The happy days slowly became cooler in the air, and the city seemed to slowly begin to regain its tranquility. I received a new interview assignment, interviewing a makeup artist.
But he is definitely not an ordinary makeup artist. This seems to be nonsense, otherwise why would I interview him?
To be precise, this man named Zong Mu is a makeup artist who applies makeup to the dead.
"Who are you looking for?" Suddenly a young man came over and asked me. I answered that he was looking for Zong Mu. The young man suddenly showed an expression of disgust and surprise.
"He's in the morgue. He spends more time with the dead than the living." After the young man learned our purpose, he sneered and left.
I walked in, but found it empty and felt strange.
"There are usually only two kinds of people here, the dead, and the living who come to help the dead." I suddenly heard a low but magnetic voice, like the announcer on an old radio, with a little noisy interference. .
I looked back and saw a tall, thin man standing behind us with his back to the light outside the window. I remembered that I had not seen him just now. He might have come from the cold storage room next door. But he walked as lightly as a cat and approached me. There was no sound at all.
"My name is Zong Mu. You are the reporter sent by the newspaper, right?" He walked over slowly, or rather, like a kite, blown by the wind.
Only then did I look at him carefully.
Zong Mu was wearing a gray long-sleeved hard cloth suit, black straight trousers, and a pair of black and white crepe socks. I was surprised that even though it was cooler here, he didn't need to wear such airtight clothes. He was wearing white gloves. His head was like a white log that had been cut by a knife, with short, straight hair, a narrow and high forehead, high cheeks, and a slit on his lips that seemed to have been accidentally cut. The cut, when closed, looked as if it didn't exist. The strangest thing was his eyes, which were tightly closed, with his eye sockets a little sunken, like tomatoes exposed to the sun, shriveled and red.
He sniffed, then suddenly grinned and explained. I saw that his teeth were slightly yellow, but full and neat, like a piece of freshly picked corn.
"You may not know much about my business. No wonder. I have probably seen more corpses than the people you know." Zong Mu said with a smile. Although what he said was true, I felt very uncomfortable. Smiled.
"The corpses that you have come into contact with, or that most people know about, are from TV or some relatives and friends. These people have died of illness. As for us, what we like most is to make up the corpses in the hospital, because those The body is still intact. "Zongmu said as he walked towards one of the coffins. His steps were strange, like an acrobat walking on a tightrope, with his hands slightly open and his body swaying slightly on both sides as he walked. His steps were very small. , but very stable.
"But some bodies are incomplete, or they are the result of unnatural deaths. When their relatives and friends bring them to us, they usually wrap them in red plastic sheets. It is said that this can appease the dead's ghosts.
"The first thing we have to do is to receive the body. I have said that we are most happy to receive the body of someone who died in the hospital, because it is easy to handle. If we receive a body that is very decomposed, For example, bodies that have been discovered for a long time often emit a foul odor, are full of insects, and are unrecognizable. Usually, the clothes are permeated with the foul smell. There are many rules for receiving the corpse. One side of the head needs to be tilted up so that the body can be seen clearly. The body was taken out of the carriage in a semi-lying position, so that it would be comfortable and would not cause any trouble to us. So I needed to wear thick and closed clothes to avoid being splashed by the poisonous corpse water. People who work here Many couldn't adapt and left. The rest seemed a bit strange in the eyes of outsiders. In fact, they were just a pile of rotting flesh. As long as they could get through this, it wouldn't matter. Besides, the income in this industry was quite good. , so some people still insist on staying. "
"In fact, the reason why we are afraid is that seeing these corpses is like seeing our own fate in the future." Zong Mu was smiling while speaking, but there was no other expression on his face, as if everything had nothing to do with him. .
“My job is quite busy. Sometimes I have to apply makeup to hundreds of corpses in eight hours. Normally, I can finish an ordinary corpse in twenty minutes, but if I meet the girl who just moved in, I’m afraid even a few hours will not be enough. "Zongmu opened the cold storage room, and I heard a loud clang, the sound of metal colliding.
"If you are feeling okay, you can come and take a look." Zong Mu said, but he didn't look at me.
I followed Somu in, and before I even set foot inside, my body shivered.
Inside was a huge thing that shone with a silver metallic luster. It had three floors in total and was filled with many drawers, just like the medicine cabinet in a Chinese medicine prescription. Zong Mu skillfully opened a drawer, and with a clang, a corpse appeared. Pulled it out.
The body was thin, probably a female, but it was wrapped in a blood-red plastic bag.
Zong Mu unzipped his pants and I took a look. I was very glad that Luo Lei did not come with me.
If you only look at half of her face, she is a very pretty and delicate girl. Even though her face is extremely pale due to excessive blood loss, it still cannot hide her appearance when she was alive. However, the other half is like an old wood hollowed out by termites. , badly damaged, with charred skin on the edges and almost half of the face burned off.
"Can this be repaired?" I covered my mouth and suddenly remembered a sentence. Mr. Lu Xun said that tragedy destroys the valuable things in life for people to see, while comedy tears the worthless things apart for people to see. , beauty and ugliness, the stark contrast makes me feel uncomfortable.
"That's good. Last time, a guy got into a car accident and his skull was deformed. I had to sew his skull and scalp back together with pins. How about this, are you interested in seeing how I can make her up? But It may take some time." Zong Mu said, spreading his hands.
I looked at my watch and it was still early.
Zong Mu walked into a small room and changed into clothes similar to those used for surgery in a hospital. But I was surprised that he took off his gloves at this time.
His hands were very big, slightly out of proportion with his wrists, and his fingers were long and delicate, as white as scallions. Even girls rarely had such beautiful hands.
Zong Mu lifted the girl's body out. Of course, I helped her. Then, he got a piece of very flexible plastic that was similar to the color of skin and spread it over the damaged half of her face. Then he put his palm Open it and place it gently on the dead person's face.
"What are you doing?" I asked curiously.
"I feel that putting makeup on each corpse is like making a work of art. The more serious the damage, the greater the challenge, and the more excited I am. But before I start, I have to feel what they think." As he spoke, his face showed the satisfaction of a child who had obtained his favorite toy.
What a weird guy, I muttered to myself, but I knew that the thing I was most looking forward to had not yet happened, which was also the main reason why I came here to find him.
After a few minutes, Zong Mu's hand suddenly took up the scalpel and began to cut the half piece of tape. I felt like I was watching a street artist making clay figurines. The half piece of ordinary tape was first roughly cut. The outline of the destroyed facial features emerged, followed by delicate sculpture and editing. I almost forgot where I was and was completely mesmerized by those hands, as if the hands were still separated from Zong Mu and became a separate life. The body is completing this work alone. No, it’s more like dancing than working.
Two hours later, I almost didn't recognize this girl. Except for the faint seams at the interface, there was almost no difference. It seems that this tape is also specially made. The girl's face is very beautiful, like a Gothic style The face of a beautiful doll, but lifeless. And there seemed to be something wrong with the eyes.
"After the burn, the skin may have shrunk and become dehydrated." Zong Mu seemed to see my doubts and explained.
"The next step is to apply makeup. We also have a special drug that can make the deceased close his eyes and mouth and relax his skin, making him look very peaceful. But this requires the consent of the deceased's family." He took his hands off the body and walked into the hand-washing area, washing them carefully, then changed his clothes and put on gloves again.
"You do these without gloves? Aren't you afraid of hurting yourself?" I asked him.
"When I put on gloves, I lose my sensitivity, and my hands and the works I make are not perfect." Zong Mu picked up the cup of tea, his forehead was covered with sweat.
"But, don't they all say you are a blind man?" I finally said it.
Zong Mu stopped drinking water. His sunken eye sockets suddenly moved, and his cheekbones on both sides moved. He looked at me seriously.
"I am more dexterous than many people with good eyesight. That's why I stayed here. Many corpses that they can't repair have to rely on me." Sure enough, he is indeed blind, but he can complete such a delicate Work. It's amazing.
"Okay, my job is done, and your interview should be over. Here is my business card. You are a nice guy. It's rare for a stranger to stay here for hours and watch me work. If you have any problem, you can come to me, of course, I don't want to work for you here forever." Zong Mu handed me a business card, then turned around and stopped talking to me.
I walked out with the business card and left the funeral home.
"What a weird guy," I thought to myself.
But I didn't expect that I would meet Somu again soon.
Because a person who claimed to know Zong Mu suddenly found me.
"I heard you interviewed him this morning." This young man was about 20 years old, with an average appearance and a medium build. He was wearing a white T-shirt and black beach shorts. He was in front of me. He lit a cigarette, as if he and I had a deep friendship. I suddenly remembered that this young man was the one I had seen in the funeral home before.
"So what?" I feel a little disgusted with this kind of person.
"I advise you to have less contact with this monster. He and I are colleagues at the funeral home. He almost never interacts with anyone, but today I found out that he actually talked so much to you. Moreover, we all think he is a psychopath behind his back. Pervert." The young man took a puff of his cigarette, and the cigarette butt immediately turned red. I looked at his eyes, which were even redder than the burning cigarette butt, and seemed to be severely congested.
"This guy actually calls himself an artist. He is obviously blind, but he can repair and make up corpses better than others. Don't you think it's strange? Or is he just a monster? No one knows his origins. The information is a mystery. He was there when the funeral directorate was established, but over the years, people say he hasn't aged at all. He has been like this for decades. Although everyone hates him, his craftsmanship is really excellent. Without him, our small place would have collapsed long ago. Even people from other places came to him to make up corpses. Moreover, I heard that all the corpses made up by him would die if they did not drink water . Something is missing." Young suddenly said mysteriously, and I saw his eyes getting redder and redder, and his pupils were almost invisible, but he seemed not to feel it at all.
"What's missing?" I asked him.
"Eyeballs. Although I don't have definite evidence, I have observed that some corpses that have been made up have some strange eye sockets. Maybe he is really a monster that specializes in eating eyeballs."
Young was like a commentator, speaking in an exaggerated manner, but every time he spoke, I saw his temples throbbing violently and he looked very bad.
"I've told you what happened. Can you give me some money?" It turned out that this was the purpose of his trip.
"Why should I believe you?" I'm not a fool.
"That's easy. You seem to have his business card. Follow him home, but remember not to get discovered. I almost got discovered last time. Although he is blind, his hearing and sense of smell seem to be very sensitive. The young man left his contact information and then staggered away, pressing the back of his head as he walked.
I took out Sonoki's business card and started to wonder.
After get off work, I hurried to the address on the business card and waited there for Somu to come.
It was an old street. Most of the residents had moved away due to demolition. There were only a few left except Zongmu. Zongmu should have been well paid, so why didn't he buy a decent house? Moreover, his neighbor It was also said that Zong Mu often kept his door closed, never had any friends, no wife or relatives, and that every summer, there was always a strange and unpleasant smell floating in his house. Moreover, when the government wanted to demolish the house, Zong Mu unexpectedly acted contrary to his usual behavior and refused to leave even if he died. The noise was so intense that it almost caused a disturbance at the TV station, so the demolition work was put on hold.
"It's really a mystery." As the sky gradually darkened, I looked at the locked door of the Sonoki family and couldn't help but say.
"What's the mystery?" Zong Mu's deep voice sounded behind me. I was startled and turned around. He was standing behind me with a smile. I felt strange that even in such hot weather outside, he was still wearing long clothes. He was wearing pants and gloves, and even his neck was protected by a high-necked shirt.
"I was just talking casually." I replied awkwardly.
"I knew you would come to see me. Why don't we go eat something? I'm a little hungry." He invited me very kindly. It was also time for dinner, so I decided to go with him.
I stopped talking and started chatting about other things. After we finished eating, it was already completely dark outside. Zong Mu drank some wine. Maybe it was inconvenient to wear gloves, so he took off his gloves and put them on after eating. Stuffed into trouser pocket.
"Would you like to come to my house and have a visit?" said Somu.
I wanted to refuse, but curiosity got the better of me, so I followed him through the narrow alleys.
The street lights were dim, like candles in the wind, flickering on and off. But a few young men who looked like gangsters came up to us.
The leader was a tall man with a shaved head, shirtless, and a dragon tattooed on his shoulder. I couldn't help but laugh. This generation has really watched too many movies and learned everything. They have no creativity at all. They only know how to You can get a dragon or a tiger tattoo, or something else, such as the Great Wall, which is so long that you can wrap it around your body several times, which will definitely make you look stunning when you go out.
"Brothers, we have no money for food, please give us some money." The guy took out a sharp switchblade and waved it in his hand. I hoped he would cut himself.
Before I could say anything, Zong Mu suddenly walked over slowly and stretched out a hand, which seemed to contain some money.
"Take it." He stretched out his hand.
Suddenly something strange happened. A few thugs looked at his hand and were about to take the money, but they ran away screaming "monster" and "demon" as if they saw a ghost.
"What's going on?" I was puzzled again.
"Maybe you're scared by the way I look." Zong Mu turned his head. No wonder, under this light, his face was indeed a little scary.
"How dare you come to rob someone when you are so cowardly." I shook my head and smiled bitterly.
Finally, I arrived at Zong Mu's home, but it was getting late, so I had to go back after staying for half an hour at most and sort out the manuscripts about him.
His home is very clean. When I say clean, there are two meanings. One is that there is no dust, and the other is that there are no other unnecessary things. Except for the necessary desk and chair, there is nothing else. I wonder how much money he makes. What did you do with it?
The living room is not big, about ten square meters, and the rooms inside are very dark. In fact, the light in the living room is not strong either, and you can barely see things clearly, which is not much better than with candles.
"I'll go in and change my clothes." Zong Mu said with his back to me. I nodded and sat on the chair looking around.
Everything was visible at a glance, and I suddenly felt bored, so I got up and looked around.
At this time, Zong Mu's cell phone suddenly rang. It turned out that a particularly important deceased had come to the funeral home. They hoped that Zong Mu would come quickly. After all, in this kind of weather, although the body was refrigerated, it would affect the makeup after a night. The family members naturally thought that the sooner the better. Zongmu said to me very apologetically that he would be back soon and hoped that I could wait for him.
"I have something to show you." He said with a smile. After that, he repeatedly told me not to leave, then closed the door and went out.
I was the only one in the room.
Suddenly, I smelled a faint smell. It seemed to be the same smell I smelled at the funeral home this morning.
I walked towards the dark inner room. Fortunately, there was a light on the wall. It was actually bigger than the living room. But there was only a bed.
I walked slowly along the wall of the room and suddenly felt that the wall was a little strange.
The weather was very hot, but one section of the wall was as cold as ice. To confirm, I touched the wall in the living room, and sure enough, the temperature was different.
"Is there something behind this?" I wondered, and then I imitated the movies and knocked on the smooth, empty wall with my hands.
Sure enough, there was a sound similar to that of mechanical rotation, and the wall actually opened. Of course, a gust of cold air also blew in, along with that special smell.
With the dim light, I managed to peek inside.
It was a very large room, almost larger than the living room and the bedroom inside. Inside, metal cabinets were neatly arranged one after another, like a library, layer by layer.
There were no books on it, but glass jars.
The jars were about the size of our ordinary drinking glasses, and there seemed to be labels on them for annotations. The light was dim, so I couldn't see clearly what was inside or what was written on the labels. I picked one up at random and walked towards the light. Place.
If I hadn't been prepared, I would have almost broken the jar by accident.
The jar contained an eyeball.
A pair of complete eyeballs, soaked in a transparent preservative liquid. As my hands moved slowly in the transparent liquid, the eyeballs seemed to be looking at me as if they were alive. No matter how I turned my eyes, they would not move. Feeling of being stared at.
There is a sentence written on the label.
"On July 14, 1996, a 26-year-old woman named Yang Yue died of drowning, her eyes were intact."
I put the bottle back, turned on my phone light, and walked in.
All the bottles were filled with eyeballs. They were neatly stacked, layer by layer, in all kinds of colors, black, brown, blue, I didn't expect there were foreigners' pupils, their lifeless pupils were very The bottle is large, reflecting the blue light of the mobile phone in the dark room. The label of the bottle indicates the name of the owner of the eyeball, the time and manner of death. It is like a collection.
And they were strictly released according to the time. I felt like I was stripped naked and thrown on the street. I felt like I was being pricked all over. I could feel as if there were many people in this room, they were all staring at me with their eyes wide open. With me.
I didn't leave, I just followed the cabinets to the nearest set.
There was actually a bottle that was empty, but it also had a label.
"In 2014, an unknown male, 24-year-old Ouyang Xuanyuan, died of unknown cause, eyes not obtained"
I shuddered and barely managed to grab the bottle again.
I put the bottle back and picked up the one next to it.
Inside was a pair of eyeballs that were red like fire, and they looked very familiar. I looked at the label, and sure enough, the time was today, and they were the eyes of that young man, who was probably no longer alive.
I carefully closed the door, took out the bottle with my label, calmed down a little, and the only thing in my mind was to leave here immediately.
But as soon as I walked out of the bedroom, I found Zong Mu standing at the door. He looked at me with a strange smile, but he had no eyes.
"I said I wanted to show you something, but you've already seen part of it, right?" said Sonoki.
"Why did you choose me? And don't you only take the eyes of the dead?" I asked him in a cold sweat.
"Yes, so if you are killed, won't your eyes become the eyes of the dead?" He still said calmly, as if he was continuing to discuss the topic of dinner with me.
"Why do you want to hide the eyes of so many people? Are you a psychopath?" I tried to keep my voice steady and try not to show any fear.
"There's no reason, because I don't want to live a blind life anymore. I want to see the sun and see the colors!" Zong Mu became emotional.
"Fuck the ancestral rules and doctrines. My stupid ancestors set such a ridiculous law and asked me to abide by it. But when I was about to lose hope, I learned from my dying father that I can actually regain my sight. I told you that since I was chosen as the successor of the family, my eyes will slowly shrink until I become completely blind. However, there is still a way to make my eyes see again, and that is what I want. Something else to show you." Zongmu suddenly stretched out his palm.
There was a cut on his palm. But almost at the same time, the cut suddenly opened slowly, and there was an eyeball inside. The eyeball was very active, moving around like a camera lens.
I was so shocked that I could hardly speak. Zong Mu walked past me triumphantly, opened the secret door, and took out a jar. It was the young man's fiery red eyes I had just seen.
"This guy is too much of a troublemaker. I have no choice. I just want to be an ordinary person in obscurity, but he insisted on pulling me out. He thought he was not discovered by the stalking. It's ridiculous. This idiot didn't know that I had been in his mind for a long time. "I put something in it." Zongmu opened the jar and took out one of the eyeballs. He slowly took off his shirt.
I finally understand why he wears long sleeves even when the weather is so hot.
His naked upper body was covered with knife marks similar to those on the palm of a hand, one after another, densely packed together.
The cuts were slowly opening, and inside were eyeballs, all alive. Zong Mu took out an eyeball that seemed to have deteriorated from one of the cuts, and slowly stuffed the fiery red eyeball in. The inserted eyeball quickly regained its vitality, began to move, and looked at me.
"Like a drug addiction, I started by implanting only eyeballs in my palms to allow me to see again, but I soon discovered that the more implants I had, the greater my abilities became. It was a wonderful feeling. It is unspeakable. My sensitivity to everything is far greater than that of ordinary people, but most of these eyes can only stay in my body for a period of time, and then they need to be replaced with new eyeballs. This technique is called Thousand Eyes, which can be implanted into the dead. I can see the light again and gain other abilities by implanting a stranger's eye. Every time I implant a stranger's eye, I get excited for a while because a new experience has come again. However, when the eyeball is rejected by my body, , I was in agony again. "
"I know this is not a long-term solution. My father told me that if I want to become a normal person, I must find a pair of eyeballs that fit me perfectly and put them into my originally atrophied eye sockets. Moreover, the dead person's eyeballs contain I have experienced all kinds of dying feelings. Every time I implant one, I feel death once more. There is nothing more exciting than the feeling before dying. "Zongmu laughed wantonly, and I suddenly felt that this The guy is simply crazy.
"Fortunately, after all these years, I finally met you. When we first met at the funeral home, I knew that your eyes were perfect for me, especially your right eye."
Then I remembered that my right eye was sealing the mirror demon.
"However, now is not the right time. I cannot fully adapt to your eyeballs yet. But I will wait patiently, like a tiger lying in the grass, waiting for the perfect opportunity to hunt for food." He smiled and took out the remaining eyeballs and showed them to me. Come over here.
All of his "eyes" opened, and I immediately felt dizzy. When I lost consciousness, I saw him holding a knife and cutting a hole in my right wrist. Strangely, I didn't feel any pain. Then, he slowly pressed the red eyeball into the wound, and the wound slowly began to heal and close on its own.
"When this eye is fully open, I will come to take your eyeball. Just like planting crops, I will come to take my harvest. However, you won't recognize me next time." Zong Mu said excitedly. Laughing,
Then, my eyes went dark and I passed out.
When I woke up, I found myself lying under a street lamp. It was already daybreak. I had slept all night. It seemed like a dream. But when I raised my right hand, I saw a very thin scar on my wrist. .
When this is fully opened, will he really come and take my eyes away? I asked myself.
Later I went to look for Sonoki's house again, and it was completely empty. There was nothing there, including his numerous disgusting collections. I also understood what he had done with his money.
As for the young man, his body was also found a few days later, with empty eye sockets and removed eyeballs. It was said that when he was found, his entire body was like dehydrated vegetables, dried up.
The funeral home also said that Somu called his boss and told him he would not be working anymore, and he never went there again. Without Somu, the funeral home quickly became desolate. Somu seemed to have disappeared from this world, as if he had never appeared at all. , but every time I see the thin knife scar on my right wrist, I will think of him again.
I didn't tell my family about this because I was afraid that they would worry about me.
But when my boss asked me to write an interview about a makeup artist, I didn’t know how to start.
I don’t know when Zong Mu will appear in front of me, smile and take away my eyeballs.