Chapter 88: Visiting
Li Mu had mixed feelings about Aunt Cai.
Maybe it was because he had inherited some of Lin Xi’s memories, but every time he saw Aunt Cai, he felt especially close to her.
But even though he felt close, his mind reminded him that he and Aunt Cai had no real family connection. The only feeling he should have toward her probably was sympathy.
He stood at the door of Lin Xi’s home, took a moment to calm his thoughts, and then knocked on the door.
A moment later, the door opened.
A middle-aged man answered. Even though they had never met, Li Mu recognized right away that this must be Lin Xi’s father.
“Young lady, you are...?” the man looked at Li Mu with surprise and doubt. Even though he knew the person in front of him was a stranger, something about Li Mu reminded him of his daughter.
Li Mu kept a straight face and said simply, “Li Mu.”
“Who is it?”
Another head popped out from inside. Aunt Cai came running to the door, happily surprised. She warmly grabbed Li Mu’s hand. “Come in, come in! This is Uncle Lin, don’t be so shy.”
Before he could even take off his shoes, Li Mu was pulled into the house. A box of yogurt was quickly shoved into his hand.
Aunt Cai picked up a knife and an apple from the table. While peeling the apple with a smile, she asked cheerfully, “How’s school lately? Today’s Wednesday, right? What brings you to visit me?”
“I suddenly thought of you and wanted to come by.” Li Mu really had just come on a whim.
“What a pity, your Uncle Lin and I have to go to the countryside tonight. We’re leaving soon.”
Only then did Li Mu notice that both Aunt Cai and her husband were dressed more formally than usual.
The couple didn’t look very cheerful. Aunt Cai seemed to have been crying earlier, her eyes were a little red. Uncle Lin kept sneaking curious glances at him, but his face stayed serious and a bit gloomy.
After a short silence, Li Mu asked, “Are you going to...?”
“To visit Lin Xi.” Aunt Cai’s mood dropped immediately. She held Li Mu’s hand and asked, “Do you want to come with us? We’re driving, and we’ll be back by eight or nine tonight.”
His first instinct was to say no, but when he saw the look in Aunt Cai’s eyes, he gave in. “I... okay.”
Maybe if Lin Xi saw her own grave, she would let go and stop affecting his body.
He found that excuse for himself and quietly followed Aunt Cai and her husband out the door.
Aunt Cai's family's economic situation seems to be quite good. They have a slightly older car, and their home's renovation is relatively new, probably because they bought a second-hand house and renovated it before moving in.
Although the building didn’t have an elevator and walking up and down could be tiring, it was still much more convenient than Li Mu’s home on the outskirts of town.
Li Mu’s building looked fancy, but probably less than 30% of the apartments were actually lived in. There were no shops nearby, and once the buses stopped running at night, it was hard even to get a taxi. It was so empty at night that you wouldn’t even see a shadow.
Sitting in Uncle Lin’s car, Li Mu felt kind of distracted and out of it.
“Xiao Mu, your friend didn’t come with you this time?” Aunt Cai asked from the front passenger seat, turning to look at him.
“No, he had something else to do.”
As Uncle Lin started the car, he reminded him, “Put on your seatbelt.”
"Xiao Xi, why do I always have to remind..." Before Uncle Lin finished his sentence, he suddenly fell silent.
Li Mu quickly looked down and fastened his seatbelt. But when he looked up again, he saw that both Uncle Lin and Aunt Cai had gloomy looks on their faces.
Aunt Cai forced a smile and said, “Lin Xi was just like you. She always needed him to remind her... You really are a lot like her.”
Li Mu had thought Uncle Lin was complaining about people like him getting a free ride and not wearing seatbelts, which might get them in trouble…
But honestly, Li Mu didn’t think he was anything like that crazy Lin Xi. At the very least, he would never look at other men with that kind of lovestruck expression.
After that, the mood in the car became heavier. Li Mu leaned against the car door and stared out into the dark night.
“Where are we going?”
“To Yingfeng Town, our hometown,” Aunt Cai replied.
Li Mu had seen the name of this town before when he was looking at bus maps. It didn’t seem too far away.
Sure enough, after just a little over ten minutes, the car left the quiet, empty outskirts. Buildings began to appear on both sides of the road, and soon the sidewalks were full of people.
Most buildings here weren’t taller than ten stories, but the night streets were full of life. Both sides of the road had lots of food stalls, and the sidewalks were crowded with people walking back and forth. Even the cars had to slow down, moving like turtles because of the crowd.
In the nearby county town, most of the roadside stalls outside of the pedestrian streets had been shut down, and you’d only see one or two in hidden corners. But here, they were everywhere.
However, after driving past the lively streets full of smells and smoke, the view outside the car window turned dark again.
A short while later, the car stopped in a village at the foot of a mountain.
“Lin Xi is over there,” Aunt Cai said, pointing halfway up the mountain. Then she turned and smiled at Li Mu. “It’s hard to walk the mountain path at night, so be careful.”
“Why are we visiting Lin Xi at night...?”
“Your Uncle Lin doesn’t have time during the day. Besides, she’s our daughter, what does it matter if it's day or night?”
That’s true...
Li Mu quietly got out of the car and followed them up the mountain path.
Along the way, they passed scattered graves. As they climbed higher, they reached a neat concrete area filled with rows of tombstones, clearly the town’s public cemetery.
Lin Xi’s grave was in a corner of the cemetery. The tombstone was new and easy to recognize. The flowers and fruits placed in front of it were still fresh, showing that Aunt Cai must visit often.
Even though Li Mu knew that ghosts and spirits really existed in this world, he didn’t feel afraid being in a graveyard.
People fear ghosts mostly because they don’t know much about them, and also because of the scary images shown in horror movies.
But ghosts like Lin Xi and Xiao Jing... to be honest, they gave ghosts a bad name.
As for fierce ghosts, running into one of those is rarer than a plane crash. The last time, it was actually they who went looking for the ghost.
While Aunt Cai and Uncle Lin prayed in front of Lin Xi’s grave, Li Mu stood nearby and turned on the flashlight on his phone to light the area for them.
Even though both of them didn’t look like they were doing great emotionally, it was clear they had already accepted the fact that their daughter was gone. They softly chatted about family matters, burned some paper offerings, and replaced the old fruit with fresh ones...
Li Mu wondered if Lin Xi, still living inside his body, could see all of this.
He pressed his lips together and looked away from the couple.
That’s when he noticed an old person standing not far away. The figure was thin, wearing a traditional Chinese tunic suit. Somehow, their deep-set eyes seemed to shine with a dark light.
Li Mu quietly tugged at Uncle Lin’s sleeve.
“What is it?” Uncle Lin looked up and saw the old figure. His face quickly relaxed into a smile. “Oh, that’s the local shaman and gravekeeper. We said hello to her when we arrived.”
For a moment, Li Mu thought it was a ghost...
Wait, her? So it’s a woman?