Nachtpuppe - Kapitel 9
At this moment, the principal's smile faded, and his expression returned to seriousness.
“Zhong Lei, I’m asking you this very seriously: where did you and your friends go last Monday night? You need to tell the truth!” He finished speaking and stared intently at Zhong Lei.
Although Zhong Lei's emotions had gone through many ups and downs and he was no longer easily affected, he still felt uneasy under the principal's gaze.
“We…we went…”
"Go ahead and speak! But don't worry, I won't punish you for this!"
It's not that I'm afraid of being punished, but I really don't want to bring up what happened that night again.
Zhong Lei hesitated for a long time. He looked up at the principal, whose stern eyes shone with a trustworthy light, like those of a loving father.
So, Zhong Lei decided to speak out.
"Principal, we went to the dilapidated house."
The principal nodded.
"I know, tell me what you saw?"
“I only saw that Lin Wei was dead, and his eyes were wide open, with white foam at the corner of his mouth…” Zhong Lei couldn’t continue.
The principal looked at Zhong Lei and shook his head helplessly. Zhong Lei didn't say anything more.
A moment of silence.
The principal sighed deeply.
“I told you not to go to that dilapidated house, not to go! But…” The principal suddenly became too agitated to speak, then took a long breath, “Look, how many people went?”
"Five."
"Five? Aren't there only three people?" The principal was somewhat surprised.
“There are indeed five people! There is me, Bi Bin, Lin Wei, Su Shengwen, and Liu Dong.”
"You went too?!" The principal was even more surprised.
Zhong Lei nodded obediently.
"But why didn't you...?" The principal's words were on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them back down.
Zhong Lei knew the principal was surprised he hadn't died, so he shrugged and shook his head.
"I don't know either. At the time, I only saw my classmate die, and I didn't see anything scary."
The principal nodded.
"I understand." His gaze focused on a single point, as if he were lost in thought.
Silence returned.
Zhong Lei felt uncomfortable, suddenly being left out in the cold, and he felt very out of place.
The principal suddenly spoke again.
"Alright, that's enough for today. You can go back now!" he said, waving his hand.
Zhong Lei nodded and said,
"Goodbye, Principal!" she said, turning to leave.
The principal called him back again.
“You can’t tell anyone what happened to you, understand?” He paused for a moment, then continued, “Son, if you encounter anything you don’t understand, come to me!” It was a father’s tone, and Zhong Lei thought of his father who had passed away a few years ago. His heart warmed, and he nodded vigorously.
The principal smiled slightly.
"Okay, go ahead! Be careful!"
Zhong Lei walked out of the principal's office and stood in the corridor, where he inexplicably shivered.
Chapter Four: Death Appears (Part Five)
5
A week has passed, and Zhong Lei returned to the dormitory building. Thinking of his classmates who used to live here with him, some of whom have left him forever, a wave of sadness washed over him once again.
"Sigh~" He let out a long sigh and lifted his foot to step onto the stairs.
"Why are you sighing at such a young age?" An old voice rang out, as if the speaker were right next to Zhong Lei's ear. The voice was so clear that it startled Zhong Lei.
"Ah! Who?" She turned around, and saw...
“Ah!!!” Zhong Lei suddenly screamed, but this time it was a normal scream, and it was a male voice.
He saw it: a wrinkled face less than five centimeters from the back of his head. The flesh on the face was loose, but the eyes were large and deep, seemingly bottomless. The nose was almost invisible, just a small protrusion on the flesh. The mouth was tight, and the teeth were strangely neat.
"Grandpa, are you talking to me?" Zhong Lei asked timidly.
"Who's the old man!" The aged voice carried a hint of dissatisfaction.
Zhong Lei took two steps back before he could see clearly that it was an old woman standing on a stool, with her hands on her hips, glaring at him angrily.
"Oh, it's Grandma, hello! I'm so sorry! I didn't recognize you earlier."
"Hmph! Didn't you see that? I think you're just asking for death!"
Zhong Lei thought to himself, "Why is this old lady talking like that? I haven't really offended her that much."
"Grandma, how can you talk like that?"
The old woman glared with her bright, alert eyes:
"How dare you speak like that? You dare come back to this building? You're asking for death!"
Upon hearing this, Zhong Lei was startled again. What was wrong with this building? Had something spread from the small, dilapidated house all the way here?
"Grandma, could you please explain it a little more clearly?"
The old woman lightly jumped off the bench—which once again amazed Zhong Lei with her agility.
"No matter what, if you want to live, don't stay here anymore. That's the end of my story. Whether you listen to me or not is none of my business!" With that, he picked up the stool, turned, and walked away, muttering to himself as he went.
"Kids these days are so tall, they can't reach anything without a stool."
Zhong Lei fainted.
After getting up from the ground, Zhong Lei hesitated, wondering whether to go back or not.
He dared not believe the mysterious old woman's words, yet he dared not disbelieve them either.
While he was engaged in a fierce internal struggle, Yu Kai came out of the dormitory.
"Lei Zi, you're back! I've put everything away for you. As for the roast chicken that Aunt Li packed for you, we'll have to split it equally!" She winked at Zhong Lei after saying that.
Zhong Lei pretended to think for a moment, then nodded:
"Okay! I've decided to give you the most substantial part!"
Yu Kai happily put his arm around his shoulder:
"That's what a true brother is like!"
Zhong Lei chuckled again:
"How about I leave you some bones? Enough for you, right?!"
Yu Kai fainted.
6
After evening self-study, Zhong Lei and Yu Kai walked side by side on their way back to the dormitory.
"Hey Lei, let's finish that roast chicken tonight!" Yu Kai asked, his mouth watering.
But Zhong Lei's expression was as resolute as a Communist Party member's, and he resolutely refused him:
"No! I said I was going to send it to Li Xue! This was given to us by Aunt Li, so we should give more than half to Li Xue."
Yu Kaian divided some up and said:
"That's true. Well then, shall we each have a chicken leg first?"
A smile was about to appear on Zhong Lei's face—
"Murder!! Someone's attacking someone!!" A commotion erupted in the crowd ahead, followed by two figures rushing out. Zhong Lei immediately recognized the one in front as Liu Dong. He didn't recognize the other; he was dressed in strange clothes, as if wrapped in a huge black cloth. His legs were long and pale, seemingly leaping against the black fabric. His head was exposed, bald, and his expression was terrifyingly fierce. He was brandishing a bloodstained axe, swinging it wildly. Liu Dong, clutching his left shoulder with his right hand, ran and shouted.
"Help! Help! I don't want to die!" The voice was filled with fear, and the blood from his left shoulder was flowing more and more, and his voice was gradually losing strength.
Just as Zhong Lei and Yu Kai were about to rush over to help, Liu Dong was too exhausted to run any further. He stumbled and fell to the ground. The guy behind him rushed forward, raised his axe, and easily chopped off Liu Dong's head. The head rolled to the side, facing Zhong Lei. The wide-open eyes and gaping mouth were brutally etched into Zhong Lei's mind.
The man in the black robe wasn't finished. He picked up the axe again and chopped at Liu Dong's arms and legs, dismembering all four limbs. He didn't care that blood was spraying all over Liu Dong's body, and his expression was still crazed. He gathered the scattered limbs together, picked them up, and ran towards the teaching building.
A classmate was dismembered in full view of everyone. There were no fewer than a hundred students present, but not a single one dared to move.
Zhong Lei's lower lip trembled, and after a long pause, he only managed to utter this one sentence to Yu Kai:
"Kai, do you still want some chicken legs?"
Unofficial Paranormal Events (Part 1)
SECTION 1: Strange White Light - Early morning of December 27, 2005