WATCS Chapter 6: The Crux
He couldn’t breathe in fresh air, nor could he see the light outside. Every shout he made was muffled. Eventually, he became so exhausted that he fell asleep in the coffin without even realizing it.
Outside the coffin, Bo Si heard the silence from within. The corners of his lips curled slightly. He casually stuck a talisman onto the coffin, just in case the boy suffocated inside.
Gu Yi slept through the night in the coffin, while Bo Si kept watch outside the whole time.
That night, Gu Yi didn’t sleep peacefully.
He dreamt of Bai Nuo again.
She was still dressed in red, but this time she didn’t look frightening. She looked like a normal person, her back turned to him.
When she turned around, she gave a sweet smile. Her voice was pleasant too.
She said, “I’m right here. Right by your side.”
As she spoke, she even playfully winked.
Gu Yi woke up with a start.
By then, the night had passed.
Bo Si tore off the talisman on the coffin lid and pushed it open. Inside, Gu Yi was already awake, lying there with his eyes wide open.
“Kid, you can come out now,” Bo Si called.
After coming out, Gu Yi still couldn’t let go of the fact that Bo Si had pushed him into a coffin.
He slumped over the table in silence, his expression filled with displeasure.
Bo Si poured him a glass of water and teased, “Still mad at the boss? I even comforted you.”
Gu Yi muttered gloomily, “Why’d you push me into a coffin?”
Bo Si explained, “It was for your own good. Getting a little yin energy on you keeps the nasty things away.”
Gu Yi looked at him and asked, “Then what I saw in the coffin has nothing to do with you?”
Bo Si smiled and replied, “What did you see?”
“I…” Gu Yi hesitated, “I saw Bai Nuo. I’ve been seeing her a lot lately. She doesn’t seem willing to move on. Maybe she really died in pain. I don’t know what I can do for her.”
“You don’t need to do anything,” Bo Si lit a cigarette. “The wishes of the dead are theirs to fulfill. Only when their resentment is gone can their souls rest in peace. What the living can do is remember them—so that something beautiful of them remains in this world.”
Gu Yi asked, “Do you know something?”
“I don’t know anything. I just know we might have a customer soon. Be ready to say ‘welcome’ at any time.”
As Bo Si took a drag from his cigarette, his voice had barely faded when a shaky voice came from the doorway.
“Is… anyone here?”
“Ah, yes—welcome.”
Their first customer had arrived, and Gu Yi quickly pulled himself together and got into character.
He stepped forward, but suddenly froze.
The visitor was Lin Ming!
The rich kid who always used to bully him—why would he be here?
What’s more, Lin Ming looked utterly haggard. His face was devoid of color, and his dark circles looked like they could fall off.
He looked downright disheveled—a far cry from how Gu Yi remembered him.
In school, Lin Ming was a star. Arrogant, overbearing, always surrounded by people because of his wealth. He never even opened his own drinks—someone else always did it for him.
Lin Ming was decent-looking too. It was said many girls secretly had crushes on him.
If Gu Yi hadn’t been bullied so terribly by him, he might not have recognized him now. But that face was burned into his memory—he’d never forget it.
The same went for Lin Ming. When he saw Gu Yi, he paused for a moment. Then, his eyes widened in terror.
Without the birthmark, Gu Yi looked different, and Lin Ming didn’t recognize him at first. But facial features don’t change, and this was someone he had once hated so much, just thinking about him made his teeth ache. Even without the birthmark—even if Gu Yi had turned to ashes—Lin Ming would recognize him instantly!
Clearly, in that moment, Lin Ming didn’t feel hatred. He felt fear. Trembling like a startled bird, his nerves stretched taut like a bowstring, ready to snap at the slightest touch.
He widened his eyes in terror, let out a scream, and turned to flee. By the time Gu Yi snapped out of it and tried to call him back, Lin Ming was already stumbling toward the door.
“You’re already here—what’s the rush to leave?”
A calm voice came from behind Gu Yi—it was Bo Si.
With a wave of his hand, the glass door slammed shut in an instant.
Lin Ming crashed into it and bent over in pain.
Sliding down against the door, he sat on the floor. When he turned back, his eyes were filled with even more terror, his body trembling uncontrollably.
“I came to the wrong place… I wasn’t here to buy a coffin!” Lin Ming shouted in fear, sweat forming on his forehead.
Bo Si stood up and walked toward him step by step, towering over him. “The fact that you made it here means you’re in the right place. The crux of your problem is here. If we don’t help you, then you’re as good as dead.”
At the word “dead,” Lin Ming’s face turned even paler. He shook his head in panic. “I don’t want to die… I came here by accident. I just wanted someone to help me. I saw the sign outside that said you can drive away evil spirits, so I came in… Is it true? Can you really help me? I don’t have to die, right?”
“Whether you live or die depends on what’s happened to you.”
Bo Si flicked the ash from his cigarette with his index finger and said, “Gu Yi, make your classmate a cup of tea. Let him sit down and calm his nerves.”
“Okay,” Gu Yi nodded.
He helped the badly shaken Lin Ming into a chair and brought him a steaming cup of tea.
The fragrant aroma of tea filled the air, and mist curled above the cup. Lin Ming took a sip, and his mood finally began to settle.
He looked at Gu Yi and asked, “You work here?”
“Yes.”
“The birthmark on your face…”
“Disappeared after a nap.”
Gu Yi didn’t want to talk about it further.
He only wanted to know what had happened to Lin Ming—why he had come here.
Something told him it was related to Bai Nuo.
Maybe because he had just dreamt of her the night before.
“I’m sorry, Gu Yi. I used to bully you all the time, but I was young and stupid. I know you’re a good person. You probably won’t hold it against me, right?”
Those words coming from Lin Ming took Gu Yi by surprise.
He had never imagined that one day Lin Ming would apologize to him.
For someone like Lin Ming—a spoiled rich kid who always looked down on others—to say he had been young and foolish, it meant he was either facing a very serious problem, or he was being crushed by Bo Si’s overwhelming presence and had no choice but to lower his head.
But at this point, Gu Yi didn’t want to dwell on it. He wasn’t going back to school anyway. From now on, he’d be working at this coffin shop.
“What exactly happened to you?” Gu Yi asked.
Lin Ming’s face immediately darkened, twisted in pain, as if he didn’t even want to remember. He tugged at his scalp, and after a long moment, he gritted his teeth and said with difficulty, “She came back…”
Gu Yi was puzzled. “She?”
Lin Ming closed his eyes, as if resigning himself. “Bai Nuo.”
“…”
Gu Yi shot up from his seat.
His movement was so sudden that he knocked over the teacup.
Tea spilled across the table, dripping down to the floor in a steady stream.
Bo Si, cigarette between his lips, glanced casually at Gu Yi.
But Lin Ming didn’t notice Gu Yi’s reaction at all. Clutching the teacup tightly, he spoke heavily, “They’re all dead—Zhang Qiang, Wang Hao, and Du Ran—they all saw her too. And now… I’m next.”
Bo Si said, “Explain it clearly. Otherwise, we won’t be able to help you.”
Zhang Qiang, Wang Hao, Du Ran—Gu Yi knew them. They were classmates. Back then, they were Lin Ming’s closest buddies—and the ones who bullied him the most. When they had snatched his jade pendant, he had even secretly cursed them to disappear. But now, hearing that they were actually dead, Gu Yi couldn’t quite describe how he felt.
Lin Ming took another sip of tea, trying to seem calm, but his body was still trembling. “The night before last, we were in the classroom, just like always during night study. That’s when I saw her—Bai Nuo—walking into the classroom from outside!”
“The night before last?”
Gu Yi frowned.
That was the night he attempted suicide. He had been in the classroom too—but he hadn’t seen Bai Nuo.
Lin Ming clenched his fists, getting worked up. “It wasn’t just me—Zhang Qiang, Wang Hao, and Du Ran saw her too! They all looked at me in terror. I didn’t understand it either! Bai Nuo is dead. How could a dead person come back? But she just walked into the classroom so calmly, like she was still alive—like she had just stepped out for a bathroom break! She walked in without saying a word, didn’t even announce herself, and no one seemed to notice her. She went back to her old seat. I kept watching her. I thought she was a ghost—but there was nothing off about her. She just sat there, quietly reading and doing homework, just like she used to. I didn’t dare speak or go up to her. I just waited until the session ended, and then I followed her secretly. I had to see… where she was going.”
“You’re pretty bold,” Bo Si mocked. “Didn’t even know if she was a ghost, yet you dared to follow her.”
“I had no choice!” Lin Ming cried, clutching his head in anguish. “That night, I followed her the whole time. Everything about her seemed normal—she finished her homework, left school, even walked the usual way home. She was wearing a red dress—it stood out in the dark, easy to follow. I thought she was going home, but then she changed direction. I kept following her, and eventually, she went to the cemetery. That’s when I saw—under her long dress—there were no feet! She had floated the whole way to the cemetery!”
“Did you see her go into the grave?” Bo Si asked.
Lin Ming shook his head, nearly losing it. “No! As soon as I saw she had no feet, I screamed. She heard me and turned around and smiled. Her face was pale—the kind of pale only the dead have. I was terrified. I didn’t wait to see if she entered a grave—I just ran. I hailed a cab and went straight home. As soon as I got there, I locked myself in my room. I thought I could sleep it off. But when I got into bed… I saw a pair of white high heels standing at the foot of it…”
“I had closed my bedroom door, but she was in my room! On my bed!” Lin Ming suddenly shouted in despair. “When I turned around, she was right there in front of me! Lying on my bed, staring at me! That face I used to dream about was so close! She was smiling and talking to me, her voice airy and echoing, swirling around my ears. She said, ‘I didn’t go home, I’m right here, right by your side…’”
T/N: Please give support on my kofi page, thank you🥑🥑🥑
Comments
Post a Comment