pozo profundo

Capítulo 84

"It's nothing!" I shook my head, and just as I was about to say something, my eyes suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure at the street corner. That... wasn't that Yu Bo?

"Driver, stop!" I hurriedly said to the driver.

"What are you doing?" Fang Lei asked, looking at me.

"I just saw Yu Bo!" I said, and prepared to get out of the car. Fang Lei was about to follow, but I stopped her.

"Go back to school first, Li Yang might need your help!" I said.

“But you…” Fang Lei was a little worried about me being alone.

"It's okay, I'm not a child!" I laughed and patted Fang Lei's face, saying, "I'll be right back!" After saying that, I signaled the driver to continue driving and hurriedly chased after Yu Bo in the direction he had just gone.

Although it was already dark, the streetlights still allowed me to clearly see Yu Bo ahead. He was carrying two large bags of things, and it looked like he had just returned from the supermarket.

For some reason, I didn't catch up; instead, I quietly followed behind him. Yu Bo seemed completely unaware that I was following him, focusing solely on walking with his head down. Soon, we entered a residential area. Was this where he lived?

Just as they reached the entrance of a building, a plump woman rushed out, walked aggressively up to Yu Bo, and started yelling, "Hey! Can't you control your old man? If he's mentally ill, send him to the hospital. Otherwise, keeping him locked up at home will disturb other people!"

Yu Bo didn't say anything, but just glanced at the woman, trying to avoid her.

"What kind of attitude is that?" The fat woman shoved Yu Bo and said, "Your father is mentally ill, but are you too?"

"Who's crazy?" Yu Bo suddenly said coldly to the fat woman.

"You..." Perhaps it was the fierce light in Yu Bo's eyes that made the fat woman shrink back a bit, and she stammered for a long time before saying, "Your old man has been making noise all day today, so I haven't been able to sleep. I have to work the night shift!"

"Hmph!" Yu Bo snorted contemptuously and then ignored the fat woman. The fat woman seemed to be afraid of something and did not chase after him. She just stood behind Yu Bo, hands on her hips, fuming.

Watching Yu Bo go upstairs, I slowly walked over. This was the first time I'd heard about Yu Bo's father. He never mentioned his parents at school, and because my parents had passed away early, I rarely asked about other people's parents in conversation. But from what the fat woman said, it seemed Yu Bo's father was mentally ill? What was going on? If he was ill, why wasn't he taken to the hospital?

With this question in mind, I slowly went upstairs. Just as I was looking for Yu Bo, I heard his voice from the second floor: "Dad, what have you been up to today?"

I stood at the top of the stairs between the first and second floors without going up any further, as if his father had not answered.

"Dad!" Yu Bo seemed to put down the things he had bought and said, "Dad, shall we go inside?"

I stood there, hesitated for a long time, and finally went up.

"Lin Xiao?" Yu Bo was supporting an old man who looked dazed and confused. He looked surprised when he saw me.

"Oh! I saw you nearby and came over to see you!" I rubbed my hands together, starting to regret coming up to meet him.

"I saw everything!" Yu Bo chuckled self-deprecatingly and said, "Then come in!"

As he spoke, Yu Bo helped the old man into the house, and I immediately helped carry the two large bags of things on the ground inside. I found that they were full of the cheapest instant noodles and biscuits, things I probably couldn't even swallow.

Stepping into the room, the furnishings almost made me feel like I had stepped back into the 1980s: old furniture, hardly any appliances, and faded old photos on the walls. It seemed Yu Bo hadn't been doing well these past few years. Although I knew his family wasn't wealthy when I was in school, I never imagined it would be like this.

"Is this all you're eating? It's not nutritious at all." I put the food on the table.

"Sit wherever you like!" Yu Bo's complexion was a bit dark, as if he were a malnourished patient, while the old man looked very old, with a full head of white hair, a face covered with wrinkles, and a pair of dull and turbid eyes, making him seem like a soulless shell.

"As long as we can fill our stomachs, why be so particular?" Yu Bo said casually.

"This...this is your father?" I asked.

“Yes.” Yu Bo nodded and said, “It’s Alzheimer’s disease.”

Alzheimer's? I sighed with a mix of sadness and helplessness. This is the most frustrating disease. Even living becomes a burden. You no longer recognize your relatives, and you even lose yourself.

After Yu Bo helped the old woman sit down, she seemed to remember something. She picked up a photo frame from the bedside table and stared at it intently. It was a picture of a very beautiful woman. Even with the two braids that were common in those days, her beauty couldn't be hidden, especially her captivating eyes. They must have been mesmerizing back then!

“This is my mother,” Yu Bo explained from the side. “My dad only remembers what she looked like when she was young.”

I looked around; it seemed most of the photos were of this woman, her face beaming with happiness, as if the whole world was cheering for her. However, what caught my attention was another large group photo, which appeared to be a graduation photo. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was actually a graduation photo of the 1980 graduating class of the Literature Department from my alma mater.

"Was your father also a graduate of our school?" I asked.

“Yes!” Yu Bo nodded and said, “My father was a literary genius back then, and he also loved photography, so many of my mother’s photos were taken by him.”

"No wonder you like photography so much too." As I spoke, I looked at the rows of once-young faces. I tried to find Yu Bo's father among them, just as I was about to turn to Yu Bo and ask if the third one from the left in the second row was his father. Suddenly, the face to the left of his father seemed to move. The familiar face twisted together. I saw a familiar ghost face, the same ghost face I had seen in the mental hospital!

Then, it seemed as if a pair of hands appeared on the head of that ghostly face, reaching into the air and still moving, the fingers gradually turning into claws, reaching towards me!

I subconsciously took a step back, only to bump into Yu Bo behind me. When I turned around, I saw him with a strange expression on his face and a chilling murderous intent flashing in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked in a flat voice.

"Who is that?" I looked at the photo again. Everything was normal. There were no funny faces or hands.

“My father,” Yu Bo replied coldly.

"Who's that next to him?" I looked at the photo again, and the man in it seemed familiar. Then, after a moment's thought, a chill ran down my spine. That man—wasn't that Jiang Hua? I'd seen his picture in the files A Bao and Li Yang had collected!

"I don't know!" Yu Bo shook his head and said, "He should be my father's classmate!"

"Really?" I looked closely at the photo and noticed that one of the girls in the first row looked somewhat like Zhou Xiangrong.

"Is there anything else?" Yu Bo suddenly asked rudely, seemingly trying to get rid of me. I awkwardly rubbed my nose and had no choice but to say I had something to do, hurriedly said goodbye to Yu Bo, and left his house.

Just after I left, Yu Bo took out another framed photo from behind the graduation photo. It was a group photo of two men and two women, and they seemed to be very close. These must be Yu Bo's parents, and the other couple was none other than Jiang Hua and Zhou Xiangrong.

Yu Bo touched the face of his mother in the photo, then looked at his father who was still holding the photo of his mother blankly. A strange and complicated expression appeared on his face, a mixture of disgust, heartache, resentment, or perhaps... hatred?

As I left Yu Bo's house, I kept thinking about the graduation photo I'd just seen. It seemed Yu Bo's father was probably a classmate of Jiang Hua and Zhou Xiangrong. It's a pity his father has Alzheimer's now; otherwise, asking him would have been a very good lead.

Wait a minute! If his father really liked photography, maybe we could find some clues in those old photos? Thinking of this, I couldn't help but turn around and go back upstairs.

Is it a good idea to go back like this? What reason do I have to borrow those photos? I can understand what Yu Bo meant earlier, and going back seems like I'd be doing him a disservice.

Forget it! Let's talk about it again in a few days! I didn't go back, and while thinking about how to ask Yu Bo for the old photos, I walked towards the school.

**********

"Hey? Where's Lin Xiao?" Li Yang asked, looking at Fang Lei who had returned alone.

"He ran into a senior from his school, so he left for a while," Fang Lei replied, glancing at A Bao standing next to Li Yang, who was fully armed. A Bao held a flashlight in one hand and a Swiss Army knife she'd somehow acquired in the other, and carried a huge travel bag on her back. Even more outrageous was the headlamp strapped to her forehead.

"Abao, what are you doing?" Fang Lei asked, suppressing a laugh.

"Get ready to go down to the air-raid shelter!" Abao patted the travel bag on his back and said.

"What are you talking about!" Li Yang couldn't help but pat A Bao's head, saying irritably, "Didn't the school say we weren't allowed in?"

"Then go in by yourself! You idiot!" Abao made a face at Li Yang.

"How do we get in? The iron gates are all locked!" Li Yang said helplessly.

"Then open it!" Abao grinned slyly, pulled a strange piece of metal from his pocket, and waved it in front of Li Yang.

"Master Key!" Li Yang exclaimed immediately, then looked at A Bao and asked, "You wouldn't...?"

"That's not a good idea, Abao!" Fang Lei objected.

"Do you have a better idea?" Abao asked Li Yang and Fang Lei, and began to further entice the good kids to do something naughty: "Besides, we're just going into the air-raid shelter to take a look, we won't take anything from the school! Is there some treasure inside?"

"This..." Our righteous and awe-inspiring Comrade Li Yang was the first to succumb to the temptation of the little devil, and besides, he was also very curious about that air-raid shelter.

“It’s settled then, let’s go there tonight!” Ah Bao suggested.

"Where should we go to see it?" I pushed open Li Yang's door and overheard A Bao's words.

"You're back?" Fang Lei greeted her with a smile, saying, "Abao said he's going to the air-raid shelter tonight, so of course he'll pick the lock himself!"

"Ah Bao, you've got this skill too!" I exclaimed, glancing at Ah Bao with admiration. "Great!"

"Lin Xiao!" Fang Lei frowned and said, "Why are you joining in the commotion too!"

"But the case still needs to be investigated!" I shrugged helplessly, then said to Abao, "But you can't go down!"

"Huh! Why?" Abao said indignantly, "You want me to pry open the door, but you won't let me down?"

"Because you have an even more important task!" I said with a smile to Abao, who was so angry he was about to jump up and down. "Go back today and help me find the student list of Jiang Hua's class back then, and especially find someone with the surname Yu."

"Why?" Abao was still unwilling to accept it.

I briefly described the graduation photos I had seen at Yu Bo's house, and then said, "I always felt that Yu Bo's father was connected to those cases from back then, but unfortunately he has Alzheimer's. There's no way to ask him."

"Well... alright!" Abao nodded helplessly.

"Then you can't go!" Fang Lei suddenly said to me, "Your injury hasn't fully healed yet."

"Do you expect me to let you go alone?" I asked.

"There might be danger!" Fang Lei said.

"If there's any danger, I can't let you go alone!" After I finished speaking, I grabbed Fang Lei and pulled her towards the door without waiting for her to say anything more. I only left Li Yang with one sentence: "We'll come back to find you to go to that air-raid shelter after 10 p.m.!"

I slammed my bedroom door shut and pulled Fang Lei into my arms, leaving her standing there somewhat bewildered. I inhaled the delicate fragrance of her hair and whispered in her ear, "I want us to be together. I don't want to be separated from you!"

Fang Lei moved her body only slightly before snuggling tightly into my arms, wrapping her arms around my waist. I could feel the strength in her hands.

“I know you’re worried about me, but I’m worried about you too. So…” I cupped her face in my hands and said, “Let me go with you tonight, okay?”

"You!" Fang Lei sniffed and said, "I just can't do anything with you!"

"Hehe!" I knew she agreed, and I happily hugged her and showered her with kisses, saying, "My dear wife is the best!"

"Who's your wife?" Fang Lei playfully punched my chest, but her eyes were filled with tenderness and happiness.

Happiness? It turns out I still have the right to be happy and the ability to make other women happy. I once thought I would live a lonely life forever, but unexpectedly, heaven gave me Fang Lei. How fortunate I am! And Yin Xue, what about you? I no longer have the chance to give you happiness. If one day I meet you again, how will I face you? With tears? With silence?

Volume Three: Delicacies of Hell, Chapter Twenty-Two: The Water Jar

Volume Three: Delicacies of Hell, Chapter Twenty-Two: The Water Jar

The school was completely silent at night; perhaps only faint breathing could be heard around me. The oppressive shadows of the trees enveloped us like a dark curtain. Was what was swaying gently in the breeze the shadow of the trees or the tail of a demon?

We stood at the bottom of the stairs in the old laboratory building. The red iron gate at the corner had long since developed a patch of rust due to its age. Yet, the original red paint still stood out so conspicuously under the dim light, as if it were real human blood, about to drip to the ground.

Ah Bao's lock-picking speed left us all speechless; it seemed she had a natural talent for being a professional thief. Pushing open the varnished door felt like opening the gates to the underworld. The icy wind that rushed in made us all shiver. A musty, pungent smell filled the air, and the damp wind howled like wolves and tigers.

"Abao, you should go back now!" I said to Abao, taking the flashlight from her hand.

“But…” Abao was clearly very worried, her whole little face was twisted together.

"Good boy! Be good!" Li Yang suddenly patted A Bao on the shoulder and said, "Tomorrow I'll take you to eat the most famous snacks here, okay?"

"Hmm..." Abao winked playfully and asked, "You're paying?"

"Of course!" Li Yang replied with a smile.

"Alright!" Abao glanced at the three of us and said, "I'm going back to do my research, and then we'll have breakfast together tomorrow morning!"