Night Doll - Chapter 25
"Li Zhengzhen?" Song Xiaomo called his name. "What's wrong?"
However, the other person completely ignored his calls, continuing to tremble on their own, their sobs gradually increasing in volume, and their body beginning to curl up into a ball.
"Li Zhengzhen! What's wrong with you? Aren't you living in a mental hospital?" Song Xiaomo was completely confused.
Upon hearing Song Xiaomo's slightly louder cry, Li Zhengzhen immediately covered his ears with his hands and wailed even louder, but he refused to utter a single word.
What exactly happened?
"..." Seeing that Li Zhengzhen was still crying, Song Xiaomo had no choice but to ask a question that even she found hard to believe: "Are you a ghost? Are you?"
Chapter 121: The Doll Murder Case (121)
The other person huddled even tighter, their hand never leaving the ear.
"Li Zhengzhen? Are you dead? Right?" Song Xiaomo began to interrogate relentlessly, "Tell me, what exactly happened?"
"Waaaaah..."
"Tell me! Who killed you?" Song Xiaomo felt incredibly incredulous when she asked this question.
"Waaaaah..."
Why won't you answer me? Why?
"Waaaaah... Waaaah..."
"I am your friend Song Xiaomo. I know you are dead, you are dead! But why don't you speak when you see me? Why don't you raise your head?"
"Waaaaah... Waaaaah..."
“You…” Song Xiaomo asked, his mouth dry, and his heart trembling with even more horror. He couldn’t understand why Li Zhengzhen was behaving this way. Judging from the fact that the other party was crying more and more intensely, he was not unresponsive to his question. No, he was actually very shocked, but he was trying his best to control his emotions.
Why wouldn't he answer any questions? In desperation, Song Xiaomo jumped off the bed, rushed to Li Zhengzhen's side, and used all her strength to pull him up.
However, in the instant he looked up, Song Xiaomo saw something that made the man in front of her almost unable to breathe—a wooden chopstick was stuck in Li Zhengzhen's right eye, and a large patch of white was exposed through the blurred, bloody flesh. His mouth gaped open in shock, and his tongue lolled out…
"Ah—" Song Xiaomo suddenly woke up from her dream.
“What a strange dream!” He wiped his sweat, his gaze falling on a book on the bedside table. It was a psychology translation that Park Eun-hee had given him. He remembered that the first chapter was Carl Jung's discussion of dreams: “...When our bodies are asleep, the soul travels to the realm of spirits, and dreams are our confused, incomplete, and distorted memories of what we see and hear at that time. During our journey in the spirit world, we encounter the spirits of deceased relatives and friends, mythical beasts, and even demons from the depths of purgatory. What we see and hear during this time, through the symbolism of various things, tells us prophecies about the future and the truth of the real world…”
What is the truth?
"Why are the scenes in my dream so vivid? God help me, I hope this never happens in reality." Song Xiaomo prayed silently, immediately stopping himself from thinking any further. He adjusted his mindset and gradually shifted his thoughts to He Zhiying. Not being able to contact this girl made him feel uneasy.
For some reason, the moment he picked up his phone from the coffee table, a strange tightness gripped his heart. He opened his inbox and scrolled through the messages one by one. Suddenly, a message from an unknown number caught his eye. However, the content of the message startled him—
"Xiao Mo, I'm Li Zhengzhen. Believe me, I'm not mentally ill. I'm actually more normal than anyone else. I'm going to be killed, I'm going to die... Where are you? I don't trust anyone right now. You have to save me, come quickly! I'm on the roof of the mental hospital... I'll tell you everything... I don't want to die, I'll tell you the truth... Quick... the truth... Remember, don't call the police!"
Chapters 122-125: The Doll Murder Case (122-125)
Song Xiaomo was taken aback, grabbed her coat, and ran outside...
The large iron gate of the mental hospital was tightly closed, and several security guards stood nervously at the entrance.
"I'm sorry, I can't visit my relatives and friends today. Please come back another day!" a middle-aged security guard said to Song Xiaomo through the iron gate.
"Why?"
"It's nothing, it's the dean's rule, please leave!"
"No, I have something very important to do right now. I need to go in and find a patient!" Song Xiaomo said urgently.
"Excuse me!" The security guard frowned impatiently, showing no intention of letting them pass.
"Let me tell you, this is a matter of life and death! If you don't let me in, someone will die!" Song Xiaomo shook the heavy iron gate, almost roaring.
The security guards exchanged glances, their expressions softening slightly. It was the middle-aged guard who spoke first: "Please tell us who the patient you're looking for is. We'll inform the hospital director first!"
"Li Zhengzhen!"
As soon as he finished speaking, several security guards stared at him.
"Li Zhengzhen? Is it really Li Zhengzhen?" A strange light flashed in the middle-aged security guard's eyes. He stared blankly at Song Xiaomo and asked urgently, "Who are you to him?"
"What's wrong?" Song Xiaomo sensed something was amiss and added, "I'm his classmate!"
"Actually, Li Zhengzhen is already... dead!"
"Dead?" Song Xiaomo's mind went blank for a moment, and she felt dizzy and her heart started pounding in her chest.
He gasped for breath, clutching his chest, and asked, "How did he die?"
"Sigh, he jumped to his death three hours ago!" the middle-aged security guard replied with some regret.
"So, I'm 3 hours late. That text message..." Song Xiaomo's face gradually paled, and she began to mutter to herself.
Another one died! The third one!
He received a ghost doll!
Is he cursed?
—I thought it was a dream, but it was a real thing that actually happened!
The middle-aged security guard couldn't understand what he was saying, but he comforted him with sympathy, "Don't be too sad. No one can predict these kinds of things."
"He... really committed suicide?"
"Let me tell you, he jumped from that rooftop. It's speculated he landed face down... There's still a pool of blood there! The police just investigated..." the security guard said, pointing behind him.
Song Xiaomo glanced at the area marked with a white circle, and the patch of blood, now slightly blackened, stung his eyes. He vaguely saw Li Zhengzhen's body moving and shifting angles in his vision, his face deeply embedded in the hard granite ground. At that moment, Song Xiaomo had a strange feeling: it seemed that the face wasn't flattened by the rock's resistance, but rather that the rock and human flesh had embraced and merged together.
"Who will be next?" Song Xiaomo asked himself silently. A wave of fear washed over him, and he stumbled out of the mental hospital, grabbing his phone and frantically dialing He Zhiying's number. At that moment, an ominous premonition told him that something had happened to Li Zhengzhen, once again confirming the prophecy that "those who receive the ghost doll will die." He had to find He Zhiying immediately.
When Song Xiaomo returned to the dormitory, An Qiqi was coming out of dormitory 519.
At that time, An Qiqi felt a splitting headache; he was deeply embroiled in the mystery of the "ghost doll murders." Approaching him were suspicions in three horrific cases, and there was still no glimmer of hope that he would be able to find the enigmatic girl, Song Yun'er. To make matters worse, He Zhiying had also unexpectedly disappeared.
"You've arrived?"
"Hmm, where did you go just now?" An Qiqi's expression turned serious.
"Mental hospital!"
"Why did you suddenly go to that place?" An Qiqi kept staring into his eyes.
Song Xiaomo paused for a moment, then handed the phone to An Qiqi and said, "Around 2:30 this afternoon, I woke up from my nap and found this text message. So I rushed to the mental hospital, but it was too late!"
An Qiqi read through the text message word by word, remaining silent for a long while, seemingly pondering some important matter.
"So, Li Zhengzhen's thinking is still very clear. He foresaw that something would happen to him, which is why he sent you the message asking you to come?" An Qiqi asked, slightly surprised.
"Probably! This text message also suggests that he might not actually be mentally ill; it seems he's just trying to avoid or hide something..."
“That makes sense!” An Qiqi nodded. “Then why did you find the text message three hours late?”
"Maybe...maybe I was sleeping too soundly!"
"Really?" An Qiqi glanced at him, her expression one of disbelief, and suddenly asked, "Have you been to that room across the street?"
Song Xiaomo realized that the police had already obtained his fingerprints, and there was no point in hiding it any longer. So he cooperated and recounted the whole story. After he finished speaking, An Qiqi frowned and asked, "That's all?"
"Yes, what else would you like to hear?"
"I want to know where that severed head came from. Also, why didn't you report it to the police? What explanation do you have for that?"
“Explanation? You don’t think I put that head in there, then touched the surrounding furniture and left my fingerprints, do you? First of all, I had no reason to kill that woman, and secondly, if I had really killed her, I wouldn’t have left those fingerprints.”
“Perhaps… this is precisely your brilliance: to make the real appear real, and the unreal appear real. According to the general criminal psychology, one would think of erasing all traces of the crime, but you adopted a bold approach, deliberately leaving something behind, such as fingerprints, ghost dolls, or something like that…” An Qiqi grinned.
"Then why haven't you arrested me yet?" Song Xiaomo chuckled. "Are you planning to play the long game and catch a bigger fish?"
An Qiqi's face hardened again, and she said seriously, "This Song Yun'er... does she really exist? Why can't the technical department find any information about her?"
"She's always been very mysterious. Sometimes I don't even know if she's human or not," Song Xiaomo murmured.
"If she's not human, then she must be a ghost!" An Qiqi smiled again, unable to rule out the possibility that such a beautiful girl was involved in a serious crime.
This time, Song Xiaomo did not answer.
"Do you believe that Lee Jung-jin committed suicide?"
Song Xiaomo shook her head, her tone resolute: "No! I have a feeling this is somehow connected to the case at HY University a couple of years ago. He must have discovered some truth, or he has some secret. At the same time, he also realized the dangerous situation he was facing, otherwise he would never have texted me for help!"
Absolutely right! All the doubts have been confirmed. These three cases are all related to the Shen Meixuan case two years ago! Judging from the three deceased, they were all acquaintances of Shen Meixuan and Jin Renxuan. An Qiqi thought to herself, the most important task now is to find a breakthrough in the case from two years ago!
"So you mean you suspect that Lee Jung-jin was pushed down?"
"How would I know? I don't even know why he jumped! Determining whether it was suicide or homicide should be the responsibility of you police!" Song Xiaomo laughed.
"Alright, that's enough for today. I still have some official business to attend to. If you encounter any problems next time, be sure to call me first..." An Qiqi gave a few instructions and then quickly left the boys' dormitory.
The Hyundai drove slowly along the overpass. Along the way, An Qiqi was preoccupied with a multitude of chaotic events: How credible were Song Xiaomo's words? Judging from his tone and demeanor, he was either completely unrelated to the case, or he was an extremely skilled killer with superhuman psychological fortitude. If the text message really was sent by Li Zhengzhen, why didn't the police find the victim's phone at the scene? And why didn't Li Zhengzhen allow her to call the police? Did he not trust the police?
He took out his phone and dialed the number that Lee Jung-jin had sent the text message to.
However, he was disappointed to find that the other party's phone was switched off! He then called the police station to have the relevant departments check the number, only to be told that the registered name of the phone number was Li Zhengzhen! But what does that prove? If he wanted, he could register hundreds or even thousands of Li Zhengzhens!
"No, I have to go to the mental hospital again! I need to confirm whether this information came from Li Zhengzhen!" With that thought, An Qiqi turned the car around and drove off to the right.
Half an hour later, the director of the mental hospital received An Qiqi in his office.
"Does Li Zhengzhen usually use a cell phone?" An Qiqi went straight to the point.
"Well... I'm not really sure about that."
"Did he exhibit any unusual behavior before he died?"
The hospital director pondered for a moment and said, "It's been over two years, and he's always chosen to live. It's truly perplexing that he suddenly chose to die. We failed to notice his psychological changes in time, and I bear responsibility for that. Actually… from the moment he came in, he kept saying that ghosts wanted to kill him. We didn't pay attention… This morning, he said several times that he wanted to be discharged, saying he couldn't stay any longer, and he seemed particularly agitated. We couldn't find him at lunchtime, and then…"
Chapter 126: The Doll Murder Case (126)
"Did he come into contact with anyone this morning?"
"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you, the staff just gave me a patient's phone, and it happened to have a video that was accidentally recorded on it. Take a look!"
An Qiqi eagerly grabbed her phone and turned on the video. The camera was focused on a room window, the image was shaking violently, and then a blurry shadow appeared. Perhaps due to the shooting angle, nothing could be clearly seen... Next, Li Zhengzhen appeared, and the last few seconds were a close-up—Li Zhengzhen's mouth was wide open, his expression one of extreme fear, but he quickly lowered his head, as if he dared not look at anything anymore.
"Who exactly is that blurry figure?" An Qiqi asked.
"I don't know. Many people come to visit relatives every day, and it's impossible for us to know everyone!"
"What about the person who filmed this video? Did he say he saw anything?"
“We’ve asked them all, but we haven’t gotten any information. Besides, this patient is mute!”
"Li Zhengzhen must have seen something that terrified him!" An Qiqi thought to herself.