Le 19e cercle de l'Enfer

Chapitre 9

"Box?" An Qiqi murmured the two words to herself, but the image of the female administrator and her bloodied head kept flashing through her mind.

Chapter 42: The Ghost Doll Returns (42)

"Alright, you guys hurry up and find this person, find out exactly what he did last night, and of course, pay special attention to that suspicious box," Team Leader Jin emphasized.

"Okay, let's go out now." An Qiqi and Xiao Nan walked out of the room one after the other. The door closed gently.

Team Leader Jin took out a cigarette and slowly lit it. In the swirling smoke, he stared blankly at the ceiling, overwhelmed by an overwhelming sense of loneliness. When he first heard Shen Meixuan's name, many thoughts flashed through his mind; the first thing he thought of was his younger brother. For over two years, he had frequently dreamt of that tragic scene. Those terrible memories tormented him, haunting him relentlessly.

That was a nightmare that would never end.

(14)

Song Xiaomo didn't sleep well all night, his heart pounding with anxiety. He was terrified that Li Zhengzhen from the next room would suddenly appear beside his bed with a knife. Around six in the morning, he got out of bed and looked out the window. The window there was still tightly closed. What was hidden inside? He couldn't forget what Li Zhengzhen had said last night. That sentence didn't seem to come out of nowhere. What had he seen? A head, or a man and woman embracing and kissing?

Song Xiaomo gently opened the door and peeked down the corridor. The white shirt hanging in front of room 519 was still there, standing out conspicuously in the long corridor. This familiar scene immediately made him feel a little strange. He had lived on campus for so many years and had never noticed students hanging wet clothes to dry in the corridor. Why not hang them on the balcony? He looked again at the door of room 519; it was tightly closed. Li Zhengzhen was probably still sleeping inside.

Just then, with a creak, a head suddenly poked out from the crack in the door.

His hair was disheveled, his face was deathly pale, his eyes were sunken, and his pupils, which were mostly black and mostly white, stared coldly at Song Xiaomo.

The moment their eyes met, Song Xiaomo was startled, his heart nearly leaping out of his mouth. When he came to his senses, he realized it was Li Zhengzhen.

"Who are you?" Li Zhengzhen asked coldly.

Song Xiaomo forced a smile and said, "My name is Song Xiaomo, and I'm from room 520 next to yours."

"Oh, is there something you need?"

"No...it's nothing."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the door slammed shut again.

This Lee Jung-jin is so strange. Didn't he see me last night? What's with that expression and attitude? No wonder he ended up in a mental hospital. Song Xiaomo shook her head and went back to her room.

After a while, a series of piercing police sirens came from the direction of the back garden. Song Xiaomo looked in that direction for a long time, but couldn't see anything.

He habitually went to the bathroom and washed his face with cold water. At that moment, he felt slightly dizzy. When he looked up, he realized that he was bleeding from his nose. Crimson blood snaked from his nostrils all the way to his mouth, looking gruesome and terrifying. He quickly tilted his head back and covered his nose with his hand, but a large amount of blood still gushed out.

Chapter 43: The Ghost Doll Returns (43)

After a long while, Song Xiaomo finally stopped his nosebleed, then sat dejectedly at the table. For some reason, he felt the air in the room had become very cold, filled with an atmosphere that made him inexplicably uneasy.

Half an hour later, Song Xiaomo became more alert. He suddenly remembered something, quickly bent down, and felt around on a stool. Thank goodness, the box was still there.

He carefully placed the box on the table, gently stroking it. The box was clearly very old, somewhat like an antique from the Ming or Qing dynasties in China. There seemed to be some kind of pattern carved on it; upon closer inspection, it depicted a woman in white dancing gracefully, resembling Nie Xiaoqian from the legend of "The Soul of a Beautiful Woman." Furthermore, there was a black label affixed to the bottom corner of the box. After examining it closely, he could vaguely make out the words "Huiwen Street."

Could that girl live on this street? Could this be some kind of hint? If there's something valuable inside, why would she just leave it outside so easily?

As he thought about it, the woman's face seemed to reappear before his eyes: her small lips, her delicate, seaweed-like eyebrows, and her particularly mysterious eyes...

"I'll wait for her at that coffee shop tonight," Song Xiaomo said with a faint smile. He thought the girl who lost her things must be very anxious, and he should return them to her as soon as possible. Undeniably, deep down, he harbored a strong desire and impulse to see that girl immediately. He had been unconsciously drawn to this mysterious girl. The feeling was undoubtedly wonderful, deeply satisfying.

Just as he was reveling in this feeling, the phone rang, and the deafening ring startled him.

He picked up the receiver but couldn't hear anything. After about ten seconds, He Zhiying's hoarse, low voice came from the other end of the line: "Xiao Mo, I have something to tell you. The female administrator I was following yesterday... is dead!"

"Dead? How did he die?" Song Xiaomo was stunned.

"Yes, his head was cut off... his head..."

"Beheading?" Song Xiaomo's body trembled violently, every hair on his body standing on end. At the same time, he recalled the scene from last night: in the dead of night, Li Zhengzhen, knife in hand, slowly sliced at the teru teru bozu doll, each cut aimed at its neck. In the blink of an eye, the doll's head was brutally severed…

Could it be...? Could it be...?

This is terrifying. Things have exceeded his wildest imagination; he dares not imagine any further…

"Xiao Mo, why aren't you saying anything?" The voice on the phone sounded anxious.

"No...it's nothing."

“I’m very scared right now and I want to find someone to keep me company,” He Zhiying said.

"Okay, wait for me in front of the dormitory, I'll come find you right away."

"Then hurry up and come."

"Okay, I'll be right there. See you in a bit." After hanging up the phone, Song Xiaomo felt dizzy and her ears were ringing, as if the echo from the phone call was still ringing in her eardrums.

A sudden gust of cold wind blew up, its sound somewhat mournful. He quickly closed the window and then hid the strange box under the bed.

Chapter 44: The Ghost Doll Returns (44)

The corridor was empty, and the door to room 519 was tightly shut. Song Xiaomo tiptoed out, locked the door, and removed the key.

He took a deep breath and started walking...

Suddenly, he felt a cold hand on his shoulder.

"Who?" Song Xiaomo's mouth dropped open in terror, cold sweat instantly breaking out on his back. He reflexively turned around...

The dark figure trembled slightly and took a large step back. Then, a familiar voice rang out: "Xiao Mo, how are you?"

When Song Xiaomo saw that it was Park Eun-hee, she breathed a sigh of relief and said, "How come you walk so quietly? You almost scared me to death."

"I was just coming out when you left, what's wrong?" Park Eun-hee looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Ah, no...it's nothing, maybe...maybe I was just too nervous," Song Xiaomo said, looking at room 519. At that moment, he felt as if a pair of eyes were staring straight at him from inside. Every word he uttered and every movement he made was being watched.

"What's wrong with you today? Are you possessed?"

"Just kidding, no way!" Song Xiaomo smiled casually and said, "I'm going to class, where are you going? Let's go together."

"No, I'm fine, I just came out to take a look."

"Alright, I'll be going now. Take care."

"What are you being careful about?"

"Be careful..." Song Xiaomo swallowed her words halfway through.

(15)

When An Qiqi and Xiao Nan arrived at the boys' dormitory building, Song Xiaomo had already left.

The two waited in the corridor for about twenty minutes, at a loss. An Qiqi hesitated for a moment, then knocked on the door of room 521.

"Who are you looking for?" Park Eun-hee opened the door.

"Hello, we are police officers and would like to ask you some questions." Xiao Nan showed her police ID.

"Police...police." Park Eun-hee was quite surprised, but quickly calmed down and asked, "What do you need me for?"

An Qiqi was also slightly taken aback, and tentatively asked, "Are you... Park Eun-hee?"

Park Eun-hee stared at him suspiciously, then asked incredulously, "An Qiqi?"

"Haha, it's me." The pale, thin face before An Qiqi's eyes became clear in an instant, and his mind immediately flashed back to those passionate years of friendship. For three years of high school, they were not only classmates, but also the best of friends; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe them as being like brothers.

"Quickly, please come in." Park Eun-hee hurriedly welcomed him in, asking with a delighted expression, "What brings you here?"

“I heard from my classmates that you’re studying psychology at HY University. I came to the campus once before, but I was too busy to visit you. I never expected to stumble upon you here by chance,” An Qiqi said excitedly as she sat down on the sofa.

“It’s been several years since we last saw each other, hasn’t it?” Park Eun-hee said as she poured water for the two of them.

"Yeah, it must have been at least six or seven years. We both went to serve in the military after graduating from high school, and we haven't seen each other since. To be honest, I really miss you."

Chapter 45: The Ghost Doll Returns (45)

"Time flies so fast. If you hadn't reminded me, I almost wouldn't have recognized you. Do you remember back in high school? You were so short then, but you've grown so tall now," Park Eun-hee remarked.

"Hehe, back then you were much taller than me, and you often helped me teach those upperclassmen who bullied me a lesson. I remember one night, we were being chased by a few upperclassmen. In desperation, we ran to where your dad worked, which was a crematorium. We unknowingly slipped into the morgue and fell asleep. In the middle of the night, we suddenly heard hurried footsteps in the morgue. I was scared half to death, thinking the corpses had come back to life. I jumped up and saw it was your dad. It turned out your dad had come to take us home... Thinking about it now, we were really brave back then!" An Qiqi recounted the story fluently.

The two burst into laughter, leaving Xiao Nan completely bewildered.

“Oh, right, I forgot to introduce you. This is my partner, Jiang Haonan, we all call him Xiao Nan… This is my high school classmate, Park Eun-hee,” An Qiqi introduced.

"Nice to meet you, nice to meet you." The two nodded politely.

After chatting for a while about interesting things from high school, An Qiqi looked at her watch, then looked up and said seriously, "Eunhee, actually, I came here today to ask you about someone."

"who?"

"The boy in room 520 next to yours."

"Song Xiaomo, that Chinese man?" Park Eun-hee asked, somewhat surprised.

"A Chinese man?" An Qiqi narrowed her eyes, thinking: Could he be the one who went on a date with He Zhiying last night?

"Something happened to him?" Park Eun-hee asked, her expression filled with worry and anxiety.

"No, we just want to know a few things. There's a case that involves him." An Qiqi smiled slightly and asked, "Are you familiar with him?"

"We're not very familiar with each other, we've only met a few times. Besides, he's only been in Korea for less than a month."

"So, based on what you know, can you tell us about his situation?" Xiao Nan interjected.

"Well, I think this kid is alright. He's very polite and courteous, and doesn't seem like a bad person. He has no relatives in Korea and very few friends... The first time I met him was one night. It was raining heavily that night, with lightning and thunder. He told me... that he saw something on the other side?"

"What is it?" An Qiqi asked with great interest.

Park Eun-hee paused for a moment, then whispered, "It should be something like a ghost or a spirit."

"Are you kidding me? Is his eye playing tricks on him?" Xiao Nan laughed.

"Perhaps, this is normal human psychology. I think the room across the street itself is like a terrifying symbol, which gave him some abnormal psychological suggestion, causing him to hallucinate."

"Why? What does the room across the street have to do with horror?" An Qiqi asked, puzzled.

“Hehe, you police officers should know this best. You can’t be unaware of that sensational school tragedy, can you?” Park Eun-hee walked to the window and said softly, “That room across the street belongs to the deceased. No one has been living there for a while now.”

Chapter 46: The Ghost Doll Returns (46)

"A room where someone died!" A nerve in An Qiqi's heart immediately tensed. He suddenly realized that he was getting closer and closer to the murder case from two years ago. It seemed as if an invisible hand was pulling him step by step…

He followed them to the window and looked across. A black mist seemed to float within the tightly closed window, lingering for a long time. A dozen or so white pigeons were taking flight from the opposite balcony, their whistling echoing in the sky.

At that moment, his heart inexplicably started pounding faster, and he suddenly sensed instinctively that something was watching him. He nervously looked around, and his gaze finally landed on a white object.

Good heavens! There's a white teru teru bozu (a Japanese doll shaped like a teru bozu) hanging on the eaves of Park Eun-hee's balcony.

Isn't that a ghost doll?

"Why do you have this here?" An Qiqi was taken aback, staring blankly at Park Eun-hee. For some reason, upon seeing the doll, An Qiqi couldn't help but think of the funeral hall and the woman who set it up. Moreover, she had now become a stiff corpse—a headless female corpse.

“It was given to me by Song Xiaomo. Just last night,” Park Eun-hee replied casually.

"Really? Where did he get this?" An Qiqi became agitated.