Twenty-second (1) Mummy

  The first ray of sunlight in the morning woke me up. Yesterday was surprisingly a peaceful day, nothing happened from night till dawn.

  I stretched and thought of my neighbor's crush, wondering how she was doing, feeling a bit worried.

  Dà ài zuó tiān líng chén de biǎo xiàn tài guǐ yì le, gū shēn yī rén guì zài gǔ miào lǐ, chuān zhe xiān hóng de qún zǐ, zěn me kàn dōu shì yī fù guǐ shàng shēn de mú yàng.

  Now that I think about it, my scalp is numb. And thinking about what the dwarf said yesterday, something must be coming to find Da Ai. Although it sounds extremely strange and unbelievable, I still believe it.

  No one is a firm materialist, there are too many inexplicable things around us, even if ninety-nine percent of them are pretentious and hearsay, the remaining one percent also demonstrates that there is an inaccessible world for humans in this world.

  I look forward to finding a reasonable explanation for all this. It's not that I don't have one, after all, I'm a writer, and plot, conspiracy, and twists are my strong suits.

  If there's anything that can be used to explain all this, the most reasonable one would be that I was kidnapped by a great love, got dizzy and was put in an ancient temple, and then rescued back.

  As for what the other party is doing and what they plan to do, that's another story.

  Doesn't this make some sense?

  But how can Xiaobudian explain?

  It's hard to say, the sky was so dark, and there really was someone hiding in the tree, talking to me for a few words, I didn't know if it was human or ghost.

  So how does the dwarf explain it? How do the two donkeys and the little fatty explain it?

  I thought for half a day, and my head got bigger but I still couldn't think of it. The next room was completely quiet. The more I thought about it, the more worried I became, afraid that something had taken Dà ài away last night. I ran out and knocked on Dà ài's door.

  Dà ài hǎn le yī jù shuí ya, wǒ yìng le yī shēng, ránhòu tīng dào le jiǎo bù shēng.

  Translation:

  Big Love shouted a sentence "Who's there?", I responded with one sound, then heard the footsteps.

  The door opened with a creak, and in the gap, she poked out her head, gave me a gentle smile, and softly said, "You're up so early."

  I said this place has no network, I seem to have fallen asleep for a while and came back, how about you, did you sleep well?

  Dai Ai nodded and I said, nothing happened last night... right?

  Dà ài yáo le yào tóu, ránhòu shuō, búguò wǒ zuòle yī gè mèng, tǐng xià de.

  Translation:

  Dai Ai shook her head and said, but I had a dream, it was quite scary.

  What dream?

  I said, I dreamed that the red skirt flew up and danced in the room, then pounced on me... At that time, I felt like I couldn't breathe, as if I was wrapped around, so I struggled desperately to break free. Finally, the dream disappeared. Wait a minute, I'll change my clothes before letting you in. Yesterday, Fengyue sent over a set of sleepwear, but it's too revealing and can't be seen by others. I won't lock the door, but don't come bursting in!

  After finishing speaking, she even stuck out her tongue at me.

  I smiled and nodded, actually having some expectations for Da Ai's revealing sleepwear, to be honest. You know how well-developed she has become over the past few years - even a few student girls put together can't compare to her fullness. Feng Yue is charming to the bone, so you can imagine her taste in choosing clothes...

  Just as I was daydreaming, Da Ai suddenly let out a loud "ah" in the house, seemingly having received an extreme shock. I immediately pushed open the door and loudly asked, "What's wrong?"

  I have to say, the scenery in the house is disappointing...

  Coughing, I have to say that the scenery in the house made my hair stand on end. I saw Da Ai sitting on the ground, looking down at herself, and she was actually wearing that red skirt.

  I trembled with rage and said, "Big love, what about the revealing nightgown we agreed on? How did you end up wearing it again?"

  I said, I don't have it, I didn't wear this dress, I don't know... could it be that my dream yesterday was real?

  I saw Da Ai's body start to tremble all over, and I quickly walked over to help her up from the ground, saying in a low voice, "It's okay, don't be afraid. Think again, what did you dream about?"

  I had a dream that this piece of clothing wrapped me up, and then...then there was a voice saying, "Let's get married", asking if I agreed or not. I said no, and the dream ended.

  I don't want to scare Da Ai, but I scared myself instead. Speaking of which, I also have trouble distinguishing between dreams and reality. Did Da Ai go sleepwalking yesterday and put on her clothes again?

  Alright, if I evade that eerie fact, it seems like I can give a seemingly affirmative answer to every question, but who am I deceiving?

  I said, Darling, don't be in a hurry, first take off your clothes, otherwise we'll burn this skirt?

  Dai Ai nodded and I stood up to leave. Dai Ai hastily grabbed my arm and said, "I'm scared, don't go."

  I was stunned for a moment, turned around and said, aren't you going to change your clothes?

  Big love says, don't go, I'm scared, I dare not be alone in this room.

  I feel my face getting hot, and Big Love glances at me and says, "What are you thinking about? Look at your little expression, your face is all red. Turn around, don't sneak a peek."

  I turned around and heard the sound of rustling clothes coming from behind me. After a while, Da Ai said, "Okay, turn back now."

  I turned around, and I was stunned again. The thin silk nightgown on Da Ai's body couldn't cover her proud chest at all. Two hemispheres were about to come out, and the skin was so white that it dazzled my eyes.

  I must control myself, otherwise I will be taken away by Uncle Police.

  I suddenly turned my body around.

  The big love behind smiled and said, "You're not thinking of seeing a revealing nightgown, are you? Have you seen it?"

  I say, this is really a bit...

  Alright, I've satisfied your first small request for meeting up. Don't look back, I'll put on my clothes.

  Once again hearing the rustling sound of her getting dressed, I felt warmth in my heart, completely ignited by the passion of great love.

  As soon as I realized, great love is not afraid, at least not as fearful as me. She was wearing that red skirt, according to common sense, as a woman should be more panicked than me, but she didn't, instead she made a very warm joke for me.

  Dà ài said okay, I turned around and saw her wearing the same clothes as yesterday. Dà ài said, "Today, accompany me to town to buy some clothes, but use your own money, can you?"

  I nodded and said, "Of course, of course. I've also saved up a bit over the years. Now that I'm old, I feel like my days are numbered. What's the point of keeping this money?"

  She gently touched my lips with her finger and said, "Don't say such depressing words, everything will be alright."

  I smiled and changed the subject, asking Da Ai, "Have you bought clothes? Where are you living now? I'll send you home."

  Big Love says, no way, I still have to come back, Little Love is still here.

  I almost forgot about Xia Ai, I said, what can be done? This village is so small, and Xia Ai just disappeared like that? Could something have happened to her?

  Dà ài shook his head and sighed, then said, "What I'm most afraid of is that Xiǎo ài will fall into the river."

  I was stunned and said, "Is there still a river here?"

  Big Love said, have you forgotten? When we were young, our favorite thing was to play by the river. Qinghe Town, Qinghe Town, can't a town with a clear river be called Qinghe Town?

  I thought for half a day, and suddenly recalled some scenes of playing by the river, but only scattered fragments. I had occasionally remembered them before, and always felt they were just clips from some TV series deep in my memory.

  I said, now that you mention it, I seem to have some impression, where is the river?

  Dà ài shuō, yǐ qián jiù lù guò cūn zǐ, hòu lái gān hé le, zài ránhòu gǎi dào le, zài shān lǐ.

  Translation:

  Big love said, used to pass by the village, then dried up, and then changed direction, in the mountains.

  I said I didn't see it.

  Dà ài shuō, yào bù rán wǒmen zǒu, wǒ lǐng nǐ qù kàn kan, zhèng hǎo wǒ xiǎng yào qù nàlǐ zhǎo yī zhǎo xiǎo ài. Wǒ zhēn de pà tā diào hé lǐ.

  Translation:

  Dai Ai said, otherwise we'll go, I'll take you to see, it just so happens that I want to go there and find Little Ai. I'm really afraid she fell into the river.

  I said a sentence and then looked at Da Ai, being a bit cautious, and asked, "Do you know what Xiao Ai's wish is?"

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

  Translation:

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

  I said, is that time-space capsule given by you?

  Dà ài yòu yáo le yào shuō, wǒ bǎ shí kōng gāo chū lái le, ránhòu mǒu yī tiān jiù bù jiàn le, píng kōng xiāo shī le. Xiǎo ài de yuàn wàng méi yǒu xiě zài shàng miàn, dàn shì zài wǒ de yìn xiàng lǐ, xiǎo ài dàng shí jué duì shì shuō le shén me, wǒ yě jì dé xià le shén me, kě shì jì bù qǐ lái le.

  I said, hoping Xiao Ai didn't write anything at that time.

  Dai Ai sighed and said, "Anyone who has even a speck of mud from Gu Miao Village on their feet can't escape."

  I sighed and said, "If that's the case, how about this? We go see the river first, then come back and you take me to town to buy clothes. Any objections?"

  I say we mustn't have it, let's go.

  With a loving smile, she came over and took my arm, and the two of us naturally and intimately walked out together, without anyone feeling awkward or embarrassed.

  Some people are friends for life.

  The feelings of childhood friends are not something everyone can have.

  Before I die, I got these, I will cherish them.

  After going out with Da Ai, I just walked to the stairs and heard a woman behind me shouting at me, saying "Aren't you looking for Da Peng with me?"

  As soon as I heard it was Siyao's voice, to be honest, I wasn't being irresponsible, but I really forgot about this matter. After Da'ai teased me a bit this morning, my heart has been filled with Da'ai's presence, and I didn't have the energy to care about others.

  I hastily turned back, Si Yao walked over and smiled at Da Ai, saying "My clothes are a bit small on you."

  Dà ài shuō, xièxiè nǐ de yīfu le, wǒ huítóu xǐ yīxǐ hái gěi nǐ.

  Translation:

  Big love said, thank you for your clothes, I'll wash them and return them to you.

  Xiyao shook her head and said, "No need, no need, I'll give it to you."

  After finishing speaking, he turned around and faced me, saying "What are you going to do? Don't your words count?"

  I said, let's count, we two are going to the mountain now to take a look at the river, Da Peng said no one is there either.

  Siya said, we've all been to the riverbank before, and there's nothing. It's not the flood season now, although the water is a bit deep, but Dapeng is a swimming champion, this little water is absolutely no problem.

  I said, right, I haven't asked you which school you're from yet.

  Siya said, many of us are not from the same school, but we all come from the Physical Education College. We met when participating in competitions before and we all like traveling.

  I said, are you all? I don't think you girls look like athletes.

  Siya said that I am also a swimmer, Shenpo is gymnastics, and even the half-way Fēng Yuè who listened to her own words is also doing gymnastics, but I don't think so.

  I said, otherwise you come with us two and go to the riverbank to take a look, then I'll lead you to find something, how about it?

  Siya said, do you know where you are? Where did you go that night? Tell me clearly, okay?

  I took a glance at Da Ai, and he was looking downwards at that moment, seemingly not noticing what we were saying. I said, "That night, I was burning with fever and felt dizzy, but then I heard someone calling me, so I went to the ancient temple. Then, I seemed to have heard the voices of both men and women talking." That's all, I thought I was dreaming. If you want me to find someone, I'll go back to the ancient temple.

  Siya said, "The ancient temple wasn't visited last night, was it? You've found your way back, but what about me?"

  I said, didn't you notice that old temple's structure? Besides the entrance hall, there are three rooms, did we search those two on the side?

  While I was talking to Siyao, many of her companions had already come out. Upon hearing me say this, the fortune teller walked over and said, "Let's go take a look at the ancient temple again. With so many people, there's nothing to be afraid of. If we can't find anyone, let's all go out today. If not, we'll report it to the police."

  Xiyao nodded and said to me, "That won't delay your romantic talk, we'll go find it ourselves."

  To be honest, I'm a bit worried about this group of students going to the ancient temple. I whispered a few words in Da Ai's ear, and he nodded before turning back into the room.

  I let Da'ai return to her room because I really didn't dare to let her set foot in the ancient temple again. I said to Siyao, "I'll go with you guys, one more person means one more person to take care of."

  Siya nodded, the godmother shouted a few times, and several more people came out of the house. A group of people went downstairs, and this time the dwarf didn't block them. I was really wondering why he wasn't making a sound. Ma Tiancheng walked out from inside and said, "Are you still going to find that student?"

  Si Yao said, yes.

  Ma Tiancheng said, let's see, it's best if we can get in touch, the boss is not at home at this time either, alas, I'm really worried that something might have happened.

  After walking out, there was still a disagreement. I thought we should go to the ancient temple and take a look. My premonition about that place wasn't good. But I couldn't articulate it clearly, as I wasn't even sure if it was just an illusion. Moreover, this involved a girl who had been fighting outside with others.

  My unclear words led to their distrust of me, they all said that the village had been called out and also said that so many people went to the ancient temple last night, it should not be there.

  Everyone should focus on the riverbank.

  I didn't see the river, thinking it made sense, and followed them up the mountain. On the mountain, I saw what was called a river. The water was neither deep nor shallow, not so shallow that you couldn't drown in it, nor so deep that a professional swimming university student couldn't get out of it.

  I had heard of this river before, Qinghe Town, how can it be called Qinghe Town without a river.

  No, I seem to have heard of this river before, but it has completely disappeared from my memory.

  According to a normal person's thinking, a river that is so close to the village must have left a deep impression on the child and was certainly his childhood paradise.

  But in my memory, there is no impression of this river at all, just as if I had never been here before.

  Is it possible that this river changed its course after I left?

  I'm not quite sure, but Siyao and the others walked along the riverbank for a while, shouting at the top of their lungs, yet they didn't hear anyone respond.

  The wind and moon have arrived by my side, first of all, you're quite familiar with that woman, huh.

  I hummed in response, and Fengyue said, "Are you here looking for her?"

  I said yes.

  Fengyue said, everyone else is married already.

  I said, you also saw it, is there such a wedding?

  Feng Yue shrugged and said, "Look at them, they're searching in the wrong place."

  I looked at the students scattered in the distance and also felt that it was not the right place. I asked back, "Do you think we should be somewhere else?"

  Fengyue said, "I don't know where it is, but I'm sure it's not here. This is a living water, if you really drowned in it, you should have floated down the mountain by now, what's the use of looking for it here?"

  I said it's not necessarily that serious, just got angry and left.

  Fengyue said, "Why get angry?" Sihua said, "Just a few words of argument, what's the big deal? This little thing isn't worth leaving over." I think... this place is quite eerie, you shouldn't always think positively, be prepared for the worst.

  I forced a smile, Fengyue looked at the people in the distance who were already walking back and forth, she said, "You said you wanted to go to the ancient temple, right? I quite agree with that. That place is too evil. I'll let them follow you to the ancient temple."

  I let out a sound, and Feng Yue shouted at the several boys who were approaching, "Have you found it?"

  Several boys shook their heads dejectedly. Fengyue said, "I think that ancient temple yesterday was a bit evil. How about we go take a look? Dare you?"

  Fengyue said a sentence that almost took charge of the group of boys, and suddenly several boys said, "Dare, what's not to dare? What are you afraid of in broad daylight?"

  Another one said, "I'm not afraid even at night, didn't we go last night? What's there to be afraid of?"

  By the time Xiang Yao and Shen Po rushed over from afar, our trip to the ancient temple had already become an unalterable fact. We panted as we descended the mountain again. On the way, Xiang Yao cried, constantly wiping away tears. Shen Po consoled her by my side, saying almost the same thing I just said - that the outcome might not be so bad after all.

  But for some reason, I just feel that the result will be bad, absolutely bad.

  To this day, I'm still not quite sure if the man among the couple I met that day was actually Da Peng or just another student. And I'm even more uncertain about what exactly the flesh sculpture I touched was made of - it definitely wasn't human skin, nor was it wood or stone, but rather something like a pouch stuffed with things.

  If such a thing really exists and stands there watching the promiscuity of men and women with cold eyes, I believe the result will definitely not be good.

  Yesterday's experience has thoroughly shattered the little materialistic worldview I had left. Before, my only reason for being a materialist was that I had never seen a ghost, and most of the people who claimed to have seen ghosts were not very reliable, at least not as reliable as my parents who would not deceive me with such ghost stories.

  But... who can give me an explanation for the world I experienced yesterday?

  Are you filming a movie?

  As we walked down the mountain, Feng Yue was walking in front surrounded by men, Si Yao and a few other women who had been forgotten by the men were walking in the middle, and I was left to walk alone at the back.

  Walking along, thinking along, can't explain what I've seen and heard at all. Can't explain that wedding ceremony, can't explain the curse from childhood, even more can't explain what the hell this thirty-day life is all about.

  As I walked into the village on the edge of collapse and reason, I inexplicably shivered with cold, and as I continued further in, I passed by a pagoda tree, I looked up and saw nothing.

  I saw everyone walking ahead of me, I softly called out a few sentences: Little one, little one.

  No response.

  Okay, it's daytime now, but I really didn't have the guts to run over and shout a few words last night. Was that little guy on the tree yesterday or not? If it was someone else, how could they possibly know me?

  Sometimes it seems that accepting this kind of thing is the best choice, but I would rather deceive myself and tell myself that there are hidden circumstances, other explanations.

  I never thought I was such a stubborn materialist fighter.

  I left the pagoda tree, feeling a little scared, and quickly ran a few steps to catch up with Siyao.

  Siya has stopped crying, her eyes are still red, the godmother sighed and took a few steps back, leaving some space for us two to be alone.

  Siya said, "Do you know where Da Peng is?"

  I shook my head.

  Siya said, where did you go that night?

  I'm telling you, I really had a fever. I told you I came to the ancient temple, but you didn't believe me. And are you sure that Da Peng disappeared that night?

  Siya shook her head and said, "I don't know, maybe she left in the morning."

  I said, is it possible to get up in the morning and see that the air in the mountains is very good, and then go out for a walk?

  Si Yao nodded and said he liked early practice, it's very likely.

  I said that's it, where I went that night has nothing to do with Da Peng, even if I tell you, you won't necessarily feel better, and you might even... feel scared.

  Siya said, at this time I have nothing to fear, you say it.

  I pointed at the ancient temple in front of me and said that if I wasn't having a fever-induced hallucination, then I was inside this ancient temple.

  Xiyao nodded and said, "Then what? What did you see? Was it also the bride?"

  I said no, you also saw yesterday's situation, this ancient temple is a bit evil, I saw a sculpture in it that day.

  Si Yao's eyes widened and then said, "There are carvings in the temple, what is there to be afraid of?"

  I'm telling you, listen to me, this ancient temple has always had a legend, not just a legend. When I was young and grew up here, my father's generation saw it with their own eyes, the flesh body of a woman is enshrined inside, for hundreds of years, vivid and lifelike, it's a real person.

  Xiyao stopped abruptly and took a few steps back, her voice trembling as she said, "Don't scare me."

  I said, actually if it's really a flesh Bodhisattva, there's nothing to be afraid of. China has many such Bodhisattvas, Jiuhua Mountain alone has several. These are all high-ranking monks who have attained enlightenment and won't do anything to you. But... this flesh Bodhisattva is actually gone, I heard it was dragged out of the temple before the Cultural Revolution, hung from a tree to dry in the sun, and the whole village stank, finally being burned by people. Do you understand what I mean? The flesh Bodhisattva is already gone, what I saw that day in the temple... I don't know what it was.

  Si Yao said: Will it... will it be human?

  I shook my head and said no, I didn't see it clearly, but I accidentally touched it, this feeling is absolutely not human, just like... a mummy.