Tattooed Whales

Li Jiu Lu subconsciously took a glance at the clock on the wall. It was getting late.

“Li Jiu Lu.” The voice sounded lower than usual.

Jiu Lu peeked out with her head. “What?”

“Come down.”

“I’m sleeping soon.”

“Just a few words,” Chi Jian turned his neck, “It would take only a few minutes.”

Li Jiu Lu thought for a few seconds, closed her window, and took her thick coat.

The stairs was completely dark, and the doors to the master bedroom was shut, with no signs of movement inside.

Jiu Lu didn’t switch on the lights and walked out the door with soft footsteps.

Chi Jian stood under a tree not too far away, his hands crossed as he leaned on the tree.

Li Jiu Lu felt somewhat guilty, and tightened her coat as she lowered her back as she walk furtively towards him.

“A thief?” Chi Jian asked, but this time in a louder voice.

She froze for a moment and instinctively turned behind to take a look, afraid that he would wake Jiang Man and Zhou Ke up.

Chi Jian looked at Jiu Lu and smiled amusingly. “What are you afraid of? Your mom is still in the office and Director Zhou is not even back yet.”

Li Jiu Lu looked up and the lights on the third floor were indeed still on. She then straightened her back.

“How do you even know that?”

Chi Jian snorted briefly, straightened himself and walk over to her.

“Why are you still here? It’s almost ten.’

Ever since Jiang Man and the staff thought that Chi Jian was her classmate, his face had became some sort of special pass, and was even much more useful than a visiting pass; his visiting hours was much more relaxed than the others.

In addition, thinking that he might have self-study in the evening, if it wasn’t too late, he would still be allowed to visit his grandmother.

But today was really later than usual.

Chi Jian walked in-front of her. With his height, he easily blocked the lights from afar.

“I just coaxed my grandma to sleep.”

Li Jiu Lu fell into a daze again as she tried to imagine how such frivolous person like him would look like when coaxing an elderly grandmother to sleep.

“What are you thinking?”

“… …. Your grandmother couldn’t remember you again?”

“Yeah.” Chi Jian let out a sigh towards the sky, as the corner of his lips held onto his cigarette. It was obvious that he wasn’t in a very good mood.

Jiu Lu was just kicking the soil in the ground as she heard him ask: “Stay with me for a while?”

She honestly didn’t want to. The two of them right in the middle of the courtyard, and if Jiang Man were to come down, she would see them immediately. Although they were ‘classmates’, but Chi Jian is still a guy and she didn’t want to hear Jiang Man nag about gender differences again.

In midst of her hesitation, Chi Jian had already took a step towards back courtyard.

This home was actually really huge; it boasts a total of 2000 square metres and the main building took about half. The front courtyard was equally spacious, and behind the main building stood another courtyard. This courtyard however was surrounded by a few abandoned storehouses. These storehouses were also designed in a similar fashion with the main building but as they were built with various heights, it had looked rather messy.

This space was empty and unused for quite some time and as such, there weren’t any lights. The windows were completely black and the longer one looked at them, the eerier they appeared.

Li Jiu Lu always thought that the buildings here suited being a vampire’s castle better, especially at night.

She shifted her focus back and stopped herself from imagining further as she followed behind Chi Jian.

The back courtyard also held some exercise structures. Jiu Lu held onto the horizontal bars as she raised her head and gazed at the sky. There was no moon tonight and the grey clouds had covered all the stars. Before long, she heard a sound and saw a small glint of fire from her peripheral vision. Jiu Lu turned her head and saw Chi Jian lighting up a cigarette.

Chi Jian didn’t talk for quite a while so Jiu Lu was left to speak.

“I don’t understand. Why did you send your grandmother to an elderly’s home?”

He leaned lazily on the other side and glanced at her. “It’s the best living conditions that I can provide her with what I am doing now.”

“Why don’t you bring her home?”

“I am staying with others; it’s inconvenient.”

“You could always rent an apartment outside.”

Chi Jian took a puff of his cigarette. “With her illness, she needs someone to take care of her constantly. I can’t do so since I have to work in the morning.”

Jiu Lu pursed her lips as she nodded in agreement.

“I don’t understand too. Why does it seem like you’re giving business away?” Chi Jian tilted his head. “Can’t see eye to eye with money?”

“I think this place lacks familial warmth.”

Chi Jian sneered, his words slightly mocking and indignant. “Familial warmth?”

Li Jiu Lu felt that she was more suited to be a listener tonight and hence didn’t reply.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew past, blowing up the leaves as they danced furiously in the air.

Chi Jian finished his cigarette.

“I grew up in a village and my parents died in an accident when I was young. I don’t remember them that much. I was brought up by my grandmother, till I was 14.” He paused.

“After which I left, and grandma was supposed to live with my uncle and aunt-in-law. In the beginning, my grandma’s body was still capable of farming. But for some reason, the year before, she suddenly couldn’t find her way back home. We only knew she had Alzheimer’s after a trip to the hospital.”

“Now, to them, grandma was just an old fogey; an extra mouth to feed and required additional effort to look after. When I returned, I heard from neighbours that aunt-in-law yelled at her often and even hit her once.”

“Then?”

“I then heard from them last month that grandma was lost. When I rushed back, she had already been lost for 3 days.”

“Your uncle and aunt-in-law didn’t search for her?”

Chi Jian shook his head. “I don’t know. It was the farmers in the market that brought her back. When she was back, she was practically bones. Even her clothes and shoes were tattered beyond repair.”

“So you brought your grandmother here?”

Chi Jian nodded. “But her illness came up today and kept calling for Feng Shan, my uncle. She would sometimes mistake him for me too.”

“So that’s pretty infuriating.”

Jiu Lu tightened her coat and sighed softly. “People who refuse to be filial to their parents are beneath grass and trees1. They will receive their retribution one day.”

Chi Jian gave her a glance and suddenly laughed. “You really study, huh? Even your words of comfort sound so cultured.”

“… …”

For some reason, Li Jiu Lu’s heavy feelings actually lightened a lot with his laughter and this infectious charm alarmed her.

Just then, the freezing wind which travelled through the old warehouses brought along a disconcerting crying-like sound.

Neither spoke.

The two stared at each other.

“Heard that?”

Li Jiu Lu pursed her lips and nodded.

“bang. bang. bang. bang. bang. bang.”

Mixed with the whistling wind were sounds of seemingly two heavy hard object hitting against each other and yet resembled wood-making sounds; slow yet rhythmic. Also, it sounded like each bang was a result of nearly identical force.

Chi Jian straightened his body and stared at the storehouses opposite him. It seemed like the sounds had originated from there.

The back courtyard was extremely dark and had little to no moonlight to make use of. The storehouses stood deadly silent and there was only the two of them in that moment. The atmosphere suddenly dropped and became unbearably heavy.

Chi Jian nudged her body. “Want to take a look?”

Li Jiu Lu swallowed the saliva that had gathered in her mouth.

Chi Jian stepped forward and walked over.

Jiu Lu hesitated for a few seconds, but curiously took hold of her as she finally followed behind.

The wind kept blowing, and sounded more like a low grunt as the duo walked closer.

The drums in Jiu Lu’s heart beat faster and louder as they urged for her to leave. After all, she was still a girl no matter how brave she was.

“Why don’t I leave first? There’s nothing to see anyway.” She whispered.

As she finished her sentence and just about to turn, Chi Jian grabbed her wrist.

“You don’t seem like the cowardly sort.”

Li Jiu Lu was slightly speechless. What sort of behaviour has she been acting out to have given him such an impression? Dragged a few meters closer by him, the duo arrived in-front of the storehouses and the smell of rotting wood became much more obvious.

With realising, there was no sound save for the hissing wind, and the sounds heard earlier seemed like hallucinations.

In-front of them was a red wooden door held together by rusted bolts. Chi Jian touched the lock and realised it was rusty too, suggesting that they were unopened for a very long time.

The duo looked at two of the storehouses consecutively before arriving to the third one.

Chi Jian looked up. A wooden door, windows, roofing…… banners and rope.

“It must be…” Chi Jian turned around suddenly, stepped forward and knocked into Li Jiu Lu.

He unconsciously held her shoulders for support, unexpected that she would stand so close to him.

Li Jiu Lu was similarly shocked as her eyes widened and her head raised to look at him.

“Are you scared?” Chi Jian asked in a low tone. With only three words, Jiu Lu heard a tone so gentle that she felt her heart squeezed for a moment. She however believed that this feeling was due to current situation and was instinct, something that had nothing to do with feelings of any sort.

She stepped back and created some distance between them. “The town says that the home is haunted, do you believe it?”

Chi Jian stared at her for a few seconds and replied. “Yeah.”

Ju Liu shivered.

Unlike other boys, he didn’t use this moment to create an impression that he feared nothing but admitted his thoughts. “This mansion could possibly have hundreds of years of history. It could have stood through western ghosts, war generals etc before it came to be under your family. It wasn’t a peaceful period; who knows what could have died there in vain and in regret? It wouldn’t be weird if there weren’t a few vengeful ghosts.”

Li Jiu Lu’s back grew colder the more she listened to Chi Jian. She also felt something blowing cold air towards her nape and instinctively nudged in-front, closing up the distance she had created earlier.

She then raised her head and saw that Chi Jian had placed his hands behind his back. His lips lifted up and his eyes were full of amusement.

Slightly peeved, Jiu Lu stepped a few steps back.

Chi Jian laughed, “But I think it’s nothing. It could be the sound of the rope against the pole,” He explained, “There, look at that flag over there.”

Jiu Lu followed his line of sight but didn’t reply.

“So…….. do you still want to stay here?” He gestured to the main building with his chin.

“I have classes tomorrow and you should return soon.”

Chi Jian was still unsatisfied. His eyes fell as he kept his hands into his pockets. “Alright,”

“I’ll send you first.”

Li Jiu Ju had no objections.

The duo turned and walked, while keeping a distance in between.

The wind seemed to have blew open the grey clouds in the sky and amidst the dark sky, a few stars appeared.

The figures of the duo disappeared into the corner. The banner flew highly as the rope remained tightly wounded onto the pole, and there was no sound whatsoever.

The leaves on the tree whistled in the wind, and along it another sound –

“bang. bang. bang. bang. bang. bang. bang.”

After that night, Jiu Lu didn’t see Chi Jian for a very long time.

The monthly examinations followed suit soon after and on the third day, the maths teacher released the results.

Students went up to the front to collect their results as their names were called. The student with the highest marks usually went first, and the teacher gave them a few words of praise.

There were a total of 64 students in the class, and students with low marks did not need to collect their results; another student distributed them out instead.

Li Jiu Lu received her test paper and on it was two very striking numbers.

38.

The maths teacher was already on the stand, analysing the difficult questions.

After the dismissal bell rang did the teacher finally stop to catch a sip of water. He then announced the end of class.

Jiu Lu folded her test paper, put it inside her bag and didn’t stay for the self-study at night. Without speaking to Ma Xiao Ye, she sneaked out from the back door.

Without long, Liang Xu chased up to her. “Why are you walking so fast? Wait for me.”

“Is the place hard to find?”

“Not really. It’s located inside Bai Hua Road, takes a bit of time to walk.”

The two walked along Bai Hua Road, passing by the crowd in-front of the eateries. The road eventually became quieter.

The shop was rather hidden; they walked into the unknown corner and turned two times before arriving a few minutes later.

Liang Xu couldn’t stop rambling along the way, and was insistent on finding what why she wanted to find a tattoo shop. Jiu Lu replied that a friend wanted her to help but refused to answer any further.

Seeing how tight-lipped Jiu Lu was, Liang Xu switched topics to chat. “Mo Ke Yan didn’t attend classes today, do you know why?”

“I don’t know.”

“Even though she may appear to be reckless but she’s quite hardworking. She hasn’t missed a class so far.”

Jiu Lu had no interest nor the curiosity to know more and remained silent throughout.

They then finally arrived at the shop.

The shop wasn’t very remarkable. The shop name was craved in white letters on a black background; the windows weren’t very large and the wall held some patterns and skulls, giving the shop an aggressive and fierce appearance.

The shop was lit brightly and in it played loud heavy music. She could even see figures passing by the window from time to time.

“What’s wrong? Don’t be scared, they’re all my friends inside.”

“I’m not going today, I’ll bring my friend next time.” Li Jiu Lu is of course not so dumb as to get a tattoo together with him.

As a gesture of returning his goodwill, Li Jiu Lu asked, “Are you hungry? I’ll treat you.”

On the next day, Li Jiu Lu skipped self-study again and carried her backpack alone to the shop.

Unlike yesterday, the lights in the shop were on, but the music wasn’t and it seemed like nobody was in.

Unfamiliar with these sort of places, Jiu Lu looked around before she stepped into the shop.

“Is anyone there?” She asked cautiously.

From there, Jiu Lu could see everything in the shop. There were a few chairs, a traditional wooden table, directly opposite which was a wall filled with tattoo patterns. At the end was a sink with a mirror and beside it was a stairwell and a door. The door was covered by a green curtain and glimmers of light came out from the room.

Li Jiu Lu walked over and asked again. “Anyone?”

Someone inside answered lazily. “Yeah.”

Jiu Lu hesitated for a while but walked over and gently pushed open the door.

The room was much smaller as compared to outside. The lights were glaringly white and on the table displayed multiple equipment Jiu Lu had never seen before.

In the middle was a cushioned chair and on it sat a woman. Sat crossing her legs, the woman’s long hair was pushed behind her shoulders. She seemingly did not wear a bra, and her shirt was opened, revealing what was inside.

Li Jiu Lu averted her glance instantly.

Across the woman sat another man on a stool, his hands seemingly holding an equipment that resembled a pen.

Jiu Lu felt that his back looked somewhat familiar but before she could make out who it was, the person replied instantly, without looking up.

“Wait outside.” Wearing gloves and a mask, the voice sounded a little muffled.

Li Jiu Lu pursed her lips and lowered the curtain. “Oh.”

Something interesting:

1 – 人不孝其亲，不如草与木 literally means if a person isn’t filial, they are worse off than the non-living things: grass and trees.

The full proverb goes ‘慈乌尚反哺，羔羊犹跪足。人不孝其亲，不如草与木’ and is derived from an old poem called 《劝孝歌》

The first phrase speaks of a crow that would feed their parents food when they fell old and was incapable of finding food.

The second phrase speaks of a little lamb that would kneel and feed their parents milk when they could not walk.