Parasitismus-Eve

Kapitel 3

But Sun Jing didn't quite understand what the sentence meant when put together.

Sun Jing held the box steadily. The turtle slowly stretched out its head and limbs, tentatively taking a small step to the side. A corner of red paper peeked out from under its plastron.

Sun Jing grabbed the turtle; underneath was a theater ticket.

Three days later, a play was performed, titled "Tyr".

There is no character in oracle bone script that refers to performance. It turns out that the character “演” was not used in its original sense, but rather in its commonly used sense today.

"Invite me to see a play?" Sun Jing pondered, finding it quite interesting.

This was a very clever method; compared to it, Xu Xu's approach that afternoon seemed crude and reckless. His curiosity had indeed been piqued; this unknown inviter had already succeeded in the first step.

Sun Jing was starting to look forward to what interesting things would happen at the play three days from now.

Expectation always has a mysterious negative power; the more you expect something, the more likely something completely unimaginable will suddenly appear before you.

Note 1: Bronze inscriptions specifically refer to the characters engraved on bronze artifacts from the Yin and Zhou dynasties. They share the same origin as oracle bone script and do not refer to the script of the Jin dynasty.

Chapter 02 Prophecy

Sun Jing doesn't watch plays often, but since he decided to see "Thailand," he looked up information about the play online.

This is a play with a legendary quality. What makes it legendary is not the content of the play, but the play itself.

This play was written by the renowned 20th-century author Stefan Zweig, but for some unknown reason, it remained undiscovered for over half a century until last year when the original German manuscript was finally found. And the place of discovery was, surprisingly, in China. To be precise, in Shanghai, the city where Sun Jing lives.

Last year, the famous actor Fei Ke-qun passed away suddenly from an asthma attack. His nephew, Fei Cheng, discovered this manuscript while sorting through his belongings. He decided to translate the play into Chinese, stage it in China, and take on the roles of director and lead actor himself.

The play was originally scheduled to premiere at the end of last year, but the director and lead actor, Philadelphia, accidentally fell into the Suzhou River and drowned before the premiere.

So this play's premiere today has been the result of many twists and turns. There are still two hours until the premiere begins.

Sun Jing knew there was a very good steakhouse next to the theater, so he strolled over, had lunch, and it was just about the right time.

This is a narrow street, slightly wider than an alleyway, which should be chaotic, crowded, and full of local flavor. However, because the area is about to be demolished, more than half of the residents have moved away, making it somewhat quiet. It's already past the Cold Dew solar term, which is late autumn according to the lunar calendar, but the sunshine is as comfortable as spring, giving people walking on the street a more leisurely feel.

The Meiqi Grand Theater was not far away at the other end of the street. Sun Jing dragged his feet forward, wondering if the messenger would be waiting for him at the theater entrance, or sitting next to him while watching the play, or if he would receive another tortoise carrying a letter.

As he made this guess, he heard a scream.

The scream came from the other end of the alley, and the sound waves had bounced around the winding corners of the alley several times, but the overwhelming terror did not diminish in the slightest. It was as if a ghostly witch riding a broom had "whooshed" through his body, causing him to involuntarily lean back slightly.

Two seconds later, there was a second scream.

The tranquility in the air has been completely shattered.

Sun Jingzheng walked to the middle of the S-shaped street and couldn't see what was happening. After walking a few steps forward, he saw an old woman in her sixties squatting at the entrance of a tobacco and sundry shop, covering her face and trembling. A young woman next to her was quietly comforting her.

A short distance ahead was the street corner, where a crowd had already gathered. A rickshaw driver, his face ashen, squeezed out of the crowd, shook his head, mounted his rickshaw loaded with old furniture, pedaled furiously, and rode away as if fleeing. People kept peeking in, all somewhat prepared, yet still unable to suppress gasps of surprise. Others looked up at the sky, and Sun Jing followed suit, but saw nothing unusual.

When he got closer and squeezed into the circle, although he didn't scream, his heart skipped a beat.

A young woman lay on her back on the ground, her limbs twitching slightly. Sunlight shone on her pale face, highlighting the bright red blood. The blood was seeping from the back of her head. Beside her lay a broken porcelain flowerpot that had once held a cactus; it looked to weigh over ten kilograms.

Sun Jing looked up again, and in front of her was an old four-story building. Flowers and plants were planted on the balconies from the second to the fourth floor.

"The one on the fourth floor," he heard someone next to him say.

"This is a bolt from the blue, a complete disaster. Such a beautiful girl, what a tragedy."

He glanced down at the woman; someone had already called for an ambulance, but it was likely she wouldn't survive.

Even in such a tragic situation, her beauty was still evident. This only amplified the cruelty of life's impermanence, sending a chill down one's spine.

The woman's eyes were open, her gaze unfocused. Sun Jing didn't know if she was still conscious; perhaps her soul was leaving her body.

Her limbs twitched violently again, but her eyes sharpened, staring intently and chillingly. Sun Jing felt as if she were looking at him; in truth, she was probably already trapped in her final hallucinations.

The woman's mouth suddenly opened, and air rushed out from between her lips and teeth. She tried desperately to say something, her mouth opening and closing frantically. She used the last of her strength, but she couldn't get her vocal cords working again, only emitting incomprehensible "fufu" sounds.

Sun Jing felt very uncomfortable under her gaze; from the angle of her eyes, it was as if she were talking to him. Yet, he clearly didn't know her.

He stepped out of the crowd. A police motorcycle was already parked at the street corner. The patrolman hurriedly jumped off and passed by him.

Sun Jing shrugged, trying to shake off the goosebumps that had appeared on his skin. Just as he was about to reach the theater, an ambulance sped past with its siren blaring.

The steakhouse was located in the Meilongzhen Isetan Department Store, diagonally opposite the Majestic Theatre, but Sun Jing felt she had completely lost her appetite. Anyone would lose their appetite after what had just happened, and the woman's final look was truly chilling.

If we don't eat, what should we do now? A large poster for "Tale" is pasted on the entrance of the theater, and a woman wearing a baseball cap is standing in front of it. Sun Jing walks to her side and sees those familiar oversized sunglasses.

"slowly?"

"Ah." Xu Xu looked surprised when she saw Sun Jing.

"You're here for the premiere too?" Sun Jing was a little puzzled at first, but seeing Xu Xu's expression, she realized it was just a coincidence.

"Um."

Sun Jing looked up and glanced at the poster, then suddenly froze.

The poster featured the main actors' portraits, and he recognized one of their faces. His gaze moved down and fell upon the female lead's name: Han Shang.

Her name was Han Shang.

"There won't be a premiere," Sun Jing sighed and whispered to Xu Xu. "The lead actress is dead!"

Xu Xu jolted awake, turned to stare at Sun Jing, her face grim.

"Ten minutes ago, she was hit on the head by a flowerpot falling from a high-rise building, just over there on the street. You should have heard the ambulance siren. I saw her lying there; she's beyond saving."

"That's terrifying," Xu Xu said.

"What's wrong with you?" Sun Jing asked. He noticed that Xu Xu was acting strangely; there was a fine sheen of sweat on her forehead above her sunglasses. She shouldn't have reacted this strongly to just hearing the news of a stranger's death.

Xu Xu didn't answer immediately. She looked up at the poster for a while before saying, "Do you know why I came to see the premiere today?"

"Because you're a theater enthusiast," Sun Jing replied casually. He just wanted to lighten the mood, but more importantly, he wanted to adjust his own feelings and get out of the scene he had just witnessed.

"The female lead in this film is the one who paid two million."

Sun Jing opened his mouth, then closed it again. He recalled what Xu Xu had said in the coffee shop two days ago. One of the main reasons she chose the wizard's skull as her target was that someone was willing to pay two million to borrow the skull for research, which would allow her to make an extra profit.

The gluttonous jade ring began to spin again, revealing a wizard's skull, oracle bone script, a letter on a tortoise shell, and a strange woman walking towards death before him. Undoubtedly, the messenger he awaited would not appear, and certain questions now became an unsolvable knot.

No wonder he felt so uncomfortable being stared at; she was genuinely staring at him, not seeing a slowly opening gate to heaven or hell. To Sun Jing, Han Shang was a stranger, but Han Shang recognized him. He trusted his judgment; Han Shang was the messenger, and oracle bone script was an obscure field of study—there couldn't be any other coincidences.

A young, unknown stage actress and someone who offered two million to study oracle bone inscriptions—it's hard to connect the two. And then this woman suddenly died; it's all so strange.

Sun Jing sensed something eerie, not just eerie, but dangerous. If Han Shang hadn't died today, what kind of trouble would he have been dragged into?

"Now that I don't have two million left, maybe I should really consider changing my target," Xu Xu said.

"So, you still haven't come up with any solutions?"

"Cough cough," Xu Xu wiped the sweat from her forehead, which had almost dried, and said, "I never expected to run into you again so soon."

Sun Jing grunted and looked back at the poster. Han Shang's face was delicate and beautiful, but the pale face from before slowly surfaced in her memory, the two similar yet vastly different faces overlapping.

Xu Xu felt somewhat uncomfortable being left aside by Sun Jing. She didn't know whether she should slink away or try to persuade this strange-looking man again.

Sweat seeped out from the spot where the jade ring was worn on the base of Sun Jing's ring finger. He took the ring off, wiped it, put it back on, and walked down the theater steps.

Then he turned around and saw Xu Xu still standing on the steps, and asked, "Do you remember when I said the wizard's skull was an impossible task?"

Xu Xu pursed her lips and didn't reply.

Have you seen that movie?

"Mission Impossible? That movie has several parts, only the first one is good." Xu Xu hesitated for a moment, then walked down the steps.

"So actually, all those tasks were completed."

She hopped down the last two steps in one go, took off her sunglasses, and her eyes sparkled.

"You agreed? You've come up with a solution?" Her tone was a mix of surprise and disbelief.

"I'm not teaming up with Xu Dapao," Sun Jing said.

"I'm not Xu Dapao, I'm Xu Xu," Xu Xu answered loudly.

As if making a guarantee, she snapped to attention, her two long legs in black stockings pressed together, her high heels making a loud clattering sound on the ground.

"Ouch!" she cried out.

"how?"

"I twisted my ankle when I jumped down; my heels were too high." Xu Xu bent down and rubbed his ankle.

Sun Jing sighed.

As I slowly straightened up, my stomach made a "gurgling" sound.

"Let's eat, let's eat. I'll treat you to a really delicious steak," she said.

"I have no appetite."

"I don't have much of an appetite either, so this is for the best. One serving is enough."

"You dump everything on me, so what are you doing?" Xu Xu complained as they left the steakhouse.

"I'll tell you what to do," Sun Jing replied.

"Tch." Xu Xu waved his hand and left with a smile on his face.

She turned the corner, walked slower and slower, and finally stopped next to a phone booth.

Her smile had vanished, her breathing had become heavy, and her fingers were unconsciously tapping on the glass door of the phone booth.

She stood there for a while, then put her sunglasses back on, adjusted the brim of her baseball cap, and slowly walked back the way she came.

As Sun Jing passed the poster, he glanced at it again. Like Xu Xu, he also chose to return the way he came. Two more police cars were parked at the entrance of the alley, and there were still onlookers.

The woman named Han Shang was no longer on the ground; only a white-painted human figure remained.

But the blood was still congealed there in a shocking way.

A middle-aged man next to me was being led into a police car. Just before getting in, he was still explaining in Shanghainese, "The flowerpots in our house are all kept very secure, how could they fall down? Everything is really..."

"Make way, make way!" the officer shouted to the crowd, then looked up at the policeman standing on the fourth-floor balcony and yelled, "Try again."

A wooden plank extends outward from the balcony for placing plants, with a noticeable gap between a spider plant and a rose bush. A mud stain remains at the gap, and an ordinary red brick is now placed upright on the mud stain, with a finger pointing behind the brick and gently pushing it forward.

The red bricks tumbled slowly through the air, then fell rapidly, shattering into large and small pieces the moment they collided with the sidewalk.

The police officer below turned to a resident next to him and asked, "Was there really no wind just now?"

"It seems a little bit." The old man became uncertain again.