He Dana was holding a book, not knowing what he was thinking. I told him everything about Professor Xia.
When I called him godfather, he was actually startled and looked at me.
"what's on your mind?"
"This cause and effect is really evil. Three evil points, three causes and effects. It seems that Zhang Shougui's resentment is too heavy. He didn't let Professor Xia die and tortured her. Then what about Dai Min now? This is the biggest cause. If we find her, the problem will be solved."
"I asked, but Professor Xia refused to tell me."
"Well, when we go to Zhangjialou in the middle of the night, you stay here."
We went up to Zhangjialou in the middle of the night. At this moment, no one was there. After Zhang Xiaolou jumped down from Zhangjialou, it seemed that only Zhang Shougui, Dai Min and Xia Chun were living there. Originally, there were more than a hundred people living in Zhangjialou, but no one expected that it would end up in such a dilapidated state. It was a haunted house with no descendants. After a few decades, this Zhangjialou was really deserted and had no descendants.
In the middle of the night, I was woken up and He Dana was right in front of my bed. I screamed.
"Can you stop being so scary?"
I got up, and He Dana walked to the table and poured me a glass of water and drank it.
He stood up again, but the way he walked seemed a little weird and strange.
We went to Zhangjialou, but there was no one there. Professor Xia was in the hospital, and Xia Chun was guarding him.
We jumped in through the window. Zhangjialou had been in disrepair for a long time, so the window was pried open. We jumped in and found a warehouse with all kinds of things in it, but the things were hard to see. It can be seen how much money Zhang Xiaolou, the capitalist, had at that time.
We pushed open the door and went out. It was three floors high and pitch black.
"This Zhangjialou is haunted. Look at the eerie feeling. It really is haunted."
I have noticed a long time ago that there are too many little ghosts here. I don’t want to say anything, but when these little ghosts saw us coming, they all ran away to other places.
We walked quietly up the stairs, little by little, step by step.
When we reached the second floor, He Dana stopped, gestured, and told me not to move.
I was sweating and listening quietly. There was no sound, nothing.
He Dana went straight to the third floor, stopped there, and saw a very faint light coming out from a crack in the door.
He Dana pointed and I nodded. I walked over there and listened at the door. There was no sound, no sound.
Suddenly, He Dana yelled, which scared me so much that I almost peed in my trouser pocket, and several drops of urine dripped out.
I saw a shadow standing at the end of the corridor. He Dana and I didn't move. We just watched. We could see the shadow at the end of the corridor because there was light coming in from outside. It was coming from the ceiling. There should be a skylight there. The shadow didn't move and we didn't dare to move either. That shadow was definitely not a ghost. I was very sure of that.
He Dana must have noticed that it was a human shadow. We had never expected that there would be someone here. Who could it be? Dai Min? Who else could it be besides her? There would be no one else in Zhangjialou.
The shadow actually walked towards this side, she walked up to He Dana and said.
"He Dana, I didn't expect to see you again."
From what I heard, it seems that this woman is very familiar with He Dana.
They walked over, pushed open the door and went in. The room was very luxurious. Zhangjialou looked shabby from the outside, but it was so luxurious inside. The only difference was that there were no windows.
Sure enough, this woman was Dai Min.
Dai Min made me some coffee. I had never drunk it before and I almost vomited after taking a sip.
"Dana, I didn't expect that we would meet again."
"Let's not talk about this. Now trouble has come. Zhang Shougui's ghost is seeking revenge. You have seen it. Professor Xia can no longer stand up. What's next? There are three causes and three results. One is Xia Chun, one is Zhangjialou, and the other is Professor Xia. You leave Zhangjialou."
"I believe it, but I won't leave here. I'll die here."
He Dana glanced at Dai Min and said.
"I am in the middle of the incident. I can't help you. People in the middle of the incident are powerless. No one can do this except me. However, I may know how things will develop and can avoid it. After seven days, Zhang Shougui will return to the underworld because he is self-destructive and resigned to his fate. He will leave in seven days and will never return to this world again."
I listened, I had no idea about all this.
"Thank you, Dana."
When we came out, He Dana was unhappy, so he went home. I went home by myself. My father was still awake, writing an article. I said a few words, and then I went into the bedroom and went to sleep.
In the morning, I went to the crematorium and entered the refining room. Xia Chun was still in the hospital. I was working by myself and the director came in.
"Master Ke, is this possible?"
"It's okay. We can't always have someone take over."
The day went smoothly. After get off work, I went to He Dana's place. He was drinking and seemed to have drunk quite a lot.
"Godfather, what happened?"
"Alas, Dai Min and I are also unclear about this. Although there is a big age gap between us, no one knows about this. I am also trapped in the game and cannot break it. No one can break it except me, not even your master. So just wait. The revenge on Professor Xia is over. It's Dai Min. There will be trouble in Zhangjialou soon. It's hard to say what will happen to Xia Chun. Three causes and three results!"
I understand now. It seems I have to endure these things. There is no other way.
"Is there nothing I can do?"
"Yes, it's just a reminder. I know what will happen and when. But Dai Min won't listen. What about Xia Chun? It could happen at any time. As for what will happen, it's hard to predict. Maybe nothing will happen."
I was worried, and sure enough, that night, something happened in Zhangjialou. The whole building caught fire. The fire was out in the morning, but the entire building was still on fire. Dai Min was burned to pieces more than one meter long. I frowned. More than ten fire trucks came that day, but they couldn't control the fire. The fire was so evil, as if there was some Yin Fire in it. I asked He Dana, and he said that there was some Yin Fire and it couldn't be saved at all.
I think the next one will be Xia Chuner. No one knows what will happen to her.
On the seventh day, which was the day when Zhang Shougui returned to his soul, I went to see Xia Chun. Professor Xia would be discharged from the hospital the next day. They also knew that Zhangjialou had been burned down, and Professor Xia said it was a good thing.
I saw the three black spots under Professor Xia's feet were fading. Maybe all this is over.
When I came back from getting some water, I was stunned to see a scar on Xia Chun's face that was slowly getting bigger. I pulled her out.
"Something is happening, don't be afraid."
I told her the whole story of revenge and she was stunned.
"What if I move that body?"
"Then it's all right."
"But I didn't realize at the time that it was Zhang Shougui's body."
"I didn't let you see his face because I was afraid you'd be scared. He burned it as soon as it went in. You couldn't see it once the skin was gone."
"No, Zhang Shougui raised me for more than 20 years, just like my own son. I pulled the body out because I noticed something was wrong. I didn't expect that he would never tell me even after his death."
Such a thing would actually be like this, everything was like a trap, Xia Chun covered her face and cried, let go of her hands, the ghost only had half of his face left, and stopped.
"It's okay. Maybe this is what I owe Zhang Shougui. No matter what, he is still my father."
I shook my head. It was hard for me to accept that a beautiful girl had a strange mark on her face. But Xia Chun seemed very calm.
She let her hair down, covering half of her face, but Professor Xia still saw it. He was shocked, but finally calmed down. What you owe must be repaid.
Professor Xia left the city with his daughter, saying that he was going back to England to return his daughter.
What exactly is that page of "Gilgamesh", the page that closes the passage between life and death, guiding us to? Why did Zhang Shougui tear off that page? No one knows, and He Dana didn't say anything either. After Dai Min's death, He Dana seemed to be less energetic and his voice wasn't as loud anymore.
I am in a class by myself, I like someone, and sometimes I talk to the dead.
"You are too young. It's such a pity. You shouldn't walk like this. I will burn some for you..."
These words may sound a little scary, but the dead cannot speak.
Things between Ge Zhu and I have always been like this. She cut the skin of another girl, but in the girl's eyes, there were more than ten people, a bunch of people, and she couldn't be sure which one it was. This was unexpected. Ge Zhu told me about it. It seems that this matter is not urgent, and we can slowly eliminate them one by one.
Of course, Ge Zhu hates dealing with the police the most and prefers to do it alone.
I don't know what will happen to Ge Zhu in the thirteen finger-cap paintings, or what kind of things will happen.
I met Bai Jie twice. She bought me a pack of cigarettes to thank me, and I didn't refuse. She gave me some money, believing that this money could support her and her daughter well.
When I look at my son Xiaozhe, he has grown up and his eyes always make me feel distressed. He has also begun to reject me, and even when I call him, he pretends not to hear me. I dare not buy anything for him, because even if I do, it will be thrown away.
I couldn't figure out why. Was the smell of death really that strong on me? Maybe I couldn't smell it myself, but I realized that I did smell like death, a smell that I could never get rid of. I felt sad about it.
But I couldn't leave the crematorium.
When I was free, I preferred to go to He Dana's place, chat with him, drink with him, but he also taught me little by little about the things about the crematorium. There were many things I had never heard of. He also told me how to deal with such things and what to do. I listened and remembered. Maybe I will never encounter such a thing in my life.
He Dana was missing for six days before returning.
"You went out without telling me, you know I was worried, didn't you?"
He Dana actually turned around and wiped away his tears.
He had no son and had not gotten his only love, but now it was like this, and he was moved.
That day, he told me that the eighteen rooms have eighteen strange stories, and you must not enter them. You can only enter them after you die, and then you will be the owner of this place.
I couldn’t understand what He Dana had been busy with all his life.
"You may be wondering what I've been busy with all my life. To put it bluntly, it's life science. I came to the crematorium because I wanted to study another kind of life. It really does exist, but no one admits it. They say it's superstition. But I have facts, but no one is willing to accept them. This is the soul, or ghost science. After I die, I will give you my notes, a total of 22 books. They will be very useful to you. Look at souls and ghosts from a scientific perspective. They are also alive, but they are just lives in another world."
What He Dana said left me stunned. It turns out that this is also science. I didn't realize it, but now I do. I remember that He Dana studied life sciences and had been abroad. He was sent to the crematorium when he came back, which made many people confused. The reason why he did not remarry except for Dai Min was that people called him Crazy He, and no one would marry a madman. He didn't think too much about it and just walked all the way alone.
Thinking about it, I feel sad. (To be continued)