Exorzismus

Kapitel 37

However, the hellish game is not over yet; he must find out the secret behind the number *****741111 as soon as possible.

Of all the girls involved, it's certain that Su Lan was the first to start playing the Hell Game. Chun Yu also provided information about the company Su Lan worked for before the incident, a company primarily engaged in SMS services, which caught Ye Xiao's attention. He first investigated the company's background; it had been established just a few months prior, and the owner was Yan Mingliang, a graduate of Chun Yu's university who had studied in Europe for many years and had only recently returned to China.

This morning, Ye Xiao, carrying a letter of introduction from the Public Security Bureau, went to the telecommunications department to investigate the business operations of Yan Mingliang's company. He found that these operations were all legal and there was nothing suspicious about them. However, the subsequent business records led Ye Xiao to an unexpected discovery. It turned out that two months ago, Yan Mingliang had launched a text message game called "HELL" and registered a number for it, *****741111. However, because no one had seen the game's content, it had never been put into operation.

This discovery greatly excited Ye Xiao. "HELL" means "hell," so the "HELL" SMS game is obviously a hell game, and Yan Mingliang's registered number *****741111 is irrefutable proof.

Is Yan Mingliang the ghost hiding behind hell?

The target is clear; Ye Xiao must catch him and get to the bottom of things.

Ye Xiao has now entered the office building and is taking the elevator to Yan Mingliang's company.

But by then the company had already closed for the day, leaving only one girl chatting online. The girl became nervous when she saw Ye Xiao in his police uniform, because she didn't know where Yan Mingliang was.

Ye Xiao then asked about Su Lan, and the girl seemed to remember her. She nervously replied, "Su Lan only worked here for a month, but Boss Yan valued her highly and asked her to help develop the SMS game."

Do you know what kind of text message game it is?

"All we know is that the game's English name is 'HELL,' and that our boss planned and developed it himself, even programming it himself. None of us employees know anything about the game's content, and no one has ever seen it. But for some reason, the game was never developed, and Su-lan stopped coming to work at the company."

Where is the desk that Su-lan used?

The girl pointed to the seat by the window. Ye Xiao walked over and found a card from Chunyu on the table.

"There's a female college student named Chunyu doing her internship here right now," the girl said, dazed.

The card had Chunyu's picture on it, and Ye Xiao knew who she was, of course. He hadn't expected Chunyu to work here too; why hadn't she said so that day?

Suddenly, he clenched his fist, then released it at its strongest, pulled out his phone, and dialed Chunyu's number. However, Ye Xiao heard the reply, "Sorry, the number you dialed is temporarily unavailable."

His heart clenched again. He dialed several times, but Chunyu's phone remained unreachable.

Where exactly is the spring rain?

Ye Xiao anxiously looked out the window; a snowflake melted on the glass...

At this moment, spring rain is in the eighteenth level of hell.

The snow was falling heavier and heavier; this was a heavy snowfall that hadn't been seen in the south for many years. The empty campus was filled with snowflakes, as alert as a graveyard.

Spring Rain had already entered the gates of the Academy of Wisdom, walked around the large lawn covered with withered grass and white snow, and arrived at the front of the school's main building.

She didn't know what she was doing, whether she was hypnotized or brainwashed.

Just because of a random text message, she ran to that damned "No. 999, Road to the Underworld." Like a child playing hide-and-seek, she was led by the nose by that text message, step by step, to this desolate, ghostly place. Now she's completely lost, let alone able to find her way back.

Just as he began to regret it, the text message alert rang again, once again from a number from hell—

"Please enter the main building, walk to the right along the corridor, enter the multi-functional classroom, exit through the large teacher's side door, continue along a pebble path until you enter the library building, and then reply with '1'."

Looking at the directions in the text message, Chunyu felt a little dizzy. Should she go or not? Who knew what might be hidden in this dark building? Turning back now would probably just lead to getting lost anyway.

Now that we've entered the 18th level of hell, let's keep going. We should be only a thin veil away from that final secret.

She tiptoed into the building. The corridors inside were pitch black, with only a sliver of light at the end. Following the instructions in the text message, she walked along the corridor to the right. But the building was enormous, and it took her a while to find an open door leading to a large, multi-functional classroom.

The large classroom had over a dozen rows of seats, enough to seat more than 100 people. However, the seats were covered in a thick layer of dust, and the blackboard on the front wall was broken. Chunyu carefully made her way through the classroom and, sure enough, found a side door. After exiting through this door and turning several corners, Chunyu finally saw the library building.

The main door was wide open, so she went inside. The interior was paved entirely with marble, and although it was covered in a thick layer of dust, it still felt quite grand; however, there wasn't a single book to be seen.

Chunyu took out her phone and replied with '1'.

Hell's text message was replied to quickly—

"Walk through the library, follow the tree-lined path until you reach a four-story dormitory building, then enter room 309."

Chunyu noticed that the text message did not end with the famous reply '1', so how would the other party know when she arrived?

Never mind that, she walked through the library and sure enough, she saw a tree-lined path. The path was incredibly long, and after walking for more than ten minutes, she finally found a dormitory building.

It was impossible to tell whether it was a boys' or girls' dormitory; it just felt particularly eerie in the snow, like a medieval European castle. She brushed the snowflakes off her head and went inside.

Reaching the third floor, she walked through the functional corridor to room 309 and took a deep breath. She gently pushed the door, and to her surprise, it opened easily.

The room was dimly lit, containing three bunk beds, but nothing was on them. She stood blankly in the doorway, staring at the six-person dormitory, wondering where the people who had lived there were now. Were they also in hell?

Suddenly, she felt a sense of despair, as if she had become Chihiro from Miyazaki Hayao's paintings, suddenly walking into a huge theme park, but not seeing a single person, and then being dragged into another world.

But Chunyu suddenly made a new discovery: there was a plastic bag on the windowsill of her dormitory. She wondered what was inside. She quickly went to the windowsill, opened the bag, and found that there was a vacuum-packed cake and a bottle of cola inside.

Could it be that the students from two years ago forgot to take their breakfast with them?

She checked the cake's production date, and it was exactly yesterday! She wondered if she had misread the year, but she hadn't; it was produced yesterday.

The cakes made yesterday must have been bought today. So, this morning—no, maybe just now—someone put these foods on the windowsill waiting for her to arrive?

By this time, it was already dark outside, and Chunyu was feeling a bit hungry. Since everything had been prepared for her, she decided not to refuse this hellish treat; even in death, she wanted to be a well-fed ghost. After finishing her meal, Chunyu found a note in the bag that read—

"After dinner, walk out of the dormitory, turn left into the gymnasium, and stop by the swimming pool."

He followed the instructions on the note and went to the gymnasium.

The school gymnasium doors were open, and she cautiously walked in, only to find that the lights were on. Guided by the lights, she first passed an indoor basketball court. The seats on both sides were neatly arranged, and the wooden floor of the basketball court looked brand new, although it was covered in dust.

Chunyu walked straight across the basketball court, looking at the stands on both sides; the feeling was truly peculiar. At the very back of the basketball court was a small gate, leading directly to a swimming pool.

But what's even more surprising is that the swimming pool was filled with water!

The water looked very clean, probably because it had just been filled. The swimming pool was unusually empty, with a dozen large lights hanging under the high ceiling, and every step Chunyu took echoed eerily.

Suddenly, Chunyu turned around and looked at the wall behind her. On the snow-white wall of the swimming pool, a line of large red characters was written—

The deepest secret in your heart.

Date added: 2005-02-18 12:48:54

This was a fatal problem. Chunyu trembled as she looked at the words, almost collapsing to her knees. The words were written very large, each character about one square meter in size, making them particularly eye-catching on the high wall.

Yes, those eight large characters, like knives, pierced deeply into her eyes; the red color, in particular, easily evoked images of blood. Chunyu could only retreat a few steps. She didn't stop until she reached the edge of the swimming pool, silently reciting in her heart: "The deepest secret in my heart."

Suddenly, the text message alarm rang again. With a trembling thumb, she opened the message—

"Kill him."

As I saw those three words, I seemed to hear a voice repeating them over and over again.

She stared blankly at the entire swimming pool, as if the words, "Kill him!" were echoing repeatedly from the ceiling to the bottom.

"Yes, let's stop hiding it," Chunyu whispered. "Kill him!"

This is the secret in her heart.

This secret, buried deep in her heart for many years, had never been told to anyone—in the summer of her fifteenth year, she desperately wanted to kill that person: her skin.

He was a man with a strange odor, always staring at her body with filthy eyes. On the night her mother was hospitalized, he actually took advantage of her. Chunyu only protected herself by threatening suicide. Yes, she hated him, hated him intensely, hated him to the point of wanting to kill him. She thought that man wouldn't be pitied even if he died a thousand times. She wanted to use every method to end him, without revealing her murderous intent. But Skin remained unaware of the danger lurking nearby, still staring at her with those eyes. Then one night, while Chunyu was washing dishes in the kitchen, the man hugged her from behind, his thick lips pressed against her ear, the stench assaulting her face. Chunyu struggled desperately, but she was no match for Skin's strong hands. The man also covered her mouth, preventing her from screaming for help.

Just as Chunyu was almost in despair, she suddenly saw a kitchen knife. She reached out and grabbed it with difficulty, then stabbed it behind her. She felt the blade enter a soft body, and a sticky, hot liquid immediately spurted out. The hands that were gripping her tightly began to convulse, until Chunyu managed to break free. The knife fell to the ground. Chunyu turned around, trembling, and saw a completely distorted face. The man was still convulsing, his abdomen stained red, lying on the ground, lifeless. Chunyu was completely terrified. She stared blankly at the dead body on the ground—yes, she had killed him.

This is her deepest secret.

Suddenly, Chunyu heard a familiar footstep, which seemed to be the figure of a man. Then she smelled that strange odor.

The man's footsteps echoed back and forth inside the swimming pool, as if the water in the pool was rippling along with them. He slowly walked up to Chunyu, revealing his ugly face.

—My stepfather is back.

Chunyu's eyes widened, and the man's face was reflected in her pupils; his abdomen still appeared to be a deep red. He stared coldly at Chunyu, then suddenly said softly, "Your turn."

"No!"

Chunyu screamed and took a big step back, only to find that there was nothing under her feet. It turned out that there was a swimming pool behind her.

Wearing a thick ski jacket, Chunyu sank to the bottom of the cool, clear water. Unlike all drowning victims, she did not struggle, but lay calmly at the bottom. The pool water, close to 0 degrees Celsius, was like the frigid North Atlantic. The icy water froze her skin, ensuring she would remain forever young. Her mother and a group of beautiful sea siren came to her side and sang her "Song of the Atlantic."

Suddenly, a dark figure leaped into the pool. Although the icy water made him tremble, he could already see Chunyu at the bottom. He held his breath and dived to the bottom of the pool, then embraced Chunyu with both hands and struggled to lift him up.

The spring rain was finally lifted to the surface and began to breathe heavily.

Fortunately, she had been holding her breath the whole time, so she hadn't choked on any water. Those strong hands pushed her onto the shore. She was soaked to the bone and lay on her back on the bank, shivering from the cold.

Suddenly, she felt a pair of hot lips press against hers, and warm breath rushed into her trachea. She instinctively knew who it was, and wrapped her arms tightly around his back, unwilling to let their lips part. This was no longer CPR, but a passionate kiss between two people.

"Gao Xuan... Gao Xuan..."

Chunyu silently repeated his name in her heart, and finally opened her eyes. Yes, she saw Gao Dan; he was looking at her sadly. When he saw that Chunyu had opened her eyes, he couldn't help but whisper, "You're awake!"

The cold had rendered her speechless, and her lips had turned completely purple, but her eyes were filled with tenderness.

Gao Xuan dressed Chunyu in his own clothes, then carried her on his back and whispered in her ear, "Hold on, don't fall asleep."

Gao Xuan carried her out of the back door of the swimming pool. The campus was terrifyingly large in the dark, and there were no streetlights. Gao Xuan could only rely on his memory to rush out of the gate of the Talent Academy.

Gao Xuan didn't take Chunyu back to school; instead, he went to his art gallery. He carried Chunyu all the way to the third floor of the gallery, a simple private residence of about 100 square meters. He led Chunyu into the bathroom and whispered, "Take a hot shower quickly, or you'll get sick."

After soaking for more than an hour, Chunyu's body temperature returned to normal, her skin regained its color, and her mind gradually cleared. At least she knew she was still alive.

There were some clean girls' clothes on the bathroom door, which Gao Xuan had specially bought for her. She put on the clothes and walked out of the bathroom, feeling that she was about to faint from exhaustion.

Gao Xuan had prepared a small room for her, and she came to the bedside as if in a dream. Gao Xuan covered her with a thick blanket, gave her a cup of coffee, then turned off the light and left the room.

Before the spring rain settled into a deep sleep, I muttered to myself—

"You have passed through the eighteenth level of hell and entered the nineteenth level."

She struggled to her feet, recalling everything that had happened yesterday—she had entered the 18th level of hell, a closed private university, and following the text message and instructions, she arrived at the school's swimming pool. Standing by the overflowing pool, she remembered her deepest secret. Then her stepfather, who had been dead for many years, appeared; that man came before her once more, driving her to despair and causing her to fall into the pool. Just as she was about to drown, Gao Xuan jumped in and saved her, bringing her here. Yes, this was Gao Xuan's home; below was his art gallery.

Chunyu crossed her arms and took a deep breath. She had already passed the 18th level of hell, so what was the 19th level?

Then she remembered her phone from the previous night, which, along with her soaked clothes, had all been left at the swimming pool. For her, this hellish game could no longer continue.

However, she knew she was not out of hell yet, and a certain ghost was still waiting for her.

The door suddenly opened, and it was Gao Xuan. Seeing that Chunyu had woken up, he immediately sat down by the bed and said, "Are you feeling alright? If you feel unwell, I'll take you to the hospital right away."

Chunyu stared at him blankly, then suddenly hugged him after a moment of silence, murmuring, "I'm fine now, as long as you're by my side... as long as you're by my side..."

Gao Xuan gently kissed her: "As long as you're alright, that's all that matters. If something had happened to you, I really don't know how I would go on living."

Why did you go to the swimming pool last night?