Chapter 12 – Lian Xi’s eyes fell into a bottomless pool of black.
3AM at the crossroads.
The cool wind of the summer night blew across the empty streets. A beautiful young man stood in the middle of the road, looking very grave. With a serious expression he looked towards a golden light. Lian Xi’s eyes grew hotter as he watched the haze of golden light walk closer and closer, and then!
The golden light walked right by him and approached the old woman.
“You should go reincarnate.”
The low, indifferent voice spoke softly. The sound was magnetic and pleasant to hear, but there wasn’t a sliver of emotion.
Lian Xi: “…..”
Su Jiao: “….”
The old woman ghost: “….”
****?!
This time the old woman ghost lost it completely. She started rolling around on the ground. “How can a ghost live like this? Don’t ghosts have ghost rights? Aren’t you supposed to respect seniors? One is trying to force me to cross the road, and the other tells me to go reincarnate upon the first meeting? What, you tell me to reincarnate so I should just go reincarnate? Why should I listen to you ah, are you my grandson ma? Have you fulfilled my wish? Why should I just go reincarnate, I just wont…”
Suddenly!
Her voice stopped abruptly.
A hand with a clear bone structure landed in front of the old woman’s face.
There was no doubt that this was an extremely beautiful hand. It was thin and slender, as white as jade. The hand came out of the haze of golden light and was exposed in front of the old woman’s eyes. However what attracted everyone to it was not the beauty of the hand, but…. The fact that there was a thin book held in that hand!
The book was about the size of a palm. It had a black cover and looked very simple and plain. If you visited the book stall in front of a school, it would definitely sell many like these. The only difference was…
On the cover was written three big characters: Reaper Record.
From within the golden light, a man’s indifference voice came: “You should listen to me, because I am the local Black Reaper.”
The old woman ghost: “….”
Lian Xi and Su Jiao: “…..”
The next second.
“Good grief! Someone is killing ghosts ah!” The old woman immediately tried to make a run for it but she was lightly and easily grabbed by her collar and hauled back.
Throwing the Black Reaper Record casually back into the golden light, the golden light man dragged the old woman by the collar and without any politeness began to haul her across the street.
The old woman struggled desperately: “I don’t want to cross the road! I’m waiting for my dear grandson! My dear grandson told me to wait for him here. After he sends the old man across, he’ll come back to help me! He promised me!”
Golden light man: Continues to drag across.
The old woman ghost: “I don’t want to go! I don’t want to go!”
Golden light man: Nearly finished dragging.
The old woman’s body trembled and she continued to repeat the phrase “I don’t want to go”. The more her voice shook, the redder her eyes became.
Lian Xi couldn’t see the man who was shrouded within the golden light but he could see the old woman clearly.
That old woman was originally just a ghost with an ordinary obsession but right now she was actually transforming into a malicious ghost!
“Wait a minute!”
The man in the golden light was unmoved.
Lian Xi gritted his teeth and ran over. His hand penetrated the golden light and grabbed his opponent’s wrist.
The moment their bodies touched, they were both stunned.
With a bang, the golden light around the man’s body suddenly shattered into a million pieces!
Just like golden fireflies in the sky, the dazzling flecks of light surrounded the man, gently enclosing him. They didn’t spread out but floated there like stars dotting the night sky and like stars hovering around a moon, they surrounded the person within it.
Lian Xi slowly raised his head and the man also lowered his head.
The next moment, their eyes met mid-air.
Everything went quiet.
Lian Xi’s eyes fell into a bottomless pool of black.
It was a pair of very cold and lonely eyes, like a deep and bottomless abyss. It caused everything around it to become icy cold as though it were surrounded by endless darkness. It was an extreme type of darkness and cold, as though a lonely frost from ancient times.
No one could touch it and no one could reach it.
Cold. Emotionless. Emotionless. Silent.
When Lian Xi recovered his senses, he slowly lowered his eyes and looked at the place where his skin and the man’s were touching.
This person’s hand was so cold.
The thought flashed through his mind quickly and Lian Xi paused. He then let go and said solemnly, “She hasn’t reincarnated because her last wish was for her grandson to help her across the road. This old woman died in the eighties. Back then she and her old partner came to the city to see a doctor. They stood right here at this crossroad. But suddenly she had a cerebral hemorrhage and couldn’t be revived. Since that day, she’s been waiting here.”
The golden man lowered his eyes and looked at the youth who was explaining things to him solemnly.
Naturally the phrase: “What’s that to me?” hovered on his lips, but from his wrist there came the sudden sensation of heat. His eye flashed, and after a moment he let go of the old woman’s hand. He lowered his eyes and looked at the person in front of him. The corners of his lips raised, “Oh? And then?”
There was a ba-ji sound as the old woman fell to the ground again.
The old woman ghost: “…..”
Su Jiao walked over and kindly offered to help her up.
Lian Xi looked back at him calmly: “If you continue to do what you were doing just now, and are not even willing to pretend to be her grandson to help her cross and just drag her across forcibly, she will turn into a malicious ghost.”
“Oh.” The beautiful and unperturbed man opened his Reaper Record. He flipped a few pages. “It says here – malicious ghost, kill, no repercussions.”
Lian Xi: “….”
Old woman ghost: “….”
Seeing as the man was about to pick up the trembling old woman ghost again and planned to haul her across the road, Lian Xi loudly said, “Wait a moment!”
Su Jiao anxiously tugged at the corner of Lian Xi’s clothes. He tried to warn him with his eyes: Black Reaper ah, Black Reaper! This is Su City’s local Black Reaper!”
How could Lian Xi not understand his meaning?
Su Jiao had already told him multiple times that the XuanXiu in Su City had to walk around with their tail between their legs. If they were accidentally found by the pair of “damned rabbits” i.e. the Black and White Reaper, they would definitely get killed!
But right now….
Lian Xi clenched his teeth and said: “If you think it’s a bother, then let me help her across the road.”
Su Jiao looked at Lian Xi with surprise, as though not understanding why he was so compassionate towards this old lady ghost.
The golden man raised his eyebrow. His gaze moved between Lian Xi and the old woman ghost. He smiled, “Are you her grandson?”
Lian Xi: “No.”
Golden man: “Then?”
LianXi took a deep breath then exhaled slowly: “However, she’s helped me before.”
As soon as he said this, the golden man and Su Jiao both looked curiously at Lian Xi. Only the old woman kept hanging her head, and every word out of her mouth was just a repetition of, “I’m waiting for my dear grandson.”
Lian Xi closed his eyes and a helpless smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
It was sixteen years ago.
His father had died in a car accident. At the funeral, he sat quietly to the side and didn’t cry or fuss. He just stared quietly at the cold and stiff face of his father in the crystal coffin.
There were many sounds audible to his ears and many people walking by, but he felt like he couldn’t see or hear anything.
He just stared at his father in silence.
If he kept looking just like this, would his father wake up?
Of course he wouldn’t.
The body was sent to the crematorium. His grandfather held his hand with one hand, and in the other he carried his father’s ashes.
A white haired person was sending away a black haired person. His grandfather had experienced this twice around. One was sending away his mother, and once was his father.
Suddenly the voice of one of his relatives penetrated the trance he was in. “It’s all because of that star of misfortune!” Subconsciously he wanted to turn his head but his grandfather stubbornly pulled his hand and wouldn’t let him turn back. He looked up and his grandfather was smiling at him. “It’s got nothing to do with XiXi. XiXi, what do you want for lunch? Grandpa will make it for you.”
Lian Xi nodded obediently.
However his grandfather couldn’t control the chattering among his relatives, and also couldn’t control the children at his school.
“Lian Xi, I heard that your Daddy died!”
“Your mummy’s dead, and your daddy’s dead too! That means you’re a wild child that doesn’t have a mum or a dad!”
“My mum says that he’s a star of misfortune! Both his mum and dad were cursed to death by him. Let’s not play with him anymore.”
On the way home, he squatted at the crossroads and hugged his knees. He looked forward blankly.
“At this crossroads when I was just a kid, I saw a young girl in a red skirt standing at the zebra crossing. She turned her head and asked me if I wanted to play with her. At that time I thought she was human and I nearly ran over to play with her.” Lian Xi spoke in a flat tone. He didn’t say any of the previous parts and just started telling the story from here. “I was just about to run over when an old grandma grabbed me.”
Lian Xi turned to look at the old woman ghost who was kneeling on the ground and kept repeating, “I’m waiting for my dear grandson”. He said, “She said that I was about the same age as her grandson. When I turned around again to look for the little girl, a car barrelled by. That little girl had long vanished.”
Su Jiao suddenly realized. “No wonder you know so much about this old woman’s history. And even knew when she died.”
Lian Xi nodded. “I researched for a long time before I found her cause of death. However I couldn’t contact her family members. I think they moved away from Su City a long time ago.” Lian Xi walked over the old woman ghost and kneeled down. “If you’re willing, then take me as your grandson. I’ll help you across. You’ve been waiting here for 40 years. Everyday you wait and look around so eagerly. Right now looking for your grandson is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, it’s pretty much impossible.”
The old woman ghost shook her head frantically. “No! I’m waiting for my dear grandson!”
Lian Xi: “If I don’t help you across, what do you think he’ll do?”
The golden man raised his eyebrow.
Lian Xi: “He’s going to kill you.”
The old woman ghost: “…..”
The old woman stood up unsteadily. She was thin and weak. Lian Xi helped support her shoulders and arms. Holding her left arm, he helped her, step by step, walk towards the opposite side of the road.
Gradually, the old woman ghost seemed to really take him for her grandson. She stroked Lian Xi’s hand and said smiling, “Xiao Jun ah, how’s going to school in the city? Have you won any awards?”
“I heard my neighbour Old Li say that his grand-daughter goes to the same school as you but your grades are better than hers. Every time I see Old Li, his face is green like a cucumber. Aiyo, you should see it.”
“Xiao Jun, has your mum made roast meat for you ah?”
“Do you have enough money?”
“In the pillow in grandma’s room, there’s a purse with lots of money. After you come home for Chinese New Year, I’ll give you your new years money!”
…….
It wasn’t a wide street. After one minute, they reached the other side.
It had been forty years. The old woman ghost finally took her final step and reached the other side of the road.
She let go of Lian Xi’s hand.
Lian Xi lowered his hands and looked down at her.
All of the vicissitudes of her life showed in her lined and wrinkled face. The old woman ghost stretched out her hand and Lian Xi inclined his body forward a little. Just as her hand touched his hair, Lian Xi trembled slightly.
He raised his head.
This hand was just as it was in his memory…. Warm and full of energy.
The golden man and Su Jiao were standing on the other side of the road.
The old woman ghost stroked Lian Xi’s hair and smiled happily at him. She said kindly, “Don’t cry la. Squatting by the side of the road to cry in secret, you nearly got tricked by a ghost and made this old woman worry. In the future become a good man and don’t cry anymore, how embarrassing!”
Lian Xi was taken aback. He opened his mouth and his voice was hoarse. “Granny….”
The old woman smiled. “I’m going la!”
***
Chapter 12 – Lian Xi’s eyes fell into a bottomless pool of black.
3AM at the crossroads.
The cool wind of the summer night blew across the empty streets. A beautiful young man stood in the middle of the road, looking very grave. With a serious expression he looked towards a golden light. Lian Xi’s eyes grew hotter as he watched the haze of golden light walk closer and closer, and then!
The golden light walked right by him and approached the old woman.
“You should go reincarnate.”
The low, indifferent voice spoke softly. The sound was magnetic and pleasant to hear, but there wasn’t a sliver of emotion.
Lian Xi: “…..”
Su Jiao: “….”
The old woman ghost: “….”
****?!
This time the old woman ghost lost it completely. She started rolling around on the ground. “How can a ghost live like this? Don’t ghosts have ghost rights? Aren’t you supposed to respect seniors? One is trying to force me to cross the road, and the other tells me to go reincarnate upon the first meeting? What, you tell me to reincarnate so I should just go reincarnate? Why should I listen to you ah, are you my grandson ma? Have you fulfilled my wish? Why should I just go reincarnate, I just wont…”
Suddenly!
Her voice stopped abruptly.
A hand with a clear bone structure landed in front of the old woman’s face.
There was no doubt that this was an extremely beautiful hand. It was thin and slender, as white as jade. The hand came out of the haze of golden light and was exposed in front of the old woman’s eyes. However what attracted everyone to it was not the beauty of the hand, but…. The fact that there was a thin book held in that hand!
The book was about the size of a palm. It had a black cover and looked very simple and plain. If you visited the book stall in front of a school, it would definitely sell many like these. The only difference was…
On the cover was written three big characters: Reaper Record.
From within the golden light, a man’s indifference voice came: “You should listen to me, because I am the local Black Reaper.”
The old woman ghost: “….”
Lian Xi and Su Jiao: “…..”
The next second.
“Good grief! Someone is killing ghosts ah!” The old woman immediately tried to make a run for it but she was lightly and easily grabbed by her collar and hauled back.
Throwing the Black Reaper Record casually back into the golden light, the golden light man dragged the old woman by the collar and without any politeness began to haul her across the street.
The old woman struggled desperately: “I don’t want to cross the road! I’m waiting for my dear grandson! My dear grandson told me to wait for him here. After he sends the old man across, he’ll come back to help me! He promised me!”
Golden light man: Continues to drag across.
The old woman ghost: “I don’t want to go! I don’t want to go!”
Golden light man: Nearly finished dragging.
The old woman’s body trembled and she continued to repeat the phrase “I don’t want to go”. The more her voice shook, the redder her eyes became.
Lian Xi couldn’t see the man who was shrouded within the golden light but he could see the old woman clearly.
That old woman was originally just a ghost with an ordinary obsession but right now she was actually transforming into a malicious ghost!
“Wait a minute!”
The man in the golden light was unmoved.
Lian Xi gritted his teeth and ran over. His hand penetrated the golden light and grabbed his opponent’s wrist.
The moment their bodies touched, they were both stunned.
With a bang, the golden light around the man’s body suddenly shattered into a million pieces!
Just like golden fireflies in the sky, the dazzling flecks of light surrounded the man, gently enclosing him. They didn’t spread out but floated there like stars dotting the night sky and like stars hovering around a moon, they surrounded the person within it.
Lian Xi slowly raised his head and the man also lowered his head.
The next moment, their eyes met mid-air.
Everything went quiet.
Lian Xi’s eyes fell into a bottomless pool of black.
It was a pair of very cold and lonely eyes, like a deep and bottomless abyss. It caused everything around it to become icy cold as though it were surrounded by endless darkness. It was an extreme type of darkness and cold, as though a lonely frost from ancient times.
No one could touch it and no one could reach it.
Cold. Emotionless. Emotionless. Silent.
When Lian Xi recovered his senses, he slowly lowered his eyes and looked at the place where his skin and the man’s were touching.
This person’s hand was so cold.
The thought flashed through his mind quickly and Lian Xi paused. He then let go and said solemnly, “She hasn’t reincarnated because her last wish was for her grandson to help her across the road. This old woman died in the eighties. Back then she and her old partner came to the city to see a doctor. They stood right here at this crossroad. But suddenly she had a cerebral hemorrhage and couldn’t be revived. Since that day, she’s been waiting here.”
The golden man lowered his eyes and looked at the youth who was explaining things to him solemnly.
Naturally the phrase: “What’s that to me?” hovered on his lips, but from his wrist there came the sudden sensation of heat. His eye flashed, and after a moment he let go of the old woman’s hand. He lowered his eyes and looked at the person in front of him. The corners of his lips raised, “Oh? And then?”
There was a ba-ji sound as the old woman fell to the ground again.
The old woman ghost: “…..”
Su Jiao walked over and kindly offered to help her up.
Lian Xi looked back at him calmly: “If you continue to do what you were doing just now, and are not even willing to pretend to be her grandson to help her cross and just drag her across forcibly, she will turn into a malicious ghost.”
“Oh.” The beautiful and unperturbed man opened his Reaper Record. He flipped a few pages. “It says here – malicious ghost, kill, no repercussions.”
Lian Xi: “….”
Old woman ghost: “….”
Seeing as the man was about to pick up the trembling old woman ghost again and planned to haul her across the road, Lian Xi loudly said, “Wait a moment!”
Su Jiao anxiously tugged at the corner of Lian Xi’s clothes. He tried to warn him with his eyes: Black Reaper ah, Black Reaper! This is Su City’s local Black Reaper!”
How could Lian Xi not understand his meaning?
Su Jiao had already told him multiple times that the XuanXiu in Su City had to walk around with their tail between their legs. If they were accidentally found by the pair of “damned rabbits” i.e. the Black and White Reaper, they would definitely get killed!
But right now….
Lian Xi clenched his teeth and said: “If you think it’s a bother, then let me help her across the road.”
Su Jiao looked at Lian Xi with surprise, as though not understanding why he was so compassionate towards this old lady ghost.
The golden man raised his eyebrow. His gaze moved between Lian Xi and the old woman ghost. He smiled, “Are you her grandson?”
Lian Xi: “No.”
Golden man: “Then?”
LianXi took a deep breath then exhaled slowly: “However, she’s helped me before.”
As soon as he said this, the golden man and Su Jiao both looked curiously at Lian Xi. Only the old woman kept hanging her head, and every word out of her mouth was just a repetition of, “I’m waiting for my dear grandson.”
Lian Xi closed his eyes and a helpless smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
It was sixteen years ago.
His father had died in a car accident. At the funeral, he sat quietly to the side and didn’t cry or fuss. He just stared quietly at the cold and stiff face of his father in the crystal coffin.
There were many sounds audible to his ears and many people walking by, but he felt like he couldn’t see or hear anything.
He just stared at his father in silence.
If he kept looking just like this, would his father wake up?
Of course he wouldn’t.
The body was sent to the crematorium. His grandfather held his hand with one hand, and in the other he carried his father’s ashes.
A white haired person was sending away a black haired person. His grandfather had experienced this twice around. One was sending away his mother, and once was his father.
Suddenly the voice of one of his relatives penetrated the trance he was in. “It’s all because of that star of misfortune!” Subconsciously he wanted to turn his head but his grandfather stubbornly pulled his hand and wouldn’t let him turn back. He looked up and his grandfather was smiling at him. “It’s got nothing to do with XiXi. XiXi, what do you want for lunch? Grandpa will make it for you.”
Lian Xi nodded obediently.
However his grandfather couldn’t control the chattering among his relatives, and also couldn’t control the children at his school.
“Lian Xi, I heard that your Daddy died!”
“Your mummy’s dead, and your daddy’s dead too! That means you’re a wild child that doesn’t have a mum or a dad!”
“My mum says that he’s a star of misfortune! Both his mum and dad were cursed to death by him. Let’s not play with him anymore.”
On the way home, he squatted at the crossroads and hugged his knees. He looked forward blankly.
“At this crossroads when I was just a kid, I saw a young girl in a red skirt standing at the zebra crossing. She turned her head and asked me if I wanted to play with her. At that time I thought she was human and I nearly ran over to play with her.” Lian Xi spoke in a flat tone. He didn’t say any of the previous parts and just started telling the story from here. “I was just about to run over when an old grandma grabbed me.”
Lian Xi turned to look at the old woman ghost who was kneeling on the ground and kept repeating, “I’m waiting for my dear grandson”. He said, “She said that I was about the same age as her grandson. When I turned around again to look for the little girl, a car barrelled by. That little girl had long vanished.”
Su Jiao suddenly realized. “No wonder you know so much about this old woman’s history. And even knew when she died.”
Lian Xi nodded. “I researched for a long time before I found her cause of death. However I couldn’t contact her family members. I think they moved away from Su City a long time ago.” Lian Xi walked over the old woman ghost and kneeled down. “If you’re willing, then take me as your grandson. I’ll help you across. You’ve been waiting here for 40 years. Everyday you wait and look around so eagerly. Right now looking for your grandson is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, it’s pretty much impossible.”
The old woman ghost shook her head frantically. “No! I’m waiting for my dear grandson!”
Lian Xi: “If I don’t help you across, what do you think he’ll do?”
The golden man raised his eyebrow.
Lian Xi: “He’s going to kill you.”
The old woman ghost: “…..”
The old woman stood up unsteadily. She was thin and weak. Lian Xi helped support her shoulders and arms. Holding her left arm, he helped her, step by step, walk towards the opposite side of the road.
Gradually, the old woman ghost seemed to really take him for her grandson. She stroked Lian Xi’s hand and said smiling, “Xiao Jun ah, how’s going to school in the city? Have you won any awards?”
“I heard my neighbour Old Li say that his grand-daughter goes to the same school as you but your grades are better than hers. Every time I see Old Li, his face is green like a cucumber. Aiyo, you should see it.”
“Xiao Jun, has your mum made roast meat for you ah?”
“Do you have enough money?”
“In the pillow in grandma’s room, there’s a purse with lots of money. After you come home for Chinese New Year, I’ll give you your new years money!”
…….
It wasn’t a wide street. After one minute, they reached the other side.
It had been forty years. The old woman ghost finally took her final step and reached the other side of the road.
She let go of Lian Xi’s hand.
Lian Xi lowered his hands and looked down at her.
All of the vicissitudes of her life showed in her lined and wrinkled face. The old woman ghost stretched out her hand and Lian Xi inclined his body forward a little. Just as her hand touched his hair, Lian Xi trembled slightly.
He raised his head.
This hand was just as it was in his memory…. Warm and full of energy.
The golden man and Su Jiao were standing on the other side of the road.
The old woman ghost stroked Lian Xi’s hair and smiled happily at him. She said kindly, “Don’t cry la. Squatting by the side of the road to cry in secret, you nearly got tricked by a ghost and made this old woman worry. In the future become a good man and don’t cry anymore, how embarrassing!”
Lian Xi was taken aback. He opened his mouth and his voice was hoarse. “Granny….”
The old woman smiled. “I’m going la!”
***
