fragments d'os oracle

Chapitre 17

When that power becomes so great that it threatens your existence and your life, then it becomes the rule for you.

If even grief has rules to limit it, then what kind of deeper grief must there be?

At that moment, two middle-aged men in police uniforms stepped through the crowd and onto the bridge. Their old-fashioned uniforms were clearly worn for years, a yellowish-white with a rough, grainy texture. Moreover, the two men weren't wearing hats, and they wore the kind of coarse blue cloth trousers favored by local men. The trousers were baggy in the crotch, and the two men walked with a pigeon-toed gait, looking like two waddling ducks from behind.

Tan Dong scoffed, a hint of disdain on his face. He simply couldn't believe that a cop like that could solve the case.

"Do you really believe that the madwoman was killed by Yaksha?" Shabo asked Jiangnan.

They had returned to the Night Sleep Inn. Except for the skinny man, everyone else sat together, discussing the murder that had occurred the previous night.

“I don’t even believe there is a Yaksha, so how could I believe he would kill someone?” Jiang Nan smiled bitterly. “Don’t ask me about this matter; I really can’t figure it out.”

“But now there’s a murderer in town, and his interests are intertwined with everyone’s.” This time it was Qin Ge who spoke. He stared at Jiang Nan and said with some worry, “We’ll be going back soon, and you’ll have to continue living in this town. If we don’t catch that murderer, I don’t think anyone in this town will be able to live in peace.”

"What can we do?" Jiang Nan said helplessly. "The people in this town will just attribute it all to Yasha. Everyone hates and fears Yasha. As long as it doesn't happen to them, no one will bother with it."

Everyone fell silent for a while. Then, Xiao Fei muttered to herself, "Could there really be a Yaksha in this town?"

“It’s this ghost!” Yang Xing corrected her. “If the legend is true, then the Yaksha must be at least a hundred years old, and he has died at least twice.”

Qin Ge thought for a moment, then asked, "Last night you said that the Yaksha reappeared in town a year ago. How did this rumor spread?"

Jiang Nan hesitated, as if Qin Ge was asking about something he didn't want to recall. But in the end, he still talked about what happened in town a year ago.

"Deaths have happened several times in the town over the past year, and the madwoman is the fifth victim. The first two times that Yaksha came out to kill, although it was also at night, he was unexpectedly seen by someone."

"Is the story of the Yaksha killing people just from eyewitness accounts?" Qin Ge asked again.

Jiang Nan paused for a moment before saying, "The first people to witness the Yaksha killing someone were two young people. They were dating late at night, and the boy was walking the girl home when they stumbled upon the Yaksha killing someone. The Yaksha was killing a middle-aged man. The two young people watched as a strange man, over two meters tall, wearing a short animal skin coat, with disheveled hair and a long beard, raised a large rock high and smashed it down on the middle-aged man. Each time the rock hit, the middle-aged man would let out a scream. But the Yaksha would pick up the rock again and again, smashing the middle-aged man to pieces."

A chill ran down everyone's spine upon hearing this.

"The young couple didn't know at the time that the person in the animal skin tunic was Yaksha, but after hearing their account, many of the town's elderly people looked at each other, speechless. A month later, another strong man in the village died. This time, a middle-aged woman witnessed the incident. She went out late at night to look for her son who hadn't returned from an internet cafe. The next day, when people found the strong man's body, they also discovered that the woman had gone mad. She ran around the streets, shouting Yaksha's name, and soon after, she lost her footing and fell off a cliff."

Jiangnan sighed: "When these two things are put together, the people in the town have no more doubts and all say that the legendary Yaksha has appeared again."

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Although they felt that the story of the Yaksha killing people was rather unbelievable, no one knew what to say for a moment.

For a moment, everyone was in low spirits and sat silently.

That morning, because of the madwoman's murder, no one was interested in going out. Even Qin Ge made an exception and stayed in his room, organizing the information he had collected over the past few days. Sha Bo shared a room with Qin Ge, and while Qin Ge was busy, he leaned against the bed, lost in thought. At this moment, Yang Xing and Xiao Fei knocked on the door and came in. Xiao Fei, quick-witted and outspoken, immediately brought up the question of when they would leave Sleepy Valley.

“This Sleeping Valley has an eerie aura. I think we should head back as soon as possible.” Yang Xing had been eating and drinking well these past two days and was full of energy. He had obviously discussed it with Xiao Fei before coming, and he agreed with her.

Shabo and Qin Ge exchanged a glance, neither of them saying a word.

Just now, as Shabo lay in bed, his thoughts were mostly on the thick cross pattern on the invitation. He had seen that pattern three times. The first time was at the train station in that small Yi town; in a sudden wave of dizziness, after some hallucinatory scenes, the pattern appeared on a flattened rock. The second time was in his email inbox, in a blank email sent to him by Forget-Me-Not. When the pattern appeared for the third time, Shabo was certain that Forget-Me-Not was definitely in Sleeping Valley. But why wouldn't she come out to see him? Could it be that she harbored some untold sorrow?

In Shabo's eyes, the people of this town lived simple lives, working at sunrise and resting at sunset—a typical lifestyle of a remote small town. But this feeling was completely changed by the death of the madwoman and the legend of the Yaksha. He wondered if the disappearance of the Forget-Me-Not, or its inability to appear before him, was related to the changes that had taken place in the town recently.

The thought of such an innocent girl, untouched by worldly affairs, having any connection with a long-haired, long-bearded demon dressed in animal skins sent chills down Shabo's spine.

The Forget-Me-Not left that pattern on the invitation; she must have wanted to tell him something. Perhaps she hoped he could save her from danger. How could he leave Sleepy Valley at this time?

But Yang Xing and Xiao Fei's suggestion to leave at this time left him with no room to object. They were still children, and if they were to suffer any harm as a result, he would feel guilty for the rest of his life.

Shabo remained silent, but Qin Ge had no choice but to speak, because he was the initiator of this self-guided tour group.

"As far as I know, there's a bus going back to that Yi town early the day after tomorrow. You guys should take that bus back. This town is really a bit eerie, it's safer to go back."

"Then aren't you coming back with us?" Xiao Fei asked.

Although she hadn't had much contact with Qin Ge these past few days, they had traveled together and were born in the same city, so she still felt a certain sense of familiarity in this foreign town.

Qin Ge smiled and said, "Don't forget, I work in journalism. With something like this happening in Sleepy Hollow, do you think I would miss it?"

Seeing the disbelief in Xiao Fei's eyes, he added, "If I can figure these things out, I can do a feature on it when I get back, and maybe even win an award. That would give me a significant advantage in my future. So, after thinking it over, I've decided to stay here."

“I think you two should go back. I’m not leaving either,” Shabo said.

Xiao Fei rolled her eyes at him: "What's it to you? Why are you just joining in the commotion?"

"That's right, Lao Sha, don't be so stupid. Reporter Qin has an article to write. What are you doing here except watching the show?" Yang Xing also chimed in to criticize Sha Bo.

Shabo hesitated, unsure whether to tell them about the forget-me-not.

"If there's nothing else, you should go back. The legend of the Yaksha may not be true, but there are indeed dangerous people hiding in this town, and they are a threat to everyone," Qin Ge advised Shabo.

Shabo was still pondering. If Yang Xing and Xiao Fei knew that he had come to Sleepy Hollow to meet an online friend, he would definitely become a laughing stock. Those two kids would probably ridicule him endlessly.

His hesitant look made Yang Xing and Xiao Fei chuckle. Yang Xing said, "Old Sha, you should just confess. What are you doing here in Sleeping Valley all this way? Xiao Fei and I have been talking about it for days. You're not the impulsive type. Since you've come here, there must be a reason. Otherwise, you might be possessed."

Xiao Fei patted Yang Xing's forehead: "Even if someone is possessed, Lao Sha can't be possessed. Don't talk nonsense. Let's listen to Lao Sha's honest confession."

With the two of them going on and on, Shabo was both amused and exasperated. Realizing he couldn't get away with lying, he had no choice but to tell the whole story about his encounter with the Forget-Me-Not. When he mentioned the thick cross pattern, fearing the crowd wouldn't believe him, he even listed some of his...

With the two of them going on and on, Sha Bo was both amused and exasperated. Realizing he couldn't get away with lying, he had no choice but to tell the whole story about his encounter with the Forget-Me-Not. When he mentioned the thick cross pattern, fearing the others wouldn't believe him, he specifically recounted how he had seen exam questions while feeling dizzy before his college entrance exam. When he finally finished saying that he had seen the thick cross pattern again on the invitation, the people in the room exchanged bewildered glances, speechless for a moment.

“Don’t look at me like that.” Shabo blushed. “I’ve told you everything I’m telling you.”

Yang Xing and Xiao Fei knew that Sha Bo wasn't the type to joke around, and at a time like this, he was even less likely to make up a story to deceive everyone. They quickly went over the situation in their minds and came to the same conclusion as Sha Bo: if there really was a girl named Forget-Me-Not, then she must be in Sleeping Valley right now.

The thick cross must have been drawn on after Yang Xing placed the invitation on Sha Bo's bed. Following this line of thought, not many people could have entered the Night Sleep Inn during that period. This can be easily determined by asking the innkeeper, Jiang Nan, who entered Sha Bo's room during that time.

After Yang Xing finished speaking, Qin Ge was the first to shake his head: "Let's assume that the pattern on the invitation was indeed left by that little girl named Forget-Me-Not. She was obviously trying to hint at something to Shabo. Moreover, she has been hiding in the shadows since Shabo arrived, which means she has her own reasons, and these reasons may be related to the secret of Sleepy Valley. Therefore, we cannot rely on anyone in Sleepy Valley before we have figured things out."

Sha Bo had also felt it was inappropriate to ask Jiang Nan about this, but he hadn't thought as deeply as Qin Ge. He seemed to understand something and interjected, "You mean, we can't trust anyone here?"

Qin Ge hesitated for a moment: "I hope things aren't as serious as I think."

With a serious expression, he said to Yang Xing and Xiao Fei, "You two should go back to that Yi town the day after tomorrow and wait for our news. Staying here is becoming increasingly dangerous for me."

Now that Yang Xing and Xiao Fei knew about Sha Bo, they were unwilling to leave. Moreover, they wanted to see what kind of girl could lure Sha Bo from thousands of miles away to this remote town. "Since we came together, we must go back together. If Sha Bo doesn't leave, we won't leave either," Yang Xing said.

Yang Xing and Xiao Fei were adamant in their stance, while Qin Ge and Sha Bo exchanged a glance and shook their heads with bitter smiles.

“What should we do if we stay in Sleeping Valley? We can’t just wait like this,” Xiaofei said.

“That’s right, we have to wait,” Qin Ge said. “Since that girl has already left behind a suggestive pattern, she certainly won’t give up now. She will definitely leave new clues again. All we have to do now is wait, and I believe she is definitely more anxious than we are.”

Seeing everyone nod in agreement, Qin Ge continued, "The murders in Sleeping Valley may not necessarily be related to the girl named Forget-Me-Not, but we can't rule out that possibility. And what about the legendary Yaksha? Does it really exist? Most importantly, who exactly is the mysterious owner of Sleeping Manor? I suspect that all these events in Sleeping Valley are related to him. If that's the case, things will become much more complicated. And we currently know virtually nothing about this, so to figure these things out, we'll have to wait, wait for more to happen."

"You mean other things will happen here, and more people will die?" Yang Xing asked.

Qin Ge remained silent but nodded.

As they talked, it was clear that everyone had taken the search for the Forget-Me-Not herb as their own business. Sha Bo was touched and wanted to say something, but everyone saw through his thoughts. Qin Ge smiled and waved his hand: "You don't need to be polite with us. Here, only a few of us can trust each other. No matter what happens to any of us, I think we will all be united in our hatred of the enemy, just like we are now."

These words warmed everyone's hearts.

Qin Ge concluded, "We say we're waiting, but we can't really sit here and do nothing. We have to give that girl named Forget-Me-Not a chance."

Yang Xing was the first to understand. He nodded and said, "Old Sha usually goes out for a stroll by himself when he has nothing to do, especially late at night. This way, he can help the girl avoid other people."

Xiao Fei's face showed a miserable expression: "It's one thing to wander around alone, but in the dead of night, if our Lao Sha were to run into that Yaksha, his body would be hanging on that iron chain bridge, swaying back and forth like this..."

She had meant to make a joke, but she suddenly couldn't continue, and everyone's expressions turned serious. Xiao Fei's words weren't entirely impossible, so Shabo's safety became the most crucial issue.

Qin Ge hesitated for a moment before saying, "Starting tomorrow, the rest of us will have to cooperate with Sha Bo's operations. Here's the arrangement: during the day, Sha Bo will go out, and Yang Xing and Xiao Fei, you two will follow him. At night, I'll take over. In any case, we can't let your Old Sha be alone."

Yang Xing and Xiao Fei agreed immediately, and both were eager to try it out. Yang Xing looked at Qin Ge and smiled, "I don't think you're like a reporter."

"What does that resemble?" Qin Ge countered.

“Like an underground worker,” Yang Xing said, then corrected himself, “More like a policeman, or a criminal investigator.”

The skinny man walked alone in the small town. He walked slowly, because he had plenty of time to kill.

That evening, he found something that interested him in a general store on a small street in Hexi. It was a grayish-brown telescope, with some scratches on its surface, but it looked quite new. The thin man held the telescope in his hands, examining it. The four lenses, front and back, were spotless and shimmered with a faint blue halo in the setting sun. He walked to the street and raised the telescope to look at the end of the street.

He saw a child walking and eating a date cake with two dates left on it.

He was very satisfied and bought the telescope for one hundred dollars.

The binoculars came in a small faux leather pouch with a strap, so they could be carried on the shoulder or hung around the neck. The skinny man now had the binoculars hanging around his neck, and he strode towards the other end of the street.

When he reached the end of the street, he climbed the steps and came to the riverbank.

He looked at the suspension bridge through his binoculars for a while, especially at the spot where the woman he had seen hanging that morning. The woman's body was, of course, gone, but he could still see that a plank was missing from that spot—not completely missing, but a plank had been broken in the middle, with a piece still attached to the suspension chain at each end.

He was even more satisfied with the telescope.

He turned around, looked at the setting sun still hanging on the mountaintop, and felt a great longing for the night to come.

Night has fallen. The moon has already begun to set in the west; it is late at night again.

Shabo came out of the internet cafe and, as usual, walked along the small street on the west side of the river towards the river. As he stepped onto the first step by the river, he suddenly gasped, and his entire spine became icy cold.

He heard singing again.

The singing came clearly in the moonlight, and he was certain it wasn't a hallucination. In his mind appeared a long-haired woman in white standing on a bridge. Her face was pale, almost translucent. Tears streamed down her face, and in her arms she held a rag doll that had been disemboweled, the cotton stuffing inside its belly dangling out and stained with blood.

The woman was found hanged on the suspension bridge this morning.

Shabo's heart raced, and he felt as if the steps in front of him were as high as a mountain. At this moment, his legs were weak, and it was difficult to take even one step.

The singing was still drifting over, and this time he was sure it was singing, not crying.

The song was so ethereal, as if it did not come from the mortal world. It flowed between heaven and earth more lightly than the moonlight, yet it was more desolate than the moonlight.

Besides that madwoman with long hair and white clothes, who else would sing on the bridge late at night?

And that madwoman was still hanging on the bridge that morning. Her head was above the plank, her body swaying in the wind below. She had been forcibly shoved between the planks.

Shabo collapsed onto the steps, too weak to even step back.

He looked helplessly at the street he had just walked through; it was empty and desolate, as quiet as a ghost town.

Shabo's entire body had become ice-cold.

Suddenly, a dark figure moved forward on Ghost Street, and Shabo's hair stood on end instantly. The figure moved silently yet swiftly, quickly getting very close to Shabo.

Shabo let out a sigh of relief; his forehead was covered in sweat.

He then realized that the moving shadow was Qin Ge. They had agreed during the day that Qin Ge would follow him at night, but he hadn't seen Qin Ge at all that night. In his moment of fear, he hadn't even thought of him.

Qin Ge had already run quickly to Sha Bo. Sha Bo wanted to say something, but Qin Ge made a shushing gesture. He had obviously also heard the singing coming from the direction of the bridge.

Qin Ge was much calmer than Sha Bo. Although his expression was also solemn, he showed no fear. As he listened intently, the singing suddenly stopped. A hint of disappointment flashed across Qin Ge's face, but fortunately, the singing returned. This time, Qin Ge didn't hesitate. He waved to Sha Bo, gesturing for him to come over. Sha Bo hesitated. Although Qin Ge's presence lessened his fear, he still lacked the courage to face the singing on the bridge alone.

Qin Ge sighed softly, leaned over, and whispered, "I will follow you every step of the way."

Shabo smiled sheepishly, took a deep breath, and without further hesitation, stood up and stepped onto the stairs.

After climbing about a dozen steps, he soon reached the riverbank. The wide river rippled, and the shattered moonlight shimmered on its surface. An iron chain bridge spanned the river, the opposite bank shrouded in darkness; at first glance, the bridge seemed like a passage to the underworld.

At that moment, a woman with long hair and dressed in white stood on the bridge, her back to the west bank. She was voluptuous, her long hair cascading over her shoulders, and she was vaguely enveloped in a ball of white light. The ethereal singing voice drifted clearly from where she stood.