The Urn - A Conclusion

The lights flickered. The chair rocked back and forth and stopped abruptly.

Mrs Chong looked at the chair. She held her Jade pendant. 

I know what is happening here.

“Riu, please call Hui Yuan now. I need to speak to him. Only a medium can handle this.”

Riu rushed over and handed Mrs Chong the telephone. 

“I sense something in the house. I need you to talk to it.”

“I am busy today.”

“No, come now.”

“Mama, why do we need to do this?” Asked Alex who was seated on the couch.

“What do you mean by why?” 

“He knows something, and he is not saying it, Mama.” Cassandra interrupted.

“Stop it, Cassandra!”

“Don’t yell at me, Alex. You went to the house last night with Jules and Lee.

“We did not go there!”

"We did go there.” Jules intervened. 

“Jules.” Lee tried to warn him.

Jules ignored Lee.

“We were there last night. We did not mean for anything bad to happen. We were just checking out the place because we had heard a lot about it.”

Mrs Chong got up from the couch and walked towards Jules.

“Tell me what happened?”

“There was a bad odour in the mansion when we stepped in. We…. we…. heard…. voices and went to check. It was too dark except for some light from what seemed like torchlights. We hid behind the wall and caught them trying to bury a jar in the floor."

“What jar? Alex, what is this all about?”

“We saw Benji and a worker try to bury the Urn.”

“What Urn? Whose?”

“It’s Chee’s Urn Mama.”

“What happened to Chee?” Asked the agitated and very confused Mrs Chong.

Cassandra helped her to sit down while Riu handed her a bottle of drinking water.

“Mama, let’s not talk about it now!”

“No tell me, I need to know. Riu, call Mr Chong and ask him to come back. Tell him it’s an emergency. We need to inform the police.”

“Mama, no! The police cannot know this.”

“What do you mean?”

“We helped Benji.”

“You did what? Why?”

“Benji caught us hiding. He threatened to tell the police that we helped him kill Chee. We had no choice, Mama. We had to help.”

“Oh my god, what have you done? Why did Benji kill Chee?”

“Chee was leaving for Xiaoshan with a worker to purchase some electronic parts in the evening. Benji who was supposed to be home caring for his daughter decided to follow Chee. They had a misunderstanding about work on the way. Benji asked Chee to resign but he refused to. Benji was furious and threatened Chee. Chee drove into some nearby woods and pulled over. There was a tussle. It was dark. The worker tried to break the fight and pushed Chee away, who fell and hit himself hard against the bumper of the jeep. It was an accident. When they checked, Chee was dead. They did not know what to do.

Benji drove very deep into the woods and found an isolated spot. They burned Chee’s body with petrol. They then took the ashes in a bag and buried the rest at the same spot. They drove to Xiaoshan and bought the Urn. They transferred the ashes into the Urn and wanted to bury it at the Mansion so no one would find it or suspect anything.”

“This is not right! Why was Xiaoren there?”

“We don’t know. We never saw her, but we did hear some footsteps. That is when Benji panicked and asked us to find another place to bury the Urn. So, we ran as fast as we could and came home. As we rushed, Lee dropped the Urn at the entrance of the mansion. We left it behind.” Said Alex.

“Who set the house on fire?” Asked Cassandra.

“We don’t know. We left by then. It was almost 3am when we reached home.”

“That is why you put the dogs in the kennel. Oh my god, you guys planned this trip. You didn’t want them to bark when you returned.” Cassandra interrupted.

“We did not mean for it to turn out like this!” Said Alex.

“Alex, where is the Urn now?”

“We don’t know Mama.

Jules looked angrily at Lee.

“Alex, I am asking you again. Where is the Urn?”

“I really don’t know Mama. I……. I……. I…”

“Alex!” Mrs Chong held Alex by his neck and lifted him off the floor. “Where is the Urn?” Mrs Chong asked in a rough and angry voice. The children froze in place. 

“Mama!” a shocked Cassandra screamed. 

Riu, put the receiver down and started chanting her Buddhist “Om Mani Padme Hum” mantra to calm down. Jules tried to hold Alex and pulled him down, but Mrs Chong was too strong. She sent Jules flying to the wall.

Mrs Chong picked up Alex and threw him so hard that he fell at the front door.

Alex laid there unconscious. 

Cassandra ran towards Alex and knelt next to him.

“Stay away.” Hui Yan walked through the front door.

Mrs Chong turned and looked at him. 

Hui Yan stood at the door and stared at Mrs Chong. Mrs Chong looked infuriated and was agitated. She could not move and floated in place.”

“Who are you?” Asked Hui Yan.

“Who are you?” He asked again.

Mrs Chong refused to cooperate.

“Where is the Urn?” Mrs Chong asked angrily.

Hui Yan held the image of Zhong Kui towards Mrs Chong. 

“Tell me who you are!”

“Xiaoren. I am Xiaoren. Where is my husband’s Urn? They took my husband away, they killed me and my baby.” She started to sob.

Cassandra moved Alex slowly towards the front door without distracting anyone, while Jules, Lee and Riu stood near the family room.  

“You cannot harm them. They do not have the Urn. You must go now.” Hui Yuan said firmly. 

“If you disobey, then I will have to lock you up. Go and we will find the Urn.” 

Just then Mrs Chong dropped to the floor. 

Hui Yuan sprinkled some water on Mrs Chong. Riu attended to her.

Hui Yuan stepped out of the house and came back a few minutes later. 

“I have blessed the compound of this house. You should be safe for now.”

Mrs Chong lay down on the couch while the children stood around her. 

“Don’t worry. I have done the best I can, and you should be fine. Said Hui Yan.

Terrified over what had happened, Mrs Chong blessed the home every year.

Qiu’s mansion was abandoned. The government sealed the property. The police investigation concluded that Xiaoren’s death was an accident and that Chee was missing.

Ten years passed. 

One morning, the fresh peonies that Mrs Chong picked from her garden had a charred smell. She checked the rest of the flowers on the flower bed, and it was the same. This is so odd! Why does it smell like that? Mrs Chong felt uneasy. She told the gardener to get rid of and replace them with other flowers and new soil. 

She sensed someone watching her. This was not new. She had the same feeling a couple of months prior. 

Once it was when Mr Chong travelled on business. Mrs Chong stayed up to read in her room. She heard her wardrobe doors slam open. She stepped out of bed and walked to the large closet area to check. The doors were indeed wide open. She moved closer and closed them one by one. She felt something float above at one corner. It sent chills up her spine.

She did not completely turn to look but just moved her eyes to her right a little to capture it. It floated towards her slowly. She quickly closed her eyes and grabbed her jade Guan Yin locket. She suddenly felt it in front of her face. She felt it breathe. Mrs Chong stayed still. A few minutes later she opened her eyes. It was gone. There was a piece of burnt cloth on the floor. She never mentioned it to anyone.

As Mrs Chong prepared some dim sum in the kitchen with Cassandra and her husband Lee who visited from Singapore, the gardener called out to her from the backyard. 

“Nushi, I think I found something in the flowerbed. You need to see it.” 

“What is it?”

“I would rather you see it for yourself Nushi.”

As they approached the flower bed, Mrs Chong’s heart started to beat fast. Is that? What is….? Oh my god? How? I hope it is not!”

Lee turned pale. 

“I’ve seen it before!” He said, his voice trembling. “We must call the police.” He continued.

“What do you mean? Asked Cassandra, confused. 

“Do you remember many years ago I had left behind an Urn at Qiu’s mansion? I think this is the same one.” Said Lee.

“Oh my god. Is this Chee’s Urn? How?” Cassandra panicked.

“I believe it is, but I don’t understand how it ended up here. We need to inform Alex and Jules.”

“Mama, maybe we should first call Benji. He needs to know about this. He was the cause of the mess.” 

Call the servants now!” she said. I want them to remove and get rid of this!”

Mama don’t! We don’t want to touch it. Speak to Papa first.”

Mrs Chong asked the gardener to bury the Urn deep inside the ground where he found it. She then told him to go to a temple and pray.

That evening, the family discussed it over dinner. They could not reach Benji. Mr Chong mentioned that he had taken off from work for almost a week and no one could reach him. Mr Chong suggested that they moved to another home as he did not have a good feeling about it at all. Mr Chong decided and within the next week, they moved out into a new home, which they would live in for the next twenty years. 

Raymond sat down and placed his face in his palms.

There was a loud thud.

“Turn off the lights Raymond. Turn…. off……. the……lights…….” Chengfang whispered.

“Chengfang, I swear this blood on me was from Chengli’s body which I saw in the corridor earlier before I met you. But why did I ask you where she was? Why could I not remember that I saw her sprawled in blood?”

“What do you mean? What happened to her? Wait! We did not see anything on the way to the dining. Where could she be?”

“I don’t know! Something is wrong. I hope I am not hallucinating. We need to find Ah Ma and Chengli. We need to brave this. We must run to the altar. Ah Ma keeps an extra Bagua mirror there, together with the Empirical coin which was blessed in the temple, and we need to light as many joss sticks as possible. Ah Ma used to say that these would protect us. I am sure she was right. We need to do this in the dark so nothing would spot us.”

Chengfang held Raymond’s hand. They stood up and did not turn the torchlight on. They took careful and slow steps and used their hands to feel the walls and cabinets until they reached the corridor. And then they froze. Something had rolled over to Chengfang and stopped near her feet. 

“Don’t be alarmed. It’s messing with us.” Raymond murmured softly.

They continued walking. Chengfang held Raymond’s hands very tight.

Why is her hand so cold? She must be scared.

As soon as they reached the altar, Raymond looked for the mirror. He handed Chengfang the joss sticks and match.

“Hurry up. Light it up!” Said Raymond. “Oh, never mind, I will do it. He placed the mirror on the altar and lit the joss sticks and stuck it into some ash in a ceramic bowl on the altar. He also lit the oil lamp on the altar, but something blew it off. He lit it again. It went off again. Raymond was infuriated. He knew trouble was right behind him. He didn’t budge. He held the Bagua mirror and placed it upright. He then lit the lamp, and through the Bagua mirror spotted two red dots reflecting from a distance. By then, the altar was well lit and the fragrance from the joss stick was very strong. He felt safe and turned on the torch. He then held the mirror against his chest and turned around. 

“Chengfang! Where are you?” He whispered.

“Raymond!”

“Ah Ma? Oh my god Ah Ma, what happened to you?”

Mrs Chong walked up to Raymond, covered in blood. 

“I am okay. She threw me to the edge. We need to get help and get rid of the Urn.” Mrs Chong whispered in pain as she held her neck. “Let’s get out of here. Take the Quan Yin statue with you. Nothing will dare harm us. Where are the girls?”

“I don’t know Ah Ma!” 

Raymond held Mrs Chong and walked her to the front door hurriedly. The servants came running towards them from outside. 

“Nushi, we heard loud noises but could not get into the house.” Said Ko.

“Call Hui Yan and Mr Chong. There is a phone in the car. Hurry up.” Mrs Chong instructed them. “Where is the driver? Get the driver! Oh, don’t bother. We need to burn it now!”

“Burn what Ah Ma?”

“The Urn. Come with me. We need to go back to the old house. I don’t care if it rips me apart. I am putting a stop to this!”

“Ah Ma, why don’t we wait for Ah Gong?” 

“No, there is no time. Come.” 

Mrs Chong hopped into the car and revved off with Raymond and her servants Ko and Chu. Raymond secured himself. He looked at his grandma in awe. 

I have such a cool Ah Ma! He beamed in pride.

When they arrived at the old mansion, his pride disappeared. The surrounding was dark except for the porch and selective garden lights. Mrs Chong drove in. The mansion looked run down. Mrs Chong opened the car boot and took out a petrol container. She walked towards the garden. Raymond and the servants trailed behind her. Mrs Chong was angry. 

“Hold the Bagua mirror, Raymond. I know she is here!”

As she walked closer to the flower bed, which was now covered with wild grass, she heard someone scream for help. 

“Ah Ma, that sounds like Chengfang!”

“Ignore her. She’s tricking us.”

“Who Ah Ma?”

Mrs Chong opened the cap of the container and poured the petrol onto the flower bed. The wind started howling and trees swayed violently. Mrs Chong and the rest struggled to stay in place.

The wooden windows of the mansion shuddered and started breaking apart and pieces started flying toward them.   

Raymond shielded Mrs Chong.

“Xiaoren, stop! I know it is you!” Mrs Chong stuttered as she poured the petrol. “It is time for you to leave! Go and stop troubling my family. We did nothing wrong!” She said.

Mrs Chong trembled to light the match and threw it on the flower bed. It caught fire immediately. Screams continued coming from the mansion. Window pieces flew in all directions. One-piece hit Mrs Chong on her forehead and sent her to the floor. Something then grabbed and dragged her feet and pulled her towards the abandoned pond. 

The two servants and Raymond tried to hold Mrs Chong in place. It fought back and lifted Ko and threw her into the pond. Chu rushed to help Ko. Raymond rushed to pick up the Bagua mirror which he dropped while helping Mrs Chong.  He waved the mirror around. He did not know where exactly to focus. Mrs Chong lay on the ground. She was bleeding from the injury on her forehead. She was also covered in dry blood all over. 

The fire continued to burn. 

“We need to get out of here.” Said Mrs Chong.

Just then Mr Chong arrived with the driver, Chengfang and Chengli. 

An ambulance and a police car followed.

The girls hugged Raymond and their grandmother.

“What happened to you?” Asked a concerned Mr Chong. The girls told me everything.

“Why did you bring the police?”

“I had no choice. They have arrested Benji. We will be questioned as well but I don’t care. We will know the truth soon.”

“Xiaoren is back. I saw her.” Mrs Chong murmured in a low voice.

“What are you talking about? It can’t be.”

“I recognised the mole under her chin. She came back to look for the Urn. She almost harmed Raymond and the girls. I had to burn it so that she would leave us.”

“I will always be with you…” Mrs Chong heard a voice in her left ear, and it faded with a deafening scream and laughter.

“What was that?”

“What was what?” Asked Mr Chong.

“That voice and scream. Didn’t you all hear it?”

Everyone shook their head.

“That’s funny! I heard a voice. Or maybe I was just hallucinating. It’s been a long day.”

The policemen inspected the compound. The paramedics treated Mrs Chong’s wound.

The fire was burning lightly and went off as they made their way to the cars. 

Over the next few days, Mrs Chong cleansed the house and replaced the existing Bagua mirror above her front door with a bigger one.

Mrs Chong then walked to the dining. On her way, she looked at the mirror to adjust her bright red Samfoo and checked her red nail polish. 

“Ah Ma hurry up. We are hungry!” Called Raymond.

“I’m coming!” Mrs Chong lifted her head slightly and gently touched the small mole below her chin and smiled.

The END