I glanced at him, said nothing, and headed to the car.
We drove off, leaving the village, heading to the city via the highway.
I could tell Li Yang kept sneaking glances at me, his expression complex. I ignored him, eyes closed, memories replaying.
After all this, I felt I could say no to anyone. They say true enlightenment comes from great suffering. In the Yin-Yang Observatory's hall, I saw living hell, the world of death, and felt some awakening.
The car stopped. It was dark, streetlights showing my neighborhood's gate.
"Wanna talk?" Li Yang pulled out a cigarette, offering one, lighting his own.
I sighed. "Tired. Maybe later. Walk me in."
He looked surprised, then nodded.
We got out, the street deserted, just us under lonely lamps. He lowered his head. "Let's go."
As he spoke, I swung, punching his face hard. Caught off guard, he stumbled back, falling.
He gaped, face full of shock.
I straddled him, pummeling his cheeks. At first, he resisted, but after two hits, he went limp, blood streaming, hands shielding his face. "Old Liu, stop, I give!"
Sedentary office life had weakened me, and the burst of violence left me sore, heart racing at 200 beats.
Panting, I stood, offering a hand. He wiped his nose, hesitated, then took it, and I pulled him up.
We leaned on the car, chests heaving, silent. He shakily lit another cigarette. I said, "Give me one."
He tossed me one. After a while, he said, "A few years back, I wouldn't have been scared of you. I was a campus king."
"Heh." I laughed. In this neutered era, a bit of violence could cow people. I felt I'd beaten him into submission.
I exhaled a smoke ring. "Did you know I almost died back there?"
"Yeah. My aunt wanted to use your body for Damin's soul."
I looked at him. "So, you really summoned Li Damin's soul?"
"We did."
"What happened? Tell me everything," I said, squinting.
"He wants to ascend," Li Yang said, staring at a streetlight.
"What? Ascend?" I thought I'd misheard.
Li Yang flicked ash. "Why so shocked? After all we've been through, ascension isn't that wild."
My curiosity exploded. Li Damin, missing, borrowing my body, claiming he wanted to ascend? It felt bizarre, unsettling.
"What's the deal?"
Li Yang pointed to the neighborhood. "Let's go to your place. This needs time. Oh, and tell me what you felt during the summoning."
I knew he'd been posting embellished paranormal tales from the Lamp League on forums, gaining fans. He was scavenging for weird stories, and my summoning was prime material.
I warned, "Write my story if you want, but no personal details."
"Don't worry, no one knows you."
We strolled to my building, up to my fourth-floor apartment. Unlocking the door, the living room was dim. My roommate Wang Chen, cigarette dangling, was cuddling his girlfriend on the couch, watching Legal Horizons. Startled, they separated, adjusting clothes. Her face flushed—they'd been up to no good.
Seeing me, Wang Chen relaxed, then cursed, "Damn, where were you? The boss chewed you out again. You're close to getting fired."
Irritated, I snapped, "If I'm jobless, I'll mooch off you."
His girlfriend, polite, said, "Old Liu, you're back."
We'd met a few times, just acquaintances. I nodded. Li Yang greeted them politely. As I shut my bedroom door, I heard her whisper, "Is that Old Liu's friend? His eyes are creepy."
"Hell if I know," Wang Chen said, foul-mouthed. "Maybe his boyfriend."
"What, Old Liu's gay?"
"Who knows? Never seen him bring a girl home."
Fuming, I wanted to curse him out but let it go—business first.
Locking the door, I saw Li Yang sprawl on my bed, tossing his phone on the desk. "Look yourself. I recorded your summoning."
I grabbed a chair, picking up his phone. "No scandalous photos here, right?"
"Nah, not my thing." Li Yang propped his head, staring at the ceiling. "Watch it, then we'll talk."
I opened the video, finding one blurry file. Playing it, a strange, fluctuating sound—like electric static with an electronic timbre—blared. I paused, startled. "What the hell did you record?"
Li Yang sat up, blinking. "That's you during the summoning. Why's there weird noise?"
"You didn't watch?"
"Damn, we've been together since leaving that place. When would I watch?" He pulled a chair beside me, and we huddled over the phone.
I replayed it. The shaky, blurry video barely showed me kneeling on the tatami. Li Yang explained he'd hidden the phone in his jacket, too nervous, hands sweaty and trembling, causing the distortion.
Background noise was chaotic, indistinct, like random black dots on white paper. Amid them, the electric-like sound stood out, its pitch shifting, resembling a woman's relentless, sharp scream in the wind, chilling me.
After minutes of shaky footage and eerie sound, I felt nauseous, head spinning. Lighting a cigarette, I inhaled deeply, suppressing bile, and kept watching.
Master Xie's voice was faint, barely audible: "Li Damin, possess him!"
I said, "Yes, that's the last thing I heard before blacking out."
Li Yang's breathing quickened, sweat on his brow. He nudged me. "Keep watching."
Suspicious, I refocused. The footage stabilized slightly, showing me kneeling, head bowed, seemingly unconscious.
Suddenly, "I" raised my head, muscles twitching, eyes half-open, expression bizarre. Like a hyper-realistic robot, lifelike yet stiffly uncanny. That's how I looked—like a robot wearing my face.
But this "robot" had something human: its eyes.
I can't describe them—vacant yet transcendent, tinged with sinister malice, like a fathomless abyss. That wasn't me. Only a sage who'd pierced human nature could have such eyes.
If I had to compare, they resembled the Godfather's.
With eyes like death itself, I'd have girls throwing themselves at me without a word.
Cool enough to inspire worship.
"Mom…" Video-me spoke.
The audio was garbled, barely intelligible.
Li Damin's mother froze, stunned. The footage shook violently. Li Yang said, "When you called 'Mom,' it was like ice water shot up my spine to my brain, nearly suffocating. If I weren't seasoned, I'd have dropped the phone."
Master Xie said, "Ms. Tang, your son has possessed him."
She asked, "Master, is this really my son? Not… Liu Yang?"
I noted she didn't call me a bastard, her tone milder. Was there a twist?
Video-me said slowly, "It's me, Mom. I'm Damin."
I was petrified, chills coursing through me. It was like staring into a mirror, my actions mirrored—until I stopped, and the reflection kept moving.
Staring at my own face, so familiar yet terrifyingly alien, I couldn't watch anymore.
It was like Holmes solving a murder case, only to find he's the killer.
The feeling was earth-shattering. I gasped, nearly fainting.
Li Yang paused the video, concerned. "Old Liu, maybe stop watching."
"No, I can handle it." I took a deep breath.
"Finish your cigarette first. I'm hitting the bathroom." Li Yang left, cigarette in mouth. The paused frame showed "my" sinister face, like a mirror yet a stranger. I set the phone down, rubbing my temples. Since this mess began, I hadn't slept soundly, trapped in an invisible black vortex, unable to escape.
I smoked glumly. Ten minutes later, Li Yang returned, hitching his pants.
"Damn, thought you fell in the toilet," I said.
"Took a big one," he said, scratching his crotch.
A thought struck me. "Li Yang, will Damin possessing me have side effects? Could I have lasting damage?"