Zheng Jun stared at me.
I had to tell the truth, she said.
"Is this okay? I heard from Master that almost no one dared to provoke the wizard Yan Fei, even when your father was alive. You..."
I covered my face.
"There is no other solution now."
Zheng Jun was sweating. It seemed that many people knew about the wizard Yan Fei, but I just knew less.
I didn’t expect things would turn out like this. I hesitated. What if it really doesn’t succeed
I called Mao Xiaoli, behind Zheng Jun's back, in my father's room.
"This is me. I know how to cast a barrier, but I don't want to mess with this wizard."
"Sister Mao..."
"He likes Zhang Xiaoxue. Maybe there is nothing wrong with this method. He can be good to Zhang Xiaoxue."
"But Zhang Xiaoxue doesn't love him."
"I love you so much, but can you two be together? Can you make any promises to her?"
"I can't, but I can't let her marry a wizard like me, can I?"
"What's wrong with wizards?"
This question really stumped me. What's wrong with wizards? I really can't say, what's wrong with wizards
But I am disgusted by the method used by Yan Fei.
Mao Xiaoli didn't want to help me.
"As for the skin cutting, you have to figure it out yourself."
After I finished speaking, I hung up the phone. I actually resorted to such tactics now. I felt disgusted with myself. The world was changing at such a fast speed. It was totally unexpected to me. I even felt disgusted with myself.
I can’t imagine how angry Mao Xiaoli is at this moment.
At this moment, I really have no choice. I just want to get this done. He hurt my father once, and I don’t want him to hurt others again this time. Even if I lose a finger, I will be willing to do it.
Mao Xiaoli called me and told me that she agreed to teach me the method of blocking.
I went there, and found out that the barrier was made by using a membrane made from a dead person to cover something so that people couldn't see it. Mao Xiaoli didn't tell me what the membrane was, but just helped me do it, and she had a gloomy face the whole time.
I buried the urn next to Yan Fei's ancestral grave, and then I stayed there until the ghost day was over. It was midnight, and nothing happened after the ghost day. I dug out the urn and felt that it was much heavier than before. The soul has weight, but it is not that heavy. Would the wizard's outer soul be so heavy
I went to the columbarium tower and Old Liu was still drinking. I put the urn down and he picked it up and weighed it.
"It's quite heavy, weighing more than ten kilograms. I didn't expect this wizard to be so capable. It's a pity that everything will become a thing of the past."
Old Liu threw a knife on the table and smiled at me. That smile was so evil.
“It will hurt.”
"Of course, fingers are connected to the heart."
I really chopped it down, and let out a scream. The urn tower echoed with my scream.
Old Liu struggled for a while and said.
"Go to the hospital yourself."
Damn it, they left me alone. I went to the hospital and the doctor asked me where my finger was and whether it could be reattached. I was told that I couldn't find it and that was the only way to deal with it.
I went home after the treatment and did not go to the hospital. I had a fever when I woke up in the morning. Zheng Jun sent me to the hospital. She didn't say anything and seemed to be in a bad mood. She didn't comfort me. I don't know what her family thinks now. I cut off my fingers for Zhang Xiaoxue. She would not feel good. Anyone would feel the same.
A few days later, I was discharged from the hospital and went to work. I didn't expect that Zheng Jun was transferred to the refining room and no longer did makeup with me. I knew there was a change, but she didn't tell me.
I was given a separate makeup room that day, so that dressing room was vacant and I went back to my original dressing room.
The manager called me that day and I just sat there watching and didn't want to talk.
"What happened between Zheng Jun and you?"
"Nothing."
I think, probably, it's all gone.
Zhang Xiaoxue came over, and I ignored her and left. All of this is over, making everything simple.
Yan Fei was waiting for me at the door of my house. When he saw me, he rushed over and tried to fight with me. I pushed him aside.
"Yan Fei, you hurt my father once, and you want to hurt me again? No way. I didn't kill you this time, which means I'm showing you some mercy."
Yan Fei looked at me blankly.
"But I really love Zhang Xiaoxue."
I said nothing and went into the house. The room was deserted.
I got up the next day, went to work, put on makeup, and after finishing, I wanted to go home, but I didn’t want to go back to that home. I found Zheng Jun, and she told me directly that you did that for Zhang Xiaoxue, and I didn’t love her wholeheartedly at all. I still loved Zhang Xiaoxue.
There is no need to explain such things, they are meaningless and useless. I turned and left, knowing that I had lost this relationship.
My mother Yun Bai came. I didn't want to say anything to her. She wanted me to find something of my father's for her. It was in my father's room. I didn't agree.
"You have already left this family, and you have no relationship with my father anymore. Don't come here anymore. I don't want to acknowledge that I have a mother like you. You have never given me happiness, you just gave me life."
Yun Bai’s face was pale. He didn’t speak for a long time, then he got up and left.
I don’t know whether it is right or wrong to hurt her like this. I am in a very bad mood at the moment.
Zhang Xiaoxue came to knock on the door. I could recognize the sound. The sound of each person knocking on the door is different, just like a person's fingerprints, there are subtle differences. You can hear them if you listen carefully. I spoke and knocked on the door for a while, and then Zhang Xiaoxue left.
I called the manager and asked for a few days off.
After taking my leave, I went to stay at the columbarium in Chixian.
Old Liu and I drank every day. After drinking, he would drag me up to the tower and introduce each urn. Some of the photos are no longer clear, and some have no photos at all.
He can even tell some stories about these dead people. I don’t know whether they are true or not. Anyway, I just want to come and calm down.
Yan Fei stood outside the columbarium and cursed, but he didn't dare to come in.
"Come in if you have the guts."
Old Liu was shouting, and his voice was full of discomfort. Yan Fei did not dare to come in. He cursed and left. It seemed that Yan Fei was only capable of some superstitious things like shamanism.
When I was about to go back that day, a girl came in. I was startled, and the girl was also stunned when she saw me.
"My daughter."
This is Old Liu's daughter, he never said it.
Old Liu's daughter came to bring food to Old Liu.
After they talked for a few words, Old Liu's daughter left. I never thought that such an ugly old man would have such a beautiful daughter. It was simply a surprise. Thinking it was a surprise, Old Liu was a little proud.
"How about it, isn't my daughter beautiful?"
"It's beautiful."
I didn't feel like staying here, so I went back. The next day at work, the manager let me into his office.
"Mao Xiaoli has applied for early retirement, and the higher-ups have approved it. You will do her job tomorrow. Go to her office and take over."
Mao Xiaoli's job at the crematorium is logistics work.
"No, I don't like this job. I either go to the refining room or stay in the dressing room."
The director glared at me.
"Are you sick? This is a good place. If you do well, you might be able to become a manager or something, and you don't have to deal with dead people. That's a place many people want to go. Don't be ungrateful."
I didn't say anything else. At this moment, I felt that it didn't matter what I did. I felt that coming to the crematorium was a wrong decision. It was probably because I missed my father too much! This was the only excuse I could come up with.
I went to the office and Mao Xiaoli had packed her things.
"Everything you need to confess is written on this paper."
Mao Xiaoli left with her things.
"Sister Mao..."
Mao Xiaoli left without looking back. This woman might never appear in the crematorium again. The woman in mourning white disappeared from the crematorium, as if she had lost something.
I sat in the office and lit a cigarette. From then on, I stayed here every day, doing work that seemed to be nothing.
The flowers on the table are blooming. In this winter, Mao Xiaoli is able to grow flowers to bloom.
The Chinese New Year is in two days, and it's New Year's Eve. I'll go home after arranging work on the 29th. If I have nothing else, I'll come back after the 8th. But the refiners, makeup artists, and other staff have to come every day, even on the 30th. There is no rest day in this job, because the dead don't choose when to die.
I went home and bought New Year's goods for Old Liu, but he didn't go back home for the New Year and just stayed there. He is a weird old man.
I sent New Year's gifts over, and Old Liu was very happy. He asked me if I could celebrate the New Year with him. I had never thought about celebrating the New Year in this place. If I didn't celebrate the New Year here, I would have to celebrate it alone at home, at least I would have a companion.
"Okay."
That day, Old Liu mentioned my father Ke Zuo, saying that he was a good man but had been very unlucky in his life. That day I learned more about my father.
"How do you know my father?"
"I used to work with your father. I was also a refiner. Unfortunately, I only worked there for three years. Something happened and the ashes were mixed up. I was beaten by the family members and then I was brought to Chi County to guard this tower, the urn tower. I have been here ever since. They call me the tower keeper."
This is something I didn't expect. There was no photo of Old Liu on the display board, probably because of the accident, but it was not mentioned either. Perhaps no one wanted to bring it up.
That day, I met Old Liu's daughter, Liu Yang, again, and she brought me a lot of food and wine.
"Xiaozhe will be with me this year, so you don't have to worry."
Liu Yang looked at me gratefully and left.
"Why don't you go back home for the New Year?"
"I am with my wife. She has her urn on the twenty-second floor."
He never mentioned it before. After that, he showed me some photos. She was as beautiful as his daughter Liu Yang. I wanted to ask him how he married such a beautiful wife, but I didn't ask because it seemed a bit too much.
"Are you wondering how I could marry such a beautiful wife? Hahaha..."
Old Liu’s smile gave me a fright; it felt like he was crying.
That day, Old Liu did not tell me how he married such a beautiful wife. He went up to the 22nd floor by himself to place offerings for his wife. When he came down, I saw that his eyes were red, and it seemed that he had been crying.
We were drinking and didn't talk about this matter. Instead, we talked about the corpse incident that happened in Chi County a few years ago. Not many people knew about this incident, and I also heard Master Yunzheng mention it.
It was in the dressing room. A makeup artist was in a hurry that day, so he put the two dead bodies on a dressing bed and did makeup on them together. There was a male and a female dead body. The makeup was done, but when he wanted to separate them, he found that the hands of the two dead bodies were tightly held together and could not be separated. This made him scared and he was dumbfounded at the time.
This is all we know about this strange incident. Old Liu seemed to know it very well. He shook his head, sighed, and told me about the corpses. I was horrified. (To be continued)