Die Geheimnisse des Himmels, Staffel 4

Kapitel 1

This book is from , a free TXT novel download site.

For more updated free ebooks, please visit

Deadly Emails

An email from cyberspace unveiled the true nature of humanity, but this truth often comes at the cost of lives.

one

Under the moonlit university campus, insects chirped, birds perched, and the shadows of trees cast deep shadows, creating a serene atmosphere.

On the eve of graduation, with separation imminent, the brightly lit student dormitories overflowed with a deep sense of sorrow and parting, drifting through the shadows of the trees and scattering into the night sky.

"Shall we drink some more?" Cheng Hai's face was flushed, a deep, purplish red against his dark skin. His narrow eyes, framed by thick eyebrows, seemed half-open, half-closed. His full, thick lips remained motionless as the words slipped out from his bobbing Adam's apple.

The room had been silent for a long time before Cheng Hai spoke. Beside him, He Se stared intently at a calligraphy piece on the wall—the character "舞" (dance). The top stroke resembled a head held high, the middle horizontal stroke two outstretched arms, and the lower left "夕" (evening) radical looked like a leg bent backward, the final vertical stroke tapering from thick to thin, trailing long until its end—a beautiful leg raised on tiptoe. The entire character was written in one breath, and at first glance, it resembled a solitary dancer or a proud swan, yearning for the free sky, wanting to spread its wings and join its flock… He Se knew this character was written by Li Zu for Wu Xiaoyuan, yet she also knew that only she truly understood it.

Wu Xiaoyuan sat next to He Se, but her head was lowered as she stared blankly at the wine glass she was playing with. Actually, it wasn't really a wine glass; it was just the most wine-like of the four glasses on the table because it was the only one made of clear glass. The other three glasses were porcelain, belonging to Cheng Hai; the red plastic one belonged to He Se; and the stainless steel thermos belonged to Li Zu. The red wine bottle in the middle was empty at the moment.

"Of course, let's get drunk tonight and never see each other again. Maybe we'll all have kids by the time we get together again, haha. Wait a minute, I'll go downstairs to buy some," Li Zu stood up, turned around, grabbed his trousers from the bed, took out his wallet, and went out the door.

“I’ll go with you,” Wu Xiaoyuan stood up, tossed her long hair, and followed Li Zu with dance-like steps, grabbing his arm.

Cheng Hai watched them leave, then turned and said, "He Se, are you really determined to come back to Luoyang with me?"

He Se smiled at him, the same smile that Cheng Hai dreamed of every night. "What, you don't want me to go?"

"Of course not, of course not, hehe," Cheng Hai's face turned even more purplish-red. He was not good with words and rarely got excited. However, He Se could tell that he was a little excited now because he was holding an empty glass and bringing it to his mouth. When he realized there was no more wine, he quickly put the glass down. The glass was not placed steadily and fell to the ground with a clatter. He forgot to pick it up and looked at He Se helplessly and in a panic. He Se was both annoyed and amused, so she had no choice but to pick up the glass for him.

The four years of university are the golden years of a person's life, but also the most awkward and uncertain. Young faces often brimming with profound wisdom, and amidst the impetuous curiosity, there's a constant tinge of helpless shyness. During this time, every moment of excitement is unforgettable, and every friendship is pure and sincere, even if they seem somewhat imperfect. For example, Li Zu, a brilliant Chinese literature student, has only one close friend: Cheng Hai, a computer theory student. If Wu Xiaoyuan, an art student, falling in love with Li Zu is a perfect match, then what about He Se and Cheng Hai, both Chinese literature majors? In He Se's words, it's a case of complementary arts and sciences, ultimately forming a harmonious whole.

Li Zu returned carrying two bottles of red wine, while Wu Xiaoyuan held a jumble of melon seeds, dried fruit, and peanuts. The atmosphere became lively again, as if the sadness of parting had never existed in the room; youth is always fickle and forgetful.

"Come, let's wish our friendship lasts forever," Li Zuxian raised his glass.

"No matter where you are in the world," Wu Xiaoyuan said excitedly, raising her glass as well.

“Even day or night,” He Se said first, tilting her head to look at Cheng Hai. She deliberately left him a difficult question to see how he would put it into words, and it had to be a four-character phrase with the word “sky” in it.

Cheng Hai's already deep red face flushed red, and he slowly raised his glass, racking his brains to utter a sentence: "We...we...we miss each other every day."

"Hahaha..." After a burst of laughter, Li Zu said, "You, Cheng Hai, are really something, managing to use two 'heavenly' characters in one go. You'll have to drink two cups."

“I’ll drink,” Cheng Hai said without hesitation, downing two glasses in a row.

"Will we really be together forever?" Wu Xiaoyuan suddenly uttered a question in a low voice.

The atmosphere seemed to turn gray again. Li Zu glared at Wu Xiaoyuan and said, "Of course I will. Unless you're determined to remarry and nip my scheme in the bud, you'll never be able to live like this." He then reached out and put his arm around her neck. Wu Xiaoyuan pulled her head back and quickly poked Li Zu in the stomach. The two of them started playing around again.

He Se and Cheng Hai were already used to this scene and ignored it, but at this moment Cheng Hai seemed to be under the influence of alcohol. He secretly reached under the table to hold He Se's hand. Just as they were about to touch, He Se raised her hand and said loudly, "Let's play a game."

Everyone looked at He Se, which made her a little embarrassed. "Aren't many people playing with chain letters now? Let's make a chain letter too, and each of us will send ten letters, but we can't send them to four of our friends. If we all receive the letters back before graduation, it means our friendship will last forever."

“What if it can’t be transferred back?” Wu Xiaoyuan said with some concern. She often receives such letters, but she never transfers them from her; she finds them very boring.

"This...this...it will turn around someday," He Se said, clearly lacking confidence.

“How about this, if we transfer back after graduation, then we’ll have a get-together once everyone has received the transfer letter, no matter where we are, okay?” Li Zu said, and his suggestion was unanimously agreed upon. So, they began to discuss the contents of the chain letter.

"We must ensure that everyone who receives it will definitely transfer it back."

"Yes, our content must be irresistible."

"Let Cheng Hai set up an automatic forwarding program and hide it inside."

"No, our goal is to let fate decide our friendship, so we need to get others to willingly share it."

"We still need to find a solution in terms of content."

"Let's have something heartwarming, something that will touch people's hearts and then be shared with others."

"No, no, fewer and fewer people are easily moved these days, and these chain letters are being used too much."

"How about something scary, something that makes people afraid not to forward it to me, or something that will make him paranoid forever?"

"This method is a bit underhanded, but it seems like a good approach."

"I agree."

I agree.

That very evening, a threatening chain of emails was completed on Cheng Hai's computer in this room. The subject was "Are you scared?"

The letter contained a GIF. Cheng Hai had created the GIF; he first downloaded a still image of dark brown coffee beans, then added a striking line of small white text in the lower right corner: "Find the head in three seconds, you're amazing!" Next, he found a terrifying image of a ghost face online, and to intensify the fright, he used editing software to increase the color contrast. Finally, he created a GIF of the same size as the previous two, with a warm pink background, and Li Zu wrote a short text on it:

"Did I scare you? But I also want to tell you, my unfortunate soul, that upon seeing these words, you've already fallen under the curse hidden in the image. You'll see that ghostly face repeatedly in the days to come, and you'll experience hallucinations. In these hallucinations, the most brutal and authentic parts of your nature will be revealed, leaving you nowhere to hide and no place in society... Of course, we have no intention of harming a complete stranger like you, so I will definitely tell you the way to break the curse at the end. The method is: forward this letter verbatim to ten people! Simple, right? Just as simple as falling under the curse. Hurry up and act, or you'll become the simplest person in the world..."

Cheng Hai ran an animation software program, using a picture of coffee beans as the first image. He then dragged the timeline to the third second, inserted a funny face image, and one second after that, inserted a text image. Finally, he stopped the timeline, preventing the animation from repeating. A simple animated image was thus completed. Cheng Hai saved the image as a GIF to prevent others from modifying it.

After finishing the letter, they first tested it on the computer. Although they knew the content beforehand, Wu Xiaoyuan still screamed the moment the ghost face suddenly appeared, and He Se also felt his heart suddenly beat faster.

"Won't this scare people to death?" Wu Xiaoyuan asked, still shaken.

"It can't be that bad."

"But is this really effective?"

“I think even if people don’t believe our nonsense, they’ll find it funny and be so scared that they can’t wait to scare people themselves,” Li Zu said confidently, quite pleased with his draft.

two

"And then what happened?" Quan Quan listened intently. She hadn't expected that He Se, who had been her colleague for two years and was usually quiet, would have such an interesting experience. "Did you all receive the letters that were forwarded back later?"

He Se shook his head sadly, "Later we each sent out ten letters, but we never received any letters back."

"Not yet?" Quan Quan asked again. Although the two of them were the only close friends in the entire editorial department, this was the first time she had heard He Se say so much at once. Perhaps it was because she was about to leave.

"Quan Quan, thank you for seeing me off. Sigh, two years have passed in the blink of an eye, and it's time to say goodbye again. Let's have a drink," He Se said softly.

“You’ll be able to see your two college classmates when you get to Shenzhen, you should be happy,” Quan Quan said, raising her glass and lightly clinking it with He Se’s.

"I'm quite happy. I never expected that after two years, the letter wouldn't have come back, but we ended up together again. I guess that's fate."

"I really envy you, getting married and then flying far away. Oh—by the way, is Cheng Hai coming to pick you up later?"

"He shouldn't come. His colleagues are seeing him off today, and he might not be back for a while. He has an early flight tomorrow, and I'm afraid he'll get drunk again."

"No way, Cheng Hai is a very honest and upright person, and he's newly married. How could he bear to come home late? Hehe..."

"Go away," He Se laughed and pushed her. "By the way, Quan Quan, if there are any good opportunities over there, I'll ask you to come over too. It's better than living half-dead on the mainland. You're still young and beautiful. Go over there and snag a rich husband."

"Okay, okay," Quan Quan said, feigning eagerness.

"Look how impatient you are, haha..."

At Shenzhen Huangtian Airport, Cheng Hai walked ahead, looking exhausted and dragging a large suitcase. Perhaps still hungover from the previous night, his small eyes were squinted even more, making him look like he was sleepwalking as he walked out of the arrivals gate. He Se, on the other hand, walked slowly behind, carrying a small handbag, her eyes constantly glancing around. She knew that Li Zu was definitely looking for them at the arrivals gate at this time.

"Hey—" Li Zu suddenly appeared and patted Cheng Hai on the shoulder from the side, instantly waking Cheng Hai from his sleepiness.

"You scared me to death! Where did you come from?" Cheng Hai said, still shaken.

"Haha, where's your wife?" Li Zu looked around.

“Hey—here I am,” He Se suddenly patted his shoulder hard from behind.

Li Zu was startled and quickly turned around. He Se was standing behind her, smiling at her. Two years had passed; she had gained weight, and her hair was now a neat, short bob. The biggest difference was that she was wearing a pair of elegant frameless glasses, perfectly embodying the air of a scholarly woman. Li Zu paused for a moment, then immediately feigned a puzzled expression and turned to Cheng Hai, saying, "When did you change wives? Didn't you say on the phone that you married He Se?"

"This...this is He Se," Cheng Hai was momentarily stunned.

Li Zu suppressed a laugh and looked at He Se again, saying, "This is He Se? I thought it was Madame Curie, haha..."

He Se and Cheng Hai, who had just realized what was happening, also started laughing.

Li Zu drove them to the place he had rented for them. Along the way, the three of them eagerly inquired about each other's recent situations, and Li Zu would occasionally throw in some jokes to make the atmosphere in the car even more lively.

"Xiaoyuan is preparing dinner at home. I'll show you your new home first. Once you move in your clothes, you can settle down and live a happy life. Xiaoyuan has even prepared the dishes, chopsticks, oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar for you. Then we'll go to my house. We need to have a good get-together tonight. I haven't been this happy in a long time."

"With Xiaoyuan here, what could you possibly be unhappy about?" Cheng Hai, sitting next to him, asked with a smile.

“That’s different, that’s different,” Li Zu replied, glancing quickly at He Se in the back seat through the rearview mirror. He saw that He Se was also staring intently at the rearview mirror, which made his hand on the steering wheel tremble and the car sway slightly.

"Be careful, be careful!" Cheng Hai exclaimed.

Li Zu quickly regained his composure, put on a smile, and said, "Cheng Hai, I've already talked to the boss about your work. You can postpone your report for a couple of days. I want to show you guys around Shenzhen for a couple of days."

"That's good too. This is my first time in Shenzhen, and I'm curious to see what's so special about this special economic zone," Cheng Hai said with a simple smile, his eyes occasionally glancing excitedly at the skyscrapers rushing past the car window.

“Thank you, Li Zu,” He Se, who had been sitting quietly in the back, suddenly said.

Li Zu paused for a moment, "Thank you for what? It's been two years, and you're being too polite with me, hehe."

It seems that Li Zu and Wu Xiaoyuan really put a lot of thought into their arrival. The two-bedroom apartment they rented was in a quiet neighborhood, fully furnished with a bed, table, chairs, sofa, TV, and wardrobe. Almost everything needed for daily life was there, even the toilet paper was quietly hanging on the wall, and the towels and toothbrushes with labels were all in their proper places, waiting for their arrival.

Cheng Hai stood in the middle of the living room. Although everything in front of him was unfamiliar, he felt a strong sense of affection. For a moment, his nose began to sting. He looked up at Li Zu. Two years had passed, and Li Zu had changed a lot. He was thinner and darker, but he looked more capable. His handsome appearance did not create any distance between them. He felt that Li Zu was still the same Li Zu from university, a smart, humorous, talented, and loyal Li Zu.

"Thank you so much, and Xiaoyuan too," Cheng Hai said sincerely.

"Look at you two, what's wrong with you today? It's like you're only happy when you're being distant with me. Did I offend you in some way?" After saying that, she and Cheng Hai exchanged a smile.

He Se carefully looked around the new house, then quickly arranged her clothes and walked out of the living room. "Let's hurry, I'm eager to see Xiao Yuan."

"Wait, here, these are the keys. From now on, I've officially handed over the property. I've already paid six months' rent for this house, and Cheng Hai will probably buy a house in six months. I trust his abilities, otherwise I wouldn't have coaxed you all over the place to come here." As she spoke, she patted Cheng Hai's broad shoulder forcefully and watched him nod firmly.

When Wu Xiaoyuan saw Li Zu's car pull up in front of her house from the balcony, she ran downstairs shouting and laughing, hugging He Se and jumping for joy. The two of them laughed and jumped downstairs, and soon tears welled up in their eyes.

"Alright, alright, that's embarrassing," Li Zu said, patting Wu Xiaoyuan on the back. "Go home and cry your heart out. He Se has been on a plane for half a day, and you still make things difficult for her when you meet her."

Wu Xiaoyuan had prepared a sumptuous seafood feast, and three bottles of red wine were neatly placed to one side. The four of them sat down at the dining table as soon as they entered the house.

"Come on, don't say anything, the first drink is a welcome toast, bottoms up!" Li Zu drank it all in respect, and everyone finished their drinks one by one. Wu Xiaoyuan picked up the bottle and filled everyone's glasses.

"The second cup is to wash away the dust," Li Zu said, then drank the second cup, and everyone drank in silence.

"As for this third toast, there's so much to say, I'll just say it all at once: I wish you both a long and happy life together, Cheng Hai great success, and He Se many children... May our friendship last forever..." Li Zu stood up.

Wu Xiaoyuan also stood up, "No matter where you are in the world."

He Se stood up and quickly said, "Even day or night."

Cheng Hai also stood up and said without hesitation, "I miss you every day."

Hahaha... Everyone at the table burst into hearty laughter.

“Cheng Hai, you’re wrong. You have to drink the penalty wine,” Li Zu said with a smile.

"How did I go wrong? Didn't you say that last time?" Cheng Hai looked at Li Zu, puzzled.

"Last time was a farewell, so I missed you; today is a reunion, so what else do you miss?"