Die Schönheiten des kalten Palastes Eine subtile und verführerische Frau

Kapitel 11

The moment I realized 16 minutes and 44 seconds ago made me understand everything that had happened. The mysterious office, Tang Yuqing's phone call, and even Ning Yu's departure were all pre-planned? I was frightened by Qi Silong's bullet incident, which made me think I was being framed and wanted to escape. Then "Tang Yuqing" appeared. She used the phone to guide me and tell me how to walk into the death trap, the most unsuspecting trap. Her real purpose was to lure me into the underground cave.

Suddenly, I understood everything! I was using my intelligence and courage to practice and fulfill that mysterious death video! I was using the thrill of escape to surpass the life-or-death race of my "own" ghost wedding night. Only then did I realize that my lucky escape, how far I ran, and where I went were all pre-planned. The white-clad ghost girl who desperately grabbed me was actually trying to save my life! She might not be a grim reaper trying to skin me alive; perhaps she was silently protecting me.

It's only now that I realize she was slowly approaching me because she was worried I'd run away. Could she be the third transformation of "Luoyi"? Is Luoyi related to Fengxu, the unrequited love "lover" in my memory? Is she really my "bride" in the underworld?

Without Luo Yi's protection, I had nowhere to escape. I was a fugitive, a target of everyone's hatred. My own path to survival was cut off; I could only leave my fate to chance. I had once again stepped into the trap of death. The 16-minute and 44-second video disc that Luo Yi gave me was a warning: don't trust your feelings, or you'll face death... But why didn't she just tell me directly? Who exactly are they?

Faced with a free yet blood-soaked escape route, I hesitated once again.

But I don't understand, why could Tang Yuqing deceive me? Is she a ghost too? This is too absurd! Impossible, what's impossible? Wasn't the phone line cut off when she last called me? Was she kidnapped and forced to betray me? How could she escape a ghost's murder? If that's the case, then I'm the one who harmed her!

Thinking of this, my heart couldn't help but feel sad. My only hope for help had been shattered. If Tang Yuqing was dead, who could help me uncover the truth behind the ghost case of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival"? There was only one day left. What should I do?

Those lanterns of death, aren't they just banners to summon souls? Those palace maids were all slaves under their conspiracy. They wanted to do this so that I, a police officer of unknown origin in the Forbidden City, would die mysteriously on the day of the 80th anniversary celebration of the Palace Museum. My mysterious death, with the male and female corpses in the most secure display cases, would attract people's attention, allowing them to carry out their deception. The evil forces behind the scenes could then take advantage of the chaos to achieve their conspiracy.

Chapter Thirty-Six: The Ghosts in Action

Instead of walking forward, I suddenly turned around and quietly left in the opposite direction of the 18th alley. This was the first time I had acted without following normal logic. I ran into the crowd of people visiting the Forbidden City in the morning. Even if I couldn't escape immediately, I wanted to find a way to observe and then look for an opportunity to "turn myself in" to the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.

I was prepared for misfortune at any moment. They would never let me escape so brazenly; they would definitely have a backup plan to "lure me into a trap." I had to carefully observe my surroundings and find a hidden escape route.

The Forbidden City's security and surveillance system covers the entire palace, from the Xiqing Gate to the East and West Hua Gates and the south side of the Longzong Gate, forming a vast, inescapable network. Surveillance equipment monitors the flow of people and unusual activity near the Treasure Gallery day and night, controlling the vital area from the central axis of the Hall of Supreme Harmony to the East Corridor. At least 1,600 burglar alarms, 3,700 smoke detectors, and 400 cameras operate continuously. Infrared, microwave, GPS, and audible alarm sensors are activated 24/7, and infrared cameras provide all-around surveillance. Within the monitored area, even the slightest clue will be captured, leaving no blind spots.

I tried my best to pinpoint the location of the surveillance cameras, employing counter-surveillance techniques to avoid the risk of being exposed. Soon, I hurriedly turned into a roadside photo studio near a tourist attraction, where I happened to see a family of three taking pictures at the entrance. It was a young couple wearing sunglasses and a little girl, probably wanting to take a panoramic photo together, a family portrait, and they were looking at passersby.

I cautiously ran over, pretending to strike up a conversation, hoping to use this opportunity to scout out the surroundings. The female tourist was delighted, smiling as she handed me her camera, which I took and stepped back two paces. The young couple, holding their young daughter, took their positions and smiled at me again in gratitude. Their friendly smiles calmed me down a bit. I picked up the camera, shielding my face with it, and began pretending to adjust the aperture and focus, using the camera like a telescope to adjust the zoom lens, while my eyes were observing everything around me from above.

There were no uniformed police officers in sight, nor any surveillance cameras. I figured out my escape route and felt a little more relaxed. I then pointed my camera at the couple and their child. Strangely, in the viewfinder, the two adults' figures seemed a bit dark, like wooden sculptures standing in the shadows, with a blurry black outline. I couldn't quite figure it out; perhaps it was because the outdoor light was too weak in the morning.

The little girl's captivating smile stunned me once again, because this little angel wasn't even in the frame. Yet, even after I put down the camera, she remained, still smiling at me! I was utterly bewildered, and just as I was completely bewildered, an unexpected sight unfolded. I suddenly noticed that behind the little girl's body, there was another little girl with a pale face, walking lightly, wearing a red dress. Her eyes were obscured by something, making her difficult to see clearly; only her chin was clearly visible, and her teeth were black when she smiled. Her face was always turned directly towards me. Her image was exceptionally vivid, involuntarily reminding me of the mysterious shadowy girl behind my cousin's ghostly wedding when I encountered her in the haunted building.

Her appearance must have been a sign of ghosts nearby. Sure enough, just as I handed the camera to the young couple after taking that terrifying photo and was about to leave, the young husband took off his sunglasses, smiled and thanked me, then put them back on. When my eyes met the young couple again, my heart skipped a beat: I almost recognized him—he was the male lead in the midnight movie scene with my cousin, and he had no pupils! The whites of his eyes were rolling backward… I was instantly terrified, and sweat broke out on my forehead. At that moment, the young wife also smiled at me, though she didn't take off her sunglasses, but the image of someone without pupils still sent chills down my spine.

The woman pleaded with me:

"Sir, there's just one more! Could you wait a moment?"

"Oh...okay, may I ask if it's still a family photo?"

"A family photo? Just the two of us. Do you think we should have a child?"

"That little girl wasn't one of yours..."

"What girl? Where is she?"

“Right among you.”

Just as I was certain the girl had appeared, the female tourist became terrified, anxiously communicating with the man with a peculiar expression before approaching me. The situation was dire. I secretly glanced at the alleyway ahead, preparing to make a surprise escape. At the same time, she reached into her pocket and pulled something out—a delicate little mirror! That thing that had been stimulating me was suddenly revealed; a painting of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" flashed before my eyes. The appearance of that eerie painting was clearly a signal. Instantly, many tourists appeared on the streets of the Forbidden City, walking as if floating, tilting their heads back as they "walked" towards me.

Cold sweat instantly poured down my forehead; it was a chilling despair. I knew the area was teeming with vengeful ghosts, so I swept my camera across the crowd. This time, I saw it clearly: those tourists carrying backpacks, pretending to walk and look at the scenery, were actually incomplete corpses. The backpacks they carried were actually carrying memorial tablets with black and white characters on them. Their faces were mostly rotting, some without even a complete head! Where were the people? These people were all ghosts! Looking around, the streets were empty. The souvenir shops and photo booths had changed; rows of white flowers and paper money hung at their entrances.

I knew I had stepped into the abyss of the ghost world. Judging from the various ghosts appearing in broad daylight, a particularly significant event was about to unfold here. Death was insufficient to describe the scale of the terror; it would be a bloodbath descending from the shadows, completely unexpected. A realistic thought suddenly occurred to me: even in death, I must leave behind evidence for posterity—to photograph the ghosts' movements and record this upheaval in the ghost world. The mere loss of an upright and responsible police officer was not frightening; what was frightening was the profound impact that everything that was about to happen in the Forbidden City would have on society.

I snapped a photo of the empty street! My arm drooped limply, and I put down the camera. The ghostly crowd was still there, and getting closer and closer. I could recognize three or five familiar faces; they were all members of the midnight ghost troupe outside Chuxiu Palace that day! It seemed I was surrounded by ghosts. They had already implemented their second plan. If I couldn't escape, I was doomed.

Suddenly, I noticed the ethereal little girl in red I'd seen earlier reappear at the corner of the alley ahead. She smiled and waved at me! Then, the shadow above her head disappeared, and I was astonished to recognize her—she was one of the nine ghost infants I'd seen in the archives, a girl who looked almost exactly like Luo Yi! Like Luo Yi, her face was obscured, yet she was slender and graceful, with flowing long hair. Seeing her immediately made me think that Luo Yi might be nearby, perhaps organizing a rescue operation for me?

Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Curse of the Vengeful Spirit

"Excuse me, I need to use your camera!"

After I finished speaking to the man without pupils, before he could react, I suddenly sped up and ran forward, twisting the film spool of my camera as I ran to eject the film and hold it in my hand! No matter what, I had to preserve the image of the ghost in this film.

The "crowd" pressed towards me, some coming from the alley entrance, others suddenly emerging from the wall. I tossed my camera into the "crowd" and, taking advantage of the chaos, ran towards the alley ahead. I stopped in front of the little girl in red, staring suspiciously at an oddity that made my hair stand on end. Her limbs were incomplete, and seeing her form startled me. Her red dress barely covered her body; all I could see were her thin arms like bamboo shoots and her incomplete hands. Not only was there no face, but I also couldn't see her legs!

In this ghostly and gloomy world, how could she cultivate such a charming and lovely appearance? Was it a supernatural blessing or a benevolent magic? I smiled gratefully at her, and she swayed her skirt, raising two withered fingers as she "walked".

She led me forward, winding and turning until she brought me to the front of a small palace. The "people" behind me were still chasing relentlessly. I had nowhere else to run, so I rushed straight in until my feet touched a dark, large building, where I suddenly stopped. In that instant, I realized that I was back in that damned place—the gloomy archive building.

The building doors were tightly shut, and the ghosts chasing me wandered outside, but none dared to rush in. I had no choice but to rely on this terrifying sanctuary to hide and survive.

A cold sweat broke out on my body. Why did this building of death records have such a deep connection with me? Where was that little girl? There was no way back; ahead lay the gates of hell. The corridor was pitch black, with only the dim light from the mailroom. A small-eyed woman was peering through the mailroom window, tilting her head and smiling at me! Her bloated face and upturned eyes made me stumble backward, but there was nowhere to hide. Wasn't that the hanged ghost?

A dim light shone through the crack in the door, revealing that the daylight hadn't yet fully broken. The archives building appeared ethereal and mysterious in the dim light. As more people appeared, shadowy figures moved back and forth in the corridor, yet no footsteps could be heard. The office computers hummed and hummed, and sometimes the fax machines beeped; these ghosts were still at work. Several pale faces passed before me, all facing upwards, eyes fixed straight ahead, walking straight into and out of the dark rooms.

I peered inside, and the little girl reappeared, holding a small lamp and waving at me. She stood in the elevator aisle, watching me mysteriously. I walked towards her and stepped into the elevator, but it was empty. Suddenly, the elevator started moving, and I was taken to the ground floor. Then the elevator doors opened, and I stepped out alone.

A pale gray figure stood at the end of the corridor, her back to me, as if waiting. Her long, black hair reached her waist.

"Losing clothes?"

She slowly turned around, her face still hidden by her hair, revealing only her small, rosy lips. She opened her arms to me, waiting for my embrace. I took her body in my arms, but this time the feeling wasn't ethereal; it seemed to have weight.

"There's only one more day before we have to part..."

As she spoke, a tear rolled down her cheek. I silently wiped it away for her.

"Luo Yi, who exactly are you?"

She buried her head in my arms.

"I know you want to know the answer, and that all that horror and hardship may not have been worth it. You will know the truth when you kiss me."

"Luoyi, I don't know why so many ghosts want to kill me. I'm so unlucky and scared. If your kiss can break these harmful curses, I want to see your true face now!"

"Anyone who kisses me will die."

"A death by a farewell kiss? How romantic, not scary at all..."

"I don't want you to die for me."

"What do you mean by 'one more day'? Where are you going?"

You'll understand tomorrow.

Seven thin, frail little girls in red dresses appeared in the corridor. They were carrying a scroll, and two of them were holding lanterns. The little girl who had guided me into the building was among them.

Are these children ghost babies?

I need to find the answer because Qi Silong's diary once mentioned a baby.

"They are children born from ghost marriages. Their mothers were ghosts and their fathers were human when they were born. They are all deformed. After their birth, their parents were cruelly skinned and killed, so I adopted these poor children."

"Who is so cruel?"

“The vengeful spirit, the vengeful spirit in the painting ‘Along the River During the Qingming Festival’.”

"A vengeful spirit haunts the 'Along the River During the Qingming Festival' scroll?" I was astonished; it seemed like a complete fantasy. Luo Yi left my embrace and gently untied the red thread binding the scroll.

"You are the last person to see this original painting, and I hope this impression will stay with you for the rest of your life."

Is it the one in the Palace Museum's collection?

"It is and it isn't; it has a bizarre story behind it."

"I know some of it too; it seems many people have lost their lives because of it."

"Not only that, but someone will also die in this painting."

As she slowly unfurled the scroll, the scene before me turned a deep yellow. A gust of wind swept by, and the flickering red lamplight illuminated the ancient painting. Mountains, rivers, rainbow bridges, and bustling streets came to life. For the first time in my life, I had seen such a magnificent and timeless masterpiece up close. She gently stroked it with her hand, her movements remarkably like a refined lady sketching a painting at an ancient inkstone. She spoke softly:

"After Zhang Zeduan, a Hanlin scholar of the Northern Song Dynasty, presented the painting to Emperor Huizong, he became enamored with it. During the Jingkang Incident, Huizong was captured and taken to the north. Humiliated and confined to a well, this painting was his only companion, a way to remember his lost empire. Later, he died tragically. The Jurchen nobles of the Jin Dynasty ordered him to be drowned, pouring water into the well. His body rotted in the well, and his soul remained within the painting. The Jin people took the painting to the palace, and from then on, misfortunes followed one after another. The original painting also bore a small double-dragon seal, a symbol of his power and the imperial seal of the dynasty." The painting's spirit, the one who died resentfully in the well, was the same person to whom a princess and palace maid disappeared after jumping into the well… Legend has it that after Emperor Huizong's death, he hated the emperors in the court, and his vengeful spirit became a curse. He believed himself to be the 1644th person among the 1643 figures in the painting, so 1644 became a death curse. Anyone who possessed it would be punished, and upon death, their body would be stamped with a small double-dragon seal. The death of Emperor Chongzhen in 1644 was also related to the vengeful spirit; an emperor died because of the curse, and only then did the vengeful spirit find peace.

"But the killings from this painting didn't stop after that, did they?"

"Yes, because... there are twin sisters who died tragically in this painting, and their souls are still weeping."

After Luo Yi finished speaking, her tone became low and somber. I seemed to understand the meaning behind her words, so I added:

"If I'm not mistaken, you are one of those twin sisters, aren't you?"

Luo Yi didn't answer, but instead stroked the mangled hair.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Secret of the Faceless Painting

"Emperor Chongzhen had six daughters, and these two were the youngest princesses. In 1644, before Emperor Chongzhen fled the Forbidden City and hanged himself on Coal Hill, he personally killed Princess Changping and many concubines. In a bloodthirsty rage, Chongzhen ordered his men to drag his two beautiful young daughters from Shouning Palace to a dry well and order them to kneel down and be put to death. To prevent his own flesh and blood from being humiliated by the rebel Li Zicheng's army, the emperor made them cover their faces with their hair and then raised his sword... hacking them until their faces were unrecognizable! The eunuch Wang Chengen wrapped the two sisters in the painting 'Along the River During the Qingming Festival,' which Emperor Chongzhen loved most, and pushed them into the dry well with tears in his eyes."

"Historical records only state that Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself with his hair over his face. Could it be that he killed his own daughter first and then did the same thing? That's too cruel!"

"How can a king of a fallen kingdom face his ancestors? My father's cruel actions were out of helplessness. He had the right to send his daughter to the underworld after the fall of the city, lest he kill her on the spot. Instead, he let her live in the dark well for many years."

"They're still alive? That's so strange!"

"They did not die. They lived a miserable life until the Shunzhi Emperor entered the Forbidden City. When they were extremely hungry, they ate anything, including the corpses of palace maids and eunuchs who jumped into wells. They also ate a part of the painting of the shroud of the dead. Unfortunately, they swallowed the small double-dragon seal that was possessed by the vengeful spirit. From then on, they suffered a fate more tragic than death. The two sisters became slaves under the tyranny of the vengeful spirit and became the most evil death angels in the Forbidden City."

"So, from then on, you began to indiscriminately kill innocent people, just so you could survive in the long run?"

"They were powerless. It was the curse of vengeful spirits. In the Forbidden City for hundreds of years, they lured and killed countless palace maids and eunuchs. They all accidentally fell into the well, and then the vengeful spirits would peel off their faces and let the ghosts of their sisters eat their corpses..."

"Oh my God!"

I felt sorrow for Luo Yi; she was a scavenging beast. Her stories, so lighthearted, were utterly absurd. Thinking of those lives slaughtered, their heart-wrenching cries before death, all my previous fond memories of Luo Yi vanished. Perhaps I should realize she was a demon. Pain made me close my eyes; I simply couldn't imagine that in those bleak years, two beautiful, resentful sisters, for their own fleeting existence, had deceived and devoured so many kind-hearted people.

Contempt and anger made my face look very ugly. Luo Yi could feel my disdain for her behavior and began to sob. The awakening of her conscience and self-reproach made her kneel in front of the canvas and shed tears of repentance.

“Every time she killed someone, her conscience was tormented, but she couldn’t stop. If she stopped killing, the vengeful spirits would kill them. Tragically, they couldn’t get rid of the vengeful spirits. The canvas of the double dragon seal had melted into the depths of their souls. The only thing they could do as a memorial and compensation was to use their faces to paint on the painting. They would cut off the faces of the figures on the damaged ‘Along the River During the Qingming Festival’ painting, and then, with a repentant heart, paint the faces of the murdered as patches on the painting, according to the faces of the murdered people when they were alive.”

Luo Yi was right. In this painting, "Along the River During the Qingming Festival," the faces of the figures do indeed look strange. Upon closer inspection, the expressions of the larger figures are not the diverse and vibrant faces of the free-spirited people in Zhang Zeduan's depiction of the Qingming world, but rather the blank stares and stiff postures of corpses. It's easy to imagine that these are portraits copied after the deaths of the deceased. Gazing at these bloody microcosms of life's end, a chill ran through my heart.

"If I'm not mistaken, you brought me here this time so that I could make another decision about whether or not to kill me and hand me over to the vengeful spirit. So, that ghost with only one leg and wearing an embroidered shoe is your own sister. Since the vengeful spirit's curse is 1644, you've probably killed 1643 people already, and I'm the last one, and the last one who's fallen a little in love with you, am I right?"

I asked calmly, because from the beginning I sensed a bittersweet and unusual relationship between Luo Yi and me, a relationship that seemed somewhat strange. Luo Yi sighed and said sadly:

“My sister and I are different. She is bloodthirsty and incurable. During the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, Consort Zhen was the most beautiful woman in the country. She was imprisoned by Empress Dowager Cixi in the Third Palace. I often disguised myself as a palace maid at night to visit her. My sister was furious. Soon after, she lured Cui Yugui, the chief eunuch of the imperial court, to push Consort Zhen into a well and cover it. She was not dead yet. She stubbornly lived on despite hunger and despair. How terrifyingly stubborn! Looking at her suffering before her death, I remembered the miserable years I had spent in a dry well. I wanted to save her, but I was powerless. In order to climb out of the well, she tore off her fingers. She lived for three months without dying. The curse of the vengeful spirit peeled off Consort Zhen's face, and my sister ate her heart! I was furious and pressed my sister down into the well until she drowned.”

"Was your sister dead around that time?"

"Although she is dead, her sister's vengeful spirit has attached itself to Consort Zhen and has been opposing me ever since, killing even more people than before. The vengeful spirit will make us pass on our hatred from generation to generation until the curse of 'Along the River During the Qingming Festival' finally kills 1,644 people."

Am I the 1644th person?

"I don't know either, it's a secret of death."

"oh……"

I was speechless. Seeing Luo Yi's terrified expression, I couldn't bear to pry into the matter.

"Have you ever seen a vengeful spirit?" I asked a mysterious, central question.

"I've never seen it. You only hear that curse when someone is about to die and be skinned alive."

"What kind of curse?"