Chapter 164 - Come Home!

"Jackson, we want you to help your Uncle Henry out. Will you marry his daughter, Haili?" Mother Wu asked.

Jackson had thought it was weird when his parents suddenly decided to invite him to lunch. He wasn't on good terms with his father and the man only ever ate with him when it was a family occasion. But, this was beyond what he expected.

He quickly glanced at Father Feng with confusion. Sure, he agreed to let Halia's father stay around and mess with Mother Wu a little, but what did this man have planned? What was all this talk about a ghost wedding?

Jackson hesitated as he tried to grasp the situation.

"Miss Amelie, I hope you understand that this is a part of our traditions. My daughter's soul will have no home to return to if she doesn't get married," Father Feng pleaded in English as he looked at Amelie.

Amelie tried her best to hide her amus.e.m.e.nt. Father Feng obviously knew his daughter wasn't dead. What game was he playing?

"I don't mind," she replied casually.

Mother Wu was surprised by the woman's indifference. She thought no woman would be OK with their boyfriend marrying a ghost, hence why she refused to let her son get involved, yet this woman accepted it so easily.

But, then again, Amelie was an open-minded foreigner; not everyone was like that.

"Jackson?" Father Feng checked.

Jackson looked at the man and nodded his head. He didn't know what he had planned, but his main priority was Trojan anyway, so it didn't matter what Father Feng did with Mother Wu as long as he didn't get in the way.

As Mother Wu heard this, she cheered on the inside; her son was off the hook.

Father Wu looked at his son. For once, he was proud of Jackson's maturity and understanding. He walked over and patted him on the shoulder. "Thank you, son," he said.

As a father, he understood how Father Feng felt. If a simple ritual could put his old friend's mind at ease, then there was no harm in helping.

...

That night, Jackson and Amelie invited Father Feng back to their hotel suite to 'discuss the ghost wedding'. Of course, the real reason was so Father Feng could see his daughter without attracting suspicion.

As soon as they entered the suite, Halia looked at the trio in confusion. She didn't know what had happened during the day, so she didn't expect to see them together.

Jackson looked at the confusion on Halia's face and smiled. He then wrapped his arm around her waist and said, "Your father just married you off to me."

Halia's eyes opened wide in shock, "What do you mean?"

Father Feng laughed and sat down. "The fun's about to begin..." he smirked before he started to explain his plan to the three youngsters.

Jackson, Halia, and Amelie looked at each other and laughed as they listened to Father Feng's plan. This old man was certainly cheeky.

...

The next evening, the Wu Family and Father Feng met at the temple. Unlike a normal wedding, a ghost wedding couldn't take months to plan and prepare. After all, a dead body had to be buried as soon as possible. So, it was a quick ritual that involved paper effigies, offerings, and chants. In the end, they burned all the offerings and the ritual was over.

"You are now officially family," the fortune-teller said with a slight smile. She then glanced at Father Feng and Jackon and said, "It's time to summon the deceased's soul."

Mother Wu looked on with curiosity. Were these people for real? Summoning a soul?

"Now that she is married, you can call for her to return home. She should be able to hear you and come back," the fortune-teller explained.

Amelie watched on with interest; she had never seen anything like this before.

The fortune-teller led Jackson out to the front of the temple. The temple was elevated so they were standing at the top of some stairs, almost like a balcony. The sun had set by this time and the sky had a dark eeriness to it. The fortune-teller threw some talismans in the air and started chanting, "Haili Feng, daughter of Henry Feng and Sally Feng, wife of Jackson Wu, daughter-in-law of Jack Wu, Laura Wu and Emma Wu, I call upon thee. Please return home. Your family is waiting for you," she yelled as she hit a bell in her hands.

The bell echoed across the quiet temple as Mother Wu looked on with doubt.

The fortune-teller then instructed the family to repeat after her, "Haili Feng, we miss you dearly. Please return to us. We are waiting for you with open arms. Come home!"

Mother Wu followed the fortune-teller's instruction and said what she was told. "Come home! Come home!" she called. 

"Come home, Haili. We know you died an innocent death. We will find everyone responsible and make sure justice is served," Father Feng added as he snuck a glance at Mother Wu.

The fortune-teller rang the bell again and threw some more talismans in the air. The sound of the bell mixed with the chanting and the smoke from incense burning was quite hypnotic and slightly overwhelming. 

"Come home," the old fortune-tellers voice screamed. She then poured some alcohol into an open fire and the flames roared. "Come home," she screamed louder.

Father Feng, Father Wu, Jackson, Emerson and the rest of the Wu Family quickly joined in. "Come home, come home, come home," they yelled.

"She needs to hear the desperation and pain in your voices. More emotion," the fortune-teller instructed as she began to wail, "Come home..."

Everyone quickly followed the instructions and started wailing. Father Feng even burst into tears.

Amelie tried to hold back her laughter. This old man was right about being a good actor.

Mother Wu glanced around. This entire ritual was getting extremely overwhelming as she felt her palms sweat and her heart rate increase. Perhaps, it was due to the underlying guilt that was deeply embedded inside her that she began to feel this way.

But, in actual fact, this was a subtle form of brainwashing. Something that the fortune-teller had learned over her years in the job. How else did she make people believe her?

Just like many faith healers or cult leaders, the fortune-teller knew how to play with a person's mind and emotions. But, she had always done it as a way to help people move on from their grief; almost like a form of therapy. She never meant any harm. That's why she agreed to help Father Feng when he explained to her that he was trying to catch his daughter's killer.

While everyone was focused on chanting, Mother Wu turned around to take a deep breath. But, suddenly, in the corner of her eye, she noticed a white figure standing inside the temple. Her long black hair swayed as she stood in the corner staring at Mother Wu with her pale complexion. Right where her heart was, there was a patch of blood from what appeared to be a gunshot wound.

Mother Wu gasped and quickly rubbed her eyes. But, when she looked up again the figure was gone.

"Come back..." the wailing voices behind her continued.

Mother Wu held her breath as she trembled. She definitely saw something a moment ago; it was a woman in a white dress. And, even though she couldn't see her face properly, she knew who it was. 

It was Halia!

In disbelief, she pinched herself. "Don't be stupid, Emma. There's no such thing as ghosts," she whispered to herself as she trembled.

Meanwhile, Father Feng smirked as he glanced at the woman and wiped a tear from his eye. "Come back..." he wailed.