Série Histoires de Fantômes 10

Chapitre 8

Chapter Nine: The Extraordinary Man Lin Yong

The way he said those words sent a chill down Lü Fang's spine. His brain commanded his body, and he turned and ran. He didn't know what he was afraid of, whether it was the unknown ahead or the strange Lin Yong. In any case, he felt that following this madman without knowing anything about him would only lead to trouble.

1. Travel in groups

2. Don't tease me.

Chapter Nine: The Extraordinary Person

1. Travel in groups

The light fell on the man's back, and Lü Fang got goosebumps all over. He couldn't see the face of this absurd person, and he felt extremely unsafe. But looking at the man's clothes, Lü Fang vaguely felt that it was him.

"Brother Lin... Brother Lin Yong?" This was no time for jokes. He tried calling out to the man "facing the wall in repentance," his trembling voice echoing in the silent hut. The man didn't react at all, as if he hadn't heard him at all. Lu Fang felt another wave of numbness wash over him.

"Hey... what's wrong? Hey!" The man's calmness and indifference made him feel dizzy with panic. He spoke again, but the man still didn't respond. At this point, Lü Fang was certain that the person squatting in the corner was Lin Yong, because in addition to being dressed exactly like Lin Yong, he also noticed the man's shoes: of the six people traveling together, only the man named Lin Yong was wearing a pair of white leather shoes.

And now, those white leather shoes that the company's vice president had once ridiculed were quietly slipping onto the feet of the person crouching in the corner not far from him. The silence was eerily quiet, a silence that drove him mad.

For a normal person, it would be impossible not to hear Lü Fang's two shouts, especially in such a quiet environment, unless that person is abnormal. Lü Fang stared at Lin Yong's back, his heart pounding. He knew he wouldn't look away, much less reach out and pat him on the back to say hello. Now, he was caught in a dilemma—whether to leave or stay was also problematic. The situation suddenly became tense, and he found himself in a difficult predicament.

Section 66: The Extraordinary Lin Yong (2)

Time ticked by. Just then, sweat beaded on Lü Fang's forehead, mingling with blood from his wound, began to trickle down his brow, reaching his eyes. A stinging pain immediately spread throughout his body. Worse still, the blood blurred his vision once more. Realizing he couldn't see clearly, Lü Fang swiftly wiped the blood from his eyes with the back of his hand. At the same time, he instinctively stumbled back a few steps, his body slamming into the door behind him.

When Lü Fang wiped his eyes and opened them again to see the world, he was really startled. The person in the corner was indeed Lin Yong, and at this moment, Lin Yong's head had turned around, looking at him expressionlessly!

The atmosphere was extremely tense. Lu Fang's jaw was stuck again, and he could only blindly wave the Swiss Army knife in his hand, which was almost digging into his flesh. His expression, posture, and mentality were completely saying to Lin Yong in front of him: Don't... don't come any closer!

After a brief standoff of a few minutes, Lin Yong had completely turned around, but remained squatting. He stared at Lü Fang, who was sweating profusely, as if he had something to say, but his expression remained completely unreadable. His face looked completely fake.

People need to communicate. Lu Fang, whose nerves were stretched to the limit, suddenly heard Lin Yong sigh. So he could speak. "What are you doing?!" Realizing this, Lu Fang immediately blurted out. He needed further confirmation.

Lin Yong didn't answer, but slowly stood up. During this time, Lü Fang's eyes remained fixed on him. He was wary of a sudden attack; if that happened… Of course, nothing of the sort happened. After standing up, Lin Yong glanced at Lü Fang and simply asked, "Where are they?" He then added, "Why are you alone? Where's the girl you were with?"

Hearing that he had finally spoken, Lü Fang became quite excited, even shouting, "How should I know! Weren't you with them? What were you doing just now?! Didn't you hear me?!" His expression was exactly like that of a little kid who had suffered a lot of grievances.

But his excitement did not affect Lin Yong. When Lin Yong slowly walked from the corner to him, Lü Fang's slightly relaxed nerves snapped back to normal.

“I don’t know either. Mr. Yang and Xiaomin haven’t shown up. I went inside and fell asleep on the coffee table. Later, I thought I heard Xiaomin scream, and I woke up. But when I woke up, not only did I not see Xiaomin, but Mr. Ma, who came in with me, was also gone. I panicked a little, and then I saw a light in the yard, so I thought you were all in the yard. But when I went outside, I realized you weren’t there. I thought you were playing a prank on me, so I went back inside to find a flashlight and went out to look for you. But when I came in, I found there were other rooms in this house, right here where we are now. I groped my way in.” He said.

Section 67: The Extraordinary Lin Yong (3)

At this moment, Lü Fang noticed that Lin Yong's expression didn't seem to be lying. He felt a little embarrassed, but immediately asked, "What were you doing just now? I called you twice and you didn't hear me!" Although he remained vigilant, his tone softened considerably.

"Just make up some excuse so I can save face," Lü prayed silently.

Lin Yong turned and glanced at the corner he had just been standing in. "Oh, nothing. I just saw something there and squatted down to look. I got so engrossed in it that I didn't hear you. Sorry." He then walked away on his own. Lü Fang wanted to follow him and ask what it was, but then he thought it might be a bit nosy. So he wiped the mess off his forehead and followed him out. As he passed the puddle of damp mud, he looked down at the twisted and deformed mineral water bottle on the ground. In the bright moonlight, it looked particularly grotesque.

"We need to go look for them," Lin Yong suggested before Lü Fang could speak. Lü Fang naturally nodded in agreement; this was his only thought at the moment—to find Su Yan quickly and to hope that she was alright, just like him.

2. Don't tease me.

Having made up their minds, they decided to put their plans into action. They walked one after the other along the tiled walls and paths under the moonlight, neither speaking a word. Lü Fang was puzzled by the man's explanation: why had everyone else abandoned him? Or rather, why was he the only one unharmed? As they walked, Lü Fang couldn't hold back any longer and called out to Lin Yong, who was walking ahead, "Stop!"

Lin Yong stopped in response and turned around to ask, "What's wrong?"

The moonlight shone down from above his head, obscuring his face in shadow.

Lu Fang, oblivious to this, asked between breaths, "Where are we running to? Do you know where they are?"

"Otherwise, you would know?" Lin Yong retorted, leaving Lü Fang speechless.

"But don't you think something's strange about this place?" he asked anxiously, recalling the bustling "Lu Fang" market and the strange cavalry.

He only wanted to ask, and never intended to tell Lin Yong what he had seen. The reason was simple: he didn't want to be looked at with those strange eyes. He was a college student, a graduate of a prestigious university.

Section 68: The Extraordinary Lin Yong (4)

Lin Yong shrugged and replied no. Lü Fang didn't respond further. A hallucination? Very likely… but how to explain the injuries? And what about Su Yan? If she wasn't captured by the heavily armed cavalry, where did she go? And what about the company's vice president and that girl named Xiao Min? What was that scream? What does it mean they haven't appeared? Where did Boss Ma go while Lin Yong was sleeping? What was he doing? Many mysteries flooded his mind, leaving him bewildered. They began searching tirelessly again. In Lü Fang's view, this aimless searching was completely pointless, but Su Yan's safety constantly weighed on his mind.

Silence fell between them once more. The night was fraught with danger, broken only by sporadic footsteps echoing through the winding alleyways. The more this was the case, the more worried Lü Fang became. The surrounding buildings were gradually changing; the cluster of houses grew increasingly fragmented, and the once spacious alleyways became narrower and narrower. The silence of the burly man ahead forced him to speak once more.

“I think we should stop and think of a solution. This aimless wandering isn’t working.” His phone still had no signal, and he started to let his frustration get into the conversation. “Don’t you have their numbers?”

Lin Yong replied quietly, "The cell phone is useless; there won't be a signal."

Why did Lin Yong's words sound so cold to Lü Fang? Lin Yong was facing him against the light, his face dark, making it impossible to see his expression. Lü Fang suddenly had a bad feeling.

“I think we should go back and look for them where they’re not," Lu Fang suggested, while casually shining a flashlight on Lin Yong’s face as he made the suggestion.

He suddenly wanted to see his face.

In fact, Lin Yong wouldn't mind, and Lü Fang thought so too, because under the light of the flashlight, he saw that Lin Yong's face was exaggeratedly white, and he also noticed that Lin Yong's eyes... were closed.

In darkness, human vision is weaker, but prolonged exposure to darkness allows one to gradually adapt and see the outlines of things more clearly. However, if one is suddenly exposed to a light source at close range after adapting to the darkness, the intense pupillary activity can trigger a series of short-lived physiological reactions, such as sudden blindness or glare. Therefore, Lü Fang assumed that the sudden light had simply blinded Lin Yong, causing him to momentarily lose his sight. He expected Lin Yong to then shield his eyes from the light with his hand or arm and perhaps complain to him…

Section 69: Totem (1)

But no.

Lin Yong remained completely unaffected, his eyes peacefully closed, making no movement. Lu Fang's brows furrowed instantly. He remained silent, the light sweeping back and forth across Lin Yong's face, or more precisely, around his eyes. But Lin Yong remained oblivious. In a moment of surprise, Lu Fang spoke again, "Follow me, I'll take you to find it."

Why won't he open his eyes and speak?!

The way Lin Yong said those words sent a chill down Lü Fang's spine. His brain commanded his body, and he turned and ran. He didn't know what he was afraid of, whether it was the unknown future or the strange Lin Yong. In any case, he felt that following this madman without knowing anything about him would only lead to trouble.

Maybe this trip was a prank orchestrated by this group to mess with him and his bare face. Is it possible to be on a group trip right after joining the company? Fooling newcomers during the internship phase before graduation is all too common. But then he thought, if that's the case, their methods are a bit too clever… and the sun and the crowd seem a bit too convincing. They couldn't possibly use so many extras just to mess with them, could they?

Sometimes, distrust is displayed so blatantly. But what he didn't know was that in the tunnel not far from his feet, I had similar thoughts as I stared at the corpses' hair and fingers fluttering overhead.

Chapter Ten Totems

Unexpectedly, Lü Fang refused to agree, claiming that the knife was a keepsake left to him by his grandfather, and what if it got ruined by that black water, which he didn't know was poisonous? I was speechless. Why didn't his grandfather leave him a pair of big leather shoes? That way, I wouldn't have gone to such lengths to take it from him.

1 Conflict

2. The overflowing black hole

Chapter Ten Totems

1 Conflict

When Horse Face pulled Lü Fang up, Ye Min and I were also full of suspicion. I observed him carefully for a while and found that he seemed to be a little exhausted. He propped himself up but slumped back down on the ground, and it took him a while to catch up with Horse Face's words.

He said that later he wandered aimlessly around the complex, but couldn't find the original courtyard. Not daring to linger, he ran blindly, shouting Su Yan's name and ours as he ran. Then he must have stepped on something, slipped, fell backward, and lost consciousness again until I tripped him.

Section 70: Totem (2)

I found it somewhat far-fetched, but when he mentioned Lin Yong, all three of us gasped, with Horse Face looking particularly gloomy. Although the timing and place were inappropriate, I still asked him a rather mundane question: "You said you ran into Fatty Lin? Did you see any of him?"

We've all heard of something that looks a lot like a person, the only difference being that, according to legend, that thing doesn't have a shadow.

Lu Fang was completely baffled by my question, and asked me in return with a blank look, "Shadow?"

The three of us nodded hurriedly, "Yes, Shadow, does he exist?"

He was clearly confused. "How can a living person not have a shadow?" As soon as the words left his mouth, he seemed to realize something. Looking at our expressions, he didn't seem to be joking. Large beads of sweat immediately streamed down his forehead. "No way? He..." I nodded solemnly, while Ma Lian and Ye Min lowered their heads in distress. Then I saw Lü Fang's face, which was almost distorted.

It can actually be quite enjoyable to appreciate other people's fears.

He looked at the three of us with a horrified expression. I quickly shone the flashlight on myself, and then on Ye Min and Ma Lian, to prove that we were all people with shadows.

At this point, speaking with your shadow is far more powerful than a diploma.

"Let's go. You've had a much better experience than us." After confirming that he was alright, I told him everything that had happened to us, but I didn't tell him the details of Lin Pang's tragic death; I didn't want to think about it. However... there was one thing he said that really bothered me: he said that when he abandoned Lin Pang and ran away, Lin Pang said those words.

"Be careful of the people around you."

One was lost, one went missing, and now the rest of us are together. After letting the distraught group rest for a while, I told them, "We must find Su Yan. We can't abandon her. We brought her out, so we have to be responsible for her." I spoke in a grand and righteous tone, and Ye Min was very happy that I showed such a noble side. Lü Fang was so grateful that he cried tears of joy, while Ma Lian remained silent with a very complicated expression.

If it weren't Su Yan or Ye Min who went missing, I would have run away first if it were anyone else. But it had to be Su Yan. I gritted my teeth, wanting to slap Lü Fang twice, but seeing how weak he looked, I was afraid that "a deadly soul-locking palm strike would send him to his death," so I held back.

Section 71: Totems (3)

I think Lü Fang's description of a "sunny night" is complete nonsense. It's clearly the middle of the night, so where would the sun be shining brightly? Even if it were broad daylight, where would all those people come from? And even if there were that many people, how could they all be his clones? This isn't The Matrix. I suspect this guy and Su Yan must have seen a ghost. Maybe he lost Su Yan while fleeing for his life. If time travel were such a thing, why don't I encounter it? Speaking of which, I actually wish I could meet a few versions of myself. I have too many girlfriends; I'm worried about not being able to handle them all!

That's what I was thinking, but I still made sure everyone checked the time. My phone still had no signal, but I didn't care at all. It would be strange if it had a signal; I'd seen this kind of thing on TV countless times. So, ever since entering the tunnel, I hadn't counted on it.

After a quick check, it was clear that Lü Fang's injuries were slightly more serious. He had several bruises all over his body, but nothing serious. The impact of falling onto the bridge had left him both mentally and physically weak, but with some rest, he should be fine. The three of us were unharmed, suffering only minor cuts on our hands and palms; we wouldn't die.

It was only when I saw the Swiss Army knife in Lü Fang's hand that I remembered that we had very few items left after fleeing for our lives. So I quickly took stock of the supplies to see how much we still had that we could use.

Horse Face had nothing but his phone, wallet, and business cards; Lu Fang held tightly to his flashlight and Swiss Army knife, so he had weapons for self-defense, but his mini flashlight had fallen apart during a bump and was now useless; at least I still had a flashlight in my bag, which was indispensable for walking at night or looking for lost people; Ye Min was quite thoughtful, she hadn't forgotten the fanny pack she had carried before she left, which contained some snacks, women's products, and half a roll of nylon rope that she had left over, I don't know where she used it.

After taking inventory, I felt a bit dejected. What was the rope for? Useless; the flashlight batteries were almost dead; Lu Fang's Swiss Army knife seemed useless; and I really wanted to kill Ma Lian's phone, wallet, business cards, and Ye Min's feminine hygiene products. Luckily, there were some snacks. I asked Ye Min to take them out and share them so everyone could replenish their energy—something was better than nothing. Later, while taking out the flashlight, I unexpectedly discovered I still had half a pack of cigarettes—a pleasant surprise. Everyone shared the cigarettes, and even Ye Min, who usually doesn't smoke or drink, symbolically took a few puffs.

Section 72: Totems (4)

After a short while, everyone's listless spirits improved considerably.

After exchanging a few words of encouragement, we continued along the arched bridge. As we walked, I didn't forget to shine my flashlight overhead; it was pitch black. This made me wary of Lu Fang as well. I kept thinking about how to get the Swiss Army knife out of his hand so I could feel safe. Did he fall from up there? Ha, that might not be the truth.

We walked on for a long time, harboring our own secrets, until we were forced to stop once again. I couldn't help but curse. The bridge in front of us was no longer straight; it had suddenly branched off like a fork in the road in the darkness ahead.

Ancient arch bridges are now like modern overpasses? This made me both laugh and cry; I'd never seen an ancient stone arch bridge like this before. In fact, I haven't seen many stone arch bridges. But a fork in the road meant we faced a difficult choice. These days, leading a team is tough, and this kind of thing just had to happen. I couldn't help but feel a little annoyed, so I swallowed hard, pointed to the right side of the bridge, and said, "Let's go this way."

"Go to the left."

I fucking knew things wouldn't go that smoothly. No sooner had I finished speaking than Horse Face pointed to the left and addressed the other two. He was clearly looking for trouble. Suppressing my anger, I patiently explained, "From a psychological perspective, when people encounter a fork in the road or a similar situation, they subconsciously choose the left. So we should wisely choose the opposite direction..." Before I could finish, Horse Face interrupted with a laugh, "Oh, did you learn psychology in high school?"

I understood what he meant and was momentarily stunned. Although this guy was the company's general manager, from the day he met me, his attitude towards me, if not exactly attentive, was at least courteous. How could he dare to do that now?

I was a little confused, so I continued, "We should go to the right; going to the right is definitely the right way..."

"I said left!" the horse-faced man interrupted me again, his tone stern and righteous. He seemed to be correcting a junior employee who had made a mistake. I instantly flew into a rage, pointing at him with a blazing face, and shouted, "You! What makes you think you said left?!"

Facing me, the horse-faced man retorted with utter disdain and extreme arrogance, "There's an age-old saying that men should go left and women right; left belongs to the dragon, and right to the phoenix. Books also record that the paths of Yin and Yang are yin and yang, with left being yang and right being yin. Now that we've come to a fork in the road, we should go left!"

Section 73: Totems (5)

"Huh? Is it written in the book?" I retorted, "Men on the left, women on the right? That's utter nonsense! Men on the left, women on the right? I didn't see any forks in the road specifically for you. So, Mr. Ma, you'd better choose carefully whether it's left or right!"

As the saying goes, "If someone treats me with respect, I will treat them with even greater respect." Such vicious words are absolutely piercing to the heart. Horse Face turned pale with anger and shouted, "Shut up!" I ignored him and continued, "Hmph, if you have the ability, why be afraid of what others say?" Lu Fang and Ye Min were afraid that we would start fighting at this critical moment, so they hurriedly stepped forward to stop us.

Lu Fang was busy pulling at Ma Lian, and I waved my hand at Ye Min, saying, "I'm not going to argue with him. If we want to survive, we need to stick together and follow orders. We're already in this situation, why are we still fighting amongst ourselves?" Ma Lian, panting, said to me that he was the company's general manager, so why was he being treated like this? I sneered, "This isn't the company, and we're not in the office. I led everyone here all the way. Ask Xiao Min, what have you been doing? Besides, if it weren't for me and her, how could you have run this far? You repay kindness with enmity, what a scoundrel!"

Horse Face, knowing he was in the wrong, wilted like a frostbitten eggplant and fell silent. Ye Min whispered, urging me to say less. Knowing I had firmly grasped the reins, I ignored him and turned my gaze to the fork in the road ahead. If possible, I wanted to avoid making any choices. Being unfamiliar with the area, what difference did it make whether I went left or right? I shone my flashlight down the bridge. I didn't know how long I'd walked or how high I'd gone; below was only endless darkness. I considered turning back and going down again, but what if the situation was worse than on the bridge? Besides, going back and forth like that would be too time-consuming and exhausting; the longer it dragged on, the more dangerous it would be for my bare face. After much deliberation, I pointed to the right side of the bridge: "Let's go this way." Finally, I added, "Don't force yourself if you don't want to come."

Horse Face didn't utter another word. Defeating him had achieved another effect I wanted; as the saying goes, "kill the chicken to scare the monkey," I doubted that kid Lü Fang would dare to stand out. I snorted, and as usual, I led the way, stepping onto the right side of the bridge.

2. The overflowing black hole

Human emotions need to be released, especially negative ones. As I walked, I maintained a calm and composed demeanor on the surface, but inwardly I kept cursing, "Is this a place for humans to walk on?"

Section 74: Totems (6)

The right side of the bridge initially appeared wider. At first glance, I noticed the railings on both sides were made of granite, crudely constructed with no patterns, and felt quite unpleasant to hold. After walking silently for a while, I discovered—