Nachtpuppe

Kapitel 16

Lost in thought, Zhong Lei spotted the red metal lettering of the principal's office, so he stopped what he was thinking, knocked on the door, and went inside.

"Report!"

"Come in!"

The principal's voice sounded agitated; his usually imposing face had lost its authority, and his fingers trembled as he pointed to the armchair in front of the desk, saying urgently:

"Come here quickly, sit down!"

Then, he walked around from behind the desk to the front, gripped the armrest of the chair, and stared intently, as if trying to see right through Zhong Lei's internal organs.

"Zhong Lei, what happened to Bi Bin? Do you know?"

Zhong Lei, of course, had no idea what was going on, and shook his head in confusion:

"I don't know what happened to him. Didn't you send him away, Principal?"

The principal nodded slightly, then lowered his voice by one decibel:

"So, what happened when you saw Bi Bin? I saw you standing there in a daze?" After saying that, she looked at Zhong Lei with a questioning look, the meaning of which was complicated, but Zhong Lei couldn't understand it at first.

“I didn’t see anything just now. I just wanted to go over and help Bi Bin up, but I tripped and fell. When I was about to look up again, Bi Bin was blocked by several people, and then I saw him being carried away.” After saying this, he tried to meet the principal’s eyes with an honest look.

The principal seemed skeptical, but since Zhong Lei had said so, he didn't know what to say for a moment, so he went back behind his desk and sat down.

"Oh, is that so? Then you need to be more careful in the future and pay more attention to your classmates. Bi Bin's injury is very serious, and it's the result of long-term accumulation. If it had been discovered and treated earlier, he wouldn't have been injured so badly this time. Understand?"

Zhong Lei hadn't had time to process what he was hearing, so he could only nod reluctantly.

"Principal, may I leave now? The competition isn't over yet."

The principal nodded, his expression returning to calm, his serious demeanor returning to his square face, while his gaze towards Zhong Lei remained both stern and kind.

"Okay, go ahead! Do a good job!"

Zhong Lei bowed slightly, turned around, closed the door, and left.

Chapter Seven Basketball League (Part Six)

8

After leaving the principal's office, he returned to the stadium and called Li Xue, who was still watching the game, away. Everyone else on the field thought the principal wanted to talk to them about their relationship!

Zhong Lei took Li Xue back to the small restaurant where they had eaten together. They found a table in the corner and sat down. Seeing that Zhong Lei hadn't said a word the whole way, Li Xue sensed something was wrong and asked:

"Lei Zi, what's wrong? You've been acting strange all day."

Zhong Lei nodded.

"I feel really strange today. My head is inexplicably dizzy. Even if I didn't sleep well last night, I wouldn't have this problem."

Li Xue asked with concern:

"How are you feeling now? Do you need to go to the infirmary?"

Zhong Lei shook his head, seemingly not too serious, and said:

"No need, it's just a cold or something, so it's fine. I'm healthy."

He finished speaking with a mischievous smile.

Li Xue smiled and shook her head.

"You! You're just torturing yourself like this! If you really get sick, no one will care about you!"

Zhong Lei laughed:

"Even if there's no one else, you're still here!"

Just as Li Xue was about to laugh, she suddenly realized her words were inappropriate and angrily said:

"Well, you! You dare to insult me indirectly! Am I not human?!" After saying that, she raised her chopsticks. Zhong Lei begged for mercy and raised his hands in surrender. Only then did Li Xue give up her plan to silence him.

Zhong Lei still had a happy smile on his face and said:

"I really wanted to talk to you today, but I suddenly feel really agitated. I'm not sure how much you know about this event, and I don't even know how much I know myself, because the current developments are making me dizzy. I really don't know what the truth is, or what I'm just imagining. I'm going crazy! Can you understand me?"

Li Xue looked gently at Zhong Lei with her large eyes, reached out her fair hand to stroke his cheek, and said in a very gentle voice:

"Silly girl, I understand you best. No matter what happens, I'll always be with you!"

A relieved smile finally bloomed on Zhong Lei's face.

"Okay, it's settled then. No matter what happens, you'll understand me and unconditionally believe what I say, right?"

Li Xue smiled.

"Of course!"

Zhong Lei looked up and let out a long breath.

"That puts my mind at ease. Someone believes in me. Even if I die, I'll be smiling!"

Li Xue's expression changed, and she immediately covered Zhong Lei's mouth with her hand.

"Don't talk nonsense! What do you mean by 'dead or not'! Bi Bin is just injured! Lin Wei suffered a heart attack in the dormitory, and Su Shengwen had a mental breakdown due to overwork. What does any of this have to do with you?! You're overthinking it!"

Zhong Lei nodded. In truth, he wasn't entirely certain about any of the conclusions, as most were based on hearsay, and significantly differed from his own observations. The current situations of the five individuals involved were also unclear—Lin Wei was confirmed dead, but there were two possible locations for his death: he saw it in an alley near the dormitory building, while the school claimed it was in the dormitory. Bi Bin, he had heard was dead, but recently reappeared at school, and those who had previously claimed his death seemed to have no recollection of it, creating a contradiction. Liu Dong was a survivor on the night he went to the dilapidated house; after being discharged from the hospital, he witnessed him being hacked to death and brutally dismembered. A man who should have been dead repeatedly appeared and disappeared, a mystery. Su Shengwen was initially said to have gone insane from shock, but rumors on campus claimed he went mad from overwork, the source of which was unknown—another contradiction. As for himself, one of the five, he is currently alive and well, but he experiences and endures absurd and terrifying things every day. As for what the final outcome will be, he has no idea, because the other four are either dead or insane, so he probably won't fare much better!

Looking at the beautiful Li Xue sitting across from him, Zhong Lei felt somewhat dazed. This childhood playmate was now his girlfriend. In the face of the complex and chaotic reality, was she the person he could trust the most? Should he face all the unknown terrors of the future with her? Would it be too selfish to ask her to suffer with him? Well, I should still tell her! Even if I don't have many days left to live, I hope to see her living peacefully and safely.

"Li Xue, let's break up. Let's just be friends!" Zhong Lei felt a deep pain in his heart with almost every word he uttered!

Seeing Li Xue's surprised and incredulous expression, his inner pain reached an unbearable level.

"Sorry, I need to go back to my dorm to get something, so I'll be going now!"

After saying that, he stood up, pushed open the restaurant door, and stepped out, tears already streaming down his face.

Nine

The following games were predictable, as their strongest opponent, Class 30, was ruthlessly eliminated by a dark horse, resulting in their failure to advance from the group stage. The dark horse, however, lost its former glory when it encountered Class 28, and was completely overwhelmed by Zhong Lei's three-pointers and dunks. What was even more astonishing was that they lost by thirty points.

So, Class 28 of the second year of high school won the championship of the campus league as they wished, fulfilling Bi Bin's wish. However, since Bi Bin was carried away from the field that day, he has never appeared on campus again. Yu Kai also kept mentioning that big guy to Zhong Lei. It seemed that Bi Bin had left a very good impression on him in the previous period, and he even began to care about his safety.

Li Xue never appeared in Zhong Lei's sight again, perhaps deliberately avoiding him! Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache; he must have hurt her! But, this was better than dying because of this mysterious incident! Sigh!

Meanwhile, the monthly leave was drawing near, so Zhong Lei decided to visit Bi Bin's house during the leave to see if Bi Bin, who had been dismembered, was still alive.

Chapter Eight: The Uninvited Guest (Part 1)

One

The setting sun lazily slanted into Bi Kaiyun's living room. The glass ashtray on the coffee table was piled high with countless cigarette butts. On the sofa behind it sat a disheveled middle-aged man with dirty, large fingers holding a lit cigarette.

Since his son Bi Bin left him for paradise, Bi Kaiyun often sits on the sofa in a daze. He had worked so hard all these years to raise a son, only to have him gone so suddenly, not peacefully, but after enduring extreme suffering. Such a blow would be unbearable for anyone. In the bedroom, Bi Bin's mother, Sun Yonghong, lay on the bed, sobbing uncontrollably.

During lunch together, the couple talked about their son.

In fact, they had been trying to recover from their grief for a week after Bi Bin's death, forcing themselves not to think about it, otherwise they would break down in tears again. So, in the house where only the two of them remained, the atmosphere became increasingly peaceful. The usually hot-tempered Bi Kaiyun had lost his temper and felt no passion to be angry. Seeing his wife crying her eyes out, all his past grievances and resentment vanished. Moreover, Sun Yonghong's pitiful appearance made this tough man's heart tremble once again...

This was the first time Sun Yonghong had ever seen her husband in such a state. Since their marriage, he had always been a strong and capable man in her memory. Now, recalling his tear-streaked face, his beard wet with tears, his red eyes, his trembling hands, and his bewildered gaze as he slumped into the sofa, all these images were deeply etched into Sun Yonghong's heart. She secretly resolved to ensure her loyal and devoted husband lived a good life, to spare him further suffering. She would do more to ease his burden; she had already lost her son, and she didn't want to lose her beloved husband as well.

Bi Bin's death brought the family profound pain, but it also brought the remaining two family members closer than ever before. They, who used to have cold wars, are now as harmonious as newlyweds.

However, during lunch, the two inadvertently mentioned their son.

Sun Yonghong rushed home early to prepare lunch, waiting for her husband to return from his trip. She sat at the dining table, looking at the calendar on the wall, just like every other month.

With the sound of a key turning in the lock, Bi Kaiyun appeared in the doorway. Sun Yonghong quickly went to greet him, took his coat, and said:

"Kaiyun, you must be tired from the journey. Sit down quickly, I've already prepared dinner, come and eat!"

A smile slowly spread across Bi Kaiyun's tired face, and he said in a simple, honest voice:

"Hehe, thankfully, thankfully, everything went smoothly, surprisingly smoothly. We didn't even encounter any troublemakers. That's great, hehe!"

He seemed to be in an unusually good mood.

The two sat down facing each other. Sun Yonghong served her husband rice and placed it in front of Bi Kaiyun.

"Eat!"

Bi Kaiyun smiled happily at her, picked up his bowl, and casually placed a piece of pork rib on Sun Yonghong's plate.

"You're busy with all the chores at home, so you need to eat more nutritious food."

Sun Yonghong nodded vigorously.

"Hmm!"

Then, she glanced at the calendar on the wall and blurted out this sentence unintentionally:

"Binzi will be back this afternoon; it's time for her monthly break."

Bi Kaiyun nodded at first, but then froze, staring blankly at his wife.

"What did you say?"

“I said Binzi this afternoon…”

Sun Yonghong realized her momentary lapse in concentration, and then remembered... her eyes were about to redden, so Bi Kaiyun quickly picked up another piece of pork rib and put it in her bowl.

"Eat up! Don't think about anything else!"

Chapter Eight: The Uninvited Guest (Part Two)

II

However, Sun Yonghong could no longer hold back, and two lines of clear tears slowly flowed down her face. How could a woman bear the immense grief of losing her son in middle age?

The more she thought about it, the more heartbroken Sun Yonghong became. Tears streamed down her face like a torrent, and she suddenly burst into mournful sobs. She got up, ran into the inner room, and threw herself onto the bed, weeping uncontrollably. Bi Kaiyun, who was at the dining table, didn't stop her. "If you want to cry, let you cry! Holding it in will only make it more painful."

The room was warmly lit, but the hearts of the two people inside were cold. Bi Kaiyun had also lost his appetite. He slowly walked to the living room, sank into the sofa, and lit a cigarette. As the tobacco burned, his expression became somewhat dazed. He picked up the remote control on the coffee table, pressed a button, and the television screen flickered to show the city's midday news. A beautiful female anchor was reporting on the latest events in Guiping City.

"The number of victims in the Phoenix High School murder case that occurred the day before yesterday is increasing, from the initial two announced by the school to four, one of whom is mentally unstable. The perpetrator is still at large, but the school is fully cooperating with the police investigation..."