Histoires de fantômes

Chapitre 109

"As everyone knows, anyone who damages the Fang Demon's teeth will not only bring trouble upon themselves but also endanger everyone present—" Zhang Baisen stared at Wang Jiangnan, his eyes flashing with multicolored light. His voice wasn't loud or shrill, but it reached everyone's ears clearly, leaving them convinced. Even I, a Chinese person who didn't believe in the Fang Demon's existence, found his words very reasonable.

"So now that the tooth has appeared, whatever it does, let it be. There's no need to panic." He put the tooth back on the table.

Part 4: Reincarnation

— Chapter 5 — The Skinned Dead —

If the same words came from Xiao Keleng's mouth, I might not believe them or express doubt, but now that they are coming from Zhang Baisen's solemn words, I have no choice but to believe them.

"The Fanged Demon is like an extremely cunning swindler. It doesn't possess any particularly lethal power; as long as one's heart is upright, it has no openings. Moreover, it only deceives those who are lewd and lustful, and there are certainly no such people among us—"

Shao Bai muttered, "Brother Zhang, why bother with all this? We're here for an exchange and tourism trip, why are we causing all this trouble?" He ran his hands through his messy hair and scratched it a few times, showing his extreme impatience.

Zhang Baisen adopted a serious tone: "We are Chinese. On Japanese territory, if we are not united and our own people don't help each other, won't our own compatriots suffer in the end? I won't force you. Even without your 'divine calculations of heaven and earth and the five transformations of plum blossoms,' we can still get through this calamity."

Hawke's expression suddenly changed: "So you two are the invincible prophets regarded as 'divine beings' by the Pentagon?" He stood up and bowed deeply to Shao Bai and Shao Hei.

Shao Hei chuckled twice, his yellowed teeth showing, and looked up at the roof, showing no appreciation for Hawke's respect.

I've heard the story behind the title "Celestial Being" before—after the Pentagon issued the "Playing Card Wanted" order, the search for Iraqi fugitives didn't go smoothly, so Rumsfeld hired several top paranormal experts from South America, Africa, and Asia to try to find traces of Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, and others through "spirit binding."

In this "spirit-binding" ceremony that seemed like child's play to outsiders, Shao Bai and Shao Hei's "Heaven and Earth Divine Numbers and Plum Blossom Five Transformations" skills displayed extraordinary abilities, practically becoming a compass for the US military's search operation. Just a few months earlier, they had received the "Medal of the First Class Combat Hero" from the Pentagon and were awarded the honorary title of "Celestial Being."

This skill is a mysterious variant of traditional I Ching studies; using it to help Americans "find people" is a waste of its potential. The Shao family's ancestral tradition of "interpreting the I Ching and divination" enjoys the highest reputation and prestige among Chinese people worldwide… I found Xiao Keleng's unusually fearful reaction quite surprising. How could such a free-spirited and forthright girl become so terrified upon encountering the topic of the "Fanged Demon"?

The only person present who remained silent was Guan Baoling, who kept her hands still holding her teacup, as if the issue being discussed had nothing to do with her.

Wang Jiangnan's face flushed red because no one responded to his bold act of throwing away his teeth: "The Fang Demon is nothing but a mythical creature, why are you all making such a fuss? Besides, there are over 160 brothers from the Divine Gun Society in the courtyard, with more than 400 firearms of various lengths and lengths. Can't we handle a mere demon or monster?"

Still no one responded to him, and he stood awkwardly in front of the table, like a bad actor who had messed up his performance.

"I'm tired, I'm going back to my room..." Guan Baoling got up, nodded politely to everyone, and then slowly went out.

Wang Jiangnan waved helplessly and followed them out.

Watching Wang Jiangnan's retreating figure, Shao Bai chuckled, "A charming young man like Mr. Wang is most likely to become a target of the Fang Demon! I wonder who will be unlucky tonight!"

Shao Hei suddenly raised his head, looking at Zhang Baisen with a puzzled expression: "Boss Zhang, I can't sense the existence of that thing—" He picked up the tooth and examined it for a good ten seconds, then shook his head again: "I can't sense the existence of the Fang Demon. Do you think it escaped on its own... or is it so sophisticated that it's impossible to track?"

His left hand held the compass, his right hand was constantly calculating, and his lips were moving incessantly, as if he were chanting some kind of incantation.

Zhang Baisen said nervously, "Perhaps it's too fast, too fast to pinpoint its location. Let's calculate it again, calculate it again..."

The Book of Changes (I Ching) and its eight trigrams are the most profound and sophisticated knowledge in ancient China. Masters use it to predict the changes and transformations of anything, and the accuracy is often over 90%.

Shao Bai and Shao Hei are currently the top experts in the Chinese I Ching research community, and their prophetic abilities have conquered Americans and even people all over the world.

I walked up behind Xiao Keleng. She had stopped trembling and was holding a cup of hot tea, her eyes fixed on the flickering flames in the fireplace. Now, there probably wouldn't be any more strange bubbling sounds, and everyone's attention had shifted to the sudden appearance of the Fanged Demon.

"Xiao Xiao, it's nothing serious. You know the strength of the Divine Sniper Society. You'll be fine tonight..."

That was the only way I could comfort her, since the fanged demon was just something that existed in Japanese folklore and mythology.

She looked up, her face pale and bloodless. The firelight cast a dark red silhouette on her short hair—"Mr. Feng, you may not know, but two years ago, a shocking 'bar massacre' occurred in Sapporo, which gripped the nation. The government issued a media blackout, so no news leaked out..."

I frowned: "Could the bloodshed be related to the Fang Demon?"

Shao Bai interjected, "I know about that. The band's drummer crushed a tooth that suddenly appeared, poured whiskey on it, and set it on fire. As a result, by dawn, all 125 people in the bar were dead. Without exception, the cause of death was a bloody hole in their necks where a fanged demon had bitten them."

Xiao Ke frowned, got up and ran to the bathroom, and then the sound of her vomiting could be heard.

Hawke chimed in, "Two of Xiao's close friends from school died in that massacre, which is why she's so sensitive to the Fang Demon."

It seems that the Fang Demon is real. Night always brings inexplicable fear, and these ghost stories, which are a matter of belief, only have a soul-stirring power against the backdrop of darkness.

Imagine this: in the pitch-black night, a fanged demon transforms into a bewitching beauty, throwing herself into the arms of a lustful man. Just as the man, consumed by lust, begins his fantasies, the beauty suddenly transforms into a blue-faced, fanged monster, claiming his life—these chapters seem to be taken from stories in *Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio*, stories already commonplace in the minds of Chinese people. It's laughable how these neurotic Japanese have plagiarized Chinese culture to this extent, even directly appropriating demons and monsters.

Tonight, I need a good night's sleep so I'll have enough energy to go to Maple Temple tomorrow. But seeing everyone so nervously discussing the Fang Demon, I'm afraid that if I rashly leave the group and go upstairs, I'll be seen as a heretic again.

After Wang Jiangnan returned, he gave the sentries a strict order: "Four-hour shifts, keep your eyes wide open and 120% alert, and fire a warning shot immediately if there is any abnormal situation!"

He had to prove himself, to Guan Baoling, and to everyone else. Establishing authority is difficult, but losing it often happens overnight.

Time flew by in half-hour increments, and the worst thing I could have done was completely ignore Yelan's presence. After we finished talking about the "Golden Sea" and agreed to go to Maple Temple together the next day, I almost completely forgot about him, leaving him alone in the room furthest to the left of the wing.

Guan Baoling's beauty aroused Yelan's lust, and at this moment, he should have been the most vulnerable target for the Fang Demon—the entire Divine Gun Society was likely under high tension all night, and at dawn, only the Shao brothers, Shao Bai and Shao Hei, were asleep. Everyone in the living room, including Zhang Baisen, had stayed up all night, even Xiao Keleng.

As the first rays of dawn broke outside, Hawke stretched with a smile: "Thankfully, nothing happened tonight!" Despite staying up all night, he was still full of energy. I couldn't discern the origin of his martial arts skills, but at such a young age, he had become a top figure in the Divine Shot Society, demonstrating Sun Long's high regard for him.

Over the walkie-talkie, the sentries in various locations reported in turn: "No abnormalities, everything is normal."

Wang Jiangnan was relieved and pointed contemptuously at the tooth on the table: "Does anyone still believe those ridiculous rumors? The legend of the Fang Demon is just something the Japanese made up to scare infants..."

He hung the walkie-talkie on his belt, flung open the door, and strode out.

“He’s only worried about Miss Guan. Sigh, this is troublesome…” Hawke muttered to himself, his brows furrowed, constantly turning the platinum ring on his finger. When he wasn’t smiling, his gaze became sinister, like an eagle poised to pounce and seize its prey.

I stayed by Xiao Keleng's side the whole time. As the sky brightened, her mood improved considerably. She turned the fire in the fireplace back up and said to me apologetically, "Mr. Feng, last night... perhaps I was overthinking things..."

Girls are girls, no matter how strong they are, there are always moments of vulnerability and helplessness in the darkness. Xiao Ke's tiredness was impossible to hide, and she had heavy dark circles under her eyes. She should go back to her room and get a good night's sleep.

I smiled at her, not without regret: "It's a pity that the Fang Demon didn't appear, otherwise, Mr. Wang would have had a chance to prove his heroism!"

Wang Jiangnan desperately needed a chance to show off his skills in front of Guan Baoling, but fate didn't grant him that opportunity.

Xiao Ke stood up wearily, holding her head, and walked out unsteadily. After reaching the door, she turned back and instructed, "Mr. Feng, I'm going to rest. If there's anything you need, you can ask Anzi to do it. She's my personal assistant."

I sighed deeply, preparing to wash my face in the bathroom to calm myself before heading to Fengge Temple. Anzi is Xiao Keleng's confidante—this is somewhat dangerous. I have a feeling that Anzi is definitely harboring a secret… Last night, after dinner, I didn't see the Anzi sisters, nor did I see Yelan. Perhaps that guy is dreaming of his "golden sea" on his warm, soft Simmons bed! Gold is the strangest thing on Earth, capable of turning a perfectly normal person into a hysterical criminal. Humanity's desire for and possession of it has never ceased, not even for a second, from ancient times to the present.

The courtyard was deserted, with a thin layer of white frost covering the ground, and the stone steps were slightly slippery when stepped on.

I've memorized that incantation perfectly. In fact, it's just a very common phrase in the native Egyptian language, and it's the one that shamans use most often when performing rituals to summon souls.

"Let's give it a try! Since the dragon solemnly conveyed this message to Yelan, perhaps... perhaps..." I grinned, really not having much confidence.

Upon closer inspection, one can discover more than a dozen barely noticeable round holes on the villa's exterior walls, all concealed by withered ivy vines. In other places, the stone walls are marked with very light red pencil crosses, and everywhere one can see yawning young people, vigilantly looking around.

Choosing Xunfuyuan as the main base for attack and defense was not a wise decision. Every time I thought about the layout of the main building, resembling "nine-headed birds struggling for their lives," I felt uneasy. If the Sharpshooter Association put all their bets on Xunfuyuan this time, being affected by the feng shui layout, I was afraid... Lost in thought, I quickly arrived at Yelan's door. The carved white pine door was tightly closed; he was clearly still fast asleep.

I knocked on the door a few times, but there was no response from inside.

The sunlight shone on our feet, and the thin frost began to melt slowly, leaving the stone pavement damp.

"Yelan, Yelan... Time to get up! We have a lot to do today!" I knocked on the door again, calling softly. Strangely, no one answered; Yelan seemed to be fast asleep.

My commotion attracted the attention of four sharpshooter sentries nearby. One of them, a young man with his hair parted in the middle and who looked somewhat like the movie star Tony Leung, politely asked, "Mr. Feng, would you like to break in? There hasn't been any sound from this room since yesterday evening."

I knocked a few more times, then pressed my ear against the door. There was absolutely no sound from inside; I couldn't even hear Yelan's snoring or breathing. After a slight hesitation, I nodded to the young man: "Alright, open the door, try not to damage it..." I also possessed lock-picking skills, but it wasn't convenient to demonstrate them in front of others.

The young man deftly took out a set of jingling master keys and unlocked the door in just a few seconds.

The moment the door was pushed open, a stench of blood assaulted the senses, causing people to stumble backward.

Yeran lay face down on the large bed, his arms and legs spread out exaggeratedly in all directions, completely naked, his back a bloody mess. His blood had soaked the sheets, then dripped onto the floor, slowly forming a pool of blood in a low-lying area.

I was completely unprepared and never imagined that someone would harm him.

The message was sent out immediately, and a minute later, Wang Jiangnan, Hawke, Xiao Keleng, and Zhang Baisen all arrived.

I have examined Yeran's wounds. The fatal wound is below his neck, a strange tooth mark that runs straight into the cartilage of his throat. A piece of skin, about forty centimeters square, has been neatly peeled off his back. Similarly, the skin on his chest has been peeled off, covering exactly the area containing the Egyptian hieroglyphs and symbols.

Xiao Ke coldly examined the tooth mark and gasped, "It's... the Fang Demon?"

Indeed, judging from the surface wound, it was exactly the same method of killing as the legendary Fang Demon. The wound was one centimeter long and five millimeters wide, piercing straight into the throat, causing a large area of trachea rupture, almost an instant kill. But the Fang Demon couldn't have peeled off his skin. I find it hard to believe that such a monster would be interested in the legend of the "Golden Sea".

“Xiao Lai—” Wang Jiangnan shouted loudly.

"Here." The young man who opened the door for me stepped forward. Before Wang Jiangnan could give any more instructions, he reported clearly, "Since 5 p.m. yesterday, I have been leading the brothers of Group Nine to guard the left wing of the main building. We have been conducting a thorough patrol every ten minutes on average. We have not heard any movement in this room, and no one has entered or left the room from beginning to end."

The fact that the door was locked from the inside when it was first opened proves that the murderer did not leave through the front door.

I cautiously surveyed the room. There was no back window; where could the murderer have escaped after the killing? Unless there was some secret passage in this villa—when my gaze fell on Xiao Ke's face, her complexion was alarmingly pale: "There's no secret passage! Mr. Scalpel has already used ultrasound to probe the entire foundation..."

Yelan stared blankly upwards with empty eyes, his ashen face expressionless. Perhaps even in death, he still harbored the resentment of not having obtained the gold.

Xiao Keleng pinched her nose and walked out. She wasn't a professional coroner, and she always felt a little uncomfortable facing a man's naked body.

Hawke had been observing carefully, remaining silent until Xiao Keleng left. Only then did he calmly ask Wang Jiangnan, "Thirteenth Brother, there's a lot of male secretions in the pool of blood on the sheets. So we can infer that Yelan had a period of intense arousal before his death. According to Japanese legends about fanged demons, they like to disguise themselves as alluring young women, seducing men into bed before launching a sudden attack. I think—the murderer will be a woman, or at least someone connected to a woman. Of course, I don't believe in demons and monsters. Even if they exist, they're just something heretical sects fabricated to mislead people..."

He used a long, slender knife to poke around in the pool of blood; the viscous red liquid had already begun to congeal.

Based on the degree of blood clotting, we can estimate that Yelan died around 7 p.m. last night, which is when Xiao Keleng and I noticed an unidentified object passing by outside the window.

There are four girls in the villa: Guan Baoling, Xiao Keleng, Anzi, and Xinzi.

The first two were with us at 7 o'clock, so they had no time to commit the crime. I almost blurted out, "Anzi! It must be related to her!"

I didn't believe it was the Fang Demon who did it, so I retreated and ran towards the right wing of the main building. When I reached the room of the Anzi sisters, I took three deep breaths and pounded on the door. At the same time, the tactical knife had already sprung into my right palm, ready to be launched at any moment.

Yelan's death infuriated me even more, because from the moment I received his distress call, things had never gone smoothly. There were twists and turns, but the connection was broken here, which at least wiped out half of the chance to wake Tengjia.

"Anzi? Xinzi? Open the door! Open the door!" I shouted loudly, and everyone from the Divine Gun Society followed. Wang Jiangnan took the lead and rushed to the front.

No one answered. By the third time he called, the impatient Wang Jiangnan had already kicked the door open with a bang.

Two single beds were placed opposite each other in the room, and the two people were curled up in the quilt and fast asleep. The room was filled with the unique scent of perfume that girls have.

I shouted again, "Anzi, get up now! I have something to ask you!"

Traitor, murderer, fanged demon—in my mind, these three labels have been firmly placed on Anzi's head, leaving her no choice but to admit it. If they were enemies of the Divine Gun Society, they would definitely be people from Watanabe Castle's side, but why did she kill Yelan and even peel off two large pieces of his skin?

Everyone crowded at the doorway, and Xiao Ke rushed in, heading straight to the bed on the left.

I cried out urgently, "Be careful—be careful!" If Anzi is the murderer, his desperate counterattack could be a devastating blow. Of all the people present, my only worry is Xiao Keleng.

The quilt was pulled back, and Xiao Ke hissed as she gasped, whispering, "Dead! She's dead too!"

Wang Jiangnan, Hawke, and I rushed to the bedside almost simultaneously. Anzi lay on her side with her knees bent, revealing a translucent, bluish-gray tooth mark on her neck. There was no blood, but she was indeed dead, killed by the Fang Demon as well. Her hair was disheveled on the pillow, and her face was calm and peaceful.

Xiao Ke's cold hands trembled slightly. She pulled the blanket back down and turned to me in a low voice, "I...I'm so e outside with me..."

Before I could even nod in agreement, Wang Jiangnan blocked my way with his hand: "Wait! Wait!" His attitude was extremely arrogant and rude; no one had ever dared to treat me so rudely before.

"Feng, what makes you say Anzi is the murderer? Yelan is your friend. You two had a private conversation in his room for over two hours yesterday, and you were the first to find him dead this morning... Besides, did you receive a call from a mysterious person last night? Hmph, I now suspect you're the mole within Watanabe Castle's organization. Sorry, I'll have to put you through this..."

He waved his arm, and two young men immediately rushed in and blocked my way.

There was a commotion among the people outside the door. Given Wang Jiangnan's prestige and influence, if he wanted to identify who the murderer was, there would definitely be a lot of people who would respond enthusiastically.

Xiao Ke smiled bitterly: "Thirteenth Brother, you've misunderstood... Mr. Feng couldn't possibly be a spy..." But her voice was too weak and was drowned out by the noise of the Divine Gun Society.

I looked at Wang Jiangnan, who thought he had gotten the better of me, with a cold smile: "Mr. Wang, take your hand off, or don't blame me for not giving the Sharpshooter Association any face." He was already missing a hand, and I didn't want to turn his other hand into an iron hand as well, but his arrogance had really angered me.

"Take him down!" Wang Jiangnan underestimated me. Just as the two young men reached out to grab my arms, somehow, my body flew backward, landing more than three meters away with two loud thuds, screaming in pain. This superior martial art, the "Eighteen Falling Techniques," is impossible for ordinary people to defend against, and the stronger the force applied, the harder the fall.

"You're asking for death—" Wang Jiangnan's arms flew around, instantly wrapping around my neck. His attack was fast and ruthless; he wanted to choke me in one move and subdue me with judo skills that combined Mongolian wrestling techniques. Unfortunately, his martial arts skills were far inferior to mine.

My hands flashed and grabbed his left and right shoulders. With my fingers, I dug them into his flesh like steel hooks, instantly dissolving the force in his arms.