Die Geheimnisse des Himmels, Staffel 4

Kapitel 6

After Wu Xiaoyuan entered the building, she rushed into the stairwell and ran upstairs at an extremely fast speed. Li Zu didn't have time to wait for He Se and chased after her first.

Wu Xiaoyuan ran all the way to the seventh-floor rooftop. By the time Li Zu caught up, she was already standing on the edge of the roof. Li Zu seemed to realize something and quickly stopped, shouting, "Xiaoyuan, come back! Come back! It's dangerous—"

He Se then ran up and stood beside Li Zu, looking at the scene before him in surprise. At the same time, they both heard that heavy, slow breathing coming from Wu Xiaoyuan.

Li Zu knew that the situation from last night was repeating itself with Wu Xiaoyuan. She had no idea what she was doing; she was being controlled by another force. If that force wanted her dead, then Wu Xiaoyuan would be finished once she jumped. Thinking of this, Li Zu gasped, staring in horror at Wu Xiaoyuan's retreating figure.

Wu Xiaoyuan stood motionless, heavy breathing surrounding her. She no longer saw the ghostly face; it had flashed briefly behind the bushes and then disappeared. She only saw them embracing, Li Zu and He Se, and then she ran. A voice told her, "You're finished, you should die, hurry up, you're finished, hurry up and die—"

Then she ran, all the way up to the rooftop, where it felt so cool. The voice urged her again, "Hurry, jump! Jump! It'll be even cooler! The people you hate are catching up! Run! They're going to kill you! Run! Jump!"

Wu Xiaoyuan slowly turned around, her eyes flashing blue, looked at Li Zu and He Se, smiled slightly, and leaned back.

Nine

Just as Wu Xiaoyuan's rapidly falling body passed through the ward window, Cheng Hai opened his eyes.

There was no one around, but there was a noisy commotion outside. He sat up as if he had just woken up, stretched, and then began to examine his surroundings. It was an unfamiliar place, like a hospital. He looked at himself and saw that he was wearing a hospital gown. Yes, this was a ward.

It was noisy outside, the noise seemed to be coming from downstairs. He got out of bed, and surprisingly, no slippers or anything had been prepared for him. Nevertheless, he got out of bed, wanting to go downstairs to see what had happened.

When Li Zu and He Se arrived downstairs, a group of people had already gathered around Wu Xiaoyuan. Doctors and nurses ran over, picked her up, and took her to the emergency room.

Li Zu followed, tears welling in his eyes, looking at Wu Xiaoyuan's blood-stained face. He kept calling out, "Xiaoyuan—Xiaoyuan—"

Wu Xiaoyuan's body was still convulsing, blood gushing from her wounds. Just then, she vaguely heard Li Zu calling her. She tried to stand up and answer him, but felt weak and powerless. She tried to open her mouth, but no sound came out. After a while, Li Zu's voice faded into the distance, as if blown away by the wind. Then, she felt the cool breeze, a comfortable coolness that made her sleepy. She closed her eyes and gradually drifted off to sleep.

Li Zu and He Se were blocked outside the emergency room. They could only stand anxiously in the corridor. Suddenly, He Se screamed. Li Zu looked up and saw that Cheng Hai had appeared in front of them at some point.

"Cheng Hai—" He Se called out, whether in surprise or joy, before suddenly collapsing limply to the ground.

Cheng Hai and Li Zu hurriedly picked her up, about to call a doctor, when she woke up, her eyes fixed on Cheng Hai's face. She reached out to touch him, as if it were a reunion after a century. Finally, she truly touched Cheng Hai's real, warm face. At that moment, she could no longer hold back, and burst into tears, hugging Cheng Hai tightly.

The two grown men squatted silently beside He Se, watching her cry freely. Tears flowed like a dam had been opened, and her cries contained so much pent-up emotions, so much heartache, so much grievance; she just wanted to release it all at this moment.

Li Zu stood up gently, clenching his teeth to suppress the sorrow and pain in his heart. He wanted to leave this moment of reunion to the two of them. There was another world between He Se and Cheng Hai, a world he could never enter, which was also the reason why he and He Se could never build another world together.

One person only needs one world in their lifetime!

His world had shattered the moment Wu Xiaoyuan jumped. Li Zu stared at the closed door of the emergency room, his heart churning. He felt a wave of acid in his stomach and an urge to vomit. He rushed to the door, bent over, and opened his mouth wide, but nothing came out. Instead, the acid in his stomach began to assault his entire body. He felt numb, his legs suddenly gave way, and he collapsed to the ground.

"Then sit for a while," Li Zu said, panting. He slowly took out a cigarette, lit it, took a deep drag, rested his hands on his knees, tilted his head back, and gazed absently at the bright moon in the sky. Its pure white light was very gentle and not at all dazzling. What could he do? He had always thought of himself as capable and omnipotent, but now, Wu Xiaoyuan lying inside, and He Se sitting on the ground crying, seemed so far away from him. He could do nothing now but wait, wait for fate to decide the completeness of his world.

Li Zu felt utterly weak. He suddenly felt that this kind of waiting was good; he didn't have to do anything, didn't have to think, just wait. Nothing would happen while he waited; everything was just waiting... He hoped it would last forever, with nothing happening, no news coming... just waiting.

Although the wait was long, the news came quickly.

A nurse came out and called him in. He received the news that Wu Xiaoyuan had died at 9:35 a.m. despite all efforts to save her.

ten

Five days passed, and Li Zu suddenly looked much more haggard. A few more white hairs appeared in his thick black hair. He pulled them out fiercely in front of the mirror, then took out a razor, applied some shaving cream to his beard, and carefully shaved.

Wu Xiaoyuan's funeral was held today in the funeral hall of the crematorium. Not many people attended; besides Cheng Hai and He Se, there were only some of her colleagues and friends. Wu Xiaoyuan's parents didn't come; they both went to the hospital after hearing the news. Her only brother, who needed to care for the elderly, also couldn't come. Li Zu stood silently to the side, gazing at Wu Xiaoyuan's portrait. He didn't use her frontal photo as usual, but instead chose a picture of her performing on stage. In the picture, Wu Xiaoyuan was standing on one tiptoe, her arms outstretched to the sides, her head tilted back, gazing affectionately into the distance.

Xiao Dong and Xiao Chen also arrived unexpectedly. After bowing to the portrait, they said their condolences to Li Zu. Then Xiao Dong leaned closer and whispered to Li Zu, "The case is closed."

Li Zu looked at him in surprise. Xiao Dong shrugged helplessly and said, "Cheng Hai said he was indeed robbed. The other party beat him up because he didn't have any money on him. He Se was probably attacked in the hospital because a thief came in and beat her up when she woke up. The thief ran away as soon as she screamed."

After saying that, Xiao Dong nodded meaningfully to him, patted him on the shoulder, sighed, and then left.

Everything seemed to be over. Cheng Hai started working, and He Se found an editing job at a website. She applied herself at the job market, and unexpectedly, her experience at the magazine publishing house helped her a lot; she got the job on her first try and started working immediately. Li Zu advertised for the transfer of his apartment in the newspaper and moved into the company dormitory. When he left, he only took his clothes and all the photos of him and Wu Xiaoyuan. He didn't need anything else; he would either give them to the next tenant or throw them away—it was no longer his concern. His world was shattered, but his life had to go on.

Cheng Hai often invited Li Zu to dinner, but their meals became increasingly dull. Cheng Hai's occasional clumsy jokes only deepened the tension. He Se usually remained silent; she didn't know what to say to comfort Li Zu, though she desperately wanted to. Li Zu understood them and was grateful. More importantly, he had a question weighing on his mind, a question only Cheng Hai could answer. Several times when they were alone, he almost blurted it out, but Cheng Hai seemed to have a tacit understanding, always finding a new topic to change the subject just as his question was about to come out.

The days passed in a state of oppression, but the three of them still met often, eating and drinking together. Although the oppression was right in front of them, they felt they had to take the initiative to bear it and wait for the day when the oppression would dissipate.

The day when the oppression would dissipate never came; instead, they witnessed the return of their nightmare.

The three of them were having dinner at Cheng Hai's house that day. When He Se came out with the dishes, Li Zu and Cheng Hai had already started eating. He Se took off her apron and said with a smile, "Today is a good day. I have some good news to tell you."

Li Zu and Cheng Hai both stopped eating and looked at He Se.

"I also received our chain letter today," He Se announced happily, then looked at the two of them excitedly.

Li Zu's chopsticks clattered onto the table, and his face turned ashen. It turned out that the ghost had never truly left them.

Cheng Hai and He Se stared in astonishment at Li Zu's sudden change in expression. Li Zu's eyes were wide open, and he muttered to himself, "A persistent ghost, a persistent ghost..."

"What's wrong with you?" Cheng Hai asked.

It took Li Zu a while to calm down. He called Cheng Hai and He Se to the computer in the living room and said to He Se with a stern expression, "Turn on the computer and find the letter you received."

Seeing the intense coldness on Li Zu's face, He Se started the computer with a mixture of surprise and doubt, found the inbox, and retrieved the letter.

Li Zu stared at the picture for a long time, then looked back at He Se and said seriously to Cheng Hai, "Cheng Hai, He Se, we're not strangers anymore. There are some things I want to tell you, and they're related to Xiao Yuan's death."

Cheng Hai and He Se exchanged a glance, then looked at Li Zu.

"Cheng Hai, let me ask you a question first, and you must answer me honestly," Li Zu said, staring intently at Cheng Hai.

Cheng Hai nodded.

"I'm asking you, was I the one who attacked you?" Upon hearing Li Zu's words, He Se cried out in surprise, quickly covering her mouth with her hand, staring at Cheng Hai in astonishment, nervously awaiting Cheng Hai's answer.

Cheng Hai lowered his head, considered for a long time, and then raised his head to say to Li Zu, "That's right, it's you." This made He Se even more surprised, and she was completely stunned.

Cheng Hai continued looking at Li Zu and said, "You didn't even know what you were doing at the time, did you? I saw that you were acting very strangely. Your eyes were blue, and your breathing was very heavy. I called you a few times, but you didn't respond, as if you didn't hear me at all. I suddenly thought that you might be possessed by something. Just as I was about to pull you away, you suddenly took out a stick and hit me. After that, I don't know anything else."

"Then why didn't you tell me after you woke up?" Li Zu asked.

“Because I know that wasn’t the real you. You were being controlled by another force at the time, and I felt it had nothing to do with you,” Cheng Hai said sincerely. These words deeply moved Li Zu, but He Se found it as unbelievable, like listening to a fantastical tale.

Li Zu lit a cigarette, stood up, walked a few steps around the hall, then sat down again and said, "Do you know what I saw when I attacked you? A ghost face, the same ghost face from the chain letter we made. It came to life and smiled at me. Then I heard that breathing sound you heard. It was the same heavy, rough breathing sound I heard when He Se was attacked. It was the same breathing sound when Xiao Yuan jumped off the building. And, on the night He Se was attacked, when I returned home, Xiao Yuan tried to attack me. Her state at that time was exactly the same as when you described me attacking you. Is all of this just a coincidence?"

Cheng Hai and He Se were stunned, their four eyes fixed on Li Zu, whose face was flushed with excitement. At the same time, they both felt a chill run down their spines.

“No, this is no coincidence. Just like we said in the chain letter, the recipient will be cursed, and Xiaoyuan and I both received this letter before that. I believe we might be under some kind of curse. It will come true as soon as we receive the letter,” Li Zu said quickly in one breath. He Se cried out in shock, her face ashen, and she gripped Cheng Hai’s clothes tightly with both hands.

“But there’s one thing I don’t understand: why does Xiaoyuan’s curse keep coming true, while mine hasn’t come true since I attacked you once? When Xiaoyuan jumped off the building, this curse was coming true on her. He Se and I both clearly saw her eyes turn blue and heard her heavy breathing.” Li Zu finished speaking and looked at He Se, who nodded vigorously.

"Could it be that this letter really has magic power?" Cheng Hai asked.

Li Zu nodded vigorously and said, "I think so."

Cheng Hai walked to the computer with a puzzled look, staring at the picture on the letter for a long time. "Could it be this picture?"

“You’re a computer science student, why don’t you break down the image and take a look?” Li Zu said.

Cheng Hai nodded, then started to pull up the picture from the letter. At that moment, he exclaimed, "Ah—!" Li Zu and He Se quickly leaned over to look at the screen.

“Look,” Cheng Hai said, pointing to the computer screen, “this picture is not the one we made. I remember that I saved it as a GIF to prevent others from modifying it at will, but this picture is not in GIF format now.”

"What is that?" Li Zu gasped upon hearing Cheng Hai's words, and his scalp suddenly tingled.

Cheng Hai frowned and said, "HYP, I've never heard of this format before. It's probably a new animated image format created by someone."

"Can you just create any format? How can you open a format you've never seen before?" Li Zu had a little bit of knowledge about computers.

“Of course, you can’t just create or modify the format yourself. But if he writes his own editing software, he can set a standard, which is the format. As long as he adds a program that is compatible with the GIF format to this standard, we can open it just like a GIF,” Cheng Hai explained to Li Zu.

"Didn't you say that GIF format can't be modified?"

"That only applies to the average person. More professional people can easily download a lot of software to modify it. It's not difficult," Cheng Haibin said, shaking his head.

"Then...can you edit this image? Let's see what exactly has been modified," Li Zu said anxiously.

Cheng Hai thought for a moment and said, "I can only try to import it using known image editing software. If I can, then I can modify and edit it. Otherwise, it will only be useful if I find software that can edit this HYP file."

"Then hurry up and try it," Li Zu urged, glancing at the time on the wall. He was worried that the curse might come true on He Se as night fell.

Cheng Hai saw the seriousness and urgency of the matter from the grim expression on Li Zu's face, so he didn't care about anything else. He started up several image editing software programs and said, "We can also trace the source of the letter later."

Li Zu said, "I've tried, but it's no use."

"Why?"

"These emails were sent through a foreign proxy server, so we can't track them down," Li Zu said in frustration.

"It seems we've encountered a master," Cheng Hai said.

To avoid disturbing Cheng Hai's work, Li Zu found a chair and sat down. Only then did he notice He Se huddled on the sofa, staring blankly at the wall. Li Zu was startled and quickly called out, "He Se!"

He Se turned to Li Zu, looking at him with fear, and asked, "Li Zu, is what you just said true? Am I also cursed?"

Li Zu walked over and patted her hand to comfort her, saying, "Don't worry, it's okay. We'll find out the truth, and everything will be alright. I'm fine now, aren't I?"

He knew that such comfort was futile; he, like He Secheng Hai, felt uncertain and fearful.

Time passed slowly, and the only sound in the room was the tapping of Cheng Hai's fingers on the keyboard. Each tap was like a huge drumbeat striking Li Zu's heart, each tap making him tremble, each tap pushing him further into the abyss of fear. Ahead lay an endless abyss, and he didn't know when he would reach its end.

The sky outside the window was gradually darkening, but the people inside the house were completely unaware. At this moment, He Se stood up, glanced at the untouched lunch on the table, and said softly, "I'll go heat up the food. If you're hungry, you can eat something." However, she knew that no one would have an appetite at this time, but no one objected. After an afternoon of silence, she actually wanted to move around a bit to temporarily forget some of her fears.

"Is it still not working?" Li Zu couldn't help but walk over to Cheng Hai and ask.

Cheng Hai turned to look at him, shook his head and said, "I've tried almost everything, but it seems it doesn't work. There isn't a single image editing software that can open it."

Li Zu fell silent. In fact, he had a premonition that things would not go too smoothly. Since they were determined to deal with them, they would not let them get away so easily.

He Se came out of the kitchen, casually said, "I'm going downstairs to buy some salt," and then went out.

Cheng Hai took a sip of water and said to Li Zu, "I just checked it. This image is much larger than our original one. We can be sure that something has been added to it. If we can't open it, we won't know. Maybe the solution is hidden inside."

Li Zu nodded. "That's right, our original image is fine; the problem lies with the modified image. But what exactly is the problem?"

"You said Xiaoyuan attacked you the first time her prophecy came true, is that right?"

“Yes, she had attacked He Se at the hospital before, and then jumped off a building. When she got home, she had sprained her ankle, and her clothes were filthy, covered in mud and bits of grass. I just didn’t expect it at the time. How could I have imagined that Xiaoyuan would attack He Se?” Li Zu’s heart ached as he spoke of Wu Xiaoyuan. He felt he had let her down and asked himself honestly, had he ever truly loved her? Although he believed he had cared for her enough, as a wife, had she received enough in return? When they first came to Shenzhen, they endured the hardships of daily life together. Xiaoyuan never complained. Her naturally optimistic words were often, “My husband is the best.” Now, thinking back, if it weren’t for those words from Xiaoyuan, could he have endured it all? Could they have made it this far?

When Cheng Hai saw that Li Zuyi's expression turned extremely dejected when he mentioned Wu Xiaoyuan, he patted him and comforted him, saying, "Xiaoyuan is a good wife, so don't be sad."

Cheng Hai's words, "Good wife," were like a hammer blow, shattering the last fragile dam Li Zu had painstakingly built in his heart. The longing and emotions that had accumulated over this period burst forth like a flood from a breached dam, overflowing from his eyes.

Li Zu could no longer control himself. He buried his head in his hands, his shoulders trembling violently, and he mumbled Xiao Yuan's name incoherently, "Xiao Yuan... Xiao Yuan..."

Cheng Hai silently watched Li Zu. He knew his close friend well; he wouldn't shed tears unless he was extremely heartbroken. This was the first time he had ever seen him so distraught. However, he wouldn't comfort Li Zu. He wanted Li Zu to release his pent-up emotions through tears; this was necessary and important.

He Se went downstairs to the department store and bought a bag of salt before going home. When she reached the second floor, she felt a little dizzy and weak all over. It was probably because she hadn't eaten all day and her body was experiencing low blood sugar. She held onto the handrail, wanting to rest for a while and catch her breath before climbing up to her home on the fourth floor.

Just then, a large, yellow, mixed-breed dog suddenly barked twice and ran out from the top of the stairs. As soon as it saw someone at the top of the stairs, it barked loudly at He Se. He Se was startled and stepped back, but missed a step and fell to the ground with a thud.

At this moment, a middle-aged, plump woman came downstairs. She was wearing pajamas, holding a dog leash, and calling out the dog's name. When she saw He Se lying on the ground, she smiled disdainfully and said, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. My dog is very well-behaved and won't bite." Then she walked past her with her scraggly dog, muttering to herself, "Even dogs are afraid of her. What's there to be afraid of?"

He Se didn't have the strength to get up. Her back was sweaty from the fright, feeling cool. She stared at the dim light at the stairwell, feeling it slowly grow larger, becoming hazy, expanding in concentric circles, then dimming again. Suddenly, a ghostly face flashed in the light, disheveled, green-faced, with eyes flashing a mesmerizing blue light, grinning menacingly at her. At the same time, heavy, slow breathing echoed in her ears.

eleven

After Li Zu calmed down, Cheng Hai handed him a tissue box. Li Zu declined, went into the bathroom to wash his face, and took a deep breath when he came out. The cool water on his face refreshed him considerably.