Asi Enfer - Chapitre 8
He Jianfei said, "No need, let's go find the diary first. Donglu's resentment is strongest on that road. I don't think she would be so stupid as to leave that path to ambush us, especially on such a special day."
Old Li said, "I've been waiting for this day for a long time. I haven't spoken to Donglu in a long time. Let's go inside."
After pondering for a moment, Old Chen followed Old Li inside without any hesitation.
He Jianfei looked at Tian Yinzhen and smiled, "Aren't you afraid?" Tian Yinzhen smiled and said, "Since you're so confident of winning, why should I be afraid?"
By this time, it was completely dark.
Because of the holiday, there were hardly any people on campus. To save money, the school even turned off the streetlights.
So the campus was pitch black, and nothing could be distinguished except for the pale moonlight filtering through the dappled shadows of the trees and casting a mournful glow on the road. There were also some birds, perhaps crows, cawing incessantly, adding to the eerie and terrifying atmosphere.
A white shadow or a firefly would occasionally drift through the bushes, followed by the howling of the wind.
Old Chen couldn't help but ask, "What are those white shadows? Are they some kind of white flags?" He Jianfei smiled faintly, "Those are ghosts. Don't bother with them. They're just taking a stroll out of boredom." Old Chen was so frightened that he shivered and dared not say another word.
Before long, they arrived at a secluded grove of trees. Old Li pointed inside and said, "The body was lying there, and next to it was that diary. This is the last time I've seen it."
Just as Tian Yinzhen was about to step forward to investigate, He Jianfei grabbed her and said, "Wait! What was that place before?"
Mr. Chen replied, "It used to be a main road, you could say it was a main school road."
He Jianfei laughed and said, "Then there's no need to look for it. Who would dare to dig a hole in the middle of the road to hide something for no reason? That diary must be somewhere else, maybe nearby. Let's search everywhere..."
Suddenly, they heard Old Man Li shout, "What are you doing?"
He Jianfei and Tian Yinzhen quickly turned around and asked, "What happened?"
But Old Man Chen's face was bloodless, his whole body was trembling, and he was as pale as a paper doll.
"What are you doing, Uncle Chen?" He Jianfei asked in surprise.
Old Chen said tremblingly, "No...it's nothing, maybe...I was just imagining things."
After walking a few steps, another loud shout came from behind.
Old Li suddenly turned his head and said, "No, there must be a ghost. What did you see? I clearly saw a dark shadow pass by just now. Didn't I tell you not to pay attention to those ghosts?"
Old Chen was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground. He Jianfei had to pour some hot water down his throat before he could stammer, "Just... just now a... dwarf with a face full of sores swept past me."
Old Man Li spat and said, "You're so scared of a dwarf? What if you see a ghost later?"
"No... that's not the reason. He... deliberately made eye contact with me, and I felt that he... he seemed to be Shen Fang."
He Jianfei asked, "Who is Shen Fang?"
Old Chen replied, "He was Junxing's good friend, but was later killed by the wronged spirit in the diary."
No sooner had he finished speaking than He Jianfei felt a gust of wind behind his head. Old Man Chen's face changed drastically, and he cried out in alarm, "Shen Fang!"
No sooner said than done, Tian Yinzhen deftly flicked her wrist, sending three hidden weapons flying. A loud scream came from the bushes, followed by the sound of something heavy falling to the ground.
Hearing the shout, He Jianfei breathed a sigh of relief. Since there was a sound, it meant he was afraid of pain. So he wasn't a ghost. Tian Yinzhen rushed over to check, and Old Man Chen grabbed Old Man Li's sleeve in great fear, saying, "He...he really...looks like...Shen Fang." Old Man Li patted his back to comfort him, saying, "There are plenty of people in the world who look like him. Alright, don't be so paranoid."
Another scream came from the woods. Tian Yinzhen ran over in a panic, covering her face with her hands, screaming, "How scary! How scary! I don't want to go see!!"
He Jianfei quickly ran over there, but stopped shortly after. Suddenly, he felt an urge to vomit. On the ground sat a dwarf, his face covered in dense red scars, most of which were oozing pus. His lips were swollen and cracked. His deformed chin was raised high, his legs were concave inwards in a bracket shape, and his hands had several patches of bluish-purple skin, resembling moldy green moss.
He Jianfei frowned, quickly took out five yuan and tossed it over, but then heard the dwarf laugh loudly, "Chairman Chen, you've finally arrived? Fifty years have passed, you didn't expect me to have become like this, did you?" Behind him came Old Man Chen's painful cry, "No! Impossible! You are definitely not Shen Fang! Shen Fang is dead! You are not human, you are not human, you are a ghost!!"
The dwarf chuckled, “Impossible! How could the once-famous handsome man in our class be so ugly and filthy?! If it weren’t for Junxing, I would have been a ghost long ago. What’s the point of living like this? Look at these red sores, oozing white pus, how lovely they are! They’ve been with me for fifty years!”
Old Man Chen gasped for breath, "Why? Why aren't you dead? They said you kept the diary, you should have died! The way you look... I don't believe it! I don't believe it!!"
The dwarf muttered, “Whoever keeps that diary will be subjected to a baptism of blood and fire. Yes! I should die! Junxing risked his life to preserve that diary, it cannot be destroyed in my hands! All my friends are dead, only I am left. So, I cannot die!” Suddenly he shouted, “Do you know why I can’t die? Haha, I’ve thought long and hard and finally come up with a brilliant plan. Do you know what it is? I asked my beloved dog Bobby to bury the diary. That way, it will be Bobby, not me, who hid the diary. The next day, Bobby died. It died so painfully, I still remember how it looked. Hahaha, but that ghost can’t do anything to me, it has no reason to kill me, so it turned me into this, making me live a life worse than death for fifty years.”
He Jianfei looked at him with pity and sighed, "We can subdue the wronged souls, but we cannot fix everything. The cycle of heaven is inevitable, and fate is predetermined. There is no way to salvage what has happened. I have come here today to end your suffering and clear your name, Senior Junxing."
The dwarf sneered, "Anyone can spout such nonsense. Didn't that curse just come on to you? Do you think I can control it? If I could, would I be stuck here?"
Seeing that he did not believe him, He Jianfei looked up to the sky and said, "Heaven is my witness, I, He Jianfei, swear today that I will bear all the consequences of becoming the owner of that cursed diary."
The dwarf's face showed a look of astonishment, as if he saw Junxing from back then. He said in a trembling voice, "Fine, fine, Junxing, you should handle your own affairs. I know you're not reconciled, and you'll definitely come back! After all, you risked your life to get that diary!" He Jianfei knew he was a little crazy, so he could only sigh and remain silent.
No sooner had the dwarf finished speaking than a burst of blood suddenly shot out from the other side of the woods. He Jianfei immediately turned serious and said, "Shi Ting, you culprit, have you finally decided to come out and show yourself?"
Upon hearing this, the other three exclaimed in shock, "What?! It's her!"
A disheveled white figure rose from the blood-red light, followed by a sinister, chilling laugh: "Now that you've seen through my true colors, there's no point in me hiding anymore."
He Jianfei sneered, "I've long wanted to see what a narrow-minded woman like you is like. It's truly unfortunate that Senior Junxing has come to know you!"
Bai Ying sneered, "You should say that backwards. Why? No one who has been wronged will ultimately receive divine protection. Do you self-proclaimed guardians of humanity even understand what is right and wrong, what is justice and what is evil?"
He Jianfei said coldly, "You don't need to lecture me about these things. You're the one who killed him. I really don't know what kind of so-called grievances you have."
"I did kill him, but he was the one who wronged me first. It's one thing for him to fall in love with Dong Lu, but why did he have to frame me and humiliate me? If I don't kill him, I can't quell the hatred in my heart. But even if I kill him, what then? I'll still die. I don't want to die at the hands of this despicable man, so I committed suicide. He was unjust, and so am I. Only by dying can I become a wronged ghost, only then can I kill freely. I want to kill everyone in the world, only then can I quell my hatred."
He Jianfei couldn't help but interrupt sharply, "Shut up! It's all nonsense! It's all your imagination! Senior Junxing was only trying to save the wronged souls and restore peace to the campus. If you hadn't obstructed us, there wouldn't be this Path of Wronged Ghosts, and so many people wouldn't have died on campus! Just for this one crime, you're enough to be sentenced to have your soul scattered!"
The white figure remained silent for a long time. Seeing that time was running out, He Jianfei took out the purple-gold bowl and said, "Disappear from the world forever, you ugly thing!" A burst of golden light shot out, and the white figure cried out "Ah!" before being absorbed into the bowl.
The dwarf lay motionless for a long time, then suddenly threw his head back and laughed loudly, "Junxing, Junxing, did you see that? The one who harmed you was Shi Ting! I... I've always liked her so much! Your innocence is done, I, this half-human, half-ghost..." At this point, his throat made a "clunk," his body went limp, and by the time Old Man Li went to check on him, he was already dead. Old Man Chen couldn't help but prostrate himself and weep, "Shen Fang, I know you've been wronged! Why were you in such a hurry to die? I wanted to take you to enjoy a better life. Others may dislike you, but I don't! Shen Fang..." Old Man Li watched quietly from the side; just a few days ago, he too had endured this heart-wrenching pain. The harm this road had inflicted on generations was immeasurable. He Jianfei slowly walked to the spot of the bloodstains, dug out a small brass box, inside which lay a cursed diary that had sustained hundreds of lives. He Jianfei gently opened the cover; the title page was pristine white, the baptism of blood and fire forever past. As he flipped through the diary, he found that Junxing's account perfectly matched the facts. He Jianfei closed the diary and couldn't help but sigh: If Junxing hadn't died, he would surely have been able to transcend the wronged spirit of Donglu. Why did things have to come to this point?
Chapter Eleven
"Ah..." Another scream came from afar. He Jianfei's expression changed upon hearing this. He had forgotten about Tian Yinzhen over there. Could Dong Lu be coming out? He Jianfei didn't have time to think and rushed over like lightning: "Yinzi..."