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

Chapitre 74

"Of course we're going to look for information on that unsolved case from back then!" I said, pulling Li Yang along as we walked towards the school's archives.

Volume 3: Delicacies of Hell, Chapter 7: Nightmare

Volume 3: Delicacies of Hell, Chapter 7: Nightmare

Wandering aimlessly along the path near the school, the dense sycamore leaves blocked the already dim evening sunlight, casting an orange-red hue onto each leaf. I looked up at the sunlight filtering through the leaves, which shone into my eyes like glittering gold.

After leaving the archives, Li Yang decided to stroll around the campus, while I chose to linger in what used to be my favorite spot. It was a very quiet path, lined with towering trees that provided ample shade even in the sweltering summer, let alone in the cool of May. I walked leisurely, hands in my pockets, the frustration of finding no clues in the archives already forgotten. Although the path was quiet, it wasn't frequented by many, probably because of some rumors that it was a "breakup path," meaning couples who walked this way were not far from breaking up. So, few people walked this path, which suited someone like me who loved peace and quiet.

I glanced at my watch; it was almost six in the evening. Remembering my promise to have dinner with Li Yang, I turned to leave. But in that instant, my eyes caught sight of a figure. A very familiar figure.

"Sister!?" I could hardly believe my eyes. I took a step forward, and it really was my older sister, Lin Yao! She was wearing a light blue, sheer dress that perfectly hugged her graceful figure. Her slightly curled hair swayed gently in the breeze, and her bright black eyes seemed to reflect the afterglow of the setting sun. At that moment, her face seemed almost translucent in the sunlight.

"Sister!" I looked at Lin Yao in front of me with some surprise. Her beauty had an unattainable and illusory quality.

"Lin Xiao." Lin Yao smiled at me and said, "What brings you here?"

"I should be asking you that!" I walked up to her, a little annoyed. I really should be scolded for not even coming to visit her own brother when he was in the hospital.

"Are you upset that I didn't go to the hospital to see you?" Lin Yao's resentful eyes seemed to be overflowing with tears. I was stunned by her expression; I was unfamiliar with her melancholy face.

"I'm sorry, I was just scared!" Lin Yao lowered her head, her bangs covering most of her face.

"What are you afraid of?" I asked softly, feeling an urge to pull her into my arms.

"I'm afraid you'll leave me too, just like Mom and Dad!" Lin Yao said slowly, as if she was recalling something.

"Silly girl!" I chuckled and put my arm around her shoulder, saying, "My life is stronger than a cockroach's!"

"Really?" Lin Yao suddenly looked up at me, her eyes filled with determination, and said, "You won't leave me?"

"Of course not." I tossed her hair and said, "Unless you get a boyfriend and don't want me anymore!"

"No, it won't happen." Lin Yao's calm tone revealed unwavering determination.

"By the way, how did you end up here?" I asked with concern.

"I was just passing through on my way to ** Province and thought I'd drop by your alma mater," Lin Yao replied with a smile.

"Really? Are you alone? Be careful!" I said with some concern, after all, it's always worrying to see a girl out alone.

"Don't worry!" Lin Yao laughed and shook her head, saying, "I won't let anyone bully me!"

"So where are you staying now?" I asked. "I'm staying at the school's guesthouse right now."

"I'm staying at a friend's house," Lin Yao said casually.

"Friend? Male or female?" I immediately tensed up and asked.

"A woman!" Lin Yao rolled her eyes at me and said, "It's getting late, I have to go back. I'll come find you if I need anything."

"What? You're leaving again so soon? How about I treat you to dinner?" I said reluctantly.

"Later, I've made plans with my friends." Lin Yao patted my face, coaxing me like a pet, "Little Xiaoxiao, be good, listen to me!"

"Sister, I'm all grown up now, please don't call me by this name anymore, okay?" I don't want her to always treat me like a little kid.

"Hehe, I'm leaving now, bye-bye!" My older sister smiled and blew me a kiss before turning to leave. I was about to say something to stop her when I heard Li Yang's voice calling from behind me.

"Lin Xiao!" Li Yang started shouting from hundreds of meters away.

"What are you doing?" I turned around and looked at Li Yang, who was running towards me panting, and asked.

"Let's eat! I'm starving!" Li Yang ran up to me and said.

"Wait a minute." I wanted to call out to my older sister, but when I turned around, she had already disappeared, leaving only a path that stretched endlessly into the distance and sparse tree shadows.

"Who are you looking for?" Li Yang asked, looking at me curiously.

"My sister was just here a moment ago, how come she's walking so fast?" I complained.

"Your older sister?" Li Yang looked at me with a strange expression and said, "How come I didn't see anyone next to you just now?"

"Nobody here?" I frowned and said, "No way, she was clearly standing right next to me just now. Were you too far away to see her clearly?"

"Maybe!" Li Yang scratched his head and said, "There are so many trees here, it might be hidden!"

"Really?" I looked at the tree beside me with some suspicion. Could it really be that Li Yang just didn't see clearly? But it was definitely my older sister, Lin Yao, just now!

"Alright, alright, I didn't see the pretty girl, but at least I can have some food!" Li Yang pointed to his watch and said, "It's already seven o'clock!"

"Seven o'clock already?" I looked at my watch in surprise. It seemed like it was only six o'clock a moment ago, how did it suddenly become seven? I don't think I spent much time with my older sister!

"Yeah, so it's time to eat!" Li Yang dragged me toward the school cafeteria.

What's going on? Have I become numb to time? I glanced at my watch in confusion, then touched my head. In the end, I let Li Yang drag me towards the cafeteria.

********

Late at night, I lay quietly in bed, gazing at the moon outside the window. Its silvery light illuminated the entire room. I tried to recall my meeting with my older sister earlier; it felt like so short, yet somehow it was already past seven o'clock. My growing restlessness made me toss and turn in bed.

Slowly, sleepiness crept over me, and my eyelids grew heavier. Before me wasn't darkness, but rather that quiet path, bathed in moonlight with an eerie atmosphere. In the silence, only the soft rustling of footsteps seemed to approach, and then came the figure of a woman. Her light blue dress shimmered faintly in the silvery moonlight, but my vision was blurry. The anxiety of not being able to make out her face almost made me groan.

"Sister!?" Finally, I saw her clearly, but I couldn't quite believe my eyes. I took a step forward, and it really was my older sister, Lin Yao! Beneath her light blue, sheer dress, her graceful figure was barely concealed. Her slightly curled hair swayed gently in the breeze, and her bright black eyes reflected the moonlight. Her face appeared translucent and pale in the moonlight. This scene felt so familiar.

"Sister!" I looked at Lin Yao in front of me with some surprise. Her beauty had an unattainable and illusory quality.

"Lin Xiao." Lin Yao smiled at me and said, "What brings you here?"

"That's what I should be asking you!" I walked up to her, a little annoyed, but my mind kept telling me that this was the question I asked her when we met that evening. Why was I asking it again now?

"Are you upset that I didn't go to the hospital to see you?" Lin Yao's resentful eyes seemed to be overflowing with tears. I was stunned by her expression; I was unfamiliar with her melancholy face.

"I'm sorry, I was just scared!" Lin Yao lowered her head, her bangs covering most of her face.

"What are you afraid of?" I asked softly, feeling an urge to pull her into my arms.

"I'm afraid you'll leave me too, just like Mom and Dad!" Lin Yao said slowly, as if recalling something. These scenes seemed to be repeating the moment I met my older sister that evening. But I didn't ask any more questions, feeling as if my body was frozen in place.

"Do you remember how your parents died?" My older sister still kept her head down.

"I don't remember clearly," I said. "It seems to have been a car accident."

"Really?" My older sister slowly walked forward, opened her arms and gently encircled me, saying, "It doesn't matter what it is, as long as you're by my side."

"Sister!" I called out almost groaningly, trying to look down at her face, but my body was stiff. I only felt a cold body rubbing against me. It was so cold, almost like being in an icebox. Even my fingers started to go numb.

"Don't think about anything. Everything is fine now. There's no need to think about anything." My older sister's whisper was like a spell. I started to feel dizzy, and the faces that were once clear began to blur: the faces of my childhood playmates, the faces of my elementary school classmates, the faces of my neighbors... In the end, what appeared were my parents' faces, and... Yin Xue's face.

"No, no!" I wanted to cry out, "Yin Xue, Yin Xue!"

"Forget her, forget her..." My older sister's whispered words made all my muscles tense up and ache.

"Yin...Xue?" I squinted, and a strange scene appeared before my eyes: my parents' happy faces, and me, a tiny toddler learning to walk, but my older sister was nowhere to be seen. Where was she? Where did she go? A wave of panic and unease washed over me. At that moment, I felt as if I had become that tiny child. My vision was much lowered because of my small size, and I couldn't see anything clearly. I struggled to lift my little head, and what came into view was a large pregnant belly that was almost about to give birth.

Who is this? Who is this pregnant woman? I tried to lift my head, but I couldn't see the woman's face clearly; it was just a blur.

"Dad, Mom!" I called out, but my parents suddenly turned and walked away from me, leaving me behind. No, no, I don't want to be abandoned! This strong thought made me take steps to chase after them, but I forgot that I was just a toddler who had just learned to walk. How could I possibly catch up?

"Don't go!" I cried out to my parents, but they showed no sign of stopping and walked further and further away. I was left all alone, surrounded by darkness and cold!

"No, no!" I screamed and struggled, but I couldn't move fast at all.

"Ah~~!" I cried out and jumped up. The morning sun warmed the room, but I felt cold. I touched my forehead and found it was covered in sweat.

So, it was just a nightmare?

********

"Lin Xiao." Just as I stepped out of the room, Li Yang opened the door and called out to me.

"Good morning," I replied curtly, feeling weak all over, as if my body hadn't fully recovered from the nightmare.

"Last night..." Li Yang glanced at me hesitantly, then asked, "Did you go out last night?"

"Go out? No, I've been in my room the whole time!" I replied.

"Really?" Li Yang pursed his lips and said, "I'm probably dreaming!"

"Dreaming? What kind of dream?" I asked curiously.

"I think I saw you go out in the middle of the night," Li Yang said.

"How could that be? Are you still half asleep?" I smacked Li Yang on the head and said irritably, "Stop talking in your sleep, let's go out for breakfast!"

"Okay!" Li Yang shrugged and walked towards the cafeteria with me.

Volume 3: Delicacies of Hell, Chapter 8: Suspicion

Volume 3: Delicacies of Hell, Chapter 8: Suspicion

Ni Ming pressed his temple hard with his hand. The bloody smell in the air made him feel nauseous. He looked around at his men, all of whom had livid faces. Indeed, this kind of situation was not something anyone could endure.

"Captain, the person has been brought here," a policeman said softly as he walked up from behind Ni Ming.

"Oh, really?" Ni Ming turned around and looked at the two young men who were slowly walking towards him. It seemed that the smell of blood in the air did not surprise them at all. Even when he turned slightly to let them see the body of the deceased, the two men's facial expressions did not change. In particular, one of them had an indifferent expression on his face. Did being a forensic doctor for a long time really make one lose all compassion?

This is a laboratory classroom, or more precisely, a laboratory classroom used for anatomy experiments. This classroom is, of course, very familiar to me. I looked at the corpse at Ni Ming's feet. It was the corpse of a woman whose head was now only half intact. The skull had been forcibly split open, exposing the cranial cavity. Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was completely empty. Where had the brain tissue gone?

"Captain Ni, you brought us here so early in the morning without letting us have breakfast, just to see this corpse?" Li Yang glanced at Ni Ming angrily.

“I’m afraid you’ll throw up if you eat this and then come back.” Ni Ming gave me a meaningful look and said, “Our killer seems to really enjoy cooking.” After saying that, he looked at something on the autopsy table.

Li Yang and I walked over and found it looked like a vegetable salad. The green peas, red carrot cubes, and yellow corn kernels made the dish look very fresh and vibrant, and the beautiful color combination was very appetizing. But upon closer inspection, the salad seemed to have a slightly different color from a typical salad; it was closer to a pinkish-brown.

Pinkish-flesh color? Brain tissue? I know my thoughts are a bit horrifying, but judging from Ni Ming's expression, it really seems to be true. It seems this killer is no ordinary psychopath.

"That's fucking perverted!" Li Yang covered his mouth, turned his head away from the salad, and his face turned a little pale.

"Did you invite us here just to see this?" I felt something was off about Ni Ming's gaze; it was the look of a hunter looking at its prey, which made me very uncomfortable.

"Excuse me, where were you between 1 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. last night?" Ni Ming asked, staring intently into my eyes.

"What do you mean?" Li Yang looked at Ni Ming warily and asked.

“I’ll sleep in my own room,” I replied.

"Really?" Ni Ming crossed his arms and said, "But we have witnesses who saw you walk out of this laboratory building around 1:30 last night."

"Really?" I smiled easily and said, "As far as I know, the lighting around this laboratory building has always been very poor. It's quite dim even after 5 p.m. I'd like to know how this witness could see me clearly? Besides, although I used to be a student at this school, I graduated a few years ago, so not many people at the school recognize me. How can this witness be so sure that the person coming out of the building was me?"