Second type of death

Chapter 16

The classmate promised to find the information she needed quickly, and then casually asked about her personal life. Xu Xiaobing didn't like being asked this question, and if she hadn't needed the other person's help, she would have turned hostile on the spot. However, under those circumstances, she had no choice but to patiently answer the other person's questions, and also asked about Pei Xuan—Pei Xuan had been quite close to this classmate in college, and although she didn't have any feelings for him, she still couldn't help but want to know about him.

"Pei Xuan?" The classmate seemed puzzled. "Which one are you talking about?"

Xu Xiaobing was also puzzled, so she repeated Pei Xuan's name, specifically mentioning that they often hung out together in college. The classmate listened in silence for a moment, seemingly trying hard to recall, before replying, "You must be mistaken, I don't know this person."

Xu Xiaobing was also puzzled, so she repeated Pei Xuan's name again, and specifically mentioned that they often hung out together in college. After hearing this, the classmate was silent for a while, seemingly trying hard to recall, and soon replied, "You must be mistaken, I don't know this person."

"What?" Hearing Xu Xiaobing say that, I seemed to think of something, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

“Yeah, he insisted he didn’t know Pei Xuan, that’s really strange.” Xu Xiaobing looked at me with a scrunched-up face. “Maybe they had a fight?”

"Hmm." I felt like I'd heard Xu Xiaobing's words somewhere before—"Maybe they had a fight"—why did that sound so familiar? The whole scene seemed familiar, and I was slightly surprised, as if I had foreseen this conversation and even knew what Xu Xiaobing would say next.

“‘Fine, if you say you don’t know him, then you don’t know him,’” I said to Xu Xiaobing. “Is that what you told him?”

Xu Xiaobing looked at me in surprise and nodded: "What the hell? How did you know? That's pretty much what I said, and then I hung up."

My confusion deepened.

Why does this scene feel so familiar, so familiar that I can even guess the dialogue? Can I really predict the future?

"How did you know?" Xu Xiaobing pressed on.

“I don’t know either,” I shook my head. “And then?”

Xu Xiaobing stared at me suspiciously for a long time before slowly continuing her story.

After hanging up the phone, it was lunchtime. She was still thinking about the matter and kept flipping through the notes while eating, going over them again and again, almost to the point of obsession. Finally, in the few minutes before going to work in the afternoon, she discovered another thing that she could investigate.

"Is it Wangyue Elementary School?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Why did you only think of investigating Wangyue Elementary School at that time?" I asked in surprise. "You could even think of investigating Beijing, how come you didn't think of investigating places in your own city?"

Xu Xiaobing laughed: "Exactly, they were probably confused by all that information."

It was only at that point that Xu Xiaobing remembered Wangyue Elementary School, which already made me think she was very confused. But when she mentioned something else, I almost wanted to knock her head off.

It turns out that their company had been responsible for maintaining the teaching management system of Wangyue Elementary School. Although this maintenance was handled by the technical department, as the marketing manager, her team also regularly contacted the school. She had completely forgotten about this important contact.

Seeing my incredulous stare at her, she first smiled sheepishly, then quickly hardened her tone: "Don't talk about me, didn't you yourself not expect this? Your company also has connections with Wangyue Elementary School."

She's right, I didn't notice that either, just like her.

Xu Xiaobing waited for a while, and seeing that I didn't reply, she continued.

Upon thinking of Wangyue Elementary School, Xu Xiaobing immediately summoned her subordinate in charge of the case and retrieved relevant information about the school. The information showed that Huinan Technology Company had signed an agreement with Wangyue Elementary School last year for the development and maintenance of a teaching management system. However, due to poor follow-up, the first agreement was not implemented, and another technology company suddenly intervened, taking over the teaching management system development business for Wangyue Elementary School. That company was small; being a startup, everything was immature, and the system it designed had many vulnerabilities. After multiple unsuccessful attempts to fix it, Wangyue Elementary School returned to Huinan Technology Company, and the two parties signed a new agreement. Xu Xiaobing discovered that the signatory of the first interrupted agreement was Meng Ling, which made her think of something. She immediately reviewed all the agreements handled by Meng Ling and found that most of them had been re-signed, while some were completely invalidated. Unsure of what this meant, she gave up after a moment's thought and turned her attention back to Wangyue Elementary School.

“So, I came to Wangyue Elementary School,” Xu Xiaobing said.

"What did you find out?" Faced with her lengthy explanation, I wished I could pinch her mouth shut and force her to say everything, but she continued to speak slowly and deliberately, not missing a single detail.

At Wangyue Elementary School, Xu Xiaobing found Meng Ling's information on the school's management system. The information was similar to what she already knew, and likewise, none of the teachers remembered Meng Ling. The information showed that the class Meng Ling used to teach had now moved up to sixth grade. She asked the students in that class, but the name Meng Ling was completely unfamiliar to everyone.

"Wait a minute," I interrupted her, "You asked everyone in the school about Meng Ling?"

"Yes, what's wrong?"

"What time did you inquire?"

"Around three or four o'clock, what's wrong?"

"Are you sure you've asked around? Did you ask that girl in the records room?"

“I’m sure, not a single one was missed,” she said, frowning at me impatiently. “What’s going on?”

I didn't have time to answer her question—something was wrong. If Xu Xiaobing had indeed asked the clerk in the archives about Meng Ling, why did she claim she had never heard of the name when I asked the clerk about the same person shortly afterward?

Is Xiao Guan lying?

"What exactly happened?" Xu Xiaobing shook my shoulders violently, pulling me back from my thoughts. I quickly pushed her hand away: "I'll tell you later, you finish first."

Xu Xiaobing bit her lower lip hard, seemingly about to explode, but she held back. Her face was extremely ugly, as if I owed her a lot of money. Her chest heaved as she breathed heavily at me. I couldn't help but think, how can such a beautiful girl have a temper like a dinosaur... The more I thought about it, the more Xu Xiaobing resembled a dinosaur, especially her nostrils, which reminded me of a dinosaur's hissing in an animated film. I couldn't help but laugh out loud. Upon hearing this, Xu Xiaobing coldly asked, "What are you laughing at?"

I didn't dare tell the truth, so I made up a joke to brush it off. Her expression softened a bit after hearing the joke, and after she quieted down for a while, I finally heard what happened next.

After Xu Xiaobing finished inquiring about these matters, she obediently began checking the management system of Wangyue Primary School with her colleagues. At this time, Ouyang and I were looking up information in the archives. After she finished checking the system, she left with her colleagues. If it weren't for another incident that happened on the way, she might have already returned home.

As they left, they passed the old building that was about to be demolished. Her colleague suddenly pointed to the second-floor corridor, gesturing for Xu Xiaobing to look. Xu Xiaobing looked in the direction he pointed and saw a girl in a school uniform clinging to the railing, slowly crawling forward. The wind made the ribbons on her uniform flutter backward, and the girl looked as if she might fall at any moment. This dangerous scene terrified Xu Xiaobing and her colleague. They immediately shouted, ordering the girl to come down. The child heard their voices, but only glanced at them indifferently, continuing to crawl on the railing.

It was dismissal time, and many teachers and students were coming out of the school building. Hearing their shouts, people curiously gathered around. Xu Xiaobing quickly pointed out the girl to the teachers. She thought the teachers would be as panicked as she was and would run into the building to bring the girl out. However, to her surprise, after hearing her story, the teachers looked up at the building again, their faces turning extremely panicked. With a vague smile, they backed away, waving their hands as they retreated: "There's no child there! You've mistaken her for someone else."

These words puzzled Xu Xiaobing. She looked up at the building and saw that the girl seemed to have heard their conversation. She leaned on the railing and gave a bitter smile like an adult.

When she got to this point, I really wanted to interrupt her and tell her about the little boy I saw in the old building, but what she said next made me swallow those words.

Xu Xiaobing was wondering what was going on with the teachers when she heard the students surrounding her shouting, "It's haunted again! It's haunted again!" They then scattered in all directions. Xu Xiaobing found this strange and quickly stopped two of the older children, pressing them for details. The two children looked terrified, fidgeting nervously, and it took her a while to calm them down before they finally told her the story of the old building.

"What story?" Xu Xiaobing paused for a breath when she said this, and I couldn't help but ask. She clicked her tongue twice, looking incredulous, and continued to tell the story of the old building.

According to the two children, the old building was a school building a year ago. Later, new buildings were constructed, and the old building became empty. While everyone was speculating about its future use, the old building began to be haunted. At that time, because some teaching materials were still kept in the old building, the main entrance was usually locked. However, reports kept coming in of students appearing in this locked building—sometimes male students, sometimes female students, sometimes several students together. Strangely, every time a report was received, the school sent people to search the building, but they couldn't find a single person. Many times, students witnessed people appearing in the old building, looking up from below. Shortly after, they saw school security guards approach these people. The guards walked around them, sometimes even accidentally touching them, but no one said anything. They simply came down quietly and told the onlookers below that they hadn't found anything upstairs. After this happened many times, no one dared to approach the building anymore. Even many people who had witnessed the situation in those old buildings refused to admit that they had seen anything when asked about it shortly afterward.

This situation led to the old building being abandoned, and even the most unruly students dared not approach it. A few months ago, the school organized a construction team to measure and plan the demolition of the old building, but for some reason, before the scaffolding was fully erected, the construction team never came to the school again.

"Oh? What happened?" I asked, following up on that.

“I don’t know,” Xu Xiaobing shook her head. “I asked a lot of people later, and no one knew what happened to the construction team, but everyone knew about the haunted old building, and everyone’s story was different. Some people said they saw a lot of girls and boys, while others said they only saw one.” She bit her lip and said with a half-smile, “The strangest thing is that their stories contradict each other.” She paused, frowning as she pondered something.

"What's the contradiction?" I urged.

“Don’t rush me, I’m thinking about how to put it,” she said slowly. “For example, A and B once saw someone in the old building, but later B told me that they saw him together. When I asked A, A denied it… It’s mostly contradictions like this.”

These words stirred something within me, and I immediately thought of Xiao Guan.

What exactly happened?

I thought and thought, and all the strange things that had happened overlapped in my mind. At first, they were clear, but later, more and more clues became tangled together, forming a mess that I could never untangle. I felt that I would never be able to figure out the truth.

"It's too complicated," I thought to myself. "Forget it, whatever. At worst, I'll ask my family for some money, move out of No. 6 Yunsheng Street, quit my job, and then all of this will be over..." As I was thinking this, Xu Xiaobing was expressing her opinion on the situation: "Things are getting stranger and stranger. If I had extra money, I would definitely move out of No. 6 Yunsheng Street..." She hesitated for a moment, then looked at me with gratitude for the first time. "Honestly, it's a good thing you moved in with me, otherwise it would be too scary for me to be alone." She widened her eyes again to express her fear and relief, an expression that made me feel extremely guilty. I secretly slapped myself in the heart: I could move out, but what about Xu Xiaobing? Should I just leave her there alone? How heartless of me. Because of my guilt, I smiled awkwardly at her and tried to put on a resolute expression, saying, "Don't be afraid, we'll go back and analyze it slowly, and we'll eventually find out the truth."

Xu Xiaobing didn't speak, but just glanced at me sideways, her expression shifting unpredictably. After a long while, she said helplessly, "I wish I could be as heartless as you." Before I could retort, she urged me to tell her what had happened to her.

I've had my share of experiences, and just as I finished recounting them and was about to express my feelings, Xu Xiaobing suddenly gasped, "Ah!" Her eyes widened in horror as she looked behind me. Goosebumps instantly broke out all over my body: "What's wrong?"

"I almost missed my stop!" she exclaimed, quickly standing up and running towards the door. The bus stopped just then. I was both amused and exasperated—this kind of jump scare would give me a heart attack even without Meng Ling's help.

19

Yun Sheng Street remained old and desolate. Even the shimmering raindrops under the streetlights couldn't brighten the weary houses. Dusk fell early in the rain, and amidst the varying shades of gray and black, we spotted a deep, somber spot—Number Six Yun Sheng Street. Of course, it was still there, never going anywhere, remaining in its place to slowly age and decay. Even if the whole world forgot its existence, it would still remain. I involuntarily glanced at my and Xu Xiaobing's hands, exposed outside our clothes. They looked fresh and vibrant, like four white flowers blooming on this black wasteland, never truly still. This made me feel young and energetic. However, as we approached Number Six Yun Sheng Street, a profound, silent aura of aging seeped into my body, seemingly squeezing out the youthful, carefree self within me. I tried my best to shake off the shadow of fear in my heart, and walked forward with my head held high and chest out, my shoes slapping against the water-covered pavement, splashing up sparkling water droplets—this posture gave me a lot of courage.

We went up the stairs one after the other. When we passed the second floor, the faint green light in room 202 was still there, and there was still no movement inside the room. Xu Xiaobing and I exchanged a glance, and without saying a word, we quickly slipped past room 202 and went upstairs.

When I got to the door, I was about to take out my key to open it when Xu Xiaobing stopped me. She took the flashlight and carefully examined the lock, letting out a soft gasp of surprise.

"What's wrong?" I leaned closer to look.

Xu Xiaobing's hand, which was transparent from the rain, was twisting a strand of jet-black hair. The hair was looped around the door handle, connected to the bolt on the wall, and tied in a knot at the end.

“This is a mark I made before I went to work this morning,” she said. “It hasn’t been touched.”

"Oh?" I immediately realized what had happened. "Didn't Meng Ling come today?"

We looked at each other in disbelief. Her eyes sparkled with surprise and anticipation, and I think my eyes reflected the same.

If Meng Ling hadn't come today, and had never appeared again, how wonderful that would have been.

After a long while, I asked in a low voice, "Shall we open the door?"

"Open it." She forcefully pulled out the hair.

I inserted the key into the lock and slowly turned it open—I could almost hear Xu Xiaobing's pounding heartbeat, or perhaps it was my own—this was the first time, and I think it was the first time, that we so eagerly anticipated entering room 302 on Yunsheng Street. The moment the door opened, Xu Xiaobing and I both froze. I stepped inside and turned on the light. Without a word, we began silently searching the room, like two spies, meticulously examining every inch of space.

There was nothing there—no long hair or clothes left behind, no bloodstains. Even the empty room was wide open, exactly as it had been when we left that morning, unchanged.

"She really didn't come?" Xu Xiaobing looked at me with undisguised surprise.

"It seems so." I nodded. The room, empty and quiet, enveloped me with a comfortable and relaxing feeling. Before I could even take a breath of that sweet air, Xu Xiaobing suddenly gasped: "Did she find out we were investigating her, so she hid?"

"Possibly." I nodded, a bitter smile creeping onto my face. When Meng Ling constantly created traces of her presence, we were afraid; when those traces suddenly disappeared, we were still afraid. How could we eliminate this fear? Xu Xiaobing, though timid, made a lot of sense. Perhaps behind today's calm lay Meng Ling's deeper concealment. She hadn't completely disappeared from our lives, but had simply hidden in the shadows, making her presence imperceptible. Perhaps in this space we live in, even in this world, there are unseen figures everywhere watching our every move. Now, simply ignoring the past as before is impossible. The only thing that can truly make us feel safe is to uncover the truth. Thinking of this, my heart trembled—could such hidden forces really be uncovered by insignificant people like us?

Even if we can find out, what can we change?

Many thoughts flooded my mind in an instant. When Xu Xiaobing slumped onto the sofa in despair and asked me what to do, I couldn't think of an answer for a moment. This annoyed her, and she started muttering under her breath again, just in time for me to hear.

"Quiet down, let me think," I said rudely. She abruptly stopped, slamming a magazine she was holding onto the coffee table. "You're so rude! Don't you know you should be polite when you talk to people?"

Lost in thought, I ignored her and went straight to the balcony, opening the window. A damp, cold draft blew in. I leaned over the aluminum edge of the balcony, looking down at the dark Yunsheng Street. Yunsheng Street was like the shadow of this glittering city; compared to the colorful lights elsewhere, it was eternally lonely, even the streetlights seemed exceptionally old. The deep darkness below confronted me like an abyss, as if some powerful suction was emanating from it, trying to pull me and everything behind me in. Xu Xiaobing's voice came from behind me: "Didn't you think to ask my opinion before opening the window?" I turned to the darkness and pursed my lips, too lazy to pay her any attention. This world before me held countless secrets; who could truly say they understood everything? After a moment of reflection, I tried to organize my thoughts about everything that had happened recently, attempting to make it more coherent.

"Come wash the vegetables!" Xu Xiaobing snapped angrily. I turned around and realized she was already rinsing the rice and cooking, so I went over and slowly picked up a bunch of cabbage to wash. The water was gushing out as I scrubbed the dirt off the cabbage stalks, continuing my thoughts. Before I knew it, water was overflowing from the sink. Xu Xiaobing shrieked and looked at me with disgust: "What are you doing?" I snapped out of my daze, hurriedly turned off the tap, and apologized while mopping the floor.

I don't know how much time had passed until I sensed something was wrong. I looked up and saw Xu Xiaobing standing beside me, leaning to one side, one hand on her waist, her lips tightly pursed as she stared at me. It seemed she had been in that position for quite some time.

"What's wrong?" I asked, puzzled.

She pointed to the large clock in the living room: "You've been mopping for eight minutes," she sneered, "and the mop has just been shuffling around in the same spot—if you don't want to do chores, just say so. I don't necessarily have to eat with you!"

"Huh?" I realized I had been daydreaming, and I quickly mopped the kitchen floor, feeling embarrassed. "Sorry, sorry, I was just analyzing Meng Ling's situation."

"Analysis?" she continued with a sneer. "What have you analyzed?"

"I don't know." I shook my head. Seeing her unfriendly expression, and knowing I really wasn't in the mood for dinner, I simply scooped the cabbage out of the sink. "Forget it, I'll just have instant noodles—I'm not in the mood to cook today." With that, ignoring her furious reaction, I turned and went into my room.

My mind was racing with thoughts, and sometimes I felt like I was starting to see some progress, but because there were so many ideas, I couldn't seem to come to a conclusion. I found a notebook and slowly wrote down what was on my mind.

Where should I begin to analyze these things? The word "analysis" makes me ashamed. Perhaps all I can really do is record things as they are. Perhaps there is no pattern to it all, but I should do something—either escape or face it. There are only these two paths. Since I am unwilling to leave Yunsheng Street and the company like this, it seems that I can only face it.

I pondered quietly for a while, and first wrote down a few names in my notebook. These were all the people related to what had happened. After thinking about it, I added a few more names.

I counted 11 people in total, but I had a feeling that I hadn't written down everyone's names. I decided to put that aside for now. I copied down several key names again in chronological order, and wrote down what happened to each person next to their name:

When I finished writing all of this and looked up to shake my hands, I realized that Xu Xiaobing had somehow appeared beside me, looking seriously at what I had just written.

"What are you trying to analyze?" she asked.

I shook my head: "I don't know. Do you think this is comprehensive? Is there anything I've omitted?"

She thought about it carefully and shook her head: "Many details are missing, but the summary is good -- I'm afraid that the details are the key to the problem."

“You’re right,” I thought for a moment, then gave up. “It’s impossible to write down all the details; that would be enough for a novel—what are your thoughts?”

“No,” she sat down next to me, frowning as she thought for a long time, “but writing it down like this makes things seem less complicated.”