Chapter 103: Ji Taimei

“I won’t get married, I won’t get married, please… don’t leave us…”

Hearing the woman’s sobs coming from the opposite terminal, Ji Taimei’s eyebrow twitched slightly, and he couldn’t help but curse inwardly: “Born again.”

What kind of crap is this—going online and stumbling upon a player and a sea king? Ji Taimei pulled his hand off the mouse, feigned reaching for a drink, and walked past the terminal from which the voice came, sneaking a glance at the guy sitting on the chair.

“He’s not even good-looking…” Ji Taimei frowned, pulled a bottle of toilet bowl cleaner from the fridge, hissed as he yanked open the tab, and took a sip with a heavy heart. He wondered if girls now liked the homeless look.

Watching the bearded guy hang up his call and sit down to play a game, Ji Taimei was utterly baffled—then his own phone rang.

The caller ID showed it was his mother.

Ji Taimei sighed, walked outside the internet cafe, leaned against the doorframe, and answered: “Hello, Mom? What’s up? No… I’m not sneaking online, I really isn’t—I’m at a classmate’s house doing homework with him, really, if you don’t believe me, check when I get back…”

“Just say I’m not at the internet cafe… What did you say?”

Ji Taimei was about to lie again when he heard a muffled, stifled sob from the other end of the line—his heart lurched. “Mom, what’s wrong? I… I’m at the internet cafe, okay? Don’t cry, pregnant women shouldn’t have extreme emotions, it’s bad for your health. I’m going home right now, I’m coming home, immediately.”

“No, absolutely don’t come home!” The woman on the line sobbed louder, her voice bordering on hysterical. “Don’t come home, don’t you dare come home, do you understand? Don’t come looking for Mom… Waaah, Taimei, you have to hide, run far away, wait until dark, then go to Grandma’s house in the suburbs, protect your sister…”

“Mom, what are you talking about?” Ji Taimei was completely lost, pressing urgently: “What happened at home? Why can’t I come back? Where’s Dad? Say something, Mom, what’s going on?”

“Don’t ask. Don’t come home, absolutely don’t come home…” The woman’s voice on the speaker gradually steadied, her sobs subsiding into calmness. “Go to the western station in Yundu City. I’ve left something for you in the third mailbox counting from north to south. Take what’s inside, go find your sister outside the city, and never come back.”

“Never come back! Or even as a ghost, I won’t forgive you!”

The call ended.

Ji Taimei tried redialing his mother’s number several times, but none went through. His heart was in a frenzy—he longed to rush home and see for himself whether she was all right—but reason told him not to. His mother was an extremely strong-willed woman; the tone in her voice meant that if he disobeyed, she might do something reckless.

“Damn it!”

Ji Taimei shoved his phone into his pocket, drained the cola from the can, walked to the front desk to settle his bill. The previous guy was still glued to his screen, gunfire and explosions booming from the speakers beneath the monitor, his focus on the game absolute.

Human sorrows don’t connect. All he felt now was noise.

Ji Taimei took back his unused internet fee from the attendant, threw on his coat, and hurried out, hailing a ride via a ride-hailing app to the western suburb station.

Minutes later, the car arrived. Ji Taimei got into the front passenger seat and said bluntly: “Driver, western suburb station.” The car pulled away from the alley where the small internet cafe hid.

The front desk attendant leaned out curiously, watching the car’s receding silhouette, muttering: “In such a hurry—what happened at his place?”

The attendant watched the car turn a corner and vanish from sight, then sat back down.

Neither he nor Ji Taimei noticed that the man who had been silently shooting on the screen had vanished sometime earlier.

“Driver, hurry, please go as fast as you can.” In the car, Ji Taimei urged anxiously.

The driver was young, no more than thirty, still wearing a dark blue security guard uniform—likely a neighborhood guard working a side job. Ji Taimei couldn’t help but worry about his driving. But his fears proved unfounded: the driver’s skill was unparalleled—he floored the accelerator, spun the steering wheel with uncanny precision, skidded through intersections on the final seconds of green lights, the entire car gliding like a feather skimming the ground, slicing effortlessly through Yundu’s bustling streets.

Before dusk fell, he dropped Ji Taimei off at the entrance to the western suburb station.

“Thank you so much! Brother, you’re literally Fujiwara Takuha’s dad!” Ji Taimei paid generously, thanked profusely, and sprinted toward the station.

The sky darkened. A golden sun slowly sank into the waters of Yunmeng Lake, painting the sky of Yundu City with a layer of rouge called twilight. The heavily adorned clouds drifted overhead, swirling and ethereal, stirring Ji Taimei’s thoughts into chaos.

He couldn’t stop wondering: what did his mother mean by those words on the phone? What had happened at home? Why had no one answered when he tried calling his father several times during the ride?

No one could answer his questions. Ji Taimei, panting, rushed into the western suburb station and carefully found the third mailbox counting from north to south.

The mailbox was empty. In modern society, hardly anyone used physical mail anymore. These mailboxes in the old district station held more symbolic than practical value—used mostly for official civil service appointments, university acceptance letters, and death notifications for soldiers.

Ji Taimei opened the mailbox. Inside the hollow metal box lay a pure white envelope, sealed with red wax, its lower right corner written: 【For My Beloved Son】.

He tore open the envelope. Inside was a delicate sheet of paper adorned with faint pink cherry blossom patterns—he knew his mother loved cherry blossoms.

At the top of the paper, in neat handwriting, were these words:

“When you read this letter, Mom may already be dead.”

=9+Book_Ba

“Don’t grieve for my death. You must survive. ‘They’ have found us. They are the most terrifying things in the world—more cruel than beasts, more vicious than ghosts, more cunning than any schemer you can imagine.”

“Don’t come home. Don’t try to find Mom. The moment you picked up this letter, ‘They’ may already be watching you.”

“Go to the suburbs. Take the last bus at ten p.m. to Grandma’s house. Only there will you have a chance to live.”

“After you get off at the suburban station, walk along the path outside the village to Grandma’s. Remember to read the notes on the back of this letter—better yet, memorize them all. They will protect you.”

“Mom loves you.”

An inexplicable ache rose into Ji Taimei’s nasal cavity. He flipped the letter over. On the back were several lines of neat handwriting—but unlike the script on the front, these were printed in standard Songti font.

【1. After stepping onto that path, you must walk forward—never look back.】

【2. While walking the path, you will hear two footsteps: one is yours, one is its. Don’t be afraid—it will protect you.】

【3. If you hear only one set of footsteps, stop where you are. Do not move until its footsteps return behind you.】

【4. On the way into the village, you will encounter a Tudimiao. Light three incense sticks for the Earth God. The incense can be found under the bricks beside the small temple, inside a red plastic bag. Remember: red plastic bag. If you see any other color, abandon the incense and leave immediately.】

【5. If someone calls your name after entering the village, answer with your father’s name—never use your own.】

【6. Keep this letter with you at all times. Don’t lose it. Once you reach Grandma’s house, read it again…】

(End of Chapter)