Timid but not cowardly, passionate but scared, determined but careless. Gao Ming, in this room, was filled with contradictions. There was nothing special about him. All his choices were normal. He was the most normal Gao Ming. However, the most normal self might become the most unique one.

...

“Everything in this world is governed by fate. Nothing is decided by man.

“Gao Ming, we gave you this name for a reason. You are born under the lonely star. You will not get married and have progeny. Your life will be filled with tragedies, and you will end up on the loneliest path. Therefore, we added the character Ming or Destiny in your name. With that, we hope that you can master your own destiny. No matter how dangerous the world becomes, at least you will have yourself as your companion.

“Your parents left this world early. After grandma is gone, you’ll be alone. However, you’ll be fine. You’ll be fine.”

An elder’s voicemail came from the phone. It repeated many times. After a long time, a hand covered in characters reached out of the bathroom to switch it off. The bathroom door was left half-open. A set of wrinkled school uniforms was tossed at the door. A thin high schooler stood inside the bathroom. The faucet was running. The cold water splashed on the student’s body.

“Why can’t I wash them off?”

He stood before the mirror, fully naked. Every inch of his body was covered in words. Some of them were used to increase one’s life expectancy, while others were used to bless one’s family. All the words had good meanings, but when they appeared on a human’s skin, they only felt scary.

Closing the faucet, the student raised the basin and allowed the water to run down his body. Water splattered everywhere. He grabbed the towel to wipe his body, but the characters wouldn’t come off.

Slam!

The basin was thrown against the ground, and it shattered into pieces. Wet hair stuck to the forehead. The student pulled his hair up. He saw that the characters were written on his scalp too.

To find the two, she changed the home’s Feng Shui and did many rituals. She turned the home into a Yin Home to beg the ghosts to let Gao Ming’s parents back home. Gao Ming was raised by such a grandmother. The protective words on his body were carved on his skin since he was small. They had already grown into his flesh.

That was not the worst. Even though Gao Ming was young, his body had been through many tortures.

His grandmother didn’t allow Gao Ming to go to school. He was discovered by a kind man in the neighbourhood, and that was how he got the chance to study. However, his appearance made him a monster. He couldn’t get used to the gazes of others.

The diary recorded his life at school. He was very clever and learned things quickly. However, he was kicked out of school for various mysterious reasons. His grandmother wanted to draw his blood to find her son and daughter-in-law. She wanted to sacrifice them to the Sensei.

Gao Ming had lived such a life. He used the pen to write down the date in the diary, 14th July.

“Granny, I believe in ghosts now. I believe you.”

The phone lit up then. His grandmother sent more messages. Gao Ming ignored them and kept writing.

“After all, you are dead. I saw you die before my eyes. So how can the dead keep on talking?’

The knocking suddenly came. The bells started to chime.

“Do you want to come home? Can you still come home?”