A small person with big ambitions

  Hidemi walked up to the Kawai couple, bowed first, and then looked at Kawai in a low voice: "Please accept my condolences, Hirohiko."

  Kawau raised his head, his face showing surprise. Since this large group of people entered the house, he had been paying attention to this side.

  He didn't expect that all his colleagues from the communication department would follow Xiu Ming. Surprised as he was, he still bowed silently with his wife to return the courtesy.

  Kawau's wife was a beautiful and elegant person, just as the rumors among colleagues had it. The thin makeup on her face perfectly outlined her tenderness and sadness.

  Other people's wives are not good to look at, Cheng Zhou followed Xiu Ming to the altar after the ceremony. Xiaomao pulled his hem and followed him closely.

  The body of the deceased was placed in a coffin, on top of which was a pre-mortem photograph of Chiyoko.

  The woman in the photo looks very serious and appears younger than a woman in her fifties.

  Chengzhou was learning from Xiu Ming how to hold the incense, just as he was about to bow his head, his eyes inadvertently swept across a photo, and this one glance made his heart skip a beat.

  Maybe it was just his imagination, but the woman's eyes in the photo seemed to be staring at him with a piercing gaze. He could almost read the hatred and resentment from her eyes.

  What was she resentful of? What was she unwilling to accept? The beating of her heart accelerated, as she performed the incense ritual with her eyes fixed on a point. At the same time, she absolutely refused to let her gaze fall on the body of Tōjō Chiyo lying in the coffin, her face covered with a white cloth.

  Cheng Zhou finished the ceremony and immediately turned around.

  "The throat of that lying aunt is moving."

  The child pulled at the hem of his garment, looked up and said with a curious expression. The not-too-loud-or-soft voice of the child happened to be clear enough for everyone in the room to hear.

  Anyone who could understand Japanese, including the Kawahara couple, gasped in unison and turned to look at the dark red coffin.

  "What nonsense are you talking about!" The words that the child had just spoken were translated in Cheng Zuo's mind, and without thinking, he immediately loudly scolded.

  "But is it really moving?" The child pouted.

  Cold sweat poured out from his back, and Cheng Zhou clearly felt his heartbeat accelerating, his hands and feet trembling. Because he seemed to see... the woman in the coffin slowly sitting up...

  Illusion! Illusion! It's all an illusion! It must be because I watched a Japanese horror movie last night!

  "Are you afraid?" The child raised his head and asked in a low voice in Chinese. His tone was concerned, but the curled corners of his lips and the cunning glint in his eyes suggested otherwise.

  What's wrong with being afraid? Look around the house and see how many are not afraid of running into ghosts?

  "There's nothing to be afraid of under broad daylight. You must have seen it wrong just now." The man puffed out his chest and said nonchalantly.

  Kawada and his wife got up and walked to the front of the coffin, Kawada seeming to confirm the condition of his mother's body.

  "Sorry, it's just the kid's eyes playing tricks on him, he shouldn't have watched that horror movie last night, haha." Cheng Zhou smiled and apologized to everyone.

  The child noticed that Cheng Chou's gaze had been trying to avoid the corpse, and couldn't help but snicker secretly. He pulled on Cheng Chou's sleeve, "I want to go to the bathroom."

  "Restroom? Ah, okay, just in time I also want to go, I'll take you with me." Cheng Zhou, who was feeling embarrassed and trying to think of a way to slip away, immediately agreed with Xiaomao's suggestion.

  Xiù Míng heard this and kindly pointed out the direction of the restroom to them.

  Chengzhou thanked and then hastily walked out of the room with the child's hand in his.

  Behind him, Kawabe and Hiroshi kept looking up at his and the child's back, a thoughtful expression on their faces.

  The toilet and bathroom of the Kawau family are facing each other, with a washbasin and changing area in between. As is well known, there is usually a mirror above the washbasin.

  "From now on, you must never say such inexplicable things in front of others, do you understand?" Cheng Zhou walked to the washbasin and warned the child with a lowered head.

  "But I really did see it! If I don't say anything, does that count as lying?" the child asked with a tilted head.

  "It doesn't count." The man quickly replied with a crisp answer. He immediately turned on the faucet, scooped up some water and washed his face, he needed to use cold water to calm himself down.

  Water droplets splashed onto the mirror surface.

  "Why are you still standing here and not going to the toilet?" Cheng Zhou felt someone was looking at him, thinking it was Xiao Maotou, so he straightened up and casually wiped the water droplets from his face, turning his head to ask.

  Two steps away from him stood a woman with a purple face that was almost black, staring at him unblinkingly.

  A swollen face with a pair of triangular eyes filled with hatred and resentment bulging out of the eye sockets.

  Haha! Cheng Zhou's legs suddenly went soft, and he hastily grabbed onto the nearby washbasin for support.

  Illusion, this is an illusion.

  The woman's hands hung straight down on both sides of her body.

  Cheng Zhou felt that this woman seemed to be ready to grab his neck with both hands at any moment, and he couldn't help but take a step back.

  If I hadn't seen her photo just now, it would be hard to imagine that a woman who can be considered elegant could change so much.

  Women are hanging themselves to death, no doubt!

  He wanted to leave here, but found that his body couldn't move at all. It was as if he was tied up by something, and although his consciousness was clear, he couldn't even lift the tip of his little finger.

  He is not unfamiliar with this situation, and during his student days, he would often experience this whenever he got nervous before an exam, but most of the time it happened when he was sleeping at night. It rarely occurred when he was awake like this, perhaps never had before.

  Cheng Zhou tried to put all his spiritual power into the index finger of his right hand. From past experience, he knew that as long as his index finger could move a little, he would soon be able to break free from this restraint.

  Just as he focused all his energy on his right index finger, the woman beside him slowly raised her left hand.

  Shoulders were pinned down.

  There was no feeling of being actually caught, just seeing a hand on his own shoulder.

  A chill ran over his heart, as if someone was sucking out his yang energy, and his body turned cold from the inside out.

  The woman's figure became increasingly clear, as if an image was materializing.

  Both bodies started trembling slightly. A greedy light shot out of the woman's eyes.

  What's going on? Am I being sucked of my yang energy by a female ghost? Or is it that old hag, Kawau Hiroshi's mother? Heaven, what kind of joke are you playing?!

  Is it because I had a feud with the Kawahashi family in my previous life or is it because I looked at Mrs. Kawahashi for two seconds too long just now? Ugh... Mom, forgive me, although you're delighted that I've finally made progress, your son clearly doesn't suit this country's climate, and your son is almost done for... Mom, let me be a filial son to you in my next life... Ahh, what a mess!

  "Crack!"

  A round object flew past the side of Cheng Chou's face, which was silently weeping and preparing to die, hitting the mirror on his side with a strange trajectory.

  The mirror cracked.

  Cheng Zhou suddenly felt a sense of relief in his heart, as if the ropes that had been binding him had broken free from his body. He looked up to see that the old mother Kawabata was gone.

  "What are you standing there for?" The bathroom door was pulled open and Xiaomao stood at the entrance with his hands on his hips, asking proudly.

  A round object fell into the sink. It is a deodorant ball used in toilets.

  Chengzhou forced a smile, and when the feeling at the corner of his mouth reached his brain, he realized that all the sensations in his body had returned.

  "Have you seen...that?" The man gestured with his hand in front of him.

  The child tilted his head, as if he didn't understand what was being said.

  Chiyomi gritted her teeth and asked, "Have you seen Kawau's mother?"

  "Look, isn't he just lying in the living room?"

  "Did you see her follow him in?" Cheng Zhou asked seriously.

  The child walked up to him, tiptoed and looked up at him carefully.

  "Hmm... have you gone crazy?"

  This wretched abandoned child! The big man clenched his fists and bared his teeth menacingly.

  "What's wrong? I thought I just heard something break... Ah! The mirror!" Someone opened the door, it was Xiù Míng who had come upon hearing the noise.

  Chengzhou hastily withdrew his terrifying face and turned to look at the mirror beside him.

  Oh no! Terrible!

  Suddenly! A spider web-like crack the size of a fist appeared right in the middle of the mirror.

  How much does it cost? Are things from J country very expensive? Won't I have to pay for it?

  You little scamp, did you do it? Cheng Zhou glared at the child with his eyes.

  "Dad, look, you broke someone else's mirror." Such an innocent and naive childish voice.

  Chengzhou hadn't even had time to kill the little ghost with his gaze when Xiū Míng chuckled and spoke up:

  "It's okay, I think Akira won't get mad. As long as no one is hurt, that's all that matters."

  "Uh, this...this isn't..." Cheng Zhou wanted to explain.

  "Grown-ups can't lie, okay." The child walked in front of Cheng Zhou, gave him a sweet smile, and then immediately pushed him away without hesitation, tiptoed to turn on the faucet to wash his hands.

  Chengzhou took the child out of the bathroom and saw Xiū Míng talking to Kawau, then he saw Kawau give him a cold and reproachful look.

  Cheng Zhou suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, shrunk his neck and immediately walked towards the living room which still had some human presence. Meanwhile, the little ghost he was holding onto had already ran to Officer Nan Shan who was beckoning him, took something from his hand and put it into his mouth.

  Glutton! Whoever feeds you is your dad, isn't it? Casting a disdainful glance at the smiling child, Cheng Zhou raised his head again.

  The woman's eyes met with Cheng Chou.

  An old woman hung herself from the beam connecting the kitchen and living room.

  But her eyes were fixed on Cheng Chou. Cheng Chou even felt that the woman was sneering at him.

  Cheng Zhou made a smile that was even uglier than crying. He felt his heart had never beaten as happily as it did now.

  Can he scream?

  Why can only he see it? Have other people's eyes fallen off or something? Is it his illusion? Or is there a problem with his eyes? If he really shouts out, he'll probably be laughed to death by them.

  Uh, I don't want to be laughed at by them...

  So, even if the old woman Kawau grasped the rope with all her might and tried to free her head from the noose, even if she had already escaped from the noose and was slowly approaching him with an unsteady gait, her two hands stretched out as if about to grab his shoulders, he still couldn't...

  "Waaahhhh! Oh no! There's a ghost!"

  "Whoa!" The little kid was startled by the big man's extremely unpleasant yell and spat out the chocolate in his mouth.

  It's really too embarrassing.

  Sitting on the cable car going up the mountain, Cheng Zhou covered his face, he really wanted to cry.

  Everyone in the room stared at him, with a look of surprise and irony on each face.

  From some people's expressions, he could almost read what they were thinking at that time.

  Look, the one with the surname Cheng is making a fool of himself again!

  Is this guy too eager for attention? Does he just want people to notice him like that?

  How could Huaxia subsidiary's first sales department send someone like him? Don't they have anyone else?

  Isn't this guy really a murderer? Didn't they say you can't judge people by their appearance?

  "How rude! The poor woman's mother just passed away..." The neighbors nearby whispered.

  Kawau's face was so ugly that it could rival his mother's. Even Shumei, who usually sympathized with him, looked at him with a "what's wrong with you" gaze.

  And after his scream, everything in front of him returned to normal.

  There was nothing on the beam, no rope loop, no mother of Chuanju. Standing in front of him was a little Mao head who had run over from the south mountain.

  I want to go back home! The man shouted in his heart.

  It seems like we're almost at our final destination.

  Cheng Chou, who had barely managed to crawl out of his self-loathing, suddenly found that there were very few people taking the cable car today, so few that he was the only one... or so it seemed, as there appeared to be a woman behind him.

  It's strange, he remembers there were still a lot of people when they got on the bus.

  Although there were two murders on Mt. Ontake, the number of tourists does not seem to have decreased much; I don't know if they are brave or intentionally trying their luck.

  Chengzhou noticed that the majority of tourists were young people, but it was not a holiday. This suggests that they probably came on purpose to see the murder scene, and there is no more reasonable explanation for this.

  There were still many people just now, but when they arrived at the terminal station, they suddenly disappeared. If he didn't remember wrong, the terminal station should be where most people get off.

  The broadcast voice of the train conductor introducing the scenery along the way had also stopped, and the inside of the car was eerily quiet.

  Chengzhou turned his head to look out of the window, the scenery outside was still so beautiful, only...

  It's just around 2 pm now, why is it so dark?

  Cheng Zhou started to feel uneasy, staring at the watch on his left wrist, just wanting to get off the bus quickly.

  If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have come back alone. Anyway, both my dignity and face have already been completely lost, so what's the point of caring about anything else? Staying there, at least I can eat that hateful Kawau for a meal. Anyway, eating won't make him poor, I heard his wife's family is very rich?

  What a pity! For a moment, I got a fever in my brain, left the kid with Hsiu-Ming to take care of, and took the subway back first.

  It's too late for regrets now, Cheng Zhou glanced at his electronic watch, huh? Why aren't the numbers jumping?

  There were footsteps coming from behind the car.

  It's possible that the woman behind also felt something was off and was about to ask the driver. Cheng Zhou thought.

  The footsteps stopped beside him.

  Cheng Zhou naturally lifted his head.

  "...it turns out that when a person is scared to the extreme, they can't call out."

  Before him, his mother was smiling at him, a gloomy smile.

  Is he being haunted by an evil spirit?

  I heard that only wrongly killed ghosts become vengeful spirits after death. Is it possible that Kawahito's mother was wronged? Wasn't she the murderer?

  But looking at her now, he wouldn't have believed she had killed two people, let alone two thousand.

  "Hello, auntie...... hehe."

  Seiya shifted her hips slightly, trying to escape Chiyo's line of sight.

  "Give me..."

  Swollen/purple lips open, a hoarse voice like sand-grinding comes out from inside. The tongue that was stuffed in after death seems to be about to fall out at any moment.

  "What can I give you? What do you want me to give you?" Cheng Zhou forced out a smile that he thought was very friendly.

  "Everything... give me..." Chiyako stretched out her hands.

  Just as Chiyo's hands were about to land on his shoulders, Seiya dodged and slipped out from under her arms.

  Step by step backing away, he thought he probably understood what Chiyako wanted.

  She wants his yang energy!

  She didn't get her way at the old house, so she followed and chased all the way here. Who can stop her this time?

  What does she want with my yang energy? Is she going to revive it or something? The man thought, shaking his leg.

  "...Give...it...to...me!" Chiyako approached with an unsteady gait.

  The old woman's eyes stared at him with a gloomy gaze, and Cheng Zhou felt like a frog being stared at by a cobra, thinking of escaping in his mind, but his feet seemed to have taken root on the ground, and his two calves kept trembling without taking a step.

  Where is everybody? Where have they all gone? Where is the train conductor?