Tiefbrunnen - Kapitel 11
Lin Qiu stopped in the living room. He noticed that the people in the room seemed to be looking for something, and the sound of rummaging through drawers and cabinets could be heard from time to time.
He tried to calm himself down and quietly walked to the door of Lin Wangchou's room. He slowly peeked inside and saw a person with his back to the door frantically rummaging through the boxes and cabinets in the room, seemingly anxiously searching for something. Books, papers and other miscellaneous items were scattered all over the floor.
Judging from their backs, the person in the room was clearly not Lin Wangchou. Could it be a thief? Thinking this, Lin Qiu decisively shouted:
Who are you? What do you want?
The man was startled by Lin Qiu's sudden shout. He turned around abruptly, his eyes filled with surprise and confusion.
"You? What brings you here?"
After seeing the person's face clearly, Lin Qiu was also very surprised and unexpected. He never expected that the person in the room was Chen Feng's assistant, Yang Jian.
"Yang Jian, what are you doing here?" Lin Qiu breathed a long sigh of relief and smiled awkwardly. "I thought you were a thief."
Yang Jian stopped what he was doing, clapped his hands, and pulled Lin Qiu to sit on the sofa. He asked, puzzled:
"Lin Qiu, what are you doing here in the middle of the night?"
Lin Qiu recounted to Yang Jian the purpose of his visit to Wenhao Village and what he had learned that day. Yang Jian remained silent for a moment before slowly saying:
"I've heard about the strange things you just mentioned from the villagers. We can't be sure if Lin Wangchou is still alive. We hope he is."
"Did you come here today specifically for this matter?"
“No, I only heard about it by chance today.” Yang Jian paused, then gave Lin Qiu a meaningful look. “I came here to investigate another matter.”
"Another thing?" Lin Qiu stared at Yang Jian's face and asked, puzzled, "Isn't it related to the recent case?"
"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't."
Suddenly, Yang Jian's expression turned serious, and he solemnly said to Lin Qiu:
"Lin Qiu, you are not allowed to tell anyone about my investigation in Wenhao Village, including my superior Chen Feng, understand?"
"Why?"
Lin Qiu was utterly puzzled.
"Don't ask so many questions yet. This matter is of great importance, and you must keep your promise."
“Alright.” Although Lin Qiu had some doubts, he solemnly agreed to Yang Jian’s request. “I will never tell anyone.”
"Thank you for your cooperation. I have something urgent to take care of. Could you help me tidy up this room?"
"Okay." Lin Qiu nodded, then asked with a hint of doubt, "It's so late now, where are you planning to go?"
"Go to the cemetery."
"Graveyard?" Upon hearing the words "graveyard," Lin Qiu shuddered, a flicker of fear crossing his eyes, his voice trembling slightly, "Should I...should I go with you?"
"Thank you, but no need. I'll go by myself. You can just tidy up this room for me."
After saying this, Yang Jian left in a hurry and soon disappeared into the darkness west of the village.
After Yang Jian left, the room fell silent, and Lin Qiu suddenly felt a little scared. He hurriedly tidied up the messy things in the room.
Just as he was about to leave, the phone in Lin Wangchou's room suddenly rang, startling Lin Qiu! He stared in horror at the dusty telephone, his hands trembling slightly, wanting to answer but not daring to.
The phone kept ringing, each ring seeming more urgent than the last. After a long while, Lin Qiu finally mustered his courage, his hands trembling as he picked up the dusty receiver, and cautiously asked:
Hello, who are you?
There was no response on the other end of the phone. After a while, a very painful groan suddenly came from the phone, like a dying person making their final struggle; the sound was extremely painful and desolate.
Upon hearing that voice, Lin Qiu's heart skipped a beat! His hand holding the microphone trembled slightly involuntarily, as he felt that the voice sounded very much like Lin Wangchou's.
He suppressed his nervousness and fear, and asked loudly:
"Forget-Cultivation, is that you? Where are you now? Answer me quickly!"
The person on the other end of the phone was still groaning in pain, seemingly too distressed to speak. The more Lin Qiu listened, the more he felt the voice sounded like Lin Wangchou; however, no matter how he asked, the other person could only groan and remain silent.
A few minutes later, the call was disconnected.
Lin Qiu stared blankly at the microphone in his hand. He was certain that the person was Lin Wangchou; he was still alive and suffering some kind of torment, perhaps on the verge of death…
Section Four: Death Edict
Bai Yue has suddenly become very sensitive lately. She always feels that Tong Xingxing is following her. He has not left, but is hiding in some dark place next to her.
His gaze remained so strange, frightening her, especially at night when she would often faintly hear someone crying on the rooftop.
And then there was that bleeding human skull; the thought of it sent chills down her spine.
At 10 a.m., Bai Yue suddenly felt very unwell, so she asked the orphanage for leave and went to the hospital.
When she came out of the clinic after her appointment, she suddenly noticed a woman with a little boy in the hallway ahead. The woman was wearing a blue dress, and the little boy looked a lot like the actor Tong Xingxing from behind. They were walking right to the stairwell.
Bai Yue wanted to see if the little boy was indeed Tong Xingxing, so she quickened her pace to catch up. By the time she reached the stairwell, the woman in blue and the little boy had already gone down the stairs and disappeared from sight.
Bai Yue was a little surprised. Logically speaking, they shouldn't have been able to walk so fast. How could they have disappeared in the blink of an eye?
Bai Yue did not return to the orphanage, but went straight home from the hospital.
Upon arriving home, she suddenly noticed an envelope tucked under the door. She picked it up; it was a letter from Lin Qiu. Looking at this unfamiliar letter, Bai Yue felt puzzled. Why wasn't it put in the mailbox but instead stuck under the door?
When Bai Yue entered the room, she found that Lin Qiu had not yet gotten up. He had gone to Wenhao Village yesterday and only returned early this morning, and had been sleeping until now.
Bai Yue woke Lin Qiu up, placed the letter on the bedside table, and then changed her clothes and went to cook.
Lin Qiu rubbed his sleepy eyes and turned his head to see the letter on the bedside table. He picked it up and found that there was no postmark on the envelope, nor was there a sender's name or address. Clearly, this was not an "normal" letter.
Lin Qiu pondered for a moment, then tore open the envelope. To his surprise, there was a piece of white cloth tucked inside. Looking at the neatly folded white cloth, Lin Qiu suddenly had a bad feeling, and his hand holding the envelope trembled slightly.
After hesitating for a moment, Lin Qiu shook out the white cloth from the envelope and slowly unfolded it. Suddenly, a hideous blue skull and several lines of strangely written blood-red words came into his view!
In the center of the white cloth was a hideous blue skull, and below the skull were several lines of strange, blood-red writing:
Cause and effect cycle
Evil will be punished
Skeleton Reappears
Those who see this will surely die.
You're next!
Upon seeing the hideous blue skull and the few lines of blood-red words, Lin Qiu's face turned deathly pale, his head buzzed as if struck by lightning, and he felt dizzy.
The words on this white cloth are exactly the same as those on the white cloth in Lin Wangchou's coffin; they were both written by the same person. Lin Qiu remembered that Zheng Ansheng had also received a similar letter before he disappeared.
He knew in his heart that this was a formal "death warrant" issued to him by the murderer, and death was approaching him step by step.
Just then, Lin Qiu's phone suddenly rang. He picked it up weakly and was shocked to find that the screen was blank and there was no caller ID! The phone was ringing rapidly.
Looking at the blank screen of his phone, Lin Qiu felt a strange sense of fear rising in his heart!
His thumb hovered over the blue receive button, but he didn't have the courage to press it.
After a long while, he frantically pressed the receive button. Suddenly, the painful groans came from the other end of the phone again, each one seemingly more painful and desolate than the last. Lin Qiu was horrified and broke out in a cold sweat, forgetting to ask any questions.
Two minutes later, the groans on the other end of the phone suddenly stopped, followed by an unusually low and mournful female voice:
"You're next—"
The terrifying scene in the fifth section
A light drizzle began to fall again, and the wind whistled through the bare branches outside the window, adding a sense of desolation and bleakness to the winter midnight.
It was Friday, and Lin Qiu didn't go to bed until very late. Ever since receiving that "death warrant" and that mysterious phone call, he hadn't been sleeping well. Every time he closed his eyes, he would see that hideous blue skull and those few lines of bloody, strange words.
Unlike Lin Qiu, Bai Yue slept very soundly tonight, even emitting a slight snore, her sleeping face appearing unusually peaceful.
Lin Qiu tried hard not to think about those terrible things, but the image of the hideous blue skull kept appearing in his mind, followed by those lines of strange blood-red characters, and then the pale, indifferent face of the mysterious woman in blue. He couldn't erase it no matter what he did.
He finally managed to drift off to sleep around midnight.
Lin Qiu started having nightmares again. He dreamed of the blue dress on the rooftop again, and it started singing again. The mournful and plaintive song always had an irresistible attraction for him.
Following the sound of singing, Lin Qiu unconsciously returned to the rooftop. He slowly walked towards the other end of the rooftop, where the blue figure was singing intently.
Lin Qiu slowly approached the shadow and discovered that it wasn't a blue dress, but a woman wearing a blue dress.
Lin Qiu called out softly:
"White Moon".
The woman turned her face around suddenly, and it was indeed Bai Yue.
Suddenly, the woman slowly peeled a thin layer off her face, revealing a pale, indifferent face! Lin Qiu was immediately stunned!
He never imagined that the woman before him was not Bai Yue, but the masked woman in blue...
Lin Qiu woke up from a nightmare with a start. Still shaken, he was breathing heavily, his heart pounding wildly. With trembling hands, he turned on the bedside lamp. Bai Yue was still fast asleep beside him, her face calm.
Looking at Bai Yue's sleeping face, Lin Qiu couldn't help but recall the scene from his dream. He involuntarily reached out and touched Bai Yue's face. Although Bai Yue's face was a little cold, her skin was elastic and gave a sense of realism, as if she were not wearing a mask.
How could Bai Yue be the woman in blue? Lin Qiu suddenly regretted his wild guess. In his mind, Bai Yue was the most beautiful and kindest girl in the world.
Bai Yue is an orphan. She lost both her parents at a young age and was raised by her aunt. She lacked parental love from childhood, and her kindness was innate.
For over a year, Lin Qiu and Bai Yue had a very good relationship and had never blushed. Bai Yue's virtuousness and kindness touched him constantly, and he felt extremely happy to have such a wonderful girl in his life.
Thinking of this, Lin Qiu couldn't help but gaze affectionately at Bai Yue. She was sleeping soundly and peacefully; she hadn't had such a sweet sleep in a long time.
Suddenly, Lin Qiu felt a tightness in his chest, so he got up, went to the living room, sat on the sofa, lit a cigarette, and smoked silently in the dark.
"Clang—Clang—"
Just then, the clock on the wall struck twice crisply. It was two in the morning.
Just then, Lin Qiu noticed some movement in the bedroom. Since the bedroom door faced the sofa in the living room, Lin Qiu could see clearly what was happening in the bedroom. It turned out that Bai Yue had gotten up.