Twenty-Three Day of Great Love

  The sunshine seems to bring a sense of peace to others, I got up and washed my face with the water in the kettle, went out to the door of Da Ai's room and stood for a moment, my heart skipped another beat.

  The room is empty now.

  The great love is gone.

  What happened last night was like a fantasy movie, everything looked too fake, completely subverting my understanding of the whole world.

  Honestly, it's hard for me to believe this is true.

  Firstly, I encountered a ghost, Xiaodidian's ghost, swirling around the pagoda tree, asking me to save Da Ai.

  Then I saw Da Ai kneeling in the flames, wearing a wedding dress, but without any hint of a wedding atmosphere.

  Then there was a dwarf who was also an exorcist, let's call him that for now.

  I didn't believe any of them at first, but I happened to run into all of them in one night, it was like watching a fantasy movie.

  Am I still in a dream after all?

  Even if it's just a dream, this dream is too bizarre.

  Am I trapped in the book I wrote?

  I heard that Nanpai Sanshu was so obsessed with writing suspenseful stories that he became mentally unstable. In my understanding of writing, it seems that the author being trapped in his book isn't a particularly difficult thing to do.

  Did I write a hundred-day ghost story myself and then get trapped inside it?

  Just as I was stunned, I heard a weak voice behind me shouting, Dingding, is that you?

  I turned my head and saw Da Ai standing behind me, still wearing that red skirt with golden silk embroidered dragon and phoenix patterns on it, looking no different from the red skirt that knocks on my window every day.

  If it's an illusion, I swear I've never seen this skirt before and won't keep appearing in my world one after another.

  She saw me not responding and continued, "Are you Dingding?"

  I nodded and said, "Is it you, great love?"

  Dà ài suddenly ran over and hugged my shoulders tightly, her whole body trembling. She whispered, "Dīng dīng, you really came."

  You told me to come, how can I not come?

  Dai Ai glanced around and said in a low voice, "Let's go inside and talk."

  I followed her into the room, and she locked the door behind me. She turned around and asked, "Do you still remember what happened when we were kids?"

  I saw the great love's hesitation and fear, I said, is what you're saying our written wishes?

  Her face turned even whiter, she nodded and then shook her head. She said, by the time I realized it, it was already too late, retribution had begun.

  I said, we're just a few kids, why should we be punished?

  Dai Ai said, I've investigated for a few years, and this retribution isn't aimed at us, but rather the entire Gu Miao Village. Every ten years, there's a wedding in Gu Miao Village, have you heard of it?

  I shook my head and said no, but I went to Er Zhu Zi's house. Aunt Zhao seemed very afraid of the wedding.

  Dai Ai said, every ten years in Gu Miao Village there is a wedding, this is the root of the curse.

  I'm saying, what's going on, you tell me.

  Dai Ai shook his head and said, "I don't know, I really don't know what's going on. I asked many old people, but no one can explain it clearly. They only say that if the wedding is good, Gu Miao Village will have good weather and everyone's dreams will come true. If the wedding is bad, Gu Miao Village will be unlucky, and even if someone just touches a bit of mud from Gu Miao Village, they will be unlucky for their whole life."

  I was intimidated by her majestic and solemn expression, she said that being unlucky for a lifetime with gritted teeth, I asked, what is considered good, what is considered bad?

  Dà ài yòu yáo le yào tóu shuō, wǒ bù zhī dào.

  Translation:

  Big Love shook his head and said, I don't know.

  I said, then why did you get married and why did you call me? Also, what's the deal with this wedding of yours, what are you marrying?

  I love you, but I don't know either.

  I was stunned by this answer, what is it that you don't know? Don't you know who made you get married?

  But I saw Dà ài's body was still shaking, her face pale, a wave of tenderness, this question didn't get asked, I said, you rest well, if you think of anything we'll talk again.

  I really didn't forget, I really didn't know. I had many dreams, in the dream a woman in red stood in front of me and told me that at the moment when yesterday and today intersect, I would get married, I would get married in an ancient temple. The dream was too real, I was very scared, I knew my fate was related to the wedding, it's the most beautiful moment for a woman. But...I didn't dare not come. After making up my mind, I found your phone number and dialed it. Now there are only two of us left, I want to see you, see you in the last moments of life.

  I whispered, where is Xia Ai? What happened to Xia Ai?

  Great love says, little love is crazy.

  The recent upheavals I've experienced are enough, this news just made my heart skip a beat. I didn't hesitate and continued to ask, how could Xia Ai go crazy?

  Big Love said, I don't know, I think it's also related to that wish list. Little Love went crazy, saying she could see ghosts, see Xiao Pang, see Xiao Bu Dian, and said... a woman in red would find everyone, would take revenge on everyone.

  It's Red again, I said, where is Xia Ai?

  I brought her here, but when we arrived at Gu Miao Village, she disappeared. Then I looked for her for a long time, and then suddenly I didn't know anything anymore. When I woke up, I was already in the hotel. Seeing these clothes, I knew I might be married, but who it is with and why, I have no idea. Also, how did I get here? I just met that girl named Feng Yue in the bathroom, she said you guys rescued me together yesterday and asked if I'm feeling better.

  I said, after you gave me that letter, I didn't know anything anymore.

  Big Love said, letter? What letter? I don't know.

  I exclaimed, "Isn't that letter you gave me the one that led me to find Er Lang?"

  Dai Ai shook his head and said, "No, that night I met Fengyue girl, we talked for a bit, then looked outside and saw it was dark. I wanted to go find Xiao Ai to come back when suddenly I didn't know anything. When I woke up, it was today."

  I nodded and said, "Okay, you rest first, I know, take a good rest, we'll investigate the truth together."

  Dai Ai nodded and lay down on the bed, seeing me about to leave, stretched out her hand to grab my arm and said, I'm scared, can you stay with me for a bit?

  I sat down again, and looking at that bright red dress also made me a bit afraid. This dress must be the one my dream girl ghost wears, it's unlucky to look at it. I said, do you have any other clothes, change into something else, I'm feeling a bit uneasy looking at it.

  Dà ài yáo tóu shuō, wǒ de xíng lǐ yě zhǎo bù dào le, yào shì yǒu de huà, wǒ zǎo jiù huàn le.

  Translation:

  Big Love shook his head and said, "My luggage is also lost, if it was found, I would have changed already."

  I'll say this, I'll go find you a piece of clothing, you wait for me.

  I rushed out and knocked on Siyao's door with my first instinct, explained the purpose, Siyao hesitated for a moment, took a skirt and said, take it away, give it to you.

  I said a thank you and was about to leave when Siyao said, don't forget what you promised me today.

  I just remembered that I promised Siyao to find Dapeng.

  But what I was looking for was actually the ancient temple, and so many people went there yesterday, but nothing unusual was found.

  I said, okay, okay, I'll go with you in a minute.

  Xiyao said, "You have to hurry up, we're still deciding whether to report this to the police or not. Once we find Dapeng, we'll be leaving, you take care of yourself and your new bride. I feel a bit strange... really, it's scary."

  I'm telling you, don't worry, just leave when it's time, but be careful with everything, especially in this village, and don't make any wishes.

  Siya looked at me with a strange expression, I smiled and couldn't tell others that the person who got mud on their body would bring bad luck to everyone around them. I took the skirt back to Da'ai and stood at the door for a while.

  Dà ài came out holding that red skirt, Sī Yáo's skirt fit her body perfectly, except for the chest area being a bit tight. Dà ài had truly grown into a beautiful woman, although not as stunning as Fēng Yuè, she was still very lovely, with an air of elegance and an indescribable vitality.

  Her face suddenly turned red, she whispered, what about this skirt? Burn it?

  I did feel uneasy when I saw that skirt, but the situation has become so bizarre now. If I burn the skirt, who knows what kind of wrath it might provoke.

  Thinking about it is already troublesome enough, I said, let's just leave it for now. You rest first, I have to deal with some things with the students who rescued you yesterday.

  She exclaimed in surprise, "Is it with that Feng Yue?"

  I shook my head and said no. It was a girl named Siyao, her boyfriend went missing, I'm helping to find him. Don't go anywhere else for now, just take care of yourself first, we'll think about it later.

  Dai Ai nodded and seemed to want to say something else, but finally shook her head and said in a low voice, "You be careful, don't worry, I won't go anywhere."

  I let out a sigh, although we were very young when we parted ways, and it had been twenty years since we last saw each other. But as soon as we met again, I immediately felt that we were people who could entrust our lives to each other.

  I really didn't expect to see Da Ai in this situation, I didn't even think that I would still be able to see Da Ai in my lifetime. Originally thought that the lives of two people were just two straight lines, only with a brief intersection point, and then getting farther and farther away.

  This time we met, although both of us were uncertain about life and death, I felt the kindness of heaven.

  It's really great to see you before I die.

  I gently hugged Da Ai and whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, we will definitely investigate this thoroughly."

  Dai Ai nodded and gave me a gentle hug with her arm, then I walked out of the room and heard Dai Ai lock the door behind me, feeling an inexplicable sense of loss.

  Why didn't I think of coming to find you earlier?

  Why should we meet again in these few days that can be counted on one's fingers?

  Having you in life, isn't it making me more afraid of death?

  I knocked on Siyao's door and stood at the entrance saying, let's go.

  Xiyao hummed in agreement and followed me out. We went down the stairs one after another, and when we reached the bottom, we saw that the hotel's door was tightly locked.

  I pushed it a bit, but the door wouldn't open. I turned around and suddenly saw a dwarf standing there, staring at me coldly.

  I just don't like his eyes, with such a fierce and vicious look. I said, trouble opening it up, we need to get out.

  The dwarf said, "No one can go out today."

  I was stunned for a moment, I didn't expect such an answer. A hotel that doesn't let people go out during the day, what does it mean? Is it a black shop?

  Siya said, I'm going out to find my boyfriend.

  The dwarf still replied coldly, no way.

  Siya's voice suddenly became louder, she seemed a bit anxious, and said, "Why can't we? Why won't you let us go out?"

  The sound was so loud that it not only startled me, but also brought out everyone in the house. In a moment, I heard the chaotic footsteps upstairs, and the students who had witnessed yesterday's scene were all shocked and ran down to stand behind Siyao.

  The shamaness walked over and said, "What's wrong? What happened?"

  Siya pointed at the door and said, "They won't let us out."

  The witch took a look at the dwarf and went over to push the door. The door didn't budge, and the witch said, "What's going on here?"

  The dwarf said, no one can go out.

  The boy behind him was unhappy and one of them said, "What's the big idea?"

  Ma Tiancheng also heard the voice and ran out from inside, waving his big hands saying "Don't be in a hurry, don't be in a hurry, speak slowly, speak slowly."

  Fengyue said, "Cheng Ge, what's going on? So many people are locked up here, is this a black shop?"

  Ma Tiancheng said, "Zhang Ge, what's going on? What's going on? The door was just open, wasn't it?"

  It turns out that this dwarf is surnamed Zhang and his age is actually older than Ma Tiancheng.

  The dwarf glanced at us and grunted, saying, you also saw yesterday's wedding, where is the bride?

  What did I just say?

  Another student said, what's going on upstairs? I just said it was too strange, could it be something unclean?

  What the hell are you talking about?

  The student looked at me and then lowered his head, saying nothing.

  The dwarf said, "Yesterday's wedding, you brought the bride back. Now you can go out, but I don't guarantee your safety. If any of you are mistaken for the bride, don't blame me. Especially you, it's best if you don't go out."

  The dwarf pointed at Feng Yue with his finger, and Feng Yue took a step back, hiding behind me.

  I saw something strange and inexplicable yesterday, materialism can't explain it anymore. Moreover, the dwarf seems to have some real ability. I thought about it again and looked back at Siyao, who was biting her lip and looking outside, seemingly unsure of what to do.

  I see that all of you students have fallen silent, I said, what are you thinking?

  Fengyue said, everyone came over because this place is famous for being a ghost village. Yesterday's things were also seen, and it was really scary. Otherwise, we can rest for a day and not rush into anything taboo. When we can leave tomorrow, let's go back to the county first?

  Siya said, Da Peng hasn't been found yet.

  Fengyue said, Da Peng may be in the county now. Let's go to the county and report to the police, let them find him, is that okay?

  What Fengyue said was basically something that no man would object to, and since it made sense, the people who came were all ghost village adventurers who believed in the existence of ghosts. When they saw a scene that couldn't be explained by science, each person naturally had their own thoughts.

  It's no big deal to stay in the hotel for a day without going out, and everyone nodded suddenly.

  I am different from them, I have a sense of urgency in my heart, they are in the prime of their youth, while I am ticking away with every passing moment.

  What I want to do most now is to go back to the ancient temple and take a look at that place, find that flesh Bodhisattva, and then go to the pagoda tree to see if there are any traces of Xiaodian.

  I said, I'm a man, shouldn't be a big deal, aren't you supposed to catch the bride?

  The dwarf said, you want to go out, I won't stop you, but you'd better think carefully, if something really happens, no one can take care of it.

  I said, it's nothing, I'll just find someone else to help me, I can still live for more than 20 days, I won't die.

  The dwarf was taken aback for a moment and said, "Alright, you can go. Is there anyone else who wants to leave?"

  After finishing, he threw the key onto the table. I walked over to pick up the key and had just inserted it into the lock when the dwarf said, "If I were you, I wouldn't go anywhere today. Just stay upstairs and keep an eye on that bride-to-be."

  My hand trembled and the key fell to the ground. After picking it up, I put it on the front desk and whispered, "Is there any danger with Da Ai?"

  The dwarf said, "Your wife has run away with someone, aren't you going to look for her?"

  I bit my lip and turned around to head upstairs.

  Walked up and knocked open the door of Da Ai's room, saw her in the room and let out a sigh of relief. Da Ai said, "You didn't leave? Just now it was so loud, what happened?"

  I said, it's nothing, I don't want to go anywhere, just stay here with you.

  Dai Ai smiled and nodded, and we two sat in the room chatting for an entire afternoon, almost filling up the blank of twenty years in each other's life.

  Whether it was a joke, a happy event or a proud moment, they shared each and every one with each other.

  The sound of her gentle love gradually faded away, and she finally fell asleep in a daze. I touched her forehead, then touched my own, both of our foreheads were equally scorching hot.

  I gently covered her with the quilt and tiptoed back to my room, it was already past five in the afternoon. These days, I have been feeling unwell, always in a daze.

  I took a short nap and after waking up, I had dinner and then chatted with Da Ai in the room for a while. Nothing happened and this day passed by quietly.

  Things in life are unpredictable, you think a day that should be stormy and turbulent turns out to be calm and peaceful.

  There are no monsters or ghosts, nothing that can't be explained, and even curses seem far away from me.

  Apart from the dwarf's pretentious mysteriousness and the students' genuine fear, there really isn't anything special about it.

  And so my twenty-third day passed.

  Life has lost a day, but it didn't bring me any special feeling. It seems that after everything returned to normal, the curse also rolled away far away.

  I was a bit lucky and wanted to find a reasonable explanation for all this, but I fell asleep in the midst of wild thoughts.

  Hope tonight won't wake up with a start, hope there's no red-clad figure knocking on the window.

  I hope all sorts of strange and weird things stay far away from me.

  In 22 days, I and Da Ai can entrust our fate to the ties of destiny.

  There can be a future.