"Your symptoms... appeared after she left?" "I think so." "You weren't getting on well?" "We sometimes argued." "Well, your symptoms suggest mental dissociation." "Mental dissociation?" "Let me explain." "Say you're very attached to someone and you separate." "It may not be a real break-up, but when your loved one isn't there this disorder makes you rather unstable." "Is memory loss one of the symptoms?" "What can't you remember?" "What she was wearing at the time..." "Why she left..." "That's what I can't remember." "It's a mental blockage." "It's not uncommon." "We'll... keep an eye on you." "Actually, I'm also seeing strange things." "I'm afraid something bad has happened to my wife." ""WELCOME TO NEW TOWN, WHERE DREAMS COME TRUE"" ""DRY CLEANING RECEIPT"" ""HOME PHONE"" "Back early today?" "Still no news?" "No." "You know, there's something strange about this place." "Back when there were still workmen on the site and hardly anyone had moved in yet I had a real weird experience." "Who's there?" "That wasn't the only weird thing." "This place must be cursed!" "You know what once happened here?" "My daughter should be home by now." "I should go up." "Oh, right." "You go ahead." "Message playing." "You have one new message." ""...can't take your call..."" "Say something." " About what?" " About what happened." "If I knew that, I wouldn't feel so frustrated." "Are you sure she hasn't called you?" "What do you mean?" "You think I'm in touch with my sister without telling you?" "There was no message." "I told you, she didn't call!" "You know..." "I can't shake this bad feeling." "I passed a car-crash on the way home." "A woman in the car... had her face smashed..." "I have the feeling something bad has happened to my wife." ""SUJI APARTMENTS"" "To Suji, please." "Be a good girl now, Eunji." " Don't let it get to you." " Okay, thanks." "Hey!" "Where are you going?" "Mister!" "Mister!" "Honey?" "Darling..." ""WELCOME TO NEW TOWN, WHERE DREAMS COME TRUE"" "These puppets are imbued with my life and soul." "When my time comes, they should pass on with me." "Any person who dares to resist or disobey these words... will know disaster and an agonizing death!" "Don't hurt me!" " I'm scared!" " Master Tao!" "It's me..." "Gaan!" "Let go of me!" "I'm scared!" "Don't hurt me!" "Don't be too sad, wife." "Death comes to all of us." "Sister, you were too young to die!" "How did it happen, Gaan?" "Why did Master Tao send his wife and son out on the boat at night?" "I overheard Master Tao telling his wife, Nuan... to drown the puppets." "Drown them?" "Why would he want to get rid of them?" "He loved his puppets!" "Was he afraid that someone would steal them?" "He'd rather destroy them than lose them?" "There's a curse on those puppets, Master Tong." "A curse?" "Since Master Tao fell ill, he's often raved about the curse in his sleep." "I took no notice at first... but then bad things began happening to members of our troupe." "Several people ran away." "So I began to believe in the curse." "You think the curse caused Nuan and Little Dang to drown?" "Master Tao knew something bad was coming." "Why else did he want the puppets destroyed?" "Maybe he was just scared that someone would steal his treasured puppets." "He made up the curse story to frighten them off." "Please excuse me, I must go back to look after Master Tao." "Be comforted, wife." "Master!" "Master!" "Help!" "Help!" "Master Tao's house is on fire?" "Quick!" "Hurry!" "Quick!" "May he rest in peace." "I don't like this." "Wife, don't take what Gaan said too seriously." "I don't believe in the curse." "Then how do you explain what has happened?" "It was his karma, wife." "Now that it's over we should leave, shouldn't we?" "Please?" "Please?" "No!" "I'm staying!" "Bua, don't go in there!" "Now richness is mine, you bastard, Tao!" "What is that?" "It's a piece of net, Master." "Fuck!" "Will you be all right, Master?" "I'm fine." "You can go now." "Come here, Gaan." "Have you ever performed Khon, Gaan?" "Never, Master..." "Master Tao only taught me puppetry." "I was still learning from him when he fell ill." "If you want to learn Khon, I can teach you." "Really?" "What if he dances like a wooden puppet?" "Are you hurt?" "Don't worry, I'll bring you to the doctor." "Bua!" "Where did you get that?" "Give it to Grandma!" "Give it to me now!" "Give it to Grandma now!" "Master, I mean no disrespect, but please be wary of the curse!" "You think it was caused by the curse?" "Fine!" "Well, then..." "I'll wash out the curse myself!" "Now it's my turn, you bastard Tao!" "Your puppet is in pieces!" "We'll see what your curse can do to me!" "Hear me well, all of you!" "These are new puppets... and I'm the one who makes them live." "You too will have a fresh start and lead better lives than before." "I and I alone control the spirit and destiny... of these new puppets." "May all that is sacred be my witness." "Master?" "What's wrong?" "There's a sudden pain in my leg." "Father!" "Is it true that Gaan is going to handle the hero puppet?" "Yes, I've told him to." "Why the hell should Gaan come before me?" "You think he's better than I am?" "That isn't the question." "He's more experienced than you." "Why am I worth less than him?" "Because you're as aggressive and bad-tempered as the demon Tosagan!" "Father..." "Am I so much like a demon, Father?" "That is all." "Help me up the steps." "These puppets are imbued with my life and soul." "When my time comes, they should pass on with me." "Any person who dares to resist or disobey these words... will know disaster and an agonizing death!" "...will know disaster and an agonizing death!" "Come on, Master Tao!" "You don't scare me!" "Die, you accursed thing!" "Where the hell are you?" "You're shameless, both of you should die!" "You scum!" "I'll kill you!" "...will know disaster and an agonizing death!" "Get up!" "Fight with me!" "Ghosts!" "Help!" "Fire!" "Help!" "Fire!" "Father!" "Bua..." "No!" "Don't touch it!" "What are you doing?" "Bua!" "No!" "Help!" "What is that?" "It's a piece of net, Master." "Gaan, you think these puppets are cursed?" "Yes, Master!" " What is it?" " Nothing." "You can go now." "1... 2... 3!" "Young man, I said not to blink on the count of three!" "If you can't manage that, let someone else go first!" "1... 2... 3!" "So, do you want your picture taken or not?" "Why don't you ever answer me?" "Where can I find the management?" "Anyone in?" "I'm here." " We've just..." " I know who you are..." "Follow me." "Cheung!" "Where are you?" "Everyone has moved out and then you two move in... and they are tearing the place down in a month!" "A man of my age can't be expected to climb these stairs..." "What do you do?" "Police officer?" "Good, that's impressive." "The toilet's out here..." "The cooking area's over there..." "Dad!" "That's just Mr. Yu..." "his wife is paralyzed from the waist down." "Cheung!" "Dad!" "What?" " When are you coming home?" " As soon as I get off work in the morning!" "What's wrong now?" " There is no toilet in here." " It's just outside." "I'm scared to go out." "Look, you're a man." "You can't be such a coward!" "How many times do I have to tell you?" "You're a man!" "Be brave!" "Don't be scared of everything!" "What if someone keeps staring at me?" "Then stare right back at them!" "Who stares at you, anyway?" "The little girl who lives opposite." "You're scared of a little girl?" "Come on, eat up." "I have to get back to work." "Your hair is just as childish as you are." "I've told it to stop the split ends, but it just doesn't listen." "Whatever I say, it does the opposite, same as you." "And you know I won't mind, because I love you." "Father and Mother can't wait to see us for Chinese New Year." "Just four more days, then we can go home." "I'll buy the train tickets tomorrow." "We should get them some gifts too." "What do you think they'd like to have?" "Chocolate." "Will you play with me?" "11 o'clock... 11 in the evening?" "Have you seen my son?" "No, you'd better find him quick, before it's too late!" "Cheung!" "Cheung!" "Cheung!" "Cheung!" "Cheung!" "Mr. Yu?" "My name is Chan." "I've just moved in opposite." "Yes?" " What a strong herbal smell." " What do you want?" "I can't find my son." "I'm wondering if he's come here to play." "My wife isn't well, we don't like interlopers." "Maybe he's playing with your daughter?" "He always talks about her." "I don't have a daughter." "We don't have children." "I'm sorry." "Where's my son?" "Where's my son?" "On the second day at university, when Miss Zhang introduced our new classmate she called your name and you stood up and shouted, "Here!"" "Everyone burst out laughing." "Miss Zhang said," ""It's not high school." "You don't need to stand up to answer questions."" "And everyone laughed even harder!" "You know..." "I was so happy... that they put us in the same study group." "I went outside and danced around like a man possessed!" "I held your hand for the first time when I learnt how to take a pulse." "You look just the same now as you did then." "Your pulse was racing, your head was bowed low." "You didn't dare look up at me." "I won't let you take my pulse ever again." "I bathe you every day, and you're still embarrassed?" "Your wife is dead!" "Western medical science would agree with you." "But immersing her in Chinese herbs every day drives out her tumors." "She'll revive when she's well." "Are you barking mad?" "Tumors?" "Revive?" "You've strangled her!" "Look at the bruises on her neck!" "Hai'er told me to do so herself." "It's the only way she can be cured." "Hai'er, I had to kill you to cure you." "You must revive." "How could I live without you?" "We've managed to get through the worst of it." "Haven't we?" "Soon, just three more days." "We'll be together again." "We're in the same boat." "My son is all I have left." "Please give him back!" "He's not here!" "I haven't taken him." "Then let me go!" "Let me go and look for him!" "You have to wait three days, until my wife revives." "I can let you go then." "She's revived already!" "You're just talking to her!" "No need to wait three days!" "Let me go now!" "You think I'm crazy?" "You have such a terrible asthma, how can you be a policeman?" "Stick out your tongue." "Stick it out further." "Low qi, exhaustion, bad digestion." "You should avoid greasy and oily food." "Don't eat cabbage, bok choy, bean sprouts, pears, oranges or mangosteens." "At least, not until your qi improves." "And get more exercise." "Western medicine can harm you." "I'll write you a prescription for this medicine." "Then you can get it yourself." "Take it for three months, then you can eat whatever you like." "My wife and I studied Chinese medicine together." "We're both qualified doctors now." "But we couldn't heal ourselves." "You couldn't heal her, so you strangled her?" "Hai'er told me to talk to her every day." "Her soul will stay in her body if she knows that I'm beside her." "And when her body has healed itself, she'll revive." "When you're healed, I'll take your pulse every day." "I won't let you leave me again." "If only I'd been more thorough, I'd have known that you were sick." "I could have treated you earlier." "We could have avoided... these three years of pain and misery." "We wouldn't have needed to abort our child." "This painful time is almost over." "When I'm well, we can have another child." "You need to pee?" "I tried to find your son... but no one's seen him anywhere." "You really haven't taken him?" "Why didn't you take better care of him to begin with?" "I'm sorry." "You must have problems yourself, otherwise you wouldn't have moved in here." "Where's your wife?" "You're a good man." "Why don't you just let me go?" "I won't give you any trouble, I just want to find my boy." "Never mind." "If you won't let me go... will you at least buy me some beer?" "I'll give anything... for a beer now." "Okay?" "You're from China?" "Yes, Changsha." "You came all this way and have to face all this..." "Any regrets?" "My wife will revive tomorrow..." "We'll move home and start afresh." "I've already bought our train tickets." "Will she really revive tomorrow?" "Definitely." "How long does she have to sleep?" "Until tomorrow, I told you." "No, I mean... how long does she "need" to sleep?" "Three years." "And you've talked to her everyday for three years?" "Has she ever answered you?" "Not only does she answer me, she reacts very strongly." "Once I annoyed her and she sulked for a whole week." "She wouldn't let me open her eyes." " Kept shedding hair..." " You're a liar." " A liar?" " You said you hadn't seen my son?" "That's right!" "I hadn't seen your son." "I asked your wife about it while you were out buying the beer." "She told me she saw you kidnap him!" "You're mad!" "You're lying!" "My wife can't talk." "How could she tell you anything?" "Exactly!" "Your wife is dead, how could she talk?" "How can she revive?" "Stop lying to yourself!" "Hai'er, this is the last bath I'll give you." "When you revive tomorrow, you'll have to bathe yourself." "You won't need me to help you any more, will you?" "I'll get you a pretty dress to wear..." "What color would you like?" "Tell me, what color would you like?" "Can you hear me?" "You must revive... please..." "Hai'er." "Hai'er." "Hai'er." "Who are you?" "What do you want?" "Have you seen your neighbor, Chan Kwok-Wai?" "He said he was going to gamble in Macau." "I see... thanks for your help." "Hai'er, hurry now, you have to revive." "You promised you'd revive today!" "Hai'er, can you hear me?" "Didn't you say you'd revive today?" "Hai'er, you remember that second day at university?" "Miss Zhang called your name and you stood up and shouted, "Here!"" "Everyone in class burst out laughing!" "Hai'er..." "I can feel your body getting warm!" "I can let you go now!" "My wife's body is getting warm!" "You can go look for your son now!" "Thank you!" "Thank you!" "My colleagues know I never gamble." "Arrest him!" "I'm not crazy!" "Tell them!" "Tell them I'm not a bad man!" "Let me go!" "The woman has been dead for at least two years." "The strange thing is that, her skin and even her tongue, haven't lost their elasticity." "Even her hair and nails are still growing..." "The deceased couple came to me three years ago for a pregnancy check-up." "That was when we found out that the woman had liver cancer." "I advised them to abort the baby, but the man was strongly against it." "He said they shouldn't trust Western medicine." "Actually, the man himself was also treated by me for liver cancer six years ago." "He had chemo-therapy once and went missing afterwards." "When I saw him again with his wife that day, he said that Chinese medicine had cured him." "They say... a weak woman is luckier than... a strong, independent woman." "And I was very lucky, indeed... because I had you to rely on." "In the three years I had been without you..." "I had to face the world alone." "Everyone thought I was mad." "Slowly..." "I've learnt to become strong and independent." "But I'm not lucky anymore." "Now we'll be apart for another three years." "If I could choose..." "I'd prefer that I lived... and you died." "For the dead one, it's just like being in a long sleep." "For the living one... it's a daily nightmare." "Maybe God is testing... our commitment to each other." "That's why we have... the same illness and the same pain." "I'll go to sleep soon." "Please... let my soul remain in my body." "I promise..." "I'll be just as you are..." "Resurrected."