Zapatos de cristal

Capítulo 2

A trace of sadness flashed in her eyes, Ningxia shook her head, and said softly, "I'm fine now. The doctors all say I've recovered!" She understood what Su Yun meant. Five years ago, after her parents passed away, she suffered from severe depression and spent some time in a municipal mental hospital.

Su Yun felt a little apologetic and said softly, "That's not what I meant. Are you under too much stress?"

Ningxia realized that Su Yun and Chen Ying didn't seem to have seen what she had just witnessed, so she said nothing more, as it would only frighten and worry them. That night, the woman's image in the mirror didn't reappear, and the three of them spent the night peacefully. The next morning, they all went to work without incident.

Su Yun and Chen Ying stayed with Ningxia for a few more days, but they didn't see that strange figure even once. Then, on Friday morning, Ningxia suggested going to Heizhen again the next day. Chen Ying's expression immediately changed, and she hurriedly said, "I've been staying here with you for the past few days, and my mother is already complaining. I won't go!" Su Yun, with a slight frown, nodded: "I'll go back to the company first. If there's nothing urgent, wait for my call tomorrow morning, and I'll go with you!" Ningxia smiled gratefully.

The next day, Ningxia waited by the phone for Su Yun's call, but by 3 PM, Su Yun still hadn't called. She tried calling Su Yun's cell phone, but it was off. She then called Su Yun's home phone, but no one answered. Finally, she found Su Yun's company number and called, only to be shocked by what she heard: Su Yun hadn't been to work for a week, without asking for leave, and her colleagues were still looking for her! Su Yun was a very meticulous worker; it was truly puzzling that she hadn't been to work for a week.

Calculating the time, Su Yun had already been absent from work without reason a week ago when Ningxia arrived in Heizhen. Thinking of this, that strange feeling spread from the box on the coffee table again. Without hesitation, Ningxia immediately went to the station, bought a ticket, and headed straight for Heizhen.

Ningxia turned around and exclaimed in surprise, "Su Yun!"

At this moment, Su Yun's eyes were bloodshot, his expression was dazed and blank, his glasses were nowhere to be found, he was hugging his chest, his whole body was shivering, his lips were trembling, and his eyes were fixed on the abandoned funerary shop.

"Cough cough cough..." Accompanied by violent coughing, Ningxia was extremely puzzled by the surprised expression on Su Yun's face.

"How did you know about this place?" Ningxia was extremely surprised by Su Yun's sudden arrival. "And, do you know something?"

Su Yun didn't answer her, but suddenly burst into laughter: "Hahaha..." Su Yun's terrifying voice echoed around the funerary shop, and an indescribable, immense fear pressed down on Ningxia's heart like a boulder.

There were no more trains back to the city that night, so I had to stay in the only small hotel in town. I had dinner at a roadside food stall selling noodles and rice noodles, next to a barbecue stall.

Ningxia and Su Yun ate their food in silence, finding it tasteless and unpleasant. On the way back, Su Yun had refused to answer any questions; her eyes were filled with unease. A noisy commotion arose from a group of locals chatting at a nearby barbecue stall.

"Did you guys know that Zhang Fang died last night?" A chubby middle-aged man said mysteriously to a bald man next to him.

"Oh! Really? So fast!" The bald man was somewhat surprised.

"Hmph! You still say that's not a haunted house? Zhang Fang saw something unclean there!" the fat man said again.

"How did you know? Didn't he fall and get sick?"

"You wouldn't believe it! Zhang Fang collapsed next to the haunted house after finishing farm work with his dad and the others that day! Apparently, he saw a woman!"

"Really?" the bald man next to him exclaimed in surprise.

"Old Chen! Don't talk nonsense! If the mayor finds out, you'll be in big trouble!" The speaker was the owner of the barbecue stall, who was clearly wary of Ningxia and Su Yun, two outsiders, being there.

"What's there to be afraid of! He himself wouldn't dare go to that haunted house in broad daylight! Humph!" The fat man said dismissively.

"Tell me quickly, what exactly happened?" The bald man seemed very interested.

"It took Zhang Fang's father and the others quite a while to realize that Zhang Fang hadn't returned. They rushed back to look for him and found him lying unconscious in front of the haunted house, foaming at the mouth!"

"Didn't Zhang Fang already have epilepsy?"

"That's right! So, after his father carried him back, he kept hearing Zhang Fang say: Blood! Blood!" The fat man, seeing that Ningxia's attention had been drawn to him, smugly and deliberately made a terrifying sound.

The bald man hurriedly asked, "What does that mean?"

"What do you mean? You just saw something unclean in the haunted house!" The fat man downed the glass of white wine in front of him, paid for the meal, and got up to stagger away with the bald man.

"Hmph! Two drunkards!" the barbecue stall owner muttered as he tidied up.

Ningxia overheard their conversation and felt it was somewhat strange and bizarre. Not wanting to ask the shop owner, she turned to look at Su Yun. Su Yun had already finished her food and was staring blankly past Ningxia's shoulder, looking behind her.

"Su Yun! Su Yun!" Ningxia called her name, but there was no response. She turned her head and followed Su Yun's gaze, passing through the dark brick and tile roofs of the town. A dark building lay like a lurking monster on a distant mountaintop.

"What kind of place is that?" Ningxia asked, suddenly curious.

"That's the haunted house those two drunkards were talking about!" Su Yun's voice drifted over like a ghost.

"Really?" Ningxia stood up and looked at it carefully. For some reason, she suddenly felt that the building had a strong attraction for her, like a deep black hole, attracting all her attention.

"Let's go take a look!" Ningxia said.

"Let's go! I'm sleepy!" Su Yun said quietly, seemingly ignoring Ning Xia's suggestion.

Ningxia felt a little embarrassed, paid for the meal, and left with Su Yun.

The small room on the third floor of the inn was simply furnished, dimly lit, and exuded a damp, musty smell, which was quite different from the dry climate of the southwest region.

Su Yun remained silent the entire way. Ning Xia was extremely puzzled by Su Yun's appearance. She did not wear her usual elaborate makeup, and her fair cheeks were now almost deathly pale. Her hair was not as neat as usual, but was haphazardly tied into a bun at the back of her head. She was wearing a T-shirt with a red pattern and a pair of jeans, and had no personal belongings. Her whole persona was completely opposite to her usual image as a female business elite. Her demeanor was also different from yesterday. Her eyes were no longer full of confidence and wisdom, but carried a deep sadness.

"Why did you do that in front of that shop just now?" Ningxia asked cautiously, having calmed down a bit.

Su Yun didn't speak, her eyes staring blankly at the mottled wall opposite the head of the bed, which was stained yellow with water. "Cough cough..." Another cough.

"Su Yun..." Ningxia was a little scared when she saw her appearance, and gently patted her back.

Su Yun suddenly turned her head and stared straight at Ning Xia, who was stunned by the strange and bewildered look in her eyes.

"I think I must have done something wrong, and God is punishing me." A glimmer of light flashed in Su Yun's eyes.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?"

Xia, I did something wrong!

Everyone makes mistakes! You don't need to blame yourself so much!

Su Yun suddenly revealed a strange smile: "Xia! Your... cough... lacquer box, was it really bought from an old man at a funerary object shop?"

Ningxia nodded, then suddenly a question arose: "Yes! I was also about to ask you, when did you go to that place?"

"A few days ago!" A dazed look suddenly flashed in Su Yun's eyes. After a moment of confusion, she shook her head violently and bit her lip: "I won't talk about it! I won't talk about it! Cough cough cough..." Ning Xia hurriedly handed her a bottle of mineral water.

"Your company said you haven't been to work for a week?" Ningxia looked at Su Yun, who seemed different from usual, and asked cautiously.

A hint of helplessness flashed across Su Yun's face: "Yeah!"

Ningxia suddenly realized something: "Did your boyfriend make you angry?"

Both she and Chen Ying knew that Su Yun had a mysterious boyfriend whose relationship was on and off. However, neither she nor Chen Ying had ever met the man, and they kept pestering Su Yun to meet him. But Su Yun said that her boyfriend was not good at socializing and spent most of his time away from home, so they gave up on the idea.

Su Yun shuddered and screamed, "Don't mention that bastard!" Unsurprisingly, Su Yun's outburst stemmed from her troublesome past relationship. Ning Xia fell silent, and an awkward silence filled the room. Suddenly, Su Yun stood up and said coldly, "I'm going to take a shower!" Then she turned around abruptly, "Do you have any clothes? Lend me something!" Seeing that Su Yun was empty-handed, Ning Xia quickly pulled a blue T-shirt and a denim skirt from her bag and handed them to her. While rummaging through them, a purplish-brown box was revealed. Su Yun took the clothes, her eyes unconsciously glancing at the box, her face filled with a strange, inexplicable expression. Ning Xia shuddered, a sense of foreboding rising within her.

After Su Yun took a shower, she went to bed. Ning Xia sighed inwardly and went into the bathroom to wash up as well. As soon as she entered, she saw Su Yun's t-shirt and jeans carelessly tossed on the floor. The bathroom light was an unusually dim, yellowish hue. For some reason, the red pattern on the t-shirt, lying on the water-stained floor, looked like splattered blood, and the air was filled with a damp, musty smell mixed with the stench of blood.

Frowning, Ningxia picked up her t-shirt and jeans, only to discover bloodstains on the jeans. It dawned on her; the bloody smell in the air came from Su Yun's unusual period, no wonder her temper had been a little strange. By the time Ningxia finished washing up, Su Yun was already asleep, her breathing even and interspersed with occasional coughs. After quickly tidying up and safely placing the plastic bag in her backpack, she lay down to sleep.

The room was quiet. The drizzle outside had stopped, and the appearance of a bright moon gradually dispelled the dark clouds. The clear moonlight made the entire Black Town feel incredibly fresh. A sliver of moonlight peeked through the window, slanting onto the headboard. Ningxia could see the bright moon hanging high in the sky right from the window, and her mood instantly improved. Unable to sleep, she simply sat up and admired this rare and beautiful sight.

The entire Black Town was enveloped in a soft light and shadow, tranquil and peaceful, a stark contrast to the dimness of the town during the day. Suddenly, Ningxia's gaze fell upon a building on a distant hilltop, and a strange feeling welled up within her.

A faint glimmer of light suddenly appeared within the building, but vanished instantly. Ningxia's heart skipped a beat. What was that? Could it really be the will-o'-the-wisp that the two men had mentioned?

The building remained silent in the darkness for a while, then suddenly, that glimmer of light reappeared in Ningxia's sight, flickered a few times, and then disappeared into the darkness. It all happened in just a few minutes. Her heart nearly leaped out of her chest. Could the legend be true? Was there really something unclean in that ancient house? Fortunately, the suspicious light didn't linger any longer. After a few moments of wild speculation, Ningxia gradually drifted off to sleep...

In a daze, gray tiles and white walls, courtyard pavilions, covered corridors and waterside terraces—a scene of serene beauty typical of Jiangnan gardens—was revealed. Countless side rooms were scattered among artificial hills, ponds, and flowerbeds, connected by covered corridors. Apart from Ningxia, it seemed there was no one else in the courtyard. A white mist shrouded the surroundings. Despite the beautiful environment, the entire courtyard lacked human presence and felt lifeless.

Suddenly, a group of people walked down the corridor—or rather, a group of women dressed in Ming Dynasty attire with stiff expressions. This group of expressionless women escorted a woman in a bright red dress with a red headscarf into a side room on the left. Ningxia's blood froze the moment she saw the woman, for her attire was exactly the same as the woman she had seen in portraits and mirrors! After a while, the women in the side room withdrew, leaving only the woman in red sitting upright on the bed, her head still covered with a red headscarf. Looking out the window at the faceless woman, Ningxia felt a dryness in her throat, her body paralyzed. The woman in the room remained motionless, like a statue, and Ningxia suddenly felt that strange, inexplicable feeling again, white breaths escaping from her mouth and nose with each breath.

"Hmph!" A sound that startled Ningxia suddenly came from "her" head. Ningxia struggled to turn her neck, but still couldn't see "her" face. A cold wind blew, blowing "her" long hair up, and a few strands brushed against Ningxia's face. The chill that was more bone-chilling than ice almost paralyzed Ningxia.

The woman in red in the front room suddenly stood up, turned abruptly, and looked in their direction. Ningxia almost fainted. The woman in red didn't have the cold expression in the portrait; instead, she looked at the "her" beside Ningxia with extreme astonishment, her eyes filled with not only anger but also a hint of fear. Seeing the woman in red's expression shift from fear to despair, Ningxia was greatly surprised. Who was this woman in white beside her?

Thinking this, the pale arm of the woman beside her slowly rose and moved towards Ningxia. Ningxia was horrified. Seeing the red-clad woman's terrified eyes, Ningxia's body went limp, and she lost consciousness...

A pale arm was reaching towards Ningxia. Ningxia pushed it away forcefully, shouting, "Don't come any closer!"

"Ningxia! Did you have a nightmare?" Su Yun's familiar voice rang out.

Panting heavily, he sat up, soaked to the bone. He was still in the small inn in Black Town, the moonlight streaming quietly through the window, illuminating the room clearly. Beside the bed sat Su Yun, her expression serene. For some reason, Su Yun looked incredibly beautiful at that moment, her face radiating the captivating confidence she always possessed.

"Ningxia! I'm going to die!" Before Ningxia could calm down, Su Yun's eyes suddenly darkened, and he uttered a sentence that horrified her.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Ningxia was a little angry. She had just woken up from a nightmare and was startled by Su Yun's words. She stood up, walked to the table, picked up a bottle of mineral water and drank it.

After only a few sips, Ningxia's gaze swept across the corner of the table, and suddenly she choked violently on a mouthful of water. On the simple table, a sunflower-shaped bronze mirror in a purplish-brown square box was quietly facing her, gleaming with an unbelievable and eerie light.

"Why did you open this?" Ningxia's strange feeling suddenly returned, and she said with dissatisfaction, her back to Su Yun. Su Yun remained silent. She quickly went over and put the mirror back down.

Just as Ningxia put the mirror down, a blue figure suddenly flashed across the mirror, followed by a dull thud of a heavy object falling to the ground from outside the hotel room window.

Ningxia hurriedly turned to Su Yun and asked, "What's that sound?" But she was the only one left in the room, and the two old-fashioned windows were creaking and swaying.

A sense of foreboding rose within Ningxia, her heart pounding in her throat. She rushed to the window and looked down, only to be met with a dizzying sensation. Directly below the window, bathed in the bright moonlight, lay Su Yun, dressed in a blue dress, face down with her limbs outstretched. A thick, dark red liquid was slowly spreading across the ground.

"Ah..." Ningxia screamed, nearly collapsing.

A week later, Su Yun's parents arrived from out of town, heartbroken, and carried Su Yun's ashes as they slowly boarded the car to go home. Watching the white-haired elders disappear down the road, Ningxia and Chen Ying couldn't help but hug each other and weep bitterly.

Because they needed to pack up Su Yun's belongings as quickly as possible and sell whatever they could, Ningxia and Chen Ying went to Su Yun's two-bedroom apartment in "Ningxinyuan" that evening after Ningxia got off work to start taking stock and packing.

Night had fallen. Ningxia sighed and reached out to turn on the room light. Under the beige light, a cozy living room was instantly revealed. Looking at the orderly arrangement of everything in Su Yun's room, both of them felt an inexplicable sense of frustration and sorrow. A life that had been vibrant just a few days ago was now reduced to ashes.

On the wall above the sofa in Su Yun's living room hangs a 25-inch photograph of Su Yun from her lifetime. The photo was taken at a costume party held by the real estate company where Su Yun worked. Su Yun is dressed in a classic Song Dynasty woman's costume. According to her, she chose to portray the character of Li Qingzhao, which perfectly reflects Su Yun's independent and tenacious character.

Looking at Su Yun's ancient costume, Ning Xia trembled. Her attire and melancholy eyes bore a strange resemblance to the red-clad woman who had recently filled her with inexplicable fear.

Browsing casually through the numerous framed photos Su Yun had displayed in the living room, bedroom, and study—from black-and-white pictures of Su Yun as a child to recent photos from last month taken with Ningxia and Chen Ying at a resort—he suddenly exclaimed, "That's right! I just remembered something!"

Chen Ying was startled: "What is it?"

Ningxia frowned and pointed at the entire room: "Look at these photos!"

Chen Ying looked at it, shook her head, and looked puzzled.

"Almost all the photos here, from Su Yun's parents to our classmates, teachers, and all her colleagues at work, are displayed in these frames. She likes displaying these photos so much, but it's a bit strange..." Ningxia shook her head.

"What's strange?"

Ningxia casually picked up a pale yellow photo frame from the living room windowsill and said, "Look! One person is missing from this photo!"

Chen Ying frowned, still not understanding her meaning: "I don't understand! Who?"

"Su Yun's boyfriend!" Ningxia said, searching through Su Yun's various photos. "I didn't find any intimate photos of Su Yun with any other man in these pictures!"

Chen Ying also looked at the photo frames around her. Sure enough, as Ningxia said, most of the photos were solo shots of Su Yun, and the rest were group photos of three or more people. There wasn't a single photo of Su Yun alone with any man.

"Yes! That's really strange!"

"Moreover, since Su Yun's accident, what we haven't noticed is that the mysterious boyfriend Su Yun mentioned has not appeared at all!" Ning Xia vaguely felt that something was strange about this.

"It's a bit strange. Although Su Yun often mentions her boyfriend, she never lets us see him. Is he really some kind of dinosaur that she can't show her to the world?" Chen Ying muttered.

After thinking for a while, Ningxia shook her head and said, "Forget it! Let's just take stock of Su Yun's belongings!" The two fell into a sorrowful silence again and began to take stock of Su Yun's belongings.

Su Yun had moved in about six months ago and didn't own much furniture. She was a simple person, and her clothes were very plain, so aside from large pieces of furniture and appliances, she didn't have much personal belongings. After about two hours, they had basically finished taking stock and unpacking. Looking at the clock on the wall, it was almost ten o'clock. Ningxia said to Chen Ying, "Let's go! We'll come earlier tomorrow!"

After locking the gate, the two left "Ningxinyuan" to catch the night bus. The sky was dark and gloomy, and the moon hid behind dense clouds. An indescribable sense of oppression and suffocation permeated the surroundings.

"Wait!" Just as she was about to reach the station, Ningxia suddenly remembered something and stopped by the roadside.

Caught off guard, Chen Ying asked in surprise, "What's wrong?"

"Why are Su Yun's handbag and cell phone missing from the room?" Ningxia asked, puzzled.