Chapter 48: Human Face and Peach Blossoms Reflecting Red (Part 1)

  The fifth aunt hastily said: "It's like this, recently there have been strange things happening at home, a mysterious face appeared out of nowhere."

  I inexplicably asked: "Does 'five aunts' mean human or human face?"

  The fifth aunt continued: "Exactly, there is only one human face. The first person to discover that face was Xiner, the maid in the kitchen."

  That day, Xiner went to the well to wash dishes. She only heard someone sighing behind her and thought it was the maid who had been scolded. However, when she turned around, there was no one there. She thought she was just being paranoid, but when she lowered her head to continue washing dishes, she saw a pale face reflected on the water's surface, right above her shoulder, as if hanging in mid-air.

  I fantasized about that scene for a moment, and I felt it was so similar to the time when I encountered a rotting human head, at which point I was scared stiff.

  "Xin'er was so frightened that her face turned white, and she almost fell into the well. But when she turned back, her face was gone. Xin'er herself forgot how she got back to her room. When she told others about this, no one believed her, and she had a high fever and fell ill. Although people laughed at her story at first, soon afterwards, one after another, people saw their own faces floating or appearing on the wall, sometimes crying, sometimes smiling, always with a hint of sighing and expression, but disappearing in an instant, making people feel like they were seeing things."

  "Make a face! Make a face!" interjected Gua Pian as she flew out.

  The fifth aunt was startled by the melon slice, pressed her heart and said: "This bird is really like a spiritual awakening, I really saw it, a ghost face, making a ghost face."

  "Huh?" I asked hurriedly: "What's going on?"

  "The news spread like wildfire, but I didn't believe it. I've always thought that seeing is believing, and it wasn't until I saw it with my own eyes...that face..."

  The fifth aunt shuddered all over, and then said: "That day, my maid burned water, I took a bath, the house was naturally hot and steamy. When I finished washing, I found that the surface of my lotus mirror was also covered with a layer of water vapor. I got up and casually wiped off the water vapor, but unexpectedly on the mirror, there was a face... A face that should have reflected me, but it was someone else's face... That face squinted and blinked, seemingly smiling but not quite, as if a mischievous child was teasing an adult. Then, my heart hurt, and I fainted immediately. When I woke up again, naturally everything was gone..."

  Wu Yiniang's heart disease, I really heard Ma Ershao mention it before. Didn't he go fishing and cooking soup for Wu Yiniang? Who would have thought that because of this fishing trip, Ma Ershao encountered a human-faced fish, and Si Yiniang died suddenly afterwards...

  I hastily asked: "Then why did you all suspect that it was the vengeful spirit of Fourth Auntie? Was that face Fourth Auntie's?"

  "This isn't... " Fifth Aunt hesitated for a moment: "That face, no one can recall what it looked like. It's because Fourth Aunt died so suddenly. Second Young Master saw that person's face at the same time as Fourth Aunt fell into a high fever, became delirious and lost consciousness. Second Young Master brought her back home, but it was already too late, she passed away just like that. No one expected that Fourth Aunt would leave with Second Young Master to go fishing and never return. Everyone said that Fourth Aunt didn't die of illness, but was scared to death by that person's face. It's just like this, the more Second Young Master talks about the person's face, the more people can't help but believe."

  So, the fourth aunt had been frightened to death by the man's face fish since she fainted after being given the man's face fish, and she never woke up again. She died of a sudden illness, which was really unnatural. Could it be that she was really scared to death by the man's face fish?

  "Is it because of Fourth Aunt's sudden death that you're thinking of her?"

  "Also, this is another reason why I'm afraid in my heart. The fourth wife was originally arrogant and domineering, always competing with others. Before I came, she was the favorite of the second young master. After I arrived, her position was threatened. Sometimes she would speak ill of me behind my back, looking down on me for being too proud, wanting to teach me a lesson. I'm afraid that if I accidentally say something wrong in front of the second young master, he will get very angry and heavily punish her again. As a result, she has even more resentment towards me. Even some maids have told me that I got this heart disease because she found a sorcerer to cast a spell on me, using needles to pierce my voodoo doll, which is why I ended up with this heart condition... She said that even if she becomes a ghost, she won't let go of me, this cheap woman who stirred up trouble..."

  "Ghost face... indeed frightening, the house is uneasy, it's only natural. How long has this thing been going on? I saw Ma Ershao a few days ago and he still seemed so pleased with himself, as if he didn't care about what was happening in the house at all!" I recalled Ma Ershao's face and asked casually.

  "This is also a strange thing." The fifth aunt said nervously, "What I'm afraid of is... Second Master, being possessed by that vengeful spirit!"

  I exchanged a glance with Guapian, and the fifth aunt continued: "You don't know, in this mansion, because of this matter, it's been chaotic, people are worried, Ershao is the master of the house, naturally he has already heard about it. Our steward advised Ershao that when the family is not at peace, nothing goes well, regardless of whether this matter is true or false, the impact is not good. So we invited a Taoist priest to drive out the evil spirits, even if it's just for show, it can calm people's minds. But Ershao actually said, let us see what's strange and what's not, the strange will defeat itself."

  I remembered Ma Ershao boasting about his bravery, but unexpectedly he really was a good fellow, which made me look at him in a new light. I had to say, "I didn't think Ma Ershao really had guts."

  "Where is he?" The fifth aunt frowned and shook her head: "The second young master has been timid since childhood, especially afraid of strange and supernatural rumors. He usually doesn't dare to sleep alone in a room, and his body always hangs the talismans that were begged for to ward off evil spirits. At night, there must be someone accompanying him, when he was young it was the wet nurse, now it's us, the rotating aunties. He is not a brave person, once while hunting, he encountered a crow, and thought it was the head of a female ghost with black hair, and was so scared that he urinated in his pants. How could he be so calm about this matter?"

  Yes, this is in line with my impression of Ma Ershi. It seems that I have a good understanding of people's characters. Although Ma Ershi described himself as extremely brave, the reality is that the more timid he is, the more he likes to boast.

  The fifth aunt continued: "Second young master also said that we should see people's faces one by one, and our mouths should be tight, but we are not allowed to spread rumors like cotton pants waist, this matter of human face, absolutely cannot be passed on outside, the more I think about it in my heart, the more afraid I become, could it be that when second young master saw the human-faced fish, he was also scared to death like fourth aunt, and let the monster borrow his body to revive, and use the human-faced fish incident to confuse people, cover up the truth, actually want to stir up trouble in the Ma family!"