The comrades from the Municipal Public Security Bureau want to investigate some of the Red Guards from our school in '66."

Teacher Yu raised his head, his expression suddenly becoming tense. He looked at us, then his expression calmed down again, and he said calmly, "Principal, I can't remember anything from more than thirty years ago."

The principal shook his head at us and said softly to me, "Don't mind him, he's just like that. He's introverted and doesn't like talking to others much."

Ye Xiao nodded to me and then said, "Teacher Yu, could I take up a little of your time? Let's talk outside."

"I'm preparing my lesson," he said, sounding a little impatient.

"I'm sorry, I'm on a case right now." Ye Xiao looked directly into his eyes.

They stared at each other for a moment, and finally, Teacher Yu looked away from him: "Okay, let's go outside and talk." Then he said to the principal, "Principal, you go back and get busy, I will cooperate."

We walked through the dimly lit corridor and arrived at the edge of the playground. The sunlight lazily shone on my face, and a group of students were having free time during their physical education class. Ye Xiao spoke first: "Teacher Yu, were you a Red Guard in 1966?"

"Yes, but does it matter? Almost every student did back then."

"I'm sorry, you may have misunderstood us. We're just here to investigate some things. Do you know this place, 125 Nanhu Road?"

“The dark room?” he suddenly murmured, almost to himself.

"What is a black house?" I asked him.

He didn't answer, but let out a long sigh. Then he looked around and led us to the quietest corner of the playground, where several large water cedars and some fig trees grew, and the ground was covered with weeds. Under the shade of the trees, sunlight dappled our foreheads like stars. He said slowly, "Because it's a black building, very special. I lived nearby when I was a child, so we used to call that place the Black House."

“We came here for this house, Teacher Yu. I think you must know something. Tell us everything you know, everything,” Ye Xiao said.

"In the autumn of 1966, I was a graduating student at this school. Most of my classmates became Red Guards, criticizing teachers, creating big-character posters, and engaging in heated debates. But many felt that making trouble at school wasn't enough, so a group of Red Guards went to the 'Black House.' And I was one of them." He suddenly paused, and only after we urged him on with our gazes did he continue, "You young people wouldn't understand the situation back then. Everyone was like a madman, especially the sixteen- or seventeen-year-old students. There are many things that take time for us to understand. We went to the Black House because it was a place with many knowledge..." The place was a government-run institution, supposedly a stronghold of capitalist roaders. We went in and drove all the staff out; no one dared to resist. We wrote big-character posters in every room. Finally, only the basement remained. We ordered the guard to open the basement door, and then we went down. The basement was very deep; we climbed the stairs for a long time. Looking back, it was quite frightening, but young people have a strong sense of curiosity, and Red Guards are known for being fearless. Finally, we mustered our courage and went down into the basement. We found a glass coffin, and inside the glass coffin lay a naked woman.

I gasped. Sure enough, after 1945, the Empress's remains were kept in the basement. I looked at Teacher Yu's face again; his brows were furrowed, and he lowered his head.

"Go on."

"We were very surprised at the time. On the one hand, we were young and didn't understand women. Seeing such a beautiful woman lying naked in a glass coffin was more of a surprise than a fear. Yes, she was so beautiful. I had never seen such a beautiful woman in my life. She looked to be in her early twenties, all white, with her eyes closed, sleeping peacefully. At first, we really thought she was sleeping. We were a little shy and wanted to leave. Then someone said that a woman sleeping naked here must be a hooligan and that we should subject her to proletarian dictatorship. So we opened the glass coffin and called her to get up, but she didn't respond. One of us mustered up the courage to touch her and found that her body was cold. After checking her pulse, we realized that she was dead. Suddenly we became scared. We started to wonder if she had been murdered, but we couldn't think of any conclusions. We didn't dare to tell anyone because we had seen a naked woman, and others might think we were hooligans too. We could only routinely paint slogans on the wall and then leave the basement."

"Is it really that simple?" I suspected he was hiding something else.

"No, back then, we made a so-called revolution in the dark house during the day, and went home to sleep at night as usual. After all, we were just kids. The morning after we entered the basement, we gathered at the entrance of the dark house as usual, but we found that one person was missing, named Liu Weizhong. So we went to his house to look for him. When we got there, we learned that Liu Weizhong had committed suicide by drinking a bottle of rat poison the night before. And yesterday, he was the only one who had touched the woman in the basement. For some reason, I suddenly felt very scared. I left them and ran back home, never daring to go back to the dark house. I stayed at home all day that day, constantly on edge. By night..." It was past ten o'clock, and I had already gone to bed when Zhang Hongjun suddenly came to my house. He was also a Red Guard, and he had gone to the basement with us the day before. He said he was very scared and had nightmares that night, so he came to see me. He told me something: last night, he and Liu Weizhong secretly went to the dark room. They found that the gatekeeper had escaped, and the gate was open, so they went inside and went down to the basement. Zhang Hongjun said that he went to the basement just to touch that woman because Liu Weizhong said it felt very good. He went there at Liu Weizhong's urging. He said that in the basement, they touched that woman's body.

"Just touching?" Ye Xiao suddenly interrupted him.

"I know what you're thinking. Young people these days like to overthink things. Back then, we were very innocent. Touching a woman was considered a great transgression."

"Excuse me, please continue."

“That night, Zhang Hongjun said he never expected Liu Weizhong to commit suicide; there was no warning at all. I asked him who else he had told about it, and at first he wouldn't say, but later he told me that in the afternoon he had told the Red Guards who had been to the basement. Later, it got too late, and people went to bed early, so my father chased Zhang Hongjun away. The next day, I still didn't go to the dark house; I had a deep fear of it. I went to school, and there was no one in class that morning. I walked around the playground to get some fresh air. But then, I found Zhang Hongjun on the playground—yes, right here, right where we are standing now. He was lying right here at our feet, foaming at the mouth, holding a bottle of pesticide.” He lowered his head in anguish, looking at the overgrown ground. “The autopsy report at the time said he committed suicide by drinking pesticide around 3 a.m. that day. Perhaps I will never understand why he and Liu Weizhong committed suicide.”

A sudden chill ran down my spine, and I quickly took a few steps back. I never imagined that someone had died in the very spot beneath my shoes in 1966.

"What about the others?" Ye Xiao continued to ask.

"I don't know anything about what happened to them after that. After Zhang Hongjun died, I never participated in any Red Guard activities again. Not long after, I left Shanghai and went to Yunnan to participate in the Down to the Countryside Movement. Later, after the Gang of Four was overthrown and the college entrance examination was reinstated, I was admitted to university. After graduation, I became a teacher and was assigned to teach at my alma mater, where I still teach today."

Is that all?

“That’s all I know. For so many years, whenever I had to pass by the dark house, I would always take a detour to avoid seeing it. It was a nightmare, and I’ve lived in its shadow ever since.” From his pained face, I could tell he wasn’t lying.

"Thank you. Could you tell me the names of the other people who went to the basement at that time?"

"Fortunately, after all these years, I've always remembered them." He took out a piece of paper and a pen, wrote down more than a dozen names, and then handed the paper to Ye Xiao.

"Very good, thank you for your cooperation, goodbye." Just as we were about to leave, Teacher Yu suddenly called out to us: "Excuse me, I'd like to know, have you been to that basement?"

"I've been there."

"Is that woman still alive? She should be a pile of bones by now," Teacher Yu said.

“No, she’s gone, but she won’t turn into bones; she’ll always be herself,” I replied.

I could see the terror in his eyes.

February 17

I dreamt of Xiangxiang again.

I couldn't stand staying at home any longer, so I went out. It was already late, and I wandered the streets of Shanghai. I don't know how far I wandered, but suddenly I saw the famous Pushkin statue standing before me. Seeing the pensive poet, I knew where I should go. I crossed two more streets, turned into that alley, went into the small building, and stopped in front of a door on the third floor.

Hopefully Rose is home.

Oh my god, Huang Yun's face is back again. I admit that I am someone who easily forgets the past, and like all men, I am fickle. But what I can never forget is Xiang Xiang.

I knocked on the door. It opened, and there was Rose. She looked surprised, then smiled at me. Her room was exactly the same as the last time I'd seen it. Only the computer was on, displaying a system software interface.

"Please sit down. What brings you here?" She sat down in a rocking chair.

"Just passing by." I don't know if this counts as just passing by.

"You're lying. Hehe, you blush when you lie." Her soft laughter filled my ears, along with that familiar scent.

I touched my face; it was quite hot and definitely red. I wanted to change the subject, so I looked at the computer and asked, "What are you playing?"

"I was writing a program, and I got hired by that internet company."

Congratulations!

"It's nothing, just editing some software to prevent hackers and viruses."

I was speechless again, and it took me a while to finally come up with a sentence: "Thank you for taking me home last time."

"I don't want you spending the night at the Fairy Forest Tea House. Did you even fall asleep that night?"