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

Chapitre 76

Volume Three: Delicacies of Hell, Chapter Ten: Ink Lake

Volume Three: Delicacies of Hell, Chapter Ten: Ink Lake

"Believe me, there's something strange about that puddle of water!" Li Yang said to me confidently while stuffing food into his mouth.

"Okay, I believe you. We'll go back and check again later. But you have to let me finish my meal first!" I said, swallowing the food in my mouth.

"That's more like it!" Li Yang nodded in satisfaction. Perhaps he was really starving, because he stopped talking about what had just happened and started a fierce battle with me over the food. All that could be heard was the sound of us wolfing down our food.

"Senior!" Juanzi's voice came over just as our competition was about to end. Then she ran up to us like a whirlwind, sat down next to me without even saying hello, and grabbed the last piece of char siu and put it in her mouth.

"Hmm, it tastes pretty good!" Juanzi chewed a few bites with relish, making Li Yang and me envious.

"Juanzi, be careful not to get fat eating like this!" I joked.

“So what if you’re fat? Back in the Tang Dynasty, being plump was considered beautiful!” Juanzi pouted, unconvinced.

"By the way, don't you have classes this afternoon?" Li Yang glanced at his watch; it was already past one o'clock, and the cafeteria was getting less and less crowded. It seemed like it was time for his first class of the afternoon.

"Yes!" Juanzi winked at us and laughed, "But haven't you ever heard of the word 'skipping class'?"

"Skipping class? That's not a good idea!" I said, a little worried.

"Save your breath, senior. Do you dare to say you never skipped a single class back then? It's university, how can you say you've been to university if you didn't skip classes?" Juanzi said with an air of "I'm right, who cares?"

"By the way, I heard that many students have gone home because of the murder, is that right?" Li Yang asked.

“Yes, but I’m not going back!” Juanzi said. “Only cowards would go back!”

"I heard you knew the person who died in the lab building?" Li Yang asked again.

"Yes, actually many students know her. She's our teacher, Ms. Ma Si, and her real name is Qin Xiaoli!" Juanzi replied.

"Professor Ma, why would she go to the medical laboratory building?" Li Yang asked, puzzled.

"I wouldn't know about that," Juanzi shrugged helplessly. "But my classmates are all talking about it, saying it's very similar to what happened twenty years ago!"

"What happened twenty years ago?" I asked hastily.

"Oh my god! Senior!" Juanzi suddenly opened her mouth wide in an exaggerated way, and then asked me, "Are you even a graduate of this school? You don't know about something so famous?"

"What's wrong?" I scratched my head. Back then, I was a very withdrawn person with few friends, so no one had ever mentioned anything to me.

“It’s the Demon Manor and the Lonely Soul Building!” Juanzi said. “I’ve already told you about the Demon Manor. The Lonely Soul Building is that old two-story teaching building next to the medical laboratory building. Twenty years ago, just three days after the incident at the Demon Manor, a female student jumped off that teaching building and died. After that, the old teaching building was called the Lonely Soul Building!”

"Wait, wait," Li Yang interrupted Juanzi, saying, "Didn't you say that teaching building is only two stories high? Can someone die from jumping from such a low height?"

"Her head hit the ground first!" Juanzi rolled her eyes at Li Yang, seemingly blaming him for interrupting her rambling.

"Murder?" I asked.

“Suicide!” Juanzi replied.

"Impossible!" I categorically rejected Juanzi's answer, saying, "If someone is determined to commit suicide, they would never choose such a low building to jump from. Two floors would likely not kill them at all. Since they want to die anyway, why not walk a few more steps to the medical laboratory building next door? The fourth floor is safer than the second floor."

"That's what the police were thinking too, but they couldn't find any clues to homicide, so they had to close the case as suicide," Juanzi said.

"Is it possible that it was an accident?" Li Yang interjected.

"Then I don't know," Juanzi replied.

"Do you know the names of the man who disappeared from Ghost Manor, his wife, and the female student who died in the old teaching building?" I asked.

"That man's name seemed to be Jiang Hua, and his wife's name was Zhou Xiangrong. I can't remember the female student's name, but I heard her surname was Liu," Juanzi said.

"Is there any connection between them?" Li Yang asked.

"I don't know, it happened twenty years ago. We only heard about it from the seniors from previous years." Juanzi shook her head regretfully.

"You just said it's similar to what happened twenty years ago, how is it similar?" I continued to ask.

“There have been murders for several days in a row, and they’re all so strange!” Juanzi said.

"That's really strange!" I stared at the food in front of me with a bit of annoyance, unable to understand how I could one day become a criminal suspect. It was really funny.

"Oh no, my date!" Juanzi suddenly jumped up from her seat after glancing at her watch and screamed, "I'm going to be late! Goodbye, senior!" Before Li Yang and I could even react, she was already ten meters away, her bright pink dress disappearing from our sight in a flash.

"Your school's past is quite interesting!" Li Yang said to me with a smile.

"I'm a suspect now, and you still find it amusing?" I scoffed.

"Don't worry, I believe you won't kill anyone!" Li Yang said, "Do you think that female student surnamed Liu really committed suicide?"

"I don't know, but if it was murder, the killer is also very strange. Wouldn't he be afraid that the person wouldn't die after pushing someone down from the second floor?" I said. If the killer really intended to kill, he would have chosen a better location. A two-story building is probably too unsafe.

"What if it wasn't a planned murder, but rather a spur-of-the-moment decision? Maybe the killer simply arranged to meet the girl on the rooftop of that building to discuss something, but they couldn't agree on what to do and ended up arguing, and then the killer accidentally pushed the girl off the building?" Li Yang tried to speculate.

“In that case, there should be plenty of clues left during the altercation, such as footprints at the scene, whether the girl has any injuries that would typically occur during an argument, or whether there are any fibers from the other person's clothing under her fingernails. Usually, a murderer who acts on impulse leaves behind a lot of physical evidence because they haven't planned it carefully. But Juanzi just said that the police back then didn't find any clues that it was a homicide. I don't believe that someone would calmly destroy all the evidence after mistakenly killing someone, because there are just too many things they need to consider,” I said.

"So that means the murderer premeditated it, but why did he choose a place that's only two stories high? Wasn't he afraid that the woman was lucky enough to survive?" Li Yang asked.

"But the fact is that the girl is dead. However, I think that's actually the key to this case. It's a pity we don't have the detailed information from back then, otherwise we could continue to speculate," I said with regret.

"Oh well, it's been twenty years since then. What I should be concerned about now is your situation. I wonder if it will affect your participation in the forensic medicine academic seminar in a week?" Li Yang asked me worriedly.

"Don't worry, they can't arrest me without better evidence. Besides, I didn't do anything, so what's there to be afraid of?" I said confidently.

"You seem to have it easy!" Li Yang smiled and glanced at me, saying, "Finished eating? Let's go!"

"Okay." I nodded, and the two of us headed back from the cafeteria to investigate the strange puddle of water. Strangely, there was nothing left in the toilet; the puddle of water seemed to have evaporated into the air. Li Yang and I checked the toilet inside and out several times without any results. Disappointed, Li Yang finally gave up after more than three hours of searching.

Just as Li Yang and I were discussing how to pass the afternoon and evening, Juanzi rushed in to us again, this time with tears streaming down her face and her eyes red from crying. It turned out she had just had a fight with her boyfriend, and he even said he wanted to break up. Girls in love are always particularly capricious, and soon she was sobbing uncontrollably in front of Li Yang and me, looking like she was in unbearable pain. But when she heard that Li Yang was going to treat her to a big meal, she immediately stopped crying and insisted that he take her right away. Poor Li Yang, what was just a casual remark to comfort her had now turned into a huge expense for him.

"Senior, why don't you come too!" Juanzi's pretty face was flushed, and she no longer looked sad.

"I'm not going, you guys go!" I was really thinking about Li Yang's wallet; it's cheaper to invite one person than two, and besides, I already had a plan for tonight.

"Aren't you going?" Juanzi's face fell.

"So you're not going either?" Li Yang immediately became excited, his eyes shining.

"Go, why wouldn't I go?" Juanzi wiped away the tears still lingering in the corners of her eyes and said, "Men can be fickle, but women can't? Humph! Li Yang!" Juanzi patted Li Yang's shoulder hard and said with great bravado, "I've decided, tonight I'll make you my boyfriend!"

After saying that, she grabbed Li Yang and dragged her outside without saying another word. I quickly looked up at the ceiling, deliberately ignoring Li Yang's pleading look. There's no reasoning with a girl who's sulking. Poor Li Yang, you'll just have to sacrifice yourself for her!

**************

At six o'clock in the evening, after hastily finishing my dinner in the cafeteria, I left the school gate and walked south along a street lined with tall plane trees for about twenty minutes. Finally, I arrived at my favorite street, a street that, in today's terms, was very bourgeois and filled with all sorts of bars. It was a one-way street, so it was very narrow, barely wide enough for a truck to pass through. The trees on both sides were very tall, their top branches almost intertwined, forming a green canopy that enveloped the street. Each bar on the street was small, but each had its own unique character. There were many blond-haired, blue-eyed foreigners here. The men and women on the street had a decadent and melancholic look in their eyes, or perhaps they were young people who enjoyed having fun and dressed in avant-garde clothes, or perhaps they had a desire for material things.

Although it had been several years since I'd been here, I looked around and found that almost nothing had changed. What surprised me most, however, was the newly opened bar not far away. Its exterior was strikingly similar to the Black Forest bar, both with a cemetery-like layout. The difference was that this bar was called "Ink Lake," seemingly sharing a subtle resemblance to the Black Forest.

Without hesitation, I stepped forward and pushed open the door of the bar...

Volume 3, Hell's Delicacies, Chapter 11: Tian Niang

Volume 3, Hell's Delicacies, Chapter 11: Tian Niang

To my surprise, this Mohu wasn't a bar, but a teahouse, yet its decor was remarkably modern. The interplay of light and shadow, along with the aroma of Longjing tea permeating the air, created a unique blend of modern and nostalgic charm. The waiters all wore clothing resembling ancient robes, but clearly modified, giving them a somewhat martial arts-like appearance.

I felt like Grandma Liu visiting the Grand View Garden, everything was so curious. I never imagined that a teahouse could be located on such a chic street and not seem out of place at all. I guess I'm really out of touch with the times. I chuckled self-deprecatingly and casually found a seat. A waiter approached me and asked, "What kind of tea would you like?"

"Oh, is there anything special about this place that you can tell me about?" I know absolutely nothing about tea.

"I see this is your first time visiting Mohu, sir. Please try our specialty tea, called 'Dreamlike Heart'," the waiter said.

"What?" I blinked in surprise. Why would they use that name? Was it just a coincidence? I looked at the waiter in front of me with some doubt, hesitated for a long time, and finally couldn't help but ask, "Excuse me, is your boss a woman named Tian Niang?"

"Oh, so you know our boss, sir?" the waiter said to me with a smile.

"Really? Is she here now? Can you take me to see her?" I excitedly stood up from my seat, almost grabbing the waiter by the collar.

"She's here, but our boss usually doesn't..." The waiter looked a little embarrassed.

“It’s okay, just tell him that Lin Xiao came to see her, and she will see me,” I interrupted the waiter.

"I see..." The waiter was still a little hesitant, and after a long while he reluctantly nodded and said to me, "Then please wait a moment."

Watching the waiter's departing figure, I began to feel uneasy. I had originally gone to the Black Forest to become her apprentice with unwavering determination, but I hadn't expected that Tian Niang wouldn't be there. Now that I was about to see her, I felt extremely nervous and at a loss. I really didn't know how to start the conversation when I met her. After a while, the waiter reappeared in front of me and said, "Mr. Lin, please follow me."

As the waiter led me to the back of the tea room, through a dimly lit corridor with walls covered in wood carvings, I came to a beautifully carved wooden door. The door seemed to be made of a special material, faintly emitting a sandalwood scent.

"The boss is inside," the waiter said, bowing slightly before turning and leaving, leaving me alone in front of the wooden door. Through the dim light, I could see the carvings on the door. They seemed to be some kind of ancient hieroglyphics, arranged in an outward-spreading Bagua (eight trigrams) pattern. Upon closer inspection, it seemed as if the Bagua pattern was constantly rotating, or as if these strange characters were about to emerge from the door, twisting and turning.

I shook my head hard, took a deep breath, and tried to look away from the relief on the door before pushing it open. The door wasn't as heavy as I'd imagined. A slightly stronger scent of sandalwood wafted out, and the room was dimly lit, with only a single candle casting its light.

I went inside, and the wooden door behind me closed gently on its own. Beside a censer shrouded in incense smoke, I could vaguely make out a graceful figure lying on a recliner; the sandalwood incense seemed to be emanating from that censer.

"Tian Niang?" I called softly.

As the smoke gradually dissipated, Tian Niang's charming face became clearer. She seemed to have just woken up; her long black hair was casually draped over her shoulders. She wore a modified Chinese-style sleeveless cheongsam, the collar unbuttoned up to the fourth button, slightly revealing a close-fitting bright red undergarment. The cheongsam was very short, almost reaching her upper thighs, leaving her two long, slender, snow-white legs completely exposed before my eyes. Her sleepy appearance did not detract from her beauty at all; instead, it added to her languid, ethereal beauty, like a goddess in spring slumber.

"Oh, it's my little apprentice!" Tian Niang smiled and sat up from the recliner, comfortably crossing her beautiful legs.

"Hmm~" I hummed resignedly, without refuting her words.

"Hehe," Tian Niang chuckled, "Why aren't you protesting today that I'm calling you my little apprentice?"

I looked up and stared directly into Tian Niang's eyes. Her eyes were beautiful, the classic Chinese style of single-eyelid eyes, charming and alluring. But then another pair of eyes appeared before me, eyes so pure and innocent, eyes that had once gazed at me with such tenderness and affection. I had once thought I could possess her forever, protect her, but fate had played a cruel joke on me. I had something I wanted to protect, yet I was powerless to do so. And then there was another pair of eyes, eyes that had become part of me. I reached out and touched my left eye; within it flickered something belonging to my friend, something he had exchanged his life for.

At that moment, I realized how unforgivable my cowardice was, and my chest began to ache inexplicably. Was it a punishment from heaven? But it seemed too lenient. I covered my left eye tightly with my hand until I felt a slight throbbing pain, as if this was proof that it had become one with me. Then I slowly let go, not wanting to lose it again. Really, everything was already enough.

“I have something I want to protect, so…” I said slowly, “Please take me as your disciple!”

“We all have things we want to protect, and we all want to become stronger,” Tian Niang’s smile disappeared, replaced by a faint sadness, “but in this world, there is always a price to pay for what you gain.”

"I'm willing to make any sacrifice, it doesn't matter to me," I quickly replied.

“If you hadn’t met Fang Lei, or rather, hadn’t fallen in love with her, I might have taken you in without hesitation. But now, I have to tell you something,” Tian Niang said seriously. “I think Fang Lei or that Li Hai must have told you something about the Ancient Tomb Sect, right?”

“Just a little,” I replied.

“The Ancient Tomb Sect existed long before the Qin Dynasty, but few people knew about it. The Ancient Tomb Sect is actually the same as your Lin family, one of the four ancient ethnic minorities, the Spirit Clan. However, your Lin family are living beings, while we are undead, and there are only two people in each generation. One is the master, and the other is the disciple,” Tian Niang began to tell me in detail: “When the master dies, the disciple naturally becomes the new sect leader, but he is only allowed to take on one disciple until he deems the disciple ready to undergo the ritual.”

"What is a ritual?" I asked curiously.

"It's a ceremony to pass on the position of sect leader, but to put it bluntly, it's just a martial arts competition between master and disciple. And this competition can only have one winner, one winner who can live," Tian Niang said.

"What? Does that mean the other one has to die?" I asked. What kind of ritual is this?

"Yes, this is a ritual of life and death. There are no weaklings in the Ancient Tomb Sect. Only those who can defeat their own masters can survive." A mixture of indifference and helplessness flashed in Tian Niang's eyes.

"So, you're also a powerful figure like that?" I suddenly felt that the woman in front of me was a complete stranger.