My left hand was broken in three places, and my left leg was also broken. There were multiple external injuries all over my body, all caused by being scraped by hard branches. Chang Dachun said it was a miracle I was alive. I must have jumped from the cable car and gotten caught in a tree to survive.
Chang Dachun couldn't answer why I went to Mount Tai or why I jumped from the cable car, and I couldn't remember anything.
"Where's my phone?"
"I don't know."
"Brother Chang, why are you in Tai'an?"
Brother Chang sighed, "You notified me. Lin Han is dead, and she has no other relatives. As her elder brother, I naturally have to send her ashes back to Xi'an."
...
Lin Han is dead. This is the fact I can least accept.
How did she die? Damn it, I can't remember anything. I beat my head hard. Brother Chang frantically grabbed my hands, tears streaming down his face, "It's not your fault. It's my fault. I shouldn't have let her follow you. We all knew your sister was still thinking about you. When we met at the station, I thought it was fate bestowed by heaven for you two, but I didn't expect..."
Brother Chang couldn't continue and sobbed uncontrollably.
"Lend me your phone."
I called Yu Xiaoluo, "Sister, it's me."
"Are you okay? You scared me to death."
"What did I do?"
"You sent me your Swiss bank account and key. I just found out this package was sent from Tai'an. Luo team and I are already on our way."
"Go back to Beijing. Please ask Teacher Wang Ren to come to Tai'an."
"What for?"
"Thank you, sister!"
With that, I hung up. I thought, the money in the Swiss bank is all my assets. Giving it to Yu Xiaoluo means I know I'm going to die soon. What kind of scheme is this?
"Brother Chang, do you have any other belongings of mine?"
"There's Lin Han's urn and a women's backpack. I think that bag doesn't look like Lin Han's."
"Why?"
"It's true that girls like bags, but Lin Han's financial situation wouldn't allow her to buy a fake brand."
"Can you bring me the bag?"
Brother Chang looked hesitant. He said, "Tang Nan, you're so badly injured. Don't bother yourself."
"I want to know how Lin Han died."
"The crematorium said it was an accident."
"Did I tell you on the phone?"
"No!"
"Then stop talking nonsense and hurry up and get the bag."
I roared at Chang Dachun, who looked helpless and sad, "Alright, I'll go now."
...
The bag was brought over. I poured everything out of the bag with one hand.
A Swiss Army knife, an antique (a cold jade tablet), two keys, a magnetic buckle, a coin, a note, and a torn page from a notebook, two packets of instant coffee, condoms, a Bluetooth earphone. A copy of "Story Union," a Peppa Pig pen, a black folder with two hairs attached, a roll of tape (used), a Nokia phone battery. Lin Han and I didn't use Nokia phones. Besides that, there was also a bottle of Liushen water, the kind used for repelling mosquitoes.
Seeing these items, I was truly bewildered. An irresistible sense of powerlessness rose from the depths of my heart. I wanted to know what happened, but I knew nothing. Apart from the torn page from the notebook, whose were these junk?
I could only take out the torn page from the notebook. It was half a page from Li Jiu's sheepskin notebook, which had been torn off. There was only one sentence on the half page: To understand the scheme, one must eliminate distractions and find the real thread.
I had a vague impression of this sentence. Was it about multiple personalities? Who has multiple personalities, and what does it have to do with me?
The doctor said I had a closed head injury. This means that although my head didn't have any gruesome wounds like the rest of my body, it was still seriously injured. When my short-term memory would recover was related to my physical condition, and perhaps it would never recover.
...
The next morning, Yu Xiaoluo, Luo Bo, and Wang Ren arrived.
"Who did this?"
Yu Xiaoluo was furious when she saw my condition. If it were before, I would have laughed and explained my near-death experience. This time, I didn't. I bypassed Yu Xiaoluo and asked Wang Ren directly, "Teacher Wang Ren, I have amnesia. Do you have any solutions?"
"Hypnosis might have some effect, but your injury!"
"Don't worry about my injuries."
Yu Xiaoluo was unhappy, "Tang Nan, you can be a hero, but there are limits. Look at how you are injured."
"This doesn't concern you, you don't need to manage it."
Yu Xiaoluo was choked by my words, her eyes widened. Luo Bo pulled Yu Xiaoluo aside and said, "Xiaoluo, let's go talk to the doctor to understand the situation. We'll leave this to Teacher Wang Ren."
...
Luo Bo took Yu Xiaoluo out, and Wang Ren politely asked Chang Dachun to leave as well. When only Ren and I were left in the room, she closed the door and came to my side. She looked at me with some heartache, "Something must have happened. You've changed completely."
"Teacher Wang Ren, when do we start?"
Wang Ren sighed, "Alright, let's go over a few points. First, you need to understand that hypnosis is not like in the movies, where you do whatever I want you to do. The human brain is very complex and has strong self-protection capabilities. If I suggest you do something dangerous, even subtly, you will wake up as if from a nightmare. Second, you must trust me for me to hypnotize you. If you have any reservations, your subconscious will resist me, and you won't be hypnotized. Third, hypnosis is not like replaying a movie. The memories in your head are fragmented. You should try your best to find the memories you need within these fragments, rather than firmly believing that you will recall everything once hypnotized. Do you understand all this?"
"I understand, let's begin!"
...
Wang Ren is a true master of psychology. She doesn't need swinging pocket watches or anything like that for hypnosis. She was right, as long as I absolutely trusted her, I quickly entered a hypnotic state.
In the hypnotic state, I seemed to enter a white, misty world. My eyelids were heavy, and I couldn't open them. At this moment, I felt a moist sensation on my face. It was like a switch, allowing me to open my eyes and see my memories clearly.
I woke up in a hotel. Lin Han's soft lips were on my face. I saw her up close. She was a little shy, "Seeing you weren't awake, I wanted to use my method to wake you up."
I looked at her. She was wearing a stylish grey pajama and her hair fell to her shoulders. After we woke up, she sat at the table, her back to me, getting ready to put on makeup.
Where is this? What hotel? I wanted to turn my head to look around the hotel, but I couldn't. This was my memory. My gaze stayed fixed on Lin Han's back. Lin Han was applying foundation-like makeup to her face, then turned and asked me, "If I get pregnant with your child, can we get married?"
"I have to ask my mom?"
This was supposed to be a joke, but Lin Han didn't get angry. She shook her head in front of the mirror, "I'll call our mom. She won't refuse a daughter-in-law as beautiful as me."
"How about that item?"
"It's done!"
With that, Lin Han took an antique from her handbag and handed it to me, the cold jade tablet. She walked over and handed it to me. I pulled her into the covers. At this moment, I seemed to touch the cold jade tablet, and a wave of dizziness swept through my mind.
Suddenly, I seemed to be in a dark and eerie cave. The candlelight was dim. By the candlelight, I saw strange, faded talismans on the walls. My eyes darted around, my memory hazy. I looked down and saw a coin stuck in a crack in the ground. The coin bounced up, spun, and slid past a blurry face. Time rewound, and I was walking backward down Mount Tai, like a rewind. It got faster and faster, and I couldn't see anything clearly. When I finally stopped, the only thing in my eyes was "Qianlong Nian Zhi" (Made in the Qianlong period).
What is this? I reached out to grab it, but my hand clasped a foot. It was Lin Han's foot. Her feet were cold. She looked at me resentfully, "Where have you been for the past two years?"
"University..."
I must have meant to say "university," but my voice was drowned out by the sound of a train arriving.
"Hurry up, this train only stops for three minutes."
I stepped onto the platform... At that moment, I knew what I had to do. As a spectator, I shouted with all my might, "Don't look back, don't look back!"
Lin Han saw me. Our eyes met.
Snow was falling, and the scenery was beautiful. Lin Han was even more beautiful.
This scene was frozen in my heart. The snowflakes hung motionless in the air, and Lin Han's eyes held a hint of love.
...
Crackling~ crackling~
Tiny cracks appeared in her eyes. The beautiful scene shattered.
It was pitch black all around. I took out my phone, "Brother Chang, please come to Tai'an."
"Brother, I'm..."
"Lin Han is dead. I'll text you the hotel address."
"I, I'll be right there..."
After hanging up, my gaze fell on the urn on the table. Next to the urn lay the cold jade tablet.
I reached for the cold jade tablet, but I didn't get it. My vision turned white again. I felt a gentle touch on my cheek, and again, I saw that face that brought me so much pain.
Lin Han's smile was a little shy, "Seeing you weren't awake, I wanted to use my method to wake you up."
I looked at her back. She said, "If I get pregnant with your child, can I marry you?"
"Then I have to ask my mom?"
Hearing this, I couldn't help but cry. I wanted to say...
Wang Ren woke me up. She remained silent, waiting for me to stop crying.
"What did you see?"
"There was a cave on Mount Tai, filled with talismans. I saw someone in there. Unfortunately, I couldn't see his face clearly."
"Were you going up the mountain to deal with that person?"
"I think so."
"Mount Tai is a tourist attraction. Would there be a cave filled with runes? I need to ask your grandmaster about this."
"Alright!"
Wang Ren left, and Luo Bo accompanied her. Chang Dachun went to buy food, and I said to Yu Xiaoluo, "Sister, can you push me in a wheelchair to the hotel where Lin Han's ashes are kept?"
Yu Xiaoluo looked at me. I looked at her sadly. She hesitated, "Let's go!" Finally, Yu Xiaoluo agreed to help me with this. She pushed me, and I carried my backpack. We secretly left the hospital.