evildoer

Chapter 1

evildoer

This is a very special story.

Of course, all the stories I've recounted have something special about them, otherwise there would be no need to record them. And the specialness of this story is relative to the other stories I've recounted.

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It was a bright and sunny midday. After lunch, I walked out of the dormitory building. The warm sunshine on my face made me feel the strong breath of spring. Looking at the lush wildflowers on campus, and the occasional unknown birds flying among the budding trees, I couldn't help but take a deep breath and marvel at the beauty of spring.

But my mood is not like this spring, because I have been missing Sister Li these days.

In the blink of an eye, it's been almost half a year since Sister Li left us. During this time, although I've experienced many things, when I'm alone, I still often think of Sister Li and the days I spent with her when I was little.

Next week is Uncle Yuan's birthday, the birthday of Sister Li's adoptive father. This is the first birthday Uncle Yuan will have without Sister Li in all these years, so I wanted to go to Chu Yi today to discuss what to prepare for Uncle Yuan. (The whole story about Sister Li is recorded in the story "Heavenly Sound".) I walked slowly along the path on campus, pondering how to comfort Uncle Yuan, who treated me like his own child. Just as I passed the back of the girls' dormitory where Chu Yi lived, a sharp scream suddenly came from behind me.

I immediately turned around and saw a girl not far from me, her hands trembling as she tried to cover her mouth, but she was too terrified to do so. She kept screaming at the top of her lungs, and the stack of books she had been holding seemed to have fallen to the ground, while her eyes stared blankly at the ground in front of her.

I followed her gaze, and what I saw made me exclaim, "My God!"

On the path I just walked along, less than 3 meters away from that girl, there was a corpse lying there!

My numerous adventures had quickly restored my composure. I ran to the girl who was still screaming and placed my hands on her shoulders. Her body was stiff with fear, so I had to forcefully turn her body so she could turn her head. Then, while letting her rest her head on my shoulder, I tried to say a few words of comfort. But when I looked up, I immediately became speechless.

I had only caught a fleeting glimpse of it from a distance, and it had already made me gasp in shock. But when I saw the body again at such close range, I almost screamed like that girl.

It was clearly a girl who had just fallen to her death. She was wearing light blue jeans, and the hem of her white shirt was stained red with blood. One of her legs was half-curled up, and she was lying face down on the ground with her arms spread apart. Her long hair was scattered on the ground.

The side of her face closest to the ground was completely mangled and bloody; no one could make out any organs from that half of her face. But the side of her face facing upwards was almost completely unharmed, even appearing remarkably calm. That side of her face, pale from blood loss, formed an eerie contrast with the ever-expanding pool of blood on the ground.

But what terrified me most was her almost perfectly intact eye. It seemed to be staring straight at me, as if it still held the last vestiges of her life. It looked like fear, doubt, but for some reason, I also saw a hint of anger in that eye that seemed to bulge out of its socket.

Just as I was staring in astonishment at her eye, a stream of blood flowed from her ear canal on the upper side. The blood, like a bright red wriggling worm, slowly crawled out of her earlobe, across her snow-white cheek, and then dripped clearly onto the ground, quickly merging with the pool of blood on the ground.

I closed my eyes, but the girl's image seemed etched in my mind, impossible to forget. I could even feel the sound of blood still flowing from her ear canals onto the cold cement floor! The sound seemed to grow louder and clearer, until finally it was like a heavy hammer pounding into my chest, forcing me to gasp for breath to stop my wildly beating heart.

I had seen the dead before, but I had never felt so close to death. This time, perhaps because the deceased's appearance was so "vivid," I felt the breath of death clearly for the first time! And I felt it was so close to me!

At this moment, the girl's scream had attracted many people to come over, and many people upstairs opened their windows to look down.

By this time, I had gradually regained my composure, so I turned away from the horrifying scene. The girl leaning on my shoulder had stopped screaming, but her whole body was still convulsing, and she was covering her mouth with her hands, sobbing and crying incessantly.

Before long, more and more people began to gather here. I first handed the unfortunate witness over to a girl who seemed to recognize her, and then did my best to protect the scene. Fortunately, most of the people who gathered were timid girls, and after taking a look, they all left uninvited, so the scene was not damaged.

After some time, campus police, followed by regular police officers, arrived at the scene, dispersed the crowd, and began a routine investigation. I left after giving a brief eyewitness statement.

It was almost 2 o'clock by then, and I figured Chu Yi had already gone to class. I also had to do an experiment in the afternoon, so I decided to come find her again in the evening or tomorrow.

The afternoon experiment wasn't difficult, but I couldn't shake the image of the dead girl from my mind, especially her eye, which looked like it was about to pop out of its socket. Coupled with that strange look in her eyes, it made me, someone who has had many bizarre experiences, shudder at the mere thought of it.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [4]: After dinner, probably because of the scene I saw at noon, I was in a very bad mood, so I decided not to go to study and wanted to rest alone in the dormitory for one night.

Just after seven o'clock, I was playing Red Alert with my neighbor on my computer when someone knocked on the door. I was in a clear advantage, making a final push on the enemy, so I just casually replied, "The door's unlocked."

But the person knocking on the door didn't push it open; instead, they knocked a few more times.

I couldn't help but frown. Fortunately, the enemy on the computer had already surrendered, so I turned around and opened the door.

When I opened the door, I saw a boy who looked completely unfamiliar. I asked, "Who are you looking for?"

He seemed to hesitate for a moment, then asked, "Is Lu Haofeng here?"

I nodded and said, "That's me."

As I spoke, I stepped aside and gestured for him to come in. He smiled politely and entered.

After he came in, I closed the door behind me and quickly searched my memory for people I knew, but the conclusion was that I didn't know him.

He seemed a little reserved when he came in, standing in the center of the room with his hands clasped together and his thumbs rubbing together.

I could tell at a glance that he probably wanted something from me, but didn't know how to ask. Since I started recounting my many strange experiences, quite a few people I didn't know have read my accounts. As a result, I often receive calls from strangers to me or Chu Yi, and we always do our best to help them with their various "difficulties." This young man's situation seems to be no exception.

I moved a chair from the corner of the room and said to him, "Sit down, don't be shy, what can I do for you?"

He didn't sit down immediately, but said somewhat awkwardly, "I know it's a bit presumptuous of me to come to you like this, but... I think maybe only you can help me with this."

I chuckled to myself; just as I expected. This kind of opening wasn't the first time in my stories, so I gestured for him to sit down and then sat down myself. Then I smiled and said, "Okay, but I'd like to know the name of my client first."

He smiled when he heard this, then sat down and said, "Oh, my name is Zhou Hua, and I'm from the School of Economics."

I didn't say anything, but gestured for him to continue.

He rubbed his hands together, took a breath, and said, "I've read all your stories. You've had so many experiences like that, so I think maybe only you can understand this."

I coughed lightly and said, "That depends on what kind of thing it is. Perhaps I am not as knowledgeable as you think."

He hesitated for a moment after hearing what I said, as if he had made up his mind, before saying, "Do you know that a girl fell to her death at noon today?"

I nodded and said, "Yes, I know."

He pursed his lips, lowered his head, and looked at the ground. After a while, he said softly, "She is my girlfriend."

Upon hearing this, I couldn't help but sigh and say, "Oh, I'm sorry."

He kept staring at the ground, seemingly talking to himself, "You must think this was an accident or that she committed suicide, right?"

I hadn't expected him to ask that, so I thought for a moment and said, "This... seems..."

Before I could finish speaking, he suddenly interrupted me and roared at me in a loud voice, "But she was murdered!" His eyes, which had been looking at the ground, suddenly turned to me, and the fierce look in his eyes made me gasp.

From the moment I met Zhou Hua, he gave me a very refined and even somewhat shy impression. So when he suddenly displayed such an expression, I was quite taken aback.

Just then, my neighbor came to find me. As he pushed open the door, he said, "Hey, are you still going to play? If you win, we'll..." He had barely finished speaking when he met Zhou Hua's fierce gaze, and he immediately stopped himself from saying the rest of his sentence.

I quickly stood up and whispered to my brother, "Let's call it a day for tonight." Then I gestured for him to go back first.

He immediately understood what I meant, and then looked at me to ask if there were any problems with the people in the room. I gently shook my head to indicate that I could handle it, and he nodded and went back to his dormitory first.

I closed the door, turned around and looked at Zhou Hua. His hands were clenched into fists, and his eyes still held that terrifying look, making his anger immediately apparent to anyone.

I coughed lightly again, and by then he had gradually regained his composure. He looked at me, gave an awkward smile, and said, "Excuse me, was I...?"

I waved my hand and said, "It's okay. Are you alright?"

He said, "It's okay, I think I might have been a little too excited."

I agreed, but then something else occurred to me, so I said, "You just said she was murdered?"

He looked at me and then nodded vigorously.

I walked back to the chair and sat down, saying, "Why do you say that?"

Upon hearing this, he hesitated for a moment before slowly saying, "Su Quan told me."

I frowned and said, "Su Quan?"

He nodded and said, "Yes, she told me herself."

Upon hearing this, I vaguely sensed something was amiss. After a moment's thought, I exclaimed in surprise, "You mean, the girl who died was named Su Quan? She told you she was murdered?"

He wasn't surprised by what I said; he simply replied calmly, "Yes."

But then I was confused. What was going on? What did he mean by that? Was it the truth, or just his delusions born of excessive grief...?

Just as I was pondering this series of questions, Zhou Hua spoke first: "I know this sounds incredible, which is why I came to find you. If I said this to the police, I might be considered crazy. But you've been through so many strange things, you'll believe what I'm saying, right?"

His words interrupted my train of thought, so I could only say, "I'm sorry, I don't think I fully understood what you just said. Could you please explain it more clearly?"

He didn't seem to hear me, and just continued talking to himself, "You have to believe me, you will believe me, right?"

I sensed that he had likely encountered something unbelievable, but if I let him continue like this, I might not find out what had happened all night. So I said, "I'm sorry, I know you must be very sad about your girlfriend's death. But if you believe she was murdered, I think you should go through with the police."

Upon hearing this, he quickly replied, "No, I told you they wouldn't believe me. Now, only you can help me, only you can help me... avenge her!"

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [5]: I sighed and stood up to pour him a glass of water. From my observation, Zhou Hua's mental state is not entirely normal. It is very likely that the death of Su Quan has dealt him a great blow. But if I leave him alone, judging from his condition, he might do something outrageous. He just asked me to help him avenge Su Quan, which is not an ordinary situation. Anyway, I have nothing to do tonight. Since he seems to trust me so much, I might as well listen to what he has to say.

So I said, "Okay, tell me what happened first."

Upon hearing what I said, he immediately looked overjoyed and asked, "Then you believe me?"

I didn't comment, but simply poured myself a glass of water and sat back down in my chair, ready to hear what he had to say.

He took a sip of water, and his emotions gradually calmed down. After a while, he slowly said, "This is what happened. Last night, after we finished studying, she said she wanted me to walk with her, so we went to a small coffee shop outside the school gate. We started by chatting, but then she suddenly told me that someone wanted to kill her."

He paused here, his eyes fixed on the ground in front of him again, but this time his eyes revealed a deep fear.

I didn't interrupt him; I just took a sip of water and waited for him to continue.

“I was stunned at the time and didn’t understand what she meant, but she smiled—I will never forget the look of her smile—and said to me, ‘You won’t understand, but you must believe that I am going to be killed.’”

“I immediately scolded her, saying, ‘What nonsense are you spouting?’ But she calmly told me, ‘What’s meant to happen will happen, I’m going to fall to my death.’ And when people saw me, I was wearing jeans and a white shirt, half of my face was smashed, and blood was still flowing from my ears…”

"Stop!" I couldn't help but growl when I heard this. But he ignored me and continued, "That's what I said at the time, but she just shook her head, gave that helpless and miserable smile, and calmly told me, 'There's nothing I can do, but you must believe me, I was killed.'"

Hearing this, I abruptly waved my hand, interrupting him. I figured he must be an incredibly eloquent person; the calm tone of his voice had given me a chilling feeling. More importantly, I was practically the first person to see the deceased, and the scene left an exceptionally deep impression on me. As he spoke, the image of that afternoon kept replaying in my mind; I could almost hear the blood dripping from the girl's ear onto the ground! All of this was a very uncomfortable experience for me, so I involuntarily interrupted him twice.

After I interrupted him and he saw that I didn't say anything, he continued, "Back then, in that dimly lit coffee shop, what she said was more than ten times more terrifying than what you're feeling now. But after she said those things, she didn't mention it again that night, and for some reason, I carelessly assumed it was just her overthinking. But today, I went to the scene, and the situation was..."

As he spoke, his lips trembled, and he could no longer utter a word; the fear in his eyes was almost unbearable. I quickly stepped forward and placed my hand on his shoulder, which calmed him down again.

But then my mind started racing, because Zhou Hua's words were truly bizarre—a girl describing in detail how she died to her boyfriend in a dimly lit coffee shop. That sounded terrifying enough, and then, the very next day, her words came true. If what he said was true, then this might not have been an ordinary accident. So I asked, "Is that so?"

Seeing my skeptical look, he said somewhat anxiously, "I know these things are hard for most people to believe, but you've experienced things that are even stranger. Don't you believe what I'm saying?"

I thought about what he had just said again carefully, and I couldn't really find a reason for him to make up such a story. So I said, "Then when she told you to believe that she was going to be killed, did she have any evidence?"

He shook his head, but then said, "But she foresaw how she would die. You may not know, but I went to the scene at noon today, and her appearance was exactly the same as what she told me last night. Isn't that enough to make people believe her?"

Looking into his eager eyes, I remained silent for a moment, then muttered to myself, "I know, I happened to be there at noon today too. If things are really as you say, then it is indeed a bit unbelievable."

I paused here, then continued, "So you believe what she said about being murdered?"

He nodded vigorously immediately.

I thought for a moment and said, "When she said those things to you last night, did she mention anyone, or why she wanted to kill her?"

Upon hearing this, he shook his head dejectedly and said, "I really don't understand what was wrong with me last night. I should never have ignored what she said, but I just vaguely let it pass."