Night Doll - Chapter 4
After emerging from the farewell procession, Song Xiaomo breathed a slight sigh of relief. Thankfully, the deceased wasn't herself; it was merely someone whose face resembled the deceased's. No wonder the young woman in mourning clothes was so terrified; she must have thought her husband's "ghost" had appeared.
A cool breeze swept by, instantly clearing his head and allowing him to gather his scattered thoughts. He remembered that his purpose in coming here tonight was to see a "person." Ironically, he had barged into a funeral home and even staged a farewell ceremony for the deceased. He realized his courage was growing increasingly bold.
"Hello, where is number 733?" Song Xiaomo asked the person next to her.
"This is 733!" The man looked at him strangely.
"No way?" Song Xiaomo quickly walked to the door and looked up at the gate.
Sure enough, the number on the door was prominently displayed in bright red letters: "733". It was unbelievable that the place the "she" on the phone had asked him to come to was a funeral home.
Song Xiaomo shivered involuntarily, his whole body turning ice-cold. A strange wind blew in from the funeral home, and the person in the crystal coffin seemed to sit up suddenly, silently walking towards him from behind, and then reaching out a hand…
This pale hand seemed to be dragging him into the crystal coffin.
In a daze, he felt something tap his shoulder, very lightly. But he tensed so much he almost fell over; his breathing was heavy and uncontrollable, and he felt his hands and feet trembling. He knew something was behind him…
However, he never had the courage to turn back.
A chill swirled behind his ears, then seeped into every hair on his body through his collar.
He just stood there dumbfounded, beads of sweat dripping down his face.
A moment later, the thing gently patted him again.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes...
Finally, he turned his head...
Chapter 18: The Ghost Doll Returns (18)
(7)
"A ghost doll!" Song Xiaomo exclaimed in surprise.
Before him stood a small white rag doll, its mouth gaping open in a sinister smile. He trembled, unsure whether from fear or the cold. He couldn't understand why this little doll was so persistent. A sinister smile, like the smile of death, vaguely appeared on its round head.
Could it be that the deceased Shen Meixuan has become a ghost and infiltrated this teru teru bozu?
Song Xiaomo stared intently at the teru teru bozu doll, when she suddenly noticed that there was another head hidden behind it.
The head's owner brushed aside the long hair covering her eyes and smiled sweetly at Song Xiaomo. Just then, the light shining from the funeral home shone on that face, casting a dim, eerie glow. A few seconds later, Song Xiaomo finally saw the beautiful face clearly. Still shaken, he asked, "He Zhiying, is that you?"
"Of course," the other person said softly.
Song Xiaomo let out a long breath. He clearly remembered that they met on the first day of school. Back then, the beautiful He Zhiying was the center of attention in the class, winning the favor of all the boys as soon as she entered. Song Xiaomo, on the other hand, was an unremarkable, ordinary person, the only difference being that he was from China. Later, to the astonishment of the whole class, from the very first class, He Zhiying boldly sat next to Song Xiaomo. The two got along quite well and quickly became good friends.
But why is He Zhiying suddenly here now?
What is she doing here?
What puzzled him even more was that she was holding a teru teru bozu doll in her hand—that horrible doll!
After a moment of stunned silence, Song Xiaomo calmed herself down and asked, "He Zhiying, what are you doing here so late?"
"I'll be waiting for you!" He Zhiying looked at him with a smile the whole time.
"Wait for me?" Song Xiaomo's eyes widened, and she said with some doubt, "No way, you didn't tell me that."
"I made that call."
"What? It's...it's you, you...you're Shen Meixuan?"
“Yes!” He Zhiying nodded.
A look of confusion crossed Song Xiaomo's eyes, and his heart began to pound wildly again. After a long while, he slowly asked, "Are you... a human?"
"Nonsense, if it's not human, is it a ghost?" He Zhiying glared at Song Xiaomo fiercely.
"Then...then why do you say you are Shen Meixuan?"
“I found this teru teru bozu doll last night and accidentally discovered this name, so I called you to play a little joke on you.” He Zhiying winked mischievously and added, “But, I didn’t expect… Shen Meixuan is a dead person.”
Upon hearing this, Song Xiaomo immediately understood that he had been tricked by this quirky and clever girl. It was clearly a prank.
"He Zhiying, how could you do this?" A surge of anger welled up in Song Xiaomo's heart.
"Haha, look how scared you are. Don't be angry, a real man shouldn't be so petty... I've discovered something interesting and fun, come with me!" He Zhiying completely ignored Song Xiaomo's feelings, grabbed his arm and turned into the street behind.
Chapter 19: The Ghost Doll Returns (19)
"Where are you taking me this time?" Song Xiaomo's expression was quite helpless. When he learned that the person who had invited him tonight was not the deceased Shen Meixuan, his tense mood calmed down a little.
“We’re following someone,” He Zhiying said mysteriously.
"Why?"
"Don't ask anymore, I'll tell you later."
Song Xiaomo sighed and complained, "If you want to ask me out again next time, remember to find a more romantic place. Don't go to a funeral home, you almost gave me a heart attack."
He Zhiying smiled slightly and said, "Actually, I didn't want to either. I was following someone and happened to pass by here. I felt this place was quite conspicuous and easy to find, so I called you to come here to meet me... I'm sorry to have startled you."
Who exactly are you following?
"A person carrying a basket."
A thought flashed through Song Xiaomo's mind, and she quickly asked, "Was it a chubby woman?"
"Yes, how did you know?"
“I just ran into her; she was carrying a basket of tinfoil and ghost money.”
Where is she now?
"They've probably already gone far away. You're so stupid, you can even lose track of people."
He Zhiying pouted and said disappointedly, "Hmph, it's all your fault. If I hadn't been waiting for you over there, I wouldn't have lost you."
Why are you following someone for no reason?
"It all started with this teru teru bozu doll," He Zhiying said, pulling Song Xiaomo along. "Come on, let me take you to a nice place first, and we'll talk about it slowly. I know you must have a lot of questions in your mind."
Twenty minutes later, the two arrived at a coffee shop called "Home Alone." It was an extremely old building, with somewhat rudimentary facilities. It was practically deserted, as quiet as a morgue, with only a handful of customers whispering in a secluded corner. Two waitresses were slumped over the counter, seemingly asleep. He Zhiying woke them, ordered two coffees, and then went straight to a seat near the window.
“Don’t worry, this coffee shop stays open very late every day, so we can chat a little longer,” He Zhiying said.
"I'd be happy to keep you company, but it's best to go back early, otherwise the dormitory building will be locked."
Song Xiaomo pulled up a chair and sat down. Just then, he suddenly noticed a girl sitting in the seat in front of him.
The girl wore a white trench coat, her long, glossy black hair flowing freely, and she had a slender, well-proportioned figure. She was sitting upright, her face turned to the side, staring motionlessly into the dark distance. Perhaps she was too engrossed in her surroundings, completely unaware that Song Xiaomo was watching her. A cup of coffee sat in front of her, next to a rectangular box. Because the coffee shop was dimly lit, and because she was tilting her head, Song Xiaomo couldn't make out her face clearly.
“Recently, I encountered something very, very strange…” He Zhiying leaned closer to Song Xiaomo and began to recount her experience.
This is another matter related to Teru Teru Bozu (a Japanese doll).
Chapter 20: The Ghost Doll Returns (20)
Upon hearing this, Song Xiaomo was taken aback. He never expected that the room next to He Zhiying's was actually Shen Meixuan's, and that he had even found a small doll left behind by Shen Meixuan. It turned out that both Shen Meixuan and Jin Renxuan liked this little thing called a "teru teru bozu" (Sunny Doll). He recalled the scene from that rainy night and suddenly realized that there was a problem in both rooms.
Are these two events merely a coincidence? What does this mean? What kind of omen could it be?
Who would go to that room in the middle of the night to take these dolls?
After a moment of silence, He Zhiying finally couldn't help but speak up: "Take a guess, who is that shadow? Who could it be?"
"I don't know." Song Xiaomo wrapped her clothes tighter, turned her gaze to the dark window, and said slowly, "Maybe he's not even human."
"You mean, he might be... a ghost!" He Zhiying looked at him noncommittally, her eyes revealing a look of terror.
Song Xiaomo was startled by her own words.
"Hehe, I didn't say anything. Maybe things aren't as complicated as you think, maybe nothing actually happened, and it's just people's imaginations." Song Xiaomo mimicked Park Eun-hee's tone, pretending to be relaxed. He tried to explain this bizarre and terrifying event in a lighthearted way because he didn't want to frighten her. He didn't tell her about what he saw that night, also out of consideration for her safety. Besides, these things are hard to explain clearly.
"Then... how do you explain this? Don't you find it strange?" He Zhiying took out the teru teru bozu doll again.
Song Xiaomo hesitated for a moment, unsure where to begin.
Just then, a large truck approached from a distance, its headlights blazing brightly, piercing the darkness like blades. At the same time, the girl in the front seat turned her head.
He finally saw her face clearly. She was very beautiful and charming, with an oval face, slender eyebrows, a small mouth, no makeup, and very fair skin. She looked to be around twenty-five years old and had the elegance of a woman from the Jiangnan region of China. Song Xiaomo's eyes lit up, and an inexplicable sense of attraction welled up within him. He couldn't help but recall the beautiful lines, "The woman by the wine shop is like the moon, her fair wrists like frost and snow."
A moment later, the girl noticed him looking at her. But she didn't avoid his intense gaze; instead, she looked back at him generously.
The two of them just stared at each other like that.
Suddenly, Song Xiaomo's heart tightened. He noticed that her eyes were peculiar; her dark pupils seemed unfathomable, as if hiding something mysterious within. That peculiar gaze sent a chill down his spine.
She stared intently at him, almost frighteningly so. Her jet-black hair fell from her forehead, obscuring most of her face, and her already pale face was covered with an icy aura.
Song Xiaomo felt a little timid and hurriedly lowered his head to drink the coffee the waiter had just brought. He took a sip and found it was a bit cold, which sent a chill down his spine.
"Hey, is that girl pretty?" He Zhiying said sourly.
Why are you asking this?
"That's exactly what I'm asking, so?"
Chapter 21: The Ghost Doll Returns (21)
"Oh, it's alright."
"Hmph." He Zhiying rolled her eyes at him, asking somewhat provocatively, "How does she compare to me?"
"Of course, you're both very beautiful, equally stunning," he replied dismissively.
"So, do you care about me, or do you care about her?" A hint of tenderness, like autumn water, tinged with a touch of sadness, shone in her eyes.
"What do you mean? Of course it's you, I don't even know her," Song Xiaomo replied, bewildered. He sensed a peculiar meaning in He Zhiying's tone, like jealousy.
"Then tell me, what did I just say to you?"
"This...this..." Song Xiaomo smiled awkwardly and said, "I didn't hear you clearly. Please say it again. I will listen attentively."
"I'm so angry with you. I was just asking you, do you know why I was following that fat woman?" He Zhiying said coldly.
"Why?"
"She's that female administrator. I suspect she's hiding something. That's why I want to follow her to see where she goes and what she's doing."
"Will this work? You're not going to go mad, are you?" He looked up at her, a hint of worry in his eyes.
“I don’t know. I just want to figure out some things I don’t understand. I don’t want to back down because of fear… Sigh, if it weren’t for you, I would have followed her… I have a feeling something is going to happen tonight.”
Song Xiaomo stopped talking and shifted his gaze, unconsciously looking towards the spot in front of him.
The seat was empty. She was gone; the girl seemed to have vanished suddenly. Song Xiaomo felt a pang of loss, secretly asking herself, "Will I ever see her again?"