〈Parallel Universes〉

   27  Father X’s Prophecy

Before I met Father X, I had always been a staunch atheist. Whenever anyone mentioned “destiny” or said, “Everything is predestined; nothing is left to human will,” I would scoff inwardly. I especially disliked religious fanatics, who seemed to regard anyone who refused to worship “God” or “the Buddha” as some kind of blasphemous “alien.”

It was not until Father X appeared that I began to believe that someone could actually foresee my future.

That day, I got into a direct confrontation with Yi Li-Yu, the company’s newly appointed general manager. She had issued a series of new regulations that not only restricted the administrative discretion of department managers but also took away many employee benefits. The general manager’s reasoning was astonishing: “In every company, only about 20 percent of the employees are capable of generating profits for the company. The other 80 percent are liabilities.”

As the leader of the R&D department, I intellectually agreed with this school of management theory, but it erased the contributions made by other departments and individuals. Measuring everything solely by actual economic results lacked the human warmth of humane management.

At the urging of many senior executives, I became the person who would “fire the first shot” and challenge the new policies. They believed that my opinions carried considerable weight with the company’s leadership. Under my leadership, the company’s R&D department had flourished over the years. We had developed a series of biotechnology products that were highly favored by consumers in the marketplace, effectively securing half the company’s market territory.

At the management meeting, I presented General Manager Yi with a “Product Development Revision Proposal,” advocating that we maintain a steady course and restore the benefits employees had previously enjoyed. But before I could finish speaking, the general manager, whose face was as lovely as a peach blossom, smiled and interrupted me.

“Director Chen, either you accept my decisions and management style, or you leave!”

I was stunned. Frustrated, I sat back down and, right there in front of everyone, tore the proposal on the table page by page and folded each sheet into paper cranes. Meanwhile, the meeting continued, with General Manager Yi performing a one-woman monologue while all the department heads sat silently and “listened to their lesson.”

Back in the R&D director’s office, I instructed my secretary to prepare a leave request and enter all the vacation days I had accumulated but never taken over the past six months or more. I then told her to submit it to the head of human resources. After quickly packing up my belongings, I left the company building amid my colleagues’ words of consolation, with more than a little schadenfreude mixed into my mood.

I passed a popcorn stand and bought a large bag of popcorn before wandering into a nearby little park. There was a fish pond filled with colorful koi, along with some pigeons. I wanted to calm myself down first. I came to a bench beside the pond and sat with my back to the water. I grabbed handfuls of popcorn from the bag and tossed the pieces one by one, back and forth between the pond and the lawn. Before long, a flock of pigeons had gathered in front of me, while the surface of the pond behind me was crowded with koi.

The scene became lively. When the popcorn in the paper bag was almost gone, the flock of pigeons gradually dispersed. Just then, an older man with silver hair, wearing an old-fashioned suit, walked toward me and struck up a conversation.

“Young man, looks like something unpleasant happened to you, huh?”

I looked at him and gave him a forced grin, but I did not answer.

“In this world, what could be more important than life and death? You’ve got bad luck hanging over you, and do you know that a soul reaper is following right behind you?”

The old man’s words immediately aroused my curiosity.

“A soul reaper is following me? Where?”

“That blue-faced, fanged emissary, carrying a long hook to claim lives, is sitting right there by the pond behind you.”

I quickly turned around to look. Sure enough, there was a man beside the pond, dressed in a black cloak and holding a loaf of bread. He was tearing the bread into small pieces and tossing them into the pond. I thought suspiciously to myself, “Could this guy really be the legendary soul reaper?”

The old man said with a completely serious expression, “Don’t doubt it. From the moment you walked out of that building across the street, that guy set his sights on you and followed you all the way here. If I hadn’t spotted him in time, you probably wouldn’t have lived to see tomorrow’s sunrise.”

“Old man, then what am I supposed to do now?” I felt a chill run through me, and a cold sensation rose from my chest.

“Obviously, don’t give the emissary any chance to make his move!” After saying this, the old man pulled a cross from inside his coat. It was made of a grayish-black material. “This human-bone cross is for you. Wear it around your neck. No matter what happens, you must never take it off.”

I took it from him, rubbing and examining it in my hands.

“A human-bone cross?”

It turned out that the grayish-black cross was made from two small pieces of human bone.

“Its magical power can protect you completely. Remember! The cross must never leave your body.”

“Y-yes, I understand, old man.” At that moment, I was like an obedient elementary school student, choosing to believe that such things might be true.

“You just requested leave from your company, didn’t you? Am I right?”

“Old man, how did you know that?” I asked in astonishment.

“Actually, I am Father X from fifty years in the future. I can foresee the disaster you are facing right now.”

“Then, Father X, why are you helping me?”

“I can’t tell you too much right now. When your leave is over, go to the Catholic church in Tamsui and find me. I’ll be waiting for you there. Let me remind you once more: during your vacation, you must never take the cross off.”

“Not even when I take a shower?”

“Of course not!” Father X said. “Only then will the soul reaper have no opportunity to make his move, and only then can you escape his pursuit. It is time for me to leave. Put the cross on now.”

I obediently put the cross around my neck and let it rest against my chest. Father X gently patted me on the shoulder, stood up, and walked out of the park. As I watched Father X’s retreating figure, I turned my head and could still see the back of the emissary standing beside the pond. I felt as though I had just experienced a bizarre encounter between the worlds of humans and ghosts. But this time, I chose to believe that it was real.

I left the park, and the emissary actually followed me. He stayed twenty or thirty meters behind me, while the pedestrians who passed him seemed unable to see him at all. It turned out that I was the only one who could see the soul reaper.

I arrived at Longshan Temple MRT Station and stood in line on the escalator. Several passengers in a hurry hurried past me on my left and headed down toward the platform. In front of me was an elderly woman carrying a bag of groceries. The bag was resting against her feet, and I estimated that it was fairly heavy. Just as the escalator reached the platform, the elderly woman stumbled and fell after tripping over the bag. I was right behind her, so I quickly stepped forward to help her up and gathered the things that had spilled out: a pumpkin, a loofah, a bitter melon, and several tomatoes.

Because of the difference of only a few dozen seconds, neither the elderly woman nor I caught the train that had stopped at the platform and was preparing to leave the station.

When I returned home, I turned on the television and ate instant noodles. The news ticker on the screen made me break out in a cold sweat:

“Random mass killing on MRT train; suspect subdued.”

I picked up the remote control and switched through several news channels. Every channel was reporting on the tragedy that had just occurred.

At that moment, I noticed the soul reaper standing outside my window, staring at me expressionlessly.

Over the next several days, I drove my motorhome around the island. Every day, someone would narrowly escape a fatal accident or some other deadly incident by crossing paths with me. I personally witnessed one bloody tragedy after another, leaving me plagued by nightmares every night. And the soul reaper truly would not leave me alone. Whenever I stopped moving, he would appear in some corner where I could see him.

Of course, I remembered Father X’s warning. The cross never left my body; I kept it around my neck at all times.

Ten days later, my motorhome arrived in Tamsui, and my vacation was coming to an end. I remembered my agreement with Father X.

I parked the motorhome in a paid parking lot near the Catholic church and entered the church, where I found a seat. Father X was beneath the cross in the sanctuary, leading the congregation in prayer.

I patiently waited until the service ended, and the worshippers gradually left. Father X waved to me with a kindly smile. I stood up and walked toward him.

“Young man, come with me.”

Father X led me to the back of the church and into his living quarters.

“Young man, this church will be entrusted to you from now on.” Father X pulled a silver pocket watch from inside his coat and took my right hand. “I’m giving this pocket watch to you. I’ve already set the time.”

I stared at the pocket watch in my hand, overwhelmed by conflicting emotions. My mind returned to the events of the previous ten days. I had experienced a nightmare-like series of deaths, and I felt that there was nothing in this world more decisive than death itself as the ultimate judgment. Career and fame, love and marriage, and family—all of them came to an abrupt end when death arrived, like an alarm clock with its battery removed.

“Young man, actually, I am you fifty years from now. Because Satan did not want you to stay in Tamsui and preach, he sent the soul reaper through time and space, back fifty years, to take you away—or rather, to take me away when I was young. Stay here without fear and fulfill your mission.”

As Father X spoke, his body gradually became transparent and then disappeared before my eyes.

At that moment, holding the silver pocket watch in my hand, I finally understood everything.

It turned out that I was Father X.