Le 19e cercle de l'Enfer

Chapitre 34

Perhaps it wasn't a person, but a ghost!

Song Xiaomo felt her entire body freeze. Why would she have such a bizarre dream? Why was it so strikingly similar? The boy in her dream was clearly herself, but the boy in the photograph…

Chapter 155: The Night Doll (155)

Why? How could this scene enter my dream? Did I actually witness it before, or did someone implant it into my dream? In an instant, all sorts of strange thoughts flooded his mind. He even recalled the "reincarnation" depicted in some TV dramas: after a person dies, their soul transfers to another person, that is, they are reborn. However, those reincarnations usually occur at the moment of a baby's birth, meaning the recipient is a child.

As Song Xiaomo thought about it, she was suddenly filled with fear and quickly put the photo back in the drawer.

The bedroom window was open, and the lush ivy vines almost reached inside the window, making it feel like being in a forest. After turning off the bedside lamp and leaving the bedroom, Song Xiaomo looked around the living room one last time before finally entering the bathroom.

The bathroom window faced the moon, so the light wasn't too dim. He turned on the tap and washed his face. The cool water splashed onto the large mirror above, creating a hazy mist. Song Xiaomo ran his fingers through his hair, but still couldn't see his own face clearly. He swayed from side to side, but the reflection in the mirror remained motionless.

He grew a little scared, turned the tap on full blast, and splashed a lot of cold water onto the mirror. The water cascaded down like a waterfall, washing away the fog on the mirror and gradually revealing a few gaps...

—A woman's reflection appeared in the mirror.

Song Xiaomo was so shocked she almost screamed. Yes, it was the figure of a young woman; the mirror clearly showed long, black hair, slender shoulders, and a slim waist…

However, he couldn't see her face clearly; a patch of mist on the mirror hadn't been washed away, and it was obscuring her eyes.

Terrified to the extreme, he forgot his fear—he quickly held his breath and splashed more water onto the mirror. The more water dispersed the fog, and he could finally see the mirror clearly.

However, the woman suddenly vanished, and another face appeared in the mirror. Her face was pale, her eyebrows were arched, her eyes were wide open in fear and alertness, and her nostrils flared rapidly. Whose face was this?

He looked around in a panic, making sure no one else was in the bathroom. When Song Xiaomo realized it was his own face, he was truly shocked. When had he become so unfamiliar? He couldn't even recognize himself. He touched his face, and the person in the mirror perfectly repeated his actions.

"What just happened?" Looking at the mirror, he was completely baffled. Was it another hallucination?

Just then...

"You're back..."

A soft voice entered my ears.

“You’re back…” A soft voice echoed in the quiet space, like a fruit falling to the ground with a thud.

"Who?" Song Xiaomo blurted out involuntarily, almost scared out of her wits.

A young woman was walking towards him step by step...

"Song Yun'er!" he called softly. Almost simultaneously, she slowly walked up to him.

By the moonlight, he finally saw clearly that she wasn't Song Yun'er; they only resembled her somewhat. More importantly, those eyes seemed strangely familiar…

Her face was pale and delicate, and her melancholy gaze rested on him. For a brief moment, he was stunned; such a beautiful and charming girl could only exist in his dreams.

When her smile returned, Song Xiaomo suddenly realized—she had just discovered many photos, and almost every one of them featured her face. Wasn't the girl from her dream her?

"You're back..." the girl spoke again, and this time Song Xiaomo was certain that what she was seeing was not an illusion.

How could such a beautiful girl live here? Is she human or a ghost? Encountering such a beauty in the dead of night is like something out of a Chinese folktale: a frail scholar seeking lodging at a temple in the dark suddenly encounters a beautiful young woman…

Song Xiaomo couldn't help but feel a little smug...

"You're back..." The girl suddenly grasped his hand and said in a soft voice, "Renxuan, you're finally back!"

Song Xiaomo immediately snapped out of his reverie. It turned out the girl had mistaken him for someone else. She called him "Renxuan." Could she be Shen Meixuan?

"Renxuan, why aren't you saying anything?" The girl shook his hand.

"Shin Mi-hyun? Are you Shin Mi-hyun?" Song Xiaomo's heart suddenly raced. Wasn't this girl already dead? He tried to calm his uneasy mind and decided to ask for clarification first, but fear still crept into his trembling voice, "Kim...Kim In-hyun...died two years ago, are you...a human...or a ghost?"

"That's great, Renxuan, you're really back! It's me, Meixuan!"

Song Xiaomo quickly pushed her hand away, took a step back, and said in a trembling voice, "I'm sorry, I'm not him!"

The girl stared at him blankly, and after a long pause, she finally spoke: "Renxuan, are you sick?"

Tell me, where do you come from?

This time, she didn't answer. She pursed her lips tightly, her eyes wide as she stared at Song Xiaomo, looking very frightened.

"I'm sorry, Miss, did I scare you?" Song Xiaomo was a little embarrassed. Suddenly, she felt that this girl didn't seem like a ghost. But then she thought, wasn't this the same way that the silly scholar Ning Caichen was bewitched by Nie Xiaoqian?

"Don't you recognize me? You used to call me Meixuan." She stared straight at him.

After a long silence, Song Xiaomo thought to himself, "Nie Xiaoqian isn't a bad person! This pitiful soul didn't appear with a hideous face." He felt relieved and decided to play along, awkwardly calling out, "Mei...Meixuan!"

"Mmm." The girl gave him a sweet smile just like Song Hye-kyo, and then gripped his clothes tightly.

"I'll go turn on the light!"

"No, I'm afraid of the dark!" Meixuan quickly shook her head.

"Ghosts are afraid of light?" Song Xiaomo muttered to herself.

"It's been a long time since we last met, hasn't it?" he deliberately started the conversation.

"Yes, it's been two years, and we haven't seen each other."

"Two years?" Song Xiaomo shuddered, becoming even more certain that this was Shen Meixuan.

Chapter 156: The Night Doll (156)

“That’s right, I thought you didn’t want me anymore?” Meixuan’s voice lowered.

How could that be?

"Hmph, you're so heartless!" She rolled her eyes at Song Xiaomo, and before she knew it, she was holding a ghost doll in her arms, stroking its head as she said softly, "Do you know? For the past two years, only these dolls have kept me company, and only they haven't abandoned me. They are all our children!"

As he spoke, the ghost doll looked at Song Xiaomo with an eerie gaze. Its pupils were unusually black, appearing to be just two holes, and it even carried a hint of a smile.

Song Xiaomo felt extremely uncomfortable, but forced herself to ask, "Where have you been these past two years?"

"I'm here..." Meixuan's eyes suddenly turned strange, as if she had heard something. She pushed Song Xiaomo towards the door and said in a panic, "Renxuan, hurry up, the bad guys are here again. They're not human, they're ghosts. They'll send you to hell..."

Song Xiaomo was surprised, only to hear a series of urgent knocks on the door from outside.

"Thump thump thump..." The sound was very urgent.

Who could it be so late? Did the landlord discover him entering the room?

"Meixuan! I'm going out first. You stay here for a while."

“Go, Renxuan, I’ll wait for you to come back.” The girl nodded.

Song Xiaomo opened the door and walked out, locking it behind her to avoid leaving any trace.

"Knock knock knock..." The knocking on the door continued incessantly.

"Who is it?" Song Xiaomo shouted loudly, swaying as she walked to the door.

As soon as he opened the door, his arms were grabbed by a pair of hands.

In the dim light, he saw a terrified face.

"Xiuzi?" Song Xiaomo asked in surprise, "What happened?"

Has Tongtong come to your place?

"No, why?"

Xiuzi's eyes reddened, and she choked out, "Tongtong is missing!"

"Tongtong?" The image of the little boy who always carried the ghost doll immediately appeared in Song Xiaomo's mind.

"Don't panic, tell me what happened?"

"I watched him fall asleep tonight, but when I woke up just now I found he was gone."

"Come on, let's go to your house first and then we'll talk."

The two quickly arrived at Hideko's room.

"Did he go out by himself?"

Hideko shook her head painfully: "I don't know. His mother is dead, and his father is gone too. Where could he go?"

"Think about it, has anything unusual happened yesterday, or recently?" Song Xiaomo went to Tongtong's room and looked at the crumpled blankets. He reached inside; the blankets were cold, indicating that Tongtong had left several hours ago. He went to the window; the aluminum alloy window was tightly closed, and there were iron bars on the outside, making it impossible for her to have gotten out.

“Tongtong is a very well-behaved child. He rarely goes out to play alone. I don’t believe he would run away on his own. Yesterday, I took him to visit his mother’s grave. After we came back, he hasn’t been talking much.” Xiuzi paced back and forth nervously behind Song Xiaomo, saying, “I really can’t figure out why he would run out in the middle of the night.”

"Could they be upstairs?"

“I just asked the landlady and Aunt Li, and they both said they hadn’t seen it.”

"This is strange!" Song Xiaomo touched his chin, feeling that this matter was indeed very strange. Would a six or seven-year-old boy run away from home without any reason or warning?

"Xiao Mo..." Xiu Zi's expression was very solemn, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

"What is it? Tell me."

Hideko bit her lip and said, "Last time, didn't you ask me if I heard anything?"

"What?"

She shook her head, paused for a moment, and then asked somewhat nervously, "Do you know what that is?"

"What did you say?" Song Xiaomo stared blankly at the other person, not knowing how to answer.

"I think it must be her."

"Who is it? What did you see?"

Hideko replied in a very strange nasal tone, "A ghost!"

"Here? You're not kidding?"

"Two years ago, Kim In-hyun and Shin Mi-hyun rented this place for only a month. It's the room you're in now."

What is your relationship with them?

“They are my friends. Kim In-hyun likes to collect calligraphy and paintings. We met in an antique shop.” After saying that, Hideko took out a painting from a drawer, spread it out and said, “This oil painting was given to me by Kim In-hyun. You saw it in the corridor of my antique shop before!”

The picture shows a beautiful young girl sitting by a stream. Her long, slender legs sway in the water like water plants. Her pure, clear eyes radiate a captivating beauty. A soft curve appears at the corner of her slightly red lips…

Song Xiaomo's eyes widened immediately. The girl on the screen was indeed the girl she had just seen—it was Shen Meixuan!

Is she really a ghost?

"Do you think she's still here?" Song Xiaomo calmed down and deliberately went along with Xiuzi's tone.

“That’s right.” Xiuzi poked her head out of the door, then looked back at Song Xiaomo, and suddenly lowered her voice, saying, “Be careful, she might be right next to you.”

Song Xiaomo's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly looked around, but there wasn't a soul in sight.

"Then do you think Tongtong might have been kidnapped by a ghost?"