Exorzismus

Kapitel 26

I've received plenty of text messages like this on my phone before, but actually doing this job made me realize how incredibly complicated it is. In one day, Chunyu typed in hundreds of text messages and dozens of MMS pictures. Even though it was just "copy and paste," she always chose the newest and coolest ones, such as: "The warden asks the condemned prisoner sitting in the electric chair before his execution: 'Do you have any requests?' The prisoner replies: 'I only hope you can hold my hand during the execution, so I can feel a little better.'" "Dear friend, receiving this message will cost you 50 yuan, which will be used to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Iraq. We express our gratitude on behalf of the Iraqi people! For details, please contact Iraqi Mobile!" "Dear user, your mobile phone will be suspended at midnight tomorrow! If you ask why, given your intelligence, we can hardly explain it to you!"... Although these nonsensical text messages weren't enough for her to forget everything that had happened these past few days, at least they allowed her a rare moment of relaxation.

Interns are allowed to leave work earlier than others, and Chunyu left the company around 4 PM. It was the busiest time in the office building, and she was the only one in the elevator going down. When it reached the seventh floor, the elevator doors suddenly opened, and a young man walked in. He froze upon seeing Chunyu, shook his head, and said, "I haven't mistaken you for someone else, have I?"

Chunyu didn't recognize him at first either. She squinted and looked at him for a moment before finally calling out his name: "Yang Yafei?" "By the way, how come you graduated so quickly?"

"No, I'm still a senior in college, and I'm interning at a company here." She really didn't expect to run into Yang Yafei here. He was two years ahead of them, and they used to be in the student drama club at school, so they were fairly familiar with each other. "I think I heard you went abroad to pursue a master's degree." "Yes, I just came back from the United States last week, and I just went to a company on the seventh floor to sign a contract."

The elevator had reached the ground floor. Yang Yafei smiled and said, "It's been a long time. Let's have dinner together."

Chunyu hesitated. Yang Yafei was the kind of guy who was very attractive to girls. Back in the student drama club, he consistently played the male lead, always eliciting screams from the girls whenever he went on stage. However, Chunyu had never had any feelings for him, a stark contrast to Qingyou. After Yang Yafei's repeated invitations, Chunyu finally agreed. The restaurant was across from the office building, and the prices were relatively reasonable. As soon as they sat down, Yang Yafei asked, "Are you alright? You look different than before, like a young lady." "I don't think I've changed at all; it's you who looks more and more like a returnee."

Yang Yafei's expression turned serious, and he asked in a low voice, "Is Qingyou alright?"

"Quiet and secluded?" Chunyu was immediately stunned. She put down her chopsticks, lowered her head, and remained silent for a long time. "What happened?"

Yes, Yang Yafei only returned to China last week, so of course he wouldn't know about this.

Chunyu looked at him coldly and said, word by word, "Qingyou is dead." "Dead?" Yang Yafei was immediately stunned. He covered his mouth and it took him a long time to speak. "How did she die?" "She committed suicide. Just over ten days ago, she died in the haunted building." "The haunted building? The one in the school that's rumored to be haunted?" Yang Yafei seemed to suddenly understand something. He frowned and said, "Where in the haunted building did she die?" "Why do you even ask that? I was the first to find her body. It was in a room on the second floor of the haunted building."

Yang Yafei shook his head in anguish: "The room on the second floor—Oh my god! She died for Chu Chu."

Chunyu almost stood up. She asked anxiously, "You're saying Qingyou died for Chuchu?" "That must be it. Chunyu, you don't know, there are some things we've been keeping secret all along."

Since Qingyou is already dead, I might as well say it.

"You just mentioned Chuchu. What does Qingyou's death have to do with Chuchu?" Chuchu was a year ahead of Chunyu and had also been an actress in the student drama club. She had always been Yang Yafei's girlfriend, but I heard she went abroad two years ago. "You're a member of the drama club, so you must know about Chuchu and my relationship. But you might not know that Qingyou had a crush on me for a long time. She secretly confessed to me many times, but I always politely rejected her." "Qingyou had a crush on you. I could see some clues back then, but she wasn't willing to tell me." "You should know that Qingyou is a very stubborn girl. Once she sets her mind on something, she'll definitely do it. Although she was indifferent to me in public, she secretly loved me passionately. This isn't just me bragging; she once showed me her diary." "She showed you her diary?"

Chunyu knew that Qingyou had a habit of keeping a diary before her junior year of college, and that she always kept her diary entries very secret, never letting even her best friend Chunyu see them. Her diary must have recorded her most private thoughts. "To be honest, Qingyou's diary terrified me. She's really gone mad, thinking about me day and night. At the same time, she's also developed a strong jealousy towards Chuchu. In her diary, she said she hates Chuchu and wants to break us up." "She really thinks that?" "Qingyou not only thinks that, but she actually does it. She secretly follows me, and whenever I'm with Chuchu, she sends me text messages. The language in those messages is very provocative, like something shameful has happened between us. And you know Chuchu's personality; she's a straightforward girl. The moment she sees me looking down at my messages, she immediately snatches the phone away. The result is predictable." "Chuchu thinks you have someone else?" "She's completely convinced." Yang Yafei gave a bitter smile. "No matter how I explain, she simply doesn't believe me, convinced I've deceived her feelings. Qingyou continues to harass me, even directly talking to Chuchu, making it impossible for me to clear my name. Chuchu is someone who likes to go to extremes; she even publicly threatened me with suicide."

Hearing the word "suicide," Chunyu's heart skipped a beat: "I never expected her to be so strong-willed." "Sigh! I guess girls these days are too willful. And I'm a guy after all, I still have my pride, I've always been arrogant, I just couldn't stand this, so I broke up with Chuchu. Chuchu probably couldn't take the blow, she threatened to go to the haunted building and commit suicide if I left her. But I still left her, I thought she was just bluffing, I never thought she would really..." "Commit suicide?" "Yes, Chuchu didn't go back to her dorm that night, her roommate found me, and that's when I realized something might really have happened to her. So I ran to the haunted building, and sure enough, I found Chuchu's body in that room on the second floor."

At this point in his speech, Yang Yafei couldn't hold back his tears.

Although Chunyu's heart was also in turmoil, she tried to calm her breathing and asked calmly, "How did Chuchu die?" "Chuchu hanged herself. She tied the rope to the iron bars on the top of the window, and her body was hanging against the window glass." "Hanged herself in the window?"

Chunyu gasped. She immediately thought of that digital photo—the figure in the second-floor window of the haunted building. Could that be— "It's all my fault!" Yang Yafei lowered her head, almost sobbing. "I should have realized it sooner. Chuchu was a stubborn girl; she was the type to go down a dead end and do what she said she would do. If I had paid attention to her back then, she probably wouldn't have died." "Why didn't you know then?" "Chuchu's suicide made the school very nervous. They quietly notified her family to handle the matter, and I was disciplined by the school for it. As for why you didn't know, it's probably because Chuchu was a year ahead of you, and the dormitories were very far apart. The school did a good job of keeping it a secret; they just told you that Chuchu went abroad."

Chunyu regained her composure and asked softly, "Does Qingyou know about this?" "Of course Qingyou knows. The teacher even had a private talk with her. She was shocked when she learned of Chuchu's suicide. She never expected such an outcome. Perhaps feeling guilty towards Chuchu, Qingyou withdrew from the student drama club and never spoke a word to me again."

“No wonder Qingyou quit the drama club for no apparent reason during her sophomore year. I remember she was very depressed during that time, crying under the covers every night. We roommates were all very worried about her, not knowing what had happened to her, and she kept it from us. Sigh! Qingyou is also a girl who cares about her reputation; she must be ashamed to talk about such a shameful thing.” “So, when you said Qingyou committed suicide in the haunted building, I immediately thought of Chuchu. I think Qingyou must have been going through a lot these past two years. She once said that she killed Chuchu, that she felt she owed Chuchu a life, and that even if she repented for it for the rest of her life, it wouldn't be enough to atone for her sins.” Chunyu understood a lot now, and she nodded: “Thank you for letting me know this hidden story, for letting me know why Qingyou chose to commit suicide in the haunted building.”

At this point, Yang Yafei was speechless. After paying the bill, he hurriedly said goodbye to Chunyu without even leaving a business card.

Stepping out of the restaurant, the sky was already full of stars, and the cold wind ruffled the long hair of many girls. Neon advertisements filled the air, and Chunyu looked up at the office buildings across the street, unable to make out her own company's windows.

On her way back to school by subway, Chunyu finally got a seat. In the empty subway car at night, looking at the tunnel rushing past the opposite window, it felt like she was heading into an unknown cave.

Across from her sat a young couple, oblivious to everyone else, whispering sweet nothings. Chunyu's presence seemed quite intrusive. She discreetly moved to the other end of the seat. Just then, her text message alert rang. It was from Gao Xuan: "Could you come to the school library now?"

"Go to the school library now? Are you kidding me?" Chunyu checked the time; it was already eight o'clock, and the school library had long since closed. She immediately replied, "Now?"

Is there anything important?

Gao Xuan replied: "It's something very important, about hell."

Seeing the last two words, "Hell," Chunyu's heart tightened. She could only reply, "Okay. I'm on the subway now, you'll have to wait for me for a while."

Half an hour later, Chunyu returned to school. Walking through the cold, quiet campus in the darkness, she carefully watched the bushes around her, as if some wild beast lurked within. Fortunately, the scattered streetlights guided her, and she finally found her way to the library.

The school library was silent under the cover of night, with only the general outline of the building visible. However, a faint light shone from a few windows on the ground floor. The thought of meeting a man like Gao Xuan in such a special place on a cold winter night reminded her of scenes from novels.

Chunyu arrived at the library entrance, only to find it locked. She could only send Gao Xuan another text message: "I'm at the library entrance now, are you inside?"

Gao Xuan's reply arrived with lightning speed: "Please come in through the back door."

Chunyu felt even more nervous; she had never seen a back door before. But now that she was here, she couldn't very well go back. She carefully circled around the bushes, estimating that she had reached the other side of the library.

A sliver of light shone from behind, faintly illuminating a small door. She quickly went to the door, which was ajar. She quietly pushed it open and went inside. In front of her was a narrow passage, with only a dim lamp shining overhead.

She slowly turned a corner when suddenly a hand touched her shoulder. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she almost screamed. But the hand was so strong that she couldn't move at all. Then she felt a gentle breath and immediately knew who it was.

Gao Xuan's gentle voice rang in her ears: "Chunyu, it's me." "Don't touch me, what do you want to do?"

Although she stopped struggling, she was still extremely nervous.

In the darkness, she couldn't see Gao Xuan's face, but she could feel a pair of clear eyes staring at her. Gao Xuan had already let go of her hand, and he said softly, "I was afraid you wouldn't be able to find your way in, so come with me quickly."

Chunyu took a few breaths and followed Gao Xuan's footsteps. After turning several corners, they finally arrived at the reading room lobby. The reading room was several hundred square meters in size. The echoes of their footsteps reverberated in the ancient and spacious hall. Almost all the lights were off, making the surroundings dark and eerie. Only a desk lamp on the table provided a faint light.

Gao Xuan's pale face was also revealed, and his expression seemed somewhat embarrassed: "I'm very sorry, did I scare you?" "I don't understand, is the library still open at night?" "The librarian here is my friend. He gave me the key to the back door so I could come in and check some books and materials."

Chunyu looked back at the hall and the high ceiling above her, which was very blurry in the dim shadows, with only a patch of light visible in front of her, like a stage in the dark. She shook her head and asked, "Why didn't you come during the day? Why did you call me out in the middle of the night?" "Actually, I've been here all day, from day to night, and I just made a discovery an hour ago." Gao Xuan spread out a pile of books on the table and said, "You'll understand when you read them."

Chunyu sat down at the table with some skepticism. Under the lamp, she saw several old books, all printed vertically, probably from the 1930s.

Gao Xuan opened one of the books and said, "This is a monograph by a professor from our school in the 1930s. He traveled to various places for more than ten years to conduct research and collect various folk legends related to hell, which he compiled into this book. Unfortunately, his work was not valued at the time and was left in the library after publication, almost forgotten by later generations. Today, I checked the school library's catalog over the past few decades and finally found these books."

Although his voice wasn't very loud, it echoed strangely in the dimly lit, empty hall, drifting slowly and making Chunyu's heart flutter.

Chunyu tried her best to ignore the sounds and casually flipped through a few pages of an old book. The traditional Chinese characters were really difficult to read, and she shook her head and said, "Tell me what these books are about." "Legends of hell exist in both the East and the West. The books we are going to look at now mainly record Chinese folk legends. But there are also many different versions in folklore. Let me write them down."

Gao Xuan spread several sheets of paper on the table and wrote a few lines of text: (I) The Eight Great Hells, also known as the Eight Hot Hells or the Eight Great Hot Hells. These are the eight great hells: the Hell of Living in Circumstances, the Hell of Black Ropes, the Hell of the Crowded, the Hell of Howling, the Hell of Great Crying, the Hell of Blazing Heat, the Hell of Great Scorching Heat, and the Hell of Avici Hell.

(ii) The Eight Cold Hells, namely, the eight cold hells of Ebhuta, Nirabhuta, Atha, Apopo, Huhupo, Apopo, Padma, and Maha Padma.

Looking at the names of the hells written by Gao Xuan, Chunyu shook her head and said, "You've written so many, but I still don't know what they mean." "It would take three days and three nights to explain them in detail. Anyway, they're all absurd folk tales, probably found in *Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio*." Gao Xuan drew a horizontal line under Avici Hell with his pen. "Please note Avici Hell, the lowest of the eight great hells; it's also called the Hell of Incessant Suffering." "The Hell of Incessant Suffering? That sounds familiar." "Have you seen *Infernal Affairs*? The title comes from the legendary 'Hell of Incessant Suffering'..." "It comes from 'hell'." Chunyu nodded: "No wonder people say 'Infernal Affairs' has philosophical implications; so that's where it comes from." "However, all of these combined don't even amount to the eighteen levels of hell people often talk about, let alone the nineteenth level." Gao Xuan spread out another piece of paper and said quietly, "There's another version." He slowly wrote on the paper—the first level of hell: the Tongue-Pulling Hell. "Those who sow discord, break up relationships, slander and harm others, or lie and deceive will be sent to the Tongue-Pulling Hell, where their tongues will be clamped with iron pincers and pulled out alive."

After listening to Gao Xuan's explanation, Chunyu was trembling uncontrollably. And the word "tongue-pulling" was prominently displayed on the paper.