Chapter 27: The Final Moonlight Sonata (2/2)

“He was suffering because you gave him too much,” I said. “So much that he felt trapped.”

Dali glared at me and gritted his teeth with anger.

“So you’re just like him!” he said. “You men are all evil! I’m going to kill every last one of you!”

I froze in shock for a few seconds and broke out in cold sweat. I suspected that Dali had listened to the story of the ghost in the white dress too much, and coupled with the special environment of the music room, he temporarily lost his mind and forgotten his real identity, then believed himself to be the girl who died in this room years ago.

This kind of phenomenon had happened before. Years ago, Grandpa encountered such a case himself. It was on the eve of Tomb-Sweeping Day, and a farmer’s widow was cleaning her late husband’s grave when she was suddenly possessed by her dead husband and violently dragged a neighbor of theirs to the police station, claiming that it was this neighbor who had pushed the dead husband down a river and killed him. After some investigation, it was found that the widow and the neighbor had an extramarital affair with each other and they both worked together to kill the dead husband. The widow likely always felt guilty and shameful for her deed, so all the suppressed emotions exploded when she was cleaning her dead husband’s grave and became ‘possessed.’

Usually, when someone was under this condition, they would lose all reasoning. It was very likely that they might seriously injure or even kill someone.

But then Huang Xiaotao slowly inched towards Dali.

“Don’t go near him!” I whispered.

Strangely enough, however, Dali did not react to her approach. As Huang Xiaotao moved closer and closer to him, she reached out her arms and held Dali in her bosom.

“Poor girl, I know how much pain you must’ve gone through,” she comforted. “Your life has been tough since you were little, but you finally found a man who loved you, so you held onto him tightly, afraid that you’d lose him too. But even he betrayed you in the end. What a tragic, tragic life!”

Streams of tears fell from Huang Xiaotao’s eyes.

“Don’t be sad,” she said, patting Dali’s back. “That bastard is dead now, so you must move on to your next life. Go find a warm and happy family to be born into where you’ll find true love and friendship. Remember this: we women must always remain strong and keep our heads clear. If this guy turns out to be useless, then just move on and find a new one! You might have to kiss a bunch of frogs before you meet the real prince, you see.”

“But I can’t forget him!” said Dali, now sobbing.

“He’s a bastard and a moron!” said Huang Xiaotao. “You’re way out of his league! You’re smart and beautiful and gentle; you’re the most popular girl on campus. You’ve been through enough; it’s time for you to move on and meet the right man for you!”

Dali’s sobs turned to bitter wailing. He wept and wept, then suddenly the look in his eyes changed, and he fainted.

Huang Xiaotao gently put Dali down onto the floor, then wiped his tears.

“I wasn’t bad at all, was I?” she asked with pride on her face.

“What?” I asked, genuinely surprised. “Was that all an act?”

“It’s much more convincing with tears, after all,” she said, wiping the tears dry. I was seriously impressed with her ability to turn her tears on and off at will.

“You’re really bad at this, you know?” she added. “Did you really think that reasoning with someone who’s so overcome with emotions would help?”

“You’ve got a point!” I said, nodding humbly.

At that moment Dali suddenly drew a breath and sat up, his face blank full of confusion.

“What happened just now?” he asked. “Why is my face all wet?”

Huang Xiaotao and I looked at each other. I worried that if I told him he’d just been possessed by the ghost of Xia Mo he would be so shocked that he’d faint again. So, we both wordlessly agreed to keep it a secret and just told him that he fainted out of shock.

Whether Dali was really possessed by the ghost of Xia Mo or not, I really couldn’t say. But I was more convinced of the view that he’d just been influenced by the eeriness of the atmosphere and temporarily lost control of his mind and hypnotized himself.

Dali urged us to quickly leave the place, but I said I still had something to do. I pulled out two sheets of ghost money and burnt them on the floor. The two asked me what that was for.

“One for Ma Baobao and one for Zhang Kai,” I said. “Examining dead bodies is always an act of desecration. I must at least burn an offering for them as an apology.”

“Ma Baobao, Zhang Kai,” I said. “I hope you move on to your next life peacefully. I’ve cleared your names, so you have nothing more to worry about.”

Under the clear moonlight, a gentle breeze lifted the ashes into the air and carried them out through the window and up towards the night sky. Previous ChapterNext Chapte