The rice, now stained with ash from the incense, began to dirty the water like ink. I stared at it, mesmerized. I knew nothing about what I was supposed to be looking at, but Witch Yan observed the bowl"s contents with intensity and focus. To her, there was something worth looking at, something worth reading and interpreting. I watched Witch Yan murmur and put more rice into the bowl. I was beginning to grow restless watching the rice fall down to the bottom of the bowl again and again. The action was slow and dull, and I was bored and skeptical. Luckily, I had slept for quite some time, otherwise, I would have likely fallen asleep.
The process lasted almost two hours. Witch Yan had even lit new incense several times. Finally, she was done, and she began to put things away. I could tell that my mom was upset, but she had seemed afraid to speak. As Witch Yan ended her performance, my mom immediately asked, "Sister, how does it look?"
Witch Yan glanced at me with a smile. She repeated "Fine," twice. I felt like she had tricked us, but I didn"t know why.
My mom seemed to have a similar thought, and she boldly said, "Say what you want to say. Are you worried that I cannot handle it?"
By this time, Witch Yan had put everything away, and she dragged my mom to the sofa. She allowed me to sit by them. I began pouring cups of water for each of us while watching Witch Yan. I knew she wanted to say something, and I waited for her to start speaking.
Eventually, Witch Yan declared, "It"s the G.o.d"s will. Don"t worry. Little Wu is safe, but he will suffer."
After Witch Yan spoke, my mom said, "Well, it"s good for him to suffer. Otherwise, kids always get themselves into trouble because they continue to meddle with everything."
Witch Yan thought about this statement for a moment, then took out the rest of the rice. She poured it into a sack, then pa.s.sed it to me while saying, "Take this just in case."
As I picked up the sack, I asked, "Auntie, how do I use this? Should I just carry it with me?"
Witch Yan nodded and said, "Just carry it. It can protect you like the silver bracelet. You can throw the rice towards the ghosts. It might kill them. If that doesn"t work, you can make a circle out of the rice and stand in the center. If you drip one drop of your middle finger"s blood on the surface of the rice, I will know you are in trouble. But be sure not to walk out of the circle."
I nodded, putting the small sack in my pocket and thinking about the time I"d encountered a ghost while wearing that bracelet. It seems that the ghost had wanted to kill me after all. I should thank Su Qing.
I then asked Witch Yan about the book and mirror again. I thought that if I could understand those items, they might be able to help me. I pulled out the items and held them in my lap.
"Auntie, this is strange. There"s almost nothing inside the book I mentioned before," I said as I flipped through its pages. Only two lines of text appeared to me in the book"s many pages.
Witch Yan looked at me mysteriously and suggested that I bring the book with me into the Ghost House, because "something might appear in a special place." Her words made me feel strange, and I decided against asking her about the words I saw on the mirror. I quickly said goodbye to her and my mom so that I could rush to my room to think.
When I arrived home, I looked closely at the mirror. The letters that I"d seen on it before still existed. The sentence was very short and although I"d read it many times already, I read it again.
"Everything was your fault. You gave birth to me for yourselves. Everything was your fault. I hated you. You should not have given birth to me. I hate you."
This sentence was so strange. Was it written by a child blaming his parents for his birth?
I felt the letters on the mirror. The mirror was uneven where the words had been carved into its surface. I tried scratching at the letters to see if I could crack the surface of the mirror, but the gla.s.s stayed intact. I also turned the mirror over several times, but couldn"t find anything else that gave me a clue.
I then moved to my computer to check the forum for any answers. However, when I moved my mouse, the screen stayed black. Strange, I was sure that I had left my computer on the night before…
I rebooted my computer and immediately went onto the forum. There was a new post from the administrator, but I wasn"t able to check it. However, my attempt to access it notified the administrator, who asked why I wanted to see the post and informed me that the content was "illegal."
Sometimes illegal posts on the forum were related to politics, eroticism, or gang affairs, but I didn"t understand why the administrator would"ve posted this blocked post. I sent a message asking for the subject of the post; if I couldn"t view the content, I should at least be able to learn what it was about.
The administrator replied to me quickly with a simple message: "Talk about it through QQ."
I had the administrator"s QQ number, but it had been a long time since we had talked on that platform and I was unsure which number was his. When I opened QQ, I saw a flas.h.i.+ng alert from He Xiaoru. It was just a long website link, so I a.s.sumed his computer had gotten a virus and I ignored the message.
I logged back onto the forum to ask the administrator what his QQ number was, but as QQ continued to flash on my screen I saw the contact "Brother Lei". Ah yes, the administrator. He went by the username "The flying pig."
The flying pig: Why do you want to know what"s in the post? We got a warning from the police.
A police warning. The post must be related to the incendiary case. I hurried to gather more information.
The flying pig: The post was long but here"s the gist. A sister and brother fell in love with each other, then they came to my town to marry and have a baby. It might be a true story because it"s a very detailed story. Names and addresses, even.
Me: Even their names? Is the child real?
The flying pig: Yes. The family name is Jiang. The child is supposedly ill. Suspected infantile autism. You probably know that children born of incest often have problems.
Me: So, what"s that post about? Can you send it to me?
The flying pig: Okay, okay. I"ll find it. Don"t spread it. This post has been recorded by the police. If you spread it and they catch on, they"ll know where the information came from.
Me: Don"t worry. I"m just curious.
The flying pig: Uh.
I didn"t reply. I just waited for his next message, but after a long wait, I eventually sent a question mark.
Me: Hey, you there? What happened?
The flying pig: Save klsdgksadklasdkldkslaasdssglskgkldskg...
My computer showed that Brother Lei was still typing, but I never received another message. Concerned, I sent several messages trying to get a response, but Brother Lei was silent.
I had a bad feeling. As I tried to think of how else to get in contact with Brother Lei, QQ flashed again. It was Brother Lei.
The flying pig: Do you really want to know?