Цветы персика - Глава 28
He looked at me in surprise: "Is there something under your feet?" Then he stood up and circled around me again. "How come I don't see anything?"
I was startled! Could it be that I've seen a ghost again?
Looking down at the poor child again, he was huddled under the table, afraid to show his face, seemingly terrified of the remaining sunlight. The last rays of the setting sun still shone on me, but I could no longer feel any warmth. This little devil, while not exactly terrifying, still instilled a sense of dread. I had reached the border of the country, yet the ghosts still followed me, seemingly impossible to shake off even if I fled to the ends of the earth. That... that little Yuan, she should be nearby.
Section 69: The Dust Settles (6)
Someone chuckled.
Following the sound, they saw a short, chubby girl.
"What are you laughing at?" I asked her.
She was hiding her face behind a cigarette pack inside the liquor cabinet, still laughing: "I saw a boy sitting right where you are the other day, and he suddenly jumped up. The person next to him asked him what was wrong. He said there was a child begging at his feet, like a beggar. But there was no beggar here! Everyone laughed at him."
Upon hearing this, the big forest immediately became alert. He quickly stepped forward, grabbed the plump girl's arm, and asked, "How old is the boy you're talking about? What does he look like? When did you see him? Will he come back?"
"Ouch! That hurts!" The chubby girl struggled to shake off his hand. "It's pinching me so hard! Let go of me!"
The great forest loosened.
The girl said, "It was someone I met a few days ago... a few days ago... I forgot what day of the week it was..."
"What did the person you saw look like?"
"He was very clean, unlike the men here. His white shirt was spotless, without a single wrinkle. The men here spend all day drinking tea and playing cards, but he never paid them any attention. His eyes were beautiful, as pure as spring water, incredibly bright. His hair was slightly curly, as soft as a baby's down... Oh! He was also very tall, unlike the men here, who are all short..."
Before she could finish speaking, Da Senlin had already pulled me away.
"Where to?" I asked him.
"Let's get out of here first."
"Why?" I asked, puzzled. "Don't you already know the clues? He might come here."
"Since he comes here for tea, he probably lives on one of the streets nearby. But he probably won't come at night."
How did you know?
"Because he saw ghosts here, just like you. This teahouse must have some evil energy."
The teahouse closed the next day because of a fatality. The teahouse owner's daughter, the plump girl we had spoken to the day before, had fallen headfirst from the second floor and died from a fractured skull.
When we saw the crowd of people across the street from afar, we paused, stunned, and stopped.
"Are we going to go there again?" I asked him.
“It’s no use going there now. Another death has occurred there, and who knows if new ghosts will be added. If Mingyang knew, he wouldn’t even go there during the day. We have to find somewhere else…”
"But... how could that girl have died so mysteriously?"
The great forest whispered, "It has nothing to do with us; she was still alive and well when we left."
Passersby brushed past each other, and some whispered, "I heard that the teahouse owner's daughter seemed to be frightened before she died, and jumped off the second floor herself."
"Nonsense! Who would jump off a building on their own?"
"Really, even though it's said to be suicide, this girl had been perfectly normal before, always laughing and joking, without showing any signs of emotional instability..."
"Didn't you see her body? Her eyes were so focused, you couldn't even find the pupils, they were so small they were practically pinpoints..."
My heart started pounding again. This way of dying is very similar to the way people are scared to death by ghosts. Could it be that she was also frightened to death by some kind of terror?
Big Forest put his hand on my shoulder and gave me a firm push: "Cheer up, we still need to find someone!"
Alas! But...where is Mingyang?
A new sun is about to rise on the horizon. The morning mist dissipates quickly, and after the sun rises, the heat will wilt the flowers and make people feel dizzy and weak.
We walked through the alley and passed a breakfast stall. Da Senlin went in to buy breakfast, while I stared blankly at something. The stall owner was frying rice noodles with a small gas canister, and the tiny space was so crowded with customers that there was hardly any room to move. My heart was pounding with nervousness.
It was a premonition.
An ominous premonition.
I clenched my fists, furrowed my brows, and focused my attention.
A loud "Bang!"
The small pot of fried rice noodles at the entrance of the shop exploded. I felt the sweltering heat rushing towards me, carrying with it a greasy and burning pain.
“The great forest!” I shouted at him.
He glanced back at me. His shout drew attention to his unusual attire. Among a group of people dressed in oversized t-shirts and T-shirts, he was the only one completely covered up, wearing a baseball cap and huge sunglasses.
"Come here quickly!" I waved at him vigorously.
"What's wrong?" he asked as he walked over.
I cried out anxiously, "Big Forest! Quickly, tell everyone in this shop—no! Everyone around this shop—to disperse!"
Section 70: The Dust Settles (7)
"Why?"
"I just saw... I have a premonition—this place is going to explode!"
He paused for a moment, then asked, "Are you sure?"
"Mmm!" I bit my lip and nodded vigorously.
But before the great forest could disperse the crowd, the people in the shop had already started to leave, and they were dispersing like the receding tide.
What's going on?
Suddenly, a loud "boom" rang out!
That small, blackened gas cylinder really did explode.
Those around watched in shock, a chorus of gasps filling the air.
The breakfast stall owners and their family kept wiping their sweat, muttering, "Thank God! Thank God!"
The Great Forest muttered to himself, "How could they have known in advance that it was going to explode?" He grabbed a man who was running out of the shop and asked him why.
The man exclaimed in surprise and replied, "How would we know? Someone just warned us that there would be an explosion here, so everyone quickly scattered."
"who?"
"How should I know? Everyone's already left!"
"You believed someone who said it was going to explode?"
"At first, I didn't believe it either, but not long ago, a hot pot restaurant about two streets away exploded. I heard that someone had sent a message in advance saying that the restaurant would explode, but the owner didn't believe it and even kicked the person who sent the message out. As a result, the restaurant really did explode. Who would dare not believe it then? After that, if there are any such prophecies, everyone runs away really fast!" The man finished speaking in broken Yunnan-accented Mandarin and then ran away as well.
The Great Forest's lips curled into agitation as she gripped the man tightly, refusing to let go: "Have you ever seen that prophet before? Who knows him? Where does he live?"
"Who knows?" The man broke free of the great forest and left.
He stood there frozen, his expression hidden behind his sunglasses. I think he must have been extremely anxious, but he just didn't want to show his vulnerable side.
We wandered through the busiest streets in the river mouth, trying to find Mingyang's shadow among the crowds. Every time we saw a familiar figure, we would chase after them to take a look, even though it wasn't him.
"Are you tired?" Big Forest handed me a bottle of mineral water and said, "Wait for me a moment."
I watched him go into a grocery store, and when he came out he handed me a parasol: "Put this up, the southern sun is too strong, look how tanned you are. I should have prepared these things earlier."
A small warmth rippled through my heart. Although you have a tough exterior and seem stubborn, your inner softness unfolds quietly and unconsciously. So I grinned and smiled brightly. He clenched his large hand into a fist and seemed to hit my head hard, but it didn't hurt at all: "What are you laughing at? The revolution is not yet successful, the task is arduous and the road is long. Finding Mingyang is the priority."
I asked him, "Is the information you received really about these few streets in the river mouth area?"
He nodded.
I asked him, "In the great forest, what do people need every day?"
He looked at me with a puzzled expression.
“Water and food.” I smiled at him. “Look at everyone coming and going. Although they are very hardworking in running shops and doing business, everyone must rest when it’s time to eat. When I was walking through the streets and alleys just now, I saw a very big vegetable market nearby. Do you think Mingyang might appear there?”
He gaped in astonishment: "How is that possible? He's a young master!"
“Young master is human too!” I glanced at him sideways. “Didn’t you say that Mingyang wouldn’t suffer here? The women do all the hard work, and the men mostly just enjoy themselves. But taking care of the children, doing housework, grocery shopping, and cooking are the men’s jobs.”
He was speechless for a moment and couldn't say a word.
"Let's go!" I patted him on the shoulder. "Let's go to the market."
He followed, muttering, "It seems... somewhat reasonable."
Another day has passed, and still nothing has been achieved.
When I dragged my legs, which felt as weak as noodles, back to the hotel, I looked up at the vast forest and said, "Let's go first thing tomorrow morning!"
He looked at me in surprise: "Are you sure you'll find him there?"
I bit my lower lip. I wasn't really sure, but I had a vague feeling. It was different from a premonition. It was weaker than the signals from other information, but it was a kind of intuitive understanding.
"Okay!" he agreed with me. "Get some rest, we'll go over first thing tomorrow morning."
Searching is the most aimless activity in the world; nothing is more like finding a needle in a haystack than looking for someone. But we persevered. From the moment I woke up, a faint signal was pulsating in my mind. Yes, I felt it; he was very close to us, which was quite miraculous.
When I rushed into the room in the big forest, he was shaving in the bathroom. Seeing me, he panicked and frantically covered his face with a towel. Something inside me, like a callus that hadn't fully healed, was peeled away, bleeding again. What was he afraid I would see?
Section 71: The Dust Settles Down (8)
"You wait outside first, I'll change my clothes and come out right away," he ordered me, his hands behind his back.
I withdrew in disgruntled.
So it turns out he also has this kind of insecurity.
The morning market was already open, resembling a huge farmers' market. Sewage on the ground flowed like a river, and women wearing straw hats were constantly cleaning it up. Da Senlin and I walked around the center of the market, observing the people passing by and occasionally glancing back at the exit.
As noon approached, the crowds gradually dispersed, leaving only a few vendors and late-rising residents trading. The sanitation workers began sweeping up the trash again. Big Forest said to me, "Looks like there's no hope. Shall we go?"
I stubbornly shook my head: "I have a feeling he really will show up here."
He said okay, then he'd wait a bit longer, and went to buy water.
Just as an older woman wearing a straw hat swept past me with a bamboo rake, my eyes lit up when I saw a man in a neat white shirt. It looked just like him! A feeling of elation surged through me; I knew then that my intuition was more reliable than all the eyes and ears of the great forest.
"Mingyang!" I shouted to him.
But he didn't turn back. He continued walking forward like a stranger, bought some lettuce and put it in his basket.
Seeing that he was about to leave, I rushed over anxiously. But the market was so big, and the winding vendors blocked my way. I was so focused on running that I didn't pay attention to where I was stepping.
“What are you doing?” an old woman wearing a straw hat grabbed me and shouted.