CHAPTER 7
Ling hun:
"When I found her body, it had already gone through rigor mortis. Sunshine, know that I am with you every step."- Jin Hai
As words struggled to come out of my mouth, I faintly said, "My Aunt Qu would never leave me. You are lying to me! I am sure this is one of your charades to woo me back into your life."
I hysterically dialled Aunt Qu's cell phone number. A familiar ringtone vibrated from Jin Hai's back pocket. His navy blue long sleeve shirt revealed an eagle mark on his hand as he reached his pocket to get the phone.
"Did you steal Aunt Qu's phone just to prove a point?"
"Sunshine, this is the harsh truth, your Aunt Qu is dead!"
My hands were shaking and my limbs and feet were numb.
"Jin Hai, I think you should leave! Ms. Hong here, drink this glass of water."- Xiao xu
"Sunshine! Who is this?"- Jin Hai
"Do you have any shame? She is in this state and you are interviewing her?"- Xiao xu
Jin Hai was furious at Xiao Xu but he managed to control it just to ingratiate me and left the house.
"Xiao xu, when I was a young girl I lost both of my parents, the key to my existence. Aunt Qu was all I have left, she grew me up and took care of me. Her husband abandoned her because he never wanted the stresses of having a child. She sacrificed everything for me. I have nothing to live for." (Ling hun mournfully said).
He watched my innocent eyes and held my head with his cold hands. He placed his soft pink lips on mine. I pushed mine further on to him. Though my heart was in lament, for the first time in my life I felt so full. The emptiness was filled with love.
"You may have lost your parents and Aunt Qu, but you have something to live for. Your Aunt Qu would be happy to know that you live a happy life for you, your parents and her."- Xiao xu
"Xiao xu the first time I saw you was at that Buddhist temple. I felt a magnetic connection towards you.
I would write a beautiful eulogy for Aunt Qu and say it at the funeral. She may have left this world, but her spirit lives on inside me. Thank you for making me realize that."
(Ling hun phone rings…..)
"Good day, I am Coroner Yang. Mr. Jin Hai has reported an unexpected death of Ms. Tian Qu who he claimed was your aunt. Her body is currently under an autopsy. The first set of results would be given within three days. If the case is severe and needs further studying it may take about a week to get the results. Mr. Hai has paid the full cost for the autopsy and embalming. Once we collect sufficient samples, we would send her body to the funeral home."
"Thank you Mr. Yang….. Keep my Aunt Qu safe."- Ling hun
(Eight hours later)
I sat by my window seat watching the moon light's reflection on the glass of water I was holding. I was dumbstruck to know that I was so hostile to Jin Hai but yet he cared so much for Aunt Qu.
Still, hatred filled my mind as I remembered the prophecy on the fortune cookie in The Tasty Haven. Jin Hai was the one who had the eagle marked on his hand. Was he my murderer in the past life? Was that mark the one which shed my blood?
I had a sleepless night, my mind was racing with thoughts. I had to go pray for Aunt Qu at the temple so her soul would cross the bridge to the afterlife safely.
"Morning Ms.Hong, I hope you are doing okay."- Xiao xu
"I am trying my best, you can call me Ling hun from now on. Will you accompany me to the Buddhist temple to pray for Aunt Qu's safety?"
"Of Course, Ling hun I would love that. I only knew Aunt Qu for a couple of days but she seemed like a person I would have loved to get to know."- Xiao xu
We crossed the bridge to the Buddhist temple. This time we were aware of our love for eachother.
I opened the golden locket which she gave to me for my birthday. I took out her picture and placed it by the altar of the temple. I lit the candles and incense and prayed for her eternal peace.
"Ēmítuófó", an old monk clothed in an orange robe with a mala necklace greeted us.
"I see someone has died in your family. May the eternal Buddha bless her soul."
"Thank you" (I said and bow)
"Monk, can I speak with you for a moment?"- Ling hun
"My mother Sun yee Hong used to come to this temple regularly. She said she consulted with a monk called Kai tufu. Would you mind showing me who he is?"
"Destiny has led you to me. I am Kai tufu. Sun Yee came here while she was pregnant. I gave her the advice in which you were expected to release an immense amount of energy when you were born. That boy who you were with earlier, his parents also suffered from that dilemma. I told Xiao xu what I am currently telling you but it was too complicated for him to believe. I sensed a connection between you two. It is like your spirit is in each other."
"What do you mean our spirit is in each other?" I asked.
"When I saw Xiao xu I sensed a soul of nirvana in him. But something was hindering him from attaining it. His inner spirit was empty. When I greeted you just now your inner spirit was also full of emptiness and rejected my blessings. This might be hard to believe but I think that both of you swap souls due to some phenomenon, hence the universe brought you together."- Kai tufu
"This is alot to take in but it could be true. Our souls do not match our body, this is maybe why we released that amount of energy into this universe and killed our mother because an imbalance in nature occurred."
"Is there a way we can switch back souls?"- Ling hun
"I need some time to figure out what is the cause and what we can do. Until then just stay close to each other."
"Ling hun, you must be aware of one thing. If you and Xiao xu are able to switch back souls then that means you would have your original soul. You have gained nirvana in your last life but due to the switch with Xiao xu it was prevented. Once your soul returns to its original body, you would cease to exist. You would be free from the cycle of birth and death. Meaning you would not experience pleasure nor pain, happiness or sorrow, hate or love and most of all death or life …. "