If it were just the dreams, it could be argued it was because Ruan Yunjie was too nervous. But the piece of skin peeled off of her belly evidently could not be explained away with such a crude excuse.
Ruan Yunjie took out a lady's cigarette from her bag when she was done recounting, shoulders drawn into herself, and lit one up. "Mr Lin, this, just what is this thing? Can I still be saved… I'm only in my twenties, I don't want to die."
Lin Zhushui did not say anything.
Lin Zhushui seemed as though he really had no intention of accepting this request, and seeing this make Rui-ge a little anxious. He said, "Mr Lin, I beg of you, please help me, if only for my father's sake…"
Who exactly Rui-ge's father was was a mystery, but Lin Zhushui sighed softly at this and ultimately agreed. "Fine."
Rui-ge's and Ruan Yunjie's eyes lit up in an instant. He said, "Then, then when are you free?"
Lin Zhushui said, "This cannot be delayed. Arrange the plane tickets tonight and try to make it there tomorrow."
Rui-ge repeatedly said alright and grabbed his phone and began making arrangements.
Zhou Jiayu originally thought this would have nothing to do with him from this point onwards, but what happened was Lin Zhushui suddenly turning and saying to Shen Yiqiong and Zhou Jiayu, "Both of you will follow me over."
Shen Yiqiong slapped Zhou Jiayu's thigh excitedly.
Half his leg went numb from the slap. Zhou Jiayu gritted his teeth and said, "But Mr Lin, I don’t know anything…"
Lin Zhushui said lightly, "If you don’t know, learn."
Zhou Jiayu: "…OK."
Shen Yiqiong did not understand Zhou Jiayu's avoidant disposition. He longed to be at Lin Zhushui's side every day. If one were to exaggerate a little, if Lin Zhushui really took a fancy to him, he would probably excitedly hug his pillow through it, because this way he could stick to Mr Lin everyday.
Ji Ba was also advising Zhou Jiayu to take the initiative, saying that this sort of situation rarely came by and learning more is always a good thing.
Zhou Jiayu was thus persuaded and obediently went upstairs to start packing his luggage. In fact, he did not have much to pack, just some clothes and personal hygiene products, and he stuffed them into a backpack Shen Yiqiong gave him.
Rui-ge quickly brought their plane tickets, saying their flight is around six in the afternoon.
The forceful bearing Ruan Yunjie came with was nowhere to be seen. Now, she was as docile as a rabbit, withdrawing to Rui-ge's side, even looking quite delicate and pitiful.
The living room was quiet. Ruan Yunjie could not hold back and weakly began, "Mr Lin, could you tell me first, just what exactly that thing is?"
Lin Zhushui said, indifferent, "Shouldn't you be the one who knows most clearly what this thing is?"
Ruan Yunjie was struck dumb. She heard the obvious faint disgust in Lin Zhushui's tone, but she had no way to refute him. Rui-ge, face ashen, had managed to guess at some of the things surrounding this incident, but because Lin Zhushui was present, he could only suppress the anger in his chest and smoke cigarette after cigarette sullenly.
In this uneasy atmosphere, six o'clock finally came, and their chauffeur drove the five of them to the airport.
Zhou Jiayu chatted with Ji Ba on the airplane. "Ji Ba, have you been on an airplane before?"
Ji Ba replied, "I don’t remember anymore."
Zhou Jiayu said, "Then what do you remember?"
On guard, Ji Ba said, "Are you trying to trip me up?"
Zhou Jiayu: "… You're too sensitive, little Ji Ba." After saying this phrase he fell silent, then quietly saluted Ji Ba's name. From now on he should just call him little Ba and leave it at that.
With nothing better to do, Ji Ba began preening its feathers again, and Zhou Jiayu flipped through a magazine.
At around nine p.m., they arrived at their destination.
Rui-ge and Ruan Yunjie both looked tired, Ruan Yunjie especially. If it weren't for the thick foundation and rouge she'd put on before the plane landed, one would think she just came from a hospital.
Ruan Yunjie's manager came to receive them, a beautiful woman in her thirties. Compared to Ruan Yunjie's beauty, hers was more subdued and practiced. One look and you'd know she was the particularly dependable type.
"Are you going back straight away?" The manager asked. "Yunjie?"
"Yes, straight away." Ruan Yunjie replied, "Zhou-jie [1], we'll be troubling you."
Zhou-jie's full name was Zhou Shanling. She had been Ruan Yunjie's manager since her debut and the two's relationship seemed quite good. She frowned. "Yunjie, what's going on? You've been resting for half a month already, if you don't tell me how am I supposed to help you deal with the higher-ups? These people, they are…?"
Exhaustion was clear on Ruan Yunjie's face. "Give me a little more time. They're my friends, they're here to help."
Zhou Shanling's eyes swept over them and almost immediately stopped on Lin Zhushui. With her abundant experience, from the very first moment she recognized that the person in front of her was not an ordinary person. She noticed the string of jade beads on Lin Zhushui's hand, her eyes betraying her suspicion.
But neither Ruan Yunjie nor Zhou Jiayu and the others had any intention of explaining. In fact, aside from Zhou Jiayu, to Zhou Shanling, Shen Yiqiong's and Lin Zhushui's indifferent manner could be considered arrogant.
In contrast, Zhou Jiayu looked the mildest of the three. After all, he was not currently some incredible great master. At his core he was still an incredibly ordinary civil servant.
The chauffeur drove them to Ruan Yunjie's residence, and during the trip everyone was especially quiet.
Ruan Yunjie was last to exit the car. Zhou Shanling said, "Yunjie, you really don't intend on telling me anything?"
Ruan Yunjie hesitated a moment, then apologetically: "I'm sorry, Zhou-jie."
Zhou Shanling replied, "Fine. Take care of yourself." After this, she turned and left, seeming somewhat angered.
Yet, Ruan Yunjie lacked the strength to comfort her. The ache from her belly wound still tormented her mind. However, this was not what frightened her most. What frightened her most was that cold fengshui master by her side, cold to the point he no longer seemed human.
Ruan Yunjie lived in a villa and it was easy to see that the security was pretty good. But before they had gone through the door, Zhou Jiayu inexplicably felt that this house was a little horrifying, his steps even pausing because of this.
"What's wrong?" Shen Yiqiong came to Zhou Jiayu's side, having noticed his expression.
Zhou Jiayu said, "This house feels very uncomfortable…"
Shen Yiqiong said, "A little." He too felt something, but not as clearly as Zhou Jiayu.
Ruan Yunjie approached the villa’s door and unlocked it with her fingerprint.
The door opened and a draft cut across Zhou Jiayu, and in that gust of wind he caught a whiff of an unpleasant odor. This odor was not strong and quickly dissipated into the air, leaving Zhou Jiayu unable to determine what it was in time.
Ruan Yunjie seemed to not have smelled this, walking into the house and turning on the lights without missing a beat.
Several big bright lights shone in the living room, but it did not feel lively. Instead, the deathly white light shining on the dark-coloured sofa amplified the sort of terror that led people to lose their heads.
Zhou Jiayu rubbed the goosebumps on his arms. "Why's it so cold…"
Shen Yiqiong did not find it cold. He walked around the room with a thoughtful look on his face. "Hmm, this house's fengshui should be quite good."
From the placement of the furniture to the decorations' layout, all of it must have been looked over by someone of this field.
"Quite good?" Zhou Jiayu did not have much knowledge of these things and could only rely on his feelings. He whispered, "But this design style really feels uncomfortable."
The whole room had a dark palette. From the sofa to the floor, nearly everything leaned towards darker colours. At first glance, when he had just entered the room, Zhou Jiayu almost thought it was the deep dark of congealed blood. This illusion only went away when Ruan Yunjie turned on the lights.
"Mr Lin, please have a seat first," Rui-ge said. "Please sit, I’ll make you a cup of tea."
Lin Zhushui shook his head, rejecting Rui-ge's good intentions, and went straight for the second floor.
Ruan Yunjie followed nervously behind him.
After reaching the top of the stairs, he went to the master bedroom. Ruan Yunjie did not dare stop him, but judging from the look on her face, she was clearly worried.
The design of the second floor was similar to that of the first floor, the atmosphere wholly oppressive. Even with the lights on, it was still dusky. Who knew why Ruan Yunjie would have her house done in such a way.
Shen Yiqiong was much more knowledgeable than Zhou Jiayu, and he noticed that a lot of objects in Ruan Yunjie's residence were in accordance with fengshui. Only the position of the fish tank in the living room was calculated by the Nine Chambers Technique [2].
Lin Zhushui had little interest in these trivialities and went straight for Ruan Yunjie's bedroom.
Ruan Yunjie's bedroom had a large bed with crimson sheets, and the window curtains were crimson too. When the light shone on them, the red was blinding. Standing at the entrance, Zhou Jiayu's face was a little stiff. Shen Yiqiong asked him what's the matter.
Zhou Jiayu said, "You don’t see it?"
Shen Yiqiong said, "See what?"
Zhou Jiayu said, "The black smoke filling the room."
Shen Yiqiong looked around carefully but still did not see anything. This was the most frustrating part of this field of fengshui. Someone who acquired their skills after a decade of hard work cannot compare to a gifted novice. His aptitude for fengshui was already considered first-class, and yet there was nothing he could do in the face of someone like Zhou Jiayu, a genius so rare they might not appear every generation.
Lin Zhushui ignored the two muttering behind him and had already entered the room. He walked around it once, then pointed at the headboard and got Ruan Yunjie to open it.
Although Ruan Yunjie was hesitant, she did not dare to argue the matter. She slowly went to the bed's side and placed her hand on the headboard, pulling it off with one powerful move.
Crack! The headboard fell. Shen Yiqiong and Zhou Jiayu saw what was in the headboard and were both stunned.
Of them, Rui-ge's reaction was the largest. He immediately cursed and said, "Ruan Yunjie, are you fucking insane? You'll put something like this in the headboard?"
Ruan Yunjie did not make a sound. She hugged her arms, shivering.
Rui-ge said, "I really didn't expect this, Ruan Yunjie, this, will the average person be able to do this sort of thing?"
Placed in the headboard was a small, small glass jar, and in this jar floated an infant's corpse. From the size, it was at least three months old, already had a vaguely human shape, and its umbilical cord wound around it.
Next to the jar was an incense burner, and on it were several burnt out incense sticks.
Zhou Jiayu also noticed that, in the corner of the headboard, was a small metal doll. The doll was about as big as his thumb, blending into the background under the low light condition. The reason why Zhou Jiayu noticed it at first glance was because the black smoke around the area where the little doll sat was special. Faintly, very faintly, it appeared to take on the form of a small child.
"Whose child is this? Is it the one you told me you wanted to abort before?" Rui-ge's entire body was shaking with rage. He pointed at Ruan Yunjie's nose and scolded, "Did wanting fame turn you insane? You even managed to do this kind of thing?" Putting her own child in a jar to worship, even a layman like him could make some guesses.
Ruan Yunjie cried, "I simply didn't want to continue on like that. Wang Xinrui, don't you want me to be popular?"
Rui-ge clenched his teeth. "But you can't do things like this! Were you blind to the previous examples laid out before you?"
The entertainment industry fully believed in such things, so much that every time they began a shoot, they had to choose an auspicious day to begin, so much that they will pray. Most in the industry were very superstitious, praying to gods and worshipping Buddha were commonplace.
But as for what Ruan Yunjie had done – hiding away her own child's bones in her headboard – it was the first time Rui-ge had ever heard or seen something like this.
"I didn't have a choice, I didn't have any other options." Tears ran down Ruan Yunjie's face. "I like him, he's still so small, I want him but I can't have him…"
Rui-ge's eyes also started to fill with tears. He turned towards Lin Zhushui and said, "Mr Lin, that should be mine and Xiao-Jie's first child in the jar. Back then Xiao-Jie was not as popular, after she got pregnant she got ready to leave the entertainment industry. In the end, during her first trimester checkup, they found that the fetus's heart had stopped…"
Lin Zhushui listened, expressionless. Compared to the complicated faces Zhou Jiayu and Shen Yiqiong made, he seemed completely unmoved by this story, his expression could even be called apathetic.
"So you used this kind of method to keep the child?" Shen Yiqiong concluded [3]. "For so many years too?"
Ruan Yunjie had been popular for seven, eight years now. Following Rui-ge's present age, this had been going on for at least five years, maybe more.
"Xiao-Jie is in the wrong here." Rui-ge said bitterly, "Mr Lin… could you please… help us…"
Lin Zhushui said to Ruan Yunjie, "You really want to live?"
Is there anyone who didn’t want to live? Ruan Yunjie nodded vigorously, seeming close to dropping to her knees and begging.
Lin Zhushui added, "Even if the second half of your life is miserable beyond compare, and you will lose everything you have, do you still want to live?"
Ruan Yunjie bit her lower lip, hesitating. "I, I intend to retire next year…"
Lin Zhushui scoffed.
Rui-ge was more sober than Ruan Yunjie by a good amount, and hastily said, "Mr Lin, she's not in her right mind, I'll help her make the decision. Whatever you say, we will follow to the letter."
Lin Zhushui said, "First, find a cemetery and pick a day to bury the child."
Rui-ge nodded heavily.
Then, Lin Zhushui slowly walked up and picked up the metal doll in the corner.
Zhou Jiayu saw, clearly, black smoke erupting from the doll's body the moment Lin Zhushui picked it up and winding up along Lin Zhushui's arm, but before it passed his elbow, it seemed to hit something. In an instant, it lost all of its previous explosive energy and retreated back into the doll, as though startled.
This all happened extremely rapidly. Aside from Zhou Jiayu, no one else seemed to have seen it.
With doll in hand and a look of thinly-veiled disgust, Lin Zhushui took out a purple bag from his chest and placed the doll in it.
Ruan Yunjie watched Lin Zhushui's movements, her eyes not once moving away from Lin Zhushui's hands. Seeing Lin Zhushui place the doll into the bag, her lips twitched, as though she wanted to say something. Ultimately, she said nothing, her teeth digging into her lower lip.
"Change the colour palette of your house." Lin Zhushui said, "Change it to lighter colours, the lights as well."
"Yes yes yes, Mr Lin, is there anything else we need to do?" Rui-ge asked.
Lin Zhushui shook his head. "First find a cemetery and bury the child. Other matters can wait."
Rui-ge nodded and said yes.
As they talked, Ruan Yunjie whispered, "Mr Lin, does he really hate me?"
Lin Zhushui's words were cold as ice. "I'm not him, how should I know."
Ruan Yunjie smiled bitterly. "True…"
Because the house needed too many changes, they could not be done in one day. After picking up the thing in the headboard, Rui-ge arranged for them to stay at a nearby hotel.
In the taxi on the way to the hotel, Shen Yiqiong asked the question that had been bothering Zhou Jiayu, "Sir, what's that doll?"
Lin Zhushui answered with a question, "Zhou Jiayu, you saw it, right?"
Zhou Jiayu was taken aback for a moment, but quickly realised what Lin Zhushui was asking for. "Mr Lin's referring to the black smoke on the doll?"
Lin Zhushui said, "Yes."
Zhou Jiayu said, "What does that black smoke represent?"
"Resentment. The resentment her child feels towards her." Lin Zhushui casually added, "It's not done yet." With that, the car fell silent.
Understanding dawned on Shen Yiqiong.
Zhou Jiayu still did not understand some aspects of it, but he had a rough idea.
Ruan Yunjie got pregnant several years ago, but the child was ill and miscarried. She could not bear to throw that child away, so she kept the child's corpse in a glass jar. Afterwards, she apparently took a trip to Thailand and used some demonic method to keep the child's soul. Moreover, using this technique, her fortune skyrocketed and she became the famous celebrity she was now.
As Zhou Jiayu pondered this, he felt there was a problem somewhere in this story. He thought about it some more and finally found the hole in Ruan Yunjie's reasoning — if Ruan Yunjie really loved this child, how could she bear to keep his [4] soul here and prevent him from reincarnating, or even go as far as to seal the soul away in a strange metal puppet. Also, judging from her attitude when she learned the truth, she had full knowledge of this and had not been deceived by someone. And there was that piece of flayed skin from her belly…
Zhou Jiayu said to Ji Ba, "Is Ruan Yunjie lying?"
Ji Ba said, "You think she's lying?"
Zhou Jiayu said, "Yeah, I think her attitude is a little strange."
Ji Ba said, "People will deceive people, other things won't do so. Rather than taking her word for it, might as well see for yourself."
"Yeah." Zhou Jiayu nodded.
The three of them reached the hotel and quickly withdrew into their respective rooms to rest.
Zhou Jiayu was a little tired and laid on the bed, muddle-headed and ready to fall asleep, when suddenly a child's cries reached his ears. Initially he thought it was his imagination, but the cries got louder and louder, piercing and sharp, making Zhou Jiayu's head hurt. He crawled up from the bed, alarmed, and said, "Ji Ba, you hear that?"
Ji Ba said, "Crying?"
Zhou Jiayu said, "Yeah!"
Ji Ba said, "Where’s it coming from…"
Zhou Jiayu listened closely, his expression stiffening. "Seems like it’s coming from the room on the right…"
Ji Ba: "…"
The one staying in the room on the right, was Lin Zhushui.
Zhou Jiayu said, "Shocking news! Famous fengshui master Lin Zhushui gave birth in a hotel during the night…"
Ji Ba: "… Say that to Lin Zhushui's face if you have the guts."
Zhou Jiayu said righteously, "I don't have the guts."
Ji Ba: "…"
[1] 周姐 (zhou1jie3): jie usually means "older sister" but here it's used like Rui-ge's ge.
[2] 九宫之法 (jiu3gong1 zhi1 fa3): a method of deciding a room's layout by using a 3×3 grid.
[3] 品过味儿来了: this has been translated as "concluded" but if anybody knows what it means, please tell me. No amount of searching came up with an answer.
[4] The novel swings wildly between "he" and "it" when referring to the child. Here it even referred to the child as "she", though it is likely a mistake.