“I think you are really close to mental illness.” A gentle voice with suppressed anxiety came from beside him, and a bottle of alprazolam was handed over. “Take the medicine first.”
I glanced at Xiang Nan, his blue-tinted eyes behind the golden-rimmed glasses were fixed on me, sliding from my face down to my neck, with unhidden pity and anger in his gaze.
I avoided his gaze and said thanks.
After swallowing the pills, I finally calmed down, and the tinnitus gradually dissipated. Irene put on an eye mask for me, laid the chair flat, and put headphones in my ears, playing the sound of the waves that Xiang Nan often played when healing me. My consciousness relaxed, and everything around me gradually faded away. The snow-capped mountains, the sea of forests, and Tunshe Nalin seemed to be just a dream of mine, they would no longer exist when I woke up, and my life would return to normal.
But can I really get back on track?
I thought I had found a new muse, that my soul could burn for him again, and I could create countless masterpieces, but the result was… What should I do from now on? What should I do?
“Okay, done.”
When I heard the voice behind me, I felt as if I had been pardoned. I got down from the hospital bed with difficulty. I didn’t dare to look at the doctor who was doing the finger examination on me and hurriedly put on my pants.
“Young man, you should be more careful next time. It’s not a serious problem this time, but if it gets more serious, you’ll need stitches.”
“Thank you.” My ears were burning hot, and I ran out of the ward.
In the corridor, Irene was pacing back and forth with a dark face. When she saw me coming out, she hurried over to me and supported me as I staggered.
Seeing my embarrassed and shameful appearance, she was a little embarrassed to speak as well: “Young Master, did you do this voluntarily, or were you forced? You were running for your life at that time, so are we really not gonna call the police? This kind of thing never happened to you when you were with Mr. Ming before.”
I shook my head and gritted my teeth: “Don’t tell my parents or anyone else, including Xiang Nan. Don’t say a word. If you dare to say anything, I will definitely fire you.”
Irene didn’t dare to say anything more and helped me sit in the wheelchair. As soon as my butt touched the seat, I trembled in pain. I had been tormented all night, and the digital examination was simply adding insult to injury.
But I dared not blame the existence that had brought me to this state, not even daring to think about it too much. As soon as I think about it, I will be filled with fear. Even though the sun is shining brightly in the hospital corridor and there is a prosperous and familiar city view outside the window, it cannot drive away the fear in my heart in the slightest.
—Because the pair of vine anklets that cannot be cut or broken are still on my ankles.
“By the way, let’s go to the beauty department.” Thinking of the ‘bridal mark’ on my chest, I instructed Irene.
“This is a tattoo, not a painting.” The young female doctor moved the tissue away and said, “I’ll use a laser to remove it, but it will form a scab. You can’t get it wet for seven days.”
I nodded: “Remove. Remove it clean.”
With a “hiss”, the laser hit the skin on my chest. I didn’t feel any pain, but I heard a “bang” and something heavy fell to the ground.
“Doctor Chen, what’s wrong with you?” The nurse screamed. I lifted the blindfold and saw the female doctor who did the laser treatment on me covering her eyes, with blood oozing from between her fingers.
“My eyes… ah!” she screamed.
“Quick, send her to the emergency room!”
Staring blankly at the clinic that suddenly fell into chaos, I covered my face and grabbed my hair in despair.
It’s my fault. Tunshe Nalin’s power is still lingering on me.
Does this mean that he really won’t let me go?
Or maybe the mountains are too high and the roads are too long for him to reach me, so he can’t find me. But there is some kind of spell on this bridal mark and anklets, so as long as I can find a way to get rid of them, I will be fine?
When the elevator opened and I saw the familiar door, my heart finally settled down a little. However, the gifts piled at the door were annoying, especially the bouquets of flowers, which were still fresh.
“Irene, ask Auntie to clean up the garbage outside the door, and find two bodyguards to stay in the apartment and watch over it. Don’t let any strangers hang around outside my house during this time.”
“I understand.” She pushed me to the door. “Otherwise, let Dr. Xiang move in and live in the house opposite. It will be more convenient for him to check on your condition. Anyway, the house opposite is also under your name.”
I shook my head. Although both were employed by my parents, Irene didn’t know that Xiang Nan had other thoughts about me, and from the look in his eyes, he obviously hadn’t given up.
“Change the doctor.”
“Why?” She asked in surprise, “Xiang Nan is…”
“No reason, just terminate the contract. He treated me, and it was just a part-time job.” I said coldly. Hearing that my tone wasn’t right, Irene didn’t ask any more questions and pushed my wheelchair to the door. Suddenly, with a rustling sound, a shiny object flew over my head. My chest sank, and I looked down. It turned out to be a Buddha amulet.
I was so frightened that I almost jumped out of the wheelchair: “What is this?”
“Mrs. Qin asked me to bring it to you. You were missing for a while, and she was so worried that she couldn’t sleep all night. She prayed to the gods and even asked a Thai Ajarn to perform a ritual. When she heard that you were back, she asked for an authentic amulet to ward off evil spirits and ensure safety. She told you to wear it and not take it off even when you take a bath or sleep. Keep it on all the time for the best effect.”
A legitimate charm to ward off evil?
I looked carefully and saw that the front of the amulet was a four-faced Buddha. Turning it over, it was made of an opaque material, like jade, completely different from the one that the old man had given me before.
I’ve been scared so many times recently that everything can startle me. I breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door: “Okay, go ahead. I’ll call you if anything happens.”
I didn’t hear her response, so I turned around and saw her staring at the door with her eyes wide open: “Mr. Ming… Ming?”
I was startled and turned around. Sure enough, I saw a figure who was very familiar to me standing in the dark entrance. He had a handsome face, tall height, and long legs, with short silver hair that reached his neck. He was wearing a bathrobe with the five Thai scriptures tattooed on his half-open chest. He was barefoot, and his feet were wet, as if he had just taken a bath.
“Ming, Ming Luo?” I called out, and all the hair on my body stood up.
“Mr. Ming, aren’t you-you dead?” Irene’s voice also changed.
“Who said… I was dead?” Ming Luo walked toward the door, his figure gradually becoming clear. “Ah Ran, you’re finally back. I’ve missed you so much.”
“You are not dead… where have you been this year?” I shook my head. Could it be that I was wrong? Those people were not members of the Ming family, and the ghost that I saw that looked like him was just my illusion?
He smiled, stretched out his hand, closed the door behind me, and picked me up from the wheelchair. I shivered as soon as his hand touched me. Ming Luo’s body temperature was always high, but his hand was very cold at this moment, perhaps because it was wet. The room was also very cold. In this cold winter, he didn’t even turn on the heating?
But it was normal for him. Ming Luo had a dry body and was always afraid of heat.
“Ah Luo, turn-turn on the light, it’s so dark.”
With a “click”, the wall lamp lit up, and the living room was covered with dim light.
Ming Luo carried me to the sofa and handed me a cup of hot milk: “Drink it first, and I will tell you slowly, okay?”
After swallowing the hot milk, my stomach felt much better: “Turn on the heater, it’s freezing.”
He turned on the heater as I said and sat next to me, with one hand on the back of the sofa, hugging me. I was a little uncomfortable after being apart from him for so long, so I moved slightly: “Where have you been this year? Why didn’t you contact me? I thought you were dead, and I painted a funeral series in memory of you. Didn’t you see the press conference and the exhibition?”
“Of course I saw it…” Ming Luo held my hand and kissed the back of my hand. The water on his hair fell on the back of my hand, and his lips became wet and cold. “It’s just that something happened to my family. After I went back, I couldn’t get out and couldn’t contact the outside world.”
“Did your family lock you up?” I stared at him in confusion.
He stroked my cheek, staring at me with his light brown eyes: “Ah Ran, my family is very complicated, please don’t blame me, okay? I’m already back, and from now on, I will never leave you again.”
My heart skipped a beat, fearing that he would propose to me again: “Don’t say that… You are free.”
“You haven’t found another muse yet, have you?” Ming Luo hugged me. His bathrobe was wet, and his hair exuded a slightly salty smell, like the smell of seawater.
But Jiangcheng is not near the sea, it only has one river.
“Have you been to the beach, Ah Luo?”
Ming Luo did not answer my question but hugged me tightly and asked, “You haven’t found them because you didn’t want them, right?”
I was held so tightly that I could barely breathe, yet there was also a stir in my heart. Even though we had argued when we separated because of his demands, and even though I had once been moved by Tunshe Nalin and saw him as my new muse, reuniting with Ming Luo after everything had fallen apart was, for me, nothing short of a surprise, it was a hope reborn from the ashes.
“Mm.” I nodded, but in my mind, I couldn’t help but picture the image and figure of Tunshe Nalin, along with those blood-red eyes. A complex mix of emotions surged within me.
“I knew you weren’t taken away.” I felt a chill beside my ears. It was Ming Luo who was kissing my sideburns gently. His kisses went down the side of my neck and pulled my scarf open. In response, I pushed him away and shrank to the other end of the sofa. I saw him staring at my neck, his eyes dark and chilling between his wet silver hair.
“You did it with someone else, didn’t you, Ah Ran?”
I knew he must have seen the marks left by Tunshe Nalin, so I didn’t want to answer. I stood up and stumbled to the bathroom. In the mirror, my face looked very bad, and my neck was covered with red spots. When I undressed, my body looked even more horrible.
“Knock, knock”, there was a knock on the door.
“Ah Ran…”
“Leave me alone.” I stared at the mirror. The door handle was turned, leaving a crack. Ming Luo was standing outside the door, but he never came in and closed the door again.
I locked the door and turned on the bathtub faucet.
