Number 091—Water Ghost Face (3)

"That night, after my brother came home, he went to bed early. The next morning, he got up early too. We had breakfast together, and when we talked about what happened the day before, he even laughed. He said he'd just imagined things and scared himself. I asked what he'd seen, and he said he saw a snow-white face hanging from a tree, staring down at him—or rather, glaring at him. Those pitch-black eyes were like holes, fixed on him without blinking. I laughed when I heard that, and my brother smiled awkwardly too. We both thought he'd imagined it. There were no lights in that park. Security guards patrolled on duty, sometimes casually sweeping a flashlight around, and sometimes someone would smoke, so there'd be a bit of light. My brother had probably mistaken something in that kind of lighting. After that, he went to work and came home from work. Nothing happened for several days. Then he went to meet that girl at the park again. That night... that night, he came running back early again..."

"He saw that face again?"

"Yes. He saw that face again."

Click!

"Hiss—phew—young man, do you smoke?"

"No, thank you."

"Phew... My brother came home early. This time, he didn't say a word. He rushed into his room and locked himself inside. Back then, we shared a room. Our family was doing a little better because the old man was the office director at the factory, so we were assigned a two-bedroom apartment. The two elders had one room, and us brothers had the other. My parents and I were watching TV when he charged in like a whirlwind and slammed the door shut. No matter how we knocked, he wouldn't open it. I couldn't even get into the room that night and had to sleep in the living room. Though really, I didn't sleep for long. His girlfriend chased after him all the way to our house and stormed in too. The moment she came in, she started cursing. All the neighbors came out to watch the commotion. My mother finally managed to calm her down and shut the door so they could talk. As the girl spoke, she started wiping away tears. She was so incoherent that it took me a long time to figure out what had happened. When my brother ran off, he'd been doing that with her. They'd already taken off half their clothes when he suddenly left the girl there and ran away. Of course she was furious. After she finished berating him, she started worrying about my brother too. When she heard from my mother that he'd locked himself in the room, she got nervous and pressed herself against the door to talk to him. My brother didn't make a sound from inside. Then the old man lost his temper and told me to break down the door. Only then did my brother speak, roaring at us not to come in. That roar... it wasn't the kind that came from anger. It was the sound of fear. Phew—"

"What happened afterward?"

"After that, my mother took the girl into the next room to talk, then properly saw her out. The girl looked very worried, but she still left. Once my mother had sent her away, she turned to my father and me and quietly said that my brother probably... probably had a sudden problem down there. That was why he'd run off in the middle of it and left the girl behind, and now he'd locked himself up. I didn't believe that was it, but my parents both did. They took turns leaning against the door, giving my brother a talk, urging him to see a doctor and such. They kept at it for most of the night. My brother got annoyed and roared again, so everyone went to sleep for the time being. The next day, when we woke up, he did open the door. But the circles under his eyes were black—so black he looked like someone on the verge of death. My mother panicked when she saw him and had my father ask for leave for him. She wanted to take him to a doctor right away. My brother agreed too. I went with them that day. Phew—"

"That kind of illness wasn't something we could let people know about, so we didn't go to the factory hospital. We went to a major hospital in the city. It was a long bicycle ride from the factory. At first, everything was fine. But once we entered the city, there was this road right outside the hospital. It was quite unusual back then, because trees had been planted along it in two neat rows. I remember it was summer. The trees were full of lush green leaves, shading half the road. Sunlight filtered down, scattering spots of light across the pavement. I later saw that road in a documentary. It had even been filmed before. It was a famous Love Road in the city at the time. Couples from nearby would all go there for walks, just like they did in the park at our factory."

"Mm, Kangxin Road?"

"Yes, yes! Kangxin Road! It was my first time there, so I found it rather novel. Back then, our family had always lived by the factory. We'd originally been farmers, but when the factory was built, we became workers. We didn't come into the city much. My mother and I both thought it was beautiful, so we slowed our bicycles down. Then we heard a clatter... We both turned around and saw that my brother had fallen. He'd been riding just fine, and there were no other vehicles nearby, yet he fell. His bicycle lay across the road, half his leg pinned beneath it. He was sitting on the ground with his head tilted back, eyes staring blankly ahead. I wasn't far from him then. I watched the color drain from his face as cold sweat seeped from his forehead and ran down his cheeks. His body was trembling, making the bicycle tremble with him. It knocked against the ground, going rat-a-tat-tat. The wind rustled the leaves, and then he suddenly screamed..."

"Mr. Li, watch your cigarette."

"Huh? Oh... phew—Even now, I still remember that scream. I'd never heard him scream like that before. When he first entered the factory as an apprentice, there was a time his hand nearly got dragged into a machine. He didn't scream then. He was still calm enough to shout at the stunned people nearby to shut off the machine. Everyone at the factory said he was brave and had a promising future. But then, sitting on the ground like that, he screamed so loudly that everyone around us turned to look. Phew—When I went to help him up and put my hand on his shoulder, I found that even in the middle of summer, his body was cold—like ice. Maybe I blocked his view then. He looked at me for a while before gradually calming down. I helped him up. He lowered his head, wiped away his sweat, and became completely dull and wooden. My mother and I asked him what was wrong, but he said it was nothing. Looking back, I think he saw that face again then."

"Please wait a moment. You keep saying your brother saw a face?"

"Yes. He told me he saw a face."

"Not a human head?"

"A human head... it might have been a head. I never saw the thing he described. Whenever he told me about it, he always called it a 'face.'"

"Mm, all right. Sorry for interrupting. Please continue."

"After that, we went to the hospital. My mother went to register him, and I stayed with him. We waited in line, saw the doctor... He seemed distracted the whole time. That doctor was quite kind. He spent a long while persuading him, explaining that this illness was normal, nothing shameful, and definitely treatable. Then we lined up again for examinations and so on... As we walked through the hospital, he suddenly stopped. He stared at a hospital bulletin board for a long time, then pointed at one of the photographs and said he wanted to see that doctor. My mother and I leaned in for a look. It was an ophthalmologist, some kind of expert. My mother asked what was going on, but he didn't answer. He ran off to register himself. My mother couldn't catch up with him, but I did. I asked what was wrong, and he stayed silent. Since he'd already registered, there was nothing I could do. I said we should find our mother first, then go see that expert together. As we walked back, he suddenly spoke. Out of nowhere, he said, 'I think there's something wrong with my eyes.' I thought, if there wasn't something wrong, why would he think to register with ophthalmology? Then what my brother had said about seeing that snow-white face suddenly sprang into my mind, and I shuddered so hard I scared myself... Phew—After that, we found my mother. She nagged us as she accompanied my brother to the eye doctor. My brother wouldn't let us stay beside him. He drove us out and saw the doctor alone. When he came out, he looked completely dazed, and then he wanted to register again. This time, it was for... psychiatry."