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墨書 Inktalez
"You have fulfilled all your wishes." Jiang He looked at Old Wei, who was sitting on the ground, and said, "You ate human flesh and now you know what happened in the past. Now, tell me, what exactly happened on that night five years ago? Since I know you ate human flesh, I naturally know many things. Your waist is fake; every night you carry an oil lamp and scatter yellow paper. What are you afraid of? What really happened five years ago?"
Old Wei grinned and said to the two of them, "That girl, she was very cute. I often saw her in the woods. I actually knew long ago that the corpse wasn't done by the Corpse Robber. I just kept deceiving myself, but now, this dream has finally awakened."
"Then..."
There were usually no passersby near the crematorium. Every night, Old Wei was the king of this place. The entire street had no surveillance cameras or streetlights, as if it were a forgotten land. Old Wei had been suffering from insomnia for a long time; he simply couldn't sleep. He tried hard to fall asleep, but he couldn't manage it.
Every night, Old Wei felt very lonely. Throughout his life, he had never married or had children. He had always been alone since his father passed away when he was a teenager. He spent his youth, middle age, and now his old age all by himself.
At over sixty years old, Old Wei knew he didn't have much time left. At this age, one should see everything lightly, but Old Wei couldn't do that. Many times, he thought it would be better to commit suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning; what was the point of living like this?
The only companions Old Wei had every night were those corpses.
Until a few weeks ago, he met a girl.
Old Wei came from a time when superstitions were rampant. Every night when he couldn't sleep, he would leave the Guardhouse and scatter yellow paper everywhere. In his own words, the corpses left here were unclaimed and unknown; they had no one to worship them.
Ghosts without offerings would become lonely spirits and wild ghosts, forever unable to reincarnate. To help these wild ghosts reincarnate, Old Wei would come out every night to perform rituals for these souls. Because Old Wei understood that after he died, no one would worship him either; he too would eventually become a lonely spirit.
While scattering yellow paper one night, he saw a girl.
The girl was bundled up in a down jacket, looking plump and cute with rosy cheeks that made her look very adorable. Her red face resembled an apple, making one want to take a bite out of it. Old Wei looked at this girl, and she looked back at him.
Old Wei's hand stopped scattering yellow paper.
"What are you doing here?" The girl broke the awkward silence first.
Outside the dark crematorium was cold air and an eerie girl. Anyone witnessing this scene would find it terrifying and creepy; however, Old Wei felt no fear. If this girl were a ghost, then what was there to be afraid of with such a cute ghost?
Old Wei slowly spoke, "I'm here spreading yellow paper, what are you doing here?"
The girl replied, "My dad asked me to keep watch for him. If someone comes, I'm supposed to call him. I'm going to do that now."
Old Wei stopped the girl and said, "Your grandpa is not a stranger; you don't need to tell your dad. Can you tell me what your dad is doing inside? Do you know what this place is for?"
The girl nodded her head and said to Old Wei, "I know what this place is for. It's where many people like my mom are sleeping. My mom has a big hole in her belly, and my dad just needs to use other aunties' entrails to save her."
"What happened to your mom?" Old Wei realized something was off.
The girl scratched her head and replied, "She has a big hole in her belly."
Old Wei understood that a seven or eight-year-old girl didn't comprehend many things, so he didn't ask further. He simply told her, "Don't tell your dad I was here; this is a secret between us."
The girl extended her hand and said, "Then we need to make a pinky promise."
Old Wei looked at the girl's hand and extended his rough, dark hand. Their thumbs hooked together.
"Pinky promise, hang for a hundred years without changing; lying is for dogs!" the girl said happily.
Old Wei echoed softly, "Pinky promise, hang for a hundred years without changing; lying is for dogs."
The next day, Old Wei arrived at the morgue's cold storage. He opened the freezer and saw the body inside. To his surprise, he noticed a large hole in the belly of a female corpse. Peering into the hole, he found it stuffed with sponge.
Old Wei immediately thought of corpse robbers but then recalled the girl he had seen last night. If that girl's father was a corpse robber, did that mean she was one too? He wanted to call the police but suppressed that thought.
He felt incredibly lonely, sitting alone in the guardhouse with no radio, no television, no one around—just himself. He didn't want to live like this; if that girl truly was a corpse robber, he would rather die.
Old Wei still wanted to see her, to see this Corpse Robber.
From that day on, every night at the same time, Old Wei would go out to scatter yellow paper. Although he knew that each time he encountered the girl, there would be a body in the funeral home with its entrails removed. He had previously scattered yellow paper for these people, but now, even though he was fully aware of the mutilated corpses, he remained indifferent.
His original intention had changed.
Every few days, the girl would appear. She would tell Old Wei stories about what happened at school, about her good friend Hui, about the boy named Fat who always bullied her, about her father, and about her mother.
After several meetings, Old Wei finally understood what had happened. His father had accidentally killed his mother, and in a desperate attempt to bring her back to life, he resorted to robbing corpses at the crematorium. Old Wei understood that this was an utterly impossible and fanciful idea, but he also understood that for some people, their dreams should not be interrupted.
Those who dream still hold onto a vague hope, but those who awaken from their dreams are left with nothing but despair.
It turned out that the girl was not a Corpse Robber at all; she was just a lovely child who was still unaware of the hardships of the world.
The girl would give Old Wei Fruit Hard Candy, and Old Wei would share stories from his youth with her. The girl's father would never know that while he was at the crematorium robbing corpses, not only was his daughter keeping watch outside but also the gatekeeper of the crematorium who accompanied her.
Those days were the happiest times for Old Wei. He finally had a friend of his own, even if this friend was over fifty years younger than him.
Time passed like this; Old Wei turned a blind eye and never spoke to anyone about it.
On a night five years ago, he went into the woods. He had made an agreement with the girl that tonight he would tell her a story about a Corpse Robber.
But when he emerged from the woods, the girl was not waiting for him at their agreed spot. This made Old Wei anxious; she was his only friend. He searched through the forest until finally, he heard a faint sound of crying. Following the sound, he came upon a girl in a red skirt under the night sky.
That was her favorite dress.
"Why are you crying here?" Old Wei asked as he looked at the girl.
The girl pointed to the ground. "My dad is here."
Old Wei looked down and saw a corner of clothing sticking out from the loess. He immediately realized that there was a dead body buried beneath. With no one around, Old Wei was puzzled about what had happened and why the girl's father was buried in the loess.
He rushed back to the crematorium to grab a shovel and hurriedly began to dig up the grave.
The girl cried even louder. "My dad, that's my dad."
Old Wei collapsed onto the ground, his mind in a whirlwind.
"This is your dad?" Old Wei asked.
The girl nodded.
Old Wei continued, "How did your dad end up here?"
The girl shook her head.
Old Wei carefully moved the body out. He carried it on his shoulders while the girl held onto her travel bag, walking away into the distance. As he walked, he pondered in his mind. The girl's father was dead, her mother was dead; she would be all alone from now on. How would she survive?
As these thoughts crossed his mind, Old Wei stopped.
"I need to bury your father," he said gently to the girl. "When it's done, I'll let you see your mom and dad, okay?"
"You can't lie," the girl replied. "I want to make a pinky promise!"
Old Wei extended his hand and hooked his thumb with hers. "Pinky promise, one hundred years without changing; lying is for dogs. Alright, you go back for now. I'll call you later, and you can come out then. Go to Grandpa's house."
The girl nodded, "Will I be able to see my mom and dad soon?"
Old Wei nodded in response.
Then, Old Wei dug a deep pit and pushed the girl's father's body into it.
He sat by the edge of the pit and cried for a long time before returning to the house. Inside, the girl was holding the entrails from her travel bag.
"Stop playing," Old Wei waved his hand at the girl. "Come with me."
Old Wei casually placed the entrails on the stove.
The girl happily followed Old Wei outside.
Old Wei held the girl tightly, choking her neck.
"Grandpa, I can’t breathe," the girl said to Old Wei.
Old Wei laughed while shedding tears, "Your mom and dad are dead. If you don’t die too, your life will only be filled with suffering. Just hold on a little longer, and soon you'll be able to see your mom and dad."
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