La collection complète des cercueils fantômes de Yellow River

Chapitre 12

“I don’t know any Yu Fei. You’ve got it wrong. It’s a complete mix-up,” I laughed. “Don’t you think such a cheesy story could possibly happen to someone like me?”

“Alright, I won’t pressure you anymore. I know you don’t want to talk about this,” she said “understandingly,” which made me even more amused and exasperated. “To be honest, we all find it strange that such a story could happen to someone like you.”

"Alright, alright, stop talking nonsense. How long are you coming back to stay?" I asked her.

The conversation finally veered away from "Yu Fei," and we began to reminisce passionately about our university days. It was a perfect night for reminiscing; the dampness of spring permeated the darkness. Through the window, I could see the lights floating above the night, and even from this distance, I seemed to feel the warmth emanating from them. Even after Xu Li hung up the phone, I remained lost in thought, gazing at those lights. In the misty rain, the lights seemed to soften, this sudden diffusion, like water stains on the walls of an old house, evoking a sense of bygone years. A person who shares a past with you is precious, because a part of my life will forever remain in their memory. As Xu Li and I reminisced about our old classmates, we were also mourning our student days that are gone forever. Time can change everything. One day, Xu Li and I, along with other classmates, no matter how close we were on campus, will gradually fade from each other's lives—this is a natural law, unrelated to feelings; it's just the work of time. However, no matter how much time has passed, no matter if we keep in touch, we will never forget those years we spent together—no one can forget a part of their life. Even if we don't remember everything, the feelings we had at the time remain, and the longer they are stored, the more flavorful they become. In our memories, even people we didn't like in our youth become precious, because it is the stories between these people and me that constitute our past life. It is a part of our lives, inseparable. To forget those is to forget ourselves. There are many people I may never contact again, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that they constituted a part of my past life, and the future is made up of new people and new stories… People like to reminisce about the past, which is actually a way of remembering themselves… I was lost in thought about these things, sometimes feeling happy, sometimes a little sad. If it weren't for the sudden clattering sounds from the kitchen, I would have continued thinking.

The noise from the kitchen was Xu Xiaobing. I stood up in surprise and saw her clearing the dishes from the sink, making a lot of noise. I then remembered that I had forgotten to wash the dishes, so I quickly went over, rolled up my sleeves, and said, "I'll wash them."

"No need." She coldly washed the last bowl clean, her face filled with barely suppressed anger.

"Sorry, I was on the phone for a bit too long..." I said.

“I don’t blame you for taking so long on the phone,” she glanced at me sideways, her nose pointing elsewhere, “but after you finished the call, you just sat there doing nothing!”

"I was thinking about something," she said, sounding quite angry that I hadn't washed the dishes. I quickly explained, "I'm sorry."

"You take so long to think about things! I was almost finished washing up here and you're only just getting up now!" She rolled up her sleeves forcefully and stormed into the room.

I knew that no matter how I explained, she wouldn't listen, so I remained silent. My silence angered her; she stormed into her room and slammed the door shut.

I stared blankly at the suddenly slammed door, sighed, and glanced back at the lights outside the window—if everyone we meet in life becomes a part of our lives, what will my relationship with Xu Xiaobing be like? Many years later, when we look back on each other, what will we remember most? If we could choose, Xu Xiaobing certainly wouldn't want to meet me, and I certainly wouldn't want to meet her; we are simply different types of people. What just happened between Xu Xiaobing and me was somewhat like a conflict between a couple who have been married for many years and have lost their connection. This association made me laugh, but after laughing, I couldn't help but sigh. People don't need to associate with people they don't like. This world is free; we should be able to choose our companions. It's just that, under the current circumstances, we can't separate for the time being.

Thinking about this, I sighed. We were bound together like this, all because of Meng Ling—Meng Ling. Everything surrounding her was unpredictable. What could possibly allow her to leave so many traces of her existence in this world, yet remain completely hidden from view? Was Meng Ling very lonely? If she truly was a ghost, did this mean she still lingered in the human world? Otherwise, why would she leave her mark everywhere? This reminds me of tourists leaving their "I was here" graffiti. People leave their names, geese leave their calls; everyone hopes the world will remember their existence, constantly creating traces, big or small. Is it because everyone understands that our existence is inherently fragile, and with the passing of life, everything will gradually fade away…?

I sat alone on the sofa for a long, long time, until all the lights outside the window were turned off, and then I fell asleep in deep thought.

That night, I dreamt that I was painstakingly carving my name in a bamboo forest, my hands swelling up from the effort. Then, in an instant, the bamboo forest was cut down. I and another indistinct figure searched among the fallen bamboo stalks. I cried out, "Where is my name?" The other person said nothing; he too was searching for his name…

14

The weather cleared up the next day. The rain and fog that had lasted for many days dissipated from the air, and when I woke up in the morning, a faint glimmer of bright sunlight filtered in through the window. The road was still wet, and there was still no sun in the sky, but the clouds had dispersed, revealing a bright white sky. The surroundings seemed to be shrouded in a layer of water, shimmering with a clear and transparent quality.

Everyone seemed to be in a good mood. Someone had placed a bouquet of flowers in the office, still glistening with dew, which softened the otherwise angular lines of the room. The flowers reminded me of the romantic love story Xu Li had told me yesterday, and I couldn't help but smile to myself.

Monday was busy as usual. With the boss away on a business trip, the office atmosphere was chaotic yet much more lively than usual. Everyone was busy with their tasks while chatting loudly. I really wanted to ask Li Yuntong about what happened at the hospital yesterday, but he was busy answering phone calls and didn't have time to say anything else. He looked extremely tired.

My frequent glances at Li Yuntong caught the attention of Xiao Geng, the designer sitting next to me. He quietly leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Did you notice anything?"

"Huh?" I looked at him, puzzled.

Xiao Geng is a year younger than me, with a cascade of fiery red hair that almost completely covers his eyes. He tossed his hair, revealing one eye as he looked at me: "Did you see the local news yesterday?"

“I saw it,” I knew what he was going to say, “you’re talking about Liufang Lake, right?”

"Hmm." He leaned closer and looked around. I then realized that several colleagues had gathered around me.

"Tell me, what exactly happened?" Accountant Aunt Xu pulled up a chair and sat down next to me. Other colleagues also sat on the edge of my desk or other places where they could sit, surrounding me as if they wanted to hear some story.

"The news has already made it very clear," I said, still typing away at a market research report due that afternoon.

"So it's true?" Xiao Geng exclaimed in surprise, then tossed his hair. "Really, only Li Yuntong saw that woman?"

"Hmm." I nodded, then glanced at Li Yuntong. He was still engrossed in his phone call, seemingly unaware that everyone was discussing the matter.

"I heard that Li Yuntong often sees people that others can't?" another designer, Xiao Peng, asked me immediately afterward.

"I don't know, you should ask him." I was a little flustered.

Suddenly, the surroundings fell silent. I looked up and saw Li Yuntong hurrying towards us. Everyone was staring intently at him. Just as Xiao Geng was about to speak, Li Yuntong waved his hand: "Those things are true! I'll tell you later." He handed me a stack of faxes. "This is product information from Hongyang Company. They need an advertising slogan and a set of newspaper ad ideas. Give them to me at noon."

“But I need to write a market research report…” I pointed to the screen. “How about we let Ouyang do it?” Ouyang is the company’s planning director. He was sitting next to me when we were talking. When he heard me say that, he immediately raised his hands: “No, I’m not that fast. You should do it.”

"What about the market research report?" This market research report is quite important and urgently needed. I looked at Ouyang—although he's very reliable when it comes to planning, he's a bit lacking in creativity and speed. There are only two of us in the company doing planning, and both of these documents are in a hurry, which is giving me a real headache.

"Let Gu Quan do it," Li Yuntong said after a moment's thought. "He'll do the market research report."

This left all of us completely baffled. Ouyang, with one eyebrow raised and the other lowered, asked, "Who is Gu Quan?"

Just as Li Yuntong was about to say something, the phone rang. He glanced at the number: "Mine." He grabbed the phone, shouted a few words, and hung up, saying, "I have to go out right away. Jiang Ling, get what I need out there immediately. I'll come back for it at noon." He tapped my computer. "Print out this research report and give it to Gu Quan. Let him do it." With that, he hurriedly ran towards the door. This kind of rush is very common in our company. Clients are like sudden downpours, usually without any prior warning. At crucial moments, they call, regardless of whether we can handle it, always demanding that their requests be completed immediately. Li Yuntong's clients are all large ones, so these sudden requests are more frequent than others.

"Who is Gu Quan?" I asked loudly, but Li Yuntong just waved at me and disappeared through the door—it seemed that the phone call was indeed quite urgent.

"What should we do?" I asked Ouyang helplessly.

“Let’s work on the creative ideas first,” Ouyang said. “I’m too busy to handle everything right now, so let’s put the research report aside for now. Anyway, both of these orders are from Li Yuntong’s clients, so he’ll take care of them.”

It seems that's the only way. I shrugged. Everyone thought Li Yuntong was already swamped with work. Maybe Gu Quan was a planner from another company. When we're busy, we often ask planners from other companies to help out for one or two days. But I can't worry about that now. I just printed out the half-finished research report and materials and put them on Li Yuntong's desk. I quickly picked up the materials from Hongyang Company and started reading. Everyone else went their separate ways and got busy with their own work.

Hongyang Company's products are very complex. After reading through their materials to find that advertising slogan, I immediately searched for information on similar products online. While I was busy, Xiao Geng slowly rolled his chair over and whispered in my ear, "Do you think it's possible that only Li Yuntong saw Gu Quan?"

These words sent a shiver down my spine, and my mind went completely blank: "How is that possible?" I stared blankly at Xiao Geng.

Xiao Geng chuckled softly, "Just kidding, haha." He smugly rolled his chair back to his computer and his fingers flew across the keyboard.

But I could no longer immerse myself in my work.

Thinking about all the things that have happened recently, it seems that anything is possible. Since I was able to meet Meng Ling, why couldn't Li Yuntong meet a fictitious Gu Quan? He has already met at least two people that only he can see, so it wouldn't be surprising if there were one more.

Thinking this, my gaze involuntarily drifted toward Li Yuntong's desk—if there really was an unseen Gu Quan in this office, would he respond to Li Yuntong's suggestion and make that report?

The report still lay quietly on Li Yuntong's desk, in the same position I had placed it there; no one had touched it.

Maybe I'm wrong. I comforted myself with that thought, but a sense of unease lingered in my heart. It was as if something else was rising up in my mind, supporting the joke Xiao Geng had just told—but what was it? I thought and thought, but I couldn't figure it out.

Forget it, stop thinking about it. I forced myself to return to work, but my mind remained a jumbled mess, unable to focus. It seemed as if some unseen figure was watching each of us from somewhere in the office. My gaze slowly swept over every corner—the office was the same as always, except for being a bit brighter, with no major changes. My colleagues were all engrossed in their work—there were many people, but it didn't feel as chilling as room 302. However, I couldn't help but glance at the stack of documents on Li Yuntong's desk, afraid they would disappear in the blink of an eye.

At this rate, I wouldn't be able to finish my work this morning. I thought for a moment, then opened a drawer and took out a small bell—a tiny wind chime, no bigger than a fingernail, a sample left by a customer who made wind chimes. It jingled as soon as I picked it up, attracting the attention of my colleagues. Without thinking twice, I walked over to Li Yuntong, placed the wind chime on top of the documents, and then returned to my own desk with a sense of relief.

"What are you doing?" Aunt Xu asked, puzzled.

"This is a sample from one of Li Yuntong's clients, and he asked me to return it." I lied.

The wind chimes would ring whenever someone picked up the stack of documents. I finally didn't have to stare at Li Yuntong's desk anymore. Looking at the time, half an hour had passed; the morning had flown by. I took a sip of water and focused intently on searching for information. After a little over an hour, I had almost finished reviewing all the information on similar products, and the rest of the work proceeded quickly. When creating ideas, I usually use a pen to scribble something on paper, then organize it on the computer. After reviewing it myself and being quite satisfied, I opened QQ, ready to send it to Ouyang and Xiao Geng online.

After logging into QQ, a series of notification sounds rang out. Many friends left me messages, most of them using a smiley face to check if I was online. I figured I could ignore those. A few close friends asked how I was doing, and I replied with a couple of sentences.

There was another person's comment that left me momentarily stunned.

The person's name was west Chu Yang Guan. His message read: "[Xu Li called me today.]" This message struck me as very strange—Xu Li knew Xi Chu Yang Guan? Could he really be someone I knew? Thinking back to the fear he had instilled in me that night, I felt both alarmed and suspicious, as if I were trapped in a strange cycle. Looking at the time of the message, it was 11 PM last night. So, Xu Li had just called me and immediately contacted him? Who exactly was he? I immediately called Xu Li, wanting to get to the bottom of things, but the phone rang for a long time without being answered.

After hanging up the phone, I sat there blankly, not having time to think about anything, when another message came through on QQ.

He is online, having traveled west beyond Yangguan Pass.

"It's so good to see you!" he said.

I didn't know how to answer for a moment. Just as I was thinking, Xiao Geng sent me a message: "[Finished the idea?]" This reminded me of the purpose of my QQ account. I quickly sent the idea I had just come up with to Xiao Geng and Ouyang and asked for their feedback.

While waiting for their reply, I chatted with west Chuyangguan.

"Who are you?" I asked.

[An old friend.] He repeated the same old tune perfectly.

"[Who exactly are you?]" My mind was a jumbled mess. After learning the truth about how he saw it, the veil of mystery surrounding Xi Chuyangguan automatically crumbled, leaving only a natural trust in someone who knew my past—even though he remained enigmatic. If someone could remember a piece of clothing I bought in my junior year of college, they must be someone I knew quite well. In all my life, I've never met anyone who wasn't trustworthy. Although I didn't know who he was, I already felt a connection with an old friend, and thus, my conversation became relaxed and casual. Meng Ling's situation was causing me distress, and this distress needed to be confided in an old friend.

[I have absolutely no idea who that girl you're talking about is,] I sent a dark crying emoji, feeling frustrated. [Xu Xiaobing and I both know she's in our room, but we just can't see her. You said I talked to her, but I have absolutely no recollection of it—am I seeing a ghost?]

"[Huh?]" He only uttered this one sentence after leaving Yangguan Pass, and then fell silent.

I waited a while, but he didn't respond. Soon after, Xiao Geng started discussing ideas with me, and Ouyang's avatar became active. The three of us discussed ideas together in a group chat, and I temporarily put "Westward to Yangguan" out of my mind. Ouyang and Xiao Geng praised my ideas repeatedly; Xiao Geng had even created a preliminary design, and Ouyang also offered some new ideas, which excited us all. While chatting, Xiao Geng and I revised the draft on the computer. By 11:30, our plan was finalized. Xiao Geng stood up from behind the computer, and we gave each other a high five. Ouyang made a victory sign to us from behind his desk.

“Print it out right away,” Ouyang said. “Xiao Geng can handle the printing; we still have some time.” He glanced at the clock. “Jiang Ling, hurry up and finish that market research report.”

I nodded, opened the market research report file on my computer, and Xiao Geng stood beside me, shaking his bright red head, whistling as he fed paper into the printer. A metal bracelet on his wrist tapped against the computer screen, making a slight sound. The sound reminded me, and I subconsciously looked up at Li Yuntong's desk, wanting to see if the stack of documents was still there.

Li Yuntong's desk was spotless, with nothing on it.

My heart skipped a beat, and I quickly went over to confirm it more clearly.

The brown desk was completely bare, except for the wind chimes.

15

I lifted the wind chime, its clear tinkling sound particularly loud in the quiet office. Everyone looked up, glanced at me a couple of times, then went back to their own work. I looked around, but couldn't find the documents on anyone's desk. Besides, who could take those documents without ringing the wind chime?

"Who took the research report from this table?" I asked loudly.

No one answered.

"What happened?" Ouyang asked me.

"The research report is missing," I said.

"Who took the research report?" Ouyang stood up and asked loudly. His gaze swept over everyone, and each person shook their head or said "no." No one had taken the document.

"You really put it here?" Ouyang asked me.

“Yes, there’s also this wind chime on the document,” I said. “Did you hear it?”

“Now that you mention it, I remember,” Ouyang said. “When you put the wind chimes up there, they were quite loud, but I haven’t heard them since…” He picked up the wind chimes and shook them a couple of times. “Suppose the sound wasn’t quiet, someone should have heard it…” He then asked loudly, “Did anyone hear the wind chimes just now?”

Still, no one heard. Seeing how seriously Ouyang took it, everyone started discussing it. This research report was part of our company's bidding proposal with another company, and it had a certain degree of confidentiality. Previously, the company had lost an important client due to a document leak, so the company always took document security very seriously. Hearing that the document was missing, everyone put down their work and searched carefully, but the document seemed to have vanished without a trace. Xiao Geng suspected that someone had sneaked in and taken the document when we weren't looking, but Zhang Lan at the front desk confirmed that no one else had entered or left the company this morning except for Li Yuntong, and the document hadn't been printed out when Li Yuntong left…

Everyone was still actively searching for that document, but I stopped.

I know the file is missing.

The documents are with Gu Quan.

But we cannot see Gu Quan.

Just as we cannot see Meng Ling, just as we cannot see the woman at Liufang Lake, just as we cannot see other people, there are some people that we cannot see, only Li Yuntong can see them.

Only Li Yuntong can see Gu Quan.

This series of thoughts sent a chill down my spine. Even though the spring sunshine was so bright, there seemed to be an infinite allure shimmering within it, as if something sinister was seeping into the room through the open window. Among the people bending over to search, between the quiet desks, there was someone we couldn't see, watching our every move, and no one knew of his existence.

Perhaps, he's right beside me... I couldn't help but turn my head to look—he could exist anywhere, and none of us know he's there. What we perceive as transparent air may be enveloping an equally transparent person within that transparent air.

I feel like I've become a frightened bird, prone to unnecessary associations and endless questions, yet none of them have been answered.

"Gu Quan, is that you?" I asked the air softly.

"What did you say?" Zhang Lan heard my voice as she walked past me and thought I was asking her a question.

"It's nothing," I quickly shook my head, trying to cover it up. Zhang Lan's question made me realize how absurd my earlier thoughts had been. Just because Li Yuntong mentioned the name "Gu Quan," I assumed he truly existed, and was invisible at that… How ridiculous! Luckily, Zhang Lan hadn't heard me clearly, otherwise she would have thought I was crazy—perhaps that's how hallucinations in mental patients are created. Thinking of this, a chill ran down my spine—I didn't want to be mistaken for a mental patient.

However, how do we explain the sudden disappearance of a document?

Does such a person as "Gu Quan" really exist?

These minor, insignificant derailments have been frequently occurring in my life lately. The situation at No. 6 Yunsheng Street has already become quite bothersome, and now this annoyance has extended to the office. What exactly is wrong? Why are all these things happening around me? I'm just an insignificant nobody… I thought with a touch of resentment, following behind my colleagues, casually rummaging through the piles of files on various desks, searching hopelessly for the missing document.