12
In the dim light,
a woman knelt on the ground, trying to squeeze half her body through the bars. “Save me, please. Save me.”
She looked at me as if I were the Buddha.
“Get me out, and I’ll give you anything. Please, get me out.”
One person after another fell to their knees, crying and pleading, reaching out with hands caked in dried blood. They wanted to grasp the hope that seemed so close, yet lay beyond mountains and seas.
The iron bars divided life from death. Outside was life; inside was a fate worse than death.
“Save them… or not?” Trương Tiểu Niên’s voice came from behind me.
I gritted my teeth. It took every ounce of conscience I had to force out a few words. “How?”
How could we save them?
How many more locks could Trương Tiểu Niên pick? There were so many people—some injured, others weak. How could we get them out?
I took out my phone. No signal.
We couldn’t even call the police now.
If we could get Đỗ Ngọc Oánh out safely, that alone would be something to thank Heaven for.
“Save whoever we can.” Trương Tiểu Niên still wanted to help them.
“Move!” I kept playing the villain.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to save them, or that I didn’t want to save anyone in particular.
If the three of us got out safely, that would be one thing. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be saving anyone—we’d be getting them killed.
They wept and screamed, some even cursing us. One person nearly managed to grab my pant leg.
I hurried on, as if fleeing a horde of vengeful ghosts.
I didn’t know whether I owed them anything, but I truly couldn’t repay them.
“Bang!”
The door was kicked open, and a group of men in black suits rushed in.
I cleared my throat to steady my breathing, trying to recall the fighting techniques my father had taught me as a child.
Trương Tiểu Niên gently laid Đỗ Ngọc Oánh down, his eyes blazing with fury.
“How many can you take?” I asked a pointless question, at a loss for anything better to say.
“I studied martial arts at school. I should be able to handle three.”
13
A cold gust brushed the back of my neck. The dark figure darted past Trương Tiểu Niên and me, charging at the group like an arrow.
At some point, he had slipped a dagger into Trương Tiểu Niên’s hand.
Who was he, really?
Was he helping us, or did he have his own motives?
Unfortunately, there was no chance to get a good look at his face.
The dark figure cleared the way ahead. I stayed in the middle, supporting Đỗ Ngọc Oánh, while Trương Tiểu Niên followed behind.
Maybe it was exhaustion. My mind was sluggish, but my movements were nimble.
I stuck close to the dark figure. All I could see was blood spraying through the air, a shattered painting, snatches of opera singing, a lamp in the dark hallway, and a ceiling that seemed to rise and fall.
14
The dark figure held the men off for us.
Trương Tiểu Niên took us back to his rented apartment.
Đỗ Ngọc Oánh was so weak that as soon as we got back, she started drifting in and out, babbling. Sweat soaked the bedsheet and dripped onto the floor.
“Tiểu Niên, I’m sorry… Tiểu Niên, I’m cold… Why haven’t you turned on the light, Tiểu Niên? I’m scared…”
I couldn’t take it anymore, so I went into the kitchen to boil some water.
Every now and then, I heard Trương Tiểu Niên sobbing in the room.
I tried to call the police, but my phone had been damaged while we were fleeing and wouldn’t turn on.
I asked Trương Tiểu Niên, but he’d lost his phone too.
“I’ll go borrow a phone. I have to call the police. I have to save those people.”
Trương Tiểu Niên stopped me. “Don’t rush. With all that commotion, someone must have called the police already. Besides, what if the guy in black gets arrested when you call? He killed quite a few people.”
I paused. He was right. Whatever that guy’s motives were, he’d helped us a lot.
If we could have escaped in the first place, and he got arrested because I called the police, that would be unforgivable.
After Đỗ Ngọc Oánh drank some warm water, she seemed a little better. Her face was still as white as snow, but she could talk now.
“At first, I just wanted a part-time job… They took me and said some big-shot boss had his eye on me, and told me I had to entertain him… They took nude photos of me, too, and said if I didn’t do what they wanted, they’d… In the end, they still… They said calling the police would be useless, and that if I didn’t obey, they’d kill you…”
Trương Tiểu Niên gently pressed his index finger to her lips. “Don’t say any more. It’s okay now. Everything’s all right. I studied martial arts, and I’m good at it. Let them come. I’m not afraid. I’ll protect you.”
Just as the sun rose in the east, Đỗ Ngọc Oánh fell asleep. Sunlight fell across her cheek, seeming to shine through her skin and lend her a pure, almost sacred glow.
Trương Tiểu Niên leaned against the headboard, letting Đỗ Ngọc Oánh nestle against his chest as he gently patted her shoulder.
Before long, he was softly snoring too.
I yawned, stretched out on the sofa, cleared my throat, took a deep breath, and slowly closed my eyes.
I was exhausted. What an exhausting night.
15
“Ngọc Oánh?”
I jolted awake. Trương Tiểu Niên stood before me, looking panicked.
“Thanh Minh, Ngọc Oánh is missing.”
“Don’t panic. Let’s look for her, one step at a time.”
There was a letter on the living room coffee table, written in eyebrow pencil.
It was clearly meant for Trương Tiểu Niên, but this was no time to be polite. I read it openly alongside him:
[Tiểu Niên, I’ve thought it over and still can’t get past what’s in my heart. I’m tainted now; I’m not worthy of you. Find someone better.
No matter how reluctant I am to part, I can’t overcome the cruel tricks of fate.
In the next life, I’ll cross mountains and seas to find you. In this life, I can’t.
As for your friend, I didn’t even get the chance to ask his name. Thank him for me. In the next life, I’ll be sure to repay him properly.
Thank you, my stranger friend.
Sincerely, Tiểu Niên.
When the peach leaves begin to sprout and the willow leaves spread overhead, we’ll meet again.]
“Ngọc Oánh.” Trương Tiểu Niên clutched the letter, tears streaming down his face, and staggered out.
16
After asking around along the way, we reached the river.
Thanh Thủy Hà—the name differed by just one word from that of a folk song.
An old stone bridge crossed the river, and hardly anyone usually used it.
Now it was crowded with onlookers.
Some sighed, some looked surprised, others were alarmed.
“What a good girl. Why would she do something so foolish?”
“There was a man trying to stop her, but he was a step too late.”
“That’s strange. The current isn’t strong. How come they can’t find the person who jumped in?”
“Look, those two men are still searching underwater. It’s been half an hour, and the girl still hasn’t surfaced.”
“What a terrible fate. Was she wronged so badly that her body won’t even see the sun?”
The crowd murmured.
The noise gradually faded away. I couldn’t believe it—couldn’t believe that the person we’d struggled so hard to save…
I couldn’t believe that gentle girl had simply jumped into the river.
I looked at Trương Tiểu Niên. He staggered and fainted on the spot.
The letter in his hand caught the wind and slowly drifted down into the river.
17
My father and I…We took Trương Tiểu Niên to the hospital.
When he woke up, the first thing he asked was what time it was. Then he urged me to hurry home and take care of what needed doing.
I didn’t want to leave. I was afraid something might happen to him, and wanted to stay with him at the hospital.
After I tried to talk him out of it several times, and he was about to lose his temper, I agreed to go home and rest.
But I made him promise he absolutely wouldn’t do anything reckless.
He smiled and said he definitely wouldn’t. There were still plenty of things he hadn’t done.
I didn’t know if he meant the people at Lê Mặc Các.
That was right. Those people hadn’t yet been punished by Heaven. How could he do anything reckless?
As soon as I got home, I shut myself in the bedroom. My father sighed and didn’t bother me.
He just busied himself with something in the living room, muttering phrases like “drive away the evil spirits,” “pray for good fortune and ward off misfortune,” “blessings from a past life,” and “I’ll repay the debt for the longevity cigarettes.”
Before long, the smell of smoke drifted in. He was probably burning spirit money or some kind of talisman.
He was still as superstitious as ever, but this time I didn’t blame him. He was scared too, and he truly wanted what was best for me.
That day and night felt like a dream.
I lay in bed, exhausted, but unable to sleep, my mind full of jumbled thoughts.
Had Đỗ Ngọc Oánh really jumped into the river?
Why couldn’t they find her body?
I wanted to call the police, but my father wouldn’t let me. He said he didn’t want Trương Tiểu Niên and me to get dragged into it.
He said he had a way to make the wicked get what they deserved, then tied together several straw effigies.
And that dark figure—who was he, really?
Why had he helped us? How was he now?
There was so much I couldn’t make sense of.
At noon, my father knocked and asked if I wanted to eat. I said I couldn’t swallow anything, and he didn’t press me.
In the afternoon, I drifted off to sleep. That dark figure filled my dreams.
He seemed to want to tell me something, but I couldn’t hear him clearly or see his face. I wasn’t even sure he was the person who had saved us.
Everything was hazy.
“You still haven’t eaten?”
“Dad, I can’t swallow anything.”
“All right. Then don’t eat. Eat when you’re hungry.”
“Okay.”
“How about I go for a walk with you?”
“No, I’m a little tired. I want to lie down.”
“Okay. Or maybe you should still go outside for a walk?”
For some reason, he kept wanting me to go outside.
Well, all right. I was restless at home anyway.
I opened the bedroom door, and a cloud of smoke hit me, choking me. I coughed for a long time.
My father had opened all the windows, but there was still smoke.
“Um, what is it, Dad…”
“It’s okay, Dad. I know you’re doing this for my sake. I’ll go out for a walk.”
“Should I… go with you?”
“No need. I’ll be fine, I promise. Don’t worry.”