Phantom Skeleton Painting

骷髅幻戏图

phantom-skeleton-painting

Possession (3)

Lin Banxia had once heard a saying.



 &quot;Back then she was still young, unaware that the gifts bestowed by fate had long been secretly marked with a price.&quot;



 This saying was a perfect fit for Cheng Yuliu.



 Cheng Yuliu had used her secret to escape poverty. Logically, she should have been happy. She could live in a luxurious mansion she once thought too extravagant even to imagine, eating exquisite food and wearing beautiful clothes. Yet, Cheng Yuliu found that it was becoming harder and harder for her to feel happiness. This wasn&#x27;t her being dramatic; it was a direct manifestation. The emotion called happiness seemed to be continuously siphoned away by something. No matter how desperately she spent money, she could barely experience one percent of her initial joy.



 &quot;At first, it was just a few tens of thousands,&quot; Cheng Yuliu said casually, &quot;and I was overjoyed. Later, when I won millions, even tens of millions, I couldn&#x27;t feel anything at all.&quot;



 The two listened quietly, not interrupting.



 &quot;But thankfully, my husband still loved me.&quot; Cheng Yuliu continued with a smile, &quot;He really loved me, and by extension, his family loved me too. I&#x27;m an orphan, but his parents loved me like I was their own daughter. We had a smart and beautiful child. Everything was so wonderful...&quot;



 Although money could no longer bring Cheng Yuliu happiness, the warmth of her family eased her inner anxiety. She began to focus more of her energy on her husband and child and started to distance herself from her secret. By this point, Cheng Yuliu had a vague sense that something else was hidden within that secret. She couldn&#x27;t explain it, but she instinctively sensed danger.



 But can someone trapped in a swamp really escape so easily?



 Cheng Yuliu lit another cigarette. Her gaunt face looked particularly hideous in the flickering candlelight and swirling smoke. She narrowed her eyes, glancing at the indistinct lump of flesh on the floor. Her red lips pursed into a harsh line as she grinned and said, &quot;It&#x27;s just a pity I misjudged him.&quot;



 &quot;He had an affair.&quot;



 Her husband had an affair? Even though his wife was so wealthy, he still had an affair. To this day, Cheng Yuliu couldn&#x27;t understand why he had fallen for a woman with no redeeming qualities. She was even several years older than Cheng Yuliu, with neither money nor beauty. Yet, her husband seemed as if he were bewitched, completely infatuated with her, to the point of wanting a divorce from Cheng Yuliu.



 Cheng Yuliu broke down. It started with cursing, then progressed to begging. She begged her husband not to leave her. She even brought up their child and his parents, pleading for their help.



 But what Cheng Yuliu hadn&#x27;t expected was that not a single person would take her side.



 Her child, who was never very affectionate with her, looked at her with a cold face, said he hated his mom, and mercilessly hid behind her husband. Her husband&#x27;s mother, while verbally chiding her son, told Cheng Yuliu to be more open-minded, saying that once a man&#x27;s heart has changed, even ten bulls couldn&#x27;t pull him back, and that Cheng Yuliu was still young and could find someone else even if she got divorced.



 She smiled as she consoled Cheng Yuliu, her usually kind face twisting into a demonic visage. Cheng Yuliu sat dazedly on the floor, her ears ringing. It was clearly her house, her family, yet everything before her felt incredibly unfamiliar, as if she had never possessed them at all.



 &quot;If you want a divorce, fine. I get everything and the child,&quot; Cheng Yuliu managed to force out a sentence.



 &quot;You get it? On what grounds?&quot; The usual gentleness in the man&#x27;s eyes was gone; he looked at her as if she were something filthy. &quot;It&#x27;s all prize money from lottery tickets you bought after we got married, so it&#x27;s marital property. You think you can take it all?&quot; He laughed out loud, looking at Cheng Yuliu&#x27;s pathetic state without a shred of guilt. He even unhesitatingly pulled a divorce agreement from his pocket and threw it in front of her. &quot;I suggest you sign it quickly. Otherwise, I have plenty of ways to deal with you.&quot;



 Cheng Yuliu&#x27;s tears had run dry. Like a wooden doll, she stared blankly at the man and said, &quot;Why? Why?&quot;



 &quot;Why?&quot; the man said. &quot;Tell me, what kind of monster are you? You don&#x27;t even allow the lights to be turned on after dark and only dare to go out on cloudy days? Are you a vampire? Living with a monster like you, I&#x27;ll go crazy sooner or later.&quot;



 Cheng Yuliu fell silent.



 After that, the man left with their child, leaving her alone in the house. Before he left, he told her to think it over and sign the papers as soon as possible so they could handle the formalities. The house was out of the question for Cheng Yuliu; he planned to live there. He could give Cheng Yuliu a portion of the savings, but she had to take the money and leave immediately.



 That day, Cheng Yuliu sat at home for a long, long time.



 The empty, large room was like a cave, and the wailing cold wind continuously poured in. The whispers in Cheng Yuliu&#x27;s ears grew louder and louder. She felt as if someone was speaking to her softly. It said, &#x27;Don&#x27;t cry, I&#x27;m here with you.&#x27; It said, &#x27;Tell me quickly, or they&#x27;ll be gone.&#x27; It said, &#x27;What are you worried about? If you hesitate any longer, you&#x27;ll lose everything.&#x27;



 Cheng Yuliu had heard this voice countless times. It was the very thing that had given her everything she now had.



 Cheng Yuliu stumbled to her feet and fumbled for the light switch in the living room. After discovering something, she hadn&#x27;t turned on the lights in a very long time. It wasn&#x27;t that she didn&#x27;t want to, but that she didn&#x27;t dare.



 With a click, the switch made a soft sound, and bright light illuminated the entire living room. But the light seemed to burn Cheng Yuliu&#x27;s skin. She wrapped her arms around herself, let out a piercing scream, and slowly crouched down. The shadow cast by the light formed a black hole beneath her, poised to swallow her whole. What should have been a flat reflection began to squirm and struggle, then slowly rose from the floor, forming a humanoid shape behind Cheng Yuliu.



 Tears streamed down Cheng Yuliu&#x27;s face. She didn&#x27;t dare to turn around, cowering in place and trembling like a frightened animal.



 She heard a voice exactly like her own coming from behind her, asking gently, &quot;What do you wish for?&quot;



 Cheng Yuliu was quiet for a moment before she spoke woodenly. She said, &quot;I want our family to never be separated.&quot;



 The voice said, &quot;Alright.&quot;



 Then everything vanished, as if the voice had only been Cheng Yuliu&#x27;s illusion.



 Cheng Yuliu wiped away her tears, a difficult smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.



 No one knew that she had a shadow that could grant wishes. As long as she made a wish to the Shadow, any wish would come true. Wealth, beauty, a handsome husband, and a lovely child—she had it all. It was just a pity that when she was making wishes, she forgot to wish for a happy family for herself.



 However, these wishes gradually stole away all the joy she could perceive. No matter how exaggerated the numbers in her bank account became, no matter how much others praised her beauty, she couldn&#x27;t even raise the corners of her mouth by a centimeter.



 After making her wish, Cheng Yuliu called her husband and invited them on a trip. Her husband initially wanted to refuse, but she threatened him, saying that if he didn&#x27;t go with her, she would die in front of him. Perhaps afraid that Cheng Yuliu would do something extreme, her husband&#x27;s family reluctantly agreed.



 Although they agreed to Cheng Yuliu&#x27;s request, they were unwilling to ride in the same car with her. And so, on this final journey, Cheng Yuliu was left all alone, driving her car down the highway. The surrounding scenery distorted due to the speed. The window was down, and the cold night wind slapped hard against her cheeks. She felt as if she were on a road with no one else, unable to turn back, unable to turn, where only a violent crash could make her stop.



 In a moment of daze, a massive impact from behind snapped Cheng Yuliu back to her senses. In her rearview mirror, she saw an out-of-control truck and rising smoke. The smoke swirled in the night sky, faintly forming into a long, thin black shadow that looked down on the ground with indifference.



 Cheng Yuliu slammed on the brakes, coming to a clumsy stop in the emergency lane. She opened the car door and stumbled back, a scene of devastation meeting her eyes.



 The large truck had overturned right in front of her, its heavy cargo container toppled to one side. A familiar small car was pinned tightly underneath it. The car was completely crushed, its height reduced to a mere twenty-something centimeters—no one could have survived that.



 Cheng Yuliu slowly collapsed to the ground. Her vision flipped, and she saw the dark sky. There was no light in the sky, as dark as her shadow, staring down at her sinisterly.



 Rescue personnel arrived quickly and extracted the completely deformed bodies from the wreckage. Cheng Yuliu was right there as they did all this. She watched them place the bodies into body bags and lift them into a vehicle, just about to be taken away. She finally couldn&#x27;t bear it anymore and broke down, wailing loudly, shouting that it was all her fault, that if she hadn&#x27;t insisted on coming out, they wouldn&#x27;t have died, and if they hadn&#x27;t died, they could have been with her forever—



 The police helped her into a car and took her off the highway, originally intending to hand her over to relatives. But to their surprise, after checking, the police found that the woman had no other relatives. She was an orphan to begin with; her husband&#x27;s family had been her only kin.



 &quot;I want to go to the funeral parlor and see.&quot; Cheng Yuliu, who had been crying nonstop, suddenly fell silent. Her eyes were fixed, as if she were possessed, and she insisted on going to the funeral parlor.



 The police pitied her, and seeing that they couldn&#x27;t persuade her, they took her there for safety.



 As soon as they arrived at the funeral parlor, they saw the vehicle used to transport the bodies. The doors were open, and the few people standing outside looked exceptionally grim.



 Cheng Yuliu also saw the lumps of flesh piled up in the messy vehicle. This time, however, she revealed a strange smile. In that moment, she finally understood that this car crash was no accident.



 The Shadow had fulfilled her wish once again—the family would be together forever.



 It was just that in this family of theirs, there was no place for Cheng Yuliu.



 The author has something to say:



 Song Qingluo: After hearing this story, what did you take away from it?



 Lin Banxia: Don&#x27;t... don&#x27;t...



 Song Qingluo: ?



 Lin Banxia: Don&#x27;t get married?



 Song Qingluo: ......

Possession (3)

VermilionInk