Goddess Bless You From Death
Case File 7.
The atmosphere inside the car was so silent that only the two passengers' breathing was audible. Thup glanced forward before quickly looking down at the floor. The temple's entrance gate was adorned with beautiful murals, with the name 'Santidhamwararam Temple' written above. However, what Thup saw wasn't just beauty; spirits and ghosts in various conditions, some pristine and some reflecting the manner of their deaths, were crawling and floating around the front of the car. As they drove in, these phantoms gradually retreated until the vehicle stopped in front of a shimmering, golden-roofed ubosot, fitting for the area's largest temple.
"You're going to wait in the car, right?" Singha asked as he unfastened his seatbelt.
The young man sitting beside him slowly lifted his head and grabbed the inspector's shirt by the hem. Despite the car's cool air conditioning, sweat was beading on Thup's forehead and temples.
"Inspector... Can I ask you for something?" Thup's trembling hand
and fearful demeanour made Singha curious.
[Ubosot is a term used in Thailand to refer to the main ordination hall of a Buddhist temple.]
"What?"
"Please don't leave me here." Thup looked up at Singha with pleading eyes.
"If you don't hurry and get out, I will leave you here, definitely," Singha said and then got out of the car, leaving Thup with no choice but to take a deep breath and quickly follow. The young man ran to catch up and held onto the inspector's shirt all the way.
The temple grounds were quiet in the afternoon, with not many people around. The serene environment and religious setting naturally went hand in hand. The breeze rustled the leaves, creating a soft whispering sound. It was a place of solace for those seeking refuge and also the final resting place for the dead.
Throughout their walk in the temple, Thup kept his head down, focusing on Singha's feet. If he dared look up, he would see wandering spirits that couldn't re-enter the cycle of birth and death, some crawling on the ground, others floating aimlessly. Luang Pu had once told him that such spirits had not yet found peace. They might have lingering concerns or unfulfilled desires. While some spirits could still find a way to let go, others stayed due to deep-seated grudges, showing no intention of moving on. These were the ones to avoid.
Suddenly, Singha stopped abruptly, causing Thup, lost in his thoughts, to bump into his back. Thup rubbed his chin in pain, having walked with his head down the whole way, only to crash face-first into the older man's back.
"S-sorry."
"If you want to walk this close, why don't you just possess me?"
"Don't say that, Inspector! What if they hear us? We'll be in trouble!" Thup quickly lifted his face and glanced around nervously.
"That's nonsense, Thup. This body belongs to me, and if this world has ghosts or spirits as you claim, then I must have one too. As long as it's staying in this body, no other ghosts better try anything funny." Thup blinked in confusion, having never seen anyone scold a ghost before. Perhaps this was why spirits seemed to avoid Singha wherever he went. Thup truly admired him for that reason.
"Hello, Laymen.
What brings you here?" A monk, around forty-
[Laymen (plural) in Buddhism are practitioners who live as householders and follow the teachings of the Buddha without being ordained as monks, five or fifty years old, who emerged from his parsonage and greeted them.]
"Greetings, Luang Por. I have some questions to ask."
"Questions? About what?"
"Has the temple recently accepted any new monks or temple boys?"
"New monks? No, it's not yet the summer ordination season for novices, and no one has come for ordination recently," the monk said, leading them away from the monk's house towards the bosot. "As for new temple boys, I don't know. You'll need to ask the Temple Manager."
"Where can we find him?"
"Right now? If he's not talking with the abbot, he should be at the 'almshouse'."
The monk gave directions to the charity canteen before returning to his duties in the ubosot.
"Thank you." Singha bowed respectfully and walked away.
"This temple has an almshouse too. That's nice," Thup's voice trailed off from behind, not garnering much attention from Singha, but suddenly, the hand clutching his shirt tugged hard, forcing Singha to stop abruptly.
"What is it now, Thup?"
"W-Wait," Singha turned to see Thup, sweat glistening on his forehead; his eyes lowered, filled with unease. He looked terrified, as if he had seen something alarming. Singha sighed in exasperation.
"You're really annoying, you know that?" He brushed Thup's hand off his shirt, startling the young man so much he almost screamed. If Singha left him here, things would go badly. Before him was not a stereotypical ghost, but a muscular man with one side of his skull caved in, an eye bulging out, and a lip torn to the ear, revealing a toothless mouth and a bloody tongue and throat. His body was twisted beyond recognition. The light blue shirt and navy pants, resembling a uniform, were shredded to the point of being almost unrecognisable. It seemed an accident had claimed him, and the remaining eye glared relentlessly at Thup.
'You see me, don't you?
The icy voice sent goosebumps across Thup's body. His legs felt paralysed. With Singha brushing him off, what should he do? WHAT COULDN'T HE DO?!”
While Thup stood there trembling, Singha's hand grabbed his wrist and led him forward firmly. Thup chose to focus only on Singha's hand, holding his wrist, until they reached the large almshouse, without anything following them.
"Hey, young man, you're a bit late. There's another round in the evening, but we still have some green curry left. Want some?" A middle-aged woman greeted them warmly.
"Want to eat?" Singha asked the younger man behind him.
"No, thank you." Even though he was starving, as it was already afternoon and he hadn't eaten anything yet, Thup felt he had to decline to avoid wasting the inspector's time.
"We're alright. I'm here to see the temple manager. Do you know where he is?"
"Oh, you're looking for Mr Keun? He's over there, having some bananas in coconut milk," the lady pointed to a man in clean white clothes sitting at a table by the door.
"Thank you. Also, could you help this kid with some food?"
"Huh?" Thup tilted his head in confusion.
"If you're hungry, just eat. I'm not that far," said Singha, releasing Thup's wrist. Then he immediately walked straight toward his target.
"Come on, young man, have a seat. I'll get you some rice noodles with green curry. Sit down."
"Thank you, Auntie."
Singha sat down across from the elderly man, who was enjoying his bananas in coconut milk. As soon as he sat down, the man smiled warmly.
"Are you here for a meal, young man? It's probably all gone by now."
"No, sir. I have some questions to ask." Singha showed his police badge before introducing himself. "I'm a police officer. I'd like to ask you a few questions about a case I'm working on. Are you available?"
"Go ahead. I'm the temple manager. You can call me Keun. I'm 54 years old this year."
"I would like to ask if there have been any new temple boys or staff in the past month or two, or if there have been any unusual incidents."
"Huh? No new temple boy, officer. As for staff, what do you mean? Regarding the liaison, it's still Mr Pol, as always. No other changes recently." Singha nodded in understanding. "And about unusual incidents, let me think. Ah, there was something. Last Wednesday, a man entered the temple and suddenly began yelling that he was haunted by ghosts. He overturned the green curry pot, making a huge mess. Luckily, there weren't many people around that day, so we managed with other dishes. Otherwise, it would've been a
"Do you recognise these people?" Singha laid out pictures of the seven victims on the table.
"Oh, sure. This one is Tee, who comes here often after his wife died. This girl, Kaew, likes to play around the temple because her house is right across the street. And this one, Jom, used to be a temple boy during school breaks and often came to the temple to get food. Oh?!
This one is the guy who overturned the green curry pot." Singha followed the pointing finger and saw that the old man was indicating the picture of Nai, the 19-year-old boy.
"By the way, what case is this, officer?"
"It's still under investigation, so I can't share much yet. If I have more questions or updates, I'll come back." Singha stood up and nodded to the man in front of him, but as he looked around, the kid who had been tailing him was nowhere to be seen. Where had he gone?
Thup held a bowl of green curry in his hands; his beautiful eyes scanned the area for a place to wash it. He soon spotted a sink and dish rack not far from the almshouse. Earlier, he noticed that Singha was too busy to accompany him, and if he interrupted the conversation just to ask for help with the dishes, he'd absolutely get scolded. Therefore, he decided to go alone. He looked around and, seeing nothing unusual, felt somewhat relieved. Thup dumped the chicken bones into the trash can before
Reaching out to turn on the tap to wash the dish. As the clear water flowed over the white bowl, it suddenly turned red and began to thicken beyond what water should. The young man dropped the bowl in shock, splashing water onto his face. As he turned around, he was confronted by the spirit of the man with the collapsed skull he had seen earlier, now standing less than an inch away, despite the proximity. Thup couldn't feel any breath like that of a living person. Gripping his pants tightly, his body trembled with fear, but he tried to look away as calmly as possible.
'You can see me.'
'You can see me, can't you?'
Thup bit his trembling lip, bracing before forcing himself to walk away. Out of the corner of his eye, he could still see the ghost following him slowly, its legs twisted and misshapen.
"Motorbike.'
'Money.'
The voice, sounding as if his mouth was full of water, kept repeating the same words. After a few steps, Thup felt as if many eyes were watching him. He tried to run, but his foot suddenly tripped on something, sending him sprawling to the ground. His palms scraped against the gravel, stinging sharply. When he looked back, he saw that what had followed him were wandering ghosts in various deadly forms.
And what he had tripped over was not branches or stones, but the upper half of a human body, missing its lower half. The face of the upper half slowly turned toward him, revealing hollow eye sockets. The more Thup tried to back away, the closer the ghost's lower half crawled toward him.
'You can see, can't you?"
'You can see me!'
'Help me!'
'You can!"
'You can!
'You can!
'You can!"
'You can!'
'You can!
'You can!'
'You can!'
'You can!
'You can see me, can't you?!!!'
A pair of hands grabbed Thup's ankle forcefully. Suddenly, the ghosts and wandering spirits vanished, and Thup felt a firm grip on his shoulder, causing him to jump. Tears streamed down his cheeks.
"Why are you roaming around, kid?"
"Inspector..hic... Inspector," Thup instinctively hugged the waist of the person in front of him. All he wanted now was a warm embrace, the embrace of a living person, not the cold touch of the dead.
"What the hell are you doing? Now I'm all wet, you little brat."
"Just hic. Just let me stay like this for a moment, please."
He could feel the heartbeat of the inspector as he rested his head on Singha's chest. Just this, he thought—just this.
After a few minutes, Singha pried the ghost-seeing kid off him and dragged him by the collar back to the car. Thup's subdued demeanour and red, tear-streaked eyes made Singha roll his eyes.
"Hold out your hands."
"Pardon?"
"Did you cry so much you can't hear me? I said, Hold out your hands." Thup obediently held out his hands. Singha retrieved a first-aid kit from the back seat and began cleaning the scrapes on Thup's delicate hands. Though not particularly gentle, it was better than leaving them untreated.
"It hurts," Thup murmured.
"You claim you're scared of ghosts, but you still wander around alone. Are you afraid the ghosts won't find you?"
"I was just washing the dishes for the lady."
"Why didn't you wait? Were the dishes going to dissolve into thin air?"
"I'm sorry, Inspector."
"Stop calling me by my rank. Are you afraid people won't know who you're with?" The more Singha spoke, the harder he pressed as he treated the wound.
"Then, how should I address you?" Thup asked.
"What's my name?"
"Inspector Singha."
"Is 'Inspector' my name?" Singha's eyebrows drew together as this kid irritated him further.
"..Singha, sir."
'That's right."
"So, you want me to call you just by your name?" Singha didn't say anything, only glancing up with a stern look.
"Uh...can I call you P'Singha' then?"
Before Singha could reply, his phone rang. He handed a bandage to the young man and answered the call instead.
"What?"
[Sing, the Commander knows about your case. Someone reported that the file was accessed. So, he asked me, and I had no choice but to tell him.]
"Yeah, never mind."
[It's not fine. The Commander sent an investigation team.]
"Sh*t!"
[lt even gets sh*tter. The Commander sent the King!]
"F*ck!"
[Are you cursing the Commander?]
"No, I'm cursing you. That's it!" Singha hung up and drove out of the temple at a speed well over the limit. The young man sitting next to him quickly gathered his belongings and fastened his seatbelt.
He surely had his answer now-Singha was just as scary as the ghosts.