L'affaire du messager fantôme - Le récit d'une âme qui quitte son corps

Chapitre 1

The 19th level of Hell

Midnight, the hour of Zi (11 PM - 1 AM).

The bamboo forest covering the mountain trembled violently, its roar echoing like the tides in the deep night, as if the entire sky were about to be blown down by a gale. He gazed up at the inky sky, his deep gray eyes unable to make out the surrounding mountain ranges, only a few terrifying bats fluttering nervously overhead, seemingly sensing the lightning in the clouds. "Tonight!"

As the cold raindrops fell into his eyes, he silently prayed. He glanced back at the ruins in the deep bamboo forest, knowing they would soon be forgotten.

In an instant, mountain rain mixed with a fierce wind covered the earth. He raised a dim kerosene lamp, lowered his head, and ran into the dilapidated courtyard. The lamplight in the night rain flickered dimly like will-o'-the-wisps, but it still slightly illuminated the entrance to the cave, like a sinister mouth in the darkness.

In the instant a terrifying flash of lightning ripped through the night sky, he had already cautiously entered the cave. A stench of decay, unseen for countless years, assaulted his nostrils, as if the raging storm outside were a completely different world. He raised his tiny kerosene lamp to illuminate his surroundings; the cave's profound darkness seemed endless.

He nervously swallowed, and just as he took a step forward, he heard a hoarse voice from the darkness: "You've finally come." "Yes, will I know the secret tonight?"

His Chinese was broken and echoed tremulously in the deep cave, sounding quite eerie. "Yes, tonight is a special night." "I've been waiting for a whole year." He anxiously carried the kerosene lamp, its dim light flickering and casting a tall, dark shadow on the cave wall.

However, he still couldn't see the other person's face; they seemed to be just a ghost in the darkness: "Well, it's destined to happen tonight. Now, tell me your question."

A strange smile finally appeared on his lips, and his gray eyes gleamed faintly in the kerosene lamplight, like a bat returning to its cave. He adjusted his breathing and, addressing the soul in the darkness, uttered that ancient question in a low voice—"Do you know what the 19th level of hell is?"

Spring Rain told me this story.

If you've read the book "The Deserted Village Apartment," you'll definitely remember the four college students who went to the deserted village. The girl who survived was named Chunyu.

Now, she is the female protagonist of this story.

As you know, Chunyu was traumatized by the incident in the deserted village and spent some time in a mental hospital, but she miraculously recovered and was discharged, returning to university to continue her studies.

What you don't know is that after summer vacation, I went to see Chunyu at school once. She looked just like when we first met, with a pretty and delicate face and a slender, well-proportioned figure. Girls like that are very attractive to boys.

Perhaps it was because of what happened in the deserted village that the only thing that changed about Chunyu was her eyes. Her gaze became as cautious and careful as a bird's, and she would quietly look away several times, seemingly afraid to meet people's eyes directly. I think the shadow that incident left on her heart will probably stay with her forever.

Chunyu and I chatted casually. She said she had fully recovered and her biggest wish was to find a job smoothly in her final year of university. When I said goodbye to Chunyu, she said she would never be intimidated by fear again, and I thought her life would return to peace from then on.

At the time, I never imagined that just a few months later, in the dead of winter, Chunyu would suffer another tragedy. Perhaps it truly was fate's arrangement, causing a girl to experience the most unbelievable fears in the world twice within a year.

Now the story begins, all you need to do is listen—Spring Rain's fear stemmed from a text message.

On this cold winter afternoon, the cold air moving south from the north cleansed away all the filth, and the sky seemed much cleaner. But no one would notice that right before our eyes, countless electromagnetic signals were shuttling through the air, crossing the high clouds, the concrete jungle, and the walls and windows of the university girls' dormitory, quietly slipping into a girl's cell phone. ———The text message ringtone sounded.

The sudden ringtone made Chunyu shiver. She was tidying up her things on the top bunk in her dorm room when she heard the text message ringtone coming from the bottom bunk. The sudden cold snap these past few days had given her a bit of a cold, so she had wrapped a thick scarf around her neck. She peeked out from under the covers and saw that it was Qingyou's phone on the bottom bunk.

It was a small, exquisite cell phone, lying alone on the lower bunk's sheet, its screen glowing with the light of receiving text messages.

Where did Qingyou go? She should be in the four-person dormitory, but now only Chunyu is there.

She immediately got down to the ground and stared at Qingyou's phone.

In the girls' dormitory on ordinary days, the sound of text message ringing is constant. These past few days, Qingyou's phone has been especially busy, ringing dozens of times in the middle of the night, keeping Chunyu awake all night. Whenever she hears Qingyou's text message ringtone, she feels a vague sense of dread.

Just as she instinctively picked up the phone, the dormitory door was suddenly pushed open, and Qingyou rushed in, bringing a gust of cold wind with her. It seemed Qingyou had just finished using the restroom; she hurriedly took the phone from Chunyu's hand as soon as she entered. "There's a text message for me, right?" Qingyou didn't wait for Chunyu's reply before looking down at the message.

She had her back to Chunyu, clearly not wanting Chunyu to see her. Chunyu tactfully retreated to the window, watching the cold wind sweep the last withered leaves from the trees. She and Qingyou had always been best friends, sharing even their deepest secrets, which made it impossible for her to understand Qingyou's recent changes. Suddenly, Qingyou's hand landed on her shoulder, startling the unsuspecting Chunyu: "Oh dear, that's scary!"

But Qingyou's expression was strange. Staring into her eyes, he said softly, "Do you know about the haunted building?" "The haunted building?"

Chunyu's lips trembled as she uttered those two words. From her first year at this university, she had heard her seniors talk about the haunted building many times late at night, making them, the younger students, too scared to sleep. "Yes, can you come with me?" Her voice grew softer and softer, as if it entered Chunyu's brain without going through her mouth.

Chunyu leaned against the cold windowpane, shook her head and said, "You want me to go to the haunted building with you?"

Why? Because of the text message I just received?

Qingyou immediately put her right hand, which was holding the phone, behind her back, lowered her head, and said, "Ignore my text messages, I'm asking you if you're going or not?"

After hesitating for a moment, Chunyu finally nodded: "Okay, when do you want to go?" "Now!" Qingyou said coldly, her gaze making Chunyu unable to refuse. "Do you want to go in the middle of the night?"

Before Chunyu could answer, Qingyou hung her phone around her neck, grabbed her bag, and ran out of the dormitory.

Is she going alone? Chunyu couldn't bear to imagine Qingyou walking into the haunted building alone, so she immediately put on a coat and ran out.

Chunyu caught up with Qingyou at the stairwell, panting, and asked, "Are you really determined to go to the haunted building?" "Of course, it'll be too late if we're too late."

Too late? Chunyu didn't understand what she meant, but she still followed Qingyou out of the girls' dormitory. The cold wind at four o'clock in the afternoon howled across the university campus, and everyone turned up their collars and ran, no one paying attention to the two girls in a hurry.

They walked for more than ten minutes through the vast campus before finally reaching the side door. A large padlock had long been on the door, installed by the school to prevent students from going to the haunted building without permission.

But Qingyou knew a side path. She pulled Chunyu along a walkway by the wall, and through a narrow gap between two walls, they slowly entered a small courtyard. There, they were faced with the legendary haunted building. It was a white, three-story building, seemingly built in the 1960s or 70s, its grayish appearance and blurry windows offering little reflection. Although the building itself looked ordinary, Chunyu's heart skipped a beat. Looking back at Qingyou, Chunyu saw her staring blankly at the haunted building, her eyes glazed over, looking rather frightening.

Chunyu poked her with her finger, and Qingyou's body trembled slightly. She shook her head and said, "Chunyu, have you ever been inside this building?" "How could I dare to go into a haunted building? I've heard from the senior students that there's a haunted building here. It used to be a teaching building more than ten years ago. Later, someone died inside, and there were frequent rumors of it being haunted. So the school sealed off the building and prohibited students from entering without permission. In my sophomore year, I came here with a few boys, but we ran out after just one look..."

Qingyou seemed not to hear her, and said to herself, "I went in." "Ah!" Chunyu exclaimed softly.

She looked at the window on the second floor of the haunted building and said, "You've been inside?"

What's it like inside?

Suddenly, Qingyou slowly turned her head back, her expression mechanical and stiff, completely unlike her usual cute girl self. She stared into Chunyu's eyes, but didn't answer her question. Then, she turned her head towards the window on the second floor of the haunted building.

The temperature was dropping, and the sky was gradually darkening. The haunted building in front of them seemed to exude an eerie atmosphere, making Chunyu's hair stand on end. Since the incident in the deserted village, this was the first time Chunyu had felt real fear again. She said anxiously, "What do you want me to come with you for? If we're not going in, let's leave quickly."

Before Qingyou could answer, her phone, hanging around her neck, rang—another text message tone. She immediately looked down at her phone, nodded slightly with trembling hands, then took a digital camera out of her bag and handed it to Chunyu, saying, "Take a picture of me, okay?"

Clutching the small digital camera, Chunyu seemed a little lost: "Take photos here?" "Yes." Qingyou stood directly in front of the haunted building, facing Chunyu, and said, "Take a picture of me and the entire haunted building."

Chunyu nervously took a few steps back, looking at the supposedly haunted building behind Qingyou, and then at the gradually darkening sky above, before involuntarily raising her camera.

Only after retreating to the base of the wall could the digital camera lens capture the entire haunted building. The windows on the second and third floors were clearly visible, but the sky above the rooftops was too gloomy. Chunyu carefully adjusted the camera again; Qingyou's face in the lens was expressionless. She wore a black coat, and her red phone hung conspicuously around her neck. Combined with the eerie building in the background, the whole scene presented a stark color contrast. In the past, Qingyou always posed in various ways for photos, smiling innocently and brightly. Many boys approached her because they liked her smile.

For some reason, Chunyu felt a tremor in her heart, and vaguely felt that something was beside her—but the scene in the camera was normal, and Qingyou was still standing expressionless under the haunted building.

After pausing for a few seconds, she finally pressed the shutter.