Les beautés du palais froid une femme subtile et séduisante

Chapitre 10

Suddenly, Rui'er behind her began to read aloud a passage: "Perhaps we don't have to wait that long! We fly invisibly into human dwellings, where some children live. If we can meet a good child every day, who brings joy to his parents and is worthy of their love, God can shorten our trial period. When we fly over the houses, the children will not know."

When we smile happily at him, we can subtract one year from these three hundred years; but when we see a naughty and unruly child and have to cry sadly, then every tear adds one day to our trials.

Qingyan suddenly ran away from the computer, and Ruier looked at her in surprise.

She ran into the courtyard, looked up at the sky, and the bright moonlight shone through the osmanthus tree, casting dappled shadows on her closed eyelids.

Note: The bold text is quoted from Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid".

Campus Mystery

Time flies, and another year has passed in the blink of an eye. Although Vivi often lamented her bad luck, the god of fate was obviously still looking out for her. She passed every subject and successfully entered the third grade.

With her internship starting next semester, this was likely her last summer vacation. Using this as an excuse, Weiwei indulged in a lot of fun and frequently changed boyfriends. On one occasion, a friend invited her to a well-known music bar in Nanjing for her birthday, where she met a boy named Mumu and fell in love at first sight.

There are at least three reasons why he's called a "little boy." First, he's short. While 174cm is acceptable for someone from the South, standing next to 176cm Weiwei, he immediately appears much shorter. Second, he's young—that's undisputed; he's a year younger than Weiwei, a sophomore in college. Third, he's immature. Qingyan gave a disdainful look, ending her comments at the dinner table. Ruier is a bit unpredictable now. She's suddenly become obsessed with the internet and writing, and seems somewhat absent-minded. She's indifferent to Weiwei's affairs and therefore hasn't made any comment.

Vivi is known for her short attention span, but even those three minutes are incredibly intense, enough to melt gold. For three weeks straight, she and Mu Mu were inseparable, trying almost everything imaginable, until they would just sit together and daydream. With the start of school approaching, it was a cloudy day, unusually cool, with a gentle breeze making it very comfortable. Mu Mu suggested they visit his school.

Upon hearing about his school, Vivi couldn't help but shudder, because that school was none other than the one where Yu Ning had disappeared.

Weiwei had told Mumu Yu Ning's story in detail just a few days after they met. The latter laughed it off, young and impetuous, and naturally didn't take it to heart. Weiwei was unconvinced, but there was nothing she could do. But now, asking her to go again was absolutely out of the question.

The two started arguing, neither able to convince the other. Mu Mu, being a child at heart, never knew how to coax people. Seeing Wei Wei unhappy, he took it as her arguing with him, and his face darkened. Just then, his phone rang. He pulled it out forcefully, glanced at the number, a flicker of emotion crossed his brow, and immediately strode away.

Vivi was already in a bad mood, and seeing his actions only made her angrier. She followed closely behind, trying to snatch the phone to listen. Mu Mu stopped her with one hand and put the phone to his ear with the other. To his surprise, the call quality was exceptionally good; he could hear everything clearly within three steps.

It was originally a charming female voice: Mu Mu, I've arrived at the first grade! Today is the dorm assignment day, you have to come and help me!

Mu Mu answered a few questions, hung up the phone, turned around and saw Wei Wei's ashen face, then shrugged: "I have to go back to school, let's play another day." With that, she hailed a taxi and drove off, leaving Wei Wei furious.

Her first thought was to call Ruier or Qingyan and have a good cry, but both of them were at work, their work phones were busy, and their cell phones were off. It was as if they had made a pact. In an instant, she was burning with anxiety and heartbroken.

After much deliberation, going home was out of the question. Firstly, there was nothing to do, and secondly, I couldn't swallow my anger. I decided to go to the university to see what was going on. Thinking about Yu Ning's situation still made me afraid, but compared to that, I couldn't be careless with the vixen in front of me. So I jumped onto the bus.

After changing buses several times, I arrived at the university after 1 p.m. The campus was unusually deserted, overgrown with weeds, some of which were almost knee-high. Forgotten old clothes and other items were hanging in the air outside the dormitory windows, creating a desolate atmosphere.

Vivi swallowed hard, feeling an irresistible urge to turn and run away, yet the desolate campus seemed to possess an immense allure, pulling her inside. Just then, a girl happened to pass by, and Vivi quickly went up to ask her, unsure whether the vixen was a freshman or an upperclassman, leaving the girl completely confused. Fortunately, the girl was clever and quick-witted, and after much bewilderment, she finally revealed that there were three dormitory buildings in the girls' dormitory.

After thanking them, Weiwei wrote down the numbers of the three buildings and then looked them up on the map at the school gate. She wished she hadn't looked; what she found made her gasp. These three buildings were located in the east, west, and north of the dormitory area. Running around and looking for them would take at least an hour. And, ironically, the building in the north was Yu Ning's dormitory.

Vivi, clinging to a sliver of hope, first ran around to the east and west, but unfortunately, she had no sense of direction and ended up taking many detours. Moreover, Mu Mu wasn't there.

She nearly climbed to the bottom of the north building, her body drenched in sweat as if she had been pulled out of the water. She had been shouting Mu Mu's name everywhere she went, almost losing her voice. Before she could catch her breath, she heard laughter, one of which was a charming female voice. Then, two people appeared on the third-floor balcony—it was Mu Mu and a girl.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [24]: When Weiwei saw it, she was immediately enraged. It turned out that the girl was none other than Mu Mu's ex-girlfriend, Qiao Mei, whom he had just broken up with. Thinking of his tearful accusations against her for being unfaithful and heartless, and seeing their intimate state now, Weiwei really felt like vomiting blood.

What's even more infuriating is that Mu Mu glanced at her but didn't say anything. Qiao Mei rested her head on his shoulder, and he didn't refuse. He simply waved to Weiwei: You're here too.

With a stern face, Vivi silently climbed the stairs and watched the two enter the room. In her rage, she didn't even realize that this was Yu Ning's room.

Qiao Mei, Zhang Weiwei, and Mu Mu introduced themselves with little expression. Weiwei, arms crossed, didn't enter but leaned against the doorframe, glaring angrily. Qiao Mei wore a low-cut, trimmed pink satin dress, her hair slightly permed and highlighted with gold, and white sandals. Her exposed skin was as smooth as jade, truly incomparable to Weiwei's. She sat on the bed, reached into the cigarette case on the pillow, took out a cigarette, lit it, and put it to her lips. The red cigarette tip glowed and dimmed, and for a moment, no one spoke.

Mu Mu finally felt a little embarrassed, but instead of reflecting on his own actions, he blamed it all on Wei Wei. He also ignored her with a cold face and sat next to Qiao Mei, listening to his CD. Wei Wei stared intently at Qiao Mei's lips, which were tinged with smoke, and almost felt dizzy. She was wearing lipstick, which was bright red and luscious, but in Wei Wei's eyes, it looked like a mass of blood, which kept expanding. Gradually, even the air seemed to have a bloody smell, which grew stronger and stronger.

The time it took to smoke this cigarette was almost an eternity. Suddenly, Qiao Mei jumped up, threw the cigarette butt away, and the other two were startled.

"What a smell! It's disgusting!" Qiao Mei complained in a high-pitched, childish voice, giving Weiwei a defiant look.

The fox's stench infuriated Vivi, who, despite her anger, didn't forget to launch a counterattack.

Qiao Mei was taken aback. When she realized the barbed words, she was so angry she wanted to bite Weiwei. She tried to say something, but the wind choked her, and she started coughing violently. The coughing became uncontrollable, and she almost vomited up her internal organs. Mu Mu was startled and kept asking, "Are you alright? Why do you look like you're about to vomit blood?"

The blow actually calmed Vivi down. When she heard the words "spitting blood," her heart skipped a beat. Remembering that this was Yu Ning's room, she disregarded any taboos and shouted, "Let's get out of here! This house is unclean!"

"Nonsense, what clean or unclean stuff?" Qiao Mei coughed, still stubborn, but she couldn't help but tremble a little. Mu Mu had no opinion on this, so she helped her out and followed Weiwei.

A gust of wind blew by, clouds gathered, and the sunlight vanished. The campus seemed to be deserted, as if only the three of them remained, eerily silent. Vivi's lips turned pale with fright; she wanted to leave but couldn't move her legs, unsure what to do. Just then, the girl who had been directing the way passed by. Vivi rushed forward and called out to her, grasping at her like a lifeline.

Hey classmate, did you know that staff members actually have to go to work?

The General Affairs Office seems to have seen someone here today, what happened?

"The room upstairs has a strange smell that's kind of scary," Vivi said hesitantly.

Just clean it up, it's normal after a summer vacation.

No, something's off.

Let's make a phone call.

Vivi thought it made sense, took out her phone and dialed, but no one answered the phone.

What should I do? Vivi's lips trembled, and she could barely speak.

"Let's go up and take a look. With so many people, what are we afraid of?" The girl was quite decisive. Finally, she pointed at Mu Mu and said, "You're supposed to be a boy, but you don't have any courage at all."

Most boys can't resist being provoked, and Mu Mu really showed some of his fighting spirit, slamming his head upstairs. Qiao Mei naturally followed behind. Wei Wei thought about how scared she would be downstairs alone, so she had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow him.

The wind had died down a bit, and the sun was shining again, so the room wasn't so cold and damp anymore, but the strange smell was stronger. The girl carefully searched every nook and cranny, and finally came to Qiao Mei's bedside, where she remained silent in thought.

"What are you looking at?" Qiao Mei rolled her eyes and was about to sit down when the girl pulled her away and then lifted the bed sheet.

Everyone gasped simultaneously.

There was a clear crack in the floor under the bed, but it was definitely not formed when the wooden planks were pieced together.

Mumu and Weiwei pushed the bed open together. The crack was a neat rectangle, exactly the same size as the bed. There was also an iron handle covered in rust on the other side of the wall.

The girl reached out and grabbed it, then with a sudden burst of force, the floorboards in the crack rose up, revealing several steps.

"Go down," she said decisively, grabbing Vivi's hand and leading her down. Vivi was both surprised and frightened, but couldn't say anything.

Mu Mu and Qiao Mei followed, using lighters to light the way.

After groping around in the dim light for quite a while, they finally stood on level ground. Mu Mu let out a sigh of relief and accidentally blew out the lighter, plunging the room into darkness. The girls screamed in unison. Fortunately, within seconds, the entire space was suddenly illuminated.

Everyone looked up and saw a mezzanine room about half the size of a dormitory room, with lights on the ceiling. Strangely, the walls were clean and dry, as if it had been sealed in a vacuum for a long time.

In the center of the room was a platform. When everyone's eyes turned to it, there was a moment of silence, except for the sound of teeth clattering.

Ah!!

Vivi's scream ripped through the air first, and everyone ran upstairs for their lives. However, the process of a minute felt incredibly long. When they returned to the dormitory and rushed downstairs again, they collapsed on the ground, their chests heaving violently. Qiao Mei couldn't help but vomit.

On the platform was a corpse, a mummified corpse, a bloody and unrecognizable corpse.

After an unknown amount of time, Mu Mu dialed 110, and a police car quickly drove into the school.

Although everyone desperately wanted to go home, they still needed to go to the police station to give their statements. During their statements, they discovered that the girl who had been guiding them was nowhere to be found. The police made a special note of this.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [25]: After verification with the school, it was confirmed that the body was indeed Yu Ning, who had gone missing a year ago.

Forensic examination revealed that she had suffered cuts all over her body from a triangular, sharp object and died from excessive blood loss. Even experts were unable to determine the exact construction of the murder weapon, as it was not mechanically cast but rather made of some kind of creature, though no such creature has ever been seen on Earth.

Some call it the "devil's claw".

These were not things that Weiwei relayed, but things that Qingyan saw on TV. Weiwei had been very ill, and for a week, Qingyan and Ruier could not leave her side.

His relationship with Mu Mu naturally ended without a trace, but that no longer matters.

Finally, her health improved. In the evening, after Qingyan gave her medicine, Ruier's voice came from the doorway.

I went to open the door, and Qingyan went into the yard.

Vivi felt the light was a bit dim, so she turned on the bedside lamp.

She looked up and saw the girl standing in the bedroom doorway, saying to her: Thank you.

Suddenly, Vivi felt that she looked a lot like Yuning.

Thus concludes the entire story of "The House of Psychics." Rui'er, Qingyan, and Weiwei have all grown up and will face entirely new lives. Therefore, any new stories will unfold along three different paths. I wonder if you'd rather follow Qingyan to "Wander the World," enjoy "Happiness" with Rui'er, or listen to Weiwei's story, "Not About Love." As for me, all I want to do is change my clothes, put on makeup, call my sweetheart before the rain starts, and then go for a walk together.