Cyber Ghosts

Chapter 203 Relief
“Where are we going?” Xiao Hong was driving. It was clear that Hao Ning did not want to have a drink but had a release of his boredom. So, Xiao Hong planned to take him to someplace far away.

Hao Ning was in a daze to look at the scenery in the front and his mind came back after Xiao Hong had asked him several times. He sighed: “Could you take me to Chang’an?”

“Where?” Xiao Hong thought he misheard something, “which district in S city?”

“Not in S city, it’s in the old capital Chang’an in Qin Province,” Hao Ning explained, “it’s thousands of miles away. Please take me there by your fire power.”

“For what?” Xiao Hong felt strange. Chang’an was the old capital for 13 dynasties and it was absolutely a good site to travel. But now Hao Ning felt upset and it so was weird to go to the distant place just for the release of boredom.

Hao Ning lowered his head and did not look at Xiao Hong: “That’s my hometown, and there is the tomb of my younger brother.”

Xiao Hong got it. He stopped the car at the roadside and turned back to look at Hao Ning. But he found that Hao Ning’s face was covered with tears.

“Brother Hao Ning…” Xiao Hong felt a little confused, “you have said that your younger brother was dead when you were born, so you might have not a deep relationship with your brother…”

Hao Ning knew that what Xiao Hong was thinking about. He thought that Xiao Hong was right. He had not lived together with his brother for even one day and did not felt sorry for that for 25 years, and he felt nothing when Yan told him that he had a younger brother who was not born but now he did not know why he felt so upset about that.

“I know what you mean, but I did not know why,” Hao Ning wiped his tears, “maybe it’s because it was I that made my younger brother do not get born. Maybe it’s because I saw the soul of my younger brother in the nether world; maybe it’s because I had occupied the body of my younger brother for 25 years, but I did nothing for him; maybe there are some other reasons I don’t know. But I can’t explain why I feel so upset logically. I don’t know. I just know that I got so confused when I knew something in the nether world.”

At present, Hao Ning looked at Xiao Hong and asked seriously: “I thought I could lend the art because of the death of my younger brother, but now the reason for the death of my brother is that I can lend the art? Could you tell me which the cause is, and which is the effect, my power and his death?”

“Ah, I have no idea,” Xiao Hong signed, “I could understand the core principle of space-time by Avalokitesvara, but now I can understand its words—ordinary people fear the effect while Avalokitesvara fears the cause…”

“Yes. I did not understand but now I do,” Hao Ning wiped his tears again and gave a reluctant smile to Xiao Hong, “it is too late to seek the cause once the effect comes into being.”

“Don’t smile,” Xiao Hong felt upset, “Let’s go.”

With a red light flashing, Xiao Hong and Hao Ning arrived at the deserted graveyard. There was no sunshine even in day time due to the heavy haze in the sky.

It was evident that the custom of on-ground burial was reserved here. A stone tablet stood on each grave and some words were carved on it.

“Which one is your younger brother’s tomb?” Xiao Hong walked around quickly and found that those words were mainly husband and wife and parents, such as Strict Father XXX and Loving Mother XXX. However, he did not find the stone tablet of Hao Ning’s younger brother.

“Here.” Hao Ning pointed at the small hillock beside a big tomb. The tomb of his younger brother was built by some broken bricks and stones without any words. One would not notice it and believe those bricks and stones were the waste for tomb building left by others if he did not look clearly.

“This one? You mean this is a tomb?” Xiao Hong felt strange, “why is there a stone tablet like other tombs? It is due to the lack of money? Or I can help to repair the grave of your younger brother—”

“No,” Hao Ning sat on the ground causally and did not care dirty soil and thatch, “the custom in my hometown is that only adult can set a stone tablet and little hillock is used for kids. And my younger brother was dead before birth. He would not be buried seriously without my mom’s strong urge.”

Xiao Hong understood when Hao Ning explained. Nowadays people did not care much about that. Dead infant after birth would be neglected by people because people always paid much attention to comforting the pregnant woman and worrying that she would conduct suicide.

“In my childhood, at Tomb-Sweeping Day, my mom would take me to the grave in advance to sweep the tomb of my ancestors—” Hao Ning pointed at some graves on the right side, “my mom would always tell me that that grave was my younger male cousin who was in a very close relationship with me.”

Hao Ning mocked himself, “I was confused at that time so I asked my mom how close the relationship was between us because I even did not know him.”

“My mom just sighed and sometimes wiped her tears,” Hao Ning added, “she told me that I just need to know this, and it was my grandmother that did not let her tell me the truth. My grandmother banned this issue in the family.”

“Your grandmother may know much more about this kind of issue.” Xiao Hong sighed, “she was just worried that the ominous thing might affect you badly.”

“I always just have a quick glimpse at the tomb without much feeling,” Hao Ning looked at the tomb and felt upset generally, “but Xiao Hong, I now understand. My body is not my soul and is borrowed, borrowed! From whom? From my younger brother! It was I that snatched the body of my brother! And He could not be reincarnated in a new body because of me! All blame to me!”

Hao Ning turned to look at Xiao Hong with his red eyes dripping two lines of tears, “do you think if I am the sinner? I have no reason to live in this world. I am unqualified to give advice to others. I am so shameful to have the ability to lend art. My body was borrowed! Do you think whether I should fall down into hell?”

“Hao Ning, Hao Ning—” Xiao Hong looked at Hao Ning and knew that he was so uneasy. Xiao Hong scratched the shoulder of Hao Ning and said: “NO, NO, you are wrong—”

Xiao Hong got panic. He thought that he was good at fight and revenge but not persuasion, especially to those people in mental unease like Hao Ning. Previously he was just a decorative background behind the Avalokitesvara when the Avalokitesvara persuaded ordinary people and help them live through pains. Though he learned that for a long time, but he remembered nothing. It was no wonder that Xiao Hong at present felt blank when persuading Hao Ning.

“Ummm, dead people cannot revive—no, not suitable,” Xiao Hong tried to recall the persuasion method of Avalokitesvara, “how about try this? Destiny is regulated by heaven. Your brother suffers a lot in this life, but he will be happy and rich in his next life after he is reincarnated in a new body!”

Hao Ning wailed after he heard Xiao Hong’s words: “but my younger brother can’t be reincarnated in a new body!”

Hao Ning fainted with his rolling eyes after he said those words.

“NO!” Xiao Hong got panic and the persuasion method by Avalokitesvara was not fit in this situation. He clutched the philtrum of Hao Ning. It was clear that Hao Ning’s mind was hurt, and it would be terrible if the situation was not ceased.

Xiao Hong was at a loss and suddenly he thought of a good thing. He took a book from his pocket. The book was a classic thread-bound book without many pages. It seemed that the book was so valuable by Xiao Hong’s gesture when holding the book.

Xiao Hong opened the book and the front page read Heart Sutra.

“Bro Hao Ning, listen to me,” Xiao Hong quickly turned the pages and said, “the sutra was written by Avalokitesvara with immense powers. There was only one piece of the book in this world and it was good for the use of calming mind: Avalokitesvara, bla bla bla bla…”

“Ah!” Xiao Hong just said the two sentences, and suddenly a very loud voice shouted, “who read aloud the treasure in the day time?”

At this moment, a man came out of the grave. Xiao Hong found that it was a strange young man who was strange with his hands holding several strings of mutton shashlik. He took a Chinese hamburger in this right hand and a plastic bag which was written with the words Dough of Lao Sun.”

It is unclear that if he took those things to visit the grave of somebody or stole and ate oblation of others.

“Who are you!” Xiao Hong thought that man was definitely not an ordinary person with his sudden appearance from nowhere. But judging from his behavior, he was unlikely to be an immortal. Xiao Hong squinted her eyes and asked, “what the hell are you?”

Hao Ning felt cozy after he heard of those lection words. He turned back and got shocked. His surprised face turned to be happy from sadness and finally, he laughed, “Yan! You are Yan, right?”

“How do you know my name?” That man was strange, “who are you?”

“Are you Yan who is responsible for the position of Impermanence?” Hao Ning felt a sort of excited and He believed that a man who could fly into the sky and fall down to the ground, must be Yan rather than Niu and Ma. He got even more excited and scratched Yan’s shoulder to shake, “you are Yan, the man who can go to the hell and go back to the world, right?”

“Ah…right, right!” Yen felt astonished by Hao Ning’s behavior. Yan was about to escape when Hao Ning grabbed him, but he could not do it from any direction because Hao Ning embraced him from all directions. When he planned to escape under the ground, he found that the man who held sutra had the utmost energy of the world and he could not escape. Now Yan felt his body would be fell apart by Hao Ning’s shake. He said nervously, “I am Yan. I am the Yan who is in the position of Impermanence. Stop shaking me! My several strings of mutton shashlik almost fell down to the ground!”

One piece of mutton fell down to the ground. He felt it a pity. He found those two people had great powers that were superior to himself, but he wanted not to surrender: “You are powerful, but you need to compensate my mutton!”

“Fine, fine, fine,” Hao Ning felt so happy but grunted, “compensate? Shit! Why you find me so late?”

“Find you?” Yan was eating the rest of the mutton and looked at Hao Ning, “who are you? Why should I find you? Um…because you have mutton shashlik?”

“I have Mutton and Bread Pieces in Soup too!” Hao Ning felt angry and punched Yan, “I am Hao Ning! You have not found me since you returned from the mirror. Don’t you remember?”

“Hao Ning?” Yan was so astonished that his mutton fell down to the ground, “you are the Hao Ning who went to the hell?”

“Em…” Hao Ning held Yan again excitedly, “you know me! You know me!”

“You are wrong. I am not that Yan!” Yan pointed out his finger and the Mutton and Bread Pieces in Soup, mutton shashlik and dough all vanished, and then Yan wiped his mouth with a laugh. He reached his hands and wanted to shake hands with Hao Ning. Hao Ning felt disgusting and stepped back. Yan wiped his hands by his clothes laughingly and said, “I am not that Yan.”

“Em?” Hao Ning looked at Yan strangely, “you are not Yan who is in the position Impermanence?”

“I am the Yan with the position Impermanence, but I am not the Yan with the position Impermanence you met before. Oh god! What am I talking about?” Yan felt so confused and then explained, “since you went to hell, you have been famous. All are thinking about why that happened. Finally, the Yan in the position Impermanence thought there was only one Impermanence who was responsible for soul-grabbing in the land of the Celestial Empire so that the land was divided into several parts. He was responsible for the part of Great China, and the detailed issues were charged by Yan in each sub-part. I was responsible for the great northwest region for soul-grabbing, and there were some Yens in the next level region. The Yan in the upper side would get a bonus if the Yan in the lower side grabbed one soul—”

“All right, I got it,” Hao Ning remembered that Yan had said that he was responsible for the soul-grabbing in Great China. The Yan he met was the head of the group. But where did this Yan learn the system of soul-grabbing with bonus? It was like a pyramid system.

Hao Ning had no time to think of those details and asked directly, “where is he?”

“He…” Yan frowned, “I have no idea. Last time he backed and seemed to be wounded. He seemed to be checking something after self-cultivation. But I had no much connection with him and that’s all I know.”

“OK…” Hao Ning felt disappointed and looked at Yan. It seemed that Yan did not recover well from Hao Ning’s house. The things he checked might have something to do with the soul. Hao Ning asked, “you two looked so similar. Last time I came back, Xiao Niu or Xiao Ma told me that if one Yan in the nether world knew, all Yans knew. But now you all are not so familiar?”

“People will change, so does Yan. Although we two look similar we have different personalities,” Yan found that Hao Ning was a little bit upset and added, “since the power of body division had got some trouble, we had tried to get integrated, but we found later that we were getting more different as time went by. Though we have the same face we have our own roads respectively. Each Yan is independent and there is no way to come back. Finally, we received the reality that we have the same face but different identities. No one should be responsible and worried about others. The same face should be fixed in cause and effect.”

“But you…” Hao Ning felt still confused, “do you not derive from one Yan?” Hao Ning added, “though the body division has some trouble, you must come from one Yan!”

“So what? In this world, trouble will come when you always care about the past and it is meaningless!” Yan smiled, “children are born by their parents and children should be the same with their parents? Even siblings and twins, no one should live by whom?”

Hao Ning was astonished by Yan’s words and was in a daze without any word.