Epilogue: Doctor Gao’s Ending (1)
Epilogue: Doctor Gao’s Ending (1)
"Doctor Gao, you've dragged the blood city to the source of the black mist. According to our promise, you're free now." Chen Ge placed a heart bound with small locks inside Doctor Gao's chest. "The chains on your body will automatically fall off as your sins are atoned. However, only you can unlock the chain on your heart."
The Evil God looked at his heart. The terrifying presence on it slowly disappeared. Eventually, a wounded man stood before Chen Ge.
"Everything has its own rules to follow in this world. Are you going to revert to how you were, or are you going to follow the new rules? It's entirely up to you." Chen Ge had to treat Doctor Gao with utmost caution. Standing before he was the craziest criminal in the history of mankind, the strongest Demon God in the blood city. Then again, if Doctor Gao didn't offer his help in the final battle, Chen Ge wouldn't have been able to find himself. The two presidents of the ghost stories society stood before each other. They were enemies and friends. Doctor Gao could even be said to be Chen Ge's mentor.
"Fifty years have passed in the human world. If you return now, you should still be able to see your daughter." Chen Ge turned towards the large blood city. He personally pushed open a bloodred door for Doctor Gao. "Take care."
Weak light filtered into the room. The redness of Doctor Gao's coat slowly faded away. He seemed to have returned in time to the moment when he opened the door for the first time. Walking out of the blood door, the sun shone on Doctor Gao. The ray scorched his skin, but he didn't seem to mind as he stared at the sun outside the window. The time flows inside and outside the door were different. Doctor Gao couldn't remember how long he had spent inside the door.
"Has it been fifty years…" The obsession in his heart morphed into chains to bind Doctor Gao. He wanted to see his daughter, but he hesitated. Who would have thought that a Demon God would ever feel worried and fearful?
"Uncle, you've been in the toilet for five minutes already? Can you not be so inconsiderate?" A visitor who came to the haunted house walked past Doctor Gao into the toilet. "What are you looking at? Haven't you seen an adult wearing a diaper when visiting a haunted house?" The visitor grumbled. When he recovered, Doctor Gao had already disappeared. "Haha. If I'm not currently inside a Haunted House, I might have been scared."
New Century Theme Park still stood proud even after fifty years. The theme park was made into a small city. It not only had the most realistic entertainment amenities, but it also possessed the most advanced virtual technology. It became a namesake for Jiujiang and gained fame all over the country. Doctor Gao didn't hide his presence as he walked through the crowd. He was like a handsome uncle facing a middle-life crisis as he frowned and walked out of the theme park alone.
"I've caused Ruxue so much harm due to my selfish decision. Will she want to see me? I've disappeared for fifty years. If I reappear, I'll most likely disrupt her life." Doctor Gao suddenly didn't know how to face his own family. He tried his best to control his ears to not to listen to his daughter's voice. As a Demon God, he had many powers, such as mind-reading. Doctor Gao stopped moving. He could hear someone chanting his name on the other side of the city. "Is it my daughter?" Doctor Gao stepped into the shadows, and the next moment, he reappeared outside a restaurant at Eastern Countryside. The small shop had poor business. The FOR RENT sign hung on the wall, and three old men sat inside the room.
"You've been a lawyer for half of your life. How come you're always caught in some lawsuits?"
"You better mind your own business. Look at you. Your toupee is on backward." The senior lawyer in a suit had an explosive temper. He picked up the wineglass and took a sniff. "At least I can still drink. You pay attention to your health so much, but currently, you consume pills like you do water every day."
"Stop drinking so much, or in another two years, you're going to be like me, and you can't even use chopsticks anymore because your hands will shake so much." The only elder in a wheelchair chuckled as he listened to his two old friends' banter.
"Do you think we'll last for another two years? At our age, one day lived is another day gone. At our age, why should we care about things so far into the future?" The lawyer finished the drink in one gulp and refilled it immediately. Then, he poured the wine on the ground beside him. There were only three of them, but there were four sets of utensils on the table, and a seat was left empty.
"Even after so many years, your habits haven't changed." The elder with the wig adjusted his hair until he got frustrated and took it off. "The police have already closed the case. He was suspected of being involved in murders. Why are you still holding onto this?"
"It's because of hatred! As long as I don't see his body, I'll never give up. I must have been crazy to defend him back then!" The lawyer said angrily as the alcohol coursed through his body. "I knew something was wrong with him when we were at university. He was supposed to study medicine, but he kept coming to consult me about problems related to the law."
"But I remember it was you who stuck yourself to Ol' Gao because you wanted his help to pursue the school belle."
"Did I not help him in return?" The old lawyer huffed. "He abandoned his daughter to fend herself, and he ran! I took on the outside pressure and abandoned my future to ask for a lightening of sentence for him. Ask yourself. Would you be able to do what I did?"
"Alright. Let's stop talking about that." The elder in the wheelchair picked up his glass. However, his hands shook so hard that before he could put the glass to his lips, the wine had already splattered everywhere. "How many years has it been since then? He's probably not with us anymore. When we're gone, slowly, no one will remember him anymore."
"He was the most outstanding person I knew, the kind people recognized as a genius. I really don't understand how he ended up the way he did." The bald elder looked at the empty seat and was submerged in deep thoughts.
"You're not him so you wouldn't know his difficulties." The elder in the wheelchair picked up the bottle with difficulty. He filled up all four glasses. His hands were more stable. "It's hard to even have one or two real friends in this life. We're considered quite lucky already." The three elders picked up their glasses and took a small sip. However, when they put down the glasses, they noticed the fourth glass on the table was empty.
"How could you drink the glass meant for Ol' Gao?"
"I didn't!"
"Are you suspecting me then? I'm going to call your daughter now and tell her that you're drinking."
"If you do that, I'm going to break down your wheelchair!"
The sound of argument faded away. Doctor Gao wet his lips. He hadn't tasted alcohol in a long time already. The glass he took was meant to be a farewell.
Doctor Gao meandered through the city. He didn't want to disturb another. He came to a florist in Li Wan City and bought a bouquet of fresh flowers for his wife. He walked to the cemetery. He looked at his wife's picture while holding the bouquet. He stayed there until nightfall. "Ghosts exist due to obsession. When the obsession disappears, so will the ghosts. Obsession brings about endless pain. If I don't want to suffer anymore, I'll have to forget you." Doctor Gao pressed his chest lightly. His bound heart hadn't pounded in a long time already. He sighed. He still didn't choose to find his daughter but instead returned to Third Sick Hall. He first started the ghost stories society at the Third Sick Hall. However, all the members were killed by Chen Ge. Now, only the two presidents remained.
He pushed open the locked door and looked at the familiar building. It felt like he had walked back in time to when he and a bunch of mad people sat around a round table to discuss the most extreme treatment method.
"Hey, handsome! Stop!" A ray of light shone on Doctor Gao. Several youngsters in patient's garb walked out of the sickrooms with various props. The leading miss said kindly, "We're from the supernatural discussion forum. We didn't scare you, did we?"
"Supernatural discussion forum?" Doctor Gao was confused.
"Yes. It is exactly what it sounds like. We'll choose to gather at various haunted locations around the city to share ghost stories." The girl made a scary face. "And some of the stories might be real!" Doctor Gao narrowed his eyes.
"Uncle, this place used to be very haunted. It's a dirty place. I'd advise you to leave this place." The other youngsters came over. They were all very courageous.
"Dirty? Are you talking about me?" Doctor Gao turned to the young man.
"You're so funny. Is that a joke from your generation?" The girl smiled as she studied Doctor Gao. "You came alone to a haunted hospital alone while wearing a doctor's coat. You might very well be a ghost. However, how can I put this… As long as you're handsome enough, it doesn't matter to me if you're a ghost or not." She noticed the frown on Doctor Gao's forehead, and she quickly changed her tone. "Alright. Back to the topic at hand. There are many ghost stories about this place, and we suspect one of them is real." The others became serious as well. They took out different documents. They looked professional. Doctor Gao was strangely intrigued. He wanted to hear how he had been portrayed in these stories.
"According to legends, the most brutal Red Lingering Spirit lives here. Everyone who sees him will awaken at midnight and find him standing at the window! No one dares to mention his name. He's the real nightmare of Jiujiang, the guardian of the window of hell, Men Nan!"
All the members of the forum took a deep breath. They looked so serious.
"Men Nan? What is that? Sounds so familiar." Doctor Gao opened his fingers. A blood chain normal people couldn't see sealed up Third Sick Hall. When he closed his fingers, a boy in a red shirt appeared in his hand.
"What are you…" Men Nan rubbed his eyes and looked at Doctor Gao in fear. "I was just fixing my window. How does it affect you?"
"It has been fifty years. Haven't you fixed the window?"
"The window will always break when I least expect it." Men Nan rolled his eyes. "Can you put me down? At least show some respect to a Red Lingering Spirit! You've undermined the respect I've garnered over the past 50 years."
Men Nan kicked his feet weakly in the air. He was unable to hit Doctor Gao, but even if he could, he wouldn't dare to.
"I have nowhere else to go temporarily. I wish to stay here for a moment." Doctor Gao placed Men Nan on the chair.
"You can stay for as long as you like." Men Nan jumped down from the chair and turned around to realize all the members of the forum were looking at him with widened eyes. "Yes, I'm a Red Lingering Spirit, but he is a Demon God. Isn't it normal for me to be afraid of him?" Seeing the confused faces of the youngsters, Men Nan was embarrassed and angry. "What are you staring at? Keep on staring, and I'll go to stare at you through your window tonight!" Curses came out of Men Nan's lips. The youngsters scattered. They were so scared that some of them lost their shoes. Men Nan puffed his cheeks and stayed away from Doctor Gao. The sound of window knocking echoed through the night.
A new day started. The sun shone into the room and slid down Doctor Gao's coat. He thought for a long time and decided to sneak a look at his daughter. He wouldn't disrupt her life. He would only observe her from a distance.
Doctor Gao headed toward home. He couldn't remember the name of the neighborhood, but he would never forget the path home. The neighboring surroundings were not as bustling as before. The residential buildings looked decrepit. The shops were closed, and trash was everywhere. The place looked like it was about to be closed down.
"There was a breakfast shop around here. I used to bring Ruxue here for food before going to work." Things had changed. Doctor Gao looked at the dusty door and slowly turned around.
A high-schooler was pushed to the ground and fell on the trash heap not far from Doctor Gao.