Leyenda de Ksitigarbha

Capítulo 11

"You, you, you..." Wu Yongbin began to retreat rapidly. He lost his balance and fell to the ground. Still in fear, he used his elbows to support his body as he continued to retreat.

"Hehe, boss." Qian Xiao slurred, swaying as he moved forward again. He held up the garment-like object in his hand and handed it to Wu Yongbin on the ground. "Here...you, here you go."

"No, no..." Wu Yongbin was finally able to speak normally, but his voice was filled with deep terror.

"Heavens!" Lin Han exclaimed in shock as Qian Xiao finally stepped into the now-calm firelight, involuntarily taking several steps back. Qian Xiao was covered in blood, and what he was carrying was clearly a human skin, fresh and still dripping blood. Lin Han understood; Qian Xiao wasn't wearing discolored clothes, but rather had lost a piece of skin. Judging from the shape of the skin, it resembled a sleeveless vest, obviously peeled off forcibly.

"Here are your clothes." Qian Xiao said, then suddenly pounced down, grabbing Wu Yongbin's ankle with her free right hand.

"Get away! I don't want to!" Wu Yongbin screamed hoarsely, losing his mind, and kicked Qian Xiao hard on the head with his other foot. The dull thuds echoed in the dark night. Qian Xiao didn't scream or struggle, but simply stopped his grotesque speech and let the rain of kicks fall on his head and shoulders.

"Enough! Wu Yongbin, stop! He's dead!" Lin Han shouted, but dared not step forward.

"Dead?! He's really...dead?" Wu Yongbin, drenched in sweat, stopped kicking and, trembling, used his aching leg to pry away Qian Xiao's hand that was gripping his ankle. Without a moment's hesitation, he scrambled back to the campfire, panting as he stared intently at Qian Xiao, who lay sprawled on the ground. Qian Xiao's mangled body was lifeless; one hand clutched his own skin, the other stretched out stiffly forward in a claw-like shape, seemingly still stirring in the flickering firelight.

No one spoke; the night was deathly silent once more. Suddenly, a sharp cracking sound of a branch snapping echoed from the fire, startling Wu Yongbin. The pungent smell of blood still lingered in his nostrils. Lin Han's stomach churned; he swallowed hard. "Let's... let's find something to cover him up." Wu Yongbin nodded hastily, and together with Lin Han, they gathered some broad, leafy branches and carefully covered Qian Xiao's body.

The makeshift camp was moved to the edge of the woods, away from the corpse. Perhaps they were simply too exhausted; on such an eerie night, Lin Han, Chen Yan, and Wu Yongbin, the only three remaining, succumbed to the immense torment of fear and fell asleep one after another. Occasionally, a breeze would blow. The branches covering Qian Xiao's gruesome corpse would begin to sway gently, as if the dead Qian Xiao were trying to get up and hand over the peculiar "leather jacket" he held to the three sleeping figures.

13

The dream was chaotic and bloody. Wu Yongbin crawled laboriously through a field of flesh and blood, the salty, metallic taste of blood making him nauseous. A figure walked lightly on the surface of the sea of blood, radiating coldness. He looked up; a white cotton coat, a white skirt, and white high-top leather boots—who else could it be but Chen Yan?

Wu Yongbin, panting heavily, sat bolt upright, escaping the terror of the dream. The blood-red, foul-smelling dream was still vivid in his mind, and a ferocious, beast-like expression slowly gathered in his bloodshot eyes. His gaze slowly turned to his right; not far away, Chen Yan was fast asleep.

"You wretched woman!" Wu Yongbin cursed Chen Yan in his heart. He quietly got up, tiptoed to Chen Yan's side, squatted down, and stared intently at Chen Yan's beautiful, sleeping face. Suddenly, he grabbed her neck with his strong hands, his face contorted in the firelight, like a vengeful ghost.

The immense pressure on her neck, the unbearable suffocation, jolted Chen Yan awake. She struggled desperately, her beautiful eyes bulging horribly, devoid of fear or anger, filled instead with a melancholic resentment. She clearly saw the person who wanted to kill her, a figure that perfectly matched her momentary hunch in her dazed state.

Lin Han was still fast asleep, completely unaware of the evil happening in the night. Wu Yongbin grinned silently, his grip tightening. From Chen Yan's purplish face, he seemed to see a glimmer of hope. Chen Yan's struggles gradually weakened; her kicks became feeble and slow. She could even clearly hear the creaking sound of her bones being squeezed in her throat.

On the brink of life and death, the frantic Wu Yongbin suddenly stopped struggling. He looked at the dying Chen Yan in astonishment and discovered that her lifeless eyes were staring straight behind him, as if she saw something more terrifying than death. He slowly turned his head and saw a tree trunk behind him, covered with dazzling patterns.

The pressure on her neck suddenly eased, and Chen Yan felt a refreshing, cool air sweep across her aching throat, instantly clearing her blurred vision. Wu Yongbin's burning hot hands were still pressing on Chen Yan's neck, but his head was twisted behind him in a strange position and slowly raised, as if to look at the distant night sky where dark clouds were gathering.

The tree trunk that had appeared out of nowhere was as thick as a person could hug and very tall. Wu Yongbin was puzzled when he inadvertently discovered that it didn't seem to be a tree trunk at all, but rather a living thing. Its bark, reflecting the crimson glow of the fire, rose and fell as if breathing. Driven by the eerie atmosphere, his curiosity was piqued, and he looked up. Above him, a gigantic human head appeared, looking down at him.

It was a woman's head, with long, flowing hair that danced in the wind. Her face was a ghastly pale blue, with eyes the size of fists, their pupils bulging out of their sockets like the eyes of a crab, their dark green background revealing only two tiny purple pupils. Her bulging nostrils hissed out a foul, pungent odor. Her blood-red lips were parted, and a forked, purplish-black tongue protruded from her mouth, hissing softly.

Even more terrifying, on either side of that enormous woman's head, like malignant tumors, were five human heads of normal size. They were Sun Ying, Du Xiaojia, the Jia siblings, and Qian Xiao. Their faces were contorted in pain, covered in blood, their gaping mouths screaming silently as they struggled desperately to break free from the giant snake's body.

"Ah—!" Wu Yongbin let out a heart-wrenching scream, no longer caring about murdering Chen Yan, and scrambled to the side in a panic. This scream also woke Lin Han from his sleep. He suddenly rolled over and jumped up, rushing to Chen Yan's side in one stride. Chen Yan was half-sitting up, clutching her throat, coughing incessantly, the purple on her pretty face had faded to a deep red.

Confirming that the scream hadn't come from Chen Yan, Lin Han steadied Chen Yan by the shoulders and turned his surprised gaze to Wu Yongbin. Wu Yongbin had crashed into an old tree, with nowhere left to retreat, his face contorted with terror, his eyes wide with rage. However, Lin Han couldn't see anything in the direction he was looking. Just as he was about to ask Wu Yongbin a question, what happened next left him speechless.

Wu Yongbin's body was suddenly lifted into the air, as if he had been swept up by something. His dangling legs kicked and thrashed futilely, while his hands clawed frantically at his waist. Soon, a "crunching" sound came from his body, and his cries of surprise turned into screams of unbearable pain. His face, exposed to the firelight, turned from red to purple, his eyes gradually bulged from their sockets, and blood began to spill from his seven orifices.

Lin Han took a deep breath, staring in horror at the bizarre scene. Then, a series of cracking sounds followed, Wu Yongbin's body stiffened for a moment, then slumped down, his screams abruptly ceasing. Everything seemed to freeze, but a moment later, his lifeless body flipped over, head down, feet up, disappearing without a trace, starting from his head.

"This, this..." Lin Han's voice had just broken free of his throat and burst from his mouth when, in mid-air, a human skeleton covered in flesh and blood was thrown from nothingness to his feet with a "whoosh," steaming hot. His legs went weak, and he involuntarily fell to the ground.

"Let's go." After a long silence, Chen Yan's slightly hoarse voice rang out. She gently helped the still-shaken Lin Han to his feet, and, under the cover of night, they stumbled into the boundless darkness.

"Chen Yan, I..." After taking a few steps, Lin Han finally snapped out of his fear. But he had only managed to utter half a sentence when he felt as if he had tripped over a tree root protruding from the ground. He fell headfirst, his vision went black, and he lost consciousness.

14

Slowly waking up, Lin Han felt no warmth around him, and his head felt as heavy as if a massive boulder had been placed on it. It was still very dark around him, but he could already sense the approaching dawn. He blinked, got up from the cold concrete floor, and, using the faint light streaming in from the window, made out his surroundings.

It was the third canteen, no doubt about it. Lin Han was horrified. His mind was a complete blank, and he couldn't understand why he had come to this place for no reason. He walked towards the half-open door in a daze, but slipped on the dust on the ground and bumped his forehead hard against the door. It was this slight pain that made him recall some terrifying fragments.

"Chen Yan, Chen Yan?" Lin Han shouted, flung open the door, and ran towards Chen Yan's rented cottage, facing the morning breeze. It looked like it would be a bright, sunny day; the sky was already tinged with a purplish-red dawn. Perhaps it was too early, for there wasn't a soul in sight, either on or off campus. Reaching the door of Chen Yan's cottage, the sky was already ablaze with the rising sun, but the old, dilapidated cottage remained hidden in the shadows of the trees.

"Bang, bang, bang!" Lin Han knocked on Chen Yan's door, panting heavily as he called her name repeatedly. The door opened, and Chen Yan, dressed in all white, stood behind it, calmly looking at Lin Han. Lin Han breathed a sigh of relief, took a few deep breaths to calm his breathing, and asked, "Are you... alright?"

Chen Yan coldly curled her lip, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes: "Okay."

"Uh... I..." For some reason, Lin Han swallowed the question that was on the tip of his tongue and changed the subject, "I was just passing by, so I came to see you. It's the holidays, when are you going home?"

"It'll be a few more days." Chen Yan deliberately avoided Lin Han's eager gaze. "Is there anything else? I have some important things to take care of."

"Well... then you go ahead with your work." Lin Han slowly backed away. "I'll go first." He turned around in a panic, almost tripping. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chen Yan amused and smiling sweetly. The smile was brief, but it filled him with immense happiness. He grinned foolishly, turned, and ran away.

Back in the dormitory, the dorm supervisor gave Lin Han a strange look, perhaps startled by the lingering silly grin on his face. As he went upstairs, he glanced at his watch; Monday the 9th. He suddenly felt something was off, but couldn't quite put his finger on it. He decided to stop thinking about it and instead savor Chen Yan's rare, warm smile in his heart.

"Lemon Head, you're back?" Xiao Zijie's sudden appearance startled Lin Han. Before he could answer, the other man patted him on the shoulder and proudly waved the suitcase in his hand. "Go to hell, you rotten banana! It's finally vacation time. Aren't you going to hurry up and pack your things and go home?"

"I..." Lin Han felt that this scene was very familiar, as if he had experienced it a few days ago.

"White bones, lemon head." While Lin Han was still in a daze, Xiao Zijie couldn't wait to say goodbye and ran downstairs.

Strange! Maybe it's a dream? Lin Han shook his head with a wry smile, feeling that his memory seemed to be getting worse lately. Back in his empty dormitory, some bloody and bizarre scenes intertwined in his mind again, one after another, abrupt yet disconnected. He patted his head in frustration, as if trying to shake those thoughts out of his head.

"Why would I go to the third canteen?" Lin Han threw himself onto the bed, completely baffled. "Damn! Am I sleepwalking?" He was annoyed by this thought, grabbed a book at random, and absentmindedly flipped through it, trying to use this method to drive away his inner unease.

In the following days, several deaths occurred on campus, which was now mostly deserted. These events pieced together the terrifying fragments in Lin Han's mind, forming a complete memory. The deaths were strange; although they were all accidents or suicides, the manner of their deaths was extremely gruesome.

Sun Ying, a computer science student, attempted suicide by poisoning herself due to relationship problems, but died in the chemical engineering lab. Perhaps she knocked over a large bottle of hydrochloric acid when she collapsed, leaving her body severely corroded. Her friend, Du Xiaojia, after arguing with her boyfriend Qian Xiao, stormed up a mountain, lost her footing, and fell off a cliff. Tree branches tore away all the flesh from her right arm, leaving only a bloody bone. The twin siblings Jia Ru and Jia She from the Spanish department were struck and mangled by a heavy truck in full view of everyone. Du Xiaojia's boyfriend, Qian Xiao, distraught over his girlfriend's death, attempted suicide by jumping from a building, but was caught by two iron hooks used for bamboo poles, which tore off two large pieces of skin from his chest and back. Wu Yongbin, who had been missing for several days, was found dead in the mountains behind the school, only a skeleton with remnants of flesh and blood remaining. DNA testing confirmed his identity, and he was ultimately identified as having died from a starving male lion that had escaped from the zoo.

These successive deaths added another layer of gloom to the already tense atmosphere on campus. Lin Han hid in his dormitory, enduring immense fear alone. The three ghost-summoning games he had experienced became increasingly clear in his mind. But what he couldn't understand was why, of all the participants, only he and Chen Yan were ever unharmed.

Was Chen Yan the organizer of the game? Did she know the answer? Early Friday morning, Lin Han opened his eyes and began thinking about these things. He quickly washed up and went straight to Chen Yan's small house. Knocking on the door, he saw a suitcase at Chen Yan's feet. The question he was about to ask turned into a hesitant, mumbled question under Chen Yan's melancholy gaze: "You...are leaving?"

Chen Yan nodded slightly: "Yes, let's go home." After saying that, she picked up her suitcase, slipped out the door, and closed the door behind her.

"I...I'll see you off." Without waiting for a reply, Lin Han picked up Chen Yan's suitcase.

Chen Yan didn't refuse. She walked past Lin Han and gracefully stepped out of the shadows of the trees. Lin Han silently followed behind her, and the two walked towards the gradually bustling street in the crisp north wind. At the street corner, Chen Yan hailed a taxi and got in. Lin Han put his suitcase down and was about to get in when Chen Yan stopped him: "That's enough for now, goodbye!"

"Goodbye!" Lin Han replied blankly. Only now did he understand why he had so many questions, yet couldn't bring himself to ask Chen Yan after seeing her. Because in every game, her attitude towards him was completely different from her attitude in real life. He enjoyed that feeling, even developing an infinite longing for the next game. Standing in the wind, he watched the little blue car disappear into the thin morning mist.

Sigh! See you next semester, Chen Yan.