Sopla un viento helado, un aura fantasmal lo impregna todo, florecen lirios araña en el inframundo y uno se sienta solo

Capítulo 20

"Yes, what's wrong?" He Zhiying looked at him with a suspicious expression.

"This...this...I'm not very hungry, I don't want to eat...I'm sorry..." He made up an excuse.

"I put a lot of effort into this, you wouldn't be so rude, would you?"

"Did you really make this bowl of noodles?" he asked.

"Of course, who do you think did it?" He Zhiying found it very strange.

"Oh, just asking... You make noodles so fast!"

"Do you think my cooking doesn't taste good?!"

"No, no, no, I just... am not used to Korean food. Besides, I don't have much of an appetite today. You can eat by yourself."

"Never mind, I won't force you." He Zhiying shook her head in disappointment, picked up her chopsticks, and started eating by herself.

Outside the window, the rain kept falling.

Song Xiaomo lay down on the soft sofa, closed his eyes, and listened to the sound of rain outside. Before he knew it, he was feeling sleepy…

Chapter 95: The Doll Murder Case (95)

In his dazed state, he heard someone whisper in his ear, "There's someone in the bathroom!"

He was startled, and his mind became unusually clear. He Zhiying, who was beside him, was gripping his arm tightly, as if listening for something.

"What exactly is that sound?" he asked in a low voice.

“Foot...footsteps...no...no, it sounds like...crawling...crawling...the sound of…” He Zhiying’s voice was almost distorted, and her whole body was trembling.

"Could a thief have broken in?" he asked.

"We're all here, how could a thief possibly get in?"

Just as she finished speaking, the bathroom door creaked open, and both Song Xiaomo and He Zhiying trembled at the same time.

"Don't be afraid, it's just the wind... the wind blew the door open," Song Xiaomo guessed after glancing at the window.

"No, it's her...she's here!" The fear in He Zhiying's eyes grew stronger.

"What did you see?" Sweat beaded on his forehead.

"A door...an arm is sticking down from the door..."

"Where?" He looked over in surprise, but saw nothing. He Zhiying clearly saw something that terrified her, while he...

"I'll go take a look." Song Xiaomo suddenly found his courage. He smiled slightly at He Zhiying, coughed loudly on purpose, and then strode over.

He wasn't sure if He Zhiying had really seen anything, or if there really was a ghost in the bathroom. However, he felt it was his responsibility to face these questions in front of the girl.

With that thought in mind, he steeled himself and barged in. As soon as he entered, he sensed someone crouching in the corner of the bathroom; upon closer inspection, he realized it was a pile of clothes. He breathed a sigh of relief, thinking, "Don't scare yourself; stay calm."

There was nothing in the bathroom!

Song Xiaomo searched carefully, then opened the white toilet seat. In that instant, his heart tightened…

In the candlelight against the dark backdrop, he saw some wet hair floating in the toilet bowl, with some glaring bloodstains nearby, as if something had crawled into the pipes...

He tried his best to calm himself down and pressed the flush button hard.

With a "splash—", water gushed out. He froze, almost crying out. Good heavens, the water was red, clearly the color of blood. Ripples spread out, the gently rippling water emitting a faint fishy smell, revealing a whole basin full of bloody water!

A wave of nausea surged in Song Xiaomo's stomach. In that moment of dazed disorientation, he was horrified to see a bloodied, dead infant floating in the toilet. It was dead because the baby was face down, submerged in the water, and neither crying nor fussing; it was clearly deceased.

The water in the toilet slowly filled up. He stared wide-eyed as the dead infant was turned around by the water, face up, eyes gleaming with malice! This was not the look a baby should have; staring at it for a long time was chilling.

"Ah—Zhiying, come quick!" he called out to the door.

There was no response.

He pricked up his ears and suddenly heard a sound—footsteps?

Chapter 96: The Doll Murder Case (96)

Without thinking twice, Song Xiaomo rushed to the living room.

At that moment, he could hardly believe his eyes...

He Zhiying was running around the sofa incessantly. Her hair was disheveled, and she kept running as if she were running away from something chasing her... Her face was deathly pale, her eyes were wide open, the muscles in her face were twitching stiffly, and she was breathing heavily...

But behind her, he couldn't see anything. Could it be... that invisible thing was Xiao You in disguise as a ghost? Why was she chasing her?

"Zhiying..." Song Xiaomo called her name several times, but she still did not respond at all.

In a moment of desperation, he opened his arms and rushed forward to hug her tightly.

"Don't hurt me! I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." He Zhiying mumbled incoherently.

"Zhiying, wake up, it's me, Xiaomo!"

After a while, she gradually came to her senses, glanced at Song Xiaomo, then buried her head in his arms and began to sob.

He held her tightly and comforted her, "Don't be afraid, I'm here. What happened?"

"She...she's bothering me again! Just now...she was chasing me! I'm so scared!"

Is it still that same ghost?

He Zhiying nodded. Her eyes were closed, but her eyelids were still trembling.

Song Xiaomo didn't know whether he should take her to the hospital now, or whether he should just stay quietly by her side until dawn. The starlight and moonlight gently bathed her, and she curled up into a small ball, nestled tightly in his arms, like an infant hiding in its mother's womb.

His heart ached, and he hugged He Zhiying tightly.

"Xiao Mo, thank you!" she said.

"We're friends, please don't be so polite!"

"Could it be... could it be that you only see me as a friend? An ordinary friend?" He Zhiying stared at him, a chill emanating from her.

Song Xiaomo hesitated, unsure how to answer.

A hint of sadness appeared on He Zhiying's indifferent face. She stared at him and said, "I'm sorry, it's getting late. I need to rest. You should go back now."

"But I'm afraid she'll come back and hurt you again!"

"No need, she'll leave after 1 a.m., it's almost 2 a.m."

Why did she specifically come to find you?

“I don’t know…I don’t know! Almost every night between midnight and 1 a.m., she would suddenly appear.” He Zhiying’s breathing became heavier, as if even recalling it was something that made her heart pound. Her pale cheeks began to tremble slightly again, and between words, she would bite her lower lip from time to time, and blood almost seeped from her lips.

"Is there something you're having trouble telling me? Can you tell me?"

"No, no!" She shook her head desperately, tears streaming down her face again. Song Xiaomo's heart ached once more. He felt as if he were holding a girl in danger, and he had to save her, even though he didn't yet know what kind of adversary he would face. He Zhiying's face was pressed tightly against his chest; her narrow shoulders and slender waist were now nestled in his embrace. How could he let such a girl be hurt again?

Chapter 97: The Doll Murder Case (97)

"I will come to be with you every day from now on, and I will never let you get hurt again!"

"No!" He Zhiying suddenly stopped crying. After a while, Song Xiaomo realized something was wrong. When he looked down, he saw her staring at him with desperate eyes.

"You don't believe me?"

"I believe you, but she's a ghost, you can't defeat her!" She trembled slightly with excitement.

Song Xiaomo gave a wry smile and turned his gaze away. He really didn't want to hear her continue. Strangely enough, he was now somewhat convinced of the existence of ghosts. But he truly couldn't understand why a ghost would linger like this. And why it had chosen such a weak and helpless girl. Did ghosts also know how to bully the weak and fear the strong?

At that moment, fear transformed into a force within Song Xiaomo, and he clenched his fist tightly. Although he didn't know how to defeat the ghost, he had already decided that he would never let He Zhiying be hurt again. After calming down, he remembered the dead baby in the toilet—it was just a ghost doll—and he was terrified again!

Night had fallen, and Song Xiaomo turned on all the lights in the rooms, but it still wasn't bright enough. He held her tightly. He Zhiying gradually fell asleep in his arms, a trace of worry still on her face in her sleep. Was she worried that after Song Xiaomo left her, the ghost would come back to hurt her?

Chapter 98: The Doll Murder Case (98)

(27)

"The ghost...the ghost wants to cut off my head...cut off my head..."

Li Zhengzhen's shrill voice pierced the silent night sky. The sound was so jarring, like a sharp scalpel cutting through a chest, that Song Xiaomo's heart pounded wildly. He had just returned to his dormitory building when he witnessed this astonishing scene.

Several men in white coats were dragging Li Zhengzhen away. He struggled violently, as if he had gone mad, his eyes bloodshot, his neck stiff, his hair almost standing on end, and his arms and legs kicking wildly. The faces of the men beside him already had several fresh wounds and bloodstains; it was clear they had exerted tremendous effort to subdue him.

"What happened? What's wrong with him?" Song Xiaomo asked, puzzled, as they approached.

“He’s gone crazy, this time it’s serious, ouch—” The man in the white coat was bitten again by Li Zhengzhen.

Li Zhengzhen saw Song Xiaomo, his eyes widened, and he said to Song Xiaomo, "There's... a ghost over there..."

After saying that, Li Zhengzhen could no longer speak; his voice seemed to have gone hoarse, even though he was still struggling.

The men in white coats dragged him into the ambulance, then started the car and drove away.

Song Xiaomo stood frozen, his head buzzing. A peculiar aura filled the air. He shook his head violently, but Li Zhengzhen's words still seemed to echo in his ears: A ghost on the other side? Perhaps what he saw that rainy night was truly…

Suddenly, he saw Park Eun-hee walking towards him in a hurry.

“Tonight, I was in my room when I suddenly heard Lee Jung-jin shouting. I thought he was having another episode, so I went out to check on him. I’ve experienced similar situations before, but for some reason, this time he seemed particularly terrified. When I saw him, he was clinging to me tightly, saying that a ghost was trying to kill him!” Park Eun-hee said.

A phrase involuntarily popped into Song Xiaomo's mind—"A dark and windy night for murder."

"Could it be because of what's on the other side?"

“I looked everywhere, but it was pitch black on the other side, there was nothing there. I tried everything but couldn’t calm him down, so I had no choice but to call the mental hospital.”

“However…” Song Xiaomo hesitated before continuing.

"But what?"

"We can't rule out the possibility of ghosts. Maybe he really saw something. Have you thought about going to check the room across the street?"

Park Eun-hee paused for a moment, then lowered her voice and said, "Forget it, they've been sealed off for a long time already, why should we bother with this trouble? Besides, someone investigated before, but found nothing."

I still don't feel at ease!

"Xiao Mo, you've become increasingly frightening lately. Thinking too much about certain things can lead to madness. In fact, everyone has some repressed dark side, and once these dark parts are affected by the external environment, they can cause hallucinations or auditory hallucinations, or lead to inexplicable behaviors, like those of mental patients. Their world is far removed from our real objective world, and they are immersed in a strange world of their own imagination... Be careful, I'm leaving now." Park Eun-hee said these words and hurriedly left.

Chapter 99: The Doll Murder Case (99)

Watching his departing figure, Song Xiaomo carefully recalled the scene from just now, and as he thought about it, he couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine. He had never believed in ghosts before, but after experiencing so much, he was increasingly doubting his former beliefs.

The dormitory hallway was empty. Song Xiaomo's shadow stretched across the floor, swaying as he moved, like a black phantom. He returned to his room, opened the curtains, and his gaze returned to that room.

In the sparse moonlight, a faint light flickered in the window, and the black curtains swayed gently, making it look like a person in black covering a nearly burnt-out oil lamp. Several bats on the balcony flapped their wings intermittently, probably disturbed by something.

Song Xiaomo stared silently at the opposite side, a strange unease creeping into his heart. Suddenly, a strange feeling washed over him; he felt something pressing down on him, making it hard to breathe. He knew it was just his imagination, but the feeling was so real, it worried him—would he go insane like Li Zhengzhen? He didn't want to look anymore, but for some reason, the room seemed to possess a magical allure, drawing him in. And in the windowpane, a silent face seemed to appear, speaking to him. Song Xiaomo shook his head, closed his eyes, and quickly drew the curtains.

After the lights were turned off, the room was plunged into darkness, as dark as a tomb. Song Xiaomo closed his eyes and suddenly felt as if he were not lying in a bed, but in a coffin. He slept for a long time, but he kept hearing a sound outside the window, perhaps the wind blowing the roof. The sound was like the beating of a war drum, muffled but carrying far, especially with the help of the wind.