Tiefbrunnen

Kapitel 10

Lin Qiu glanced fearfully at the rooftop before hurriedly descending the stairs. Upon opening the door, the scene before him horrified him! Bai Yue lay unconscious on the living room floor, beside her a grotesque human skull, blood slowly oozing from its mouth, nose, and ears—a scene exactly like the one he had seen on the computer in Chen Feng's office at the police station!

Lin Qiu panicked and carried Bai Yue to the bed in the bedroom. At this moment, Bai Yue slowly woke up. When she saw Lin Qiu, she couldn't suppress the fear in her heart and began to cry softly. While crying, she told Lin Qiu everything that had just happened.

After listening to Bai Yue's account, Lin Qiu frowned. He couldn't understand who that old man was either. How did he know his father's name? Clearly, the old man and his father had some kind of connection. What was puzzling was how the skull carving, which was clearly done by Tong Xingxing, ended up in the hands of that mysterious old man?

It was already past 1 a.m. Lin Qiu carefully wrapped the bleeding human skull in oiled paper, intending to take it to the police station at dawn.

After taking a quick hot shower, Lin Qiu closed the bedroom door, turned off the lights, and held Bai Yue tightly in his arms. The two of them snuggled together and fell into a deep sleep.

Lin Qiu started dreaming again. He dreamed of the strange blue dress on the rooftop. The blue dress was fluttering in the wind, and from a distance, it looked like a blue ghost dancing in the night.

Suddenly, the woman in the blue dress began to sing, her voice melancholic and plaintive, drifting gently through the quiet midnight. Drawn by the song, Lin Qiu walked step by step towards the woman in the blue dress…

Just then, the blue dress suddenly transformed into the mysterious old man, whose mouth, nose, eyes, and ears were bleeding, and whose face was extremely terrifying!

Lin Qiu was startled awake. Suddenly, he felt the space beside him was empty. He reached out and touched her, but Bai Yue was nowhere to be seen. Lin Qiu's heart tightened, and all sleepiness vanished. He quickly turned on the bedside lamp, got out of bed, and went to the living room. He found that Bai Yue was not there. He then searched the bathroom and kitchen, but she was nowhere to be found.

Where did Bai Yue go? Lin Qiu was in a state of panic and didn't know what to do.

Just then, a song drifted in from outside the window, its melody both poignant and melancholic. Lin Qiu was startled. Why did that song sound so familiar? Wasn't that the song sung by the woman in the blue dress in her dream?

Could someone still be playing music so late? Lin Qiu listened carefully for a while and was shocked to find that the singing was coming from the rooftop!

The singing seemed to have an irresistible attraction for Lin Qiu. He unconsciously opened the door and walked down the dark corridor towards the rooftop.

Upon reaching the rooftop, under the dim light of the night, Lin Qiu saw a blue figure at the other end of the rooftop, and the singing was coming from her.

Lin Qiu slowly walked towards the figure. Upon closer inspection, he was so frightened that his scalp tingled, his face turned ashen, and his whole body trembled! The figure was not the one in the blue dress at all, but the terrifying woman in blue! She was facing away from Lin Qiu, her dress fluttering in the night wind, and her long, flowing hair was disheveled by the wind.

She seemed unaware of Lin Qiu's arrival and continued singing intently.

Suddenly, Lin Qiu realized the woman's voice was familiar. He mustered his courage and asked loudly:

Who exactly are you?

The woman seemed startled, and the singing stopped abruptly. She turned her head sharply, and Lin Qiu was instantly dumbfounded, staring blankly at the woman's face.

He never dreamed that this woman was actually Bai Yue!

"Lin Qiu, what... what's going on? Why are we here?"

Bai Yue seemed to have just woken up from a dream, her face filled with panic.

After a long while, Lin Qiu finally came to his senses and asked in bewilderment:

"Bai Yue, you, how did you end up on the rooftop?"

"I...I don't know either."

"It's windy on the rooftop, let's go back first and talk about it when we get back."

Lin Qiu helped Bai Yue downstairs and back into the house. He poured her a glass of warm water, and after she drank it, Bai Yue finally calmed down.

Bai Yue finally remembered. After falling asleep, she had a dream where Tong Xingxing was crying on the rooftop. He said he was cold and asked Bai Yue to take him back to the orphanage. Although Bai Yue was afraid of Tong Xingxing, she couldn't bear to leave him alone on the rooftop in the cold, so she got up and went up to the rooftop. As for what she did after arriving on the rooftop, she had no idea.

"What's going on with this skirt?"

Lin Qiu pointed to the blue dress Bai Yue was wearing and asked in confusion.

If I'm not mistaken, the blue dress Bai Yue is wearing right now is the same one that was hanging on the wire on the rooftop that night.

After Lin Qiu asked her, Bai Yue noticed the blue dress she was wearing. She didn't know when she had put it on; she remembered wearing white pajamas when she went to sleep.

"I bought this dress when I was in college. I haven't worn it for two or three years, but I can't bear to throw it away, so it's been sitting at the bottom of my closet." Bai Yue murmured, stroking the dress she was wearing. "Why did I suddenly put this dress on?"

After a moment, Bai Yue seemed to remember something. She quickly opened the wardrobe and rummaged through all the clothes inside. Sure enough, the blue dress was gone.

Looking at Bai Yue's figure, Lin Qiu suddenly remembered the mysterious woman in blue. In the night or under dim light, without careful observation, it was impossible to tell which was Bai Yue and which was the woman in blue; they looked exactly alike in their blue dresses!

Could it be that Bai Yue is the woman in blue?

Chapter Five

Section 1: One News Item

It has been many days since Ding Xiang was murdered, and relatives and friends have been unable to contact Lin Wenrui, and even his workplace has been unable to reach him.

Two weeks ago, Lin Wenrui was sent on a business trip to another province by his company for two weeks. Now two weeks have passed, but he has not returned, and they have been unable to reach him by phone. They don't know what happened to him.

Lin Wenrui and Lin Qiu were childhood neighbors. More than ten years ago, they moved to H City together from that remote town, along with the Lin Wangchou and Zheng Ansheng families. Due to their poor financial situation, Lin Wenrui's family, like Lin Wangchou's family, moved to a rural area on the outskirts of H City.

Lin Wenrui and Ding Xiang have been dating for three years and their relationship has always been very good. They are planning to get married at the end of the year. They have already found a house and are just waiting for Lin Wenrui to come back from his business trip to pay for the house and do the renovations.

Now, Dingxiang has been brutally murdered, and Lin Wenrui's whereabouts are unknown, his fate uncertain.

Lin Qiu sat in front of the computer, somewhat absent-minded. He was rushing to finish a manuscript, but couldn't concentrate. He opened a search engine website, hoping to find some relevant information. However, as he entered keywords, he inexplicably typed "Blue Skull" into the dialog box.

After typing, he gently pressed the Enter key, and information about "Blue Skull" was retrieved.

Lin Qiu suddenly perked up and slowly moved the mouse, carefully browsing through each piece of information about "Blue Skull".

Suddenly, a news headline related to "Blue Skull" caught his eye. He quickly clicked the link and opened the news article, which was originally published in a provincial newspaper on the 6th of this month. The article content is as follows:

(Reporter Zhou Jie) Yesterday morning around 7:00 AM, police received a report from a hotel in our city that a traveler named Lin Wenrui, who had checked into the hotel on the afternoon of the 20th of last month, mysteriously disappeared last night and his whereabouts are unknown. According to the police, the traveler was in our city on a business trip from another province and had been staying at this hotel. It is rumored that before his disappearance, the traveler saw an extremely terrifying blue skull and received several mysterious phone calls from a woman late at night. The night before his disappearance, he also heard a terrifying woman crying. Police initially suspect this is a premeditated murder. The case is currently under further investigation, and this newspaper will closely follow its progress.

After watching the news, Lin Qiu's mind went blank, and his face turned deathly pale. He slumped weakly into a chair, Lin Wenrui's image flashing before his eyes, and he felt a sharp pain in his heart.

Although the facts reported in this news have not yet been confirmed, Lin Qiu was certain in his heart that the missing person must be his good friend Lin Wenrui.

According to the news report, Lin Wenrui's disappearance was similar to that of Lin Wangchou and Zheng Ansheng. Before they disappeared, they all saw a terrifying blue skull, received a mysterious phone call from a woman, and heard a terrifying woman's crying.

Where are they? Are they still alive? Lin Qiu shook his head painfully. Several of his former friends had met with misfortune one after another, and their fates were still unknown. Their families had also died one after another in a short period of time. These cruel realities that followed had dealt him a heavy blow.

Lin Qiu suddenly remembered something. He quickly picked up the calendar on the table and glanced at it. Today was the 7th, and the news was published on the 6th. So, Lin Wenrui disappeared on the 5th, which was the night before last.

Lin Qiu immediately dialed Chen Feng's number:

"Hello, is this Officer Chen? This is Lin Qiu. I have something to report to you."

"Oh, what's going on?"

"Regarding Lin Wenrui's situation."

"Lin Wenrui?"

"Yes, Lin Wenrui has also disappeared."

"Lin Wenrui has disappeared?" Chen Feng sounded somewhat surprised. "Could you come to the police station? We can talk in person."

"Okay, I'll be right there."

Lin Qiu printed out the news article from the internet, informed the head of the newspaper's department, and then headed straight for the police station.

After reading the news, Chen Feng pondered for a moment before dialing the phone number of the police station in a certain province. After some discussion, he finally confirmed that the missing person was Lin Wenrui, a good friend of Lin Qiu, who had been on a business trip to the province last month.

According to the other party, there has been no progress in the case so far.

After a moment of silence, Chen Feng suddenly said to Lin Qiu meaningfully:

"Reporter Lin, you need to be careful during this time. Perhaps the killer's next target is you."

Although Lin Qiu had already had this premonition, he was still greatly shocked when he first heard Chen Feng's words. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and his face turned pale.

"But don't worry, the police will send someone to protect you."

"Thank you." Lin Qiu's voice suddenly turned somewhat sorrowful. "Officer Chen, if there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

"Okay, take care, and remember to contact the police as soon as possible if anything happens."

Watching Lin Qiu's retreating figure, Chen Feng's expression slowly turned serious...

Is Lin Wangchou still alive in the second section?

Today is Saturday, and Lin Qiu suddenly thought of going to Wenhao Village to take a look. Since Lin Wangchou's mysterious disappearance and the deaths of Lin Yongfu and Zhang Yuling, the family has been completely broken, and there are no other relatives left.

Sitting on the bus, Lin Qiu's mind wandered, and memories of the past floated into his mind. Thinking of his old friends who were now either missing or dead, he was overwhelmed with emotions and burst into tears.

He recalled Chen Feng's words: perhaps the killer's next target was him; death was approaching day by day, and he was helpless.

Who is the killer? Why haven't the police found a single clue yet? Is there nothing I can do but wait to die?

The bus arrived at that stop again, and Lin Qiu couldn't help but think of the mysterious woman in blue. He first saw her at this very stop, and ever since, she had appeared around him like a ghost, impossible to shake off. The thought of that woman's pale, indifferent face, and her eerie, deep eyes filled Lin Qiu with a sense of dread.

The bus finally arrived at its final stop, and Lin Qiu got off and headed straight for Wenhao Village. Soon, he arrived at Lin Wangchou's house. Lin Qiu was surprised to find the gate ajar, indicating someone was inside. Moreover, the house didn't look like an abandoned building at all.

Lin Qiu felt a little surprised. Did they have other relatives? After hesitating for a moment, he pushed open the door and went inside. He found the yard very clean, clearly someone cleaned it regularly. The door to the first-floor room was locked. Lin Qiu pushed it, but couldn't open it, so he went upstairs. Suddenly, he found that the door to the second-floor room was unlocked. He knocked a few times, but no one answered. After waiting a moment, Lin Qiu gently pushed the door open and found no one inside. He called out loudly a few times, but no one answered.

After confirming that no one was inside, Lin Qiu left Lin Wangchou's house, filled with suspicion. He found a middle-aged woman working in the village and asked her about Lin Wangchou's family.

Upon hearing that it concerned Lin Wangchou's family, the village woman's face immediately filled with deep fear, appearing extremely frightened and seemingly unwilling to discuss the matter.

Only after Lin Qiu's repeated requests did the village woman reluctantly say:

"No one is home during the day, but at night, the house is often lit up all night. I don't know if it's a person or a ghost. Some people say they saw Lin Wangchou come back late at night and leave again after dawn. Others say it's Lin Yongfu's ghost that refuses to leave his home. I don't know what it is. No one in the village dares to go to their house."

After the village woman finished speaking, she hurriedly walked away.

After hearing what the village woman said, Lin Qiu felt very strange. Could it be that Lin Wangchou had really returned? Was he still alive?

Lin Qiu didn't believe in ghosts; he was certain Lin Wangchou was still alive. Thinking this, Lin Qiu felt a surge of excitement. He decided to stay and see for himself tonight.

As night fell, the entire Wenhao Village was shrouded in darkness, and apart from a few distant barks of dogs, all was quiet.

Around eleven o'clock, a dim light suddenly appeared in Lin Wangchou's house. The light flickered on and off, looking like a string of will-o'-the-wisps in the dark night, which was frightening to behold.

Lin Qiu mustered his courage and went to the gate of the courtyard. He found that the gate was not locked, but ajar, just like during the day. Lin Qiu pushed the gate open and went inside. Light was coming from a room on the second floor.

Lin Qiu quietly went upstairs and found that the door to the second-floor room was also ajar. He gently pushed the door open, and his breathing immediately became rapid.

Upon entering the house, Lin Qiu discovered that Lin Wangchou's door was wide open, and light was shining from inside. Lin Qiu felt his legs begin to tremble, and his heart pounded wildly.

Who is in the room? Could it really be Lin Wangchou?

Chapter Three: The Mysterious Telephone