Chapter 58: My First-Hand Experience As A Cold-Blooded Murderer (1/2)

After wearing the masks, Huang Xiaotao and I sat on both sides of the table. She took the lead and began, “Honey, did you enjoy the food?” Then she burst out laughing.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she said, “It just feels like when I played house as a kid. Okay, I promise I won’t laugh this time. Let’s try again.”

She took a deep breath to clear her mind and got into the role.

“Honey,” she said again, “did you enjoy the food?”

“Your cooking is getting better and better, darling,” I replied casually, and then thought about what to say next. “By the way, did Mom go out to play mahjong again today?”

Huang Xiaotao nodded.

“Uh huh, she even won twenty yuan today! She was so happy about it!”

I couldn’t help but smile. “She usually loses hundreds of yuan though! You shouldn’t let her go out and play mahjong all the time! Let her watch TV at home!”

“You tell that to your mother yourself!” said Huang Xiaotao. “I don’t have the heart to stop her, it’s her little hobby! Do you want to deprive her of the little fun she has?”

“Ah, but I’m worried about her getting up and down the stairs!” I said.

At first it was obvious that we were ‘performing’ our conversation, and every time we talked, we paused a little and thought about how to pick up the next sentence. But gradually, the two of us seemed to get into our roles more and more, and the conversations came to us naturally, exactly like a real couple.

We talked about some daily chores, and Huang Xiaotao also acted out the action of eating with her hands. Then something magical happened. The dark room inexplicably turned bright. There was sunshine coming in through the window, the sound of cooking was heard coming from the neighbors’ house, and I could even hear the crying of the children and the barking of the dogs. From time to time, it would sound like cars were passing by.

It felt like I was caught in a realistic dream. The consciousness and the body were completely separated. Without thinking about it, these words came out of my mouth, “Honey, you’re pregnant, you should take better care of your body. You shouldn’t cook these greasy dishes anymore.”

Sitting opposite me was no longer Huang Xiaotao with a mask, but the dead wife. She was in her forties, but she didn’t look old at all. She wore a purple knit sweater and her hair was neatly combed. She looked like the perfect housewife.

She sighed, “Every time I made chicken or pig's trotter stew, you’d complain that they were tasteless. Besides, I know you like these fried dishes and a little rice wine to go with your meal after work!”

I looked down and saw that the table was full of delicious food. In front of me there was a small pot of hot rice wine, with a small cup beside it. I poured the wine and took a sip. The spicy taste of alcohol permeated my mouth and and warmed my throat. Shit, this felt a bit too realistic!

“But for our baby, I’m willing to eat tasteless food for a few months,” I said. “Also, I’ll quit smoking because second-hand smoke is bad for the baby.”

“I don't know if it’s a boy or a girl,” she replied. “But I’d prefer a boy. We already have a daughter. It would be nice to have a daughter and a son!”

I heard a chewing sound next to me and turned to look at it. An old lady, the mother of the deceased, sat there wordlessly.

How could it be this realistic? I could clearly witness the exact situations on the day of the murder—every detail, every movement was so vivid!

I thought of the recipe for the potion in the book—devil’s trumpet, longan fruit, Asian sage, wolfsbane… Shit! This wasn’t a potion that evoked emotions or anything like that—it was clearly a hallucinogenic concoction! Ancestor, you lied to me!

But by that time, I was completely trapped in this hallucination. Even my own consciousness began to blur and I felt like I was losing control of my mind.

As ‘I’ was enjoying my wine, a piercing noise rang in my ears. It felt as if the sound was drilling into my skull. I subconsciously covered my head with my hands to protect myself.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” my ‘wife’ asked with concern.

“Perhaps it’s getting too cold in here…” ‘I’ replied.

“Didn’t I tell you?” said my ‘wife,’ “It’s getting colder this time of the year. I told you to wear an extra pair of autumn pants, and you never listen!” She then got up and was about to shut the windows. But before she got any further, she sat back down suddenly. Even my ‘mother’ stopped eating and was sitting there with her head buried under her hands.

All three members of the family sat there at the table, feeling an inexplicable feeling that they couldn’t shake off.