Le 19e cercle de l'Enfer

Chapitre 24

"I'm An Qiqi, Eun-hee's high school classmate!"

"Eun-hee's classmate?" The old man thought for a while, then suddenly realized, "Kid, I remember now, back in high school, you and Eun-hee came here to cause trouble..."

"Yes, several years have passed in the blink of an eye. I never expected that we would meet again in such an occasion!"

Uncle Park laughed and said, "Kid, coming here in the middle of the night, you didn't come all this way just to see me, did you? You've gotten bolder and bolder these past few years!"

"I'm sorry, I'll definitely make a special trip to visit you when I have time! I'm here to see a friend of mine this time!" An Qiqi scratched her head sheepishly.

“Tell me who your friend is? I can remember which drawer someone who has been here is in just one glance.”

"I'm sorry, I have something urgent to attend to right now and I can't talk to you any longer!" An Qiqi quickly made up an excuse to get out of it, after all, He Zhiying's sudden disappearance was still bothering him.

"Alright, remember to come visit me often!"

"Okay, Uncle Park, goodbye!" After walking about ten meters, An Qiqi turned around again and said, "You've been staying in this place for years, have you ever encountered any ghosts?"

The old man's deeply lined face was stern; he opened his mouth, but swallowed the words back down.

An Qiqi didn't ask anything more. He turned around and tightened his trench coat. As he walked, he was a little startled by the sound of his footsteps. He felt as if his footsteps were echoing. He couldn't help but look around before continuing to walk forward.

Chapter 116: The Doll Murder Case (116)

He initially thought He Zhiying had left the morgue on her own, but then he realized, no! Why hadn't he noticed her leaving? If He Zhiying hadn't left, where did she go? Why didn't she respond when he called her? Could it be that she was afraid of being discovered by that woman and had hidden herself in the morgue? No, that was too terrifying; she would rather be discovered than make that choice. So, had something terrible happened in the morgue? But no matter what happened, it wouldn't make a living person disappear!

An Qiqi walked nervously, calling He Zhiying's cell phone as he went, but no one answered after several attempts. He couldn't imagine where He Zhiying was or what had happened to her.

Early in the morning, An Qiqi, still sleepy-eyed, rushed to HY University.

Some girls were doing morning exercises on campus. An Qiqi hoped to find He Zhiying in the crowd, but he was very disappointed. Not only was He Zhiying not on campus, but she was also nowhere to be seen in the girls' dormitory.

A girl from the next dorm told An Qiqi, "He Zhiying probably didn't come back all night. The light in her room was off, and I didn't hear any noise. He Zhiying usually speaks very loudly, so you can always hear some noise when she comes back to the dorm..."

An Qiqi's heart sank like a block of iron. He wondered, where had she gone? In the morgue, she had vanished as if evaporated in just a few minutes. Suddenly, a saying came to mind: those who receive ghost dolls will die! Could it be that He Zhiying had uncovered some secret, been cursed by that little thing, and been abducted by a ghost?

For some inexplicable reason, he didn't know why he had such a delusion. If it were a different setting, or if the person speaking to him were different; if he hadn't personally experienced this bizarre event, perhaps he would have laughed out loud without hesitation.

But he can't laugh now.

Meanwhile, in a nearby boys' dormitory, Song Xiaomo was curled up in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. He couldn't recall what nightmares he'd had, but each time he'd wake up drenched in sweat. He Zhiying's phone still wasn't being answered, and his anxiety grew stronger; he was convinced these nightmares were related to He Zhiying.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Mr. Song, may I come in?" An Qiqi greeted him in a friendly manner.

"Ah, Officer An, please come in." Song Xiaomo paused for a moment, then quickly made a welcoming gesture.

This was An Qiqi's second time meeting this Chinese boy in his early twenties. His dark hair was a little messy, his skin was fairer than that of most East Asians, and his slightly melancholic eyes held a unique charm.

"Not bad, your room is quite tidy!" he said with a smile, his eyes then scanning the room.

Please make yourself at home.

Looking at the large, soft sofa in front of her, An Qiqi plopped down on it.

"Alright, Officer An, you didn't come here just to admire my room, did you?"

"Haha, can't I come to you just to make friends?"

Chapter 117: The Doll Murder Case (117)

“Officer, if that’s the case, I’m honored! But judging from your bloodshot eyes, I think you must not have slept well. If it weren’t for something important, you wouldn’t have come to me so early in the morning. In fact, I know you’re here because of those two unsolved cases, and that you’ve run into quite a bit of trouble…” Song Xiaomo winked mischievously.

"So, everything was exactly as you predicted!"

"No, I was just saying it casually."

"Are you aware of the rumors about ghost dolls?"

"This...every student on campus has heard about it, but not in great detail."

"So, do you believe in curses? Do you believe that ghost dolls can kill people? Of course, including indirect, disguised, or through the actions of others!"

Song Xiaomo thought for a moment and said, "Theoretically speaking, you and I are both skeptical, but some things that can't be explained yet have confused you. To be honest, you'd rather imagine me as a criminal suspect than believe in ghosts!"

Frankness, a naive frankness, a fearless frankness.

An Qiqi laughed like a child, "Chinese people are very generous!"

"Thanks!"

"By the way, did you see Miss He Zhiying last night?"

"No, I called her, but I couldn't get through! Is there a problem?"

"Oh no, I just want to find out some things from her!" An Qiqi stood up and walked to the window.

Has she disappeared? Song Xiaomo sensed that something serious had happened.

"Where were you last night?" An Qiqi asked.

"I've been staying home because it's raining!"

What are your thoughts on these two cases on campus?

"Hehe, I'm not a professional, and I'm not very interested in these things. I have read some detective novels, though!"

An Qiqi turned her head and smiled, "If you wanted to murder someone, what method would you use?"

"Why are you suddenly asking me this question?" Song Xiaomo was startled.

"Let's see if you have the talent to be a detective!"

"Murder? Murder whom?"

"Let's just assume it's... Miss He Zhiying!"

"No!" Song Xiaomo shuddered, startling An Qiqi. "We can't assume that! She's my good friend! Tell me, what reason would I have to murder her?"

"This... it's really hard for you to think like that. Just imagine someone! Psychologists have done research and found that everyone has had thoughts of killing at some point. Haven't you ever had them?"

Song Xiaomo stared at the ceiling above her head and murmured, "I don't know..."

An Qiqi smiled and said, "There are generally two ways to kill someone: one is to hire someone, and the other is to do it yourself."

"...Hiring a hitman is quick and easy, and you can stay out of it, but the problem is that it makes another person a deadly threat to you. As for doing it yourself, there are several best methods: one is to fake a suicide, two is to create an alibi, three is to stage an accident, and four is to find a scapegoat." Song Xiaomo narrowed his eyes and pondered.

Chapter 118: The Doll Murder Case (118)

"Hmm, very insightful," An Qiqi asked. "How about the specifics?"

"I prefer alibis and staging an accident; other methods are harder to execute flawlessly. If you combine those two, it becomes a perfect murder..."

Just then, several white police cars drove up downstairs, immediately attracting An Qiqi's attention. He craned his neck and peered down, seeing several police officers hurriedly jumping out of the cars, including Team Leader Jin and Xiao Nan, followed by several doctors in white coats.

An Qiqi inexplicably felt that this was related to He Zhiying's disappearance. A terrifying image flashed before his eyes: a doctor carrying a body out upstairs, the stiff corpse being none other than He Zhiying...

This uncontrollable fantasy of disaster made An Qiqi feel cold all over. He quickly took out his phone and found that it had automatically shut down due to lack of battery.

"Sorry, that's all for today. I'll be going now!" With that, he turned and ran downstairs.

Chapter 119: The Doll Murder Case (119)

A group of students had gathered downstairs at the boys' dormitory across the street, and several police officers had set up barriers. An Qiqi showed her police ID, stepped over the barriers, and rushed straight to the fifth floor.

"Qiqi, why are you only arriving now? Why was your phone off? Team Leader Jin couldn't reach you, so he had to come in person!" Xiao Nan said anxiously at the door.

"My phone died. I just came to campus to investigate something and happened to run into you guys." An Qiqi caught her breath, then asked impatiently, "What exactly happened?"

"The administrator's head has been found!"

"Here?" An Qiqi's mouth dropped open, but a weight was finally lifted from her heart. Thank goodness! Thank goodness it wasn't He Zhiying!

"Yes, in Kim In-hyun's room, the head was inside an empty TV case. Early this morning, a medical student was playing soccer in the hallway when he accidentally broke down the door. His professional instincts kicked in, and he smelled a rotting corpse in the room, so he called the police!"

"Then why is this head in this room?" An Qiqi was startled.

"I don't know. Let's go in and take a look!"

At the scene, several police officers were busy cleaning up, while others were taking photos. Team Leader Jin stood by the television, watching everything with a serious expression. When An Qiqi entered, he didn't fly into a rage, but simply glared at him.

A foul stench of decay permeated the surroundings.

The terrifying human head on the television screen stared at him intently with a strange expression, a mixture of despair and fear that An Qiqi couldn't quite place, making her increasingly uneasy.

An Qiqi suddenly had a premonition. To confirm this premonition, he said to Team Leader Jin, "Team Leader, I now suspect that all of this is related to the case from two years ago. If the head didn't just fly in on its own, then it must have been let in by the murderer. As for the murderer's purpose in doing so, I can only make some simple assumptions!"

"Go on!"

"This case is a bit strange. Logically speaking, if the deceased wanted to hide the head, they could simply bury it in a secluded place. There was no need to risk sending the head here. Unless, the murderer had another purpose, or rather, it was meant to convey some message!"

"Why would the murderer do this? What was their purpose? Why is there only one head and not the other?" Xiao Nan interjected.

An Qiqi looked up at the ghost doll hanging from the ceiling and suddenly thought of He Zhiying. His police intuition told him this was a premeditated murder. Although it was just intuition, his sixth sense had always been accurate since childhood. He reminded himself that he must remain alert and not let his guard down! Last night's experience had almost plunged him into a terrifying delusion. He was a policeman; he absolutely could not be controlled by these evil things. Perhaps… perhaps He Zhiying was being controlled in some way?

“Have you ever thought about this question: why do we keep encountering ghost dolls? I think the killer has been creating a false impression, hinting at and trying to make us believe that ghosts are killing people, that it's the curse of the ghost dolls!” An Qiqi said.

Chapter 120: The Doll Murder Case (120)

“That makes sense. So what was the killer’s motive?” Team Leader Jin glanced at him quickly and lit a cigarette.

"I'm sorry, we can't draw a conclusion yet. The only understandable motives for murder are revenge or a psychopath seeking thrills. And creating the illusion of a ghost killing wouldn't be a simple way to escape suspicion... But I can sense that he's hiding among us. Perhaps... perhaps everyone could be the murderer!"

"You're basically saying nothing!" Xiao Nan shook her head helplessly and said, "When we came in, we realized that someone must have been here within the last two days because... the door wasn't locked when they left. Obviously, this mysterious visitor was in a hurry. Also, judging from the lock, this person probably has a key to this room, and we learned from the building manager that he kept that key in the cabinet... Could it be that he encountered a locksmith expert?"

An Qiqi recalled the scene when she went to Shen Meixuan's room the first time she received He Zhiying's report. Could there be some kind of coincidence between these two events? And to make a bolder conjecture: could the same person have entered both rooms?

"The forensic technicians have preliminarily determined that this human head has been in the television for some time, and it couldn't have been put in just the last two days... Could this mysterious visitor just be a thief?" Xiao Nan scratched her head again.

"We've collected a few fingerprints; let's wait for the lab results before drawing any conclusions!" Team Leader Jin exhaled a smoke ring and asked, "Did you find anything at the crematorium last night?"

"Not yet!" An Qiqi shook her head, not daring to look Jin, the team leader, in the eye.

"Where is the other head?" Team Leader Jin pulled out a photo, looking thoughtful.

The two policemen looked at each other, both feeling that the situation was very difficult and unsure how to break through.

The cleanup was still ongoing. An Qiqi went to the window to get some fresh air, and he saw a head peeking out from the room across the street—Song Xiaomo was looking this way…

(32)

“The police found that human head on the other side, and there should be my fingerprints there… How am I supposed to explain this?” Song Xiaomo felt a surge of panic and fidgeted on the sofa.

Around noon, he cooked a packet of instant noodles, ate it, and then lay down on the sofa for a nap.

In his dream, he vaguely heard low sobbing sounds, "Waaah...waaah..."

Song Xiaomo sat up in bed and immediately saw a person sitting in the corner by the door, head down.