La Mariée aux Yeux Fantômes 2

Chapitre 2

Zhang Bin's emotions became increasingly difficult to control; his entire body trembled violently. Suddenly, the water glass in his hand crashed to the ground, and he clutched his chest tightly before slowly slumping into a chair.

Zhou Ping quickly helped him up: "What's wrong?" Luo Fei also rushed over to help.

Zhang Bin gasped for breath in pain, his right hand trembling as he reached into his coat pocket.

“It’s a heart condition, I have medicine!” Luo Fei said, reaching into Zhang Bin’s pocket and pulling out a bottle of nitroglycerin tablets.

After taking his medication, Zhang Bin's breathing gradually calmed down, but he remained exhausted with his eyes closed. His mouth was murmuring, as if he was still saying something.

Luo Fei put his ear to Zhang Bin's lips and listened intently.

“The murder painting…they…they opened that…murder painting…”

Luo Fei: "What? A murderous painting? And who are they?"

Zhang Bin was no longer able to answer; he had fallen into a coma.

The situation was critical, and Luo Fei had no time to dwell on these strange words. He turned his head, his tone urgent: "Go get the car quickly and take him to the hospital immediately for emergency treatment!"

"Yes!" Zhou Ping replied and hurriedly ran out of the house.

Luo Fei put his arm around Zhang Bin's arm, and with a strong push of his waist, he hoisted him onto his back. Fortunately, Zhang Bin wasn't too heavy. Luo Fei carried him to the yard, where Zhou Ping had already started the police car and was waiting for him with the door open.

Luo Fei shoved the still unconscious Zhang Bin into the back seat of the police car, closed the door, and shouted to Zhou Ping, "Once he has recovered somewhat, investigate the situation further!"

Zhou Ping leaned out the window, somewhat worried, and asked, "Director Luo, something seems a bit strange! What should we do at the scene?"

"I'm going up the mountain right away. Don't worry about anything else, saving lives is the priority. I'll contact you again if we need reinforcements. Go quickly!" Luo Fei patted the carriage to urge him on.

Zhou Ping nodded and stepped on the gas. The car gave a low growl and sped out of the yard, quickly disappearing into the endless night.

Luo Fei watched the police car drive away and began to sort out his thoughts.

The cliff fall incident—the art academy professor—the Kumu Temple—these are the valid clues he currently possesses. As for the strange things Zhang Bin said at the end, Luo Fei cannot yet determine their value. What is certain is that there are no ghosts; the so-called "headless ghost" is likely Zhang Bin's delusion or illusion under extreme tension.

Generally speaking, no imagination or delusion arises out of thin air; at least two conditions must be met in the person involved:

1. Extreme physical and mental states, such as fear, fatigue, and tension;

2. A special kind of psychological suggestion.

The "cursed painting" that Zhang Bin mentioned before falling into a coma intrigued Luo Fei, who believed it was highly likely the psychological root of Zhang Bin's delusions or illusions. However, whether these clues are intrinsically linked to the fall remains to be seen until the facts are fully clarified.

After a brief moment of thought, Luo Fei had determined a preliminary approach to the investigation:

1. Inquire with the art academy about the situation of the person involved;

2. Organize rescue efforts;

3. Go up the mountain to investigate the crime scene and uncover the details.

After thinking about all this, Luo Fei suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck. A thought struck him, and he looked up at the sky.

Snowflakes danced and fell before his eyes; the first snow of the year had finally arrived.

Luo Fei returned to his office and, after some effort, finally managed to contact the head of the art academy by phone. The person in charge immediately began to investigate the situation. While waiting for feedback, Luo Fei briefed Deputy Director Wang Yifei on the case by phone, instructing him to immediately organize relevant work and prepare for a search for the missing persons in the mountains at dawn.

Just as Luo Fei hung up the phone, it rang again. The caller was Ling Yongsheng, the dean of the Academy of Fine Arts, who provided Luo Fei with the following information.

There were three people who went up the mountain to sketch together:

Zhang Bin, 45 years old, male, professor of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts;

Chen Jian, 45 years old, male, associate professor of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts;

Hu Junkai, 48 years old, male, professor of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts.

These three are all key members of the academy's art team. Now, one is in the hospital, one fell off a cliff, and the condition of the third is unknown. From Ling Yongsheng's tone, it was clear that the academy was also very anxious about this.

Besides the person who reported the incident and the person who fell off the cliff, Hu Junkai was also on the mountain, which was somewhat unexpected for Luo Fei. He then recalled Zhang Bin's words before he lost consciousness.

“The murder painting…they…they opened that…murder painting…”

Does "they" in this sentence refer to Chen Jian and Hu Junkai?

Was Hu Junkai also another witness to the cliff fall?

Where is he now?

A series of questions arose in Luo Fei's mind. The most feasible way to solve these questions was to arrive at the crime scene, Kumu Temple, as soon as possible.

Luo Fei decided to go up the mountain immediately.

Based on Luo Fei's experience, once it snows, the temperature in the mountains drops by at least 10 degrees Celsius, and there won't be enough time to go home and put on more clothes. He went to the gatehouse and borrowed a military overcoat from Master Zheng.

Knowing that a case had occurred, Master Zheng hadn't slept in bed.

"Luo Suo, are you going up the mountain?" he asked.

Luo Fei grunted in agreement and put on his coat.

“But it’s pitch black here, and the mountain road is difficult to travel! Can’t we wait until dawn?” Master Zheng said.

"It's too late!" Luo Fei took two steps outside the door, then turned back and instructed, "After Zhou Ping returns, have him contact me immediately using the walkie-talkie. There's no telephone service up in the mountains yet!"

"I know. You have to be careful!" Master Zheng said with concern.

Luo Fei nodded and strode quickly into the mountains.

The snow was falling heavier and heavier, and in the blink of an eye, Luo Fei's figure disappeared into the swirling white snow.

Kumu Temple is the largest temple in the mountainous area under Luo Fei's jurisdiction, with a total of 32 registered monks. Luo Fei had made a routine visit to the temple earlier this year, and was received by Abbot Kongjing. In his memory, Kongjing was a short, thin old monk.

Once inside the mountain pass, the wind picked up noticeably. Dense snowflakes lashed at Luo Fei, forcing him to squint and struggle forward against the wind and snow.

Soon, the rugged mountain path was covered with a layer of slippery snow, forcing Luo Fei to slow his pace even further. On such a road, blindly accelerating would not only be dangerous but would also waste a lot of energy.

When the snow had accumulated to a depth of more than two inches, a faint glimmer of dawn appeared in the sky. Luo Fei checked his watch; it was already past 5 a.m., and he had only just passed the halfway mark. There was no use in rushing, so he simply found a sheltered spot to rest for a while. Once he had regained some strength, he resumed his journey.

Snowflakes danced in the cold wind, showing no sign of abating. The road ahead became increasingly difficult to traverse, and Luo Fei walked and stopped intermittently until nearly 7 o'clock, when he finally saw the gate of the Kumu Temple.

Two monks stood on the porch, peering down the mountain path, seemingly waiting for someone. Upon spotting Luo Fei, they kept their eyes fixed on him.

As Luo Fei drew closer, he used the time to sized the other man up and down.

The older of the two monks was about 1.65 meters tall, around 50 years old, with furrowed brows, looking preoccupied. The other monk was shorter, with a youthful face, clearly a boy of about fifteen or sixteen. The younger monk was quite handsome, with a clever glint in his eyes.

Luo Fei walked to the porch, brushing the snow off his hair and clothes, and said to the older monk, "Abbot Kongjing, don't you recognize me?"

Kong Jing stared intently at Luo Fei's face, trying hard to make out his features. Only when Luo Fei wiped the snow off his hair and the corners of his eyebrows did he seem to suddenly realize who he was, and he bowed and exclaimed, "Oh, Director Luo, you've finally arrived! You've worked so hard, you've practically turned into a snowman."

"You don't look relaxed either, did you not sleep all night?" Luo Fei noticed that Kong Jing's eyes were bloodshot.

"With something like this happening, how can we care about sleeping? Lives are at stake!" After saying this, Kong Jing turned to the little monk beside her and instructed, "Shunde, go get a dry towel so that Director Luo can dry his wet hair." Shunde agreed and ran off.

Kong Jing asked with a distressed expression, "Director Luo, what should we do about this now?"

"Take me to the scene of the accident first, and we'll talk as we walk."

"Okay." Kong Jing turned and walked into the temple, with Luo Fei following closely behind him.

The main buildings of Kumu Temple are divided into two courtyards, forming a "日" (sun) shape. In the front courtyard, adjacent to the temple gate, are several guest rooms; on both sides of the courtyard are the bell tower and the drum tower, each with two stories; directly opposite the temple gate are the main hall and the practice room.

The most striking feature of the front courtyard is the thousand-year-old withered pine tree, from which the temple derives its name. Although the pine has a massive trunk, it's essentially just an empty shell. Legend has it that during its most lush period, the pine was struck by lightning, nearly splitting it in two. The lightning strike also ignited a fire that burned away all the branches and leaves, leaving only a half-charred trunk. Miraculously, the following spring, new branches sprouted from this shell. It turned out the tree hadn't truly died. The new branches grew more and more numerous, though they could never be as lush as before the calamity, but they contrasted beautifully with the withered, hollow trunk, revealing a unique and tenacious vitality.

From the moment they entered the temple gate, the corridor stretched through all the buildings in the front courtyard. Kong Jing led Luo Fei through the corridor toward the back courtyard; although the snowflakes outside were heavy, not a single one fell on them.

The backyard is the monks' living and dining area, and the houses are much simpler than those in the front yard. A row of bungalows is divided into more than 10 small rooms, and there is a small pond for releasing animals in the yard.

During the walk, Kong Jing gave Luo Fei a brief account of what he knew about the incident: "These three guests came to the temple to stay the night yesterday. I asked Shunde to arrange for them to stay, and I didn't think much of it. Around midnight, we suddenly heard cries for help coming from behind the temple. When we rushed over, one of the guests had already fallen off the cliff, and we only saw his two companions standing on the mountain path in a panic."

"So both of them must have witnessed the entire incident?"

"Probably."

"So what did they say?"

Kong Jing paused for a moment: "I didn't have time to ask in detail at the time. One of them immediately went down the mountain to call the police, and the other was busy going down the valley to rescue people."

"Oh? You've already gone down into the valley to search and rescue?"

“We did send people down,” Kong Jing said with a hint of helplessness. “But this valley is too deep, and the mountain path is difficult to traverse. Plus, it started snowing in the latter half of the night… In truth, in my opinion, even if we find them, it won’t be of much use…”

Luo Fei's heart tightened; he understood the meaning behind Kong Jing's last words.

Just then, Shunde came over with a towel. Luo Fei took the towel, wiped himself a couple of times, and then asked, "Where is Hu Junkai now?"

"Who?" Kong Jing seemed somewhat bewildered.

"It's the one you said you were going down the mountain to save people." Luo Fei couldn't help but feel a little dissatisfied. So much time had passed since the incident, and the abbot, Kong Jing, not only couldn't provide any useful clues, but she didn't even know the names of these three people.

“Oh, that tall guest… he’s sick and is lying in his room.” Kong Jing said, while verifying the information.

He looked at Shunde beside him with a detached gaze.

Shunde immediately added: "He got separated from everyone on the way down the valley. He returned to the temple alone at around 3 p.m. and started to have a fever. He probably caught a chill."

Luo Fei's expression was somewhat serious. With such heavy snow, it wouldn't be easy to bring a patient down the mountain, and the medical conditions on the mountain were obviously very limited.

"Why don't we go to his place and take a look first?" Kong Jing suggested.

Luo Fei nodded in agreement.

The three returned to the front yard. In front of the guest room where Hu Junkai was settled, a young monk, about the same age as Shunde, was leaning against the door with his arms crossed. Upon seeing Kong Jing, he quickly stood up properly.

"I asked you to take care of the guests, why are you outside?" Kong Jing asked the little monk, her tone slightly reproachful.

"He's asleep. I came out to get some fresh air," the little monk said, head bowed.

Kong Jing said nothing more, gently pushed open the door, and walked into the guest room with Luo Fei. Shunde, meanwhile, made a gloating face at the little monk.

A middle-aged man was lying on the bed in the guest room; it must be Hu Junkai.

Luo Fei walked closer and saw that Hu Junkai's eyes were closed and his face was yellow, and he seemed to be quite ill.

Kong Jing looked at Luo Fei: "Should we wake him up and ask him what happened?"

Luo Fei waved his hand, "Never mind, let him rest first." Then he turned to the little monk and asked, "What's your name?"

"Harmony".

Luo Fei nodded: "You need to take better care of the patient in the future, and let me know as soon as he wakes up."

Shunhe hummed in agreement, appearing quite obedient.

"Let's go to the place where the accident happened on the back mountain first," Luo Fei said, already stepping out of the house.

The three of them soon arrived at the back gate of the temple. Kong Jing opened the gate, and a small mountain path appeared outside.