Wild Fire Bids Farewell To Summer Chapter 13
by2 before summer solstice
The setting sun cuts in through the gap in Greencen Mountain at a very low angle, illuminating the limestone mountain in the backyard of the villa translucently.The mountain is exposed, with gray-white rock formations cut longitudinally, no vegetation, and exposed calcareous concretions.The wind comes from the mountain pass, carrying water vapor from the underground river, fishy and sweet, sinking to the ground level.
The cutting machine of the stone factory in the distance suddenly stopped.The moment the scream disappears, the eardrum sag inward, causing negative pressure and pain.Immediately, the chirping of cicadas came up, dense and continuous, and electric current passed through.
Huang Jinye stood under the rock wall.The black sports vest was soaked through, and the shoulder straps were stained with white stone powder.The right hand holds a hammer, made of iron, with an octagonal hammer head and reddish-brown rust on the surface.The oak handle of the hammer, darkened by sweat, was wrapped with a ring of insulating tape and turned up at the edges.
Scrap was piled before him.White marble with gray veins, irregular blocks and sharp edges.The largest piece is about the size of a washbasin, and its surface has jagged marks left by cutting.
Huang Jinye raised his hammer.The latissimus dorsi muscle contracts and the spinal groove becomes deep.The hammer head was raised backwards, drawing an arc.Then it fell down.
Impact.
Muffled sound.Broken bones.The gravel flew, and a piece of it scratched his calf. The fabric of his sports shorts was dented, leaving white marks.Stone powder rises, white and fine, swirling in the orange-red light.
Wei Zhiheng sat on a bamboo chair three meters away.The bamboo strips are loose and groan when they bear weight.He was holding an empty canvas bag in his left hand.His right hand hung on his knee, his fingernails glowing lavender.The sun shines on the hands, the skin is transparent, and the subcutaneous veins are blue-purple and bulging.
He doubled over, the joints in his spine rubbing together.Pick up a fragment, about five centimeters long, with a blade-like edge.The fragments cut into the fingertips, and blood seeped out.He put it into the canvas bag, and there was a crisp banging sound.
The hammer was raised again.Huang Jinye smashed it down.The second muffled sound was faster than the frequency of the heartbeat.Debris flew and hit his right knee, causing a dull pain.He didn’t pause, raised it again, and smashed it down.Third tone, fourth tone.The rhythm is chaotic, sometimes twice a second, sometimes with a three-second pause.
Wei Zhiheng listened.
The eardrum is sunken inwards.There is a dull pain in the left hip, and the bone marrow is shaking.He looked up and saw stone powder floating in the air, mixed with his hair.He touched the top of his head and found an extra strand of hair in his palm. The whole hair fell off and there were white spots at the root.He pinched it and looked at it, then let it go, and his hair fell into the stone powder.
Huang Jinye continued to smash.The fifth time, the sixth time.The tiger’s mouth was numb and painful.The handle of the hammer slides in the palm of the hand, and the tape rubs against the skin, burning it.
The seventh time.
The hammer handle slid backwards.Huang Jinye adjusted his grip and pushed the handle of the hammer deep into his palm, his knuckles turning white.Smash it down.The force was even greater, and the corner of the octagonal hammer smashed into the interior of the marble, causing the interior of the stone to crack and groan.A larger piece of debris peeled off, flew one meter away, and landed at Wei Zhiheng’s feet with the sharp angle pointing upward.
Wei Zhiheng looked down.He stretched out his right hand to pick it up. His hand convulsed in the air, and the purpura on his fingernails appeared deeper in the setting sun.He switched to his left hand, and his fingertips touched the edge of the fragment, and blood immediately poured out.He put it into the canvas bag and collided with the first piece, making a crisp sound.
Blood seeped out from Huang Jinye’s tiger’s mouth.Dark red, running along the hammer oak grain and accumulating at the edge of the insulation tape.When it was lifted for the eighth time, blood drops fell, hitting the gray-white marble fragments, seeping into the pores, and changing the color from bright red to dark brown.
Wei Zhiheng smelled the smell.The astringency of stone powder, the rust of blood, and the sweet rot in his mouth – the smell of rotten apples, the breath of ketosis, exhaled from the lungs and deposited on the collar.He breathed through his mouth, trying to get rid of the smell.A smell of rust rose up from his throat, mixed with stone powder, and floated to the opposite side.
Huang Jinye struck the ninth blow.The action paused for a moment.Nostrils twitched, smelling the sweet rot.He turned to look at Wei Zhiheng, his eyes wandering, focusing on the rock wall behind Wei Zhiheng, slowly moving down, landing on his knees and the canvas bag.
Wei Zhiheng’s right hand was trembling, and the muscles under the skin were trembling slightly, starting from the inside of the wrist, jumping one after another.Low platelets, fragile capillaries, and loss of muscle control.
Huang Jinye turned back and raised his hammer.The tenth stroke, the eleventh stroke.Increased rhythm, such as tachycardia.The tiger’s mouth cracked open, and the skin separated under the reaction force, revealing the muscle tissue, dark red, and the blood gushes out faster, flowing along the hammer handle.Blood accumulated and dripped from the joint between the hammer head and the wooden handle.
Wei Zhiheng collected the third fragment.This piece is very small, about the size of a thumb, with an extremely sharp edge.He pinched it with two fingers, and the purpura on his fingertips deformed under the pressure, and the color changed from purple-red to black-purple.He put it into the bag, and the three stones collided at crisp, regular intervals.
The hammer’s handle was soaked with blood.When Huang Jinye raised it for the twelfth time, the hammer handle slipped in his palm and slipped back three centimeters.He tightened his grip, his knuckles turning white, and smashed it down.The hammer head was deflected and hit the edge of the marble. It bounced back and sparks shot out.The octagonal hammer head grazed his left calf, causing a tear in his sports shorts. The skin was hot and did not bleed, but it left a red mark.
He paused.Panting, breathing heavily, with bloodshot tremors.My right hand was completely numb, my ulnar nerve lost all feeling due to the continuous vibration, my little finger and ring finger were numb and frozen with ice.He bent down and picked up a fragment with his left hand, sharp, white with gray veins.
Wei Zhiheng stood up.The knees feel weak, and the wound after bone marrow puncture produces traction pain with changes in body position.He walked toward Huang Jinye, walking slowly and dragging his right leg.He stopped beside Huang Jinye, the two of them were side by side, facing the rock wall, with thirty centimeters between them.
Huang Jinye held the handle of the hammer in his right hand, and the blood made the oak slippery.He raised it again, for the thirteenth time.Wei Zhiheng reached out and grabbed Huang Jinye’s right wrist with his left hand. His fingers dug into the skin and pressed on the pulse.The heartbeat is fast and chaotic, more than 120 times per minute.
Huang Jinye stopped moving.The hammer head is suspended in mid-air, ten centimeters away from the marble.Blood drips from the edge of the hammer head, hovering and stretching. The surface tension maintains the hemispherical shape and the interior refracts the sunset rays.It broke after a second, fell, hit the stone, and broke into eight pieces.
Wei Zhiheng spoke with a dry voice and friction on his vocal cords: “Hands.”
Huang Jinye turned to look at him.His eyes were unfocused and scattered.He shook off Wei Zhiheng’s hand, twisted his wrist violently, and broke away.Wei Zhiheng’s finger was thrown away and hit his hip bone. The bone marrow puncture wound was painful, and the steel needle penetrated again.
Huang Jinye hit the fourteenth blow.In the center of the hammer head, the marble cracked in half.A piece of debris flew towards Wei Zhiheng at a fast speed and in a parabola.Wei Zhiheng regarded it as a drop of flying blood or a piece of broken bone.He didn’t dodge, he blinked.The splinters hit his right shoulder, denting the fabric of his school uniform and stinging like nails.He looked down and saw white scratches on the fabric, limestone powder embedded in the fibers.
Wei Zhiheng raised his hand to reach for his right shoulder.The muscles in his waist twitched, his knuckles shook, and his fingertips touched the fabric and scratches.
Huang Jinye put down his hammer.The hammer head smashed into the grass, and mud splashed on the canvas shoes.He walked towards Wei Zhiheng, dragged his right leg back half a step, and his right knee made a sound.He stood still, blood dripping from the back of his right hand and gathering into dots on the grass.
He clasped Wei Zhiheng’s right shoulder with his left hand, gathered his fingers together, and pinched into the shoulder socket.Wei Zhiheng was dragged over, and his forehead hit Huang Jinye’s right shoulder. His sweat was mixed with stone powder, like sandpaper.
Wei Zhiheng smelled the smell: the acid of sweat, the rust of blood, the astringency of stone powder, and the pungency of eucalyptus sugar.Huang Jinye took out a candy bar from his pocket, wrapped in tin foil, with green stripes, softened and deformed, and stained with blood and stone powder.He didn’t hand it to Wei Zhiheng, but stuffed it into his mouth and bit it with his teeth. The candy was hard and scratched the oral mucosa.
Chewing, wet and glutinous sound.Swallowing, Adam’s apple rolling.He lowered his head, his face close to Wei Zhiheng’s ear, and his breath blew against the ear, hot and rapid, pungent with cineole and sweet with ketosis.
“Hands.” Huang Jinye said, his voice hoarse and rough.
Wei Zhiheng stretched out his right hand.Palm facing up, the skin is pale, with bulging purple blood vessels, and several new ecchymoses are forming, about the size of a coin, with a purple-black center.Huang Jinye stretched out his right hand, blood oozed from the crack in the tiger’s mouth, and blood dripped on Wei Zhiheng’s palm, which was warm and stinging.
Huang Jinye took Wei Zhiheng’s hand, covered it, and stamped it.The blood stains the palms red, overlaps with the purpura, and the color mixes to form a deeper purple-brown.He pressed harder, his nails digging into the skin, pressing against the largest bruise.
Wei Zhiheng flinched and did not pull back.He looked at the skin contact area, where the blood spread under pressure and formed an irregular halo.Huang Jinye’s thumb moved and scratched in Wei Zhiheng’s palm. His nails were rough and scraped across the surface of the purpura, causing a sharp sting.
Huang Jinye let go of his hand.The blood formed a clear palm print on Wei Zhiheng’s palm, and the fingerprint vortex was visible.He bent down and picked up a fragment from the ground, irregular and sharp.He handed it to Wei Zhiheng, held it with his fingers, and hung it in mid-air.
Wei Zhiheng reached out to pick it up.When his fingertips touched the edge of the fragment, Huang Jinye suddenly let go.The fragments fell, but Wei Zhiheng failed to catch them. The fragments hit the instep, causing the fabric of the canvas shoes to dent and cause pain.Huang Jinye bent down and picked it up again. This time he put it into Wei Zhiheng’s palm and pressed it on the bloody handprint.
“Take it.”
Wei Zhiheng held it.The edge cuts into the palm, mixes with blood, and stings sharply.He tightened his grip and his nails left four crescent-shaped indentations on his palm.
Huang Jinye turned around and walked back to the rock wall.He picked up the hammer, and the pain from the crack in his right hand turned into dull pain and numbness.The hammer handle was soaked in blood and slippery.He raised it and hit it on the fifteenth time. The hammer hit the ground. Sparks shot out and rebounded. The hammer rolled down to Wei Zhiheng’s feet.
Stop action.
The hammerhead lay on the grass, octagonal, reddish-brown, rusty, stained with blood and stone dust.The sunset rays shine on the metal surface, reflecting orange-red light.Wei Zhiheng looked down and saw the hammer head as a huge tooth, a piece of bone taken out of the body.
He raised his foot and kicked the hammer head.Pushing gently, the toes touched the metal, which was cold. The push made the hammer head roll towards Huang Jinye, rolled twice, and stopped at Huang’s feet.
Huang Jinye bent down and picked it up.The blood-wet hammer handle slipped in his palm, and he tightened his grip until his knuckles turned white.He didn’t hit it, but put the hammer head against his left knee, causing the fabric of his sports shorts to dent.He paused for three seconds and then moved away without the hammer falling.
He walked over to the ledge and dropped the hammer on the scrap heap.Metal struck stone with a hollow sound.He turned around and walked back to Wei Zhiheng. The blood on his right hand was still dripping, and the interval lengthened from one drop per second to one drop every three seconds.He was panting, breathing heavily.
Wei Zhiheng lifted the canvas bag, which was heavy and stuck into the hollow of his shoulder.The five fragments in the bag collided with each other and made a crisp sound.He turned around, walked to the bamboo chair, and sat down, feeling severe pain in his waist and leaning against the hard backrest.
Huang Jinye stood in the dusk, his right hand hanging by his side, blood dripping on the grass.He looked at the pile of rubble on the ground, the bloody fragments, and his own internal organs.Cutting machines at a distant stone factory restarted, their screams piercing the air, but then stopped again, possibly due to a power outage.
Silence fell suddenly.The cicadas chirped again.
Wei Zhiheng sat in the darkness, counting Huang Jinye’s blood drops.When the fortieth drop of blood fell, it hit a blade of grass. The grass blade bent to bear the weight, then bounced up, and the blood beads rolled down and seeped into the soil.
Huang Jinye walked towards the bamboo chair.The pace is slow and dragging.He stopped in front of Wei Zhiheng, knelt down, and touched one knee to the ground. His kneecap pressed against the grass and a sharp gravel. It hurt, but he did not move.He stretched out his left hand and took out a fragment from the canvas bag, the largest piece with sharp edges and a white background with gray veins.
He placed the fragment on Wei Zhiheng’s lap and pressed it against the fabric of the canvas pants, which was heavy.Immediately, he reached out, took Wei Zhiheng’s right hand, pressed his hand on the fragment, and forced him to hold it.The hands of the two were folded together, and the blood was mixed between them. The temperature was exchanged, yellow and hot, but cool.
Stop action.
Their hands were hanging on their knees, holding the bloody fragment, hovering without moving.Blood flowed from Huang Jinye’s tiger’s mouth, along the two people’s intertwined fingers, dripping on the fragments and on the canvas pants, forming dark stains.
Wei Meihua’s shout came from the distance, coming from the second floor window of the villa. It was blurry and the content could not be heard clearly.Then there was a muffled sound of the window closing.
Huang Jinye let go of his hand.He stood up, his right leg numb and his kneecaps making a grinding sound.He bent down, picked up a piece of gravel from the ground, held it in his palm, and exerted force.The edge of the gravel cut the cracked tiger’s mouth, and new blood gushes out and mixes with the old blood.He held it tight for three seconds, then let go, letting the stone roll back to the scrap heap with a dull thud.
He turned his back to Wei Zhiheng and stood there, looking at the gravel and blood on the ground.Dusk falls completely and the limestone mountains turn into black silhouettes.The dripping of blood stopped and the blood clotted.