Wenn die Liebe naht, ist es wie Schnee

Kapitel 30

Zheng Yubing walked faster and faster.

"twelve……"

Zheng Yubing stopped in her tracks. There was one more step in front of her—the thirteenth step. Just like the story of counting stairs, there were thirteen steps to go upstairs, but if she counted fourteen steps to go downstairs, she would die.

Shui Lan's anxious voice came through, "Yu Bing, are you alright? Why aren't you moving?"

"I'm fine." Zheng Yubing swallowed hard, closed her eyes, and jumped down onto the steps. "Thirteen..." Just as her feet landed, a dazzling bolt of lightning ripped through the night sky, followed by a loud bang, startling the two women.

Shui Lan covered her ears with both hands, tears welling up in her eyes from the thunderous sound. She shouted, "Yu Bing, stop playing around! Let's go! I'm scared!"

Zheng Yubing was startled by the clap of thunder. She slowly turned around. "Shui Lan, once you start counting the stairs, you have to keep going. I've already finished half of it. If I leave like this, I'll never be at peace. Don't worry, I'll be fine." Zheng Yubing moved her left leg and took the first step down. "One..." Her leg trembled slightly, and her voice trembled as well.

"Two~~"

"Three~~"

Shui Lan was terrified. She was afraid the story about counting steps was true, and she was afraid that when Zheng Yubing came down, there would be fourteen steps. She didn't want to lose this inseparable friend who always took care of her like an older sister. She stared wide-eyed at the steps, afraid that if she closed her eyes, an extra step would appear.

"Twelve..." Zheng Yubing stopped in her tracks. She smiled, and Shui Lan smiled too. The tension vanished instantly, and even the eerie old building didn't seem so scary anymore. There was only one step left under her feet—the thirteenth step. When she returned to the dormitory, she could proudly tell Luo Shimin and Hu Rongrong that the story about counting steps was a lie; there were indeed thirteen steps, and that number would never change.

“Thirteen…” Zheng Yubing jumped down, and Shui Lan rushed up. The two first high-fived, then hugged each other tightly. Just now, Zheng Yubing had accomplished something she would never have dared to think about normally.

"I'll try it too." Seeing that Zheng Yubing was alright, Shui Lan grew bolder and skipped up the steps, cheerfully counting, "One, two, three... twelve, thirteen..."

"Shui Lan, you're amazing!" Zheng Yubing clapped and cheered.

The moment Shui Lan turned around, she felt a cold breath on her neck.

As Shui Lan turned around, a chill ran from her feet to her head. A dark figure appeared silently behind Zheng Yubing; it looked like a woman. Shui Lan's legs went weak, and she tumbled down the stairs.

"Shui Lan!" Zheng Yubing screamed in agony, about to rush forward to embrace Shui Lan, when a cold arm landed on her shoulder. She turned and saw a terrifying woman. The woman looked familiar, somewhat like… somewhat like… Before she could remember, a piercing scream echoed from the old building, "No…"

003 The story is fake.

She didn't know how much time had passed; the torrential rain outside continued, with flashes of lightning occasionally streaking across the sky, followed by deafening thunder, plunging the stairwell into even greater darkness. Shui Lan awoke from her unconsciousness, her head throbbing with pain. Her hair clung to her cheeks, and when she touched it, it felt sticky; looking at it closely, she saw her hand was covered in blood. She groaned, "Where am I?" She had hit her head on a step while tumbling down the stairs, the violent impact momentarily disorienting her.

As soon as Shui Lan moved, her head, arms, shoulders, back, and almost every part of her body ached. Gritting her teeth, she struggled to climb to the wall, leaving a long trail of blood on the ground. She sat up against the wall. It took her a while to pull her phone out of her pocket, and without thinking, she dialed Zheng Yubing's number.

*Ring…* Zheng Yubing's phone suddenly rang, right beside her, startling Shui Lan. Shining the phone's dim light, she saw Zheng Yubing lying motionless on the ground not far away, seemingly lifeless. Her lost memories returned instantly; the scenes that had just unfolded flashed through her mind like a movie. She remembered where she was, and why she and Zheng Yubing were here. Gritting her teeth and enduring the excruciating pain, she shone the phone's light around, but didn't see the woman behind Zheng Yubing.

"Yu Bing, are you alright? Get up!" Shui Lan shouted hoarsely, but it was no use; Zheng Yu Bing couldn't hear her. She bent down and crawled towards Zheng Yu Bing, a sharp pain making her gasp and almost faint. She bit her lip, constantly telling herself not to faint, not to faint. She didn't know Zheng Yu Bing's condition; if she fainted, she might die. Her lips were bleeding, and blood dripped from her chin to the ground. The short distance of less than five meters, which would normally be covered in a few steps, took Shui Lan half an hour to crawl over, nearly fainting several times along the way.

Crawling to Zheng Yubing's side, the first thing Shui Lan did was reach out and touch Zheng Yubing's nose. Thank goodness, Zheng Yubing was still breathing. Shui Lan pushed Zheng Yubing with all her might, "Yubing, wake up!" A sharp pain struck, and Shui Lan almost fainted again.

After several attempts, Shui Lan was unable to wake Zheng Yubing. She had a bad feeling and picked up her phone to call Hu Rongrong.

Throughout history, lovers have invariably preferred to whisper sweet nothings and whisper romantic words under the moonlit flowers in secluded spots. But this didn't work for Luo Shimin. She couldn't bear to leave Hu Rongrong alone in the dormitory, so she brought Hu Rongrong along on her date with Xia Chen. Xia Chen, outwardly cold but inwardly warm, figured Hu Rongrong would feel lonely and isolated in the dormitory, so he didn't say anything. Hu Rongrong, whose relationship with the two was unusual, didn't feel uncomfortable, and the three of them went hiking hand in hand.

But when they reached the halfway point up the mountain, the weather turned against them, and a sudden downpour began. Luckily, there was a pavilion on the hillside where they took shelter from the rain. A mountain breeze blew by, carrying a slight chill. Luo Shimin snuggled into Xia Chen's arms. For the first time, she felt how warm a boy's embrace could be. She wanted to stay in Xia Chen's arms forever.

Hu Rongrong stood a little distance away from the two men, gazing at the rolling dark clouds on the horizon. Two men appeared in her mind, one righteous and one wicked. One was Ye Cheng, a carefree and jovial young policeman who always argued with her whenever they met; the other was Luo Xie, the ruthless and vicious brother of Luo Shimin, whose very name intimidated many but who was genuinely kind to her. Which one should she choose? She had been pondering this question for a long time, but still had no answer.

Ring... Hu Rongrong's phone rang, but she was focused on her problem and didn't hear it.

Luo Shimin shouted, "Rongrong, your phone is ringing."

"Did you call me? What's up?" Hu Rongrong came to her senses and looked at Luo Shimin blankly.

Luo Shimin pointed to Hu Rongrong's pocket, "Your phone rang, and it rang for a long time."

"Oh." Hu Rongrong was in a bad mood. She took out her phone, glanced at it, and saw that it was Shui Lan calling, so she hung up.

Luo Shimin asked, "Who called? Why didn't you answer?"

"It's Shui Lan calling. There's thunder right now, and cell phone signals can attract lightning. I don't want to get struck by lightning." The phone rang again, it was Shui Lan calling again. In a fit of anger, Hu Rongrong turned off the phone.

Luo Shimin said, "Shui Lan called you because she probably needs to talk to you urgently. Why did you turn off your phone?"

“She went shopping with Zheng Yubing, what could she possibly want from me?” Before Hu Rongrong could finish speaking, Luo Shimin’s phone rang. She took it out and saw that it was Shui Lan calling again. Luo Shimin was incredibly bold and didn’t care about being struck by lightning, so she answered the phone. After hearing just one sentence, the smile on her face disappeared, and she said seriously, “Don’t cry yet. Tell me slowly, think it through before you speak.”

"Shui Lan, hang in there a little longer, we'll be there soon." Luo Shimin hung up the phone, her expression very serious. "Let's go, let's rush to the school, something happened to Shui Lan and the others."

Hu Rongrong asked with concern, "What's wrong with them? What happened?"

Luo Shimin briefly recounted what happened: "Shui Lan and Zheng Yubing went shopping, and when it started raining, they rushed back to school. They didn't make it back in time and took shelter in an old building. Zheng Yubing remembered Xia Chen's story about counting stairs, and out of curiosity, she counted them once. After counting, a woman's shadow appeared. Shui Lan was startled and tumbled down the stairs. When she woke up, she found Zheng Yubing unconscious, and she was also seriously injured. I told Shui Lan to call an ambulance first."

"How could this happen?" Hu Rongrong exclaimed. "Then let's hurry back."

"Impossible!" Xia Chen shouted even louder. "The story about counting the stairs was made up by me. I've counted those steps countless times, there are only thirteen steps, and there has never been a mistake!"

Hu Rongrong glared at Xia Chen, "Then what about the data you mentioned? Did you make that up too?"

Xia Chen shrugged helplessly. "There are more than seven mysterious disappearances in old buildings. I just said it offhand, and you actually believed it?" Hu Rongrong was speechless. These past few days, she had preferred to walk a few extra steps and take a longer route rather than climb those stairs, all because of Xia Chen's story. But she never expected it to be a fabrication. "You'll remember this. Just you wait and see."

The three braved the rain to descend the mountain. The mountain path was extremely slippery from the rain, and they tumbled and crawled their way down. After waiting for five minutes at the foot of the mountain without seeing a taxi, they had no choice but to run back to Yishi Academy.

Arriving at the old building, panting, they found an ambulance parked at the entrance, and Shui Lan being carried out on a stretcher. Hu and Luo immediately rushed over, calling out, "Shui Lan, are you alright?"

Upon seeing the two, Shui Lan managed a weak smile, "You've come!" Then she closed her eyes and fainted.

Luo Shimin grabbed a doctor's hand and asked, "Is Shui Lan alright?"

"The little girl tumbled down the stairs and hit her head, suffering a mild concussion. She may also have a few fractures, but overall, there's nothing seriously wrong with her."

Hu Rongrong asked anxiously, "What about the other girl?"

The doctor asked, "Who are you?"

Hu Rongrong replied, "We are roommates of two girls."

"The other girl's situation is a bit special. We didn't find any injuries on her, but she's unconscious. We don't know why, and we need to do further tests. You two come up here, let's go to the hospital to complete some procedures."

Hu Rongrong and Luo Shimin got into the car. Xia Chen waved to Luo Shimin and pointed to a small old building. Luo Shimin understood what he meant; Xia Chen was going to investigate the scene. Before driving off, she reminded him, "Be careful." After watching the ambulance drive away, Xia Chen walked into the old building.

Xia Chen first pressed the switch for the corridor light next to the door, but the light didn't turn on. Xia Chen took out his phone and shone it on the switch, discovering signs of vandalism. However, this might not be related to the case. Every school has many mischievous students who like to play pranks, and this might be their handiwork.

He cautiously took a few steps inside, inhaling deeply. The slightly damp air, carrying a familiar yet repulsive smell of blood, filled his nostrils, seemingly mixed with some other peculiar odor. Xia Chen took another breath, confirming his suspicion: there was a faint scent of perfume in the air. He seemed to recognize this perfume from somewhere before. As far as he knew, neither Shui Lan nor Zheng Yubing wore perfume, so it must be the dark figure Shui Lan mentioned behind Zheng Yubing. Ghosts don't wear perfume; it seemed he was dealing with something tangible.

The lighting inside wasn't very good, so Xia Chen took out his phone again, which allowed him to barely see his surroundings. There was a long trail of blood on the ground, probably left by Shui Lan crawling across it. There were also some water stains and muddy footprints on the ground, left by the paramedics from the ambulance. These traces completely obscured the scene, making it difficult to find anything else.

Xia Chen looked around, his gaze finally settling on the steps. Could these steps be the source of the problem? Heaven knows, the story he told on that night of terror was entirely improvised. None of the terrifying tales about old buildings he knew involved stairs. Whether it was the stairs or not would be clear with a simple test.

"One, two, three, four, five, go up the mountain to fight the tiger; six, seven, eight, nine, ten, the tiger is not home; eleven, twelve, thirteen, catch the little squirrel." Xia Chen climbed up the steps in one breath, but nothing happened. He then hopped and jumped down, but still nothing happened. He waited patiently for more than ten minutes, but still didn't see the dark figure.

"Looks like I'll have to trouble Xiao Ye again." Xia Chen took out his phone and dialed his good friend Ye Cheng's number.

The city police department office building.

The bureau chief was out of town for a meeting, the deputy bureau chief was inspecting local police stations, and it was raining heavily today. With no cases on hand, Ye Cheng comfortably crossed his legs in his office. The newly assigned intern policewoman, Li Xiao, was massaging his neck from behind. Ye Cheng took a leisurely sip of tea. Life should be like this. If every day could be this comfortable, he wouldn't trade it for the presidency of the United States. "A little more effort, to the left, a little more to the left, that's it," Ye Cheng hummed comfortably.

Ye Cheng's phone, which was on the table, rang. "Xiao Li, check my phone. Who's calling me?"

Li Xiao snorted, picked up the phone, glanced at it, and said, "It's Xia Chen calling."

"This kid never calls me with good news." Ye Cheng took the phone. "Keep pressing. A bet's a bet. There are still twenty minutes left. Cheating is unacceptable."

Ye Cheng took the phone, said a few words, and then hung up. With a long face, he said, "As expected, nothing good has happened. Xiao Li, you don't need to press any buttons yet. I'll give you five minutes to pack your tools and come out with me." He turned his head and looked out the window. "It's raining so hard. Why am I so unlucky to have met Xia Chen?"

Li Xiao was overjoyed, "Another case! Where are we going?"

"Where else could it be? Yishi Academy, of course. I've been bragging to my friends that you're an expert in appraisal, so don't embarrass me when we get there. I'll get a car and wait for you at the building entrance. Hurry up, and try not to attract the attention of your colleagues."

Li Xiao smiled slightly, revealing a mischievous canine tooth, "Don't worry about me handling things."

Ten minutes later, a police car sped towards Yishi Academy in the pouring rain. The roads were mostly empty, and Ye Cheng floored the accelerator, experiencing the thrill of high-speed driving. He arrived at Yishi Academy in less than fifteen minutes. The security guard at the gate, seeing the police car, opened the gate without asking any questions.

Xia Chen came out to greet them when he heard the sirens, and Ye Cheng helped Li Xiao carry the toolbox into the old building.

"We meet again." Li Xiao greeted Xia Chen with a smile. Xia Chen exchanged pleasantries and led Ye Cheng and Li Xiao to the scene, briefly recounting what had happened. Ye Cheng gave Xia Chen a thumbs up, "You're amazing, you can really make things up, it's so convincing."

Li Xiao also said, "I know that in some areas adults don't allow children to count steps, but I've never heard why. When you told me, I thought it was true. You should write novels; you're so talented."

Xia Chen urged, "There are two girls lying in the hospital right now, you should get started quickly."

Li Xiao took the toolbox, put on a white robe, then a pair of tinted glasses, and finally a UV lamp. He laid it on the ground and began examining the lamp inch by inch. Ye Cheng took out a cigarette and leisurely smoked it.

Xia Chen asked, "Aren't you going to do something?"

Ye Cheng exhaled a smoke ring. "My mission was to bring Li Xiao here. Now that my mission is complete, what else do you want me to do? Investigation is Li Xiao's forte, and deduction is your forte. I'll just wait to arrest him."

Xia Chen was speechless.

Li Xiao lay on the ground for half an hour, then looked at the stairs again, and then at the surrounding walls. After working for almost two hours, she took off her glasses, looking exhausted.

"What did you find?" Xia Chen asked as he approached.

Li Xiao said wearily, "The scene was almost completely destroyed by the footprints of the emergency personnel, which were covered in rain and mud. The light switch in the corridor was deliberately damaged. There were fingerprints of the perpetrator on it, but they were covered by two fingerprints and were no longer identifiable. I've been busy for two hours, and it's basically been a fruitless effort."

Xia Chen's last hope was dashed. Li Xiao changed the subject, "Ordinary surveyors wouldn't have a solution, but I'm not an ordinary surveyor. I found this." Li Xiao pulled out a piece of transparent plastic sheet from behind him, on which was half a footprint. "This is a footprint left by a pair of women's shoes. There's no water or mud around it, which means the owner of the footprint was in this building before the rain and didn't leave. From the size of the shoes, we can also deduce that the owner of the footprint is about 1.65 meters tall and weighs about 45 kilograms."

"Wow! What a great figure! My type." Ye Cheng started drooling.

Xia Chen thought for a moment. He estimated there were at least a hundred girls in the entire Yishi Academy who matched Li Xiao's description; even checking ten a day would take ten days. "Is there any other useful information?"

Li Xiao said uncertainly, "I think I saw similar shoe prints somewhere not long ago, but I can't remember where. Give me some time, maybe I'll remember."

"I hope you remember soon." Xia Chen's phone rang; it was Luo Shimin calling from the hospital.

004 The Strange Eye in the Moonlight

"Did you find anything?" Luo Shimin's voice sounded a little off, as if she had just been crying.

Xia Chen asked, "I've gathered some information. How are your two roommates doing?"

“Shui Lan just came out of the operating room. Her left collarbone is broken, and a rib is also broken, almost piercing her heart. She will have to stay in bed for a while. Zheng Yubing's condition is stable, but the doctors can't find the reason for her unconsciousness. The doctors say it's possible... it's possible she will never wake up again.” Luo Shimin burst into tears.

Xia Chen felt a pang of pain when he heard Luo Shimin crying for the first time. "I promise you, no one will be hurt. I will find out the reason for Zheng Yubing's coma soon. Wait for me at the hospital, I'll be there right away." After hanging up the phone, he said to Li Xiao, "Come with me to another hospital. One of the parties involved is unconscious. I hope you can find out the reason."

"Medicine is my forte." Li Xiao quickly packed up his toolbox and stood at the door, waiting to leave. Just after the three left, a woman emerged from the darkness of the corridor and stood on the steps.

Xia Chen rushed to the hospital. Luo Shimin and Hu Rongrong were sitting on a bench in the corridor, both girls with tear streaks on their faces. For the first time ever, Hu Rongrong didn't argue with Ye Cheng. Her big eyes were filled with tears as she looked at him, making Ye Cheng feel a little uncomfortable. Li Xiao nudged Ye Cheng, "She needs comforting right now, hurry up and go."

Instead of moving forward, Ye Cheng took two steps back. "I don't want to wake up tomorrow morning to find Luo Xie standing in front of me, holding the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow. You've seen how sharp that knife is. I haven't lived enough yet."

Li Xiao said disdainfully, "Coward!"

Xia Chen comforted Luo Shimin for a while, and when she seemed a little better, he asked, "Where is Zheng Yubing in? Take us there to see her."

Luo Shimin wiped away her tears. "Yu Bing is in the intensive care unit. Please follow me." The group followed Luo Shimin through a corridor and up a flight of stairs, turning left and right several times before finally reaching the intensive care unit. Without a guide, no one could find this place. Zheng Yu Bing lay quietly in the sterile ward made of transparent glass, her body covered in patches of various monitoring equipment. The bed was surrounded by various monitors; the group could only name a few: an electrocardiograph (ECG) machine, an electroencephalogram (EEG) machine.