Exorzismus - Kapitel 21
She checked the time; it was exactly midnight. On the night she first entered "Hell," there seemed to be a place called "Ghost Inn." Having read the novel of the same name, Chunyu chose "1: Ghost Inn." After a terrifying half-hour journey, she finally escaped from the desolate wilderness of the East Sea coast.
Spring rain has descended another layer of hell—"You have passed through the 8th layer of hell and entered the 9th layer of hell."
Today is Saturday. When Chunyu woke up this morning, she found the dormitory building much quieter. Even the students from other places had all gone out to have fun, leaving her all alone. Actually, she had always been terrified of loneliness. The most terrifying time wasn't in the deserted village, but during the days she was locked alone in a hospital room.
Is Xu Wenya locked up in loneliness right now?
Chunyu couldn't imagine how she had survived. Even a normal person would eventually go insane if locked up in a place like that. So, she decided to visit Xu Wenya in the hospital.
She knew where that place was—because it was also the last place she ever wanted to go back to in her life. But for Xu Wenya, for that secret that perhaps only the dead knew, she had to endure the torment in her heart and go there to relive her nightmares.
At 10 a.m., Chunyu arrived at the hospital located in the outskirts of the city. Compared to when she left six months ago, it seemed to be the same as before. The main gate was hidden behind quiet trees, and it took a long walk to realize that it was a hospital.
Before meeting Xu Wenya, she first met Dr. Wen. Dr. Wen's eyes behind his glasses clearly showed surprise, because he was the one who had taken Chunyu out of the hospital six months ago. Chunyu's miraculous and rapid recovery had also left a very deep impression on him. Dr. Wen chatted with her for a while, actually trying to subtly probe Chunyu's mental state through conversation, but Chunyu remained remarkably stable, leaving Dr. Wen with no further doubts.
Date added: 2005-02-18 12:39:07
Then, she finally met Xu Wenya.
The room was bathed in winter sunlight. Xu Wenya's small body was curled up on the bed, looking just like a monkey. Chunyu called her name softly, but she was slow to respond, only raising her head after a long while, staring blankly at Chunyu as if she were a stranger. "Don't you recognize me?" Chunyu asked, staring into her eyes, while inwardly warning herself not to connect it to her past.
Xu Wenya's hair was neatly combed, and her face was clean, but she shook her head: "Who are you?" She had completely forgotten—Chunyu's lips trembled, and she was choked with sobs, unable to speak. Suddenly, Xu Wenya turned to look at the wall, and Chunyu noticed that the snow-white wall was covered with densely packed writing. She quickly went around to the wall and saw dozens of lines of the same English words—Chunyu couldn't decipher the meaning of these words at all; they covered almost the entire wall, all written in blue ballpoint pen. She hurriedly asked Xu Wenya, "Did you write those words on the wall?" Xu Wenya nodded. "Then what does this English word mean?" "It's him—" Xu Wenya said this in a somewhat mysterious tone.
But Chunyu still didn't understand, and she continued to ask, "What is it?"
Suddenly, Xu Wenya stood up from the bed and shouted, "Do you know what the 19th level of hell is?"
This crucial question immediately made Chunyu take a big step back. She tried to calm her racing heart and asked softly, "Do you know?"
But Xu Wenya didn't answer; instead, she repeated the question she had just asked. Chunyu thought of the tranquility of that night and Nan Xiaoqin in the early hours of yesterday morning. It seemed they were all the same.
Chunyu glanced at the English words on the wall one last time, memorized them, and left the ward. She didn't speak to Dr. Wen again, but walked out of the hospital with her head down.
As she walked to the hospital entrance, she suddenly heard someone calling her name.
Chunyu nervously looked up and saw a tall, imposing man standing in front of her. His sharp eyes were fixed on her. "Officer Ye Xiao?" She hadn't expected to run into Ye Xiao here and was momentarily flustered. "I'm surprised to see you again," Ye Xiao said, frowning and glancing at the hospital building ahead. "I thought you'd never want to come here again." "Yes, I never wanted to. But a classmate of mine is receiving treatment here, and I'm here to visit her." "Hmm, is she your roommate?"
Chunyu nodded nervously.
Ye Xiao said coldly, "You don't look well. Is something on your mind?"
She lowered her head and said, "It's nothing, I'm just feeling a little unwell." "Then go back and rest. Goodbye."
Chunyu nodded and quickly walked out the door.
Ye Xiao rested his chin on his hand, watching Chunyu's figure disappear into the distance, and he already had a general idea of what was going on.
He had already contacted the school and learned that in the dorm room next to Su Lan's, one girl had committed suicide, and another girl had developed schizophrenia afterward. Both girls were Chun Yu's roommates. Now, he was going to see the girl who had gone mad, Xu Wenya.
Ye Xiao also knew Dr. Wen; in fact, they had become quite familiar with each other since last year. The events surrounding Chunyu six months ago were something neither of them could understand.
Dr. Wen greeted Ye Xiao very politely and then took him to see Xu Wenya. Of course, he couldn't get any questions out of her, except for that one question—"Do you know what the 19th level of hell is?" Ye Xiao was initially startled, but Dr. Wen told him that Xu Wenya said this a dozen times a day, and everyone was used to it. Then, Ye Xiao saw the writing on the wall; Dr. Wen said no one could understand its meaning.
After leaving the ward, Ye Xiao shook his head and said, "Dr. Wen, why do you think she went crazy?"
"I learned from her school that she has always been a very healthy and lively girl, and has no history of mental illness." "It's not simply 'crazy,' but rather schizophrenia. This illness is common in adolescence, and the cause is difficult to pinpoint, but internal factors are generally considered primary, with genetics playing a significant role." "But I've already investigated; Xu Wenya's parents are both healthy, and there's no family history of the disease." "Of course, Xu Wenya's case is quite special; we can only confirm that it's not hereditary. Many patients exhibit personality traits such as being withdrawn, introverted, eccentric, timid, and shy before the onset of the illness, but from what I understand, Xu Wenya is the complete opposite; her personality is very cheerful and lively." "So, Xu Wenya is a very special case?" "Yes. From my observation, her condition is very unusual, much like Chunyu's six months ago."
Ye Xiao was immediately stunned: "Chunyu? I ran into her when I came in." "I ran into her too. I never expected Xu Wenya to be her classmate. I've never seen such a coincidence in the world." Dr. Wen seemed to still be thinking about Chunyu. He hesitated for a moment and said, "Chunyu is a miracle, just like Xu Wenya now. Perhaps it's hard to explain." "Could it really be because of hell?" "What did you say?"
Ye Xiao realized he had misspoke and quickly shook his head: "It's nothing." "The main symptom of schizophrenia is thought disorder..."
Disorders include emotional disorders, volitional disorders, and catatonic symptoms, but the most common is delusion—and Xu Wenya's delusional symptoms are very severe. She keeps talking about a monkey, clearly harboring delusions and fears about monkeys in her mind. "Then why do you think she has delusions?" "I'll research that. I'm very interested in this case now. I'll check some foreign medical literature; perhaps there are case records of this abroad."
Dr. Wen had studied in the United States for several years, a fact that Ye Xiao trusted implicitly.
As Ye Xiao walked out of the hospital, he thought of the question Xu Wenya had raised. Now he was certain that from Qingyou to Sulan to Xu Wenya, they had all met with misfortune because of hell.
So where exactly is hell?
In the afternoon, in the girls' dormitory.
Spring Rain spread a sheet of white paper on the table, on which a line of English letters was written:
These are the words Xu Wenya wrote on the wall of the ward. When Chunyu looked at the dense writing on the wall, she felt a chill run down her spine. Her girlish intuition told her that this English text must contain some special meaning.
She had already checked several dictionaries, but there was no word similar to "" in English. Perhaps it wasn't English at all, but some other European language? But Xu Wenya hadn't studied any other languages, so how could she have written this word? Could it be a person's name or a place name?
Yes, that's quite possible. Chunyu read it according to English pronunciation rules—, and it should be readable. If you read it by dividing it into syllables according to vowels, it would be: "———".
As Chunyu slowly uttered the four syllables, a name immediately came to mind—Mazzolini. Wasn't the pronunciation of "—" exactly the same as "Mazzolini"?
This cannot be a coincidence; the "" must be the English or Italian spelling of "Mazzolini".
Chunyu jumped up as if her mind had suddenly clicked. As for whether Mazzolini's statement was true or not, perhaps only Gao Xuan could answer that.
Yes, I'll go find him now and ask him about this. Chunyu immediately changed her clothes and ran out of the dormitory.
Half an hour later, Chunyu arrived at the Fine Arts Department.
Based on her memory from last time, she found Gao Xuan's studio upstairs, but there was no one inside.
She had to ask around to find out that Gao Xuan was having class on the third floor, but wasn't today Saturday?
Spring Rain ran up to the third floor with questions in her mind.
The third floor was a large classroom. Chunyu quietly pushed open the door and went in, only to find it packed with students, making her feel extremely awkward. Dozens of unfamiliar eyes turned to her, wondering where she came from. Gao Xuan was standing on the podium. He saw Chunyu and immediately smiled slightly at her. Chunyu quickly chose a seat in the last row. Surrounded by girls staring at Gao Xuan with admiration, she could only pretend to listen to the lecture. Gao Xuan, wearing a black trench coat, did indeed look dashing on the podium. At this moment, the lights in the classroom dimmed, and a huge slide was projected at the back. Gao Xuan stepped aside and said to the image on the slide, "This is Munch's 'The Scream'."