What do some people feel when they confront something frightening? Anger. What comes after anger? Trauma. And this man was the perfect example of one who has had a traumatic experience.
Seeing that the man had reached the most harrowing point of his encounter where he tried to strike at the unknown entity with anger, my father observed that blood had but all left the man's face. He offered the man another cigarette and lit it for him.
The man took a few more swigs off his cigarette, his agitation slowly subsiding. He continued, "It looked like a living thing to me, but it did not seem so when I hit it. How could a living thing feel like cotton when I hit it? I must have missed, I first thought.
“I tried hitting it again. It ducked, again and again. I kept missing it, and this filled me with rage. 'I don't care what you are,' I told myself and took another swipe with my flashlight. But this time, my torch passed cleanly through it and hit the rock behind it!
“My anger was instantly choked, replaced only with cold fear. This must surely be a ghost, I thought, and I nearly wet my pants. I ran all the way home, not being able to look back at all. I did not know whether the thing followed me, but even now, I could not shake off the feeling that it is following me everywhere, watching me from the shadows.
“The head of the factory I work at called me two days ago, calling me back to work quickly, for they are short on manpower. I told him yes, only if my shifts are in the day. But we work on three shifts daily. No one is willing to trade shifts with me every day!"
My father smiled. He said, "All right. I'll look into this for you and make sure that this doesn’t happen again. What do you think?"
The man's eyes instantly glinted brightly and replied, "What? Are you sure?"
My father nodded to him and said, "Certain. So, that leaves the matter of payment. How much are you willing to pay me?"
It was obvious that the couple had made numerous visits for help. They looked accustomed to the usual proceedings of such visits, with no lack of experiences in being cheated.
The woman said, "Ah... Surely you have to make us an offer? Please, quote us a price."
My father nodded quietly and said, "I see. How about this? This brother here just offered to pay two thousand for my help. How about the same rate?"
The woman's eyes twinkled with hope and she immediately thanked him. She had never thought that their predicament would be settled for so low a price, especially when compared to the usual rates.
Now that the initial negotiations were finished, my father turned to me and said with a smile:
"Please lead these good people to the depository to arrange the payments, Shiyan. Bring them back here when you're done."
I nodded and muttered in reply, "All right."
I took them to the depository where the lady on duty today was going to leave from work. She saw me entering with the three guests and returned to her seat, saying:
"Look who it is. What brings you here, Shiyan?"
I nodded in acknowledgment and said to her, "Please issue two receipts for two-thousand-dollar lesson fees, Sister." She produced the receipts, collected the payments and trotted off from work with her handbag.
Walking out of the depository, Fearless Hao asked me fearfully:
"E-er... Look, brother, I am paying before my problem is resolved. What if your father fails..."
"Worry not, my friend. We will refund you the money if we fail to help you," I said.
As we talked, we walked back to the Head Person's Room. I tossed the empty can of Coke I was drinking to the floor of the corridor and the voice of a young woman came suddenly from behind. "I believe I have told you many times not to throw rubbish everywhere, Shiyan!"
I immediately picked up the litter I tossed and turned to her, saying, "E-er... Aunt Fen. Heh heh heh, I'm sorry I did not see you." And I deposited the trash into a bag she was holding, smiling at her impishly.
Aunt Fen knocked at my head once and barked, "So you think you can throw rubbish around when I'm not in sight?"
"No, surely not, Aunt Fen," I replied.
After finishing with Aunt Fen, I led Fearless Hao and the couple up the stairs. Fearless Hao was lost for words. I nudged him once with my elbow and asked him, "What is it with you? You're choking?"
Shyly, Fearless Hao asked me, "T-that... The woman..."
Knowing he was referring to Aunt Fen, I said, "Yep. That's Aunt Fen, the head of the Management Office here."
Fearless Hao waved his hand, "No", he said, "I meant to ask you this at your father's office. What is it with this National Studies Institute? Why does everyone holding a position of seniority look so young? Your father looks only a few years older than you. This Aunt Fen of yours looks even younger than you."
I could see that even the couple had the exact same thoughts, although they did not speak. I smiled at them and said, "Aunt Fen is twenty this year, and I'm twenty-two. I'm not sure of my father though. I don’t think he knows his age himself."
Fearless Hao gaped with shock, "Ah?! I may be able to understand if you say a young girl of twenty is a senior here. But what is this about your father?"
I shot him a look and snapped, "And what is all this to you?"
And Fearless Hao turned quiet.
When we got back to the Head Person's office, my father was sipping lazily on his drink. He had a wine flask, one that looked silvery but yet not so; an item that never seemed to leave his side.
Expectedly, my father was a lover of wine and liquor, although I had never seen him drunk. Still, it was due to his love for heavy drinks that he had made many influential and powerful friends.
Seeing us back at his office, my father returned the stopper to his flask and called at the couple who had encountered the "white fiend":
"Come. Let me first settle your impasse with the fiend. Look into my eyes," he said, "Yes! Look deeply into my eyes."
Hesitant, the husband shifted in his seat to move forward, but his wife didn’t move an inch, being the fearful and doubtful woman that she was. She knew full well that her husband was suffering from trauma and she would not be able to take it if her husband had to undergo another terrifying ordeal.
Noticing her reluctance, my father smiled benignly to her and motioned to her with a wave, saying:
"Have no fear. Everything will be fine."
The woman relented, moving forward in her seat. A solemn silence fell over the entire room. Everyone held their breath as they observed my father closely, eager to see him work his magic.
Three seconds ticked by before I could distinctly hear the fearful gasps of the couple. The husband mumbled suddenly, breaking the eerie reticence, "Y-your... Y-your eyes... T-they a-are like cat's eyes..."
It was only then when I noticed the change in my father's eyes: the pupils of his eyes have contracted into slits that resembled that of a cat. While the couple might not know what was going on, I did.
My father spoke to them gently, giggling lightly, "Have no fear. This change to my eyes is a skill that we, the practitioners of mystic arts, call the Nocturnal Sight, also known as the Beast Sight by some. The skill allows the eyes to see clearly in the dark like cats."
But I was slightly perturbed by this display of his skills. Never before had my father revealed his mastery of these mystic skills to strangers. Why now? The Nocturnal Sight was hardly any common External Magic. It was one of the four greatest Ocular Magics widely practiced amongst practitioners of the arcane arts. There are:
the Nocturnal Sight, the Spirit Sight, the Magical Sight and the Divine Sight.
Users of the Nocturnal Sight could see through the darkness without no difficulty. Nothing, be it normal matter or supernatural entities, would be able to escape the sight of its user.
The Spirit Sight allowed its user to detect the flow of spiritual energies. No supernatural entities like demons or ghost would remain unseen in the presence of its user.
The Magical Eye bestowed the ability to look through the destiny of three incarnations of any living thing.
While the Divine Sight granted its users to look at Heaven Dao; it was the only one of the four which could only be practiced by those who had attained Immortality.
Naturally, I have not met anyone in my life who had possessed the Divine Sight. But there were people who had been born with the gift of the first three Ocular Magics. I, for one, was born with the Spiritual Sight. That’s why I am in this line of business.
Still, I knew not of my father's levels of powers, knowing only that he had both the Nocturnal Sight and the Spiritual Sight. I knew not if he had either the Magical Sight or the Divine Sight. But he wouldn’t tell me even if he did have the latter two Ocular Magics.
But I knew that my father was strongly against showing this skill to common mortals. I had once shown my classmates my Spiritual Eyes when I was young, and he severely punished me.
"What was wrong with Father today?" I thought to myself, "Why is he showing these common mortals his powers?"
Suddenly, my father spoke, "Look at this. Is this you?"
He played a video clip on his iPad that he had removed from his drawer and handed the iPad to the husband. Everyone looked at the screen of the tablet. Everything was dark in the screen, save for a man walking in the dark holding a flashlight. He was carrying a nylon knapsack on his back.
My father pointed to the man on the screen of his tablet and asked, "That is you, no?"
The husband was astonished.
My father then giggled before he muttered, "I was not very far away, actually. I was watching you."
As usual, my father never failed to amaze. The husband was clutching the iPad in his hands as he looked incredulously at my father:"Impossible! It's impossible that anyone was around there! Why did you not call out to me if you were there?" My father shook his head gently, still wearing his smile. He lifted his finger and pointed at the person in the video clip playing on the tablet, saying:"This video clip was recorded using an infrared camera, hence the black and white color. The bag you had there was blue, and the flashlight you were using was red, right?" The man was stunned. But still, he could not believe my father even though my father had pointed out correctly the color of the items he carried that night. My father then said again, "You've seen my Nocturnal Sight technique just now. In truth, there's nothing special about it, other than allowing me better clarity in the dark. But I have a hobby. I love to set traps to catch wild hare
"T-that... That cart is moving on its own!?" Mr. Lee gasped with astonishment, staring wide-eyed at my father, who smiled in turned at him and said:"Don't be anxious. Continue." Everyone was curious now, standing around Mr. Lee to have a look at the video footage. In the video, Fearless Hao was just passing by Mr. Lee's car with his electric scooter when a concrete cart sprang to life and began darting and banging around senselessly like bumper cars before it returned to its original position. Everyone, Mr. Lee included, was gaping with shock, their eyes as large as the saucers on the table. Mr. Lee stared disbelievingly at my father who then said, "I believe now the truth is clear, Lee. This object knocked your car." Mr. Lee nodded willingly and was quiet for moments before he confessed, "In truth, the parts where my car was knocked were stained with cement and concrete. At the time, I myself was sure this could never be the work of an electric sc
What my father said sent everyone into surprise and bewilderment, including me. But Mr. Lee was first to break the silence, asking hesitantly, "But Brother Hai? Did I just hear you say 'one-night-stand'? Can one-nighters be owed?" "Of course," said my father, nodding matter-of-factly. He turned to the female ghost and said, "Let me elaborate on your past since you refuse to accept... "You were a servant girl of a wealthy and prosperous household. One day, the young lady and the madam of the family you served wanted to go to a temple outside the city to offer some prayers and offerings. You helped the young lady with her dressing and make up before the madam took her daughter out, leaving you at home. But when you were clearing up the young lady's dressing table, a golden hairpin caught your sight. You put on the pin and admired your looks with a mirror. But you should know that everything has its owner in this world, so you should not covet what
Aunt Fen and the female ghost Xiao Qi hugged each other suddenly and collapsed into tears together, right before all of us. Mr. Lee, who felt deeply moved, asked hesitantly, "This woman is..." My father sighed and answered, "Ah... She's the wife of Zhang Baoguo." Stunned by the revelation, Mr. Lee stammered, "Z-zhang... Z-zhang Baoguo? The Zhang Baoguo of the prominent business group, Zhang Group?" My father nodded. Mr. Lee was instantly petrified, staring at his wife before he turned to stare at Aunt Fen who was still on the ground, hugging Xiao Qi as they wept. He murmured, "But I remember Zhang Baoguo is already more than fifty, even older than me. I had long known that Zhang Baoguo had taken a young lady as his wife, but I did not expect his wife to be this young..." As he spoke, he was still eyeing Aunt Fen so intently that his wife elbowed him, displeased and jealous as if meaning to say, "Are you envious of others having a wife so
"The old man paused and stopped for a moment before he went on with his tale, 'Despite feeling astonished, I paid little care to it. I'm an old man. I might have been seeing things or hallucinating. After completing my purchases, I saw my wife leaving the house, her eyes straight ahead as if in a trance as she continued walking, ignoring me even though I asked her where was she going. But she just kept on walking and walking. I tried calling her, but she continued ignoring me, so I rushed forth and pulled her back. Strangely, she seemed to have more strength that she usually had, sending me into a tumbling fall with just a swing of her arm. Therefore I could only follow behind to see what's happening. " 'We continued walking until she stopped and began stretching her arms and grotesquely flailing her legs that I felt so horrified. Not knowing what to do, I called my son with my phone, and it did not take long for my son and his wife to come. My daughter-in-law is us
"Tears began flowing down the face of the old man. "He filled my cup again with tea and said to me, 'I know this might put you in a difficult position, Master. I am but a coal miner who does not know how to speak well. But the die has been cast. Please help us to make amends with Cousin Fen so that she would be tormented no more and she can be rebirthed again. Tell us what to do! Offerings, sacrifices, or prayer rituals; we'll do anything. Even if my wife has to depend on the Taoist's talisman for the rest of her life, or, maybe you can shave off a few years of my life! Please, Master! I'll even kneel to you!' The old couple fell to their knees and began to bow to me. I quickly pulled them up and said to them, 'Well well well. I'm not the one who's being tormented now. Moreover, I have promised you earlier; I'll refund you your payment if I'm unable to help you!' "This, at least, calmed down the old couple. Then I thought of a possible solution, and I as
The date was 28 July 1976 when the Great Tangshan quake took place. Everyone in Tangshan knew that the magnitude of the earthquake was undoubtedly higher than 8, even though the reported strength of the earthquake that had laid waste to the entire city of Tangshan was a mere 7.8. In mere days, the once-booming metropolis, now turned into a tract of ruins and rubble, had its inhabitants fleeing frantically to open areas for their safety. Like a stone in the middle of a flowing river, was a small vehicle, standing in the midst of the thronging evacuees rushing to leave the ground zero of the earthquake. It was an NJ130 truck, usually used by local dwellers for the transport of foodstuff, retrofitted with tall railings on the bed on its rear. Parked just at the side of the rubbles, some of the impatient and anxious inhabitants of the city leaped onto the truck bed and jumped over the top of the truck's cab. Some even squeezed through the sides in their haste to run away. Suddenl
I placed down my chopsticks and gazed at Mr. Zhang before I turned to the rest of the table and said, "And so we entered Mr. Zhang's office. My father took a seat and said, 'When you once found Nie Xiaojun his first work at the carriage station, there was something that you did not know, Zhang! Did you know that he had a colleague who also had a bumpy life?' " 'Oh? There's such a lad?' Mr. Zhang asked Nie Xiaojun pointedly. Nie Xiaojun nodded and replied, 'Yeah. A lost boy; about six to seven years old. He's the Yang Xiaoshan we know today!' "My father added sharply, 'And what a terrible life he's had! He lost his father to a sudden sickness when he was barely two. His mother tried to take care of him, but widows were dreadfully stigmatized and ostracized in those days. She then remarried to a Ma Lao'Er (literally the second son of Ma), a son of the Ma Family Ranch. This Ma Lao'Er was a tolerable person but his brother Ma Xiazi (literally Blind Ma) ill-t