Zyklon-Säbel

Kapitel 87

“Although I didn’t see the title, I did see a label on the book with your school’s name on it. I guess it was borrowed from the library!” Fang Lei said.

"Really?" I turned to look at Yu Bo's window and saw him standing there staring at us blankly. Unfortunately, the light seemed particularly dim, and I couldn't see the expression on his face clearly.

Books? Wait a minute, isn't his mother the librarian at our school? What books would he borrow from the school? Is it another way of commemorating his mother?

"Strange!" I tilted my head and thought for a moment, then asked Fang Lei, "Did you really not see the book title clearly?"

"No!" Fang Lei shook her head regretfully and said, "I couldn't see it clearly because it was covered by another book, but it seems to be a book with full-color pages."

A book entirely in color? What kind of book could it be? About photography? Yu Bo has always been very interested in photography. Probably! I told myself.

Returning to school empty-handed, I noticed Li Yang and A Bao were nowhere to be found, and I couldn't sit still, feeling restless as if something was wrong. I glanced at my watch; it was only around three o'clock. Fang Lei said she was going to visit a classmate, leaving me alone in the room.

Ugh! What should I do? I kicked my feet in frustration, pacing back and forth like a caged animal. Finally, I decided to go for a walk, and my destination was naturally the library, which I had frequented since my university days.

When I entered the library, it was almost empty. I randomly picked a few books from the shelf and found a secluded corner to sit down. The absence of others created a pleasant atmosphere for reading. However, no matter how hard I tried to concentrate, I couldn't focus. I felt like there was a pair of eyes watching me from behind the bookshelves, making me extremely uncomfortable.

I opened the book and closed it again, feeling like I was just killing time. Just as I was feeling annoyed, a clear voice rang in my ear: "Is this how you read a book?"

Looking up, I saw Su Qiao standing in front of me, dressed entirely in black, with an exaggerated silver necklace that accentuated her somber appearance. Especially striking was the large, round silver ornament hanging around her neck, seemingly engraved with strange patterns that gave me a slightly dizzy feeling.

"Su Qiao?" I greeted her with a smile. Her black hair was tied high at the back of her head, which gave her a refreshing and heroic look.

"Can't concentrate on reading?" Su Qiao sat down opposite me and placed the book she had borrowed on the table.

"You like watching these?" I couldn't help but chuckle as I looked at things like "How to Cook Sichuan Cuisine," "Betty's Kitchen," and "Cantonese Soup."

"What are you laughing at?" Su Qiao pouted, a little annoyed.

"Oh! It's nothing, I just didn't expect our great psychologist to read this kind of book," I said with a sigh.

"What's wrong with that? Cooking well is something every woman should be able to do. Besides..." Su Qiao smiled and patted the book, saying, "Isn't it said that to win a man's heart, you must first win his stomach?"

"Oh? So you've already caught some men?" I joked.

"Sigh~~~!" Su Qiao sighed sadly, "Unfortunately, it's not there yet!"

"Hehe! Well, you've done your best!" I joked.

"Yeah! Keep it up!" Su Qiao chimed in, then, as if remembering something, pulled out a very old-looking book from the pile of cooking books. The book's cover was even yellowed, and handed it to me, saying, "Look at this book, it's very interesting!"

"Oh?" I took the book. The title was simple and straightforward: 'Learning to Cook.' But when I opened it, it was quite interesting. It was covered with dense notes, or more accurately, annotations. I'd heard of people annotating novels like *Dream of the Red Chamber* before, but this was the first time I'd seen someone leave annotations in a cookbook, and quite a considerable number at that. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was all from the same person—refined and elegant, seemingly a woman's handwriting. Although I couldn't understand how to cook, the annotations were very professional, something an ordinary person couldn't write. Especially some of the annotations pointing out shortcomings in the recipes and suggesting improvements—it seemed this person was truly dedicated to cooking.

"Was this also borrowed from here?" I asked.

"Yes! And it was placed in a corner! I found it by chance," Su Qiao replied with a smile.

"This really is the essence of the book!" I returned the book to Su Qiao.

"And this last part is even funnier!" Su Qiao flipped to the last page of the book and read it to me: "Cooking is a pleasure, and cooking for your loved one is even more blissful. I am so happy right now. I want to cook the best food in the world for him, give him everything, and use the best ingredients to cook the most beautiful dishes in the world."

The best ingredients? Delicious food? I suddenly thought of Zhou Xiangrong, that woman who had gone mad. I shook my head; I didn't want to think about unpleasant things at this moment.

"The person who wrote this has a distinctly paranoid personality, and doesn't seem entirely confident about the happiness she speaks of," Su Qiao said, as if analyzing a patient.

"Oh? How do you know? How can outsiders tell whether someone is happy or not?" I asked curiously.

"Happiness is a personal matter, yet it's also the psychological state most easily discernible to outsiders. I said she lacked confidence because her words sounded like a declaration, a declaration of her own happiness. But true happiness is precisely the kind that needs no declaration. This only reveals her inner uncertainty and hesitation; she wants to grasp it, but doesn't know if it can last. That's why she stubbornly believes that as long as she can cook delicious meals for her loved one, she's happy. How can happiness be measured solely by delicious food?" Su Qiao seemed to be speaking from experience, continuing, "Besides, how could someone so easily write down their innermost thoughts in a book that isn't their own, a book that anyone can see? Doesn't this just prove her inner uncertainty?"

"I'm truly impressed by you!" I looked at Su Qiao, who was extremely serious in front of me, and said, "You judge someone else's happiness with just a few words? Then look at me, am I happy or not?"

"You could say you're happy, and you could say you're not." Su Qiao looked into my eyes, and my heart began to pound inexplicably.

"How so?" I asked Su Qiao.

“Happiness is having friends and a lover, seemingly having everything. But in reality, only you know best whether you truly have it,” Su Qiao said calmly.

Do you have friends and a lover? Do you?

Of course I have it!

But why do I feel uneasy?

"Hehe! Just kidding." Su Qiao suddenly stood up, waved the book in her hand at me, and said, "I'm going to find my happiness!" Before I could react, she strode out of my sight. Watching her back, so similar to Yin Xue's, I couldn't help but ask myself, do I have friends and a lover?

Yes, of course I have it! I flipped through the book restlessly, unable to calm myself down. The sky outside the window grew darker and darker, and I felt a sense of oppression, a damp and stifling feeling in the air before a storm.

I stood up, intending to go back before the storm, but just as I was about to leave, a little girl suddenly appeared before me, hiding behind a bookshelf and staring intently at me. My heart tightened, and my body froze. That look...it was so familiar. Where had I seen it before...?

Where?

I slowly walked over, and the little girl lowered her head. I could only see that her long black hair was slowly withering and turning yellow, instantly becoming the color of straw.

She stretched out her hand, her small hand horribly pale, but her fingernails were black, and dark red blood dripped from her sharp fingertips. The blood dripped more and more, until finally it flowed out like water from a faucet. In an instant, a large pool of red blood appeared on the floor around the little girl, bubbling like a deep pool, and an indescribable stench almost made me vomit.

"Tsk~!" The little girl suddenly looked up at me, revealing her face—a face covered in wrinkles, old and frail, with dark circles around her eyes and terrifying eyes, tiny black pupils the size of grains of rice. She glared fiercely at me, making tsk-tsk sounds. The little girl's body and her aged face—this eerie combination sent chills down my spine. Her previously white clothes instantly turned bright red, and she turned and walked away from me. That crimson figure flashed past my eyes.

Where was she going? I chased after her. In this room full of bookshelves, it was as if we were playing a game of cat and mouse. I could only see her in a red dress and withered hair like straw. She kept turning back to look at me as she jumped around. A strange smile appeared on her wrinkled face, and her eyes gradually turned completely white, without any black pupils.

Suddenly, I heard a little girl's eerie, shrill laugh, like a sob stuck in her throat, filled with mockery and resentment. And then there was another sound…

Those were the sounds of men and women breathing heavily during lovemaking...

Just as I rounded a bookshelf, her red figure vanished, and what appeared before me sent chills down my spine and made me tremble. A surge of anger rushed to my head. My happiness seemed to crumble in an instant.

Those were Li Yang and Fang Lei, one my friend and the other my lover, yet here, right before my eyes, they were committing adultery! The fear flickering in Fang Lei's eyes made it clearer that she was already half-undressed. At that moment, I suddenly felt like killing someone!

Murder? Who to kill? Li Yang or Fang Lei...?

I rushed over and grabbed Li Yang. At that moment, all I wanted was blood. An unprecedented thirst for killing made my whole body tremble with excitement. Yes, excitement…

This thought even startled me...

Volume 3: Delicacies of Hell, Chapter 25: List

Volume 3: Delicacies of Hell, Chapter 25: List

"What are you doing?" A strange woman's voice rang in my ear. I looked closely and realized that the person I had been holding just moments before was Li Yang, but now it was a different, unfamiliar young man's face. Looking at Fang Lei, I saw no one there, but another woman, who was staring at me with a mixture of embarrassment and anger.

"Are you crazy?!" The man roughly shoved my hand away, quickly pulling up his belt, while the woman beside him frantically straightened her clothes. Was it all just my imagination? There was no affair between Li Yang and Fang Lei; it was all a lie.

Friends, lovers, there is no betrayal!

A smile appeared on my face, and I instantly felt much more relaxed—a complete sense of ease. Of course, the man and woman in front of me were probably just a student couple having a tryst in the library.

"You're crazy!" The man and woman cursed under their breath, but since what had just happened wasn't exactly honorable, they didn't bother me anymore. Instead, they immediately left hand in hand, leaving me standing there in a daze.

Was that just a hallucination?

I rubbed my throbbing head. Who was that little girl in red? What did she want? I looked around. The shelves and the white lights seemed perfectly normal, yet my heart was pounding wildly, as if somewhere, a pair of eyes were watching me intently. I felt like prey being stalked by a wild beast, with nowhere to escape.

That fleeting urge to kill just now sent chills down my spine. It felt like a desire rising from the depths of my blood, a perfectly natural instinct. Some say that everyone has a subconscious desire to kill, an instinct inherited from our ancient ancestors—an animalistic instinct. I don't know if that's what I felt just now; I only felt a desire surging to my head, without end.

If one day my friends and loved ones really betray me, would I kill them?

The thought of this made me feel uncomfortable all over, like the itching sensation of not having showered for three or four days. I touched my face, turned around, and walked out of the book section.

I slowly walked to the library's service counter, but it was clear that there were very few students borrowing books at this time, so the librarian with a ponytail was actually asleep on the counter. I called her very quietly, but there was no response. With a helpless smile, I leaned halfway over the counter, trying to wake her up.

And it was at that moment that I inadvertently glanced at the computer next to her, and it still displayed the title of the book Su Qiao had just lent out: "Learning to Cook." But that wasn't what made me freeze on the spot; it was the list of recent borrowers on the screen, and those two names were prominently featured: Wang Yina and Qin Xiaoli!

These...aren't these the two victims?

coincide……?

Or... a premeditated scheme?

I've discovered a common thread between these two victims, but why? Why would the murderer target the book's lending list? How did he know about the list? Was it something I stumbled upon, or was it a premeditated act?

Wait...wait a minute!

If the murderer targeted this lending list, then the next one... wouldn't it be Su Qiao?

Thinking of this, I immediately threw down the book in my hand and ran out. Whether my guess was right or wrong, I couldn't let anything happen to Su Qiao under my nose! Because… because she looks so much like you, Yin Xue. I couldn't stop your death back then, and today, I absolutely cannot let her die—someone who looks so much like you!

"Su Qiao! Su Qiao!" I rushed back without stopping for a moment and went straight to Su Qiao's room. At that moment, I suddenly realized that my heart was beating so fast that it was almost jumping out of my throat.

Perhaps my voice was too loud, because Su Qiao, who was in her room, had already opened the door before I even reached it.

"Su Qiao!" I rushed over, but didn't notice Fang Lei who had already come down the stairs behind me.

"Lin Xiao?" Su Qiao looked at me with a puzzled expression. I stepped forward and grabbed her shoulder, hurriedly asking, "Are you alright? Where's that book?"

"Me? Of course I'm fine. What's wrong? What book?" Su Qiao asked curiously.

"It's that book you showed me, 'Learning to Cook'!" I said.

"That book? I lent it to someone else," Su Qiao replied.

"Did you lend it to someone else? Who did you lend it to?" I asked hurriedly.

“A friend of mine, who happens to be a psychology teacher at this school, and was my college classmate, said she found this book interesting and took it. What’s up?” Su Qiao smoothed her hair.

"Don't lend that book!" I said. "That psychopathic killer is very likely targeting the list of people who lent out this book."

"Really?" Su Qiao frowned, raised her head, and looked behind me.

"Lin Xiao!" Fang Lei's voice suddenly came from behind me. Only then did I notice the rather ambiguous posture between Su Qiao and me. I had my hands on her shoulders, as if I wanted to pull her into my arms.

"Oh, Fang Lei!" I quickly released Su Qiao's shoulder, but I saw a fleeting unease in Fang Lei's eyes.

"What's the story about the psychopathic killer you mentioned earlier?" Fang Lei glanced at me and Su Qiao and asked.

"That's how it is!" I quickly recounted everything I had seen in the library, though I deliberately omitted the hallucination of Li Yang and Fang Lei being together.

"Really?" Fang Lei pursed her lips and asked Su Qiao, "Miss Su..."

“Just call me Su Qiao!” Su Qiao interrupted Fang Lei.

Fang Lei smiled politely, glanced at me again, and said, "Su Qiao, it seems you'd better return this book to the library."

"Would it be of any use?" Su Qiao suddenly laughed mischievously and said, "If that perverted killer really targeted the list of people he lent out, then regardless of whether I looked at it or not, or whether I had actually lent it to someone else, my name would already be on that list. Returning it wouldn't make any difference, would it?"

"This..." I scratched my head in distress and said, "Then what do we do? Just wait for that pervert to come and kill us?"

"Just wait and see!" Su Qiao shrugged nonchalantly and said, "What's meant to happen will happen!"

"But that's too dangerous," Fang Lei disagreed. "Regardless of whether Lin Xiao's idea is right or wrong, you should be careful from now on!"

"Yes, sir!" Su Qiao jokingly saluted Fang Lei and said, "I will obey your orders, sir."

"You... sigh!" Fang Lei shook her head, somewhat amused and exasperated.

"Alright, anyway, you should get that book back first!" I said seriously to Su Qiao.