Une relation tragique

Chapitre 40

Lin Feng pointed to the inlet and asked, "Has someone died here?"

The manager's expression changed drastically. He glanced at the security guard beside him and said, "Could the three of you go to the office to talk?"

Lin Feng nodded and followed the manager to the office. The manager, sitting in his executive chair, asked, "Are you three reporters?"

Lin Feng shook his head and said, "I'm just a teacher!"

Upon hearing this, the manager immediately adopted an arrogant expression and said, "It's none of your business what happens in our supermarket!"

Qiqi frowned upon hearing this, about to erupt in anger. Lin Feng gently shook his head and said, "I have some knowledge of feng shui; your supply outlet is a 'yin-gathering aperture'."

Before Lin Feng could finish speaking, the manager interrupted him, saying, "Sorry, I don't have time to listen to your nonsense. I'm very busy. If there's nothing else, you can leave!"

Lin Feng stood up and said, "Since that's the case, we won't force you. I'll leave you my phone number. You can call me if you need anything!" Without waiting for the manager's consent, he wrote his phone number on the calendar on his desk.

Then she took the scarf off Qiqi's neck and said, "This scarf was bought at your supermarket."

The manager interrupted Lin Feng impatiently, saying, "What's wrong? What's the problem? If there's a problem, you can go downstairs and return or exchange it with your receipt!"

Lin Feng said, "No, there's no problem at all. It's just that this scarf was supposed to stay at your supermarket, but someone else bought it by mistake. Now I'm returning it to you!"

After saying that, she put down the scarf, ignored the manager, and left with Qiqi and Xiaolei.

On the way, Qiqi said indignantly, "That snobbish guy, let's see if he won't be begging us tonight, humph!"

Xiao Lei asked curiously, "Why did he come to beg you at night?"

Lin Feng said, "There's an extremely vicious vengeful spirit hiding in that scarf, probably seeking revenge on someone in the supermarket. People don't usually use their own life force to cast curses unless there's a deep-seated hatred. And I suspect the target of that revenge is the manager; he has an aura of death about him. Something extraordinary is bound to happen in this supermarket tonight!"

Xiao Lei said, "Since that vengeful spirit harbors such deep resentment towards him, it might kill him at the first opportunity. He might not even have time to call you!"

Lin Feng laughed and said, "If you hate someone so much that your heart, liver, spleen, stomach, and kidneys are almost green with hatred, would you just let them die so easily?"

Xiao Lei thought for a moment and said, "I don't think that will happen to me!"

Lin Feng said, "That's because you haven't encountered it yet!" He glanced at his watch and added, "Let's go back. Xiao Jie Jie is probably already cooking! Let's finish eating early and wait for the show to begin!"

Book 3, Ghostly Tales, Chapter 27: The Scarf (6)

It was well past closing time when Liu Ming finally finished everything and packed his things to go home. He checked the time; it was already 10 p.m.

"Damn it!" Liu Ming cursed involuntarily. He'd never had a regular workday since he started working there. The refined demeanor he always maintained in front of his employees was completely gone. He kept muttering curses at the senior board members, saying they were all useless, leaving him, the mall's general manager, working himself to the bone.

After tidying himself up, he looked at himself in the mirror. He snapped his fingers in satisfaction, then, remembering an advertising slogan, he blurted out, "Handsome, handsome, handsome is a sin!" Indeed, he had every right to be proud. Standing at 1.8 meters tall, his well-proportioned physique resembled a vibrant leopard. His neatly trimmed buzz cut stood upright, and his sharply defined features revealed his resolute character. A sharp, designer suit further enhanced his striking appearance.

After everything was tidied up, he suddenly noticed the red scarf left behind by the three uninvited guests during the day just before leaving. He picked it up, examined it, and then carried it out the door. As he reached the elevator, he tossed the scarf into the trash can near the elevator entrance.

"What 'Gathering Yin Aperture'? A teacher, indeed! He's a complete charlatan!" Liu Ming thought about what had happened during the day while waiting for the elevator. However, seeing how seriously the kid was talking, he felt quite uneasy.

The elevator arrived quickly, and Liu Ming stepped inside, continuing to ponder what had just happened. "Those two girls with that guy were pretty hot, especially the one who seemed to be getting angry at me. Hehe, I definitely won't let the opportunity pass me by. Maybe I should call the number they left behind tomorrow and ask!" Actually, Liu Ming had already saved Lin Feng's phone number in his phone when they left, not because of what Lin Feng had said, but because he was eyeing Qi Qi.

The elevator doors slowly closed, but Liu Ming remained lost in his thoughts, his mind filled with despicable ideas. In front of family, friends, employees, and everyone who knew him, Liu Ming was a refined, reserved, and courteous man. But only he knew how despicable he truly was. Growing up in poverty, he studied diligently, hoping to one day rise above his circumstances. He had endured enough scorn for money, so now, having achieved some success, he looked down on those who had once struggled at the bottom of society like him.

His favorite game was an online game called "Lineage," where he was practically a universally despised piece of trash. He used it to vent the side of himself that he dared not show at work or in real life. He even registered an alias called "Soul Ascension" on the Lineage website, posting things like, "He started teaching his daughter to swear as soon as she was born!" and "I use an LCD monitor at home," among other pointless comments.

None of the people who worked around him knew about his online persona. Except for one person, who was once his assistant and also his lover.

Thinking of this woman named Ivan, his lips twitched involuntarily. She was a woman who would do anything for money, her heart just as despicable and shameless as his. After they had been in a relationship for a while, this woman actually used the old trick of being pregnant to blackmail him. So one night, he killed her. The location was the opposite side of the supermarket's receiving aisle; he couldn't let anyone threaten him. In his panic, he fled after killing her, not even having time to dispose of the body.

The next day, when he arrived at the receiving passage early, he found the body gone. Could it be that he hadn't killed the woman? But that was unlikely; three stab wounds to the chest—there was no reason she wouldn't have died. Forget it, Liu Ming shook his head vigorously, as if trying to shake off these dark memories.

But his thoughts remained fixed on Ivan. He still loved Ivan's almost floor-length hair, so soft and smooth to the touch. He just didn't know why the woman had cut her hair after he refused to marry her. He remembered a joke he had once made to Ivan, saying that with hair this long, Ivan wouldn't need a scarf in winter; he could just wrap it around his neck as a scarf.

"The scarf!" He was startled when he thought of this. Could it be related to that red scarf?

Liu Ming panicked, then reassured himself that the two things shouldn't be related. "Why is the elevator still going down?" Liu Ming then realized that it shouldn't take this long to go from the third floor to the first floor.

He looked up and saw that the elevator display showed -1 floor, and the button was also lit up with the -1 floor indicator. But the elevator didn't stop, the doors didn't open, and it kept running.

Liu Ming was shocked. He frantically pressed the button for the first floor, but nothing happened. Then the buttons on the elevator, numbered -1 to 25, started flashing randomly, lighting up one after another, like a game.

Sweat began to bead on Liu Ming's forehead. Suddenly, the elevator made a loud bang and stopped. The light still indicated -1 floor, and the doors slowly opened.

Liu Ming stared out of the elevator doors; it was pitch black and completely empty. He remembered that the -1 floor was a storage room, an electrical workshop, and a maintenance room; it shouldn't be this dark at night. Something was strange about today; it was eerily dark. He pressed the close button, but there was no response. Suddenly, a red dot appeared in the darkness, seemingly far away, then approached. Like a flickering flame moving forward, it moved towards the elevator.

Liu Ming was terrified; fear overwhelmed him like a tidal wave. He frantically pressed the buttons for the first floor and the close door. The elevator doors suddenly closed, and Liu Ming breathed a sigh of relief. After a brief movement, the elevator began to ascend, and Liu Ming almost collapsed inside.

Soon, something even more surprising happened to Liu Ming: the elevator didn't stop on the first floor, but kept rising upwards. Fear once again opened its jaws wide, and Liu Ming became its meal.

He frantically pounded on the elevator, shouting and yelling. Finally, he saw the emergency button inside and pressed it hard several times. The button with the bell on it didn't respond at all; it didn't light up.

"What's wrong?" he roared hoarsely. "Help!" He had long lost his composure and elegance, and squatted on the ground like a pitiful wretch, crying loudly.

"Don't hurt me!" he cried out, agitated, but he knew Ivan was involved. He was a man of hidden malice, scheming against others, secretly visiting prostitutes behind his wife's back, badmouthing others to his superiors, and even contemplating tearing those incompetent board members to pieces. But none of that mattered. The crucial point was that he had killed someone—a woman as despicable as him, yet kindred spirits, a woman who outwardly appeared as magnanimous as him, perfectly worthy of his handsome appearance, but whose heart was filled with malice. He knew she had come to claim his life; her vicious nature mirrored his own, she would not let anyone who harbored resentment towards him escape, not even a single glance.

But he didn't know which floor she was on in the building, and because he didn't know and couldn't see her, he was afraid. He felt that she could appear behind him at any moment, grab his neck with her sharp-nailed hands, bite through his carotid artery with her gleaming white teeth, and then lick his blood with the tongue that had once licked his entire body.

Book 3, Ghostly Tales, Chapter 28: The Scarf (7)

Fear and a deep-seated inferiority complex made Liu Ming cower in the small elevator, utterly ashamed. If he had a choice, he would rather go back to that small mountain village, not go to university, not aspire to success, and never be two-faced again. But could all of this be undone?

The elevator stopped, but the doors didn't open. Liu Ming huddled in a corner, trembling with fear, sobbing as he furtively peered at the elevator doors. When they opened, perhaps a pair of red eyes and sharp claws would be waiting for him.

"Danger!" The word reminded him of Lin Feng, the man who seemed indifferent yet appeared to see through everything. Right, he needed to call him. Liu Ming frantically pulled out his phone, found Lin Feng's number, and dialed.

The phone was answered after only two rings. Lin Feng had already finished eating and was excitedly discussing Grandpa Jin Kai's novels with several students. To his surprise, the three girls also admired Grandpa Jin, unlike the other girls who only liked to "talk about Grandma Jin."

Lin Feng recognized the unfamiliar phone number and immediately thought it was Liu Ming calling. He remembered Liu Ming's arrogant demeanor during the day and initially wanted to wait a little longer to scare him, but then he thought that if he delayed, Liu Ming might be off discussing the "concept of building socialism together" with old man Marx, so he answered the phone anyway.

As expected, Liu Ming's voice choked with sobs and he said hurriedly on the other end of the phone, "Master Lin, please come and save me, I'll pay any price." It seems this guy was terrified, he was even crying, and he's supposed to be a man!

Lin Feng thought to himself as he listened to the phone call. Hearing the last sentence, Lin Feng felt an even stronger aversion to Liu Ming and said, "Mr. Manager, I'm not a shaman, and besides, your problem might not be something money can solve. Moreover, whether I can even do it is uncertain! Some things..."

Before Lin Feng could finish his rambling, a scream came from the other end of the phone: "Blood! Xiao Fan, please let me go!" Then came the sound of the phone hitting the ground.

Lin Feng called "Hello!" several times, but there was no response. The phone was filled with chaotic noises and Liu Ming's frantic screams, sounds that could send chills down the spines of everyone in the room.

Lin Feng stood up and said to everyone, "Excuse me, it's time to leave. Mingzi, get ready and have your brothers seal off the 'Gravity Building.' What's going on there can't be leaked!"

Li Mingsheng said, "What excuse could I use? Should I tell them there's something fishy going on?" Then he rolled his eyes.

Lin Feng stroked his chin and thought for a moment before saying, "Whatever excuse you want, whether you go or not is up to you. I reckon that Liu Ming kid is probably doomed!" Then he said to Qi Qi, "Let's go!"

Zhao Long jumped up and said, "Boss, I'm going too!" After getting to know Lin Feng better, the two of them started calling Lin Feng "Boss" in private, making Lin Feng seem like a gangster.

Lin Feng said, "Come on, I have no confidence at all in handling you. Bringing you along, you're such a drag, you might even get yourselves killed! You guys stay here a little longer, then go back to school!" He then ignored the dejected Zhao Long, bent down and kissed Xiao Jie Jie who was sitting there, saying, "Come back soon!"

Not wanting to reveal her wild nature in front of everyone, Xiao Jie said gently, "Come back soon, I'll be waiting for you, be careful!"

While Liu Ming was calling Lin Feng, an unbelievable change occurred in the elevator. The once gleaming elevator suddenly began spewing blood from all sides. Liu Ming didn't notice at first, but by the time he realized the elevator was covered in blood, it was too late. The shocking red almost made him vomit his dinner. And fear, like a sharp knife, cut into his heart with each gushing blood.

Then the elevator doors opened silently, and he saw a familiar yet unfamiliar face.

That face was the face he used to caress every night, the face that drove him wild with infatuation. But now, that still familiar face was a ghastly blue, and its eyes were red, a red so intense it seemed they could bleed at any moment.

Liu Ming screamed wildly, like a woman being raped, letting out a desperate roar. Ivan, outside the elevator, reached out and grabbed Liu Ming by the neck.

Liu Ming's frantic shouts from just moments ago have now turned into a thorn stuck in his throat, impossible to swallow or spit out.

Surprisingly, Liu Ming, who thought he was surely dead, was not. Ivan quickly lowered his hand, then remained motionless, rapidly retreating and disappearing into the darkness.

Liu Ming stood there stunned for a long time, then collapsed weakly at the elevator entrance. The elevator indicator light showed—3rd floor.

When Lin Feng and Qi Qi arrived, the glass door was locked. Lin Feng knocked loudly, finally waking the security guard who was dreaming of making love with the Duke of Zhou's daughter. The guard, his sweet dream shattered, was furious; who dared to cause trouble in the middle of the night? When he appeared, his face contorted with rage, Lin Feng only uttered one sentence, and the guard obediently opened the door, letting the two in.

Lin Feng said, "Manager Liu sent me!" This was more effective than anything else, because the security guard knew Manager Liu hadn't left yet. Liu Ming usually left late and would ask him to open the door when he came out, so he didn't want to ask too many questions and opened the door. It's best not to ask too many questions about your boss's affairs; the more you know, the more unlucky you'll be. Besides, Lin Feng had a beautiful woman with him; who knows why Manager Liu called them here?

As soon as Lin Feng entered, he saw that the indicator light of elevator number 3 in the three elevators indicated that it was on the third floor. The other two elevators were on the 25th floor and on the first floor, respectively.

Lin Feng walked up to elevator number three and pressed the button. Elevator number three didn't respond for a long time. Lin Feng glanced at the security guard, who had already disappeared back into his duty room. Whether the old ladies were arguing or the ants were moving house outside was none of his business, especially since it concerned the manager.

Lin Feng said to Qi Qi, "Something's wrong with this elevator number three. Let's go up through the fire escape!"

Qiqi nodded. The two went up to the third floor through the fire escape, and as soon as they turned the corner, they saw Liu Ming collapsed at the elevator entrance.

Upon seeing the two appear, Liu Ming, as if a long-lost son had finally found his parents, rushed forward and tightly hugged Lin Feng's legs, sobbing and unable to speak. He looked as if he was about to shout, "Father, I've searched for you so hard!"

Seeing Liu Ming's utterly unmanly behavior, Lin Feng really wanted to kick him across the face. When you came to him, he acted like a grandfather, but now that he's begging you, he's acting like a grandson.

Lin Feng frowned and said, "Get up and speak."

Liu Ming got up, and seeing Lin Feng and Qi Qi calmed him down considerably, and his previously limp limbs regained their strength. But he still cried and begged, "Master, you must help me! I'm willing to pay any amount of money!"

Book 3, Ghostly Tales, Chapter 29: The Scarf (8)

"Money again? Is your head filled with nothing but shit besides money?" Lin Feng said, somewhat annoyed. Even at a time like this, he was still thinking about money.

Qiqi pushed him away in disgust. Liu Ming said, "Someone like you should just die!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Ming immediately panicked: "Please, save me, save me!" He thought Qiqi wouldn't agree to help him, and he was so scared that he lost all his manly demeanor. His arrogance during the day had turned into pleading.

Lin Feng glanced at Liu Ming and said, "Take me to the supply channel!"

Upon hearing the name of the place, Liu Ming felt extremely uneasy. Ever since killing Ivan, he hadn't dared to go there again. It was absolutely forbidden territory for him; to go there again would undoubtedly be torture.

Lin Feng looked at Liu Ming, whose face was ashen, and said, "It's up to you whether you go or not. If you don't want to go, we're leaving!" With that, he turned and walked out.

Liu Ming grabbed Lin Feng and said, "I'll go, I'll go, okay? But you guys have to protect me!" His face was ashen, he was covered in sweat, and his body was still trembling.

Lin Feng said, "I understand, hurry up!"

The receiving aisle is inside the supermarket. To get there, you have to open the door on the third floor first, then walk through the supermarket to that side. Liu Ming took out his key and opened the supermarket's roller shutter door.

Lin Feng walked in, saying as he went, "Manager Liu, you've done quite a few shady things, haven't you?"

Liu Ming was speechless with embarrassment. Qiqi snorted and said, "Look at him, all show and no substance!"

Reaching the front of the receiving channel, Lin Feng stared at the red-painted iron gate, took out a talisman from his body, and pasted one on each side of the gate, saying, "Someone died here, and it's closely related to Manager Liu!" After saying that, he turned to look at Liu Ming.

Liu Ming said in a panic, "I didn't kill anyone, don't frame me!"

Lin Feng looked coldly at Liu Ming and said, "If you don't cooperate, I can't help you. You need to explain the whole story."

Liu Ming was sweating profusely and said, "I really didn't kill anyone, please believe me, I really didn't." He knew that if he admitted to killing someone, Lin Feng might immediately call the police and arrest him, and he would still die in the end. He might as well take a gamble. Didn't Ivan's ghost let him go today?

Lin Feng shook his head at Liu Ming and said, "If you don't tell the truth, there's nothing I can do to help you. Good luck!" He then said to Qi Qi, "Qi Qi, let's go. Call Mingzi and tell him not to bring anyone over!"

Qiqi glared at Liu Ming and agreed to Lin Feng's request. The two quickly walked outside.

Liu Ming followed behind them, calling out, "Hey, wait for me! Slow down! I really didn't lie to you!"

Lin Feng and Qi Qi ignored them. Qi Qi had already connected with Li Mingsheng on the phone and told him not to come over.

Liu Ming hurriedly pulled up and locked the roller shutter door behind them before following Lin Feng and Qi Qi. Lin Feng and Qi Qi stood in front of the elevator, looking at the indicator lights. Lin Feng said, "You got lucky today. She was just playing a trick on you, but she'll be back soon. Then things won't be so good. You'd better watch yourself!"

Liu Ming was still saying, "I really didn't," when Lin Feng waved his hand and said, "Enough, I don't want to hear your words!"

Liu Ming looked ashamed, thinking to himself: Tomorrow I must find a Taoist priest or monk to perform a ritual to suppress Ivan's ghost, preferably sending her to the deepest hell so she won't bother me anymore. Thinking this, a look of gritted teeth appeared on his face.