A Man with Azure Blood
When traveling to Japan, most people's destination is Tokyo, especially Ginza in Tokyo. But not for me, my destination is Hokkaido, where I plan to ski and enjoy the snow. There are three best places in the world for skiing:
Changbai Mountain in China, Hokkaido in Japan, and the Alps in Europe.
I rented a suite in a small inn near the largest ski resort in Hokkaido. My whereabouts were kept extremely secret, and no one knew who I was. This small inn looked quite dilapidated from the outside, not the "old Japan" that one would expect to stay in. However, it offered absolute tranquility, ensuring you wouldn't encounter Western tourists with wide-open eyes exploring the East.
The landlady, Mrs. Fujiko, was an elderly woman whose background was unknown, but her manners made one believe she was born into nobility. She took special care of young single guests, making you feel at home under the towering snow-capped mountains.
For several consecutive days, I skied continuously, sometimes even deliberately rolling down on the snow to relax my muscles, splashing snowflakes, enjoying the joy of childhood. On the fifth day, it was a holiday. I knew that on this day, there would be many skiers, so I decided to stay indoors. But by noon, I couldn't stand it anymore. I brought my skiing equipment and took the cable car to the top of the mountain. I deliberately chose a very steep slope where inexperienced skiers wouldn't dare to venture, so there weren't many people there.
It was a sunny day, dazzling with sunlight. Everyone wore giant black sunglasses. As I skied down the slope, halfway through, I suddenly heard a girl scream behind me. I quickly turned around and saw a girl in a red and white sweater and a matching hat losing her balance and falling into the snow.
The slope was very steep, and as soon as the girl fell, she rolled down at an extremely high speed.
Several other people also noticed, but they just screamed and none dared to ski forward.
It was understandable because the girl was already rolling down at a very fast speed. If someone tried to grab her, they would surely roll down together. It would be considered lucky if one only broke a leg after rolling down from such a slope.
In that split second, I hesitated for a moment, then immediately pushed off with my ski poles and skied across horizontally.
The girl kept screaming, but her screams were intermittent because sometimes her face was buried in the snow while rolling, making it impossible to make a sound.
I skied across horizontally, just in time to intercept her downward momentum.
I had already seen a small pine tree there, so I skied towards it. As soon as I reached, I stretched out my left hand to grab the small pine tree while extending my right hand with the ski pole, shouting, "Grab it!"
The girl happened to roll down at that moment. She stretched out both hands. If she had missed, there would have been nothing I could have done. Fortunately, she managed to grab the small wheel on my ski pole, and her downward momentum stopped immediately. The small pine tree bent down, making a "creak" sound, but luckily it didn't break.
I breathed a sigh of relief and pulled her up with all my strength. Perhaps her skin was naturally fair, or perhaps she was overly frightened, but her complexion was as pale as the snow on the ground, just like her white sweater. At that moment, many people gathered from all directions. A middle-aged man came over calling out, "Yoshiko! Yoshiko! What happened?"
When the man reached us, the girl, whose name was Yoshiko for sure, had already stood up. I looked at the man and couldn't help but wonder.
The man who came, in this area, even in the whole of Japan, could be said to be known by everyone. He was Japan's most experienced and famous ski instructor, someone whose pictures I had seen more than once in sports magazines. And I immediately realized that the girl Yoshiko I saved must be Yoshiko Kusuda, the most promising female skier mentioned in Japanese newspapers.
Yoshiko's skiing skills were undoubtedly superior to mine, but she had tumbled down from a height and I had saved her. Well, that could truly be considered strange. Just as I was thinking, I heard Yoshiko say, "Thank goodness this gentleman caught me!"
The instructor rudely said, "Let's go, this incident shouldn't be known to the press, and no photos of the scene should be taken by journalists." Yoshiko picked up her skis and turned back. Since she, like everyone else, was wearing black sunglasses, I couldn't see her face clearly, but her complexion didn't seem as pale as before. She asked me, "Sir, what's your name, and where are you from?"
I held her back, with absolutely no intention of seeking gratitude from her. Naturally, I wouldn't tell her my real name. I thought of the surname of the innkeeper and remembered this was my third trip to Hokkaido, so I casually said, "My name is Taro Fuji."
Yoshiko said, "Where do you live?" But she didn't finish her sentence; she was already being pulled away by her instructor.
Of course, her instructor did it for her own good because it would be a joke if the "most promising female skier" suddenly fell from the slope. I didn't delay much either. According to the original plan, I smoothly skied down to the foot of the mountain. Then, carrying my skis, I walked slowly forward. I still found the incident very strange, thinking Yoshiko shouldn't have fallen down. But I just wondered briefly and didn't dwell on it. Before long, I returned to the small inn.
It quickly turned dark. I arranged to play chess with a Japanese guest from the next room. He was a well-known Japanese surgeon in his sixties, far superior in chess to me. Just as I racked my brains trying not to lose too badly, I heard the landlady, Mrs. Fujiko's voice, saying, "Taro? There's no such person. I'm surnamed Fuji, Miss Yoshiko, please ask elsewhere."
Then it was Yoshiko's voice.
She sighed softly and said, "I've asked around, but no one knows. He's young, wearing a light blue skiing suit, strong build, wearing a large amethyst ring on his right hand."
As Yoshiko said this, I involuntarily retracted my hand.
At this point, I was not wearing a "light blue skiing suit" but a dark gray kimono. However, I still had the ring on my hand.
Just as I retracted my hand, the old doctor reached out and held my hand, looking at me with a very stern gaze. At first, I didn't know what his gaze meant, but I immediately understood because he grunted and said, "Young man, trying to deceive a young girl?"
He took me for a jilted lover, and Yoshiko as a poor girl searching for her missing lover. I couldn't help but burst out laughing. I had just laughed twice when I heard Yoshiko's surprised and joyful voice again, "It's him, it's him!"
Mrs. Fuji was still explaining, saying, "He's a tourist from China, Miss Yoshiko, you're mistaken."
But before Mrs. Fuji could finish, Yoshiko almost rushed into my room. She looked at me with a smile, bowed deeply to me, and said, "Mr. Fuji, please forgive me."
The old doctor blinked, not knowing what was going on, but he obviously knew that his judgment just now was wrong.
At this point, I had to stand up and tell her that Taro Fuji was not my real name, just a fabrication because I didn't want her to feel obligated to repay me. Yoshiko kept smiling politely and listened to my words.
As I spoke, carefully observing Yoshiko Kusada, she appeared more captivating in person than in the magazines and newspapers. There was a peculiar sense of familiarity upon seeing her in person, stemming from her beautiful facial features, radiant smile, and gentle demeanor, which made one feel inexplicably comfortable.
She wore a thick tiger-fur coat, accentuating her petite figure, and due to her rushed entrance, she hadn't even taken off her coat.
The old doctor tapped the go pieces on the board, "So what really happened?"
Yoshiko smiled as she recounted the events of the day, then suddenly said, "I think I'm not suitable for skiing anymore."
I wondered, "Isn't falling on the slopes something that could happen to anyone? Why give up your favorite activity?" Yoshiko took off her coat, sat down, stoked the fire, and slowly said, "It's not because of that, but because in the snow, I see hallucinations that startle me, causing me to fall."
I had long suspected the reason behind Yoshiko's fall, and hearing her words only rekindled my curiosity. "Miss Yoshiko, what exactly did you see?"
Yoshiko said, "I saw a man."
As she said this, the old doctor and Mrs. Fuji burst into laughter, and even I couldn't help but chuckle. Yoshiko's words were indeed quite amusing. Seeing a man, how could that be called a "hallucination"?
Blushing, Yoshiko continued, "Don't laugh at me, everyone. I saw a man, his hand scraped against a tree branch, and he leaned against the tree to stop the bleeding... his blood... his blood..."
As Yoshiko spoke, her face turned pale again. I quickly asked, "What about his blood?"
Yoshiko sighed softly and said, "I must have been mistaken. His blood was blue!"
I joked, "Miss Yoshiko, perhaps it's because of your sunglasses." Yoshiko shook her head, "No! I took off my sunglasses because of this. I saw clearly that his blood was blue, and his skin was so white... unnaturally so..."
Yoshiko paused, and I couldn't help but be moved. "Miss Yoshiko, you said his skin was very white, but was it a kind of uncomfortable bluish-white?"
Surprised, Yoshiko asked, "You... you've seen this person too? Then what I saw wasn't an illusion?"
I closed my eyes for about two seconds before opening them again.
In those two seconds, I recalled a very distant memory, then said, "Please continue." Yoshiko nodded, appearing somewhat nervous, "I pointed at him and said: 'Sir, your hand...' The man looked up at me, I felt dizzy, and then I fell!"
I murmured, "Dizzy..."
My voice was low and muffled. Everyone was focused on Yoshiko's story, and no one noticed me. I only spoke four words before falling silent.
Gasping for breath, Yoshiko said, "As I fell, I was perfectly clear-headed. I knew it was very dangerous to fall from such a steep slope, and it would have a great impact. However, I couldn't take any measures, and if it wasn't for you..."
Yoshiko paused briefly, looking at me with profound gratitude.
I quickly said, "It's nothing, Miss Kusada, please don't worry about it."
Yoshiko sighed softly, "Mr. Wei, I won't forget you." As she spoke, she glanced at me again with a hint of Eastern female modesty and continued, "After you helped me up, I did something—I looked up."
I interrupted, "Miss Kusada, there was no one above us at the time!"
Yoshiko nodded, "Yes, that terrified me because unless someone slid down, it would be extremely difficult for anyone to return to the top of such a slope, yet he mysteriously vanished..."
As Yoshiko spoke, Mrs. Fuji kindly held her hand, and the old doctor yawned, "Miss Kusada, do you want me to introduce a doctor to you?"
Yoshiko exclaimed, "Doctor, I didn't see it wrong, I..."
The old doctor waved his hand, "I know, everyone who experiences hallucinations believes what they see is real, but when the hallucination suddenly disappears, they think what they saw vanished into thin air!"
Yoshiko listened blankly to the old doctor, and when he finished, she covered her face with her hands and began to cry, "Then I can't participate in the world skiing competition."
Mrs. Fuji sympathetically looked at Yoshiko, while the old doctor stretched and bid everyone goodbye, returning to his room. I put on a thick coat and said, "Miss Kusada, where do you live? I'll walk you back and there are some things I need to discuss with you."
Yoshiko gradually stopped crying and stood up. Mrs. Fuji escorted us to the door, outside, it was snowing heavily and very quiet. Yoshiko and I walked side by side, and my constant glances behind us didn't go unnoticed by her.
Yoshiko couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Wei, is someone following us?"
My feelings at that moment were indescribable. Although there was no one behind us, I couldn't shake the feeling.
Suppressing my inexplicable fear, I said, "Miss Kusada, are you alone here?"
Yoshiko replied, "I was originally with my cousin, but her fiancé was hit by a car in Tokyo and she rushed back. I'm staying at a hotel with my coach."
I thought for a moment and said, "Tonight, if you ask your coach to stay with you and talk, would that be convenient?"
Yoshiko blushed and immediately said, "Oh no! He... has had ambitions for me for a long time, if that's the case..." She shook her head decisively, "No!"
I asked again, "Then here, can you find someone to stay with you tonight?"
Yoshiko's eyes widened, "Why? Mr. Wei, am I in danger tonight? I can request police protection."
I said, "It's not dangerous, Miss Kusada, please don't be upset about today's events. I can assure you that the person you saw today is real, and your skiing career has not been harmed in any way!"
Yoshiko looked at me in surprise, "How can you be so sure?"
I closed my eyes for a few seconds again, once again recalling a very distant event.
I sighed in my heart, lied, and said, "At the moment I helped you up, I also saw that person, he was sliding down rapidly!"
I told that lie out of necessity. In fact, when I supported Yoshiko Kusada, I immediately looked up to see what sudden event caused her to fall. But I clearly saw that there was no one above us.
Yoshiko widened her eyes, shining with trust, which made me feel ashamed. I turned my head slightly and asked, "Can't you find someone to accompany you tonight?"
Once again, Yoshiko asked strangely, "Why do I need someone to accompany me?" I felt very embarrassed, thought for a moment, and said, "I'm afraid your spirits might not be very stable after today's events..."
Before I could finish, Yoshiko said, "Don't worry, now my mood has completely settled down."
We walked silently side by side for a while and reached the entrance of the hotel where Yoshiko was staying. Looking ahead, the light in front of the hotel was clearly visible.
I stopped and said, "Miss Kusada, I have a few seemingly meaningless things to say, but I want you to do as I say. Will you agree?"
Yoshiko turned back, looking at me with a very strange expression.
I was taller than her, so she had to look up at me. Snowflakes fell on her face, immediately melting and adding droplets to her beautiful face.
I said, "If you must sleep alone tonight, it's best to fall asleep in a pleasant atmosphere. You can borrow some relaxing melody records from the hotel, don't think about anything, especially not unpleasant things."
I paused here, waiting to see Yoshiko's reaction.
Yoshiko smiled sweetly and said, "Mr. Wei, you're treating me like a child."
I had to force a smile along with her, but mine must have been very strained. Because if my memory was correct, Yoshiko was in extreme danger, and everything I said to her was not a joke but a matter of life and death. However, I couldn't explain the situation clearly, and I couldn't mention two very important words. To prevent possible disasters, the only possibility was for Yoshiko to remain calm and happy. Those two words would only make things worse for her!
After forcing a smile, I said, "That's all I have to say. Can you do it?"
Yoshiko smiled and said, "Yes, I can!"
She seemed very happy, waved to me, and ran off skipping ahead. After running about ten steps, she turned back and shouted, "See you tomorrow!"
I waved back and said, "See you tomorrow!"
I didn't turn around until I couldn't see her anymore. Then I turned around and went back to Mrs. Fuji's hotel alone. The road was very quiet, the snow fell heavier and heavier, and the scene in front of me became very blurry. The inexplicable fear in my heart gradually turned into panic.