La collection complète des cercueils fantômes de Yellow River

Chapitre 20

"Go ahead and speak, don't be afraid," Ouyang said gently.

Meng Ling stared at him, her chest heaving violently. After a long while, she finally spoke, but before she could utter a word, tears welled up in her eyes. It was as if there was immense pressure in her eyes, trying to squeeze out all her tears. I had never seen anyone cry so fiercely or so much in my life. Ouyang seemed to be stunned as well. He said something to comfort her, but their voices overlapped, so I couldn't hear either of them.

"What did you just say?" Ouyang's tone was extremely shocked.

"I like you. I've liked you from the first moment I saw you." This time, Meng Ling didn't hesitate and shouted it out as if she was afraid of regretting it.

Ouyang's back stiffened.

I felt I really shouldn't keep peeking, but at that moment, even the sound of my breathing seemed to disturb the two of them. I didn't dare to move, just maintained my original posture, and my muscles gradually stiffened and ached.

After saying that, Meng Ling completely relaxed and laughed: "It's good to say it. Even though you won't take it to heart, I said it, and that's enough."

“I’ll remember,” Ouyang said. He didn’t say he liked her. He had told me long ago that Meng Ling wasn’t his type. Even if Meng Ling was such a beauty, even if she confessed like that, he still wouldn’t like her. There was nothing he could do about it. I admired Ouyang for this: he didn’t say anything hypocritical about liking her just to comfort Meng Ling. He was a very responsible person.

Meng Ling shook her head with infinite sorrow: "Don't say such things, they're too hurtful."

"Why are you so sad?" Ouyang asked anxiously. "What happened? I went to your house, and your mother said she's never had a daughter like you. Did you have a fight with her?"

Upon hearing this, Meng Ling was stunned and stared blankly at Ouyang: "That's what she said?" She thought for a moment, her expression unusually haggard, and then nodded, her dark hair bouncing with each nod: "What she said isn't wrong."

Oh? These words sent turmoil through me—what did Meng Ling mean by saying this? Did it mean my guess was correct? I recalled that page of her diary, and I was still confused. From the diary, it seemed she had seen other "invisible people," not herself. Yet, what she was saying now clearly confirmed my guess.

"What do you mean?" Ouyang asked, puzzled.

"It's nothing," Meng Ling was about to say something when suddenly a string of clear snot dripped from her nose. She looked disheveled, and her originally pale face turned bright red. I was secretly watching from the side and, sensing her embarrassment, my face also turned red. She hurriedly opened her handbag, took out a tissue bag, and opened it to find that the tissues were already empty.

Ouyang promptly handed her a stack of tissues: "Don't cry."

"Thank you." She was extremely grateful, blushing as she cleaned her face. Her eyes reddened, and she was about to cry again, but she bit her lip and held back the tears for a long time. She let out a long sigh of relief, and I breathed a sigh of relief too.

"Just pretend I never lived," she sighed to Ouyang.

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

“You wouldn’t understand even if I told you,” Meng Ling shook her head. “I don’t quite understand it myself.”

Where have I heard this before? It seems like Gu Quan said the same thing to Li Yuntong.

"Tell me what happened, don't keep it to yourself." Ouyang had no idea what had happened, but still showed great patience.

"You just need to know that all these years I've lived have been wasted, that's enough," Meng Ling said. She spoke in a somewhat literary tone and had a very romantic appearance, so it was no wonder that Ouyang didn't like her.

Ouyang remained silent, making a gesture that seemed to indicate something, before Meng Ling gave a sorrowful smile: "What I said to you today was all for naught."

"Why do you say that?" Ouyang's voice was a little serious.

Meng Ling didn't say anything more. She suddenly ran forward and wrapped her arms around Ouyang's waist. Although I couldn't see Ouyang's expression, I could sense that he was startled. He raised his hands, hesitated for a long time, and then placed them on Meng Ling's shoulders. Just as I was about to sneak away, Meng Ling suddenly pulled away from his embrace and said as she walked out, "That way, there will be no regrets."

As she approached the door, she suddenly turned back. "You..." Her face flushed again, and I suddenly guessed what she was going to ask. Sure enough, she continued, "Have you ever liked me?"

Ouyang slowly turned around, his face full of confusion and a hint of embarrassment. After thinking for a long time, he slowly said, "I don't know..."

My mouth dropped open.

"I understand." Meng Ling nodded and walked towards the door. I was surprised by Ouyang's answer and for a moment forgot to avoid her, so she walked right up to me. This was the first time I had been so close to her, and the thought that she might be another being filled me with fear, causing me to instinctively shrink back. When she saw me, she was slightly startled and nodded at me: "Jiang Ling, I won't bother you anymore."

"Um, ah." I nodded with an awkward laugh, continuing to back away. After chuckling for a while, I mustered my courage and asked, "What's going on here?"

Meng Ling did not answer; she quickened her pace and walked outside.

"Tell me!" I don't know where I got the courage, but I chased after him.

She suddenly started running again, refusing to say anything more. I was too exhausted to run any further; after a few steps, she left me far behind, which made me extremely discouraged. I even began to doubt whether she taught physical education at Wangyue Elementary School.

"You're not actually from this world, are you?" I shouted the words at the top of my lungs behind her. The sound was so loud that it echoed everywhere. Meng Ling seemed to reply with something, but it was all drowned out by the echoes, and I couldn't hear anything clearly. She quickly ran out of my sight and into another workshop.

I suddenly remembered Ouyang; he seemed to have remained motionless the whole time. Looking back, I saw him leaning against the wall, one hand pressed against his temple. As I approached, I saw that his face was deathly pale, and cold sweat poured down his forehead; he seemed to be suffering from a severe headache.

"What's wrong?" I was startled and quickly went to support him.

"Headache." He closed his eyes, squeezed out the two words through clenched teeth, and gasped for breath.

"What happened?"

He waved his hand at me, telling me to be quiet. I felt his body growing heavier and heavier, almost completely leaning against me. Sweat poured down his face like water, his complexion was terrifyingly pale, even his lips were bloodless. I was afraid he would faint, so I kept calling his name softly. He didn't bother to nod, just blinked to indicate that he heard me. I gathered the newspapers on the ground with my feet and helped him sit down. He seemed to have no strength left; his whole body leaned against me, yet he wasn't warm at all.

How could this happen so suddenly? I was worried and scared, staring wide-eyed at the door, hoping Xu Xiaobing or someone else would come in. Ouyang looked very uncomfortable; his chest was heaving violently. He needed to go to the hospital immediately.

"Are you feeling any better?" I asked.

He didn't speak.

"Can you sit by yourself? Or should I go out and find someone to help?" I touched his hand; it was ice-cold.

"Okay." He managed to squeeze out the word, but his brows furrowed even more.

I carefully moved away from his body, and as I did, he slowly collapsed to the ground. When I stood up and looked at him, he was lying completely on the ground. He, who was usually very careful about his appearance, was oblivious to how dirty his surroundings were; he looked as if he had lost consciousness. I was about to leave, but then I was worried. After thinking for a moment, I took off my cotton coat and covered him with it: "I'll go out now and be right back!"

He opened his eyes, looked at me, nodded, and even tried to smile, but the smile twisted into a painful spasm before it could fully form. I suddenly felt afraid. What if he suddenly died while I was out?

"Can you be alone?" I asked softly.

“Yes,” he said.

I watched him for a while longer, still feeling uneasy, before finally leaving.

This time, I carefully followed the path, lest I lose track of Ouyang's hut on my way back. Ouyang's deathly pale face seemed to flicker before my eyes, sending waves of panic through me: Ouyang, please don't suddenly die! I looked around; the black houses and the ground seemed to foreshadow death. It was a place steeped in tragedy, so desolate and ruined, like life far removed from the world. Ouyang was left there alone; I wondered how he was doing? If it were me, I would rather die than be left alone in that situation…

The steel bars beneath my feet creaked softly, but there was no other sound. This silence gave me the feeling that someone was lurking nearby. I suddenly thought of Meng Ling. Where had she gone? Was she still here?

Will she secretly slip back to Ouyang's side again?

The last thought sent a chill down my spine, as if a cold front had swept over me. I could almost see Meng Ling, her long, strong black hair flowing, walking towards Ouyang, while Ouyang lay motionless on the ground, helplessly watching her approach… This image terrified me, and I almost immediately turned back to Ouyang. Although I still couldn't do anything to help him, at least he wouldn't be alone, wouldn't have to face Meng Ling by himself.

Perhaps it was divine intervention, or perhaps this unexpected situation had unleashed my potential, but just as I was about to turn back, a gust of wind from the open area rushed in through the doorway ahead. I never expected that I would find my way out so quickly this time. It turned out the small house was not far from the door. After passing through two or three doors, the view suddenly opened up, and I finally emerged from the dark factory. The barren land swayed with tender green grass under the gloomy sky. The person who had chased Meng Ling with us was standing in front of the factory, sniffling. He looked rather dim-witted and probably couldn't be of much help. I took out my phone and checked the signal; I had a signal. I quickly dialed 120, but as I dialed, I realized my hands were trembling violently. Before the call connected, a cold hand suddenly reached out from beside my ear and gently took the phone from my hand. My heart skipped a beat, and I turned around abruptly to see Ouyang standing beside me.

He stood safely beside me, looking a little weak, but no longer with the look of someone on the verge of death. A sense of relief washed over me, and I suddenly felt an urge to cry. It was then that I realized how terrified I was—terrified that Ouyang would die, afraid I wouldn't be able to find him, afraid that Meng Ling would suddenly reappear…

"You can walk now?" I looked him up and down. His face still looked a little pale, but his lips had turned pink, and the pained expression on his face had disappeared.

“It’s alright,” he smiled. “You’ll be fine as soon as you step outside.” Although he said that, his voice was still very weak.

Is there anything else that's bothering you?

"It's nothing, I just feel weak." He wiped his wet forehead with a tissue. "Let's go, how did we get here?" He swayed as he walked forward. I took his bag with one hand and tried to support him with the other, but he gently pushed me away. "It's alright." He turned to me and smiled. "You must have been scared just now, right?"

"Hmm." I nodded. Just now, I was only worried about his safety and didn't have time to think about anything else. Now that he's safe and sound, my mind started racing uncontrollably. Everything that happened this afternoon was replaying in my mind at an abnormal speed, from entering Xiang Bihua's house to what had just happened. I went through every detail over and over again, trying to analyze something. However, apart from recalling those scenes, my mind seemed to have lost its analytical function. The two images that appeared most often in my mind were Meng Ling's desperate expression when she left Ouyang's side and Ouyang's pained expression when he fell ill. These two expressions gradually occupied my entire brain, and finally they overlapped, making me involuntarily cry out "Ah!"

"What's wrong?" Ouyang asked with concern. I looked at his pale face and suddenly a terrible thought occurred to me.

"Have you ever had a headache like this before?" I asked him.

“No,” he shrugged. “This is the first time.”

Just as I expected.

I was breathless with worry over what I was thinking—Ouyang had always been healthy, yet suddenly he had a headache so severe he almost fainted—this happened the instant Meng Ling left. I couldn't help but connect the two.

Is it Meng Ling who's giving Ouyang a headache?

But didn't Meng Ling say she liked Ouyang? Although I've never been in a relationship, I could tell that when she said those words to him, it came from the bottom of her heart.

So it wasn't Meng Ling who did it?

Judging from Meng Ling's tone, she seemed helpless about what had happened. Was Ouyang's headache related to her appearance, but not of her own volition? Each of Meng Ling's appearances was accompanied by inexplicable phenomena. Much evidence suggested that more and more "invisible people" were appearing around us. This made me feel that, whether my speculation was correct or not, this was not something that could be changed by individual will—my feeling was that neither Meng Ling nor Ouyang, including myself and Xu Xiaobing, nor anyone else involved in these events could control the course of events. We were all being manipulated by some mysterious force that caused them to occur.

What kind of force is it? Is it a conscious force, or an unconscious natural phenomenon?

Or is it all just a conspiracy? Judging from what has already happened, this possibility is almost non-existent—no one could execute such a massive conspiracy. Although people are becoming increasingly easy to bribe, there are no secrets that stay hidden forever. To bribe so many people at the same time without any leaks is a myth even more unrealistic than my speculation.

"Where's Lingling?" A muffled voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked up and saw that the silly-looking man had followed us out sometime earlier, pestering us for Meng Ling's whereabouts. I glanced at Ouyang; he was rubbing his temples, seemingly not intending to pay any attention to the man.

"Where's Lingling?" the man asked again.

"Let's go." I said casually, and he looked disappointed. He turned back to look at the dark factory building and stopped. Ouyang and I ignored him and walked through the wasteland, weaving through the alleys. I had completely lost my sense of direction, but luckily Ouyang had a good sense of direction. With his guidance, we soon found our way out and returned to the alley where Xiang Bihua's house was located.

Just as they turned the corner of the alley, they were met with Xu Xiaobing's impatient face.

"Why did it take so long?" she complained. "Did they catch Meng Ling yet?"

Just as I was about to answer her, Ouyang groaned. He pressed his fingers tightly to his forehead, his other hand gripping my arm, seemingly unsteady on his feet. Xu Xiaobing and I both panicked. Xu Xiaobing asked in a low voice, "What happened? Are you hurt?"

I shook my head, not bothering to answer her question. I looked closely at Ouyang's face. His complexion seemed even paler than before, but thankfully his lips were still a normal color, and his expression didn't seem to be in particular pain, which made me breathe a small sigh of relief: "Is it starting to hurt again? Should we go to the hospital?"

He shook his head, then nodded: "Okay, find me a taxi, I need to go to the hospital to get checked out."

“We’ll have to get out of here first to find a taxi. It’s too narrow here; a car can’t get in,” Xu Xiaobing said, helping Ouyang along and ordering me to support him on the other side. The two of us helped him slowly walk out. Ouyang gently pulled away from us, a little embarrassed, “It’s okay, I can walk. I feel much better now.” Indeed, he seemed to be out of pain again. Xu Xiaobing looked at him carefully and said with a puzzled expression, “Okay, let’s go.”

We wound our way out of the narrow alley, through the yarn wholesale market, and onto the main road. Xu Xiaobing, with her sharp eyes, spotted an empty taxi and quickly ran over to flag it down. Turning back, she waved to us and said, "Come quick, take him to the hospital."

"No need, right?" Ouyang shook his head and rolled his eyes. "There's no problem at all now."

"You should still go and see," I advised him. "You were terrifying just now."

"It would be more reassuring to go and take a look," Xu Xiaobing said.

"Forget it, let's go back to the company." Ouyang checked the time. "It's not time to leave work yet, and I still have an order to finish." Xu Xiaobing and I tried to persuade him a few more times, but he insisted that he was fine. We couldn't persuade him otherwise, so we got in the car. Ouyang sat in the passenger seat, and Xu Xiaobing and I sat in the back. We decided to take Xu Xiaobing back to the company first.

"Tell me, have you caught Meng Ling yet?" Xu Xiaobing urged me after the car started.

Before I could say anything, Ouyang in the front row suddenly let out a short cry. We looked at him and saw him holding his head in his hands, resting it against the car window, looking at us with a furrowed brow: "What's wrong? Is it hurting again?"

"Brother, are you sick? Do you need to go to the hospital?" The driver looked at him with concern when he saw his appearance.

"Let's go to the hospital," Xu Xiaobing said without giving a chance to refuse. The driver turned the steering wheel and drove towards the hospital.

“What happened to him? He was fine at first,” Xu Xiaobing asked me. “Did Meng Ling do something to him?” Before she could finish her sentence, Ouyang cried out again, “Meng Ling,” he began to groan loudly, “Don’t say that name…” He was in so much pain that he couldn’t speak anymore, pressing his head tightly against the glass window. Xu Xiaobing and I were terrified and scrambled to pat his back from behind. Xu Xiaobing gave me a look full of fear, her lips moving but no sound came out, but I knew what she was saying.

Meng Ling.

That's what Xu Xiaobing was talking about. I nodded, put a finger to my lips to signal her not to say it aloud, and she rolled her eyes at me and whispered, "I know."

We didn't mention the name "Meng Ling" again on the way, or even anything related to her. But Xu Xiaobing and I both knew that Ouyang's headaches were definitely related to Meng Ling. I think she must have noticed it too; every time we mentioned "Meng Ling," Ouyang's headaches would flare up. He himself had noticed it, which was why he asked us not to mention the name. I remembered that silly man in the wasteland; when he said "Lingling," Ouyang's headaches also flared up… Meng Ling's name seemed like a curse, like the headband Tang Sanzang chanted for Sun Wukong, causing Ouyang excruciating headaches. Judging from Ouyang's reaction to his headaches, I had no doubt that if someone kept repeating Meng Ling's name, Ouyang would die from the pain. If before we still held onto a sliver of hope that everything was manipulated, Ouyang's reaction now had destroyed that last sliver of hope. Now this whole thing seemed like some kind of witchcraft, becoming increasingly mysterious. The only saving grace was that after the car made two turns, Ouyang's headache gradually subsided, which relieved Xu Xiaobing and me—it seemed that as long as Meng Ling's name wasn't mentioned, he was temporarily fine. Although we both knew perfectly well that this had nothing to do with Ouyang's own health, we couldn't tell him that, so we still had to go to the hospital.

"Are you scared?" Xu Xiaobing asked, leaning close to my ear.

I nodded.

How can we not be afraid? So many strange things have happened before, which are unbelievable, but no one was hurt, and we were already terrified. Now that things have escalated to the point of physical harm, I seriously doubt whether someone will die next.

If someone really is going to die, who would it be? Ouyang? I looked at Ouyang's pale face in the mirror, my heart skipped a beat, and I quickly shook my head—it can't be Ouyang, he knows nothing.

So, will it be me and Xu Xiaobing?