Histoires de fantômes

Chapitre 88

"So, how did you get out of the hallucination?" I sighed and put down my pencil, thinking that what she described was more suitable for Spielberg to make into a science fiction film. The coffee had gone cold, so I picked up the cup and, without thinking twice, drank it down in a few gulps.

She sighed deeply: "It was because of that wonderful feeling of being 'in the water' that I felt the air around me suddenly undulating and churning like waves, the amplitude getting bigger and bigger, like a giant wave suddenly crashing down on the ocean, throwing my body up and flying backwards. Then I came to my senses and saw you in the mirror..."

Her narration finally came to an end, and I got up, feeling somewhat lost, to boil water in preparation for the next round of detailed discussion.

The Plague once said that he saw the water in the tap start to flow backwards, and the mysterious process of disappearing suddenly began—the only good thing is that Guan Baoling is back, so I don't have to worry about being questioned by the police anymore.

She finished recounting her hallucination experience, but she remained dismissive of my suggestion of her being "missing for twenty-four hours." According to her explanation—"My mental confusion lasted no more than twenty minutes, how could it have been twenty-four hours?"

This question can only be reasonably explained when the plague or Xiao Keleng appears. Since Guan Baoling can automatically return after disappearing, perhaps Xiao Keleng can too.

After I refused Guan Baoling's request to buy Xunfuyuan for the third time, she reluctantly picked up the phone and dialed a number: "Xiao Ye, come pick me up at the villa gate! I'm very tired, and I didn't get things done—ah? What? You're on the film set?" She suddenly shouted, startling me. Then I saw her gripping the phone tightly, slowly falling backward and landing on the sofa, as if she had been subjected to an extremely heavy shock.

The microphone fell to the ground with a crack, but thankfully it didn't shatter.

I picked up the conversation, and a young man inside was calling out urgently, "Miss Guan, Miss Guan, are you alright? Miss Guan..."

Guan Baoling's face had completely lost all color, turning deathly pale. She collapsed onto the sofa, clutching her chest with both hands, her shoulders trembling violently.

I said "Hello" into the phone, and the person on the other end asked anxiously, "Is this Mr. Feng? How is Miss Guan? Is she alright? I'm her driver, Xiao Ye—"

I briefly said, "She's fine, but she needs to calm down right now. Please call back in ten minutes."

After hanging up the phone, Guan Baoling struggled to sit up, clasped her hands together in front of her chest, and murmured a prayer with her eyes half-closed. I laughed; it must have come from the driver that she was certain she had disappeared for twenty-four hours, in what she thought was only twenty or thirty minutes.

"I really disappeared...and for so long...you know what? Xiao Ye has already driven back to the film set, and she had been waiting for me for four hours on the side road in front of the villa. Oh my god...what's going on? I was just hallucinating, how could so much time have passed?"

It's now certain that she not only experienced hallucinations, but also escaped reality and entered into a hallucination, resulting in her "disappearance." Regardless of what her experience signifies, what I want to know is: where exactly is the entrance to this hallucinatory space?

We went back to the bathroom, and she pointed to the sink: "Right here, right in front of the sink. Turn on the tap, put your hand on the mirror, and you'll see what I'm saying—" I tried to imitate what she did, but it had absolutely no effect.

Two anxious and fearful faces were reflected in the mirror.

“Ms. Guan, I’m glad you believed me. Now my friend Ms. Xiao has also disappeared, just like you. If you can help find her, we can discuss the transfer of the villa’s ownership…” In desperation, I had to ask for her help.

Guan Baoling took a few steps forward, turned on the tap, placed her palms on the mirror, and slowly slid them to the sides, landing on the left and right edges of the mirror. She looked nervously into her reflection. My eyes were glued to her, hoping to see something magical happen, but at that moment, neither of us realized that if the "disappearance" occurred again, we would be completely unable to handle the situation that was about to unfold.

Fortunately, she didn't disappear again. The sound of rushing water lasted for nearly five minutes, and our clothes were almost completely soaked from the chest. We didn't see anything incredible happen.

Guan Baoling withdrew her hands and sighed three times, "It seems even Heaven doesn't want to help me buy a villa..."

There were no bubbling sounds, and no one mysteriously disappeared; the restroom appears to be functioning normally.

Just then, I heard a very urgent knocking on the front door.

The front door was locked from the inside. I ran back to the living room, unlocked the door, and was met with another huge shock—Xiao Keleng! It was Xiao Keleng standing in the doorway, panting, the sweat on her forehead glistening in the light.

She was dragging a person in her right hand, a wounded man covered in blood and looking lifeless.

"Hey, you? You...you didn't disappear, you disappeared and came back...where did you go?" I shouted excitedly, my words tumbling out incoherently. No matter what, Xiao Keleng had reappeared, which made me so happy that I wanted to cheer and jump for joy, wanting to rush over and hug her tightly.

The time between the golden finger leaving and Xiao Keleng appearing was about two hours. This period felt like two centuries to me.

“Mr. Feng…please help him…get the plague inside…I think…he doesn’t have many minutes left to live…” She bent down and lifted the injured man’s arms, while I quickly grabbed his legs and carried him into the living room, placing him by the fireplace.

A chill kept pouring in through the doorway. Outside, it was an endless night, and the cold wind rustled the birch leaves, making a strange, rustling sound.

I closed the door and looked down to see that my palms were stained red with blood.

The injured man did indeed have the plague, but it was a case of "being on the verge of death, breathing little and exhaling much." His clothes were pierced with nearly a hundred bloody holes, and his head was injured in some unknown way, all his black and white hair stained red with blood. He half-closed his eyes, a desperate, bitter smile on his face. Everyone here is a member of the martial arts world; they all have a good understanding of whether their injuries are fatal.

Xiao Keleng straightened up, picked up the coffee pot on the coffee table, took a few sips, and wiped his sweat with his sleeves. He didn't notice that Guan Baoling was slowly coming out of the bathroom.

"Mr. Feng, it was the 'Black Angels' who did it. I saw at least two hundred people ganging up on him... I don't know what the Plague did, but the gang mobilized at least four hundred people, practically covering the entire Muwanzhou area... He has fifteen major wounds and countless minor ones. Even if Hua Tuo were alive, he couldn't save his life..."

This is not surprising at all. As the ancients said, "A gentleman is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime." Moreover, the Plague was a person who harbored an extremely important secret. There were almost no gentlemen in "The Angels of the Night." They were all ruthless characters who had been on the run for many years, seeking wealth and power through danger. How could they possibly show mercy?

From the Golden Finger's words about "hunting down traitors and cleaning house," I had already foreseen the plague's fate.

The plague twitched, its legs twitched, and it tried to lift its head, but immediately spat out a mouthful of blood clots and coughed violently.

I couldn't help but frown: "Xiao Xiao, bringing him back might leave 'Dark Angel' with leverage to cause trouble!"

Judging from his condition, he won't survive more than half an hour. Why bother offending the Koreans over such a trivial matter? His injuries are so severe that he can't even speak. What use is he to us?

Xiao Keleng bent down and gently rolled up the left sleeve of the Plague-themed garment. On his left forearm was carved a blue lotus flower, already in full bloom, with each petal clear and full, and carefully painted with blue pigment, the craftsmanship extremely exquisite and lifelike.

I've said it before: Koreans are world-class in beauty, makeup, slimming, and tattooing. Getting a lotus flower tattooed on the body like this is a piece of cake for them.

The lotus flower looked familiar, but I didn't understand Xiao Keleng's meaning: "A flower? What do you mean? Stop playing riddles!"

She rolled up Plague's other sleeve, and in the same spot, she had a pink lotus flower tattooed, exactly the same shape and size as on her left wrist. When she placed Plague's two hands together, I could clearly see that they were two identical lotus flowers, only different in color.

"He's dying. Who is he?" Guan Baoling was still full of confusion. She must be feeling incredibly scared now—anyone who knows they've disappeared from the real world for a whole day would be terrified. If they can't come back, they might as well just drift and wait to die in another space, especially in that kind of deep underground well she described. If it were me, I would also be drenched in cold sweat from the fear.

When Xiao Keleng saw Guan Baoling, she appeared much calmer than I was. She simply nodded politely to Guan Baoling, then bent down again, focusing her attention on the dying plague, biting her lip hard and revealing her sharp canine teeth: "He can't die! At least not like this!" Suddenly, she bent down, grabbed the plague's shoulder, and quickly dragged him to the bathroom, leaving a shocking, thick trail of blood on the floor.

“A lotus? It’s from the clock…” I exclaimed, a flash of inspiration striking me as I suddenly realized that the clock’s winding key was exactly the same as the tattoo on the plague’s wrist.

"Xiao Xiao, you thought of this already? You thought of this already?" I chased after her to the bathroom, leaving Guan Baoling alone in the living room.

The winding key on the bronze clock is very unusual; I've never seen a key like it before. The Plague character has lotus flowers tattooed on his hand—could this indicate some kind of special connection between them?

Before even entering the bathroom, the sound of rushing water could be heard. Turning around the door, I was surprised to find that Xiao Keleng had already thrown most of the plague's body onto the sink, with water droplets spraying directly onto the top of his head.

The sudden cold water caused the plague-stricken creature to finally writhe, its head struggling desperately to escape the cold water. In these extraordinary times, Xiao Keleng's use of such extraordinary measures was understandable. Besides, there were no stimulants or other injectable medications in the villa; this was the only way to bring him back to consciousness quickly.

I glanced around, then strode towards the bathtub, turning on both the front and back faucets. If I could throw the plague into a bathtub full of water, I figured it would prolong his life even further.

Xiao Keleng gave me a thumbs up, expressing her admiration for my seamless cooperation.

"Ah—ah..." the plague cried out, spitting out a mouthful of bloody water, which immediately stained the water in the sink red, but was then diluted by more and more cold water.

“If you want to live, tell us more secrets—about the underwater tomb, the tower of the dead, the book of purgatory… As long as we make a call, the hospital's emergency medical team will be here within half an hour…”

Xiao Ke shook the plague-stricken man's shoulders violently. Under the violent shaking, the latter kept spitting out blood, his lips moving as if he did want to say something. However, his injuries were too severe, with more than a dozen wounds directly on his neck, chest, and lower abdomen—the most vulnerable "lifeline." Every time he inhaled to speak, these dozen or so wounds in these three places would immediately bleed profusely, diverting all his strength from speaking.

The bathtub was already full of water. I gestured to Xiao Keleng, who gritted her teeth, dragged the plague-ridden figure over with one hand, and threw it into the bathtub.

The plague patient was already in a semi-comatose state, and only vigorous falls could fully stimulate his body's vitality.

The water in the bathtub was icy cold, and as his body sank in, purplish-red bubbles rose all over his body. My heart sank, because only a sharp blade piercing the chest or abdomen would cause blisters.

"The 'Angels of the Night' found nothing and have already left. I personally overheard them loudly discussing the stolen 'Book of Purgatory.' The gist of it was that the Plague stole the precious book and had been secretly contacting buyers for three years, but they were discovered and killed by the organization this time, and the book's whereabouts are now unknown..."

Xiao Ke stared at the increasingly faint bubbles with a cold, sullen face, his disappointment barely concealed.

The plague's head rested on the edge of the bathtub, like a dying fish that had just been shot, slowly exhaling unwillingly, with bloody bubbles constantly emerging from the corners of its mouth. Suddenly, it uttered a few indistinct words. Although they were not coherent, I could already hear the eight words clearly. They should be "Yi shot down eight suns, which fell to the east."

Xiao Keleng suddenly stretched out his left hand and pressed it heavily on the lower abdomen of the plague patient, letting out a "hey" sound. He exerted his internal energy and slowly injected it into the plague patient's body.

“Thunder overturns rivers, mountains crumble... Gods descend from ten thousand feet... Who can live forever? Who can be immortal... These words... The earth will explode soon... If... it is destroyed..." He switched to Korean for these fragmented words, which Xiao Keleng translated continuously while using her internal energy to help him stay alert.

The water in the bathtub churned continuously, and steam gradually rose from the surface. This was caused by Xiao Keleng exerting her full power, her internal energy acting on the cold water, causing the temperature of the entire tub to rise steadily. The strength of her internal energy far exceeded my expectations, and I realized that she was a very reserved and low-key person.

These words are incoherent and, even when strung together, they don't convey any meaning.

The plague patient's eyes suddenly opened, shining brightly – a classic case of "a final burst of energy before death." Based on common medical knowledge, it was deduced that he might not even last a minute longer.

"The key, the key, the key... It's in the 'Underwater Tomb,' go get it... Let those weird Martians go to hell! Let them go to hell! Those vile creatures are hiding in the 'Underwater Tomb,' go and kill them! Otherwise, one day, when they've grown strong enough, they'll surely come up and slaughter all the humans, leaving not a single one alive..."

He stared intently at me, raising his left hand to point at my face. By this time, he had almost bled to death; the only liquid dripping from the wound on his arm was a dull-colored liquid, not bright red blood.

These words shocked me, but I couldn't help but find them amusing: "What Martian? Where did this Martian come from? I really don't know what this guy is up to or what nonsense he's spouting?"

"Where are the Martians? How can we get into the 'Underwater Tomb'?" Xiao Ke asked calmly.

“The ladder… the ladder goes in… the end of countless ladders… to see those books, those books…” His hand pointed to the ceiling, then he suddenly leaned back, his head hitting the edge of the bathtub with a dull thud.

Xiao Keleng withdrew her hand, letting the plague-infected body slowly slide into the water, bubbling out a final string of bubbles. After a brief resurgence of lucidity, death inevitably follows—an unalterable law of human medicine.

I quickly walked outside, ignoring Xiao Keleng's cries—I needed to write down everything the plague had said, word for word, regardless of whether it was madness, nonsense, or gibberish. As long as it was spoken on his deathbed, it must have profound meaning.

Half an hour later, Xiao Keleng, Guan Baoling, and I sat around the fireplace, each holding a large cup of coffee, heads bowed in silence. It was nearing midnight, and with each passing second, the questions weighing heavily on our minds grew ever stronger.

"Tomorrow I will carefully examine the body of the plague victim, and then call the police to handle it. The Japanese police in the Muwanzhoushan area are used to handling cases like this where people die from fights, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. If possible, we should check every nook and cranny of the study again, don't you agree, Mr. Feng?"

Xiao Keleng consults me on everything, but she knows far more about everything in the villa in Xunfu Garden than I do. Moreover, her martial arts skills are far more extraordinary than I imagined, including her bone-shrinking technique, which is almost superior to the Golden Finger technique.

"Is it just a study? Or all the rooms, including those long-empty rooms on both sides?" Xiao Keleng once told me that apart from the main building, the other rooms were spotless and empty, without even a chair. I wondered if there were any secrets hidden under the floorboards.

Guan Baoling interjected at the opportune moment: "Mr. Feng, if you want to thoroughly search every nook and cranny of this villa, I can pay for it. After the search, regardless of whether anything is found, could you transfer the house to me? I can agree to any of your demands regarding the price—"

The three of us, each with our own goals and our own thoughts, spoke almost nothing in common. We smiled at each other and fell into a deep silence.

The notebook containing the last words of the Plague Patient lay on my lap. If these fragmented words were strung together and imbued with the boundless imagination of a novelist, they could almost paint a bizarre and magnificent picture.

"Martians have invaded Earth and used the 'Underwater Tomb' as a military base. If we cannot quickly select elite forces to wipe them all out, the end of humanity will come in the blink of an eye."

Such a plot seems to have already been appropriately embellished in Hollywood movies, so there's no need for me to add my own unnecessary details. Guan Baoling's account is on the page preceding the plague incident; the two paragraphs overlap, and anyone who reads them would be horrified.

It was Xiao Keleng who broke the silence again: "Mr. Feng, the 'Angels of the Night' group has been active near the villa. According to my observation last night..."

"The enemy's numbers and momentum are already enormous. For your safety, would you allow me to ask my friends in the martial arts world to bring some men as reinforcements?"

Before this, she had already told me, in fits and starts, about the fierce battle the "Angels of the Night" had just fought against the plague.

"Plague," as a senior member of the gang and an uncle of the gang leader Golden Fox, certainly wouldn't just sit idly by. His severe injuries were entirely due to his own ruthless and vicious actions, which provoked a frenzied revenge. I personally counted; at least fifty assassins have fallen in the grove, all killed by Plague. Since this group is so arrogant, we must be on guard..."

Part 2: Tower of the Dead

— Chapter 4 - Koga Ninja —

"Is the person you're inviting to help you 'Lone Wolf' Xiao Shi?"

The information we obtained from Su Lun indicates that Xiao Keleng has a half-brother who is a notorious lone assassin in the Japanese underworld, nicknamed "Lone Wolf." However, someone like Xiao Shi is always elusive; why would he get involved in a fight like ours? He's an assassin, not a bodyguard.

Xiao Ke gave a cold, lonely laugh: "Him? Even if he wanted to come, we might not dare to use him. This July, at Osaka Airport, in full view of hundreds of Japanese police officers, he assassinated the visiting Nepalese Foreign Minister. This incident alarmed high-ranking officials at Interpol, who have already issued a red notice and offered a reward of $800,000 for information leading to his arrest. If he comes, trouble will follow—"

I also learned about the case she mentioned from the newspapers. The murdered foreign minister was the Nepalese president's most beloved nephew. The Nepalese president was furious at his nephew's murder and immediately approved the formation of a 60-strong special police force by the Nepalese military, which was dispatched directly to Japan to participate in a large-scale police operation to search for the killer.

Xiao Keleng is right. It's best not to mess with someone like Xiao Shi who's always getting into trouble.

"The person I want to invite is someone Mr. Feng also knows—Wang Jiangnan, who belongs to the Japanese branch of the Divine Gun Society."

I nodded slightly. Wang Jiangnan was one of the "Thirteen Eagles" under Sun Long, the leader of the Divine Gun Society. He was ranked thirteenth, so he was also known as "Wang Thirteen" in the martial arts world.

"Will he come?" I asked, expressing my concern.

The Sharpshooter Society has only been operating in Japan for five years, and has only been establishing itself for less than two. Therefore, I am worried that Wang Jiangnan and others might be afraid of the Yamaguchi-gumi's powerful influence in the area and wouldn't want to get involved. Our main target for prevention is not the "Black Angels," but the Yamaguchi-gumi, which has ties to Watanabe Castle.

"Yes," Xiao Keleng answered with certainty.

Guan Baoling secretly yawned, but then got up embarrassedly to pour water as a cover.

Geophysically speaking, she hadn't rested for 24 hours. Regardless of how time is calculated in the alternate dimension, she hadn't slept for at least two days, the 9th and 10th, and should be exhausted.

After pouring the water, Xiao Keleng smiled understandingly at Guan Baoling and said, "Miss Guan, you're probably not interested in these messy things in the martial arts world. Why don't you take a nap on the sofa first, and we'll wake you up if anything comes up?"