fragments d'os oracle

Chapitre 28

Shabo nodded, but escaping Sleepy Valley was indeed a problem. There were crazy people everywhere outside, and the cunning Du Chuanxiong and the mysterious billionaire's son Hua Xiong were secretly monitoring them. Leaving Sleepy Manor safely wouldn't be easy, especially since Skinny was still outside, Yang Xing and Xiao Fei were missing, and there was that mysterious woman in white. If he couldn't meet her, Shabo would be truly unwilling to give up.

Qin Ge seemed to have thought of these problems as well. He pondered for a moment and said, "If we can find that woman in white now, perhaps she can help us."

At this moment, Tang Wan, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly spoke. While listening to Qin Ge and Sha Bo talk, she had been clinging to Sha Bo's arm in terror, her eyes half-closed, as if trying to hide from the many glass bottles and human specimens inside. But the buzzing and flickering of the incandescent lights were inescapable, so her face remained etched with an expression of extreme misery and fear.

"Let's get out of this house quickly," Tang Wan said.

Qin Ge nodded: "No matter what, we can't stay here. The woman in white led us here and let us know the secret of this place. She will definitely want to help us leave. Otherwise, just letting us know would be meaningless to her."

Shabo, of course, had no objection. The three of them turned and headed towards the door. Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Knock, knock, knock." The knocking was soft and rhythmic, but Qin Ge and the others were in a room with dozens of human specimens, and the incandescent lights were flickering continuously. Even the air was filled with the smell of formaldehyde and decay, so the knocking sound only made them feel extremely eerie.

—Everyone in Sleeping Manor has gone mad. Who would knock so gently before entering?

Qin Ge and Sha Bo exchanged glances, Tang Wan already hiding behind Sha Bo. Sha Bo felt his lips were dry, and all his muscles tensed. Qin Ge subconsciously reached under his armpit, but found nothing. When so many people were holding him and the skinny Sha Bo down in their drinks, someone had taken his gun. Even without a gun, he had to stand in front of Sha Bo and Tang Wan, because no matter what, he was a policeman.

"Please come in!" Qin Ge said loudly, his voice surprisingly clear.

The door slowly opened, and a fresh scent wafted out, but there was another smell in the air as well. Qin Ge frowned instantly. He had been a criminal investigator for many years and had smelled that odor at many crime scenes.

That was the smell of blood, a strong smell of blood.

Amidst the stench of blood, the woman in white appeared indifferently at the door. Qin Ge and Sha Bo's eyes lit up; they recognized her as Xue Mei, the proprietress of the Night Sleep Inn.

There's no doubt now that Xue Mei lured Sha Bo to Sleepy Valley online, then took him to the cemetery to see Yan Xueping's grave, and finally led them to this secret room. Her purpose in doing this can only be directed at Jiang Nan, or rather, the former Hua Xiong. Now that she's reappeared, she naturally wants to tell Sha Bo and the others the truth, and what her real motives are.

She is Hua Xiong's current wife and has a special status in this Sleeping Manor. Does she have the ability to help Qin Ge, Sha Bo, and the others escape from here?

Regardless, upon seeing Xue Mei, a glimmer of hope rose in Qin Ge and Sha Bo's hearts. But this hope quickly sank and vanished.

Xuemei walked in slowly, and behind her was another person.

The man was of medium height, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, a white shirt, and black trousers. His hair was slightly curly, and he had an air of scholarly refinement. His face was unusually pale, and in a short period of time, his hair seemed to have thinned out even more.

He is Jiang Nan, the owner of Night Sleep Inn, and Hua Xiong, the illegitimate son of a billionaire.

The thought that he had cruelly cut open his wife's stomach, and that all the human specimens in the room were made by him, made his refined appearance appear ferocious in the eyes of Qin Ge, Sha Bo, and the others.

What terrified Qin Ge and Sha Bo even more was that Hua Xiong was still holding a gun.

Qin Ge's gun.

Chapter 26: Valley of Death

The skinny man lay on top of a petite woman, whose arms, like octopus tentacles, groped incessantly over his body. Each thrust of his body reached the deepest recesses of her flesh, as if he were plunging himself into a dark, endless abyss.

All the buttons on his shirt were undone, and the hem of his shirt swung back and forth on either side of his hips.

The woman's hands swirled and caressed his skin, pulling his shirt off his shoulders. The night wind brushed against his naked body, his skin feeling like a thirsty traveler drinking from a sweet spring, a sensation of unprecedented bliss. The thin man groaned deeply, sinking deeper into the woman's body.

He hadn't had sex in a very, very long time.

Suddenly, two hands grabbed his shoulders. When he turned around, he first felt a shadow loom over him. He only had time to turn to the side before he heard the woman beneath him let out a shrill scream. When he looked closely, the woman who had been so alluring beneath him just moments before now had a large hole in her head, blood gushing out, and her face was extremely grievous.

The skinny man suddenly became furious. Only then did he realize that a burly man had appeared beside him, holding a large iron hammer. The woman's head had been smashed to pieces by this hammer.

The skinny man let out a low growl and stood tall. Before he could fully unleash the power within him, he felt a burning heat throughout his body. The burly man raised his iron hammer again, and in that instant, the skinny man frantically tore his shirt apart, raised his arm, and actually caught the falling hammerhead in his hand.

The two men locked in a stalemate, the burly man letting out a beast-like roar. His body was already covered in blood; he had just smashed the heads of three men with that iron hammer, and he didn't take the emaciated stranger in front of him seriously at all.

But this stranger was strong enough to fight him off, which made him even more furious. He tightened his grip, pressing the hammer down harder. The skinny man's face turned red, and he looked like he was about to collapse.

The burly man suddenly let out a scream as the hand gripping the wooden handle of the hammer was abruptly pulled away from his wrist. The skinny man, relieved of the pressure, quickly snatched the hammer from his grasp and, without hesitation, brought it down as the burly man clutched his wrist and collapsed to the ground in pain.

A bloody hole immediately appeared on the big man's head. The skinny man didn't stop there; he kept raising and lowering the hammer until he smashed the big man's head to pieces.

His lean body was splattered with blood droplets, which slowly slid down the skin that revealed his bones.

The skinny man roared, and beside him stood a young man wielding a machete. It was he who had just severed the burly man's hand from behind.

The young man's blade flashed, and he slashed down at the skinny man's head...

The square was filled with the stench of blood, screams echoed everywhere, severed limbs flew about, and many dead people lay convulsing in pools of blood. Beside them, men and women were still entangled, and the blood-soaked women's bodies were exposed, their allure mixed with a strange and bewitching charm.

Some people were running and dodging, while many more were fighting amongst themselves.

The skinny man had already killed the young man with his hammer. As the hammerhead struck the young man's head, he felt an unprecedented sense of exhilaration. Before the blood had even finished dripping from the hammer, he slung it over his shoulder and ran towards a couple entangled together.

He raised his hammer, and a heavy blow struck his head. He lost his balance and, propelled by the force of the hammer, fell heavily to the ground. Before losing consciousness, he saw another blood-soaked figure stand in his spot, followed by a scream from beside him.

Another person has died! As the last of the pleasures came, the skinny man lost consciousness.

Hua Xiong looked at Qin Ge and Sha Bo with a helpless expression: "Why did you come to Sleeping Valley? You should know that everything that is happening now is actually caused by you."

Hua Xiong stared at Qin Ge: "Actually, I recognized you the moment you arrived at the Night Sleep Inn that night. Although you've changed a lot compared to ten years ago, I still recognized you at a glance. You are Qin Fangrou's younger brother, Qin Ge."

"Since you recognized me, you must have guessed that I came here to find you."

"Why did you come looking for me?" Hua Xiong smiled sadly. "The past is the past. Your sister is dead. What good will it do you even if you find me?"

Qin Ge was speechless for a moment and couldn't say a word.

“Everyone has a knot in their heart, no one is an exception, and the knot in your heart is your hatred,” Hua Xiong said. “When you were a child, you had a very deep relationship with your sister. Your sister was almost ten years older than you, so at that time, you felt a lot of warmth from your sister, which is why you still can’t let go of your sister’s death in the past ten years.”

"You killed my sister!" Qin Ge said heavily. "In the past ten years, I have never forgotten this for a moment. I have been dreaming of finding you."

"What can you do if you find me? Don't forget, you're a policeman now, you represent justice. I'm standing right in front of you now, but you still can't do anything to me, and your gun is even in my hands. So, sometimes the knots in our hearts can really kill us."

Qin Ge was speechless. Hua Xiong stood casually in front of him, yet he possessed a terrifying power.

"Now, you must still have many questions in your mind. For the sake of your deceased sister, I can tell you everything you want to know. However, you can probably guess that knowing the truth will come at a price."

"You killed my sister, do you want to kill me too?" Qin Ge's words carried a hint of sarcasm.

"Don't mention your sister. I love her, no matter what I've done, I still love her." Jiang Nan's voice was tinged with regret and sadness. "Ten years have passed, but I still can't forget her. You are her brother, so I really don't want to hurt you."

“If that’s really what you think, you wouldn’t have pointed a gun at us.” Qin Ge paused, then continued, “I don’t know if you’ve ever used a gun before, and if you forgot to put the safety on before firing.”

“You don’t need to worry about that.” Jiang Nan smiled, but his smile seemed so helpless. “But I really don’t want to fire tonight. I know that you police officers have to write reports after firing your guns, which is quite a troublesome thing. Trouble is something none of us want to see, so I hope you can cooperate now and not make things difficult for me.”

"What are you going to do?" Qin Ge asked.

"You'll find out soon enough." Hua Xiong's gaze fell on Xue Mei, who had remained expressionless beside him. Xue Mei seemed to have lost her mind; her empty gaze was fixed on a corner, as if she had entered a state of emptiness, oblivious to everything. But when Hua Xiong's gaze fell on her, she immediately took a step forward. Only then did Qin Ge notice that she was carrying a small medicine box.

She squatted down, placed the medicine box on the ground, opened it, and took out three disposable infusion sets, the syringes already containing some medicine.

"What exactly do you want!" Qin Ge roared. "Is it not enough that you killed my sister, do you want to kill us all too?"

"Don't worry, these medicines won't kill you. They'll just let you rest. When you wake up, it will all be over. Then you'll know that I had no ill intentions towards you at all," Hua Xiong said.

"I don't believe your nonsense!" Qin Ge shouted.

A sharp gunshot rang out, Hua Xiong's shot hitting Qin Ge's feet. Some fragments of the bluestone slabs on the ground flew up, the bullet embedding itself in the stone. Tang Wan let out a low scream, and Sha Bo immediately shielded her with his entire body behind him.

“Of course you can choose not to inject these drugs. You are Fang Rou’s brother, and I might not be able to bring myself to do it to you.” Hua Xiong said expressionlessly, his gun suddenly moving slightly and pointing at Sha Bo next to Qin Ge. “But they have nothing to do with me. They are not as lucky as you.”

Qin Ge was speechless. He turned around and saw fear on Sha Bo's face.

Xue Mei injected the medicine into the veins in Qin Ge's and the other two's arms one by one, her technique skillful and professional. Qin Ge lifted his arm first, and Sha Bo, seeing this, no longer resisted. Although Tang Wan was frightened, at Qin Ge and Sha Bo's prompting, she also closed her eyes and let Xue Mei inject her.

Xue Mei put the used IV set back into the medicine box, then stood to the side, about the same distance from Hua Xiong and Qin Ge. Her expression remained cold and stern, making it unclear what role she had played in this matter. Since she had led Sha Bo to Sleeping Valley and then brought Qin Ge and the others to this secret room, she was clearly trying to expose Hua Xiong's secret, but now she was walking alongside Hua Xiong.

“Those medicines are just the most common anesthetics and will not cause you any harm. I did this just so you wouldn’t disturb me,” Hua Xiong said. “Now, you don’t have much time left. I can clear up all your doubts. I hope you can focus on the key points and ask all your questions before you fall asleep.”

Qin Geshabo then felt a bit heavy-headed, realizing that Hua Xiong was telling the truth. Qin Ge pondered for a moment and asked, "I want to know who the true owner of this Sleeping Manor is."

“You’re wasting your own time,” Hua Xiong said. “You were very smart when you were a child, and I don’t believe you’ll become stupid as you grow up. At this point, can’t you still guess that I am the master of Sleeping Manor?”

"So who is Du Chuanxiong?"

“He’s gone, just now,” Hua Xiong said. “He’s someone who has nothing to do with you, and now he’s left Sleeping Valley and has nothing to do with this place anymore, so you don’t need to care who he is. I’ve told you before that Sleeping Valley is full of hidden talents, and some seemingly insignificant people may have been prominent figures in the past. Now I’m telling you, Du Chuanxiong is definitely an elite among these people.”

Qin Ge paused for a moment, then asked again, "Where did he go now?"

“The world is so big, where can’t he go?” Hua Xiong laughed. “He is in Sleeping Valley, and although he is working for me, I use his talent, not his person. So, he doesn’t need to tell me where he goes.”

Qin Ge frowned, knowing that Hua Xiong must be telling the truth. At this moment, he still had many questions in his mind, and his head was growing increasingly heavy, his body extremely tired; the medicine was likely taking effect. He needed to hurry and get Hua Xiong to resolve his doubts.

“Wine,” he said succinctly. “This wine is certainly not an ordinary wine.”

Hua Xiong nodded: "You've finally grasped the crux of the problem. Ten years ago, because of your sister's affair, I became infamous in that city. Later, my father arranged for me to go to other cities, but I grew tired of the hustle and bustle and worldliness of the city, so I came to Sleepy Valley alone. The first person I met in Sleepy Valley was named Moshehong. At that time, he was seriously ill and would not live much longer, but I cured him with my medical skills."

Hua Xiong paused for a moment, then continued, “You would never guess who Moshe Hong is. Let me tell you, he is Tianyangzong’s master. He has been a Tima in the Sleepy Valley region for a full hundred years.”

Timas are human too, and they too get sick. The 120-year-old Moshehong, possessing supernatural powers, had practiced witchcraft and healed countless people over a century. But one day, he too succumbed to illness. Huaxiong saved him, extending his life by two more years. Two years later, he fell ill again, and this time Huaxiong was helpless. There is one kind of illness that even the most skilled physician cannot cure: old age. Moshehong Tima was simply too old; on his deathbed, all his teeth had fallen out. Such a life had lost its meaning, so he passed away peacefully.

Before his death, Moshe Hongtima handed a yellowed piece of paper to Hua Xiong. On that paper was a recipe for a type of wine.

Moshe Hongtima's voice was already intermittent, and the words coming from her toothless mouth were unclear. But Hua Xiong still understood what Moshe Hongtima was saying to him.

Moshe Hongtima said that the recipe for this wine was passed down to him by his master. He had practiced witchcraft and medicine all his life, and the wine he made with this recipe had saved countless lives. Now, he was handing the recipe over to Hua Xiong as a way of repaying him for the two years of his life.

"I prepared that wine according to the recipe, and I discovered that it truly has miraculous effects. It can cure some intractable diseases that are difficult to explain medically. At the same time, I also discovered that it has two side effects. One is that it can be addictive, like drugs, but it is harmless to the body. The other side effect is that it can completely relax the mind, arouse the deepest desires in the heart, and make them extremely amplified. Therefore, before his death, Moshe Chongtima told me that this wine should not be drunk in large quantities. But I am a medical student, and after discovering the miraculous effects of this wine, I wanted to verify it. More importantly, later a young man came to Sleeping Valley, namely Du Chuanxiong."

Hua Xiong shook his head and sighed, "Although Du Chuanxiong has fallen on hard times and chosen to live in seclusion, a fierce hatred burns within him, which is naturally related to his background. Du Chuanxiong and I became close friends. I told him about this wine, and he immediately had the idea of mass-producing it and bringing it to the market. After some consideration, I agreed to his idea. There are too many dirty things hidden in this world, lurking deep in people's hearts. Because of the constraints of various laws, regulations, and morals in civilized society, they are suppressed. But these dirty things will not disappear on their own; under certain conditions, they will transform into forms of expression. For example, a person who is extremely greedy for money may..." Some people might rob banks, traffic drugs, or commit many visible crimes, but others hide their greed and satisfy their desires in ways unseen by ordinary people. For example, embezzlement and fraud. Visible crimes are usually easy to detect and punish, but invisible crimes can persist for a long time, and are often protected by certain conditions such as status and wealth; the crime might even last a person's entire life. If these people drink this wine, their inner desires will be exposed in a very short time. Exposing the hypocrisy of some people and revealing their true nature is what I hope to see, and this is why I decided to mass-produce this wine.

Hua Xiong sighed again: "But later I didn't know if my decision was right or wrong, because Du Chuanxiong's purpose in helping me do this was completely different from mine. He only hoped that after these wines spread to the outside world, they would make the world chaotic and disorderly. His hatred for the world was beyond all of our imagination."

“No matter what your different purposes are, the result is the same,” Qin Ge said, frowning. “You are all doing something that disrupts social order.”

“If there is no evil in the depths of people’s hearts, then what can we do to disturb it? We can only expose these evils to the sunlight so that everyone can see them.”

"But what is the cost of exposure? It is a crime that has become a reality."

Hua Xiong surprisingly did not refute Qin Ge's words. He gave a helpless bitter smile and said, "All of this will change today, so can we skip the topic of wine?"

"The end?" Qin Ge asked in confusion, "Why did it end?"

"Sleepy Valley has been disturbed by your arrival. Now that you know everything here, knowing your personality, you won't let this wine spread to the outside world. So, Du Chuanxiong immediately left Sleepy Valley, abandoning the Sleepy Manor he had run for nearly ten years. I admire his carefree attitude and boldness. Therefore, I also believe that no matter where he goes, he will do things that ordinary people cannot do."

"But if you don't tell me the secrets of the wine, how will I know its effects?"

Hua Xiong sighed again: "When you see the state of those Sleepy Hollow residents tonight, can you still not imagine that it's all related to wine?" He paused, seemingly full of resentment, "I never expected Du Chuanxiong to choose such a way to leave. He turned Sleepy Hollow into a hell, he destroyed Sleepy Hollow."

Qin Ge and Sha Bo's expressions grew increasingly solemn, as they seemed to hear the faint sounds of fighting and screams coming from outside.

Qin Ge thought for a moment and said, "Since Du Chuanxiong is your best friend, and you two have been running Sleeping Manor openly and secretly for so many years, how could he abandon you and leave alone?"

Hua Xiong paused, his face showing great weariness. He gently brushed his hair with his hand, and a few strands remained on his palm.

“He was initially adamant about not letting me stay here, but when he learned that I had an incurable disease, he left decisively. Since he couldn’t save my life, he might as well let me do what I wanted to do last according to my own wishes. Others may not understand this principle, but how could Du Chuanxiong not know it?”

"You have an incurable disease?" Qin Ge exclaimed in surprise.

Xuemei, who was standing to the side, also seemed to be taken aback for a moment, and her gaze fell on Hua Xiong with suspicion.

"Leukemia, it's been three years." Hua Xiong chuckled self-deprecatingly. "I'm a doctor, I know my physical condition. For someone like me, life is neither joyful nor death is without regret. After ten years in this Sleeping Valley, I don't want to go anywhere else. Sleeping in this Sleeping Valley is not necessarily a bad thing."