Histoires de fantômes

Chapitre 299

I strolled upstairs to the second floor. Xiao Keleng was very patient, arranging everything in the room exactly as it had been before, including the sofa, floor lamp, curtains, and wooden floor—all exactly the same as before it was dismantled. When I pushed open the door to the bookstore, all the bookshelves were there, but unfortunately, most of the books were lying askew.

I picked up a book at random; it only had a cover, and the pages inside looked like they'd been gnawed by mice, covered in teeth marks.

"Could these be the Fang Demon's teeth marks?" I stared at the messy pages, unable to connect them with Xiao Yan. Roughly speaking, more than 70% of the books in the study had been bitten by Xiao Yan, and most of them were old editions with a faint musty smell from their covers.

Just before we ate, I asked Xiao Keleng where Xiao Yan had gone. She just shook her head and smiled bitterly, unable to tell me Xiao Yan's whereabouts, but she was fairly certain that he was in the submarine at the Well of Spirits.

"What exactly did Xiao Yan gain in the underwater world? When he called me with that arrogant tone, he said he wanted to be the master of the world and the master of the universe. What has he done now? What does he want to do next?" My mind was full of questions, which kept me awake all night.

The bronze warrior statue in the living room still stands firmly. As I stand before it, scenes from everything I've experienced in this villa replay in my mind. Guan Baoling, the tycoon, the plague, Wang Jiangnan, Sun Long… Now, everyone has become a passerby in my life. The only one who remains eternally is Su Lun.

It was already 3 a.m. when I fell asleep. Instinctively, I left the bedroom door ajar, facing the study door. That way, if someone sneaked into the study again, I could detect it immediately.

Xiao Lai gave me a pistol, which I keep under my pillow so I can draw it and shoot at any time.

"Xiao Yan, Xiao Yan, Xiao Yan... When will Yan Xun arrive here? As Xiao Yan's older sister, her words should have some influence over Xiao Yan, right?" My mind went blank for a moment, and I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

This was just a brief nap, very short, less than twenty minutes, before I was awakened by a light, rustling footstep. I turned and reached for my pistol, immediately aiming at the crack in the door, still pretending to snore softly.

A thin, gray-clad young man appeared in the study doorway, his footsteps extremely light. He glanced into the study before turning towards the bedroom. I remained motionless, my hand gripping the gun beneath my body, my snores consistently even.

He peeked through the crack in the door a few times and chuckled softly. There was no doubt it was Xiao Yan's voice.

"Release the restrictions, release the restrictions, but what should we do next?" he muttered to himself.

I heard him slapping the bronze warrior hard, and it seemed he was holding a small hammer in his hand, tapping it a few times with a "clang, clang, clang." Making such a commotion in the dead of night had already alerted the night patrol of the Sharpshooter Guild, but everyone thought Xiao Yan was crazy and didn't bother with him.

"Ah, so the secret is here? Open sesame, open sesame..." He chuckled and threw the hammer on the floor with a "thud".

I got out of bed silently and peeked through the crack in the door. He had already taken the bell off the bronze warrior's arm. Or rather, he cut it; what he had thrown on the floor was a sharp dagger, capable of severing the warrior's arm that was attached to the ancient bell.

After the ancient bell was moved, a large, hollow hole was revealed in the warrior's body. He reached into the hole and groped around, muttering incantations: "Nine on the left, twenty-two on the right; fifteen on the left, sixty on the right; ten on the left, ten on the right. Hmm, all done, it's that simple, open—"

He withdrew his hand, straightened up, grabbed the samurai's sword hilt, and pulled hard.

With a "click," the longsword wasn't drawn, but the warrior's head suddenly fell off, rolling limply into the corner. A touchscreen keyboard immediately popped out of its neck, displaying at least thirty blinking cursors.

Xiao Yan was so happy she almost jumped up: "Haha, I knew 'no fight, no friendship'! Now let me see what kind of group password could lock the aircraft so firmly for a thousand years."

His right hand flew across the keyboard, his fingers moving like a dragonfly about to lay its eggs. Within seconds, he pulled out his phone from his left pocket, dialed a number, and asked, "Will it work?"

The other person replied with something, and he was so happy he almost jumped up. He casually tossed aside the keyboard, reached down with both hands, and gripped the bronze sword again. This time, the sword flew out with a sound, flashing a cold, sharp light in the room. I've tested the sharpness of this sword before; it's absolutely a formidable weapon, but unfortunately, it's locked up here, unable to unleash its full combat potential.

"It is indeed a fine sword, but your swordsmanship is not very good. You can't unleash the power of a good sword, can you?" When he looked up at the sound of my voice, my gun was already pointed at his forehead.

"Wind? I knew I wasn't wrong. Those messy traps won't stop you. Plus, with the incredibly intelligent Sister Suren, the two of you together, even if not the invincible duo, should be few and far between in the world." He even casually twirled his sword a few times, completely ignoring the gun in my hand.

I hadn't seen him for over a month, and he was noticeably thinner and darker, with messy hair and a scraggly beard of varying lengths. When he grinned, his teeth were half black and half yellow, indicating he hadn't brushed them for at least a week.

"Xiao Yan, what were you doing just now? Making everyone worry about you?" I softened my tone. He looked like a playful child, like many young people who spend all night playing video games in internet cafes.

“I’m doing something big. If I succeed, I’ll gain unparalleled glory.” He wiped his tired, drooping eyelids. “Feng, I will surpass everyone, including the one who forged this bronze warrior. I will make the whole world look up to me, and all teenagers will take Xiao Yan as their role model, and all hacker organizations will be recognized by society and governments…”

He talked on and on, waving his long sword around as if it were his way of keeping time.

Fortunately, he's still fairly sane and doesn't spout nonsense. In fact, whenever we drink and chat together and talk about the future of the hacker world, he always says this; it's almost become a formulaic "cliché."

"No matter what, come with me to see Su Lun now. Yan Xun will be here soon, and we can all sit down and talk. Little Yan, you're not a child anymore, don't worry us, okay?"

I tried to make him understand the seriousness of the situation, but to my surprise, he suddenly burst into laughter: "What? Yan Xun will come too? Impossible, impossible, impossible, Feng, you're really going to make me laugh to death, hahahaha..." He laughed so hard that he dropped his sword, bent over and clutched his stomach, panting heavily, as if I had told the most hilarious joke in history.

Finally, he stopped laughing and said to me, word by word, "Yan Xun, it's impossible for her to leave the Pentagon's lair, do you understand? If she leaves there, she could die at any moment."

I realized that my understanding of Yan Xun was seriously flawed, but I didn't want to dwell on it any longer. I brandished my pistol and said, "Alright, let's go see Su Lun first. I remember there are a few cases of good wine in the villa's cellar; let's have a good drink." Although I wasn't confident I could get him drunk, I only needed to keep him under control. Su Lun could handle all the persuasive work.

“I’m not going. I have very important things to do now, and I must go back to Fengge Temple.” He stopped laughing, raised his chin to look at me, and waved his hand to deflect the gun barrel.

"You have no choice." I said coldly.

"Feng, I don't believe you would shoot. We're good brothers, aren't we?" He puffed out his chest proudly, pressed down his bird's nest-like hair, and tried his best to look solemn and serious.

"If you leave, I'll shoot, and I mean it." The safety on my pistol had already been released; I was confident that my first bullet would pierce his buttocks, rendering him incapable of leaping. Controlling the situation before he became corrupted was the most urgent task at hand.

The night was deep and quiet outside the window, with only the chill of the night seeping in through the glass. We, the brothers who once worked together to break through the bottom, had now been forced to the point of drawing our guns against each other.

"Xiao Yan, believe us, we're all thinking of you. Turn back!" I slowly moved my feet, blocking the path to the stairs. If he wanted to jump out the window to escape, even half a second of delay would be enough for me to raise my gun and aim.

The tricks he did to that bronze warrior were quite bizarre, because for so many years, Scalpel, Xiao Keleng, Su Lun, and I never thought of using brute force to break it, let alone that a modern keyboard was hidden inside. Who did Xiao Yan call just now? Does he have accomplices?

"I want to be a big shot, a big shot like the 'King of Tomb Raiders' Yang Tian, a big shot that all the heroes of the world would bow down to. Feng, don't interfere in my private affairs, okay?" He became impatient.

I gave a cold laugh, deciding to stop the pointless verbal sparring and let force do the talking.

“Feng, I miss the first time I saw you in the Egyptian desert. You and Sister Suren are both renowned masters in the martial arts world, yet you traveled thousands of miles to ask me for help. That feeling of being trusted and valued was truly wonderful—” He suddenly swayed and crashed into the glass window.

My pistol shot up, but my finger hesitated for a moment before pulling the trigger. In a battle between masters, a slight difference can lead to a huge mistake. With a crash, the glass shattered and fell to the ground, and he had already disappeared from the window.

"Xiao Yan, don't go!" I shouted, chased after him to the window, and followed him up to the roof.

Xiao Yan's lightness skill improved rapidly, and she dashed towards the mountaintop behind the villa like the wind. The sentries on the four corner watchtowers had long been withdrawn, and although several members of the Sharpshooter Gang were on their way, it was impossible for them to catch up with Xiao Yan.

Without hesitation, I gave chase, but I didn't push my agility to the limit. Instead, I adopted a leisurely, tailing approach. Judging from Xiao Yan's phone call earlier, he had one or even several accomplices. My goal was to gather information and capture them all at once, rather than resorting to a superficial, ineffective interception.

In the night, Fengge Temple resembles a towering ancient castle, especially the towering Tower of the Dead, which stands out against the vast darkness, giving it an eerie and unpredictable feel from a distance.

Xiao Yan was heading towards the Well of Spirits, the entrance to the underwater world accessible by submarine. If he had already unlocked all the secrets of the seabed, then the towering scaffolding, the glowing red gem, and the enormous domed structure would naturally be within his grasp.

"Perhaps this is a good thing? If we can communicate with him properly and uncover the truth about the underwater tomb, at least we'll know where Big Brother Yang Tian went. Of course, in the eyes of all the forces that covet the 'Wrath of the Sun God,' Xiao Yan immediately became the focus of everyone's attention. After all, the big shots, Sun Long, and others have been eager for that gem for quite some time."

At the same time, I can't help but think of the tycoon. He rushed to Hokkaido for Guan Baoling, but who could know what he was thinking? He liked to get involved in anything that involved profit, hoping to reap huge profits in an instant. He was a businessman, and the essence of a businessman is to make profits, and to make profits continuously and ever higher.

On the high walls of Fengge Temple, Xiao Yan suddenly stopped, looked back, and raised her hand in the distance: "Feng, why are you so slow? Hurry up, I'll take you to the underwater tomb. It's a great pity for the scientific community that such a magnificent world is missing an expert like you to comment on and verify it."

He was certain I wouldn't fire, which is why he waited so confidently for me to catch up.

I felt somewhat helpless. If he were a vicious enemy, a Japanese ninja, or a phantom demon or a fanged demon, I would have taken him down with all my might and shown no mercy. But he was Xiao Yan, the little brother who was protected by the "Three Heroes of Flying Flowers," a genius hacker who feared nothing.

In the dark bushes nearby, something seemed to be moving rapidly, then the straps on my guns snagged on something on the ground with a ripping sound. Immediately afterward, the red dot on the laser sight flashed, and at least four submachine guns appeared simultaneously, pointed at my chest.

I quickly rolled low to the ground, not wanting to attract the police's attention by firing my gun. As I leaped back into the air, I unleashed a flurry of kicks, my toes striking both men in the jaw. Two men let out low screams in the darkness—a common code word used by the Japanese underworld, indicating that this was a gang of yakuza members eyeing the jewels and trying to take advantage of the chaos. As I landed, I grabbed the tangled hair on their heads and twisted it sharply, silencing them completely.

The night breeze rustled through the bushes, and there was no unusual movement within a hundred paces, so I slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

With Fuuki-ji Temple and "The Wrath of the Sun God" becoming the focus of attention across all sectors of society, it's safe to say that not only the Japanese underworld, but also the global underworld, will inevitably take notice of this place. Leaving aside the mysterious value of that gemstone, its popularity in the gold jewelry market alone is enough to make many people willing to take the risk and spare no effort for it.

Xiao Yan disappeared over the wall, and I chased after her again.

If words alone cannot move him, I must at least see him enter the submarine with my own eyes to verify this result, and then go back to Su Lun and Xiao Keleng to think of a solution.

Fengge Temple was utterly silent, with only the streetlights casting a lonely glow. From some inexplicable valley, the chilling howls of wolves echoed. The desolate mountains, the ancient temple, and the wolf howls created an extremely eerie and terrifying scene. Of course, the addition of the bottomless well was enough to send shivers down the spines of ordinary people.

I rushed to the courtyard where the Well of Spirits was located, and sure enough, Xiao Yan was there, standing on the ramp leading into the submarine, only half a step away from retreating, closing the door, and submerging. An indescribable chill lingered in the courtyard, and a white indicator light on the submarine, like a will-o'-the-wisp on a grave, cast Xiao Yan's shadow on the ground, like a thin bamboo pole.

“Feng, you still made it. I’ve left the door open for you. Do you want to come up?” He waved to me, his pale, withered hand reminding me of the claws of a ghost in a horror movie.

If it were a sunny day, going on an underwater cruise in a submarine would be very appealing, but now it's the dead of night, and anyone else would probably think of him as a wandering ghost.

"Xiao Yan, come back with me, okay?" I put away my gun and raised my hands to show that I had no intention of using force.

"Go back? No, no, my future lies in the heavens, in the universe, amidst the myriad free-roaming celestial bodies. Wind, you don't understand. When I discovered I possessed that power to transcend everything, I was ready to be launched from Earth and embrace space—"

I quickly raised my voice to interrupt him: "Xiao Yan, tell me what exactly happened in the underwater tomb? Are you out of your mind? You have to come back with me and explain yourself. Remember? This submarine was discovered by you, me, and Xiao Xiao together, and it belongs to all three of us. So, even if you want to use it for anything, you have to get our permission."

He shook his head vigorously, chuckling coldly, "Feng, you're wrong again. After I leave, the submarine will naturally be yours, but you must understand that its original owner is the Allied Forces, not you, me, or Third Sister. That pathetic and laughable Feng Lin Huo Shan went through so much trouble to steal the submarine and find the path to the underwater tomb, but ultimately failed to take a single step. Look, there are far too many fools in the world. Guys like him only deserve to be cannon fodder for the Allied Forces, or be the 'mantis' trying to stop a chariot. Feng, the future belongs to smart people like you and me, doesn't it?"

I frowned. "Allied forces? You mean, this submarine is Allied property from World War II?"

Towards the end of World War II, the Allied forces of the United States and Britain did a great deal of "covert" work, including smuggling large numbers of German scientists back to Germany and transporting vast quantities of scarce resources to ten military bases along the US-Canada border. If this "submarine" is indeed a product of that era, then German contributions were undoubtedly significant.

“Who cares whose it is? This is a world where the winner takes all. Feng, you really should come in with me. I can tell you a lot of information, including what you want most—” He stepped back, preparing to close the door and dive down.

I said my last words hastily: "Xiao Yan, if you're not going back, hand over the letter and don't force her to do anything!"

If he cannot answer this question with confidence, then the result is obvious: Nobuko has become a victim of the Fang Demon.

"Her? Why would she go back? Why would I force her? What a joke! She's fine; I'm teaching her how to be a space hacker. Anyway, I'll give you my call and say hello to Sister Su Lun for me." He pulled his phone out of his pocket, waved it at me, made a face, and laughed heartily.

The dark hatch closed silently, and then the submarine suddenly sank, leaving behind only a long string of eerie white bubbles.

I shook my head and smiled bitterly: "Go with you? I wonder if there's only one way out, and no way back?"

After Suren returned to my side, we made a very sincere agreement: no matter when or what action anyone takes, the other must obtain their consent, and we must never blindly put ourselves in danger. From now on, each person's life belongs only half to themselves; the other half has been given to the other.

Therefore, if I must enter the submarine, I will definitely notify Sulen in advance.

When Xiaoyan mentioned Xinzi just now, he seemed open and honest, not like he was lying on purpose. But the fact that he had the idea of training Xinzi to be a super hacker was really wishful thinking.

Standing in the courtyard, gazing at the spire of the Tower of the Dead, many memories inevitably surfaced. After all, this ancient temple, rife with strange occurrences, had brought me so many bizarre encounters, and had repeatedly caused Guan Baoling to disappear, triggering several tense underworld conflicts in the martial arts world.

Now? Will the struggle for profit among gangsters escalate further as the secrets of the underwater tomb become clearer?

Part 6: Invincible

— Chapter 3 — Yan Xun, who exists in the form of sound —

When I returned to Xunfuyuan, Su Lun and Xiao Keleng were already sitting in the living room on the first floor waiting for me. The fireplace was blazing and the atmosphere was warm and cozy.

"Brother Feng, where's Xiao Yan? What did he say?" She was a little surprised that I hadn't caught up with Xiao Yan. Since my martial arts and agility far surpassed Xiao Yan's, and I also had the help of a pistol, it was impossible for me to return empty-handed.

I sat down near the fireplace, and Xiao Keleng immediately and considerately served me a cup of steaming rosehip tea.

"He's gone into the Well of Spirits again. Nobuko is still alive, so there's no need to worry. According to Koyuki, he's preparing for an extraordinary space voyage, and the results will be forthcoming soon." I summarized my meeting with Koyuki into the above few sentences. Actually, in my own heart, I didn't fully understand what he was up to.

"Could there be an alien spacecraft hidden in that underwater world?" Xiao Keleng voiced his doubts.

“At least—that’s how it will be.” Suren and I answered almost simultaneously, a perfect example of perfect understanding.

I tried to speculate like this: "Xiao Yan opened the door to the underwater tomb, then discovered and was able to activate the spacecraft hidden within. With his intelligence, cracking codes, manipulating programs, and mastering high-tech electronic tools were his forte. Therefore, his confidence underwent a period of rapid self-inflation. He was still just a child who hadn't grown up, unaware of his own limitations, and thought he could control everything—"

This is why things could quickly spiral out of control, and a mischievous child with immense power could have an immeasurable impact on the world. Doing good or evil is just a matter of a smile or a rage from him.

“Mr. Feng, do you have any way to stop all of this? Xiao Yan has repeatedly said that you are her idol. I always thought that as long as you took action, you could definitely stop him. If you weren’t so concerned about Sister Su Lun’s disappearance, I would have told you everything that happened here long ago.”

Xiao Keleng's attitude was very sincere, which touched me deeply, but I was still unsure if I could do the same.

"Unless we go into the submarine, eliminate all hidden dangers, and take Xiaoyan, Xinzi, and any other possible individuals away, it's still unclear what role 'Sun God's Wrath' played. Once this gem appears, it will surely bring disaster, not fortune. Heaven knows how many people in the underworld are waiting for its sudden appearance!"

On my way back, this was the only thing on my mind. The underwater world is mysterious and unpredictable, and I worried that my good luck wouldn't last. Last time I managed to escape from the glass box, but who knows what the outcome would be next time.

While I was in the restroom, I unexpectedly thought of the mirror that Situ Qiu and the others had passed through, and a sense of confusion arose in my mind: "Now, I'm on this side, who could be on the other side of the mirror?"

The feeling was like sitting in a corner café; although a pane of glass blocked out the city's noise, I was completely transparent, utterly insecure. Perhaps one day, like Guan Baoling, I would disappear from the mirror, becoming a lost soul in a mirrored world. However, when I pushed open that door, I found the mirror above the sink was long gone, leaving only a bare wall.

"What happened?" I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed and a sense of loss.

Being able to travel through a mirror is an extremely adventurous challenge, and just because I don't want to do it now doesn't mean I'll never want to. If I could travel like a tiger from the Tang Dynasty to the present, or from the present to the Tang Dynasty, it would certainly be a strange and exciting experience.

When I returned from the bathroom, Xiao Keleng explained in a low voice before I could speak, "Xiao Yan took away everything in the villa that seemed to have some kind of meaning—everything. She almost dismantled the main building a second time. If it weren't for the bronze warrior statue on the second floor being too heavy, it would have disappeared long ago. But now, although she didn't take it, she has shattered it into pieces, and it no longer has any aesthetic value in the living room."