Psycho Chapter 15

Chapter 15, Accident

Dusk, as the sun goes down. The hills in the distance and the tops of the trees were all dyed golden. The earth, on the other hand, carried a subtle bluish tint under the cool breeze, just like a young woman whose face was hidden beneath a thin mesh.

Ye Zi woke up. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, saying, “You're still here?”

Hare raised his hand over, brushing off the weeds on Ye Zi's hair and the flower petals on his shoulder while he frowned at him. “Yeah. Did you sleep well?”

Ye Zi recalled the time when they were at the movies. He had also fallen asleep next to him. Even though he was clearly the older one, it felt like he was the one being taken care of instead. How embarrassing.

Taking out his phone, he suddenly recalled Hare's message. He asked, “Tell me about Zhang Shuyi. Why do you want her dead?”

Zhang Shuyi. That was the name of the old woman Hare wanted to kill.

Hare looked at the sparkling water of the pond and said, “She used to work at our house as a maid and she always looked down on my mother. She had a problem with her background…She used to sell her body and only joined the household because she got pregnant. She didn't think my mother was worthy of being the head of the household. she actually put slow-acting poison into my mother's water when I was still a boy. She fell ill and things just snowballed from there. She nearly died!”

“…”

“After that happened, my dad never punished her. She just kicked her out of the house. But I never thought it was enough. Because of what she did, my mother's body grew weaker and weaker, to the point where she can't even go out to see her friends anymore. All she could do was stay at home all day, lying around in a forgotten place, all the while putting up with my father fooling around with other women outside. What's the point…This is all that old woman's fault, and that's why I want revenge.”

Ye Zhi looked through his message and said, “Doesn't she live around here?”

“Yeah.”

“Come on. Let's go take a look.”

Hare was surprised. “Ah Zi, are you going to do it?”

Ye Zi clicked his tongue. “Only a fool would do that. I'm not interested in your little revenge thing at all, but it's not like I want to go back to school right now either. Bet my place is gonna be haunted right now as well so that's a definite no. Might as well do something to pass the time.”

That's right. Hare gave him the right to choose, and only a fool would choose to kill.

He didn't want to kill anyone anymore.

Not ever.

Flocks of birds fluttered overhead under the deep orange glow. The leaves were rustling and all sorts of wildflowers were blooming on the overgrown field, one layer after another.

As Ye Zi walked forward, Hare followed behind him.

Both their hair and clothes fluttered lightly against the wind.

He sort of wanted to turn around and complain to Hare about how slowly he was walking. Obviously, he was the one who had a better idea of where that old woman's living. Ye Zi turned around to face Hare and was just about to spit out a few words to him.

But as soon as he saw him, all the words instantly disappeared from his mind.

Ye Zi's head began to hurt again, and his brows were lightly furrowed.

Then, he heard the cicadas calling. Buzz, buzz, the sound bombarded him from the right.

Just a short distance away, Hare who was dressed in his white long-sleeved shirt shrunk in an instant, and his figure grew far.

The image was constantly buzzing, riddled with distortions like an old film. Hazy, and noisy.

Standing there in the distance was a boy about five years in age, wearing a pair of navy blue overalls over his long-sleeved shirt and his little leather boots, staring at him. Underneath the sunlight, he saw his soft fluttering hair, glowing like splendid gold.

The intermittent images showed the boy coming closer. Step after step.

He opened his mouth and called out to him.

“Ah Zi.”

“Ah Zi.”

“Ah Zi, let's play together, okay?”

…

Ye Zi suddenly shut his eyes.

Hare realized that something wasn't quite right and he asked with concern, “Are you okay? Is your body not feeling well?”

Ye Zi rubbed his temples and shook his head, continuing forward.

But Hare took his arm and said, “Be careful. There's a puddle ahead.”

As soon as he saw the puddle, the sounds of the cicadas began to ring in his ears again. His head hurt. That image was coming back again—

“Ah Zi.”

“Play with me, okay?”

A familiar voice of a child emerged. It was the voice Ye Zi used to have. “You're so annoying! Stop following me!”

Then, the boy was pushed away. He fell backwards a few steps and his little boots slipped, causing him to fall messily onto the puddle. The muddy water splashed upwards, dirtying his expensive denim overalls, his pretty white shirt, and his little bow tie.

He sat there in the mud, staring at him pitifully.

He had big eyes with long lashes, just like a doll. And at that moment, he suddenly frowned with his lips pressed downwards. His entire body was shaking. Soon, his eyes turned red and tears began to fall.

He was crying.

It was such a messy sight, and the boy could hardly catch his breath.

Crying, he shouted, “Ah Zi, Ah Zi, Ah Zi, Ah Zi, Ah Zi…”

Right there, reflected in his tearful eyes was his own figure. His own face.

The surface of the puddle gradually stilled, reflecting the blue sky above and the white clouds.

He cried in the blue skies…

While crying, he continued to call out to him. Ah Zi.*

…

……

“Ah Zi? Ah Zi?” Hare had to shake Ye Zi a few times before he came back to his senses.

“What happened to you? Your face looks terrible. Why don't we go back after all?”

Ye Zi was silent for a few moments. Everything he saw earlier seemed to grow hazy as if it was all just a dream.

He shook his head and continued walking on.

Soon, a few cottages came into view.

Hare led the way and stopped right in front of a two-storied stone house.

The iron gates were wide open, and a group of men were playing a lively game of mahjong inside of the house. An old woman sat on the door threshold, busy with pealing her beans while a rural dog lay by her side, basking under the sun with its tongue sticking out.

The old woman looked even older than the picture.

She was clearly only in her sixties but she looked like she was eighty. Her hair was all white and her skin was sagging and thin. She had a hunched back and wore a pair of thick glasses.

Ye Zi really couldn't understand it. Did he really have to kill an old woman who's already dying?

It looked tough enough for her, just staying alive.

Ye Zi wasn't planning to do anything at all, but he must have been smitten by the view here. After that, he would often revisit the place after his meals at school, reading under the setting sun and taking a quick nap. Then, he would take the last bus back to school. It was pretty nice.

He would often see the old woman. In fact, he was similar to the old woman in certain aspects.

The old woman would often come with her dog to the river while hobbling over on her cane until the sun went down. At times like these, he would often be reading just a short distance away from the old woman. He could see the old woman's rickety back as soon as he raised his head.

The old woman didn't seem to be doing so well. Once, he saw her being dragged back by a man after sitting down there for just a short while, and he would even be scolding her while he dragged her, calling her a useless good-for-nothing who only knew how to play around. Every so often, he could see someone talking to her, and quite obviously, he could see how happy she was about it. Unfortunately, those people would leave soon after. Since she could barely hear, her conversations with those people never went anywhere. She was very fond of the child next door, and she would often bring her oranges. That child would also play with her dog often…

In any case, this old woman looked kind and pitiful no matter how he looked at it. It was hard to even imagine her ever trying to poison anyone.

Unknowingly, Ye Zi felt that he had become an old friend of this woman.

No matter what, he wanted to have a talk to her at least once. Talking about that young man who often bullied her, about her past, Hare's house, and so on. If possible, he would want to try and help her.

He sat down by the old woman's side and greeted the woman affectionately.

It was a mundane way to start a conversation. “Hello, the weather's pretty good today.”

He spoke beside the old woman for about five or six minutes before the woman turned around to look at him as if she had just woken up from a dream. Doubt was written all over her wrinkled face, and then, with dry, trembling hands, she took off her thick reading glasses.

The light brown dog wagged its tail beside her and continued to sleep.

But Ye Zi's heart sank the instant he met her eyes.

The old woman stared at Ye Zi with wide eyes, her face spelling panic. Then, she stuck out an unsightly finger on her trembling hands, pointing at Ye Zi with her mouth wide. Stuttering, she howled, “You…You…You…”

She did not leave, but she fell over, rolling down the grass, constantly rolling and rolling until she tumbled into the river…

The water splashed up high while the dog barked in a frenzy.

Ye Zi stared at his hands in disbelief. He pushed her. He actually pushed her down just now.

He ran over and wanted to pull her out.

But the river was already dyed red with blood. The old woman just happened to hit her head on one of the sharp rocks in the river and blood was constantly flowing out from her wound. She died with her bloodshot eyes wide open, but her breath was no longer there.

God…

What the hell just happened…?

Why…

Why did this happen?!

It was an accident…It's just an accident…

He didn't want to kill anyone, but why did that happen ??!!!

The dog was still barking, but it was knocked unconscious by Ye Zi. He quickly jogged off, breaking out into a sprint. He was running. Running for his life.

Dark clouds gathered in the sky as the world grew dim. A prelude to a heavy rain.

The cold wind whistled past as dried leaves fell from the trees. Ye Zi felt like he was walling into a trap. Like a spiral hole, he kept falling and falling without end.

He didn't know how long he had been running for, but someone caught him and stopped him.

It was Hare.

Large droplets of rainwater fell down from the skies, and soon, it was pouring.

Hare pushed Ye Zi towards the hard trunk of a tree and kept saying to him, “Calm down, Ah Zi! Calm down!”

Ye Zi kept shaking his head. He had already lost himself. “I didn't do it on purpose…I didn't want to…I…What do I do…What do I do…I just wanted to talk to her…I…”

Hare did not say anything else. He just held Ye Zi tightly in his arms.

The heartbeats of the two of them overlapped.

The rain grew heavier and heavier, pelting down brutally at all the beings under it. Pitter-patter, pitter-patter…like it could just destroy everything.

When Hare let go of him, the two of them were sitting underneath the tree.

The rain had subsided considerably, but he had long forgotten how he even managed to sit down.

Hare kept wiping off Ye Zi's chin with his cold hand. Then, gently, he cupped his face.

Ye Zi finally looked at Hare.

Hare was completely drenched in the rain, and he looked like a sorry sight.

His messy hair was plastered against his forehead and chin, and the wetness caused the strands to look like a much darker brown than usual. droplets of rain hung off his lashes and there was a light tint of purple on his lips while his skin looked pale.

The colors of his irises were the same light shade as usual, but at that moment, his dilated pupils looked deep. Deep inside his eyes were a cluster of images, all of Ye Zi's face. A face that was just as sorry as his own.

His eyes kept moving down, lower and lower, until it finally stopped.

Right there on Ye Zi's lips.

Ye Zi's heart was beating madly as he gulped.

Hare tightened his hold on his cheeks and his breathing grew hot as his pupils dilated once more. Then, carefully, he moved closer to him.

But Ye Zi's head was throbbing with pain, especially when he saw the other man's eyes. It reminded him of that child crying on that puddle.

It almost seemed like someone was warning him inside his mind, chastising him. “Don't let him get any closer to you! He just wants someone to drag to hell with him…He induced you to have murderous intentions towards your girlfriend. He induced you to kill that old woman! He's the real sinner! You still have a chance to run away right now! He's too dangerous! Too dangerous! For your own sake, get him away from you! Then forget everything that happened today. Everything will be fine after that! Everything will be all right!”

With that, he suddenly broke free and stood up.

Hare who was still crouched on the ground looked up at him, puzzled. His voice was hoarse, and also inexplicably sexy in a way. “What's wrong, Ah Zi?”

Ye Zi sunk his head with his hair covering his eyes. After a while, he finally muttered, “Now our second deal is over, isn't that right?”

Hare nodded.

“Don't come looking for me again in the future. Stop following me.”

Hare's expression changed in an instant, the tender loving haze from before was gone without a trace. Softly, his voice came. “Why?”

“I can't take it anymore. I can't stop thinking about Nie Haixia's death when I'm with you…And that old woman too. my head hurts, and my ears ring. My entire body feels like shit when you're here…I don't think I'll ever be able to stop. I don't want this. I think both of us need some space. We need to pick up our pieces and start over…”

The rain stopped. Hare stood up.

Ye Zi thought he would lose his temper and hit him, or maybe even cry.

But Hare did none of that.

He took out a hundred yuan from his pocket and stuffed it into Ye Zi's bag, saying, “Ah Zi. You didn't bring any money, did you? Go and hail a cab back to school later. The busses won't be running this late. You have to take off your wet clothes when you get back and take a nice warm shower so you don't catch a cold again.”

Ye Zi was stunned. “Hey…Did you listen to what I said just now? What…”

Hare cut him off. With his eyes hanging low, he spoke, still smiling as usual, “If it's what you want, then sure. It's fine.”

Then, he turned around and left.

His clothes were still drenched and the icy water was dripping down his clothes onto the wet grass, forming small splashes of water.

As he walked back under the streetlights, he turned back to look at Ye Zi once more, his mouth moving slightly.

“Goodbye, Ah Zi,” were his words.

Chapter end