Geister des alten Grabes

Kapitel 25

"I...I'm fine," Ziyuan replied with a forced smile.

Although Ziyuan said that, Zhang Bei still couldn't put his mind at ease. He looked at Ziyuan with concern, his eyes revealing emotions that had been buried in his heart for a long time. Ziyuan was the woman he had once secretly loved.

"I'm really fine." Ziyuan sat up straight, looked at Zhang Bei who was squatting beside her, and said, "I'm working as a teaching assistant at a university now. How are you doing? Are you okay?"

"It's fine, how about you?"

"Not bad either."

The two stared at each other, unsure what to say for a moment. After a long while, Ziyuan said shyly, "Actually, I just wanted to talk to someone. I feel much better after talking about it. It's getting late, so I have to go back."

Ziyuan got up to leave, but saw Zhang Bei looking at her with reluctance. At that moment, Zhang Bei was trying his best to control his inner impulse. He sighed and said, "Leaving so soon? Won't you stay a little longer?"

Ziyuan shook her head, avoiding Zhang Bei's gaze, and turned to leave. Zhang Bei immediately grabbed her hand, and Ziyuan pulled her hand away as if she had been electrocuted.

"I'm sorry," Zhang Bei said, looking at Zi Yuan with deep affection.

"...I really have to go now, goodbye."

Zhang Bei immediately walked up to her and said, "What's your phone number? It'll be convenient for us to contact each other in the future."

"Okay." Ziyuan just smiled and wrote down her phone number for Zhang Bei.

After seeing Ziyuan off, Zhang Beiyue sat in a chair and felt a pang of pain in her heart as she thought about how the cheerful Ziyuan had become like this in college.

Zhang Bei lit a cigarette, pondering carefully: What exactly is wrong with Zi Yuan? Could it be that Zi Yuan really has delusions? Gradually, Zhang Bei thought of Zi Yuan's other patient.

"Wang Yujing? The name sounds familiar, I think I've heard it somewhere before."

The cigarette ash didn't dissipate, remaining intact on the cigarette. Zhang Bei thought for a long time, then suddenly sat up straight. The ash scattered, some landing on his suit, but he ignored it, typing on the computer keyboard and searching through the database with the mouse.

Ziyuan dragged her seemingly utterly exhausted body down the street. People continued to come and go, but Ziyuan felt as if something was watching her from a dark corner of this bustling city. At that moment, it was as if the whole world had vanished, leaving her alone to face that thing.

Just then, Ziyuan's phone rang.

"Huh? Who could it be?" She listlessly reached for her phone; it was Zhang Bei.

"Zhang Bei? What's wrong?"

“Yuan, I think I’ve found some information about your patient. Come back quickly. This might help you find out the truth.”

"Okay, I'll be right there." After saying that, Ziyuan hung up the phone immediately and turned to walk towards the mental health clinic.

Before Ziyuan returned to the clinic, Zhang Bei was already anxiously waiting for her by the roadside. Upon seeing Ziyuan, Zhang Bei immediately went to her, grabbed her hand without a word, and pulled her into a taxi.

"Where are you taking me?" Ziyuan looked at him strangely.

"I'm taking you to see someone."

"who?"

"You'll understand once you see this," Zhang Bei said, handing a stack of documents to Zi Yuan.

Ziyuan was intently flipping through the files. They were patient records. After a while, she saw a familiar name: Wang Yujing.

"Xiao Jing?" Zi Yuan called out.

"Yes. This is the information of one of my patients. His name is Huang Yi. Wang Yujing is his childhood friend. During the treatment, he mentioned Wang Yujing very frequently."

"What's their relationship? Are they lovers?"

"Well, they maintained an ambiguous relationship. In addition, Wang Yujing's family was very strict and did not allow her to have a boyfriend before graduating from university. Huang Yi went out to work after graduating from high school, so the relationship ended without a trace."

“It must be Xiao Jing.” Zi Yuan put down the documents in her hand and said, “The Wang Yu Jing mentioned by your patient may be Xiao Jing.”

"Yes, I think so too."

Ziyuan remained silent, lost in thought: If it really is Xiaojing, then it means that both of them, who have known each other since childhood, are hallucinating. Is this a coincidence? Or have they both encountered something?

“Huang Yi found me half a year ago,” Zhang Bei’s words interrupted Zi Yuan’s train of thought. “At the time, I thought his work pressure might be causing his hallucinations, and I treated him for nearly two or three months.”

Has his hallucination disappeared?

“I don’t know,” Zhang Bei shrugged. “He never came back after that. Maybe my consultation fees were too expensive and he couldn’t afford it.”

Zhang Bei's humor did nothing to ease Zi Yuan's mind. Zi Yuan remained frowning as she looked at the documents in her hand. Zhang Bei sighed, "Don't worry, we'll find Huang Yi soon, and then everything will be clear."

"I hope so," Ziyuan put down the documents in her hand and looked out the window. The crisscrossing telephone poles rushed past, and cars drove back and forth on the muddy road, kicking up clouds of dust that obscured her view.

What exactly she wanted to know was something even Shion herself didn't know.

The car stopped at a chemical plant. Zhang Bei paid the fare and got out with Zi Yuan. Zhang Bei said, "Before leaving, I called Huang Yi. He's waiting for us at the dormitory now."

Ziyuan nodded and walked forward eagerly. Zhang Bei followed. Just as they reached the factory gate, they were stopped by a guard.

Before the guard could speak, Zhang Bei immediately stepped forward and explained, "Excuse me, we're here to see a friend. His name is Huang Yi."

Upon hearing this, the guard frowned. "That madman! If he didn't have some skills, he would have been fired long ago."

Zhang Bei, not wanting to listen to the guard's nonsense any longer, asked, "Which dormitory is he in?"

The guard impatiently tossed his head and said, "Room 305 in that building."

Zhang Bei wanted to thank him politely, but seeing his arrogant attitude, she swallowed the words "thank you" back down and walked straight towards the building with Zi Yuan.

The building had seven floors, and the windowsills were covered with piles of clothes—it was quite a sight—some of which were even dripping wet. It seemed this building was the dormitory for all the factory workers.

Ziyuan and her companion entered the dormitory and walked down the corridor. They found it to be very dark, and a sense of oppression immediately arose within them.

Upon arriving at room 305, Zhang Bei knocked on the door. A deep voice came from inside, sounding like someone groaning: "Come in~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"

Upon hearing this, both Zhang Bei and Zi Yuan felt a chill run down their spines.

"Half a year has passed, Huang Yi, how are you?" Zhang Bei greeted Huang Yi as soon as she entered, and then looked him up and down as he sat on the bed.

He had a sallow complexion and wore blackened work clothes. He sat on the bed, head down, not looking directly at Zhang Bei and the others. The room was narrow, containing only a wardrobe, a bed, and a small table, and a sour, foul smell permeated the air.

There were two teacups on the table. One cup was half full of tea, while the other was full and steaming.

Zhang Bei and Zi Yuan looked at each other for a moment, then Zhang Bei asked Huang Yi, "Do you have any guests?"

Huang Yi then looked up at Zhang Bei with a blank expression, then at the two teacups on the table, and said, "One cup is mine, but whose is the other? I don't remember." Then, Huang Yi shook his head nervously and said to Zhang Bei, "Dr. Zhang, it seems like someone came by just now, but I don't remember."

“If you don’t remember, that’s fine. I often forget things too,” Zhang Bei said, then chuckled awkwardly. Huang Yi didn’t react to Zhang Bei’s embarrassed laughter, still lost in thought.

There were no chairs in the house, so Zhang Bei and Zi Yuan had to stand.

"Huang Yi, how's your hallucination going? You haven't come to see me, and I'm very worried about you." Zhang Bei's eyes shone with sincerity, and he even revealed his acting talent.

Ziyuan knew Zhang Bei was lying, and she disliked his behavior. Zhang Bei merely glanced at Ziyuan and said nothing. He believed it was just a tactic in interpersonal relationships, even though Huang Yi was a pitiful patient.

Huang Yi remained silent, seemingly lost in thought. Zhang Bei then said, "Huang Yi, we came to see you to talk about Wang Yujing."

The key clicked open the door to Huang Yi's memories.

Upon hearing the name "Wang Yujing," Huang Yi's eyes suddenly lit up as he stared at Zhang Bei.

"Oh, right," Huang Yi suddenly looked up at the ceiling as if waking from a dream. "Xiao Jing was here just now, this cup of tea is hers." Then, Huang Yi lowered his head again and murmured, "When did she leave?"

As Zhang Bei and Zi Yuan were wondering what was going on, Huang Yi pulled a photo out of his pocket and stared at it. Zi Yuan slowly walked over and saw the photo clearly. The person in the photo was indeed Wang Yujing, and it looked like it was taken when she was in high school.

Ziyuan turned around and exchanged a glance with Zhang Bei. Zhang Bei then walked up behind her and asked in a low voice, "Is he/she your patient?"

Ziyuan nodded in agreement, and Zhang Bei looked at Huang Yi again, who was now lost in his memories.

"Mr. Huang," Ziyuan called out to Huang Yi. Once she had gotten Huang Yi's attention, Ziyuan asked again, "Could you tell me about Xiaojing and your affair?"

"Who are you?" Huang Yi looked at Zi Yuan with a bewildered expression, as if he had only just noticed Zi Yuan's presence.

"My name is Ziyuan, and I'm Xiaojing's friend."

"How is she now? Is she doing well?"

Ziyuan hesitated for a moment, unsure how to answer. After staring at Huang Yi for a long while, she finally stammered, "She... is... doing very well now..."

“Yes, she’s doing well now,” Zhang Bei said with a smile, echoing Zi Yuan.

"Isn't she dead?" Huang Yi said coldly.

...

The three people in the room fell silent.

"Yes... I was afraid you'd be sad, so... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lie to you," Ziyuan said apologetically to Huang Yi. "Actually, I'm very sad too."

Ziyuan thought for a moment, then felt something was off and asked Huang Yi, "Excuse me, how did you find out about this?"

"Xiao Jing told me," Huang Yi said casually.

Whoosh! A gust of wind blew in through the window, causing the clothes hanging up to move. Because of the wind, there were also some rattling noises in the house.

Zhang Bei and Zi Yuan immediately felt uneasy all over.

"You said it was Xiaojing who told you?" Ziyuan asked Huang Yi.

"Yes"

Ziyuan calmly walked to Huang Yi's side and sat on his dirty and messy bed. They sat very close to each other. Zhang Bei noticed that Huang Yi was acting strangely and was afraid that something might happen to Ziyuan, so she also sat down close to Ziyuan.

"You just said that Xiao Jing came by. So, what else did you talk about?" Zi Yuan put her handbag on the bed to relax.

"We had a great time talking about things from when we were kids."

"For example, could you tell me some examples?"

Wang Yujing is already dead, so it's impossible for her to still be chatting with Huang Yi. As a doctor, Ziyuan should guide the patient out of the hallucination, instead of continuing to talk to the patient about the hallucination. Zhang Bei really doesn't understand Ziyuan's actions at this point.

However, perhaps Ziyuan has her own ideas. Thinking of this, Zhang Bei calmed down and listened to the conversation between Ziyuan and Huang Yi.

At this moment, Huang Yi remained silent in response to Zi Yuan's question. Zi Yuan, still patient, smiled sweetly and said, "You and Xiao Jing must have had a very happy childhood, right?"

"Bang!" The door to memory opened.

“Back when we were little…” Huang Yi suddenly said, “We’ve known each other since we were little, until high school. She was always very quiet and reserved. Because her family was very strict with her, she would stay home on Sundays to study. So, every Monday when I returned to school, she liked to hear me talk about where I went on weekends, who I went with, and what I did. She always listened with great interest, as if she had been there too.”

Huang Yi talked on and on about his childhood, sometimes repeating trivial things. Listening is very important for a psychologist, and Zhang Bei and Zi Yuan were very professional, patiently listening to Huang Yi's stories, even if he repeated them more than ten times. Naturally, Huang Yi found them to be excellent listeners, and he talked even more enthusiastically, gesturing wildly.

"Sometimes, Xiaojing would lie and say she was studying at a classmate's house, but in reality, she was going out to play with me."

"The twelfth time," Zhang Bei thought to herself, "When will this guy ever stop?"

The repeated mention of it made the observant Ziyuan seem to notice something. She interrupted Huang Yi and asked him, "Where did you all go to play?"

Xingli's aura shone through Huang Yi's eyes, and he happily replied, "The park, friends' homes, Zhu Shang, and..."

"There's another place..."

"No..."