Nouveau pont de l'impuissance

Chapitre 11

After calming down, Zhao Shibin suddenly thought of how to punish his cheating wife.

“Come on, baby, wrap your feet around the cable… then give me your left hand…”

"I...I'm scared, honey, please save me!"

"Meimei, there's too much lubricant and barbs on the steel cable. You can't hold on like this for long. Listen to your husband, give me your hand, you can do it!"

Yang Mei was so nervous that she didn't take her hand off the steel cable for a long time. Zhao Shibin was getting anxious, worried that the property management staff would be coming up soon. So he grabbed the elevator door with one hand and leaned forward as close to Yang Mei as possible. Only then did Yang Mei extend her left hand.

When Zhao Shibin asked her to extend her right hand as well, she hesitated. But the barbs on the steel cable were piercing her, drawing blood, and she knew she couldn't hold on like this for long. So, she steeled herself, grasping Zhao Shibin's hands with both of hers, while her legs gradually loosened their grip on the cable. She was now suspended in the air, entirely dependent on Zhao Shibin's support. To maintain his balance, Zhao Shibin lay flat on the floor, gripping Yang Mei's wrists tightly.

"Honey, pull me up quickly, my hand hurts so much..."

Zhao Shibin lowered his head and smiled at Yang Mei, saying, "Wife, now you know you need me, right? But what you did before deeply hurt me. I think you should give me an explanation."

"Husband, I was wrong, I will never do it again... Please pull me up, please!" Yang Mei realized that her current situation was more dangerous than when she was hanging on the cable, and tears immediately streamed down her face.

"Meimei, you're an adult now. Your husband thinks you should be punished a little so you can know how much it hurts me..."

Zhao Shibin suddenly released one of his hands, and Yang Mei screamed. Her body began to sway in the air, and one hand flailing wildly.

The dark elevator shaft was constantly filled with gusts of wind, which made people's hair stand on end.

"Husband, I was wrong, please save me...husband..." Yang Mei almost screamed herself hoarse.

Seeing that her face was as white as a sheet, Zhao Shibin thought that she had been tortured to this extent. He reached out to grab her other hand. But as soon as he grasped it, Yang Mei hurriedly started climbing up. She used her feet to push against the edge of the well and used her hands to lift herself up.

The sudden force caught Zhao Shibin off guard, and because the cable was covered in grease, the bayberry slipped from his hand in that instant...

The insurance company paid Zhao Shibin a large sum of money, and the property management company also paid a large sum of money.

But these compensations were not enough to erase the dying screams echoing in Zhao Shibin's ears from the long elevator shaft.

"Zhao Shibin, I'll haunt you even as a ghost!!!"

This sentence came after the sound of the bayberry falling to the ground with a "thud."

Nightmare

Before starting school, I never knew that dreams could come in all shapes and sizes.

Some people have a fresh dream every night; others have several different dreams in one night.

I don't know where my dreams have gone. Are they like a stuck cassette tape, playing the same segment over and over again?

For the past twenty-four years, I've had the same dream every night.

The dreams were monotonous, bloody, and terrifying... but later I became numb to them. I've gotten used to waking up in a cold sweat on my sheets.

I rarely have that dream in its entirety, but after decades of repeated reenactments, I've been able to piece together the fragments into a complete story.

Seven earthenware jars, seven young girls, all turned into human pigs.

They chopped off the limbs, gouged out the eyeballs, poured molten copper into the ears, cut off the tongue to break the voice... and then put them into a jar.

Seven earthenware jars, seven young girls, with eyes that cannot see, ears that cannot hear, and mouths that cannot speak.

Yet they are still alive.

The rustling sound was the creaking of their mutilated bodies writhing inside the jar.

A woman dressed in black appeared, extending her jade-like arms and slender, white fingers. With a gentle gesture, she rearranged the seven earthenware pots.

A clay pot is placed in the center, and the rest are arranged around it in six directions.

The woman in black walked to the earthenware pot in the center, pried open the girl's mouth, and forcefully inserted a spirit tablet into it.

The girl struggled a few times, but to no avail. She only ended up with a split lip, bleeding profusely.

The memorial tablet wasn't anything special, and I couldn't make out what was written on it. I only vaguely remember the character "叶" (Ye).

The mouths of the other six girls were stuffed with spiders, toads, centipedes, scorpions, bats, and other creatures the size of a palm. A red and white ringed snake was also stuffed into the mouth of one of the girls. Their mouths were all tightly sewn shut with silver thread, and the poisonous insects were sealed inside them like fleshy boxes.

Then, the woman in black took some dark, gel-like liquid and filled each of the earthenware jars.

The girl in the earthenware pot seemed to calm down a bit in the liquid, and stopped writhing and struggling.

Next, the woman in black used a silver needle and thread to pierce the bridge of a girl's nose through her left eye socket and out through her right eye socket, then threaded the thread to the scalp of the girl in the center and fixed it there.

The same method was used. The eye sockets of the six surrounding girls were all connected to the scalp of the girl in the center by silver threads.

"Live well, life after life. I want your resentment... to make Ye Shiquan's descendants suffer a fate worse than death, and be doomed to eternal damnation!"

The woman in black made the final step, pressing her palms together in a delicate, effeminate gesture, muttering something in a foreign language. The black, gelatinous substance from the earthenware jar spread across the girls' faces, then solidified like cooled wax, gleaming with an eerie light…

"5...4...3...2...1. Okay, you can wake up now!" Dr. Yang woke me up from deep hypnosis.

I saw a flicker of fear and disgust cross Dr. Yang's face, but it was quickly concealed by her professional seriousness. But it didn't matter; I was used to it. Over the years, I'd seen no fewer than ten psychotherapists. None of them could cure me; they all basically gave up halfway through treatment. Some even went so far as to say I wasn't cooperating, which was why there was no progress.

I recently found this new doctor simply to put my mother's mind at ease. Anyway, I'm numb to it all; I've watched the same horror movie over and over again for over twenty years, I'm bound to get tired of it by now.

Dr. Yang is reviewing my medical records. Actually, calling him Professor Yang would be more appropriate; he's the most senior psychology professor in the province, currently working in the psychology department of a key national university. He's only agreeing to treat me this time because I haven't been cured by any of his students, and he's become interested in me—interested in researching me. The thick medical record in his hand contains treatment notes from previous psychologists, but it's actually not very useful.

“Ms. Mo, generally speaking, most patients who have recurring nightmares experienced some kind of tragedy in their childhood, and were unable to vent their fears through normal or appropriate channels, so they desperately suppressed and tried to forget them. As a result, the fear remained hidden in their hearts, and when their consciousness was weakest and most scattered, it quietly slipped out.” Professor Yang said, observing my facial expressions. “Of course, this is just the general case. Moreover, within the scope of my knowledge, there is no case in the world like yours where someone has had the same dream for decades.”

I'd heard his explanation countless times, and as I expected, he didn't understand either. I smiled politely, my face betraying my helplessness: "So, Professor Yang also thinks my illness is incurable?"

Professor Yang immediately sensed my intention to give up: "No. What I mean is, Miss Mo, you are unique in the world. Actually, there are still many ways to investigate your illness, and I haven't even started investigating yet. Including your birth, family situation, interpersonal relationships, upbringing, and so on, I will investigate them one by one and then give you an answer, okay?"

Seeing how seriously this elderly woman with white hair took my condition, I couldn't help but feel a touch of emotion. She had made it clear from the beginning that the treatment would be free, only requesting my permission to use me as a research subject. For someone like me, working-class, this was undoubtedly fantastic news.

After getting to know the basics, I said goodbye to Professor Yang, and inexplicably began to feel relieved. Perhaps, this time, there really was hope.

But what I couldn't see was that after I left, Professor Yang's expression became extremely solemn, and he drew a circle around my name with a red pen.

Professor Yang hasn't contacted me for a while, but I'm not worried. I go to work as usual and continue having nightmares.

However, many things happened without my prior notice, without my consent.

Lately, I've noticed a change in my dreams. The scenes and characters are still the same, but something's different. Several days later, I realized that the woman in black in my dreams… seems to sense my presence; is she watching me?

With this question in mind, I repeatedly gave myself mental suggestions before going to sleep, determined to find out the answer in my dream tonight.

Human consciousness is very powerful; even while sleeping, you can sometimes be clearly aware that you are dreaming. I believe everyone has had this experience.

I drifted off to sleep with the thought of finding out the truth, but woke up with a look of astonishment and unprecedented fear.

It turns out the woman in black in my dream really was watching me. Although her face was turned towards the girl in the earthenware pot, her eyes were clearly moving in my direction. Everything was the same except for her gaze, which was now like two blinding white beams that hurt my eyes.

This is the first time in over twenty years.

I quickly contacted Professor Yang. Professor Yang readily agreed to meet with me.

After I finished recounting my dream, Professor Yang frowned. "I previously suspected you were adopted, perhaps you experienced something terrible before adoption, like losing your parents. But I found your birth certificate and the doctor who delivered you, both of which prove you are the Mo family's biological daughter. And from my visits to your relatives recently, it seems your upbringing hasn't been any different. I have another theory now, but it needs time to confirm. Miss Mo, you should go back first; I will keep an eye on you."

Since Professor Yang had already said that, I had no choice but to leave. But just as I was about to go out, he called out to me, "Ms. Mo, do you have any pets?"

"No, I'm allergic to cat and dog fur."

Have you ever owned any pets? Not just cats and dogs.

"No." I shook my head.

Professor Yang seemed to be deep in thought.

A few days later, my mother asked me to go with her to Jinchan Temple to burn incense and pray to the Bodhisattva.

I know she did it for me.

After we finished praying to the Buddha, my mother took my hand and led me to a small stall in front of the temple. The stall owner was a blind old woman with two old, bloody scabs around her eyes. She had a white towel wrapped around her head, wore an old blue cloth jacket, and an apron. She was as simple and unpretentious as could be.

"Grandma Mei, could you please feel my daughter's bones?"

Hearing footsteps, the old woman assumed it was a customer coming to buy incense and candles, and smiled broadly. But upon hearing her mother's words, her expression suddenly changed.

"Big sister, you've got the wrong person."

“I haven’t come to the wrong person. I was introduced by Chen Ximei.” The mother took three beans out of her pocket and put them in the old woman’s hand. “My daughter has been in trouble for over twenty years. Please help her. Chen Ximei is my distant cousin. She asked me to bring these three beans to you.”

The old woman sighed softly and said, "I stopped doing this a long time ago. Peeping into the secrets of heaven is not something a mortal should do. Look at my eyes..."

My mother quickly pulled me closer and placed my hand in Granny Mei's: "Granny Mei, feel it and see if there's any hope. If there is, please give me some pointers. If it's really..."

Before I could finish speaking, Grandma Mei pulled her hand back as if she had been electrocuted. After a moment's hesitation, she grabbed my hand again and began to gently press on it.

"What a tragedy! What a tragedy!" Granny Mei shook her head. "This is the sin you committed in your past life!"

I wasn't really a believer in these mountain shamans, but recent events have left me somewhat bewildered. So I interjected and asked, "What sins did I commit in my past life?"

Unexpectedly, Granny Mei stared at me angrily with her blind eyes: "In your past life, you were a Taoist cultivator, yet you couldn't cultivate peacefully. For your own worldly desires, you poisoned seven young girls, just to curse the entire family of a faithless man. Isn't that a sin?!"

Grandma Mei's words startled me so much that I almost lost my balance. How did she know?

"What should I do to get rid of this nightmare? Grandma Mei, please help me..."

"The one who tied the knot must untie it. The souls of those seven girls are trapped in the Deadly Demonic Array by you, their resentment turning into poison to curse the Ye family for all eternity. They are neither alive nor dead, so their souls cannot enter the cycle of reincarnation and can never be reborn as humans. If you want to free them, you are actually freeing yourself. You must find the location of that evil array and smash the pots one by one."

Upon hearing that there was hope, a surge of hope rose in my heart: "Where is that earthenware pot?"

"It's not hard to deduce. But I still need to make some preparations. Come find me again in seven days. I will take you there. Also, you need to leave me some blood and hair."

...

After saying goodbye to Grandma Mei, my mother and I both wore relaxed smiles on our way home. However, I felt that my mother's smile seemed a little forced.

Professor Yang hasn't contacted me, and I figured he couldn't be of much help, so I didn't bother him.

Lately, I've been thinking: if I was a witch in my past life, wouldn't I be able to summon wind and rain and kill people invisibly? How did I die in the end? These strange and supernatural thoughts have turned my mind into a complete mess.

That night, it was my turn to work the night shift, and the accident happened on my way home.

Two men cornered me in the woods of the green park, one in front and one behind.

I knew I had little chance of winning by fighting back, so I threw my wallet at one of the men, hoping he would spare my life.

To my surprise, he tucked his wallet into his belt at the back of his waist and continued walking towards me.

A lewd smile spread across his face...

I've never had a boyfriend, so I'm still a virgin. How can I let them take advantage of me in a place like this?

So I screamed, pushed, and tried to run away.

But how could a frail woman like me possibly stand up to two strong men?

The moment they pounced on me, my only thought was to kill them!

A corpse lay on the spot!