Premier tome de la série Le Magicien Oolong Qui suis-je

Chapitre 13

I hadn't expected the restroom lights to be so much brighter than the hallway lights, the white tiles almost blinding me. Directly opposite the urinal was a large mirror; my reflection showed a pale face, probably from blood loss. This hospital is really something—the places that should be bright aren't, while the places that shouldn't be are incredibly bright. I grumbled as I fastened my pants, just about to turn around. *Tap tap tap*, a strange sound came from afar, growing clearer and clearer, like a gentle tapping. It was unusually clear in the quiet air, as if it had struck my heart. The feeling of suffocation intensified, and my heartbeat even began to follow the rhythm, the increasingly rapid pace leaving me breathless.

"Squeak..." The door slowly opened, and I saw a small, pale hand resting on it. The tapping sound stopped immediately, and my heart skipped a beat. A sharp pain made me subconsciously look down and touch my chest.

As I looked up to see who had entered, the lights suddenly went out, plunging the once brightly lit space into a bottomless darkness. All I saw was a dazzling red light, and then I could see nothing at all. But in that instant, I clearly saw a little girl in red and a long string of small wooden signs in her hand. The clattering sound I'd heard earlier must have been from them! The girl was very pretty, and her large eyes were particularly striking.

Without the lights, it was pitch black all around. I dared not move. I knew the little girl was right beside me, because the clattering sound of the little wooden plaques hitting each other started again, this time especially clear, as if they were right in my ears. Sometimes it seemed to be on my left, sometimes on my right, and sometimes it seemed like the sound was coming from all around me. My eyes were as if they were covered with black paint; I couldn't see anything. It was then that I realized, damn it, this toilet had no windows!

While cursing the person who designed this toilet, I secretly reassured myself not to panic. Don't be afraid, don't be afraid; I've seen plenty of dead people, and lately, I've seen quite a few ghosts too. I forced myself to calm down, but the knocking on the wooden sign grew faster and faster. I finally understood what chest tightness felt like. I reached up and unbuttoned my collar, my mouth agape. I think I must look like a fish out of water. This can't go on. I made up my mind, and before I could suffocate, I suddenly reached out to my right. I felt a red light flash past me towards the door. The red light drew an arc in the darkness.

I hurriedly followed him out, and in the dim light, I saw a red figure dart into the ward I had just been in. Without thinking twice, I was already standing at the door of the ward. The door was wide open, and I could clearly see what was inside by the moonlight.

What struck me as odd was that the little girl was standing in front of a hospital bed, on which lay a withered old man, his face wrinkled and weathered. Just as I assumed the little girl was a family member keeping watch and was complaining about how her parents could let such a young child stay up all night, the girl took a small wooden sign from her hand and tied it to the old man's right wrist.

"A child's prank?" I muttered to myself. Suddenly, the girl turned around and gave me a sinister smile—a smile no child should have. My hair stood on end. A flash of red light appeared before my eyes, and I felt the little girl pass through my body. A chill ran through me from head to toe, making me shiver. My legs gave way, and I collapsed to the ground. The little girl's magnified face seemed still vivid in my mind, her large eyes blood-red. The jade pendant on my chest warmed up again, the heat seeping into my skin, bringing a long-lost warmth. But the wound on my head started to hurt again, and it seemed to be getting worse.

I staggered to my feet, clutching my head, and struggled back to my ward. The headache worsened, feeling as if it were splitting open inside my skull. I almost groaned as I collapsed onto the bed, falling into a deep sleep without even taking off my shoes. In my hazy state, I felt a small figure standing to my right, a pair of cold hands touching my wrist, and I felt something being tied to it. But the headache was too intense; I didn't even have the strength to lift my arm, and I easily passed out.

※※※

"Lin Xiao, Lin Xiao, wake up, are you dead?" Li Yang's noisy voice kept ringing in my ears. I weakly opened my eyes, glanced at him, and continued to maintain the most intimate position with the bed.

"Dad, you can't die!!" A heart-wrenching cry, loud enough to bring the living to tears and the dead to life, shattered my peaceful sleep. I reluctantly opened my eyes and asked Li Yang, "What's wrong?"

"It's just a dead person, I think it was an old man from the inner chamber!" Li Yang gestured towards the door.

An old man? From the attic? I immediately jumped out of bed as if I'd been doused with a bucket of cold water in the dead of winter and leaped out the door. Li Yang later said that my speed at that moment was practically comparable to the speed of light.

Book One: Three Ghost Stories of the City, Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Bandaged Ghost

Book One: Three Ghost Stories of the City, Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Bandaged Ghost

"Do I have something in my hand?" I raised my right hand and extended it in front of Fang Lei, who had just entered the ward.

"Things? What things?" Fang Lei was puzzled by my question and looked at Li Yang next to me.

"Sigh!" Li Yang sighed, shook his head, and said, "I think he doesn't need to see the surgeon anymore, but should see a psychiatrist here." Li Yang pointed to his head, looking helpless, because he was already annoyed by my questions. Ever since I came back from the next ward, I've asked him the same question countless times: Do I have anything on my hand?

"What's wrong with him?" Fang Lei continued to ask.

Li Yang shrugged and said, "I don't know either. He went next door this morning and has been like this ever since he came back."

I held my right wrist up to my eyes. There was nothing on it, and I knew perfectly well there really was nothing. But strangely, I could feel it, as if God had suddenly stripped me of my sight, leaving only touch. I could feel something tied to my wrist. When I raised my hand and then lowered it again, I could clearly feel something resting on my skin. It was probably a wooden plaque, the same kind as the one on the old man's wrist. The only difference was that I could see the old man's plaque, even what was written on it: Shi Jixiang, 60 years old. But with my own, I could only feel it. This situation drove me crazy. Feeling but not seeing, this unsettling feeling made me panic, but not terribly afraid. I think humans are always afraid of anything they cannot physically control.

I think I might really end up in the psychiatric ward like Li Yang said, because I just can't help but look at my wrist, even though there's nothing there. Li Yang was already frightened by my appearance, so he hurriedly called Fang Lei and Li Hai.

"What's wrong with him?" Concern clouded my judgment, and Fang Lei was no longer the serious woman I had been when I first met her. But I felt no interest or emotion either; all my interest and thoughts were focused on the invisible wooden plaque on my wrist.

"Did you see something unclean last night?" Li Hai suddenly asked me.

"I'm not sure." I buried my face in my hands. Everything last night felt like a nightmare. The things in the dream were real yet unreal. I couldn't tell the difference.

"Hold out your hand." Li Hai said, taking a yellow talisman from his pocket. Ignoring the fact that we were in a hospital room, he slapped the talisman onto my palm. A sharp pain shot through me, and the burning sensation made me instinctively try to shake it off. To my surprise, the talisman instantly turned black, as if charred. The black ash gradually seeped into my skin, followed by even more intense pain. I couldn't help but cry out, "Ouch! What the hell is that?"

Li Hai didn't answer. Instead, he quickly grabbed my flailing hand, bit his own finger, and drew lines on my palm. A red blood symbol suddenly appeared on my pale, bloodless palm, the blood writhing as if it were alive. The pain gradually subsided, until finally I only felt a slight itch.

"What happened?" I asked Li Hai curiously.

"You really did run into something supernatural! I just used a ghost-testing talisman; the more powerful the ghost, the more the paper turns black," Li Hai replied.

"Then, if that piece of paper just turned to ashes, then what I encountered must have been a very powerful ghost?" I asked, touching my palm.

"It doesn't necessarily have to be a very big ghost, but rather a very powerful ghost with a lot of resentment," Li Hai corrected me. "Don't wipe off what I just drew on your palm, okay? That's a ghost-repelling talisman, it's very useful!"

"No way!?" I sighed and leaned back on the bed.

"I think you should get discharged!" Fang Lei thought for a moment and advised me.

Discharge? That's not impossible, but the problem now is that thing on my wrist, and I'm also very curious about it, even though I know curiosity can be deadly. By some strange twist of fate, or perhaps a momentary lapse of judgment—at least that's what Li Yang thinks—I declined Fang Lei's suggestion and stayed.

After their attempts to persuade me failed, Li Hai and Fang Lei had no choice but to give in. However, before leaving, they each gave me a lot of yellow talismans, saying they could be used to save my life in a critical moment. I didn't really believe in these things, but something was better than nothing, so I accepted them and stuffed them haphazardly into my pocket. What really made me weak in the knees was Fang Lei's tender gaze before she left, a gaze so full of affection and worry that it made me grin like an idiot for over three minutes.

※※※

Before we knew it, night had fallen. Li Yang, wanting to prove his brotherhood, insisted on sharing my hardships, while Cao Ying said she also wanted to see a ghost. So, the three of us lay in bed chatting and waiting for the ghost. Unfortunately, the hospital lights were off, so we had to keep quiet. Gradually, I heard Li Yang's rhythmic breathing. I knew he must have fallen asleep, even though he'd said he'd keep me company. Cao Ying also fell silent, leaving me the only one still tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

The silence in the darkness was the most unsettling. I stared straight at the ceiling, my hand reaching to my chest to grasp the jade pendant Yin Xue had given me. Even knowing it was actually a ten-thousand-year-old ghost jade, to me it was still just Yin Xue's jade pendant. Holding it in my hand made me feel at ease. Slowly, my eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and drowsiness made me completely forget about waiting for the ghost.

It was so upsetting. The pungent smell of burning flesh woke me from my sleep, mixed with a foul stench—the smell of burnt human flesh. Was there a fire? I got out of bed and nudged Li Yang, but he didn't react at all; he was fast asleep!

I sighed, pushed open the ward door, and walked into the corridor. The smell was coming from up ahead. I thought for a moment, then decided to go back to the room and call Li Yang, but when I turned around, I found the door was closed. I pushed hard, but couldn't open it. I frantically knocked, forgetting that it was nighttime and I should keep quiet: "Li Yang, open the door! Open the door! Don't sleep!"

The more anxious you are, the more things tend to go wrong. No matter how hard I knocked or how loudly I shouted, Li Yang didn't come to open the door, and not even a doctor on duty passed by. It was as if I was the only one left in the hospital, and no one could help me. The pungent, acrid smell grew stronger, and I could even feel a wave of heat washing over me.

"No need to knock anymore, no one can hear you." A voice, neither human nor inhuman, rang in my ears, like the grating, grating sound of a broken radio. Cold sweat instantly soaked my clothes. Slowly, I turned around and saw a humanoid creature standing behind me.

I retreated in fear, only to find myself pressed against the hospital room door. The humanoid creature took another step forward, and this time I saw it clearly. It was a person completely wrapped in bandages, with only one eye exposed. The large areas of red on the bandages were probably blood, and the area around the eye was a reddish-white patch, the flesh inside turned inside out, the eyeball bulging out like the eye of a dead fish. The whites of the eye were already yellowish, and combined with the red blood vessels, I felt an urge to vomit up the already terrible dinner I had at the hospital.

"Who, who are you?" I asked.

"The ghost has come to take you away!" The unpleasant voice rang out again, and I clearly saw a smile appear on the face covered in bandages.

Book One: Three Ghost Stories of the City, Chapter Thirty: The Underground Morgue

Book One: Three Ghost Stories of the City, Chapter Thirty: The Underground Morgue

"Why? Why are you taking me away?" I asked, letting out a heavy sigh.

"Because of the wooden plaque on your wrist," the bandaged ghost replied.

I quickly stretched out my hand, and there it was—a small wooden tag tied to my right wrist. This time I could see it clearly; it even had my name and age on it.

"What the hell is this? Here you go!" I desperately pulled on the wooden plaque on my wrist, trying to pull it off, but the plaque seemed to be stuck to my wrist, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't break it.

"Don't bother, you can't break it, hehe." The bandaged ghost's sinister laughter plunged me into hell, my mind gradually blurring. For some reason, my legs started moving on their own, slowly following behind the bandaged ghost. I felt my body gradually detach from my will, starting from my feet. Although my body was moving, I couldn't control it. It was as if my soul had been stuffed into a strange body, unable to do anything but watch helplessly as my body was taken to a strange world.

The bandaged ghost walked ahead of me, its limping figure making it seem as if it would collapse at any moment. The dim, yellowish light enveloped the surroundings, and I noticed the walls were turning mottled and yellowed, some even peeling away completely. I was now walking down a staircase; the handrail was dark green, with large patches of paint peeling off, revealing rust. Everything felt decayed and old, as if time had turned back. In my previous memory, this hospital was very clean, and I'd heard it had just been renovated. How could it be in such a wretched state?

Round and round it went, until finally, the bandaged ghost stopped in front of a rusty, warped iron door. The conspicuous red "B2" on the yellowed wall to the left told me we were now on the second floor of the basement. A strong smell of blood wafted from the wall, and I saw that the letters "B2" were drawn with fresh blood, which still seemed damp and was slowly dripping down.

"Squeak~~~~~~" The iron gate made a chilling sound, and a biting cold blew out from inside. The dark doorway sent shivers down my spine. I tried desperately to control my body and not go in, but it was all in vain. Helplessly, I let my body lead me inside.

Inside, there was nothing terrifying as I had imagined, but a huge freezer. I knew this freezer all too well—the kind used in morgues to refrigerate corpses. And the chill was emanating from it. One of the drawers was open, and the old man from yesterday lay inside, white, cold air surrounding his body. The wooden tag on his wrist was clearly visible. Only now did it suddenly dawn on me: no wonder it felt so strange, no wonder the tag looked so familiar—it was an identification tag that every dead person had, like an ID card for the living. But I wasn't dead yet, so why did I have to wear this tag too? No, I don't want this tag, I don't want it! A wave of immense fear made me tremble, but my body felt like it was under a spell, beyond my control. I felt my soul leaving my body, watching a horror play played out by my own body.

The bandaged ghost slammed the freezer shut, then opened a drawer next to it; it was empty. My eyes widened suddenly, and I watched as my own legs lifted and I stepped inside. When I used to put corpses in freezers, I never imagined I'd be inside myself, especially while fully conscious. It seems I'm truly unique, one of a kind. I gave a bitter laugh. And to be able to laugh at a time like this, I couldn't help but admire myself.

Lying in the freezer, I could see the plaster falling from the ceiling, then my vision gradually narrowed as the drawer was pushed inwards. The cold air numbed my entire body. Finally, there was a loud crash, and everything went black as the entire drawer was pushed into the freezer. My breathing became increasingly rapid; I felt there wasn't much air left in the small space. I felt dizzy, starting in my fingers and then gradually spreading throughout my body. This time, I truly had no feeling at all, yet I felt lightheaded. Is this what death feels like? An unprecedented sense of ease dispelled my fear. Yin Xue, Yin Xue, I'm coming to see you. I'm so sorry for leaving you alone in that place for so long! Tears streamed down my face. Thankfully, at least my tears were still warm!

※※※

"Brother, brother!" A sweet child's voice rang in my ears. I felt someone pushing my arm. Wasn't I dead? How could I still feel something? I opened my eyes and a familiar face was right in front of me. Wasn't that the little girl from last night? She was the one who tied the little wooden tag to my arm.

I immediately jumped up from the ground and took a big step back. Wait, I jumped up, so… I held my hand in front of my eyes and shook it vigorously. I could control my body again; I was free. It was so wonderful to be able to control my body again! I couldn't help but want to cheer. It turns out that getting something back after losing it is more exciting than having it all along. And what made me even happier was that I discovered the wooden plaque on my right wrist was also gone. Excitement and joy made me completely forget about the suspicious girl beside me.

"Brother!?" The girl came over and tugged at my sleeve. I looked down and saw her big, misty eyes, her face pouting, looking like she was about to cry. Perhaps I was too excited, or perhaps the girl seemed safe now, without any of the eeriness or terror of last night, so I quickly squatted down and asked gently, "What's wrong, little sister? Did someone bully you?"

The little girl tucked her delicate nose and said, "Brother, I want to go home. Will you take me home?"

"Go home? Isn't this your home?" Only then did I remember that I had been put into the freezer by the bandaged ghost. How did I end up here?

Looking around, I saw swaying shadows of trees, and through the shade, I could vaguely make out the outline of a house. My eyelids twitched. Holy Mary, you haven't just rescued your people from hell only to send them back to hell, have you? I found myself standing under a locust tree. Looking back, that familiar iron gate appeared before me again, but unlike last time, this time I was inside the gate. In other words, I was now standing inside No. 77 Ancient Locust Street, and that mysterious old house stood just a hundred meters away from me.

What on earth is going on? How did I suddenly end up here from the hospital basement? Is the basement connected to this place? But how? The hospital and this residential area are clearly quite a distance apart. I looked down at the little girl's innocent and adorable face. This can't be a dream, can it be a hallucination? But all of this feels so real. Can an illusion be so real?

"Little sister, what's your name? Is that your home?" I asked, pointing to the old-fashioned Western-style house.

"My name is Lin Yiyi, that's not my home," Lin Yiyi replied, shaking her head.

She also has the surname Lin, the same as me, we're from the same clan! I suddenly felt a sense of closeness to the little girl, reached out and took her hand, and said, "Then how about you come with me to that house for a bit, okay? Maybe we can find someone to help you find your way home!"

"Okay, fine!" The little girl pouted and thought for a while before agreeing to my suggestion. I couldn't help but pinch her little cheek and said with a smile, "Alright, let's go!"

I scooped up the little girl and found her surprisingly light. I glanced at the house in the shadows; there wasn't a single light inside. I suddenly realized I was taking a risk. It didn't look like a habitable house at all. But I couldn't think of any other way, so I could only take it one step at a time. Now I could only pray to the gods. I gritted my teeth and walked towards the house.

Book One: Three Ghost Stories of the City, Chapter Thirty-One: No. 77, Ancient Locust Street

Book One: Three Ghost Stories of the City, Chapter Thirty-One: No. 77, Ancient Locust Street

Reaching the house's entrance, I realized it was an old-fashioned European-style villa with stained glass windows that obscured the view inside. Two strange animal-shaped carvings flank the door; as I approached, they suddenly spewed flames from their mouths—two uniquely designed torches. The door wasn't locked; I simply pushed it open. Yiyi shifted restlessly in my arms, and I patted her back.

"Is anyone home?" I shouted into the hall. The hall was dark, with only a few pieces of furniture in the dim light. It was a hall designed entirely in the style of old Europe, with a spiral staircase leading directly to the second floor. Just then, Yiyi suddenly struggled and jumped down from my arms, disappearing into the darkness.

"Yiyi, don't go!" I hurriedly followed, my small figure flashing across the stairs and disappearing in the blink of an eye. I found myself standing at the top of the stairs on the second floor. Looking down, I saw a spacious hall, and looking ahead, I saw a long corridor with doors on both sides.

"Yiyi, come out! Stop playing with your brother!" I called Yiyi's name, my voice echoing through the narrow corridor. The doors on both sides of the corridor were closed. I tried to open one, but found it locked; there was no way to get in. At the end of the corridor was another staircase, probably leading to the third floor. A slight breeze blew in, but the window at the end of the corridor was closed. I pushed the window open and quickly looked out. The view outside almost made me fall to the ground. There were no other houses. I had assumed it was in a residential area, but instead, I saw a large lake—Heart Lake. The lake was still and undisturbed, like a beautiful green gem embedded in the dark earth.

Well, here we are again, back at Xinhu Lake. My mind is a mess. Being transported from the hospital basement to 77 Guhuai Street was already confusing enough, but this is making me even more dizzy. I grabbed the wall, put my finger in my mouth, and bit down hard. Ouch! It's not a dream! I glanced at the stairs, didn't think much of it, and went straight up.

The staircase was unusually long. I carefully counted and realized I had already climbed over three hundred steps, yet I still hadn't reached the end. After about half a minute more, I reached the top of the stairs—just a door. A slight, cool breeze blew in through the crack under the door, sending a chill up my spine. I pushed open the door, and a rush of fresh air greeted me. I was standing on the rooftop of this building. Looking up, I saw a dark sky, without stars or a moon, but I could clearly see the lake and everything around it, and a pale green figure—the slender figure of a woman.

"Is it her?" I exclaimed in surprise. It was the mysterious woman. She was standing under a tree, and what surprised me even more was the rope hanging down from the tree. The woman slowly stood on a rock and put the rope around her neck.

"Hey, no!" I yelled at the woman desperately, but the house was some distance from the lake, and my voice couldn't carry at all. Damn it! I cursed under my breath, leaning my body outwards as much as possible and waving my hands, hoping she would see me.

But it was all in vain. The woman pushed off with her feet and was suspended in mid-air on the tree. Her legs struggled at first, but then stopped. Her body, hanging from the tree, swayed gently in the breeze.

My mouth was agape, as if something was stuffed into my throat. I couldn't believe a life had vanished before my eyes. I stopped thinking; time seemed to freeze. Then, a cold laugh suddenly rang out behind me. Before I could even turn around, I felt someone shove me hard, and I was sent flying.

The wind howled past me, and I saw a figure lean out from the rooftop, but the rapid fall prevented me from seeing his face clearly. A deafening thud followed, and the pain felt like my bones were exploding; I could even hear the sound of my skull shattering on the ground. The red talisman that Li Hai had once drawn on my right palm emitted a blinding red light. I squinted, only vaguely hearing a strange voice: "Damn it, he got away again."

※※※

I opened my eyes with a severe headache. The faces of Li Yang, Fang Lei, and others appeared before me one by one. My face was wet, and there were tears in the corners of Fang Lei's eyes.

"Kid, you're finally awake!" Li Yang breathed a sigh of relief and plopped down next to me.

"Heart Lake, I need to go to Heart Lake." I struggled to sit up and said hoarsely. My voice was so weak and hoarse that it startled even myself. But I really wanted to see if that woman was there, and if there was another victim in the Heart Lake murder case.

"No, do you know you just came back from the brink of death?" Fang Lei pressed me back onto the bed and said, "Do you know how your condition suddenly worsened just now? It scared us all to death."

"Deteriorated?" I then realized that I had been moved to a separate ward, and my hands were connected to many tubes. "I, I just..."

"Your heart stopped beating just now, so we transferred you to the intensive care unit!" Fang Lei held my hand, and the warmth from her hand made me feel much better. But the pain all over my body made it difficult for me to even breathe.

"Is the patient awake?" A doctor walked in from outside, patted my head, and said, "The patient is very weak right now, you should let him rest!"

"No!" I quickly grabbed Fang Lei's hand. I didn't want to face everything alone anymore. I needed someone by my side. I'm human too. No matter what my profession is, I also have times of fear.