Puits profond - Chapitre 5
At the same time, Qinglin Anxue, who was taking a walk on campus, suddenly noticed something was wrong and decisively ran towards the source—the old school building.
Seeing a rather strong student running out of the old school building in a panic, they stopped him.
What happened inside?
"The...the faceless female ghost who plays the violin has appeared!" Qi Guangjian managed to utter a complete sentence with great difficulty.
"A ghost?" The cold-blooded girl was certain that her intuition was correct.
Qi Guangjian looked behind him, his face suddenly turning purple: "Yuan...Yuan Peilin didn't run out!"
There are still people inside! Qingbing and Anxue immediately rushed towards the old school building.
As the soft music played, Yuan Peilin pushed the wooden door of the music classroom. Perhaps because it hadn't been opened for a long time, a cloud of dust wafted out as the door creaked open.
I covered my nose and hurried inside. It was very dark, with the blackout curtains tightly drawn. It took a while for my eyes to adjust to the light. The first thing I saw was a very old table, and next to it stood a person wearing a very worn-out schoolgirl uniform. Looking further up, I saw that the schoolgirl's face was…
A blank page.
The violin rested steadily on the female student's shoulder, the bow moving naturally and gracefully, the music continuing to linger lightly in her ears. The student swayed slightly from time to time, clearly absorbed in the joy of playing.
Yuan Peilin stood there, listening intently. Suddenly, the door was pushed open again, and Yuan Peilin turned around to see a long-haired girl with a cold demeanor walk in.
The girl spotted the boy standing there, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes before she quickly regained her composure.
"Listen carefully to a solo performance..." Yuan Peilin said softly with a smile.
Qingbing Anxue still didn't respond, but she turned her gaze to the performer, standing side by side with Yuan Peilin. The music continued to flow with deep emotion…
The music ended. Yuan Peilin clapped enthusiastically, while the girl next to him remained motionless, simply watching indifferently.
"You play the violin exceptionally well!" Yuan Peilin praised. "You'll be famous someday. Now... can you tell me your name?"
The female student's blank face suddenly changed; her features gradually became clearer, revealing a delicate face. Tears still glistened in her eyes, and she was still holding her violin as she bowed deeply to the two men.
"Lin Minghua..."
Then, her body began to become transparent and finally disappeared into the air.
“Poor girl, for so long…” Yuan Peilin’s eyes were still fixed on the violin left on the table after the female student’s death. “All she needed was for someone to listen to her play the whole thing…”
Silence fell over everything, and the two stood there silently, seemingly with no intention of leaving.
"...This is goodwill, isn't it..." These inexplicable words came from the mouth of the cold girl.
"Why?"
The boy tried to look at her, but could only see her back as she walked out the door.
Yuan Peilin, stepping out of the old school building, then encountered Qi Guangjian, who had just run away. The latter was clutching a "ball bat," had a "steel pot" on his head, and a "trash can lid" strapped to his front. He looked like he was about to rush back into the old school building…
"...Hero, are you in such a hurry to slay a dragon?"
"...None of your business!!"
janeadam
Reply [16]: Episode 5: Burning Youth
—Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final of the regional qualifiers for the Yunjing District National High School Autumn Baseball Tournament, between Chengzhikong Academy and Meimen Binhai Academy! The winner of this match will be the sole representative to participate in the national tournament!
...
—The exciting moment has arrived! It's now the second half of the ninth round, and the score is 2-1, with Sora Academy in the lead!
...
—Look! Sugihisa Miyuki, the ace pitcher of Suminozora Academy, has struck out one of the Hamai batters! Now the second batter has entered the field! Ah, Miyuki is throwing again! Strike! The opponent swings and misses again!
...
—Everyone! Could this be the final pitch that decides the game?! Hold your breath and don't blink! There are two strikes. Hama has a runner on second. If Miyo can strike out the opposing batter, then Suminozora Academy will win!
—What a tense moment! Standing on the batting plate is Ho Yi, the nation's most famous power hitter. Facing the equally outstanding pitcher, Chien Yang, can he once again turn the tide and hit a walk-off home run?
Time seemed to freeze! Jianyang stood motionless! Ah, he turned around, his gaze sweeping over his teammates standing in their defensive positions.
...
—Oh… the ball’s thrown! It’s a super fast straight ball! …Swing…miss…! ! Suminosora Academy wins!
—The cheers of the audience resounded throughout the stadium! The ecstatic members of the Suminosora Academy baseball team hugged each other tightly! Suminosora Academy, which had been unknown in the high school baseball world before, had finally made it to the national tournament for the first time thanks to the tireless efforts of the entire team!
—Look! The most important hero, ace pitcher Miyuki, is being lifted high above his teammates' heads!!
...
It was an ordinary day, but for the Suminozora Academy baseball team, it was an absolutely memorable one. After two years of relentless effort and hundreds of days and nights of hard work, they finally reached a moment of explosive passion—carrying the Suminozora school flag onto the field for the national tournament. This caused a frenzy among Suminozora Academy, a school that had never excelled in sports.
However, things always take unexpected turns. Just as the entire school was immersed in excitement and joy, and the school administration was actively recruiting cheerleaders to travel to the national competition, devastating news arrived…
Jianyangshan died from injuries sustained in a car accident.
...A dramatic rise and fall—that's the only word to describe the situation. Everyone was shocked upon hearing the news. Even students who thought they had nothing to do with it were inevitably affected by the atmosphere—feeling depressed.
Yuan Peilin walked slowly through the campus. He hadn't expected that the death of a student would bring such a drastic change to the entire school. Everyone he met seemed to be suppressing their emotions to some extent. Perhaps "Jianyang Shan" could no longer be seen as just an ordinary student's name, but had become a true hero. The death of a hero is always accompanied by sorrow and solemnity.
Before I knew it, I had come to see the school's baseball practice field. The reason I was here was because of what happened in the classroom earlier…
Due to the differences in curriculum between schools, transfer students usually study very hard to keep up. Of course, Yuan Peilin was completely unrelated to that kind of person; he would never touch those textbooks in his spare time. The word "bored" was not in his vocabulary; he spent most of his time immersed in his own constructed world of thought. And that was exactly the case now.
"Xiao Ling, why do you look so listless? Are you not feeling well?"
It was a very crisp sound. The lazy transfer student looked up and saw Nan Ying asking the girl sitting next to her with concern, and even touching the girl's forehead.
Xiao Ling was clearly not in good spirits, and remained slumped over the table. She simply shook her head at Nan Ying's concern without responding.
"Ying, do you believe in ghosts?" After a while, Xiaoling suddenly asked softly.
"Why?"
"Do you believe... that ghosts exist in this world?" Xiao Ling repeated to Nan Ying, who was caught off guard, her voice becoming somewhat agitated.
"Well, I'm not entirely sure..." The short-haired girl tilted her head back, seemingly deep in thought, "There are probably some things that science can't explain..."
Xiao Ling leaned back onto the table, her voice returning to its previous weak tone: "I saw it..."
"Um?"
"Senior Jianyang's...ghost..."
janeadam
Reply [17]: "...Huh!?" Nan Ying's eyes widened. "You...you're joking, right! Xiao Ling..."
"Silly girl, do I look like I'm joking...?" Xiaoling buried her head in her arms, and her shoulders were visibly trembling slightly.
Nan Ying stared blankly at the girl beside her, unsure how to comfort her: "Then... what exactly happened?"
Xiao Ling finally raised her head again: "You know, I'm the baseball team manager. This morning, I went to tidy up the equipment room. There were still very few people from the team present; everyone... everyone is still recovering..."
"...At that time, no one spoke. They just sat on the benches outside, gazing at the training field. For several days... no one was in the mood to practice. But..."
At this point, Xiaoling's eyes began to look somewhat unfocused.
"It's like a dream... On the field... There's someone running on the field, someone so familiar... My breath almost stopped, I rubbed my eyes frantically, but it was still the same, it was... Senior Jianyang..."
"Then what?"
"We were all stunned. No one thought to check what was going on. We just kept watching our senior run... He usually runs five laps each time. And then... really... at the end of the fifth lap, he just... disappeared..." Xiao Ling's voice suddenly rose, grabbing Nan Ying's arm. "We just... just watched him disappear!"
"Could it be..." the short-haired girl said softly, holding Xiaoling's hand, "an illusion?"
"Hallucination...?" Xiao Ling murmured, repeating herself, but then suddenly shook her head violently. "No! I'm sure! Everyone present saw it!"
The transfer student sitting in the back overheard this and stood up to walk out of the classroom. He had nothing else to do anyway.
The baseball training field at Chengzhikong Academy is surrounded by a net. It's empty and looks rather desolate now. Suddenly, a familiar slender figure appears. A girl is standing outside the net, gazing at the field. Her long, black hair and school uniform skirt flutter in the wind, giving her a captivating charm.
Yuan Peilin walked to the side of the long-haired girl and stopped, standing shoulder to shoulder with her. He could vaguely smell a faint fragrance passing by his nose.
"Has Qinglin, your junior, heard the rumors too?"
"No..." Qing Lin Anxue's voice was even colder than expected, "You sensed it?"
"oh."
"Isn't that right? Such a strong obsession."
Lin Weiwei was somewhat surprised that this aloof junior had taken the initiative to start a conversation. But only for a moment.
"Is it dangerous?"
"...Yes, if this continues, it will eventually turn into a vengeful spirit."
The autumn wind is refreshing and slightly cool, occasionally carrying a few withered yellow leaves with it.
"They're all pathetic guys..." Hara Pei-lin added, seeing the somewhat puzzled look in her junior's eyes, "those baseball players."
"If this were in the past, it would definitely be filled with shouts and the sound of hitting the ball, and the heat of the sport would be permeating the air. The ground would be soaked with sweat. Although they would be exhausted, they would have been happy back then."
"It was just when they saw hope, when their goal was within reach, that their pillar suddenly collapsed. It was like a bonfire burning brightly being hit by a torrential downpour. To them, all their efforts seemed to have become meaningless..."
"As the core member, Jianyangshan gave them motivation and showed them their worth in pursuing their goals. But at the crucial moment, he abandoned them without warning. Although it wasn't what they wanted, but..."
“They deserve more sympathy than the dead Miyosugi…” Hara Pei-rin gently scratched at the fence with his hand. “I’m sorry for letting you hear some useless things.”
"It's alright..." Qing Lin Anxue's expression remained indifferent, but her voice became much more mellow.
"Please give me one night..."
"Um?"