The Waterborne Ghost Face (7)

"Peeling off faces?"

"Yes, peeling off faces. They'd cut around the neck, all the way up, then peel off the entire face and scalp, hair and all. Afterward, they'd bury them beneath the open ground before the ancestral hall. Every year when the villagers paid their respects, they'd tread on that ground, tread on those prostitutes' faces, generation after generation... But Sister Hua wasn't that kind of woman... She really hadn't done anything... That beast was even smiling while he peeled off her face! Blood splashed onto his face, and he licked it off with his tongue! That damned beast! He had no humanity at all! She was his woman!"

"Grandma Jiang, please stop crying. It's all over. It's already over."

"Wah! Yes, it's all over... But no one ever knew! Sister Hua died such an unjust death!"

"Didn't the authorities handle it back then? The case that was reported was this one, right?"

"No... I went into the city to find that man. He was the one who reported it, but after the officials arrived, the village chief invited people into his home. Quite a few people went in together. I didn't know what they said, but those officials left afterward. The village chief tore down the ancestral hall, saying it was temporary. After a while, more officials came. The village chief led them to look at that empty building. They walked around once, then left. When I went to find that man again, he had no reaction no matter what I said. After that, he refused to see me..."

"Great-aunt, this isn't your fault! Don't take it to heart."

"I know, but still... sigh..."

"What happened later?"

"Later? Then the war began. A lot of people moved away, and my family moved too. When I left, the ancestral hall still hadn't been rebuilt. After the war ended, I came back to look once. The ancestral hall was still empty, overgrown with weeds. You couldn't even tell where Sister Hua's face had been buried..."

"Then, as far as you know, how many people did your village kill this way?"

"...I don't know. My mother said... children weren't allowed into the ancestral hall or onto that patch of ground. Every corner of that place was unlucky. Children had weak yang energy, and if they went there, their souls would be snatched away."

"Damn! Doesn't that mean there were a lot?"

"Maybe. Maybe a lot of faces were buried under that ground. The old ones rotted away, then new ones were added, layer upon layer, all mixed in with the dirt..."

"Oh, great-aunt, stop talking! That's too scary! I'm telling you, someone at our factory saw a ghost. A female ghost!"

"Hehehe..."

"Great-aunt, wh-what are you laughing at?"

"Do you know? That man's family once said something to me. They said our village would sooner or later be cursed! They killed people like that and didn't even bury them properly. How could the dead ever let it go?"

August 3, 2015. Received a call from Fang Guoying. Call recording 201508031748.mp3.

"Greenleaf? Is this someone from Greenleaf?"

"Yes, Mr. Fang..."

"Come save me, quickly! It's here! It's here again! It's on my daughter! It's on my daughter!"

Bang! Bang!

"A-Ying! Open the door!"

"Daddy, Daddy! Waaah!"

"Mr. Fang, where are you right now?"

"I'm at home! Hurry here! It's come to kill me! It's definitely come to kill me! It wants to kill my whole family too!"

Click!

"Ahhh! Don't come over!"

"A-Ying, what are you doing?"

"Don't come over! Don't come over!!!"

"A-Ying—"

Rustle, rustle, rustle...

August 3, 2015. Rushed to Fang Guoying's residence. No one was there. The security guard and neighbors stated that an ambulance had taken Fang Guoying to the hospital. His wife and daughter accompanied him. Fang Guoying had suffered severe injuries; the specifics were unknown.

August 3, 2015. Rushed to the hospital and found Fang Guoying's wife and daughter. Fang Guoying was undergoing emergency treatment. Retrieved the agency talisman from his wife; it was more than half burned away.

August 4, 2015. Fang Guoying's emergency treatment concluded, but he was still not out of danger. Asked his wife about the situation at the time. Audio file 09120150804.wav.

"You've seen what I look like too. Today, ah, no, yesterday. Yesterday, there was suddenly a torrential downpour. I picked up my daughter from school, and neither of us had an umbrella. We got soaked all the way home and found A-Ying just getting up. He'd worked the night shift the day before and was catching up on sleep today. He woke up and saw us. I even told him to hurry and turn on the shower, give our daughter a hot bath. I pushed my daughter toward him and went to get some cold medicine. He... he'd been fine lately. The talisman you gave him was hanging around his neck. He even had to take it into the bathroom when he showered. He hadn't seen that ghost thing anymore. I never thought this would happen. I pushed my daughter... my soaking-wet daughter toward him... sob..."

"Mrs. Fang."

"Sob... huff... I turned around, heard my daughter call out for Daddy, and didn't think anything of it. Then I heard her call for me. When I looked back, I saw A-Ying... A-Ying staring at our daughter's face. She was frozen with fear. I knew something was wrong then, but before I could think much of it, A-Ying screamed and rushed into the room, slamming the door shut! I panicked and pounded on the door. He'd locked it, so I went looking for the spare key. My daughter was crying from fright too, but I couldn't even attend to her! When I unlocked the door and went in, I saw him making a phone call. When he saw me, he was terrified, screaming nonstop. His eyes were fixed on my face. I was so stupid! It took me quite a while to realize it. When I wiped my face, it was covered in water! He kept avoiding me then. I grabbed some kind of cloth and wiped myself down, trying to get close to him. He was still afraid, but he stopped avoiding me. Then I looked at the talisman..."

"It had already burned up then?"

"Yes, it had burned up, and it was still burning. I wanted to call you, then I heard A-Ying scream again. He even shoved me to the ground. My daughter was standing in the doorway then. I'd forgotten about her. She was standing there, still soaked all over... A-Ying... A-Ying started crying... He was crying, but he was still talking..."

"What did Mr. Fang say?"

"He said... he said to spare Nannan... not to harm Nannan... He wouldn't hide anymore... He wouldn't hide anymore..."

"Was that Mr. Fang's own idea, or had he received clear instructions from the ghost face?"

"What? I-I don't know. I just heard him say that, then he picked up the scissors from the table... He... sob, sob..."

"Mr. Fang is still alive. There's still hope."

"What exactly is that thing? Have you thought of a way?"

"We've uncovered that thing's true nature. But there's a problem..."

"A problem?"

"We can't find its vessel. It's possible it no longer has one, so if we want to drive it away, we can only do it when we face it directly."

"What does that mean?"

"We need your husband to see that ghost face once in front of us."

"How can we do that? A-Ying is already like this!"

"Yes, he's already like this. If we don't deal with it now, he might not be so lucky next time."

"Huff... huff..."

"Mrs. Fang, this is a new talisman. Once Mr. Fang recovers, you can contact us and decide whether to do this. Of course, we'll continue investigating during this time and see whether there's another way to deal with that thing."

August 6, 2015. Fang Guoying died. Cause of death: suicide by jumping from a building. His wife was unable to relay that day's conversation to Fang Guoying. It was inferred that Fang Guoying chose to end his own life immediately after waking up, so as not to bring disaster upon his family.

August 10, 2015. Investigation concluded. Incident results: unable to locate the faces buried beneath the original Jiao County ancestral hall; unable to find related incidents of this nature; unable to determine whether related incidents would cease. This incident was filed under the "Unfinished" category, with the keyword "human face." Should a related incident occur, the investigation would be reopened and the handling phase initiated immediately.

"Lin Qi, want some tea?"

"Whoa!"

The teacup hit the floor with a sharp crack.

I sprang up from my chair and saw Guo Yujie staring at me in surprise. Her white shirt was soaked through with tea, clinging to her skin and perfectly outlining her slender waist. Do not look at what is improper. I hurriedly apologized, lowered my head, and bent down to clean up the mess. On the floor, a puddle of water had formed the perfect imprint of my face.