Chapter 8 New World
The man disappeared in the moment after the rain stopped and before the sun came out, just as if the eaves in the heavy rain were just a bubble phantom accidentally intertwined and overlapped by two worlds called yin and yang, which burst when exposed to the sun.
The rain came suddenly and stopped just as suddenly. In the blink of an eye, it was over and the sky cleared up. He could only swallow back the question that had already risen in his throat.
Looking again, not only the weather had changed, but also the surrounding environment. There was no roof to shelter from the rain, and he was no longer at the foot of the mountain or at the gate of Changqing Cemetery... but in the cemetery forest, facing the grave.
The photo on the stone tablet was exactly the same as the one published in the newspaper... and the smile was just as silly.
Qing Bai lowered his head and looked at the smoking bamboo stick left in the soil. He thought to himself, no wonder, no wonder he had inserted the incense candle into the ground so easily just now. It turned out that he had inserted it into the flowerpot.
The man was a good man who unfortunately died while doing good deeds. After his death, not only was he sent to a rich cemetery by the families of those he rescued, but there were also many bouquets of flowers piled in front of his grave, including chrysanthemums, kapok trees, lilies, gardenias, and calla lilies, most of which were named after relevant agencies and social groups.
It was just a heavy rain, and the delicate flowers were wilted by the rain. Now they were soaked in the puddles and looked even worse. There was only one exception - the bouquet of flowers that I had seen under the eaves, which the man called 'his flowers'.
The yellow chrysanthemums are large and spread out, golden like a cluster of small suns... You can tell at a glance that each one is carefully selected.
Qing Bai looked at it for a while, then bent down to push aside the wilted bouquet in front of the tombstone and placed the □□ in the center, with the soft petals nestled right next to his name.
Qing Bai didn't know who sent this bouquet of flowers, but thinking about what happened just now... he should like these flowers very much. Even if he didn't hold them in his hands, he wouldn't want them to be blown by the wind and rain.
At this moment, the cell phone suddenly rang. Qing Bai took it out and saw that it was a notification that the order had been delivered.
Qing Bai was stunned, feeling lost. The page on his phone stopped at the chat channel built into the food delivery app that he had not noticed before. The delivery man was his photo, the merchant was the three handwritten characters "Incense and Candle Shop" in calligraphy, and the customer was a gray mass.
Qing Bai pointed his finger at the avatar of the incense and candle shop. He had a lot of questions to ask Boss Hong, such as who ordered the takeaway for the man, who sent the yellow chrysanthemums, and whether he had known about it a long time ago... But in the end, he just exited the takeaway app.
I think it must be an old friend.
…
After a simple cleanup, Qing Bai walked down the mountain along the path. The cypress forest was lush and green, and the breeze was cool and quiet as he walked among it.
If it were in the past, Qing Bai would not have thought anything of it. It was common sense that even children knew that it was nice to stay cool under the shade of a tree. But after experiencing what happened just now, Qing Bai had realized that seeing was not necessarily believing. The world in his eyes had changed... He always felt that this cemetery was not as... quiet as it seemed on the surface.
Finally, he walked out of the cemetery and saw the three-wheeled electric scooter parked obediently at the gate of the cemetery from afar. Qing Bai breathed a sigh of relief.
If I lose my means of transportation, I don’t know whether the company will reissue it.
But why were there two people facing his car...arguing? Confronting? Discussing?
One was so angry that he was gesticulating with his hands and feet, while the other one, who was wearing a security uniform, looked bored and calm.
After getting closer and taking in the whole scene, Qing Bai once again felt the shock of how seeing is not always believing - it was not that the security guard was calm, but that he could not see the 'person' in front of him who was gesturing to him... and it was an acquaintance.
This is what ineffective communication at its highest level looks like.
Qing Bai hesitated for a moment. Although he looked calm on the surface, he was actually not ready to face the 'new world' so frequently.
But seeing that the man was on the verge of getting angry after trying so hard to gesture but getting no response, Qing Bai could only sigh and resign himself to his fate and move forward.
"Hello, this is my car..."
Before Qing Bai could finish his words, he was interrupted by two different voices at the same time.
"You're finally back! I've told this guy dozens of times that the car is only parked here temporarily! He just doesn't believe me! He even wants to tow the car!"
"Is this your car? Drive away! Parking it at the gate ruins the image of our cemetery!"
Qing Bai didn't look away, trying to ignore the complaining voice: "Okay, I'm sorry to trouble you, I'll leave now."
Seeing Qing Bai's proper attitude, the security guard also put away his impatience and walked towards the security booth muttering: "Hurry up and leave. Don't park at the gate next time. You made me wait for so long. I was looking at the gate, not the parking lot. If this gets lost, who will be responsible..."
Qing Bai hurriedly pushed the car out, wishing he could carry the car away from this dangerous place.
Then after walking for a while, he realized that the cemetery was not a place of trouble, but he was.
That 'person' followed.
Not only did he follow him consciously, naturally and proactively, he also sat in the back of his tricycle without any hesitation, enjoying the same treatment as the electric scooter.
Fortunately, it has no real weight, otherwise he really wouldn't be able to carry one person in the car.
He never stopped talking even while sitting in the car.
"The environment here is so nice. Where did you go just now? He disappeared suddenly... That uncle is so rude, ignoring me. Sigh, but I can't blame him entirely... I want to eat scrambled eggs with tomatoes too..."
He kept talking, and his words were incoherent. Although there was no logical connection between them, it could be heard that this 'person' must have followed him for quite some time, or at least they had been to the incense and candle shop together.
Qing Bai slowed down his pedaling, and suddenly his mind flashed back to what happened in the incense and candle shop today... the look that Boss Hong cast behind him before he entered the store, and the abrupt movement of moving the paper figurine away when he left... and the fact that he got this job... was it really just a coincidence?
Qing Bai had too many questions in his mind, and he had a bad habit. When he couldn't find the answer to a question just by thinking about it, or couldn't get the answer with his current ability, he would decisively give up.
There will always be a way when the car reaches the mountain, and the boat will naturally sink when it reaches the bridge. If it doesn’t sink, it means it hasn’t reached the bridge yet.
In this way, Qing Baitou returned home with a "full load" after just one day at work.
When Qi Xiaopang returned to the courtyard, he had finished teaching his students and was waving a hoe to dig holes along the wall. He buried the unknown flower vines he had picked from the roadside in the holes.
When they heard the noise at the door, the first one to come forward was the little puppy Meiqiu. The little thing arched its back and trembled like a burnt chestnut. Even though it was scared to death, it still barked at Qing Bai.
It can be said that he is both green and brave.
Qing Bai naturally knew who the little thing was barking at, but he couldn't help but think of how silly it was when it first arrived home yesterday, playing with the air... Could it really be that it was playing with air yesterday? He thought...
"Coal briquettes! Quiet!" The noise was so loud that Fatty Qi, who was obsessed with gardening, couldn't even dig the hole with equal precision. He put down his hoe and turned around. Fatty Qi laughed first, "Oh, welcome, welcome! This is the first time we have guests here. We haven't even cleaned up yet. Please forgive me for the poor hospitality. What's your name? He looks familiar... Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
Qing Bai watched Qi Xiaopang's expression change from a warm smile to a hideous look of fear...it seemed like he recognized him.
"Qing...Brother, brother, brother!" Qi Xiaopang's fingers were shaking like Parkinson's disease, and he pointed behind Qing Bai with difficulty, "Your ashes, which you have been spreading, are coming to find you!"
Qing Bai: "..." It's hard for me to respond to you like this.
Fortunately, the person behind him refuted the rumor in time: "Brother Qing didn't scatter my ashes. My body is fine and should still be undergoing an autopsy at the identification center."
Qing Bai: “…” It became even harder to respond.
Qi Xiaopang: “(iДi)”
Speak...speak! Even more...even more scary!
"...Wait! Can you see me?! Can you hear me?!"
Qing Bai could feel his excitement without looking back.
Qi Xiaopang finally realized it, shook his head vigorously in the direction of the dislocation, and gave a positive answer with a negative attitude.
"Hello, hello, hello! My name is Minglang!"
It turned out that the person behind the car rushed in front of Qi Xiaopang. Qing Bai also felt a chill all over his body, as if he understood the secret of why this house could stay cool without air conditioning or fans... It really had nothing to do with the house.
"You can see me, you can see me... Can you help me? Help me! Please help me..." Minglang seemed to be too happy and could not control his emotions. For a moment, the negative energy filled the air. With the repeated words "help me", his originally handsome face became more and more pale, his pupils were empty, and he looked ghostly.
Facing the attack head-on, Fat Qi almost fell to his knees. He instinctively asked for help from his brother Qing, but he saw his brother pushing the cart into the hospital without batting an eyelid, unloading the truck and closing the door. He looked like nothing had happened! For a moment, he really couldn't tell if this was normal or not!
But this shouldn't be possible! If he could see it, how could his brother Qing not see it? He couldn't possibly be the legendary Chosen One... the Chosen One of the Earth? How could this be justified? This didn't make sense! He didn't deserve it!
Qi Xiaopang was sweating profusely as he grabbed the small coal ball... Then the two cowards shivered at the same frequency, but they felt a little braver with a warm living thing in their arms. The main reason was that this classmate Minglang looked decent except that he was a little paler and bluer, and had a cough. He looked not much different from the photo Qi Xiaopang had seen in the report. Otherwise, he would not have recognized him so quickly. If it was the same appearance that Qing Bai had seen at the funeral home, he would not have shivered for so long... He might have fainted on the spot.
After shaking for a long time, pity finally prevailed. Fat Qi glanced at Qing Bai, who was trying to find a charging plug for his electric donkey. He gritted his teeth and asked softly, "I...how can I help you?"
Even though he got a response, Minglang was stunned. His delicate, pale features were frozen in a blank expression. After a long moment, he slowly spoke, "Yes... I'm already dead... No one can help me."
Qi Xiaopang was about to cry, fearing that this weak, scholar-like ghost would turn evil and start a murderous spree without regard for right or wrong! How could his family of dozens of people survive today?!
"Brother! Every wrong has its perpetrator, so make sure you don't go to the wrong person to seek revenge!"
Seeing Minglang didn't respond, Qi Xiaopang boldly chanted like a mantra, "What's your enemy's surname? What's your enemy's surname? What's your enemy's surname?..."
If he didn't know the full name, family address and names of the parents of that bastard Mr. He, Fatty Qi would have wanted to tell the victim in front of him his ID number!
Finally, the electric donkey was charged. Qing Bai stopped pretending to be deaf and blind. He rescued the little coal ball from the fat claws and threw it into the chicken coop. Then he helped the shaky Qi Xiaopang to the chair and pushed him into the chair to sit down. Then he said, "He seems to be a little confused. Don't stimulate him."
Qi Xiaopang slowly raised his head: "Can you hear me?"
Minglang, whose thoughts were in a mess, asked: "Can you see it?"
Qing Bai: "I'm neither deaf nor blind."
Qi Xiaopang grabbed Qing Bai's hand and said sincerely, "Brother, let's stop delivering food and pursue our dreams in the entertainment industry! I won't watch the Golden Piano Awards next year without you!"
Minglang nodded sadly.
Qing Bai was silent for a moment, then said solemnly, "I'm just thinking."
"Thinking about what?" x2
"…the possibility that the human spirit continues to exist in the form of a ghost after the human body has irreversibly died of brain death."
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