Diez historias clásicas y conmovedoras sobre lo sobrenatural

Capítulo 10

"You really think the two of you know me well? Big reporter!" Fake Lai Bao suddenly stood up. I was startled. Fake reporter? What did that mean? Did he know we used to be reporters?

The fake Lai Bao sat in a chair and looked at us: "Haven't you been looking for me all this time?"

"Who are you?" Lai Bao asked, but at that moment a name popped into my head, but I felt... this was beyond unbelievable. All the memories and analyses in my mind were mixed together, it was very chaotic.

“Zhang Aimin, have you forgotten?” Fake Lai Bao, no, it should be said that Zhang Aimin stood up at this moment: “I don’t have much time left. Give me the book. I’ll say it again, give me the book. I want that book. You don’t have to give me the book, just tell me some things I want to know.”

Neither Lai Bao nor I spoke. Zhang Aimin pulled out a knife and held it to Lai Bao's neck, then said to me, "I'll give you ten seconds to think it over. Tell them that the book won't cost you anything. I can even exchange it for money. Lots of money. Money can do a lot of things. Women too. Aren't money and women what men always want? With money, you can get status, you can get a lot of things."

I gritted my teeth, while Lai Bao remained silent. I could tell he was terrified. Who isn't afraid of death? Anyone who claims to be unafraid of death is just bragging.

Zhang Aimin tossed the knife into the air and caught it gently. He then held the tip of the knife on his finger and wiggled it slightly, staring at Lai Bao and me with a mocking look. Neither Lai Bao nor I spoke. Zhang Aimin leaned down, put the knife aside, covered his face, and said, "I am still not myself. You don't understand my pain. I am nobody. Someone just implanted something in my brain, telling me what I should look for, what I really want. Otherwise, I have no goal, no... what you call life goals. That person told me that some people's life goals are very simple, just to make a lot of money. Some people just want to pursue an exciting life. But I have no life goals of my own. I don't even know who I am."

"Everything I see is fed back to my brain through my eyes, forming a subconscious imitation, a 100% imitation. After I went to Australia, I learned how to regulate my bodily functions, how to adapt my body and mind to different environments at different times and places. I began to understand that I could do many things, many things that others wanted to do but couldn't... That person taught me these things, but he told me that it wasn't teaching me, but rather an inspiration, allowing me to release many things that I hadn't opened up within me. I keep telling myself that I must learn more so that I can truly exist in this world and become a qualified person. A qualified person is someone like me..."

"But human lifespan is finite. Although my body is different from yours, I still realize that I am still a human being. As a human, I will die one day. I don't want to die. I want to live forever. I want to learn everything in this world. I don't want to be human. Humans are really insignificant. I want to become a god!"

Zhang Aimin stood up and began pacing excitedly around the room. After a couple of laps, he suddenly stopped and said, “I started wandering aimlessly, learning from other people… But the internet is a wonderful thing; you can find almost anything on it. I even found information about immortality there, you know? It’s real. I verified it myself. The person who found it also told me that immortality really exists. I discovered this talisman online; I discovered this ancient art of immortality. But I haven’t found the real method. The real method is in your hands.”

Zhang Aimin kicked the corpse next to him and said, "I used my own body to enable people to truly master the method of changing their appearance at will. He has the talent, and I have the conditions, but his talent is too limited. From my point of view, he is simply an idiot... But I must thank him. Without him, I could not have mastered this method. But with him by my side, I would have died sooner or later. This is not the first time he has exposed me. He must die!"

Chapter 28 of "Tangdun Strange Tales Notes"

Chapter 28 of "Tangdun Strange Tales Notes"

Author: Tang Xiaohao

Lai Bao had already closed his eyes. After listening to Zhang Aimin say so much, I had an indescribable feeling in my heart, even a little pity for this thing in front of me that I didn't even know if he should be called human. He was right, revealing it wouldn't do us any harm, and immortality was a trap anyway, so it would be better to let Zhang Aimin fall into the trap directly. But what if he knew and still tried to kill me? Just as I was conflicted, I saw a figure flash in the inner room, and then someone appeared behind Zhang Aimin. In an instant, Zhang Aimin noticed him and swung his knife. This slash startled me. Zhang Aimin's hand completely bent over. The person behind Zhang Aimin grabbed his hand and slammed him heavily against the wall, then grabbed a chair next to him and threw it at him. Zhang Aimin hit the wall, bounced, and then jumped to another corner of the wall.

The person who attacked Zhang Aimin from behind was actually Shi Ping'er...

Notes on Disguise, Part 5: The Twelfth Chapter – An Even Greater Mystery

Zhang Aimin squatted in the corner, blood still dripping from the corner of his mouth, but he still gripped the knife tightly in his hand and said in his own voice, "Who exactly are you?"

Shi Ping'er said expressionlessly, "You don't need to know."

Zhang Aimin smiled, turned around, and jumped out of the window. I quickly shouted to Shi Ping'er, "Chase him!"

Shi Ping'er squatted down, looked at me and Lai Bao, and said, "You two aren't seriously injured, so there's no need to chase him. I don't want to chase him. Even if you catch up, you won't be a match for him."

"What a freak that is," Lai Bao muttered to himself, looking out the window. Shi Ping'er said, "It is indeed a freak, a useful freak."

"Who are you?" I asked Shi Ping'er. "Who exactly are you?"

Shi Ping'er replied to Zhang Aimin in the same tone she had used before, "You don't need to know." Then Shi Ping'er helped Lao Fu out of the inner room. Lao Fu seemed to be badly injured, as if he had been slapped several times in the face. After coming out, Lao Fu shouted, "Where did that bastard go? I'm going to kill that kid!"

I took out my phone to call Chen Zhong, but Shi Ping'er stopped me and said to wait a bit, as she had something to tell me. I stared at Shi Ping'er and told her to hurry up and say what she wanted to say. Shi Ping'er smiled at me and said, "There's no need to get so angry. I haven't deceived your feelings."

“You don’t need to beat around the bush with the police anymore. The man lying on the ground is Li Qiang, the crematorium employee. He’s really dead this time. As for how Zhang Aimin could change his appearance, you can investigate this Li Qiang and you’ll know everything. But I hope you can investigate secretly. After all, exposing some things will overturn most people’s views. If you don’t want to become the focus of the world and be monitored for a long time, do as I say.” Shi Ping’er said to the three of us. After speaking, she walked up to me and whispered, “I think if the person who really came to find you wasn’t Zhang Aimin, but the real me, I would be a little bit moved. Fool, goodbye, we’ll meet again.”

After Shi Ping'er finished speaking, she walked to the door and closed it. Just as she closed the door, she added, "You must keep that book safe. Someone will come to collect it." After she closed the door, we heard someone coming downstairs. The three of us stood there, completely stunned, especially me. I could still feel the warmth of Shi Ping'er's touch on my face.

Old Fu was yelling that he was going to catch up with Shi Ping'er, but Lai Bao and I stopped him and said to give up. We could tell from how he dealt with Zhang Aimin that even if we had a few more people, we still couldn't beat her. Chen Zhong arrived with his men quickly and said that Shi Ping'er had called him earlier and told him what she had told us about Li Qiang.

A few of us then went to the hospital for a check-up. Mi Dou also rushed over, but when she arrived, she suddenly threw herself into Lai Bao's arms and cried. This left Lao Fu and me speechless, especially Lao Fu, whose expression instantly changed from surprise to anger. Lai Bao, however, looked at me helplessly, trying not to look at Lao Fu. Lao Bao pushed the doctor away and questioned Lai Bao, but Lai Bao didn't say a word, just smoked a cigarette. Mi Dou pulled Lao Fu outside, and after a while, Mi Dou came back in and said that Lao Fu had already left.

I quickly called Lao Fu, but his phone was off. A while later, I received a text message from Lao Fu saying that he needed to calm down, that he was fine, and that I shouldn't look for him for the time being. He said he was going out for a walk to clear his head and would come back in a while.

I said this is strange. First Lai Bao left, and now you're leaving too. Is it my turn to go out for a walk and come back next time?

Lai Bao and Mi Dou had been hooking up for a long time, and it wasn't something that happened overnight. Mi Dou was studying psychology and liked detective and suspense novels, which was also Lai Bao's hobby. The two hit it off from the start because of their shared interests. Especially during the time Lai Bao was away, he chatted with Mi Dou online every day at his hometown. As they chatted, a strange feeling suddenly appeared, and they even made a vow to never be apart.

Lai Bao sighed, "I really hope Lao Fu won't hate me for the rest of his life." He then hugged Mi Dou tightly. "You two are acting out a romance drama, aren't you?" But in that instant, in just that instant, I thought of Shi Ping'er, and the words Shi Ping'er had whispered in my ear. Suddenly, I felt a surge of heat throughout my body, so I curled up on the bedside table and lit a cigarette…

Chen Zhong called the next day and asked if I wanted to go with him to investigate Li Qiang. I said no, the events of the past few days had happened too suddenly, and my mind was still a mess. Zhang Aimin was already a mystery, and I thought that seeing him again would solve it, but now there's another mystery on top of another, and that book too. They seem unrelated yet connected, otherwise why would Shi Ping'er have added that last sentence? It seems that Shi Ping'er was also after that book, or at least it was related to it. The key is the book in Lao Fu's hand, Li Qiang, and that disguise technique that makes you break out in a cold sweat. Right now, all I want to do is get some sleep; I'll worry about everything else later.

As Lai Bao and Mi Dou began their entanglement, Lao Fu vanished as if he had disappeared from the face of the earth, with no contact whatsoever. I still went to get off work and came home every day, or went to the bookstore to look up some information and enrich my knowledge. I increasingly realized that I didn't actually know anything, and there were still so many things I didn't know. On this point, I even somewhat agreed with what Zhang Aimin said: people are losing themselves.

Chen Zhong finally told me that after investigating Li Qiang, his entire worldview was completely changed. He realized that there really were such supernatural arts in the world. Li Qiang used something similar to the ancient art of disguise, but combined it with modern technology to make it look just like the real thing. Li Qiang had previously studied film makeup, but after graduating from university, he had difficulty finding a job and wanted to rise to the top in one step. After being idle at home for a long time, he was forced to learn how to apply makeup to the dead. Then someone provided Li Qiang with a book that recorded the methods of disguise.

Chen Zhong said this, and I quickly stopped him. I asked, "Li Qiang is dead, and he told you all this in a dream?"

Chen Zhong sighed and said, "These are all things that Shi Ping'er left behind and told me. Actually, how could I find out these things? Li Qiang died and everything was gone. I can only attribute it to the fact that he studied film makeup."

Upon hearing that there was something left behind by Shi Ping'er, I became quite excited. I suppressed my excitement and asked, "What did Shi Ping'er leave you?" Chen Zhong took out a stack of A4 papers and said, "It's all on here. It's written like a novel. You can't disbelieve it, but you can't believe it completely either."

Notes on Disguise, Chapter Thirteen: Invitation

Shi Ping'er claimed that she provided Zhang Aimin with the so-called book on disguise through some method, and then lured Zhang Aimin to find Li Qiang, a person whose ancestors had known this skill. As for the specifics of how Shi Ping'er did it, she didn't say a word. She only mentioned at this time that Zhang Aimin knew about the method of immortality and that the talisman was also arranged by her. She said that it was not unusual for a new IE page to suddenly pop up on Zhang Aimin's computer. She kept providing Zhang Aimin with various clues, leading him to follow the clues and eventually find her. However, she did not intend to involve us. But the information Zhang Aimin received was that we had this method of immortality. Thus, her original goal was deviated from the intended direction, so in the end, her plan had to be temporarily shelved.

I saw this and muttered to myself, "What was Shi Ping'er's original purpose?" Chen Zhong looked at me and shrugged.

At the end of the stack of documents Shi Ping'er left for Chen Zhong, she repeatedly instructed him to keep the book safe. She also mentioned that the contents of the book on disguise were deciphered from another volume of that book. After that, she didn't write anything more. On the back of the last page, I saw that Shi Ping'er asked Chen Zhong to give her greetings to me, and she drew a big heart on the back with her lip print. (When I saw that lip print, I actually had the urge to put my lips to it. I slapped myself hard then; what was I thinking?)

One night, Chen Zhong secretly took me to "visit" Li Qiang's corpse. The things attached to Li Qiang's body, or more accurately, some human organs, were peeled off and placed aside, labeled with small tags. They were all strange female bodies. Chen Zhong told me that these were taken from female corpses and "attached" to Li Qiang's body using a special method. As for what method it was, as far as he knew, they hadn't figured it out yet (whether it was true or not, only Chen Zhong himself probably knew, and I didn't ask any further questions). As for the so-called human skin mask that I had previously thought was attached to Li Qiang's face, it was firmly stuck to Li Qiang's face. In Chen Zhong's words, it was like it was grown on there. But you could tell from the edges that it was definitely attached. However, the skin had grown together with Li Qiang's original face. Why that was still unknown.

Chen Zhong said that the matter had been reported to higher authorities and a special task force had been established to handle it. Zhang Aimin was wanted nationwide. I thought to myself that it would be too difficult to catch Zhang Aimin now. He now had the technology to change his appearance. He could find someone to imitate for a period of time, then kill and bury that person, and live under that person's identity... Chen Zhong repeatedly said that he had taken a huge risk by bringing me to see him this time. If people found out, his career would be over. After we quietly left, Chen Zhong still told me to keep my mouth shut and not to tell Lai Bao or Lao Fu if possible. I smiled to myself. Lai Bao was currently concerned about him and Mi Dou, and they were even discussing how many children they would have in the future. As for Lao Fu, I still didn't know where he was, and I couldn't find him even if I wanted to tell him.

I went to Zhong Sheng's house again. Apart from the fact that Chen Chong took me to see the body, I told Zhong Sheng everything that had happened before. My first purpose was to test whether Zhong Sheng knew about this matter, even if he knew a little bit. My second purpose was to consult this great professor about his opinion on this matter and whether he could give me some advice.

Chapter 29 of "Tangdun Strange Tales Notes"

Chapter 29 of "Tangdun Strange Tales Notes"

Author: Tang Xiaohao

While I was listening to Zhong Sheng, he was writing something in his notebook. I peeked at it, but his handwriting was so messy that I couldn't make out what he was writing. He would just glance at me every now and then, or flick his cigarette ash and take a sip of tea. After I finished speaking, Zhong Sheng stared at his notebook, shaking his head and nodding at the same time. He did this for at least half an hour before finally looking up at me and saying, "What interests me now is that Shi Ping'er said the art of disguise was deciphered from another book. I have a question in my mind."

I asked, "What question do you have?"

Zhong Sheng shook his head and said, "I knew before that this book was divided into two volumes, but Shi Ping'er said there was another one, but didn't say it was the second volume? What if this book has more than two volumes..." Zhong Sheng looked at me as he spoke, and I felt that he seemed to be observing my facial expression. I grinned and said, "Teacher Zhong, I don't know how many volumes this book actually has. I only know that this book has a second volume because you told me."

“Shi Ping’er, Shi Ping’er…” Zhong Sheng kept repeating the name: “What exactly does this girl do?” Zhong Sheng kept talking to himself. My first thought was that this girl was probably related to the organization that Zhong Sheng had told us about before, but whether that organization actually existed was still a secret, because even Zhong Sheng himself was not sure. What you hear is far less real than what you see, not to mention that sometimes what you see may be fake.

And who is the person Zhang Aimin mentioned, the one who taught him so much? Is it the distant relative who took him to Australia?

After saying goodbye to Zhong Sheng, I kept thinking about these things on the way back. I even fell asleep on the way back. The taxi driver woke me up when I got out of the car. I paid him and thanked him. I returned home in a daze. When I got home, I saw that Lao Fu, who had been missing for a long time, was sitting on the sofa in my living room watching a movie. It was one thing if he was watching other movies, but he was watching "The Hulk".

Old Fu, don't you think you're green enough already...?

After I sat down, Lao Fu abruptly said to me, "Lai Bao isn't home, that's why I came. There's something I need to discuss with you." He then tossed me an envelope addressed to "Invitation to Mr. Fu Qing." I glanced at Lao Fu, who gestured for me to open it. Inside was something resembling an invitation, but not a formal one. It was bright red with gold accents, clearly designed like a wedding invitation. It simply stated:

Mr. Fu Qing:

We cordially invite you to participate in the Biyun Cave Treasure Hunt organized by Mulin Group. All expenses for this event are provided by Mulin Group. Your invitation code is a combination of the last two digits of your ID card number and the last three digits of your mobile phone number. Please bring your original ID card and mobile phone to the event reception desk of Mulin Group Chuanshan Villa immediately. You may bring one accompanying person.

Then below was the contact number, the contact person's name, and other relevant precautions, etc., a whole bunch of stuff. And of course, at the end there was a sentence: "The final interpretation of this event belongs to Mulin Company." I was actually just waiting to see this sentence from top to bottom. After I finished reading it, I threw it back at Lao Fu and said, "Unreliable."

Old Fu frowned: "I didn't ask if you were reliable or not. I meant I wanted you to come with me, just to keep me company and help me relax, okay?"

I shook my head: "What if it's a scam? It's not worth paying money. I'm not going. Besides, it didn't say that the accompanying personnel would also be free. I'm not going. And Lao Fu, I'm not trying to criticize you, but to put it bluntly, you have a crush on Mi Dou. It's not even close to happening. Lai Bao and Mi Dou are in a free-love relationship. Do you think anyone can know about this?"

After I finished speaking, Lao Fu angrily said, "If you want to come with me, then go. If you don't want to, then forget it. Stop talking nonsense. Are you coming or not? If you're not going, I'll go by myself!"

I quickly pointed to the food, then shook my head and said, "Uncle Fu! I need to go to work, can't I eat first?"

Old Fu pulled out a wad of cash and put it on the table, saying, "Take a month's leave to keep me company, this is your compensation, okay?" My eyes widened a little when I saw the money, but I couldn't be swayed by power. I hadn't been swayed by power just now, and I certainly wouldn't be swayed by wealth and power now... Just as I was about to refuse, someone knocked on the door. I went to open it, and a young man delivering packages was standing outside. He asked if my name was Tang Dun, and I said yes. Then he gave me two envelopes. One of them looked familiar, and when I took it out, it was exactly the same as Old Fu's envelope. Suddenly, it felt like something had hit me in the heart. I signed it and quickly took it inside to open it. The first one was also an invitation, except that the name was mine, everything else was the same as Old Fu's. Old Fu immediately laughed.

I opened the second package. It didn't have my name on it, but just six words: "Must come to Shi Ping'er."

When I saw Shi Ping'er's name, I knew that I had to go this time no matter what.

[over]

Notes on Disguise: My Compilation

When I was organizing these notes, I didn't use a computer. Around 1 a.m., I moved a small wooden table to the balcony, took out my thick notebook and pen, and before the city fell asleep and all was quiet, I couldn't concentrate to organize my thoughts and arrive at my answers to the questions. I even wondered if Shi Ping'er's appearance had caused this mental chaos. I had kept one thing from everyone: the moment I saw Shi Ping'er, I felt like I had seen this woman somewhere before, a familiar feeling, like a family member. I even wanted to reach out and hug her. When I saw the fake Shi Ping'er injured, the anxiety and unease in my heart prevented me from completely calming down. I've always believed in my strong sixth sense. I thought, if I could see through the fake Lai Bao, why couldn't I see through the fake Shi Ping'er that appeared later? No, it certainly wasn't because I knew Lai Bao that I knew Shi Ping'er. I firmly believed I knew Shi Ping'er better than I knew Lai Bao, even though it sounded absurd. It took me several hours to organize the whole thing from beginning to end.

First: What exactly is this disguise?

I don't want to question whether I was disguised or not. After all, I can't refute what I saw with my own eyes. Lai Bao and Shi Ping'er were completely indistinguishable from the real thing. I think if Zhang Aimin hadn't been so anxious to get that book, and had chosen a different method of infiltration—for example, assuming a different identity and approaching us as a stranger—perhaps he could have achieved his goal smoothly. But he was too impatient. Chen Zhong didn't mention a single piece of inside information about Li Qiang's disguise. I think with modern medicine so advanced, there's no reason they wouldn't have discovered what method they used. First, I have to rule out major surgery, because Zhang Aimin and Li Qiang don't have that kind of equipment. If they infiltrated a hospital to do all this, they couldn't have done it without leaving traces. I checked all the newspapers from the first month of this incident until now, and I didn't see any reports of theft or other unusual events at the relevant hospital, not even any gossip. But I saw human organs removed from the corpses. How could that be? Could Zhang Aimin have just taken organs from a corpse with his bare hands and implanted them directly into Li Qiang's body? When we saw Li Qiang, he looked like a woman, not a man like Zhang Aimin. Zhong Sheng told me that in the scattered information about disguise described in the Xin family genealogy he had seen, a mold had to be used to take the facial shape of the person to be disguised. Could it be that Zhang Aimin had already taken Lai Bao's facial shape when Lai Bao and I weren't paying attention (I have to admit that Lai Bao and I are like two pigs after we fall asleep, we wouldn't even know if the building collapsed)? Why only take Lai Bao's and not mine?

I think I can speculate that Zhang Aimin tried to approach us, but for some reason, he couldn't continue with his previous plan. Coincidentally, Lai Bao left, so he thought of disguising himself as Lai Bao to approach us and extract the so-called method of immortality as quickly as possible. As for why he didn't appear immediately after Lai Bao left, firstly, if he appeared immediately, we would find it strange that Lai Bao returned so quickly. He's the kind of person who takes every leave without fail; secondly, he had other things to do during this time. For example, he and Li Qiang made other disguise preparations for their escape later. After all, those preparations take time, and I absolutely don't believe they could prepare them in such a short time. It would only mean that either Li Qiang or Zhang Aimin possessed the kind of ability described in science fiction novels, where one could instantly transform into the other simply by touching them—that's too unrealistic.

Based on what I saw of the corpse, I first ruled out surgery. Although some organs had been removed, they weren't bloody; rather, they seemed to have been glued on by something. Around the head, neck, and upper shoulders, you had to look very closely to see what appeared to be something stuck there. It was like laying a piece of plastic flat on a table; no matter how smooth the surface, you could still see the edges. Chen Zhong said that the thing looked like it had grown back onto Li Qiang's face, which terrified me. If that was the case, then this matter was more than just a disguise. There was another thing I hadn't written about before because it was just too… I now wish I had just imagined it. I saw that parts of Li Qiang's arms and legs seemed to be slowly melting, as if they were made of ice. I didn't ask Chen Zhong because his eyes seemed to tell me before I even opened my mouth that he refused to answer any of my questions. After all, Chen Zhong was a policeman, and policemen have their principles. Taking me to see a corpse was already a violation of those principles, and I really didn't know how to ask many other questions.

Second: Why did Zhang Aimin come back?

As Zhang Aimin himself said, he learned a lot of knowledge, or rather, he imitated it. But after all, everyone dies. Since lifespan is only a few decades or even a hundred years, if he couldn't completely integrate and transform so much knowledge into his own unique understanding in such a short time, making himself like a god, then the only option was to find a way to live forever. If he truly possessed that knowledge, why would he so easily believe in the existence of immortality? Is it really true that the higher one's education, the easier it is to be misled by simple things? Just like some scams, even uneducated villagers wouldn't fall for them, yet many of those who are deceived are highly educated. I don't know if using this analogy to describe Zhang Aimin is appropriate, but I really can't find any other reason. There is another reason, a reason I don't believe it: that the method of immortality truly exists.

Chapter 30 of "Strange Tales of Tangdun"

Chapter 30 of "Strange Tales of Tangdun"

Author: Tang Xiaohao

From Zhang Aimin's words, I can infer that his ability to copy others has been extended in duration through some method, or perhaps it can now be permanently copied, which is why he's seeking a way to achieve immortality. Of course, I don't rule out the possibility that Zhang Aimin's reappearance is at someone's behest—perhaps the person who took him to Australia, or perhaps Shi Ping'er; anything is possible, isn't it? To be even bolder, Shi Ping'er might be the one who took him to Australia, or at least have some connection to her.

Third: Who is Shi Ping'er?

I was confident I could find information about Shi Ping'er from Chen Zhong, but it seems he already had it all. His eyes betrayed him when I questioned him; people's eyes change when they lie. Some are glazed over, some are shifty, and some avoid eye contact altogether. Chen Zhong belonged to the last category. As mentioned before, he has principles as a police officer, and I can't force him to change them. However, receiving the invitation tells me Shi Ping'er is definitely connected to this group. This group is beyond my capabilities to investigate; it's entirely outside our scope. It's a multinational corporation involved in real estate, pharmaceuticals, finance, seafood, and many other sectors. To investigate it, I need government authorization. If Shi Ping'er is indeed part of this group, it might even be connected to Zhang Aimin. Shi Ping'er seems to know more about Zhang Aimin than we imagine, and her fighting skills—she could easily defeat Zhang Aimin, who possesses such magical abilities—make this trip to Biyun Cave seem far from simple.

Notes on Lu's Revenge, Chapter 1: The Strange Man

"Enmity"... in its true sense, "enmity" balances with or even surpasses the hatred of killing one's father or stealing one's wife. Whether in real life, what we see and hear, or in movies and TV dramas, people who seek revenge often kill. But sometimes, not only do you fail to get revenge, you also lose your own life, and then this enmity is perpetuated by your friends or relatives. This is the meaning of the saying "an eye for an eye never ends." However, in some special circumstances, this enmity cannot continue.

Before going to the event organized by the Mulin Group with Lao Fu, Lao Fu watched revenge movies every day. They were all similar, with stories of wives being stolen or fathers being killed. I knew Lao Fu had a lot of pent-up anger inside, but it reminded me of something that happened when Lai Bao and I were still working at the TV station...

That August, after get off work, Lai Bao and I ate a bowl of noodles at a noodle shop outside the TV station. We discussed how to pass the time that night and prayed that no unexpected interview assignments would come up.

After eating a bowl of noodles, Lai Bao and I sat in the noodle shop and smoked almost five cigarettes, still unable to figure out what to do. In the end, I suggested going to an internet cafe to sit for a while, and maybe we could chat up some girls on QQ. But when we got to the internet cafe, we realized that Lai Bao and I had less than 50 yuan between us. There was still a week until payday, and if we managed to chat up some girls, we wouldn't even have money to go out that night. So I said, "Meeting online friends is such a beastly thing that neither you nor I would do."

After entering the internet cafe, Lai Bao and I quickly sat down at the two computers closest to the air conditioner. As soon as we sat down and turned on the computer, I saw a man wearing a jacket sitting next to me. In this sweltering heat, he was still wearing a jacket, so I couldn't help but pay more attention to him. Although his hair looked like it had been specially combed, it still looked very messy. There was nothing on the computer monitor in front of him except for a QQ chat box. He wasn't even listening to music. At this moment, the man quickly typed a line in the chat box: I'm going to die.

Damn, not again? Back then, meeting people online was all the rage. And in those years, from the early hits like "First Intimate Contact" to the Korean drama "Autumn in My Heart" that was all the rage, it was almost always about death. Those people who spent all day huddled behind their computers would claim to have cancer or a sore butt, or to have hemorrhoids and be coughing up blood all the time—basically, they'd say whatever made them sound most pitiful. Then, when they met the other person, they'd use every trick in the book except drugging them. After getting the other person into bed, they'd light a cigarette and say melancholically to the woman next to them, "Actually, it was just a white lie for love..."

I immediately became interested and wanted to see what this idiot next to me would do next. After typing that line, the idiot silently took out a cigarette, lit it, and blew a string of smoke rings at the monitor. Then the chat box showed the message from the other party: "Do you think I'll live any longer?"

I almost burst out laughing when I saw this. This bastard has really met his match this time. The other person is also suffering from a "terminal illness." I took a closer look at the other person's name in the chat box and thought to myself: I hope that girl's online name isn't something like "Lightly Dancing and Flying."

The woman's online name turned out to be: "Flying By Gently".

Back then, video chat was just becoming popular, but many internet cafes didn't yet have webcams, which could immediately expose those well-intentioned lies. So most of the time, it was still just sending photos. What I was thinking at the time was how funny it would be if this idiot and a guy with a terminal illness were coughing up blood.

Then the man said: How long has it been since we last saw each other?

The woman immediately replied: "It's only been a little over a month, not a long time."

Oh, we know each other. This is hopeless...

The man said: I want to see you, right now, is that okay? This is the last time I want to see you. I don't want anything else right now, I don't want to see anything else, I just want you, I want to see you.

The woman immediately replied: Hehe, now you can only want me, and you can only look at me, right?

The man quickly sent a smiley face, and then the two agreed on a meeting place. A little while later, the man logged off and left the internet cafe. I turned around and saw Lai Bao still browsing photos of women on Tianya forum who looked like mothers and would soon be grandmothers. I was about to play CS when Lai Bao took off my headphones and said, "Let's go for a drink. This crappy internet cafe is too hot. It's not really air conditioning; it's just a heating pipe."

I touched my completely soaked back and agreed to Lai Bao's suggestion. The two paid the bill and slowly walked towards the bar street in X Bay. As we walked, we commented on the girls passing by who weren't dressed very warmly and didn't seem to care about their health. What if they got heatstroke...