10.
On the way back, Old Yang warned me, “Before, Vương Lộ Dao was still trapped in the loop and didn’t know she was dead. But now she knows, so her appearance is sure to be terrifying. Don’t be scared, and don’t stare at her. Just pretend the person sitting beside you is an ordinary passenger.”
I’d already experienced the horror of meeting her once.
After that, he helped me prepare a bag and a fishing rod, saying we might need them then.
I eyed him suspiciously. “What good will these do?”
At exactly one in the morning, I arrived outside the KTV.
Now I was wide awake, my eyes open as I watched my surroundings.
I wanted her to come find me soon, so I could take her back to Da Nam Village and settle everything as quickly as possible. But whenever I remembered what had happened the night before, I couldn’t help trembling.
Suddenly, I smelled a strong stench of blood, as if it were right beside me.
I turned around and felt a chill run down my spine—a blood-soaked woman was sitting in the passenger seat.
Her eyes were wide open, glaring at me.
It was Vương Lộ Dao!
It was her.
A clear wound marked her neck, blood pouring from it and soaking her white shirt before running down her short black skirt.
Instinctively, I grabbed the door handle, ready to run. But then I remembered Old Yang’s words: Don’t run, or you’ll definitely die.
So I suppressed my fear and hurriedly started the car, not daring to say a word, much less look at her.
Vương Lộ Dao suddenly let out a strange laugh, making me shudder.
She asked, “Why aren’t you running anymore?”
I stammered, “If you’ll just spare me, I’ll help you find your head and take you home so you can see your mother again.”
She asked, “Really?”
I nodded.
Then I added, “But I don’t know where your head is.”
Vương Lộ Dao said she knew and could lead me to it.
Old Yang had guessed right.
I asked where we should look for it.
She said, “Just drive to Da Nam Village. When we get there, I’ll tell you to stop.”
I drove straight toward Da Nam Village with her.
But as we neared the accident site, I immediately tensed up and unconsciously slowed down, terrified I’d run into that married couple again.
Vương Lộ Dao seemed to read my mind. Smiling, she said, “Don’t worry. They’ve fulfilled their wish and seen their child. The three of them have all gone on to be reborn, so they won’t appear again.”
I instinctively started to ask, “How did they see their child?”
But then I thought better of it. It had nothing to do with me, so there was no need to ask.
She opened the car door and floated out, pointing toward a dark spot below. She said her head was down there.
I turned on my phone’s flashlight and followed her down into the water along a nearby canal.
After walking for about fifteen minutes, we reached a pond covering several thousand square meters.
Vương Lộ Dao stopped and pointed at the pond. She said her head was in there and told me to figure out how to fish it out.
11.
I realized Old Yang really was something.
He must have known Vương Lộ Dao’s head was in this pond, which was why he’d prepared the bag and fishing rod for me in advance.
But the fishing rod had a line and no hook.
So how was I supposed to fish it out?
Why hadn’t he prepared a net for me?
I hurriedly called Old Yang and asked how to use it.
Old Yang told me to lower the line into the water and have Vương Lộ Dao call out, “Come up, come up!” Then I was to reel it in gently. If it suddenly felt heavier, I should just pull it up, put it in the bag, and take it to Vương Lộ Dao’s home.
I nodded and did as he said.
I lowered the line and stood by the pond, following Old Yang’s instructions.
After calling for about two minutes, it felt as if something had grabbed the line. It suddenly grew heavier.
I was secretly delighted and immediately started pulling it up.
But after pulling it up just a little, I suddenly couldn’t budge it. It was too heavy.
I strained with all my might. The rod bent into a crescent and nearly snapped, but I still couldn’t pull it up.
This was bizarre.
I told Vương Lộ Dao to get in the water and see what was going on.
She said, “I died on the shore. I can’t go into the water.”
With no other choice, I asked her, “Could you hold the rod for me while I get in and see what’s going on?”
She took the rod and kept pulling. I steeled myself, took off my shoes, and stepped into the pond.
The pond was fairly deep; the water came up to my chest.
I struggled forward one step at a time, drawing closer to where the line was.
When I was almost there, I grabbed the line and followed it down. Suddenly, something caught my foot. I lost my balance and fell straight into the water.
Pond water rushed into my mouth and nose. Terrified, I immediately held my breath.
Luckily, I knew how to swim.
But it was pitch-black in front of me. I couldn’t tell which way was which, and could only try to get back on my feet as quickly as possible.
But as soon as I stood up, I suddenly felt two hands clamp onto my shoulders and force me down, keeping me from rising.
Whatever this was, it was trying to drown me.
I struggled in a panic, but there was nothing around me to grab onto. Yet that force was undeniably real, leaving me terrified and flailing helplessly.
Just then, someone threw down a rope. It looped around my head and yanked hard.
The rope tightened so much it nearly tore my skin. The pain made me open my mouth to scream.
But as soon as I opened my mouth, water flooded in again, choking me so badly it felt worse than death.
Then another rope wrapped around my arm and yanked hard.
I struggled with all my might, trying to escape the hands pressing down on my shoulders, while kicking hard with both legs.
But that force suddenly disappeared.
I shot up to the surface, gasping for breath and spitting out a huge mouthful of water.
Vương Lộ Dao stood on the bank, shouting for me to hurry.
I swam forward as fast as I could, paying no attention to anything else.
As soon as I reached the bank, I scrambled out and began coughing violently, my lungs feeling as if they were about to come up.
Thank goodness. I’d nearly died just now.
Vương Lộ Dao came over and told me to hurry up and bring her head out.
Only then did I get up, take the fishing rod back, and pull hard.
This time, everything went smoothly.
When I pulled it up, I realized the fishing line was tangled in her hair. Strangely, even though I’d pulled so hard, neither her hair nor her scalp had come off.
I quickly put Vương Lộ Dao’s head in a black bag, then turned and ran back.
I got in the car and drove Vương Lộ Dao straight to her yard.
After I parked, I called out loudly for Vương Lộ Dao’s mother.
She quickly appeared at the window.
When she saw me, she came downstairs.
I immediately went over and handed her the black bag. I told her Vương Lộ Dao’s head was inside, that I’d found it, and that she should hurry and reattach it to the body, then pick a day for the burial.
After that, I went straight back to the car, turned around, and drove off.
Vương Lộ Dao didn’t come with me. She just stood in the yard and waved goodbye.
I hoped it would be goodbye forever.
On the way home, I suddenly noticed a few pale yellow hairs on my wrist. Then my forehead started to itch a little. I raised a hand to scratch it and found a few more pale yellow hairs.
12.
When I got home, I went to see Old Yang and told him what had happened that night.
By the time I finished, I felt relieved, as if I’d just escaped a calamity. But when I thought back to what I’d gone through in the pond, I was terrified all over again and nearly burst into tears.
I’d barely managed to stay alive.
Old Yang laughed and told me not to be upset. He could guarantee that after tonight, Vương Lộ Dao would never haunt me again.
Once I’d calmed down, I asked Old Yang, “How did you know Vương Lộ Dao’s head was in that pond?”
Old Yang explained that the accident site was surrounded by farmland, with only a canal nearby. The traffic police searched and searched but couldn’t find Vương Lộ Dao’s head. The only explanation was that it had drifted downstream through the canal. And there was a large pond downstream, so it had to be in there.
I asked again, “Then why didn’t the police find it?”
Old Yang laughed and said, “You’ll have to ask the police about that.”
I didn’t want to ask them, either.
Then I asked him if he knew what was in the pond.
He nodded and said the pond belonged to one of his relatives, who used to raise fish and other aquatic products for a living.
Later, someone went to the pond to steal fish and accidentally fell in and drowned. The thief’s family went to Old Yang’s relative and demanded compensation.
Old Yang’s relative refused, so they immediately sued him.
The court ruled that Old Yang’s relative had to pay the fish thief’s family two hundred thousand, on the grounds that he hadn’t put up a warning sign saying the pond was deep and dangerous.
Afterward, word got around, and no one dared buy aquatic products from Old Yang’s relative anymore. He went bankrupt and suffered heavy losses.
Later, his wife and child left him, and he couldn’t take it. He jumped into the pond and killed himself.
That made me even angrier. “Old Yang, you knew all of this and didn’t tell me? You nearly got me killed tonight!”
Old Yang laughed and said he knew Vương Lộ Dao would definitely save me, so there was no way anything would happen to me.
I asked him why.
Old Yang explained that Vương Lộ Dao had wanted to escape that cycle, too, but couldn’t find anyone to help her until she met me. If I died, no one would help her find her head, and she’d be forced into the next cycle. Rather than spend time and effort finding another target, she’d be better off saving my life.
Only then did I understand: in the water, what had tightened around my head and arm hadn’t been rope at all. It had been Vương Lộ Dao’s hair.
Her hair really did seem to be pale yellow.
Old Yang hadn’t exactly acted honorably in all this, but since he’d saved my life, I let it go.
Before bed, Old Yang laughed and said that if I woke up sick the next morning, it would mean I’d truly escaped Vương Lộ Dao.
When I woke up the next morning, my head felt heavy, my legs weak, and my whole body was drained of strength.
I was sick.
But I was very happy.
Old Yang said that driving a night taxi with a weak bazi made a person more likely to run into trouble. Nhị Cường was like that, and so was I. So he advised me to quit once I got better and find another job.
Damn it.
After everything that had happened, I decided I was done. I wouldn’t do it again, even if it meant I’d die.
-THE END-