Histoires de fantômes

Chapitre 67

Tani untied the ropes binding Fujika and bent down to embrace her, intending to help her up. Completely unprepared, Fujika suddenly attacked, swiftly plunging her into his chest. That thrust was undoubtedly precise and ruthless, accurately seizing Tani's heart.

After being hurt, Tanino let go, staggered backward, bumped into the cot, and sat down weakly...

Based on the evidence at the scene, this explanation is plausible. However, a major question remains: "Where did Tanino's heart go?"

Of course, we have the answer: it's inside Fujika's stomach, because there's blood on her fingers and a large amount of blood on the corner of her mouth.

Several times, as I wiped the blood from Fujika's mouth with a tissue, I couldn't help but feel a sharp pain in my stomach, because I couldn't believe that such a beautiful Japanese girl could be a member of the "Reborn" group, a group that kills and devours hearts. In the "Reborn" group's ideology, killing someone and eating their heart increases one's regenerative abilities. The more people one kills, the greater the chance of rebirth. And "self-harm among fellow members" is an even faster shortcut to increasing these abilities.

"Brother Feng, what are you thinking about?"

I've lost count of how many times Su Lun has asked me this. I was in a daze all night, partly because of Tina's inconceivable plan, and partly because of Gu Ye's experience of dying and coming back to life.

“This… might prove one of our guesses…” Suren took out a miniature camera the size of a cigarette box from under the cot where Gu Ye had been lying, waved it in his hand, and let out a long sigh.

“The entire night’s worth of data is in there. I think… in half an hour, the truth will be revealed. Don’t worry, I always felt that the real suspect was Dr. James, not this Princess Tengjia.” Suren’s surveillance was omnipresent, which, in some ways, was an incredibly good habit.

Suren is an extremely meticulous girl. The reason she revealed the hidden camera at the very end was entirely to avoid presenting evidence too early and affecting our analysis of the evidence at the scene.

As dawn broke, all the investigations came to an end, and it was time for the truth to come out.

We stepped out together, lifting the curtain, and saw a scalpel standing beside the empty derrick, head bowed, gazing downwards. In the life-or-death mutiny and gunfight of the previous night, everyone had forgotten the existence of the shaft, the tunnel, the venomous snakes, and the pyramids.

Suren paused slightly, then lowered her voice: "Brother Feng, look at his back—"

Part Six: The Divine Appearance Revealed

— Chapter 7 — Who is the Reborn One? —

She no longer called the scalpel "brother," but simply used the word "he." A girl's intuition can sometimes be incredibly accurate, and it shouldn't be taken lightly.

The surgeon had broad shoulders and long legs. When he stood upright, he resembled a crane standing by a stream, exuding an indescribable aloofness and arrogance. Looking down from where he stood, nothing could be seen except for the flickering lights. Even more peculiar was that, although he was the main initiator of the excavation of the Tulihan Pyramid, after arriving at the camp, he rarely personally led the project, as if once he transferred the excavation rights to Gu Ye, he was completely free of responsibility.

"Can you see anything wrong with him?" Suren lowered his voice even further.

"No, I just felt he was a bit depressed, but otherwise, there didn't seem to be anything wrong..." Throughout this trip to Egypt, I've sensed Scalpel's excessive depression. It was only when Gu Ye showed him those photos that he was slightly agitated, but since then he's been indulging in smoking and drinking, rarely speaking loudly, and even less so laughing loudly.

“He is… Brother Feng, I have several pieces of evidence, but… I can’t bring myself to say it!” Suren blushed.

Just then, the scalpel suddenly turned around, facing the two of us. The sunlight naturally gilded his face, making him look slightly odd. He raised his hand to greet us, at least four rings on his ten fingers reflecting a sharp light.

Suren shuddered and moved closer to me, as if she had been deeply frightened.

"Feng, Suren, you worked hard last night. Did you find anything?" Scalpel walked over, greeting them calmly as he went. His hands were behind his back, and his steps were steady. He had the imposing and authoritative demeanor of a powerful gang leader.

I shook my head with a wry smile: "There's nothing here. Gu Ye is dead, and we've lost another capable person to enter the tomb and retrieve the gems."

The scalpel laughed loudly, "So what? Feng, I have the highest hopes for you. Even without the Japanese, they can't stop us at all. I'm not wrong, you definitely have the potential to become the king of the tomb raiding world again. Do a good job!" These were just ordinary pleasantries; he didn't reveal any flaws.

Furthermore, the deadly technique of wielding three knives simultaneously last night was a unique surgical skill that no one else could imitate. Based on this, I'd rather believe that the person in front of me was indeed a scalpel, and that it was only a slight change in his lifestyle that aroused Su Lun's great suspicion.

"Suren, you don't look well. What's wrong?" The surgeon looked at Suren with concern, his eyes full of affection.

Suren lowered his head and said in a muffled voice, "I haven't slept all night, and my head hurts terribly—you guys chat, I need to go back to my tent to rest..." After saying that, he lowered his head and hurriedly walked towards our tent.

The scalpel watched her retreating figure with a puzzled expression, and couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Girls always keep secrets as they grow up! Feng, please take good care of her..."

At that moment, I was about three steps away from the scalpel when I suddenly felt a chilling gust of wind emanate from him, swirling and billowing into the air. My gaze quickly rose; of course, I couldn't see the wind, only the clouds in the blue sky dyed red by the rising sun.

The gust of wind stopped about three meters above the tip of the scalpel. I couldn't see it, but I could deeply feel the eerie chill and endless hostility it carried.

"Wind, what are you doing?" Scalpel shrugged, asking in confusion, while looking up with my gaze.

He was a seasoned martial arts master, and his perception of death and danger should have been far more acute than mine. There was no way he could have failed to sense the presence of that gust of wind.

"It's nothing, just a gust of wind," I replied casually. The eerie wind vanished into the boundless air, but the terrifying and evil feeling remained deeply etched in my mind.

"It's good that you're alright. I guess you're tired. Go back and get some rest. If possible tomorrow, let's go into the pyramid together and retrieve the 'Eye of the Moon.'" He waved his hand magnanimously, seemingly already considering the "Eye of the Moon" his for the taking. Since he could help Tina quell the rebellion, and then ruthlessly kill someone at a crucial moment, he must have reached some kind of secret agreement with the Egyptian government.

I sighed deeply: "Mr. Scalpel, it's such a pity that Gu Ye is dead and Bancha has disappeared. The whereabouts of those photos have become an unsolved case..."

The scalpel gave him a puzzled look: "What photo? Is it important?"

I was startled. On the surface, I pretended to be calm, but deep inside, a storm was raging. The scalpel in front of me had actually forgotten the verbal promise he made to Gu Ye, exchanging the excavation rights of Tu Liehan for all the mysterious photos—the photos were the original source of all the complicated actions. How could he have forgotten them so easily?

"It's nothing, nothing. I just meant that Tanino's death is a bit strange, and the Japanese government is unlikely to let it go so easily!"

The topic was easily diverted. In the next few minutes of conversation, I observed the scalpel as closely as possible, trying to find evidence in his words and actions to support Suren's suspicions.

There can't be such a coincidence in the world, right?

Gu Ye is a fake; he's the twin brother of the real tomb raiding expert, Gu Ye Shenxiu. Only twins could look exactly alike. Could it be that the "Scalpel" also has another twin brother, and they're appearing before me alternately? The problem is, if two "Scalpels" truly exist, Su Lun would surely notice…

Filled with great doubt, I returned to my tent.

Suren was on the phone, speaking only long strings of Arabic numerals. She was using an ancient military code for encryption, the purpose of which was obvious: to avoid the notice of spy satellites from various countries monitoring the area around the Great Pyramid of Giza.

On the table, Suren's laptop was open, having just been connected to the camera.

I collapsed onto the bed, feeling utterly dejected, and closed my eyes, reliving the expression on his face as he held the scalpel. He had truly forgotten the exchange promise he made with Gu Ye; it was absolutely true, because when I asked him that question, his eyes were completely blank, showing that he had no recollection of that matter whatsoever.

The real scalpel wouldn't have such a poor memory. He could even recall the detailed steps of hundreds of tomb raiding operations from his youth to the present, along with the names of his partners and hired laborers, with the accuracy of a search system like the British Museum's electronic database. Therefore, he wasn't the original scalpel, and Suren's suspicions were beginning to be confirmed step by step.

"My God! The excavation of the Tuli Khan Pyramid has indeed reached an insurmountable bottleneck! Apart from Suren, I simply can't trust anyone—including Tina. Gu Ye is dead, and all clues about the photos and about my elder brother, 'King of Tomb Raiders' Yang Tian, have been cut off. So, is there any point in me staying here any longer?"

Suren hung up the phone, walked closer to me, and sighed slowly: "Brother Feng, you felt it too? He's not my brother, he's someone else."

I buried my face in the neatly folded sleeping bag, trying my best to control my frustration.

"So, who could he be? Why would he be so interested in the Turkic pyramids? Sigh... When Xiao Yan arrives, perhaps she can unravel some of the mysteries?" Suren's hand slowly touched my back, and a gentle warmth emanated from her palm, seeping into my body and reaching every limb, leaving me feeling warm and indescribably comfortable.

"Don't speak, Brother Feng. This is just a bottleneck in the excavation of the pyramids. Once we get through it, we'll soon see a bright future and a completely different world—you know what? Further analysis and verification of those photos can almost certainly confirm that Hero Yang Tian is still alive. Isn't that fantastic news for you?"

Suren's words reminded me once again: "If those photos are real, if my brother is really imprisoned in some dark place, I must pull myself together..."

I sat up and pointed at Suren's computer: "What did those video recordings show?"

Suren breathed a sigh of relief: "I haven't seen it yet, I'll wait for you to come and see it together... Hmm, the hacker I hired will be here soon. After cracking the drilling rig's code, we'll start work immediately. I'm just worried that the series of explosions last night might cause the tunnel leading to the pyramid to collapse? Or, will the internal structure of the pyramid undergo any sudden changes?"

She had considered enough issues, but Tina, who was speaking outside the tent, still pointed out her mistake without hesitation: "Why must we go through the underground tunnel? Now, I have the final say on all matters concerning the pyramid excavation, so I propose that we take a frontal approach, directly break through the exposed ground part of the Tsarist pyramid, and carve another passage in. Wouldn't that be much smoother?"

Tina strode in, her arrogant and flamboyant demeanor even more intense than before the mutiny.

"Hmph, good idea! However, I must remind General Tina that if your country had allowed such barbaric development of the pyramids earlier, the secrets beneath the Great Pyramid of Giza would have been solved ten years earlier!" I started to like Tina, but I didn't like her arrogance, so I couldn't help but tease her a bit.

Tina looked at me, a hint of reproach in her smile: "Oh? You disagree with my idea? Don't you want to get the 'Eye of the Moon' sooner?"

I lowered my head with a cold laugh, swallowing back the more hurtful words.

“Speak up? Why are you out of words? I know that every expert in the tomb raiding business desires to uncover the secrets hidden beneath their target as soon as possible—Feng, I just want to help you and satisfy your curiosity as quickly as possible…” Tina lowered her voice and her imposing manner weakened considerably, adopting a humble tone.

I couldn't help but soften my heart, so I grinned at her, which was a way of making peace.

Honestly, I asked myself: "Tina achieved early success, leading the Rainbow Warriors and becoming famous throughout the land. Even if she occasionally gets proud and arrogant, it's not unreasonable. Looking across the entire African continent and even the world, you won't find another young and beautiful female general like her. Why should I always spoil her mood? Wouldn't it be better to let her be a little smug?"

Girls are born to be pampered and loved. If I keep arguing with her, it would make me seem petty.

Suren picked up the conversation: "No problem! General Tina, the hacker friend I reported to you about will arrive in three hours. According to his estimate, he will crack the secret in about five hours, and the drilling rig will be ready for use before dusk."

Tina smiled charmingly: "Okay, at dusk, watching the desert sunset while exploring the secrets left by the ancients, just thinking about it is romantic and enchanting enough..." She glanced at me sideways, as if her words contained infinite depth.

I pretended not to see it, got up and walked to the table, typed a few keys on the keyboard, and the data in the camera immediately started playing.

The staff who had previously worked with Tang had already been placed under house arrest by Tina during the layoffs. She was farsighted, knowing that the drilling rigs and operators would always come in handy, so she made these precautionary arrangements. If the hacker's work goes smoothly, Tina will likely be working through the night to carve another passage into the pyramid.

"After the internal structure of the pyramid changed, could the upper and lower layers be connected at will? In fact, as long as the drilling machine starts working, it can drill a hole in any wall that is blocking the way and pass through in a straight line..." We really have to thank Tang. If it weren't for him bringing such a powerful drilling weapon, we wouldn't have experienced such a thrilling story.

"Huh? What's going on? What's going on?" Suren whispered.

I pulled my attention back to the scene. On the screen, Tanino was slowly walking to Fujika's bedside and beginning to untie the ropes. This step was roughly in line with my deduction; he wanted to temporarily free Fujika and then use another method to transport her back to Japan. One thing was very obvious: Fujika's body was constantly writhing and struggling…

Tina couldn't help but exclaim, "My God! She's alive! She's come back to life..."

Witnessing a person in a vegetative state suddenly make physical movements is indeed astonishing, but the question is—

After untying Fujika's clothes, Tanino bent down to hug her neck, but Fujika's arms suddenly shot up... The camera could only capture this angle because it was hidden under Tanino's bed, and his movement completely blocked our view. Immediately afterward, Tanino yelled, staggered backward, bumped into the edge of the bed, and slowly sat down.

Fujika was holding a bloody lump in his hands... Then, a lot of static appeared on the screen, and the speakers were full of crackling noise, indicating that the recorded data could only go this far, and nothing else was recorded.

This is almost impossible. Su Lun's hidden camera equipment is not that bad and incompetent. How could it have missed the later parts for no reason?

Suren quickly adjusted a few buttons on the camera, then went through the data again in "fast forward" mode, but the result was still the same: the data was only retained up to the point where Tano fell to the ground and Fujika's hands were covered in blood.

Tina cursed angrily, stood up, and concluded with absolute certainty: "Without a doubt, Tengjia has awakened from her vegetative state and is extremely cruel. It can even be inferred that she has become a murderous zombie monster. I suggest that we eliminate her immediately to prevent more innocent people from being harmed."

Neither Su Lun nor I responded, and we started watching the video footage for the third time.

Recalling their conversation with James, everyone suspected that the brutal method used to kill Tanino came from a member of the "Reborn" group belonging to the Azure Dragon Society. The situation at that time and the current video footage corroborate each other, and it seems that the conclusion that "Fujika is the murderer" has undoubtedly emerged.

"Hey, you two, what's your opinion? Are you going to wait until Tengjia runs out and kills people all over the camp before you make a decision?" Tina stomped her feet in dissatisfaction and kept pacing around the tent.

In recent years, Hollywood has produced a plethora of films on the themes of "zombies, vampires, and spirit summoning," coupled with blockbuster hits like the *Blade* series, planting a terrifying impression in the minds of global audiences that "dark places are filled with vampires." This makes Tina's current anxiety understandable; how could she allow a vegetative state patient, now transformed into a demon, to exist within her domain?

Suren was somewhat disappointed; I could guess that she had always suspected James was the murderer.

As we began reviewing the documents for the fourth time, Tina strode out, loudly ordering the guards: "Keep a close watch on the tents where the vegetative patients are kept. Bring ten flamethrowers over. If anything strange happens in the tents, open fire immediately and kill them without mercy."

To be a general commanding thousands of troops, one needs a resolute and decisive iron-fisted approach like hers; otherwise, if the army is not strictly disciplined, it will eventually become a disorganized mess.

I pressed the "slow motion" button, starting from when I left the tent, reducing the frame rate to a slow 15 frames per second. The image quality was far from impressive. Compared to the footage of me before my amnesia that Suren had captured on camera placed on my body, this was much blurrier, and there were occasional crisscrossing interference waves in the image.

“Brother Feng, this camera is Nikon’s latest product. It uses high sensitivity and infrared automatic compensation technology to capture images. Even in a dimly lit environment with only a five-watt fluorescent light, it can capture clear and normal continuous images. I think, just like the time when all the images were wiped out by white light, this accident was also deliberately caused by someone…”

I have unconditional faith in the quality of the camera. The saying "A skilled craftsman must first have the right tools" applies to this; Su Lun understands this better than I do. Nikon is a top-tier manufacturer of optical instruments, and their digital cameras and camcorders are sold worldwide; their performance is beyond question.

The scene progressed in a jumping motion, continuing until the moment Tanino bent down and Fujika made her move, at which point I pressed the pause button. Before that, Fujika's writhing body gave me the feeling that "she must be in great pain," like—a fish out of the lake, struggling desperately.

I noticed that Fujika's eyes were closed the entire time, even at the very moment she pierced Tanino's body, her eyes remained closed, like a sleepwalker. Sadly, there was nothing after that, only a snowflake.

Suren silently picked up the camera and held it in her hands, turning it over and over to watch it.

Such cruel methods as murder and heart-devouring are 90% likely to be committed by the "Reborn". Assuming that Fujika and Tanino are both members of the "Reborn" organization, why hasn't Fujika officially woken up yet? Or why didn't Tanino save her sooner, instead of waiting until he was stabbed to death?

So far, Fujika has killed Tanino and consumed his heart (this is just a hypothetical scenario), so what will happen to her next? Will she be content to remain a vegetable...?

“Brother Feng, why don’t we… go for a walk…” Suren put down the camera and suggested to me, with two helpless flames seemingly flickering deep in her eyes.

Once outside the tent, we instinctively began to slowly stroll westward.

The camp was quiet. All the bodies of the dead soldiers had been properly buried, and the tense atmosphere that had been palpable earlier had vanished. Apart from a few scattered mobile sentries around the perimeter, most people were resting in their tents. There were no sentries around the derrick; it was empty and unusually desolate.

The huge sand crater left by the explosion of the watchtower remains exposed, silently recording the fierce battle of the previous night.

The sky was blue, the clouds were light, and the sun shone brightly—in this environment, my depressed mood gradually eased, and I pulled myself out of extreme frustration.

Before we knew it, we had left the protective circle of the military vehicles and were walking aimlessly forward.

"Brother Feng, shall I tell you a story?" Suren tilted her head and smiled at me meaningfully. Just now, she had been silent with her head down, looking preoccupied.