Chapter 6: A Mei Family Daughter Grows Up (Part 3)
“Auntie Zhao, are you home?” The girl’s voice was childish. Lu Li paused. “Uncle Gong said you have burn ointment.”
Did Village Head Gong send her? Lu Li hid the knife behind his back and opened the wooden door. As expected, a young girl, who looked like a middle school student, was standing at the entrance.
“Baili?” No, it wasn’t Baili. “There’s no Auntie Zhao here.” Lu Li rubbed his eyes. Perhaps because he had just woken up, his mind wasn’t clear, and he mistook this girl for An Baili.
“Doesn’t Auntie Zhao live here? Big brother… who are you?” The girl took a step back hesitantly. The world outside was pitch black, and she had come with a flashlight in hand. Before Lu Li could answer, he saw the girl staring at his neck. Confused, he looked down and saw the heart-shaped pendant hanging there. Who put it there? It wasn’t him…
“Do you recognize this?” Lu Li held up the pendant, his eyes filled with suspicion.
“Yes…” She nodded, then asked anxiously, “Anyway, big brother, do you have any burn ointment? My dad spilled boiling water on himself and he’s in so much pain that he can’t speak. Uncle Gong said you have some.”
This place is practically empty, where would I find burn ointment? As he was thinking, Lu Li suddenly saw a half-used tube of Jingwanhong ointment on the windowsill. Strange, how did that get there? Did he just not notice it before?
“Is this it?”
“I think so. I’ve never seen burn ointment before.” The girl scratched her head awkwardly. “Big brother, can you come to my house with me? I can’t take care of my dad by myself, and my mom went back to her parents’ house. Please.” The girl was very polite, her tone humble and sincere. Lu Li, thinking about how this little girl came asking for ointment in the middle of the night, couldn’t refuse and agreed.
The little girl shivered in the cold wind. She held the flashlight, illuminating the muddy path and weeds ahead. “Big brother, be careful, there are snakes in the grass at night.”
Lu Li looked back at Village Head Gong’s house and suddenly noticed that Zhaocai was gone. Wasn’t it supposed to be guarding the house?
Lu Li’s head throbbed. He thought it was the aftereffect of the nightmare and shook his head, not wanting to dwell on the unexplainable. He followed the little girl unsteadily.
The shadows of trees and withered grass on both sides of the path looked like ghosts. In the darkness, only the rustling sound of them pushing through the weeds could be heard. The small beam of light from the girl’s flashlight was like a tiny bean in the vast darkness, as if it could be swallowed up by the black tide at any moment. Lu Li asked, “Have you seen this… toy I’m wearing?”
The little girl walked carefully, her eyes fixed on the path, occasionally reminding Lu Li to watch out for stones. “Big brother, I have one just like it.”
Just like it? Lu Li paused. Perhaps it was just from the same batch.
“Where do you live?” Lu Li felt like they had been walking for too long. The icy darkness seeped into his bones, making his teeth chatter. Along the way, he passed several houses, some with lights on, a rare sight. Even streetlights started to appear. Hadn’t they reached her house yet?
“It’s just ahead, look, over there.” The little girl pointed, and Lu Li followed her direction, his expression freezing. Wasn’t that the old Mei residence?
“Isn’t that the old Mei residence? You live there?” Lu Li’s voice lowered, his footsteps unconsciously coming to a stop.
The little girl tilted her head in confusion. “Yes. Big brother, you know this place? I thought you were from out of town. I live in the old Mei residence.” Her tone was natural, without any hint of strangeness, as if living there was the most natural thing in the world.
“Big brother, hurry up, my dad must be in a lot of pain.” The little girl shook the flashlight in her hand. Lu Li looked back and saw the path they had taken swallowed by the weeds, faintly illuminated by the streetlights. His head throbbed even more, and his vision blurred for a moment. He vaguely heard the sound of a dog barking, but it seemed very far away, as if from another world.
His rational mind told him to call for help immediately. He reached for his phone, but his pocket was empty. His phone was gone.
The little girl urged him on, and Lu Li, pressing his hand against his temple, chose to follow her.
Village Head Gong had said that the old Mei residence had become a graveyard.
But the old Mei residence in front of him wasn’t like that at all. It was clean and tidy, the trees and weeds on both sides neatly trimmed. A red lantern hung by the door. A lantern? Who would hang a lantern in this day and age? Lu Li leaned closer to the door and saw bright lights inside. It was a typical rural house.
He heard a hissing sound, like someone sucking in air, coming from inside. He was about to ask, but his tongue felt numb and wouldn’t move. Clutching the ointment tightly, he entered the house and heard the little girl call out, “Dad, I borrowed the burn ointment.”
“Girl, hurry up, the water’s getting cold.” A middle-aged man’s voice.
Lu Li saw a man carrying a basin of water come out of the room. His pant legs were rolled up, and one of his feet was blistered and red. Every step he took made him wince and hiss in pain. Just as Lu Li was about to hand him the ointment, he heard a rumbling sound from outside. At first, it was faint and distant, but within seconds, it became deafening.
The terrifying noise made the three of them freeze. The middle-aged man asked, “Girl, what’s happening outside?”
“I don’t know…” the little girl said. “I didn’t hear anything like this when we came.”
She cautiously walked towards the door with the flashlight in hand. The next second, the plastic flashlight fell to the ground with a clatter, and the little girl screamed in terror, “Run!”
Before Lu Li could react, he saw a torrent of water, like a monstrous beast, engulfing the old house. Everything in his vision was swept away by the sudden flood. He had often heard about the frequent floods in Chuanhai decades ago, but he had never experienced one himself. The water of the Jinjiang River, carrying distant mountains, swallowing the Yangtze River, vast and boundless.
Water. Water. Water.
All he could see was the raging, churning water. Even the sturdy metal gate was swept away. The middle-aged man’s first instinct was to grab his daughter, but as soon as he reached out, he was swept away by the monstrous wave like a rag doll. Before he could even feel fear, Lu Li felt a powerful force strike him. In this life-or-death moment, he saw the little girl’s pendant being lifted by the current. It was a heart-shaped pendant with all four crystals intact.
He suddenly understood everything.
“Mei Jinliu!” he shouted.
The girl turned her head. Before he could see her expression clearly, Lu Li was swept away by the giant wave.
Year – 1982 – The Jinjiang River bursts its banks, causing a catastrophic flood in Chuanhai.
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