A Guest In A Ghost House

Jiang Kun walked toward the bedroom, and as I arrived at the doorway, I saw him struggling to embrace Jiang Ping. She beat against him as he repeatedly yelled that he had done it for her.

Jiang Ping didn"t listen to him. She struggled with as much force as she could muster, but was unable to escape his arms. Eventually, Jiang Kun seemed to become impatient. He pulled her out of the boy"s room and pushed her onto their bed.

Weakened by her condition and the struggle, Jiang Ping was unable to sit back up. She sobbed on the bed, her cries racking her whole body. Jiang Kun tenderly touched her hair in an effort to console her, then said, "I was reluctant to do that, but I did it for you." Then he began to cry as well.

The old man walked toward the pair and said matter-of-factly, "Without that b.a.s.t.a.r.d, there will be no gossip. n.o.body will mock you. I will give you all the money you need for treatment. We can even go to a new city and start a new life."

Jiang Ping looked up and said slowly, "But Mingming..."

The old man stared at Jiang Kun, ignoring the woman"s sobs. "We can light the house on fire, make it look like the boy accidentally started it."

Jiang Ping stared at Jiang Kun with a pained expression. After what seemed like forever, she nodded once, then hugged Jiang Kun with tears in her eyes.

I looked over at Jiang Mingming. He had a weird expression on his face.

The old man turned to Jiang Kun and asked, "Shall we begin?" Without replying, the man walked to the wardrobe next to his father. He appeared to be looking for something.

The old man finally turned to console his daughter. He didn"t see Jiang Kun grab a club out of the wardrobe or raise it above the old man"s head. Jiang Kun swung down, and the old man fell forward onto the bed.

"What are you doing?" Jiang Ping screamed out.

Jiang Kun replied slowly, "He made me kill my son."

Jiang Kun covered the old man with a quilt, then entered another room. He untied Jiang Mingming"s body, then set fire to the blanket beneath him. He walked out as the bed burned, pulling Jiang Ping along behind him.

As they approached the front door, Jiang Kun kicked the plastic bucket the old man had brought inside the doorway. He aimed it towards the living room, then closed the front door and walked away with Jiang Ping.

I took a deep breath; I realized I had been holding it during the events of the last few minutes. Jiang Mingming stood next to me, staring at the form of the old man as flames licked at his feet. The boy"s eyes weren"t filled with sadness or anger, only peace.

I wanted to console Jiang Mingming, but I didn"t know what to say. Finally, I simply said, "They will get retribution."

Jiang Mingming smiled at me and said in a cold tone, "They already have."

I felt the familiar dazed feeling and expected to be transported again. However, I found myself in the same room, although now it had been fully consumed by fire. The old man was standing with gla.s.sy eyes, screaming inhuman screams as his whole body flailed under the flames. I was surprised to see Jiang Ping huddling in the corner, murmuring to herself.

I looked at Jiang Mingming, who was watching his mom, and he said sadly, "If she were not so weak, none of this would have happened."

Then I heard another cry. I looked over to see Jiang Kun striking himself repeatedly. His body looked deformed.

I asked in shock, "Didn"t he leave? Didn"t they both leave?"

Jiang Mingming didn"t answer. He was too busy watching his father strike himself.

Suddenly I had a thought. Where are Wu Jian and Huang Xiaolong?

I asked Jiang Mingming the question. He even didn"t turn around as he said, "I gave them to the others, and the others gave me Jiang Kun."

I was stunned and asked, "Who?"

Jiang Mingming looked back to smile at me and said, "The former lover."

I was confused, but I didn"t have time to ask anything else. Jiang Mingming had disappeared, and I heard a worried voice through my mental fog.

"Brother, what"s wrong with you?"

"Brother, say something."

I looked up. It was Xiao Lingdang. I asked immediately, "Xiao Lingdang, why are you here?"

She stared at me strangely, "I"ve been here the whole time. You seemed to be somewhere else when I came in. I called your name, but you didn"t react. I couldn"t leave you alone or I would"ve gone to ask Sister Xiaozui for help."

I was here the whole time. Was everything an illusion? I knew it wasn"t, yet I wasn"t quite sure what had happened.

I thought back to Jiang Mingming"s last words. What did they mean? Was "the other" an ex-girlfriend of Wu Jian or Huang Xiaolong, or were they someone, or something, else?

Now that I was back, Xiao Lingdang seemed eager to leave. She hurried to help me up and out the door. As I stepped out the front door, I heard Jiang Mingming again, saying, "Don"t bother us anymore. We were family, so we live together now." Then I heard the sound of a door slamming, although the one I had just used stayed open. However, I felt that if I tried to go back into the house, I would not be able to.

--

Xiao Lingdang and I headed to a night market. We approached the stall where strange things had happened last time, and the boss smiled at us. I had a feeling he didn"t remember me; otherwise, he probably would have seemed at least a little afraid.

Still foggy-headed from before, I turned to Xiao Lingdang and asked what she wanted to eat, then gave the boss her answer. I then asked Xiao Lingdang if Lulu and Sister Hua would want to eat with us. She happily rushed into the Ghost House to ask them.

I turned to the boss and asked him to push several tables together to accommodate our large group. As I sat down to consider who the "former lover" might be, I didn"t even notice the boss looking at me in horror.