Volume 1 Chapter 3 Reunion Once More

  This year I am 20 years old, the college entrance examination has just ended. In these eight years, my parents have done some small business, so we moved to the city. The other two people are still in our village. Wang Hui didn't go to school anymore, he works in society. According to his words, he is not material for studying at all. Zhang Bao is the same as me, finishing the college entrance examination. Although we are not together, we occasionally contact each other. Mainly because now technology is too advanced, Penguin, WeChat, Momo, Feixin, these things have entered our lives and made it more convenient to keep in touch.

  I don't know what's wrong, but I've been having more and more nightmares lately. I keep dreaming that Teacher Wang Xiaoya takes us to a mysterious place and performs heart and lung surgery on us. Every time I wake up, I'm drenched in cold sweat.

  It's so boring to stay in the city, and when Zhang Bao chats with me on WeChat, he also tells me that some strange things have been happening recently. To prove whether he has the same nightmare as me, I decided to go back to our village to take a look, catch up with Zhang Bao, and also hear that Wang Hui's workplace is renovated and he's on holiday too.

  So that means the three of us can gather together again, I simply packed up and took a big bus back to our previous village, the village where we committed heinous crimes in our childhood...

  They both knew I was coming back, so they were waiting for me at the village entrance very early. Meeting again has an indescribable feeling, as if we hadn't seen each other in many years. The two brothers from eight years ago have now grown up to be very mature.

  "Hello, Zhao Xiaolong!" Zhang Bao joked with me.

  "Long time no see!" Wang Hui also smiled and said to me.

  Hearing the two of them like this gives me a very strong feeling in my heart, a warmth and a nervousness.

  "You two are still the same, and still not as handsome as me!" I said with a grin.

  Although this village was my previous residence, I still have a feeling of meeting old friends in a foreign land. From the conversation, I learned that some things happened in these years, Wang Hui's parents died one after another, and he is now an orphan.

  I was about to comfort him, but he shook his head and said: "It's nothing, those who are meant to leave will definitely leave."

  The three of us went directly to Wang Hui's home, he had earned some money by working outside, so he bought some snacks in advance, including pig trotters, pickled pepper chicken feet, spicy strips and a few bottles of beer, which was considered as a treat for me.

  I don't usually drink, but today was so exciting that I ended up having two cups. After finishing eating, Wang Hui said he needed to go to the bathroom, and after he left, Zhang Bao said to me: "Xiao Long, do you remember when I told you on WeChat about some strange things happening to me recently? It seems like it's related to that thing from eight years ago..."

  "Alright, don't say any more!" I immediately cut him off, of course I knew what he was referring to eight years ago.

  "What's wrong? I have to say it, or else I'll feel uncomfortable!" Zhang Bao looked at me as if ready for me to speak out.

  He is a person who can't keep things inside, and as one of our trio, he couldn't hold it in anymore. So he told us about his bizarre dream, which was exactly the same as mine - the three of us were summoned to a mysterious location, where Wang Xiaoya dug out our hearts.

  "Are you feeling stressed from studying recently and having hallucinations?" I changed the subject, previously I wanted to tell them about it, but at this moment I suddenly didn't want to say anything, I was afraid.

  "Maybe, but didn't you also tell me that you've been having nightmares lately? What were they about?"

  "It's nothing, I just lose things in my dreams!" I casually replied.

  "Thinking back on what happened eight years ago, I really was in the wrong. If only I hadn't done that back then, these past few years I wouldn't have had recurring nightmares, it's infuriating."

  "Alright, Zhang Bao, you've had too much to drink!"

  He knew I didn't want to mention the things eight years ago, so he didn't continue talking to me. But what surprised me was that Wang Hui went to the toilet and didn't come back for more than half an hour.

  At this time, I felt very uncomfortable and walked towards the toilet. As soon as I approached, I unbuttoned my pants and said drowsily: "I say Wang Hui, did you take so long to go to the bathroom? Did you fall in? If you fell in, I'll go with Zhang Bao to pick you up."

  After finishing speaking, there was no reaction in the toilet, so I repeated what I just said again, but still no response. I rubbed my eyes and walked into the toilet, not even seeing a shadow...

  I rushed back into the house and asked Zhang Bao: "Zhang Bao, did Wang Hui come in just now?"

  "No way, isn't he just going to the bathroom? What's all the fuss about?" Zhang Bao said with a bright red face, probably also unable to hold his liquor.

  I told him I didn't see Wang Hui, he said then let's go find him. We searched around their house but couldn't find him, but when we were at the gate, we found a trace of blood. Suddenly, my mind went blank and I asked Zhang Bao: "This blood won't be Wang Hui's, will it?"

  "Unbelievable! How could he suddenly start bleeding for no reason?"

  "Never mind, let's follow this blood trail and see where it leads!"

  My heart is racing now, the more I don't want to think about what happened eight years ago, the more that scene appears in front of me. I'm worried that Wang Xiaoya's soul will come back for revenge. Although our teachers always emphasized materialism when we were in school, I didn't believe it because I firmly believe that besides humans, there are other spirits existing in this world.

  I followed the blood trail for a while before I realized that it led all the way to the woods in the village. At that time, both Zhang Bao and I hesitated because this woods next to us was not an ordinary one. There were grievances inside, or rather, people in the village believed that there were ghosts here, so very few people came in. Even the bravest ones only lingered around, let alone going inside.

  "Little Dragon, I think we should go back, this blood stain may not be Wang Hui's!"

  I know Zhang Bao must be scared, to be honest I'm even more scared, my head is numb right now. Wang Hui said he was going to the bathroom, but half an hour later he still hadn't appeared, and then we found this bloodstain at his house entrance, which disappeared when it reached the woods near our village. It's clear that something is guiding us.

  "Could King Hui be gone?" I said.

  Zhang Bao swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said, "Maybe he went out to buy something to eat again, or maybe he's doing something else. Let's go back and take a look, he might be at home."

  "Alright, let's go back and take a look. If he's not there, we'll come back here."

  "Alright, let's go!"

  The two of us returned to Wang Hui's home by the original route, and as soon as we walked to the door, we heard a faint sound inside, which was the sound of sharpening a knife, and it seemed to be a vegetable knife. The two of us became alert at the same time, picking up a stone from the ground, slowly walking into the yard. Only after entering did we discover that this sound was coming from inside the house.

  We quickly walked to the door and kicked it open, seeing a person crouching on the ground.

  "Gathering up my courage, I shouted loudly: 'Who are you? What are you sneaking around here for? Put down the knife and raise your hands!'"

  After hearing my shout, the man directly put the kitchen knife on the ground and turned back with a smile.

  At that time, both Zhang Bao and I were stunned, because this person was actually Wang Hui, with a silly smile on his face looking at the two of us.

  "What's going on? Wang Hui?"

  Before I could even open my mouth, Zhang Bao directly asked, and I also naturally wanted to know what was going on with this situation.

  Wang Hui stood up and came to the front of us two, asking: "What's going on? I just wanted to kill a chicken for you two, and then come back tonight to get drunk, what's the big deal?"

  His expression was so natural, and I also knew that Wang Hui couldn't lie to us two, but the question came immediately, so I continued to ask: "What did you do during this period of time just now?"

  Wang Hui pointed to the rooster that had just been beheaded on the ground and said, "I went to Old Zhang's house in the village to catch a chicken. Sorry, I didn't tell you two, it was really rude of me!"