Actions fantômes - Chapitre 15
"Hehe, why don't you come over too?"
Bi Bin laughed, his mouth stretching all the way to his ears.
"Haha, of course that's great! But I'm not going to be a third wheel! Lei Zi, I'll have to treat you to dinner another day! That was a really satisfying win today!"
Zhong Lei smiled happily. He had never felt so relaxed and comfortable around Bi Bin before; this novel feeling made him very satisfied. His mood instantly soared to its peak.
"Haha! Treating me to dinner is no problem! But let's wait until we win the championship!"
Bi Bin laughed heartily.
"Okay! Okay! That's all for now. I'm going to eat. You guys continue, hehe!" With that, he walked away with a mischievous grin.
Zhong Lei turned around and saw Li Xue looking at Bi Bin's back with a strange expression.
"Why has he been acting so strange these past few days? He's never been this amiable before."
"Yes, I feel the same way. He's completely changed; it's really strange. But there are just too many strange things about him. Shall we go sit down at a small restaurant and I'll tell you about it later?"
Li Xue nodded obediently and smiled at Zhong Lei.
A sweet feeling welled up in Zhong Lei's heart once again.
The school places great importance on the basketball league. During the days of the games, there are no classes, and no evening study sessions; the students are completely free to roam around the school walls. Class teachers organize students to form cheerleading squads to support their respective classes.
It is precisely because of the school's emphasis on basketball that this high school can attract many talented basketball players. As a result, the Phoenix City High School basketball team dominates the entire Guiping City and also achieves excellent rankings in the province.
4
Zhong Lei led Li Xue by the hand to a seat at the very back. Zhong Lei only dared to hold her hand in such small settings; if a teacher or their informant saw them, the consequences would be dire! Previous examples all involved expulsion. Therefore, even now, Zhong Lei was very cautious.
The two sat down facing each other. Zhong Lei handed her the menu, and Li Xue took it and casually ordered a few dishes. Then, she handed the menu to the waiter who was pouring water for them and said to Zhong Lei:
"Now tell me, what's been going on lately that makes you look so haggard?" she said, her eyes blinking.
Zhong Lei was a little stunned. Li Xue was truly a constant source of surprises! He never expected that Li Xue, who used to be such a tomboy, would be so feminine. She really had blossomed into a beautiful young woman! Just then, he felt a tap on the head. Looking closer, he saw Li Xue holding a chopstick, glaring at him with a hint of anger.
"What are you daydreaming about? Didn't you hear me ask you?"
Zhong Lei immediately retracted half of what he had just thought.
"Haha, I was just wondering when you became so beautiful!" she said with a mischievous smile.
"Bang!" Li Xue gave him another slap. "Stop talking nonsense! Tell me, what happened?"
Zhong Lei clutched his aching head; he had lost half of what he had left earlier.
"Okay, okay! My dear wife! I'll talk! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"
Another one!
“Who’s your wife!” Li Xue’s face turned slightly red.
Zhong Lei chuckled, feeling a pang of pain on his head but a sweet satisfaction in his heart, then he said seriously:
"Okay, I'm not kidding anymore. Let's get serious. I've been wanting to find some time to sort things out. So, I'm telling you now, and you can help me organize my thoughts."
Li Xue nodded earnestly, and Zhong Lei smiled happily to himself.
"Well, let's start with the time we went to the dilapidated house! I was the one who first suggested going to the dilapidated house, and then the four of them started acting strangely. All four of them, including Su Shengwen, started talking nonsense, saying things like they wanted to kill ghosts and other such nonsensical things. This should be the first abnormality."
"Oh, let me write this down for you!" she said, taking a pink-covered notebook and a pen from her backpack. Li Xue was so thoughtful! Zhong Lei was completely immersed in love and had no intention of pulling himself out.
After Li Xue finished recording the first item, Zhong Lei took a sip of water.
“I continued, “After I got to that alley, I saw a person wearing white clothes, but everyone else said it was just white clothes, and when I looked again, it was indeed just clothes.”
Li Xue gently bit the pen and asked:
"Could you be mistaken? It sounds rather chilly to me!"
"Probably not, I have a lot of faith in my eyesight. You know how accurate my three-pointers are... Ouch!" Before she could finish speaking, her chopsticks fell to the ground.
"Okay, okay, let's get serious. I'm sure I didn't see wrong. There's a big difference between a person and a clothes hanger. How could I have seen wrong? Besides, if it were just a clothes hanger, why would an empty sleeve be waving at me?"
"Terrible, but you still said it later turned into clothes?"
"Yeah, that's the incredible part. Remember it!" He gave Li Xue a look that was absolutely irresistible.
"Go away! Don't disgust me!" Li Xue rolled her eyes at Zhong Lei, then lowered her head to write again. Zhong Lei saw that she had written a line: "II. A white-clad figure appeared in the alley of the dormitory building, which later turned into clothes. This is a mystery." It was quite concise. Not bad, hehe, Zhong Lei chuckled to himself for a while.
"And then?"
"Then we arrived at the dilapidated house. Inside that house, there was nothing at all, oh right, there was a worn-out chair. It was probably made of mahogany, and it looked quite valuable, even though it was covered in dust."
"You said there's a mahogany chair in that dilapidated house?" Li Xue's big eyes showed surprise.
"Yes, what's wrong? Do you know anything about the chair?"
"No, I just know there's a rather tragic story related to the mahogany chair. Do you want to hear it?" Li Xue knew he would definitely want to hear it, but she still asked to whet his appetite.
"Of course! Tell me quickly!" Zhong Lei was a little impatient. He had a natural love for listening to bizarre stories, and even now, after experiencing so many things, he hadn't changed this habit.
"Okay, listen carefully!" Li Xue smiled smugly. At the same time, the braised eggplant she ordered arrived. She picked up her chopsticks, grabbed a piece, and eagerly stuffed it into her mouth. Zhong Lei, sitting opposite her, had a strange expression. He was thinking, "Such a ladylike exterior, but actually so carefree—if it weren't me, who could accept such a terrifying reality?"
"It's quite delicious. Legend has it that this place, where our school is located, used to be a small village called Donglai. But later, something terrible happened, and the entire village committed mass suicide! And the methods were all very horrific. Most people hanged themselves, and what's disturbing is that some people even cut off their own limbs first, and then slit their throats. How painful that must have been! There's no need to torture yourself like that to die. Others jumped from the rooftops, landing headfirst and breaking their necks. There were many, many more, and all these deaths were related to one thing." Li Xue paused and picked up a piece of food.
"Is it a mahogany chair?" Zhong Lei guessed it pretty well and asked hurriedly.
Li Xue nodded and continued:
"Yes, it was because of that mahogany chair. Back then, the village landlord was robbed by bandits, and his entire house was burned to the ground. Only the dilapidated study facing north and that mahogany chair remained undamaged. The villagers were kind, and the landlord was usually very kind, so almost the entire village went to the old landlord's house to clean up the mess and collect the old man's remains, burying them in the Ning family cemetery according to custom. This cemetery is called 'Ning Family Forest,' and it's right behind our school. But I've digressed a bit. Let's get back to the day of the funeral. Something terrible happened."
"What's so scary? Tell me quickly!" Zhong Lei pressed.
Li Xue smiled mischievously, her lips pursed, her charm captivating.
"I'm hungry now, so I'll stop here for today. To find out what happens next, please stay tuned for the next episode!" After saying that, he picked up his chopsticks and started eating, calmly picking up food and eating rice under Zhong Lei's astonished gaze.
Chapter Seven: Basketball League (Part Three)
Five
Zhong Lei couldn't sleep a wink all night because of that sentence.
Was the accident involving the four students really related to that mahogany chair? And what terrifying story did that mahogany chair hide? At this moment, Zhong Lei suddenly remembered his own story—purely fictional, after all. But he hadn't finished telling it. What was that thunderbolt? Had he wronged the original homeowner? Recalling Li Xue's words from earlier that day, the dilapidated house, according to legend, belonged to a landlord surnamed Ning. He had said that the landlord had tied the People's Liberation Army soldiers to the chair and brutally murdered them. Could it be that the landlord actually died on that chair? If so, the landlord must have died unjustly; otherwise, why would his ghost remain attached to the chair, refusing to leave? Most importantly, what exactly happened on the day of the landlord's funeral? How did everyone in the village die? And how was this storm of death quelled afterward?
If he could understand the whole story, he could probably predict the general outcome of this matter! He might even be able to save himself from death! Thinking of death, Zhong Lei glanced again at Bi Bin, who was sleeping on the lower bunk. This guy was too suspicious. Someone who had been definitively declared dead not long ago had reappeared on campus, and instead of causing panic, he was suddenly welcomed by the students. This was because after his sudden appearance, he seemed like a completely different person. He was no longer the arrogant and domineering Bi Bin of the past; he had become quite humble and polite, which was truly astonishing.
Having not slept well the night before, Zhong Lei arrived at the stadium the next day with dark circles under his eyes. The team he was facing today was slightly stronger, but Zhong Lei still didn't take it too seriously because they were the seeded team in the group, so one more win would secure their advancement.
After changing into his team uniform, Zhong Lei looked preoccupied. He was called upon to jump the ball, and although he won, his steps onto the court were very unsteady, and he nearly fell at one point. Yu Kai noticed something was wrong and went over to him during the break, asking:
"Zhong Lei, what's wrong? You seem to be feeling unwell today?"
Following Yu Kai's prompting, Zhong Lei suddenly felt intensely tired. He shook his head, only to find his head incredibly heavy, and a pained expression uncontrollably appeared on his face. So, before he could even speak, Yu Kai stopped him from going back on stage, patting Zhong Lei on the shoulder and saying:
"Why don't you skip the game today? I bet you didn't get enough rest yesterday. With me and Bi Bin here, we'll be fine. We can handle it!" He finished with a confident thumbs-up.
He wasn't exaggerating. While today's opponents were certainly strong, Yu Kai and Bi Bin were both former key players on the school team, and they weren't pushovers. Therefore, Zhong Lei, the school team captain, could take a break. Besides, if their team was too strong and the gap was too large, the match wouldn't be interesting.
Zhong Lei nodded, put on his coat, and sat down on the sidelines. He casually picked up a bottle of purified water, took a few sips, and then began to watch the game intently. Yu Kai and Bi Bin were working together to dominate their opponents, launching fast breaks and ending with dunks, and then delivering a spectacular block to their opponents. The opposing center, who was nearly two meters tall, was almost frozen under the basket, unable to understand how someone ten centimeters shorter than him could knock the ball away from him.
With his headache subsiding slightly, Zhong Lei saw the situation on the field gradually becoming one-sided, and he couldn't help but feel itchy to get back on the field and have some more fun.
However, just as Zhong Lei's buttocks left the ground, a strong hand pressed him back down, and then he heard an old voice in his ear:
"Don't get up, or you'll be dead!"
Zhong Lei was puzzled. Who was this person? How did they know I wanted to go on stage, and why were they speaking so harshly?
When he turned around, he was stunned. It was the mysterious old woman who had appeared behind Zhong Lei before. How could this old woman be so powerful? The mysterious aura surrounding her was getting stronger and stronger. Zhong Lei also became interested in her. Moreover, she kept saying things like "I'm doomed." Perhaps she knew the truth about the strange events that Zhong Lei had encountered.
Chapter Seven: Basketball League (Part Four)
6
As early autumn arrived, the morning breeze gently blew across the stadium, like a mischievous child quietly brushing against everyone's hair, penetrating straight into their hearts. Zhong Lei shuddered, his spirits lifted, and his headache instantly lessened considerably.
On the court, Yu Kai and Bi Bin continued their collaborative performance, showcasing a dazzling array of dunks. The opposing center was thoroughly humiliated, and finally, before Bi Bin could land a powerful dunk—
He bent over, raised his elbow, and thrust it into Bi Bin's ribs. He also exerted force with his legs, sending Bi Bin flying to the side. Bi Bin rolled several times on the ground and lay there motionless.
Time seemed to stand still for a few seconds. Even the guy who had done the wrong thing stood there, stunned. He hadn't expected that his elbow could knock out such a burly man; it was truly a surreal thing. At that moment, the dark clouds above the stadium grew thicker and thicker, and everyone present felt a suffocating sense of oppression, like the calm before a summer storm. For a moment, Zhong Lei felt as if he were sinking into quagmire, a sticky and uncomfortable feeling spreading through his body.
After the initial shock, Zhong Lei rushed from the sidelines to Bi Bin's side. Suddenly! His outstretched hand seemed to be severed by a sharp blade, stopping with a "crack!" What did he see?
The principal, who had been watching from the crowd, rushed onto the field right behind Zhong Lei, his speed almost matching Zhong Lei's. His four companions also darted forward. One pushed aside the stunned Zhong Lei, while the other three swiftly surrounded Bi Bin. The principal and one of the others lifted Bi Bin and placed him on the back of another stronger man. Then, the group quickly cleared a path through the crowd. In just a minute, the five of them, including the principal, disappeared from sight. Everyone stared in astonishment, as if struck by lightning.
The game continued, and Zhong Lei returned to the field, but the team's morale didn't improve. Class 28's concentration waned; everyone was worried about Bi Bin's injury and its severity. More importantly, they were curious why the principal was so protective of Bi Bin, getting so anxious over such a small problem. Could Bi Bin be related to the principal?
So, lost in thought, he kept losing possession of the ball, and the score gap gradually closed.
Zhong Lei staggered back and forth on the field, his mind filled with the image of Bi Bin that had just appeared before him. He hadn't expected ghosts to appear in broad daylight under such a bright sun. This completely overturned Zhong Lei's previous understanding; he had previously interpreted the entire incident as the work of ghosts, and he was quite accepting of many strange phenomena. However, even the most terrifying things must have some pattern! This kind of completely unpredictable event brought Zhong Lei's mental defenses to the brink of collapse once again.
Shortly after the starting whistle blew, a small student pushed through the crowd of spectators and shouted towards the field:
"The principal wants to see Zhong Lei! Please come over, senior Zhong Lei!"
Zhong Lei had just received the ball and was sorting out the jumbled thoughts in his mind, preparing to launch an attack when he heard those words, and his body involuntarily trembled again.
Why am I trembling? Am I afraid of the principal? What am I afraid of him for? Is it because I'm afraid of getting involved in this matter? Maybe! I must have a good talk with Li Xue when I get back.
With that thought in mind, Zhong Lei followed the short student.
Chapter Seven Basketball League (Part Five)
7
After leading the two away from the crowd, the short man stopped and said to Zhong Lei with a mysterious expression:
"The principal is waiting for you in his office, hurry up and go!"
Zhong Lei responded and headed towards the office building, his mind filled with questions. Hadn't the principal just taken Bi Bin to the hospital? How did he end up in the office now?