Les yeux d'Asura

Chapitre 26

"Nonsense, I would never do anything stupid!" Fei'er retorted sharply.

"That's for the best!" Meng hugged Fei'er tightly. "Also, you're not allowed to secretly shed tears anymore. Don't be stubborn. Right now, your eyes are comparable to a swollen-eyed frog. Could it be that you shed tears of longing for me all night yesterday?" Meng teased.

"You're so annoying! How come I never realized you were even more of a nag than an old lady?"

"Yes, if you don't listen to me, I have a lot of bad habits!"

The two chatted idly, the sunlight filling the hospital room and also filling Fei'er's heart...

A year later, Fei'er walked onto the awards stage amidst applause. Her suit design—Love of Life—had won the grand prize again this season. Leaving the company, Fei'er rushed to Meng, who was waiting in the distance. Together they went to pick up the suit; tomorrow was their wedding day, and Fei'er had chosen the Love of Life jewelry set for her own wedding. As for that night a year ago, Fei'er knew she wasn't dreaming, because she still held the old woman's handkerchief in her hand—that mysterious and strange old woman—who had saved her life and her love!

---Bifengke

Reply [155]: Taxi at midnight

Pain clung to me. Walking alone on the deserted street, the intense spasms in my stomach made it hard to bear. Occasionally, someone would silently brush past me, their breath blurring my vision, obscuring their expression. It seemed everyone was vaguely sneering at me.

"What bad luck!" I secretly regretted renting a place in such a remote location. It was just past eleven o'clock and there were no more buses, and even taxis were scarce. I kept turning back, hoping to catch an empty taxi. But the road home grew quieter and quieter; not even a bird or an insect could be seen. The air around me was dry and cold, the streetlights casting dim light on the roadside trees, their withered branches stretching stiffly into the air. Suddenly, a figure appeared opposite me, walking in the opposite direction. Like the withered branches, the figure was hunched over, and despite wearing a thick coat, looked incredibly thin. My breathing became heavy. The person opposite me drew closer, and the moon slowly peeked out from behind the clouds, its light illuminating that face. That pale face seemed expressionless yet also strangely smiling; those sharp eyes stared at me with a chilling gaze. I began to tremble. I wanted to turn and run away, yet I also wanted to rush straight towards him, but I couldn't do anything. I just mechanically walked step by step towards that emaciated body. Closer and closer…

"Beep—"

"Ah!" The sudden sound of a car horn behind me startled me so much my heart almost stopped. I turned around and saw a white taxi parked behind me, but my tense nerves prevented me from noticing it. Without thinking, I opened the door and sat in the back seat, not glancing at the old man again.

"Miss, where to?" The driver asked me in a hoarse, low voice without turning around.

"Uh..." A chill ran down my spine. "Four...Fourth New District." The driver didn't say anything more, but stepped on the gas and sped off. The speed was frightening; although there weren't many people around, I still felt uneasy. "What a curse!" I thought, wondering if I should ask him to slow down. Just as I was about to speak, someone suddenly rushed out from the intersection. I clearly felt a muffled thud from the car, and the driver slammed on the brakes. I bumped hard into the passenger seat, but I didn't have time to worry about the pain. The driver and I simultaneously opened the car doors and jumped out. Sure enough, a girl was lying in front of the car, her hair covering her face, so I couldn't tell if she was injured.

"Miss! Why did you suddenly rush out?" The driver picked up the girl.

"Ouch...it hurts!" The girl frowned and rubbed her leg, looking somewhat drunk. "How could you drive so carelessly!"

The driver said nothing, just stared at the girl with a livid face.

"Are you alright?" I asked the girl.

"My legs hurt so much..." the girl pouted and said to the driver, "You have to take me home!"

The driver turned to look at me, seemingly seeking my opinion, but I was terrified by his eyes. They were bloodshot, his gaze sharp as knives, and he had a deep scar running from his chin to his ear. "Miss, do you have a problem with that?" he asked in that chilling voice.

"No...no, I'll just give her a ride since it's on my way," I quickly avoided his gaze.

"I'm so sorry," I said. Back in the car, the girl sitting next to me seemed a bit more awake. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to the four new districts," I replied.

"Oh, what a coincidence! I'm going there too!"

"That's perfect, let's get off together." I smiled. "You've had a lot to drink? Why did you suddenly rush onto the road? That was dangerous!"

"Hehe..." The girl chuckled and scratched her head, revealing two pretty dimples. Suddenly, her smile froze on her face.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Uh, no, nothing. I suddenly remembered there's somewhere I haven't been. I need to get off." She said, her face pale, and asked the driver to stop the car. "..." She looked at me, then suddenly pulled out twenty yuan from her pocket, handed it to the driver, grabbed my hand, and practically ran off the car. They ran in the opposite direction.

"Hey!!" I called out to her after she had run quite a distance, panting heavily, "What's wrong?"

"You...you didn't see it?" She looked at me with lingering fear.

"What do you see?"

"The work card that the co-driver sits on in front of is the one..."

"What's wrong?"

"The driver's license number and license plate number are both zeros!"

"What?" I exclaimed in surprise, trying hard to recall. When that car had just stopped behind me, its license plate number did indeed seem to be all zeros! "Oh my god..."

“We’ve encountered a ghost…” The girl’s hand was cold as she held mine.

"Oh right," I suddenly remembered that I had put the gloves in my bag before getting on the bus, "Take these with you, you look really cold. Let's hurry back, lest something else happens." I handed her the gloves.

"Aren't you cold?" she asked me gratefully.

"I'm fine, my hands are much warmer than yours." I smiled at her.

"Actually, your hands are cold too..." The girl suddenly revealed a very sad expression. I was taken aback. Indeed, my hands were also very cold, to the point that I couldn't even feel them, so why did I clearly feel that her hands were so cold?

"Oh!" The girl suddenly flashed that beautiful smile again, pointed behind her, and I turned around, involuntarily shuddering. The taxi had returned. I stared at the license plate: 0055! Not all zeros!

“I’m going back now, he’ll come with me,” the girl said, pointing to the taxi driver. “I’m taking the gloves!” She then ran across the street and got back into the taxi. I shook my head helplessly; it seemed this girl, a few years younger than me, was joking.

I got up early in the morning. All night, I was surrounded by a series of dreams: the old man's frail body, the driver's bloodshot eyes, and the girl's adorable dimples…

I made myself a cup of coffee and sat down in the living room to turn on the TV.

"Our station's latest report: At 3:00 AM this morning, our city's traffic police discovered a serious traffic accident. The driver was the same person who caused an accident in another city. This person had previously killed a female student in a drunk driving accident in that city. After coming to our city, he concealed his identity and found a job driving for a private taxi company. The cause of this accident may be due to driver fatigue..."

I didn't hear what the anchor said next because the photo that appeared on the screen stunned me. The man in the photo had sharp, piercing eyes, and a deep scar running from his chin to his ear...

I finally understand what the girl meant when she said the driver's license and license plate number were both zeros!

---Bifengke

Reply [156]: Twelve-step staircase

I am a staunch atheist. However, since I started studying medicine, too many unbelievable things have happened around me.

These things leave me conflicted. The more I try to remind myself to view them from a materialistic perspective, the more confused I become.

Six years ago, I was admitted to S Medical School. For me, however, it wasn't good news. I've hated the suffocating smell of disinfectant in hospitals since birth. If my college entrance exam score hadn't been so low, I would never have come here.

Perhaps because of my depressed mood, I hardly interacted with my classmates. I remember I only had one friend at the time.

His name is Anzi. —That's what I always call him. He always wears the same tracksuit, the same one he wears every year, with a Chairman Mao badge on his chest. Although his attire is a bit old-fashioned, it doesn't stop us from becoming friends.

We were both rather introverted, completely detached from any extracurricular activities, spending our days studying in the fifth-floor lecture hall. I remember back then, we were all considered bookworms. Because if anyone went to study in the lecture hall, they were seen as crazy—everyone else went to the library.

Sitting in one place all day without moving is extremely boring for me. But I really can't think of anything else I can do.

Most of the time, I'm craning my neck to watch the ceiling lights swaying in the wind. When I look at them like that, I always think of Galileo, who probably discovered the isochronism of pendulums out of boredom.

When I think like that, I laugh out loud.

I always wondered how Anzi could be so focused on his studies. Outside the lecture hall window was a grove of trees, where many birds were chirping, yet he didn't even glance at them. "That guy's a real bookworm," I thought, sitting behind him and watching his retreating figure.

But I'm not saying Anzi is a perfect person. He has a peculiar habit: when going upstairs, he always counts the steps on each floor, one by one, never missing a step. If he accidentally miscounts or suddenly forgets where he was, he will go back the way he came and start all over again.

In retrospect, Anzi had developed a "compulsive disorder" back then.

However, at the time I found his approach extremely annoying. It was just so incredibly boring.

To this day, I can still clearly recall what happened that night—everything that happened on that terrible night.

Anzi and I walked up the dark stairs leading to the lecture hall. As usual, he counted the steps.

Today, I wasn't particularly annoyed—after all, in pitch-black darkness, having someone count the stairs for you makes things much easier. So, I silently echoed the numbers he was counting.

“4, 5, …” Anzi took each step very slowly, so I had no choice but to accompany him slowly.

“9, 10, 11… Strange!” Anzi suddenly said.

"What's strange?" I asked.

"Zhigang, don't you remember how many steps there are on this floor when we go upstairs?"

"Hmm, this... about 12 steps, I guess, I'm not sure." I remembered that when I went upstairs during the day, I always took three steps at a time, so it seemed like I could take four steps. "Don't you count them all the time? Why are you asking?" I said.

"Oh, yes, it should be level 12... but today I only counted to 11."