Step by step, she walked out of the hospital, moving forward with her bare feet stepping on the ground. The light of the street lamps shone on her face, making her seem paler than usual.
Then, she stopped and raised her head to gaze at the starry sky ahead. The stars were reflected in her empty eyes.
She opened her mouth, but nothing came out except her breath. She did not even feel like talking.
She kept walking ahead, her thin body swaying in the dark, but she did not pause in her steps at all. The hospital gown that she was wearing was so thin and transparent. A chilly breeze blew past occasionally and ruffled her hair, making the messy strands fly up and down, again and again.
The breeze blew into her gown, but she felt nothing. It barely brushed across her cold eyes, under her long eyelashes. She was still moving forward as the breeze blew on her, as if the breeze was dragging her body along to move forward.
Meanwhile, it appeared like she was not walking, but floating in the air like a wandering spirit instead. Some men who harbored malicious intentions whistled at her.
“Hey, bro! Let’s have some fun!”
“Yeah.” The other man smiled obscenely and said, “She’s out alone while wearing such revealing clothes in the middle of the night. She doesn’t really look like a proper woman to me.”
“If she isn’t a proper woman, then what is she?” Another person grinned and asked.
“She must be a female ghost.”
Those men, who were dressed roguishly, burst into laughter as the words settled. It was exceptionally ear-piercing in this peaceful night.
Of course, these men trailed behind the woman while whistling, planning to have some fun with her later.
However, they started to feel weird as they followed her further and further away. They could feel a gloomy and cold wind blowing on them continuously.
“Boss, I’m scared.” A man with a crew cut trembled, almost tucking his chin into his neck.
“What are you afraid of?” the boss snapped as he gave him a slap. What a loser! “She’s just a woman, what is there to be afraid of? This is a nice unpopulated place, which is a great place for us to do something.”
“But… You see…” The man with the crew cut reached out and pointed straight in front of him. “Boss, she’s really a female ghost!”
Someone let out a horrible shriek. The three words: ‘Sea River Cemetery’ came into view, under the eerie lighting.
Cemetery, graveyard, graveyard?
Right at this moment, the woman turned around as she heard the shriek. The wind blew her hair to the front of her face, blocking her face from their sight.
“Ah! Ghost!”
“Help, there’s a ghost!”
“Mommy, I want my mommy!”
The few of them were almost rolling and crawling while retreating out of this cursed place.
The moon cast a pale light onto the ground, and the moonlight dusted itself on the thinly clad woman. Again the wind blew, blowing off the hair on her face, revealing a pale face. Then, she turned around and walked into the cemetery.
There was still no shoes on her feet, yet she did not feel cold or pain as she stepped barefoot on the ground.
She walked along the gravel path, as though she was looking for something, but she could not find it. When she finally stopped, she kept her gaze fixed in front of her before walking over.
Right in front of her was a tombstone. It looked new, seemingly set up just a few days ago, as the surface was smooth and flat. The photo on the gravestone was faintly visible, it was a man who was still very young.
It was such a pity that he had died at such a young age.
She walked ahead and stood in front of the gravestone. She then reached out and wrapped her arms around the tombstone.
Husband Lu Yi, I’m here. She sat down and pressed her face on the cold gravestone, as if it was the only way for her to get closer with him.
She curled her body up into a ball beside the gravestone, with her arms still wrapped firmly around it. “There’s this Chinese legend about Liang Shanbo. Apparently, his grave blasted open out of a sudden and his lover, Zhu Yingtai, jumped inside without hesitation.”
“Why don’t you do so? I will jump inside as well. It’s okay even if we will turn into butterflies like they did in the legend. I don’t want to be separated from you. We didn’t have the opportunity to be together in our past life, but in this life, we are destined to be together. Despite that, it didn’t last long. Tell me, why is this so?”
“I’m sorry… It’s my fault.” She closed her eyes as tears rolled down her cheeks. “You told me not to go out, but I went out without heeding your warning. You told me that I shouldn’t have said it, but I did.”
“I should’ve believed, I should’ve believed it. Is it because of me knowing too much and changing fate too much that karma took you away in exchange?”
“But this is obviously my fault, not yours. What should I do? What should I do to get you back?”
She started to knock her head on the gravestone, again and again. The only thing she got from that action was pain and dizziness, instead of his familiar warmth.
His wide palms, his familiar body temperature, and the smell of freshly-washed cotton that always came with his presence was no longer here.
She pressed her face on the gravestone. All of a sudden, lightning flashed through the sky, followed by a roar of thunder. In spite of that, she remained motionless.
“You’ve promised me that you’ll let me die before you, so that I won’t have to suffer the agony of being apart from you.”
“You didn’t keep your promise.”
“You’ve promised me that you’ll arrange to bury our ashes together after I die.”
“You failed to do this too.”
“Why? Because you didn’t even leave single a bone behind.”
“You’ve promised that you’ll protect me forever, until the day you are no longer capable of doing so.”
“And you didn’t do it either.”
“Lu Yi, you are a liar, liar, liar…”
Again, the thunder roared, mingled with the sound of her crying herself hoarse.
“You are a liar!” She smashed her hands hard against the gravestone over and over, so hard that her hands were almost battered to a pulp.
“Lu Yi, I hate you. I hate you…”
Large raindrops began to fall again, pattering on her body. She could feel a blunt stinging sensation all over her body as she was pummeled by the rain, but the pain was nothing compared to the agony and bitter disappointment in her broken heart.
If this was the case, she would rather let them drain her of all her blood than suffer the agony of being apart forever.
Her shoulders trembled occasionally. She rolled her thinly clad body into a ball beside the gravestone, but her arms were still tightly around the gravestone.
The rain continued to pour. This autumn rain seemed to have brought back the torrential downpour on that day, but the Sea River was still calm and peaceful, as though nothing much had changed in everyone’s lives. However, the whole world was turned upside down for some of them, and they had to live with that sorrow for the rest of their lives.
Lei Qingyi was sleeping soundly. Suddenly, the mobile phone that was sitting on the table next to him began to ring loudly.
He sat bolt upright in bed and grabbed his phone hurriedly. His phone was reachable 24/7, and it must be an emergency matter for someone to call him at this hour.
