Chapter 160 Jinjiang Debut
The third client was a timid young man. He wore a plaid shirt, had a short crew cut, and wore thick glasses. He was the kind of person who would be hard to find in a crowd.
When he came to the table, he seemed a little nervous. He lowered his head and did not dare to look into Bai Mian's eyes. Bai Mian did not rush him, but just waited quietly. After a few minutes, he finally prepared himself mentally and bent down to sit on the chair.
Bai Mian asked him gently: "What do you want to ask?"
The short-haired man pushed his glasses and said with some stammering: "Master, do you think there are people with red skin in this world?"
"Red skin?" Bai Mian thought for a moment, "It depends on what kind of red you mean."
"It's bright red, as red as blood." said the boy with the flat head.
Bai Mian shook his head. Although there were people of different skin colors in this world, there was no race like what he described.
The flat-headed boy said anxiously, "Sure enough, then, then I must have seen a ghost."
Xia Mang reminded him: "Hey, stop playing dumb and speak clearly. Why are you asking this question?"
The flat-headed man glanced at Xia Mang and immediately blushed. He coughed lightly and said to everyone, "Sorry, everyone, I have a phobia for women. I get nervous when I see women, especially beautiful women. When I get nervous, I start to stutter when I speak."
Xia Mang said disdainfully: "What are you afraid of? I won't eat you!"
The crew-head wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Haha, I can't help it. This is my physiological reaction. I can't control it. Ahem, let's get back to the topic. I'll tell my story from the beginning."
"My name is Kong Qingsheng. I am a very unfortunate person. I was born in the countryside and lived with my grandparents. My mother ran away when I was young. My father worked away from home all year round. I am not very familiar with him. I said that my misfortune is not because of my background, but because I have been haunted by ghosts since I was a child."
Hearing this, everyone was very curious. Kong Qingsheng continued, "I have no memory before the age of five. This is because I was frightened. On my fifth birthday, I ran into a ghost and forgot everything that happened before. As for the details of the ghost, I can't remember them clearly. I only remember a red-skinned woman and a birthday candle in the shape of a lotus."
"Lotus birthday candle? Is it this kind of candle?" Xia Mang stretched out her hand to gesture, "It was originally a gathered flower bud with an ignition point in the center. As long as the center is lit, the lotus will bloom. Each petal carries a short candle. It's pretty nice. We played with it when we were kids!"
Kong Qingsheng nodded: "Yes, the Happy Birthday song will play when the lotus blossoms, and it will play for a long, long time, all night long."
Xia Mang nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, that's it. It doesn't even have an on/off switch. It's so annoying! When we first turned it on when we were kids, the whole family didn't know how to stop the music. In the end, it was my dad who completely disassembled the Lotus and pulled the wires inside to solve the problem!"
Xia Mang said this with excitement, but Kong Qingsheng looked pale: "This kind of lotus birthday candle is the most terrifying thing in my life."
Bai Mian frowned slightly and asked, "Why?"
Kong Qingsheng looked around, as if he was a little afraid to say: "Because - because it was after I lit this candle on my fifth birthday that I saw a female ghost."
Xia Mang was very curious: "Female ghost, what does she look like?"
Kong Qingsheng bit his lip. "She looks exactly like in the movie, with long black hair and a pair of sad eyes staring at me intently. The scariest thing is—her whole body is bright red!"
"A female ghost in red?" Xia Mang suddenly began to doubt the truthfulness of Kong Qingsheng's words. Are female ghosts in real life really the same as those in the movies?
"It's not the clothes, it's the skin—" Kong Qingsheng corrected her, "I can see clearly that her skin is all red."
Seeing Kong Qingsheng was so sure, Xia Mang didn't dare to say anything more. After all, she didn't know anything about ghosts. Everyone looked at Bai Mian.
Bai Mian asked, "Tell me the details clearly. How did you encounter a ghost on your birthday?"
Kong Qingsheng said awkwardly: "It's not that I don't want to explain it clearly, but my memory is originally very confused. I can only try my best to describe it. First of all, it was a night. My grandparents and I were in the countryside. My father also came back that day. He brought me a very beautiful birthday cake and the lotus candle. Our family had dinner in a small courtyard in the countryside, enjoying the evening breeze. Everyone was very comfortable."
"After dinner, it was completely dark. We took out the cake, cut it into pieces, and each of us ate one piece. After we finished the cake, my dad remembered that he forgot to light a birthday candle for me. He took the lotus candle out of his pocket, placed it in front of me, and then lit the candle with a lighter. The lotus blossomed, and a warm and bright candlelight shone on our faces. I heard the humming Happy Birthday song in my ears - it came from the candle."
"Then, I put my hands together, closed my eyes, and prepared to make a wish. My family gathered around me and sang Happy Birthday to me. Halfway through the song, the song suddenly stopped. I don't know what happened. Screams filled the air. It wasn't just one person's voice, but several screams - everyone in the family was screaming."
"I opened my eyes and wanted to see what was going on, but everything was dark in front of me. I seemed to be temporarily blind. I heard my family yelling, tearing, and running. I became more and more anxious and burst into tears. I don't know how long I cried. My family members all quieted down, and I could finally see. I opened my eyes and looked forward. It was at that glance that I saw the female ghost."
"She was like a painting hanging in front of me, looking at me with a sad and sorrowful look, as if she had no intention of hurting me at all. As for her appearance, I have already described it just now: long hair, big eyes, red skin. There seemed to be something connecting her arms and torso. From a distance, she looked like a human-shaped bat."
"I fainted after just one look at her. When I woke up, I didn't remember anything. Apart from these few scenes that left a deep impression on me, I didn't remember anything that happened before I was five years old. Later, my father took me to school in the city, and I quickly forgot about the things that happened in the countryside. The only thing I couldn't forget was the female ghost and the lotus candle."
"For so many years, whenever I see a lotus-shaped object or hear the birthday song, the shadow will reappear in my mind. I always have nightmares. In my dreams, I will see that female ghost. She never speaks, but just hangs quietly on the wall in front of me like when I was five years old, scaring me with her strange body. I always wake up screaming."
After saying this, Kong Qingsheng wiped his sweat again. He broke out in a cold sweat when he was talking just now. "Because of my strange behavior, everyone thinks I am a weirdo. My classmates and colleagues all stay away from me. But I am really wronged. I am not a weirdo. I am just haunted by a female ghost! It is also because of this female ghost that I dare not talk to girls. As long as I see a woman, I will be afraid. My life has been completely delayed."
Xia Mang muttered, "I originally thought it was lupus or something, but now it seems that's not the case at all. From your description, it looks more like a deformed person. Are there any deformed people in your village?"
Kong Qingsheng immediately denied it: "It's impossible. The village is not big and everyone knows each other. If there was a deformed person in someone's family, I would have known about it a long time ago and I wouldn't have been afraid for so many years."
Lu Xue said: "Why don't you just ask your family what happened back then? They are all adults, they must remember it better than you."
Kong Qingsheng sighed, "Oh, don't mention it. I've been asking them all the time, but they all said that nothing happened that year. We ate the cake and then went to sleep. Everything was just my hallucination. So I suspected that I had a mental problem and went to the hospital for a checkup. The doctor said that I was fine and would not have hallucinations."
Lu Xue frowned: "That means your family is lying. They may have seen the female ghost with you back then, but now they all keep silent about it. There must be something wrong."
Kong Qingsheng nodded: "I think so too, what happened back then must have happened! But so many years have passed, my grandparents have all passed away, and only my dad is left. I can't get anything out of him. Every time I mention this, he gets furious, so now I don't even dare to ask, I've been keeping this thing in my heart, it's killing me!"
"I have also looked for several metaphysical masters, but they are all selling things. They sold me some talisman water, bracelets, Buddha amulets and other things, which have no effect at all! Fortunately, I saw Master Bai's live broadcast. I think Master Bai can solve my problem. I not only want to drive away this female ghost, but also want to find out what happened that year and why this female ghost came to me."
Xia Mang muttered to himself, "That makes sense. If a female ghost wants to haunt someone, she should haunt the person who hurt her. Why would she haunt a child like you? It can't be that you hurt her. You were only five years old back then. What could you have done?"
Kong Qingsheng: "I think so too, so, Master Bai, please help me diagnose my pulse and solve my doubts."
Bai Mian stretched out two fingers to hold Kong Qingsheng's pulse and saw his past. After a moment, Bai Mian let go and sighed heavily. Kong Qingsheng hurriedly asked: "Master, how is it?"
Bai Mian waved his hand: "Call your father and ask him in person."
Kong Qingsheng was puzzled: "What? I came to find you, but you asked me to go find my dad?"
"Yes, because it will be related to your decision later." Bai Mian said.
Kong Qingsheng was confused, but he still obediently called his father. The phone rang for a long time without being answered. Kong Qingsheng was a little worried: "Is my dad taking a nap?"
As he was talking, the phone was connected, and the rough voice of Kong's father came from the other end: "Hello, son, what's the matter? Dad drank too much at noon, and was sleeping at home just now, so he didn't hear the phone ringing."
Kong Qingsheng said cautiously: "Dad, I found a master to tell my fortune today."
Father Kong laughed: "Let's do the math. Let the master see when you can get a promotion, a raise, and marry a beautiful wife. Then my mission in this life will be accomplished."
Kong Qingsheng blushed: "Dad, you are wrong, I am not calculating these, I want to calculate...what happened on my birthday that year."
Upon hearing this, Kong's father's tone immediately changed. He sternly scolded, "Are you bored and doing this? I've told you eight hundred times that nothing happened that year. We just celebrated your birthday. Why do you insist on making trouble? What on earth do you want to do?"
Kong Qingsheng mustered up the courage to say, "Dad, you always say that, but I remember it clearly. I did see a ghost that year. It was not an illusion. After so many years, this matter has always been a knot in my heart. Just tell me. If you don't tell me, I will never be able to concentrate on my work!"
Father Kong snorted coldly a few times. Perhaps after hearing his son's last words, he was a little shaken and changed his attitude. He said with grievance, "Alas, son, it's not that Dad doesn't want to tell you, but it's really too embarrassing to talk about it. This is related to a man's dignity!"
"What's the matter?" Kong Qingsheng asked.
Kong's father said in annoyance: "Your mother - cheated on her!"
Hearing this, Kong Qingsheng also felt embarrassed. He lowered the volume and asked in a low voice: "Dad, what's going on? Explain it clearly."
Father Kong began to talk: "You were still young at that time, and you don't remember many things. In fact, your mother was a very dissolute woman. I knew she was that kind of person, but for you, I always tolerated her. I always went to the city to work, leaving her in the village to enjoy a good life. There have always been gossips in the village, saying that she was involved with some questionable men, but I didn't expect that she would do such an excessive thing."
"That day was your fifth birthday. I went back to the village in the afternoon. Your grandparents were cooking for you in the kitchen, and I was sleeping in the bedroom. I didn't know where your mother went out for a walk. She was not at home the whole time. I was too lazy to care about her. As long as I could save face, it was fine. But she didn't come back until we finished dinner that day. I started to worry that she had an accident, so I went out to tell the villagers to help me find her."
"Not long after, just when I lit your birthday candles, the villagers came to my house to complain. They said they saw your mother run to the home of an old bachelor in the village. When the villagers found her, she was lying naked on the bed with the old bachelor!"
"I got furious and rushed out with a machete. I went to the old bachelor's house and captured your mother. Of course, I am a law-abiding person, so I didn't really do it. I just tried to scare them. When I captured your mother, she was naked. I couldn't just take her home like that, so I just tore off a piece of bed sheet and wrapped her up. The sheet was red."
"When we got home, you were crying loudly at home. That was when your mother rushed in front of you. She was covered in a red sheet, and her arms were shaking like a big bat. I guess that scene scared you, and you fainted on the spot."
"After that night, I packed your mother's luggage and kicked her out of the house, telling her never to return to the village or see you again. Over the years, I have been the one who raised you, but your mother never came back, and I don't know where she went. Here, this is the truth of the matter, are you satisfied?"
"Ah..." Kong Qingsheng was still in shock and couldn't speak.
Father Kong said, "Look, what good is there in talking about something like this? First, I feel ashamed, and second, it hurts you, so I have been reluctant to tell you, intending to take it to the grave, but I didn't expect you to be so persistent and keep asking, so I just told you, and I took advantage of the alcohol to say it out, son, you have to be more open-minded, look forward to everything, why do you have to figure out the past?"
Kong Qingsheng was ashamed and moved, and almost cried: "Dad, you are so great. You have endured so much silently. No wonder grandpa and grandma refused to tell me anything. This is really shameful. My mom is such a shameless woman! From now on, I will treat her as dead. You are my only family. Dad, I will definitely be filial to you!"
There was a satisfied laugh from the other end of the phone, and at this time Bai Mian said: "I don't think he is drunk, but he is very sober."
"What?" Kong Qingsheng asked in surprise after hanging up the phone.
Bai Mian pointed at Kong Qingsheng's phone:
"I mean - he's lying, the truth is exactly the opposite of what he says."
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