double

Chapitre 4

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My head was throbbing, like it was about to explode. There was something I should remember, but I'd forgotten it all. The little girl from the dream I just had—I couldn't recall what she looked like. I struggled to open my eyes and saw Fang Lei's concerned face.

"You're awake? That's great!" Fang Lei rushed over and gave me a tight hug, so tight I could barely breathe. Fang Lei's face was pressed against mine, and I felt warm liquid flowing down. Was she crying? Was it for me? I suddenly felt overwhelmed with gratitude.

"I'm not dead!?" I remembered the terrifying experience just now. Looking around, the surroundings were truly a scene of utter chaos. Tree branches were scattered haphazardly, along with pieces of wood chips. The tree trunks and bushes looked as if they had been slashed by some wild animal, covered in marks. Looking at Fang Lei, thankfully, she was alright, except her hair was a little messy. But I didn't seem to be in much better shape; my clothes were...

It couldn't be called clothes anymore; it should be called strips of cloth. My arms and legs were covered in blood, but there weren't a single wound—not a single one. That's strange; I clearly remember being scratched so many times by that damned whirlwind! Right, where's that ghostly whirlwind?

"What happened? Did that whirlwind escape?" I asked Fang Lei curiously. She wiped away her tears, looking pitiful.

"You, you don't remember what just happened?" Fang Lei looked at me like I was a monster.

"I only remember pinning you down, then the ghostly whirlwind hurt me terribly, and then I passed out!" I replied.

"Really?" A hint of disappointment flashed in Fang Lei's eyes. "And then you, you!"

"What did I do?" Of course I remember kissing Yin Xue, but I can't tell you that. But it's so strange, how could I see Yin Xue? Could it be because I was too close to the underworld and hallucinated?

"It's nothing," Fang Lei said, her expression turning serious again. "Have you ever studied magic?"

"Ha, magic? Does magic count?" I joked. Heaven knows what kind of magic you are. This is the first time I've seen you use it today. I've only ever seen it on TV!"

"Really?" Fang Lei frowned. "Just now, you emitted a red light, and then the ghostly whirlwind disappeared completely, and your wounds miraculously healed."

"Really?" I never imagined I had such amazing abilities; I'm practically Superman! I touched my chest and suddenly remembered that before I fainted, I felt a warmth spreading through my chest, and right there was a jade pendant—the token of love Yin Xue had given me. So I immediately took it off; thankfully, it wasn't broken.

"Seven-Star Heavenly Dragon Pendant? How did you get this?" Fang Lei stared intently at the jade pendant in my hand.

"This was given to me by someone very important to me. I don't know anything about the Seven Star Heavenly Dragon Pendant, I only know it's a very important thing." I clutched the jade pendant tightly. Yin Xue's mother gave it to me when I went to Yin Xue's funeral. She said that Yin Xue had worked all summer and saved up to buy it at an antique shop. She originally intended to give it to me personally on my birthday, but unfortunately...

But she never got to see that day.

"This is one of the seven legendary treasures of the magical world! I never expected to have it on you. No wonder even the Spirit Ghost Whirlwind was afraid of it!" Fang Lei finished speaking, stood up, turned her head to the side, and whispered to me, "Thank you for earlier."

"Huh?" I was a little taken aback. "Oh, just now? It's only right, boys should protect girls!" I scratched my head sheepishly. Anyway, there was no loss, and I even found out the name of the jade pendant Yin Xue gave me, which was pretty good!

"Then, let's go!" Fang Lei's eyes were not only serious when she looked at me, but there seemed to be something else in them as well.

"That bag of stuff," I swallowed hard, "was it dealt with? Hopefully, it didn't turn into a zombie!"

"Don't worry, it won't happen again!" Fang Lei comforted me.

"That's good, let's go!" I excitedly jumped up, but suddenly felt a chill all over my body. Damn it, this way of being wrapped in strips of cloth looks really indecent!

Fang Lei blushed when she saw my disheveled appearance and immediately turned her head to the side. Even though it was just a moment of her shy and demure demeanor, it still left me stunned for a long time. This woman's charm is truly formidable!

"Hey, are you coming or not?" Fang Lei's voice had a hint of coquettishness.

I immediately realized my blunder and could only manage a wry smile. "Could we go to my place before we head back to the police station? I don't want to be running around naked, you know. I need to change my clothes!"

"Fine!" Fang Lei walked forward without looking back, completely forgetting about how I just saved her!

Chapter Eight: The Reappearance of the Mysterious Woman

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It was already afternoon when I got back to the police station. Before I even entered my office, I could already hear Li Yang yelling, "Where did Xiao Xiao go?"

"Here it is!" I hurried into the office, and Li Yang looked over. His eyes immediately went blank and he was practically drooling. He completely ruined the image of our people's police. Of course, the object of his infatuation was not me, but Fang Lei behind me.

"Wow, hello, hello!" Li Yang rushed towards me, then heartlessly pushed me aside and reached out his wolfish claws towards Fang Lei.

"Hello, you must be Li Yang, the one Lin Xiao mentioned. I'm Fang Lei. Fang as in 'square and round,' and Lei as in 'flower bud.'" Fang Lei smiled professionally and shook hands with Li Yang to show friendliness. But right now, all I wanted to do was chop off Li Yang's hands and use them as snacks! What a disgrace to us men! He doesn't even care about his friends when he sees a beautiful woman, especially since I had just been through some danger!

"Hmm!" I deliberately cleared my throat, hoping that Li Yang's drool wouldn't flow too much.

"I heard you were in charge of those recent cases. I'm very interested in that. Could you tell me more about them?" Fang Lei said to Li Yang with a smile. Clearly, this beautiful woman was using her charm to seduce him. Sigh, I sighed. It seems impossible to keep Li Yang from becoming a traitor. Our beloved Party organization really misjudged people!

"Oh, so you're interested in this. You don't know, these cases... the victims... we police have been talking... I think... ..." Li Yang spoke with great enthusiasm and passion, but in my eyes he was just a male sparrow in heat, and a very annoying one at that.

I shook my head, turned and walked out of the office, deciding it would be best to go to the lab to avoid it for a while. This scoundrel Li Yang wouldn't be done until he spent an hour or two praising his greatness.

Sure enough, it wasn't until two hours later that Li Yang and Fang Lei appeared in my sight. Fang Lei still had a professional smile on her face, and I couldn't help but admire her patience. If it were me, I would definitely stick a plaster on Li Yang's mouth!

"Xiao Xiao, Fang Lei said she's going to the Black Forest Bar with us tonight!" Li Yang excitedly told me the good news, but in my opinion, it should be more like bad news. I think my face must be very sour right now. That damned Li Yang, he forgets his friends for the sake of women and has no principles at all.

"What's wrong? You don't look well!" Fang Lei said with a serious expression, but I could see a devilish smile gleaming in her eyes.

"Xiao Xiao, are you feeling unwell? Maybe you shouldn't go tonight!" Li Yang added with concern. Don't think he was being kind; he simply wanted a chance to be alone with the beauty. Please forgive me, I couldn't help but mentally throw a dart at Li Yang's face, throw another dart, and another dart.

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The city's night view is actually quite beautiful. Perhaps it's because of my profession, where I'm exposed to so much death and evil, that I'm easily satisfied with beautiful things! But who knows how much death and evil might be lurking in some unknown corner on a night like this! I gazed at the scenery outside the car window, completely ignoring the malicious look in the eyes of the person next to me. Heh, that kid Li Yang must be...

Be angry at me for being so out of touch with reality! It's his own fault for prioritizing women over friends first!

"Are you confident about going to the Black Forest Bar tonight?" Fang Lei asked me from the back of the car.

I shrugged and pointed at Li Yang. "Ask him!"

"Of course, don't worry." Li Yang immediately patted his chest, looking like he had just succeeded. I didn't tell him about what happened at Heart Lake this afternoon because I doubted he would believe it, since even I myself didn't believe it, despite having experienced it firsthand.

"Where are we?" Li Yang stopped the car and pointed to a bar across the street, its neon lights flashing in the night.

The three of us crossed the street and went inside. The bar was dimly lit, with only a few dim lights highlighting the listless atmosphere. There weren't many people inside, probably because the real night owls hadn't come out yet. We chose a seat with a view of the entrance, ordered drinks, and Li Yang and Fang Lei started chatting, though Li Yang did most of the talking while Fang Lei listened. As for me, I just held my glass, lost in thought.

As I drifted off, my mind was filled with the scenes that had unfolded at Heart Lake that afternoon. I felt my brain hadn't processed them yet; they were so different from my usual understanding. And then there was the little girl in my dream. I must have had a dream after I fainted, but I couldn't remember what it was about. Could this be an early symptom of Alzheimer's?

As night deepened, the bar filled up, but no one seemed suspicious. I paid particular attention to the women who came in, but none of them appeared to be the woman from my sister's computer. Li Yang was still spouting his profound theories; I couldn't help but wonder if he was Tang Sanzang in his past life, uttering so much nonsense!

I lowered my head and drank my wine, feeling utterly bored. It seemed like I'd wasted my time tonight. Just as I thought this, I suddenly felt as if everything around me had quieted down. When I looked up again, I had a strange feeling. The scenery and people around me hadn't changed, but it felt as if I wasn't actually there, but watching a holographic movie. The music had stopped, and everyone around me was talking and laughing; their mouths were clearly moving.

But there was no sound. Could it be that the events of the afternoon had been too traumatic, causing me to hallucinate? I quickly looked at Li Yang and Fang Lei; they seemed oblivious to my distress and were still talking, but even at such close range, I couldn't hear what they were saying. The people around me were moving so slowly, like in slow motion in a movie. I had a bad feeling and wanted to...

I tried to speak, but no sound came out. This was bad news. My eyelids started twitching violently, and an ominous feeling welled up inside me.

Looking towards the doorway again, I saw two women walk in. One was the woman from my older sister's computer, still breathtakingly beautiful, with an ethereal, otherworldly beauty. Her light green dress accentuated her perfect figure, enough to make any man's fantasies run wild. The other woman was a pretty young woman with fair skin and long, flowing hair. She was with the other victims...

They had a striking resemblance in demeanor, and my heart sank immediately, breaking out in a cold sweat. I tried several times to stand up and walk over to the two women, but for some reason, my body felt as heavy as lead, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't move an inch from my seat.

The mysterious woman and the girl continued drinking and chatting, seemingly without any intention of harming her. Time passed slowly, but to me it felt like an eternity. I couldn't move, speak, or hear; I could only watch helplessly. This time, I finally understood the fear of loneliness. Although I was in a crowded bar, there was no one to help me.

The loneliness and fear in my heart made me sweat profusely; I could even feel my clothes getting soaked through on my back, and my hands were trembling uncontrollably. I just wanted someone to notice my distress, but it seemed as if I had been forgotten by everyone.

After a long while, the mysterious woman stood up and walked towards the door, the girl following behind. I almost screamed, but the sound vanished before I could utter a sound. Just as the mysterious woman stepped out the door, I saw her turn back and smile at me. Her face had turned deathly pale, a pale white tinged with ashen, like a long-dead, desiccated corpse. Her eyes were empty, devoid of pupils.

The lividity on her face was horrifying. A wave of immense fear washed over me, and I quickly turned my head away, unable to look any longer. But I was met with the girl's face. Her once delicate features were gone, replaced by a face contorted with terror. Her bulging eyes showed the horror she had suffered before death, and her protruding tongue indicated that she might have been hanged. Yes, if it weren't for the fact that she could still walk, I...

It's absolutely certain that she is now a corpse, a walking corpse.

The two women walked out of the bar one after the other, and in that instant, I felt as if I had returned to the normal world. The sounds around me started again; I could hear them, I could feel them, and of course, I could move again.

"Lin Xiao, what's wrong?" Fang Lei's concerned voice came through the phone. "You're sweating so much!"

Yes, I was sweating a lot. I looked like I'd just been pulled out of the water. My hands trembled as I put the cup back on the table, and I managed to utter a weak, guttural sound, "I...I...I saw it."

"What did you see?" Fang Lei noticed something was wrong with me and asked.

"Quick, after them!" I suddenly jumped up from my seat and stumbled towards the door.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Li Yang and Fang Lei's voices came at the same time, but right now I just wanted to catch up with those two women. I rushed out of the bar and looked around. It was already dark, and there weren't many pedestrians on the street, but I couldn't find those two women anywhere. Theoretically, they should have just come out a short while ago!

"What's wrong with you?" Li Yang caught up from behind and hit my shoulder hard, clearly bewildered by my erratic behavior.

"Get in the car quickly, we're going to Xinhu." I grabbed Li Yang and frantically patted him down, hoping to get the car keys out as soon as possible.

"What exactly happened? Didn't we agree to investigate at the bar? Is it going to end before we even started?" Li Yang asked.

"Get in the car first, I'll explain on the way." I impatiently took the car keys out of Li Yang's pocket and ran towards the car.

"But you..."

"Get in the car first, then listen to his explanation." Fang Lei interrupted Li Yang's complaints, and Li Yang never refused the beautiful woman's suggestion, so he had no choice but to obediently follow her.

I drove at top speed all the way to Heart Lake. Although I couldn't be sure if the mysterious woman was related to the recent cases, my intuition told me that I would definitely find something if I went to Heart Lake now. As I drove, I told them everything about the strange photo on my sister's computer and the strange things that happened at the bar earlier. I thought it was no longer time to hide anything.

After listening to what I said, Li Yang and Fang Lei didn't say anything more. Instead, they both frowned and looked serious. I knew they would need time to process what I had said, after all, not everyone would encounter such a situation.

Because of the seriousness and strangeness of the situation, none of the three spoke. The carriage was deathly silent, the atmosphere heavy. The car was speeding towards Heart Lake, and the closer they got to the lake, the fewer cars there were on the road. In the last stretch, they were the only ones left.

The moon in the sky is bright, the moonlight is beautiful. I look towards the lake in my heart, where it is shrouded in a hazy mist, concealing all the ugliness. But right now, all I wish for is for the car to go faster, faster still.

Chapter Nine: A Step Too Late

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When they arrived at Heart Lake, the moonlight was rising and swirling over its surface. The woman's body was already hanging from a locust tree by the lake. Her loose hair could not hide the terrified expression on her face; her wide-open eyes resembled those of a dead fish, and her protruding tongue was still bright red.

Too late. I sighed helplessly and felt Fang Lei lean back against me unconsciously and turn her head away.

"Damn it!" Li Yang expressed his dissatisfaction directly, stomping his feet hard.

I clenched my fists, feeling the cold sweat on my palms. What terrified me wasn't the corpse, but that this woman was the same girl I had seen in the bar earlier. It seemed that everything I had just witnessed wasn't a hallucination.

"Really?" Fang Lei asked softly. I knew she was asking if this female corpse was the girl from earlier. I nodded silently. The feeling of a life just moments ago turning into a corpse in the blink of an eye was not pleasant.

"Quickly, find that mysterious woman around!" Li Yang shouted, turning around to look for her, but Fang Lei stopped him.

"Don't bother looking, you won't find it."

"Why? That woman is the prime suspect."

"Take a look around the locust tree," Fang Lei reminded us gravely. Looking towards the tree, the bushes and grass, though untrimmed, showed no signs of being trampled. In contrast, the path we had taken was littered with fallen bushes and grass, traces of our running. In other words, the murderer had used a remarkable method to ensure that the area around the locust tree remained untouched.

There were some traces of the crime left behind. Even more incredibly, there was a string of footprints by the lake, which was very obvious because of the dampness of the lake, but there was only one string.

I looked up at the woman's feet. There was obvious mud on the soles of her shoes, and her foot size was similar to the footprints. I could now tentatively deduce that those footprints belonged to this woman. But where was the mysterious woman? I couldn't believe any girl would be bold enough to come to such a ghostly place in the middle of the night, especially since several deaths had recently occurred there.

"How exactly did the murderer do it?" Li Yang's analytical skills were sharp after he calmed down, but he wasn't the only one who was puzzled.

"Of course it would be very difficult for a human to do." Fang Lei's words came from behind me, and I could feel the tremor in her voice.

"What do you mean?" Li Yang stared intently at Fang Lei's face.

"What if—and I mean what if—the murderer wasn't human?" Fang Lei stared intently at Li Yang, answering each word carefully.

"How is that possible?" Li Yang pressed his temples, a signature gesture he made whenever a case was difficult to solve.

"If the manner of these women's deaths, the bizarre crime scenes, what Lin Xiao saw in the bar and on his sister's computer, and the ghostly aura I examined on the corpses all give me reason to suspect that the murderer in these cases may not be human," Fang Lei reasoned calmly. Meanwhile, my head was throbbing terribly. I was truly fortunate to have encountered such a ghostly situation.

"There's another point, something these murder cases have in common, something your police have overlooked," Fang Lei continued, "that is, it always rains on the night the murders occurred."

"Yes, it's raining. What's wrong?" I asked curiously.

"So some things were washed away by the rain, like those footprints," Fang Lei explained calmly. "And the police would just consider it a coincidence, because no murderer could accurately deduce whether it would rain on the night of the murder. But if it were a ghost..."

"If it's a ghost, then it's not difficult, right?" Li Yang interrupted Fang Lei's question.