Ombres fantomatiques dans le pavillon

Chapitre 3

I turned my head, pursed my lips, and said, "It's nothing."

Chu Yi didn't ask any further questions, but simply asked, "What did you want to say to me just now?"

I thought for a moment and didn't answer her question. Instead, I asked her, "What do you think of what Han Ying said?"

Chu Yi brushed her hair behind her ear—it was a habitual gesture of hers; whenever she was pondering a difficult question, she would unconsciously brush her hair aside.

She didn't answer me immediately, but gestured with her eyes for me to stop lingering in front of their building. I nodded, and as we walked away, she said, "Well, how should I put it? I only found out about Su Quan yesterday afternoon after I came back from class. We don't live on the same floor and we don't know each other at all, so I didn't pay much attention. When Han Ying came to see me today, I didn't expect it to be about this."

"To be honest, the kind of relationship between her and Su Quan is probably not uncommon, and I think if everything is really as Han Ying said, then her reaction is not too excessive. As for her idea about ghosts, you may find it a bit ridiculous, but I think it is also reasonable."

Hearing her say that, I realized she might have misunderstood my question. So I said, "It's not that I don't believe Han Ying, what I mean is, do you think there's something strange about Su Quan's death, based on what she said?"

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [10]: Chu Yi looked at me with some confusion and asked, "What do you mean?"

I crossed my arms and said, "Actually, Su Quan's boyfriend came to see me last night." Then I roughly recounted what Zhou Hua had said last night to Chu Yi.

After I finished speaking, Chu Yi paused for a long time, then gently shook her head and said, "If what Zhou Hua said is true, then..."

I know she's in the same predicament as me: she feels that Zhou Hua's story and Han Ying's story are somewhat connected, but upon closer inspection, the connection between the two seems a bit far-fetched.

I looked into her eyes, and she immediately understood that I was thinking about the same thing. She turned her face away and gently shook her head.

I spoke first, asking, "Do you have any information about Su Quan's cause of death?"

"There doesn't seem to be any definite news yet, but most people are saying that she accidentally fell while hanging clothes to dry."

I said "Oh," and she continued, "But in fact, the possibility of murder can be absolutely ruled out, because she was the only one in her dormitory at the time."

I didn't immediately express my opinion, so Chu Yi said, "Of course, if she was really killed, I might be able to accept some of the more bizarre 'methods,' but in any case, to say that Han Ying only 'thought' about it led to this incident is something even I find hard to accept."

I immediately replied, "Of course. Supernatural abilities to kill? Even novels don't use that kind of plot anymore."

Chu Yi didn't say anything. I thought for a moment and said, "Do you think I should agree to Zhou Hua's request to investigate this matter?"

Chu Yi snorted and said, "You already decided to go, so why are you asking me? However," she paused, her tone becoming somewhat heavy as she continued, "if things are unusual, don't take too many risks."

Looking into her concerned eyes, I said, "Don't worry, I will."

Afterwards, I organized my thoughts a bit. I figured if I wanted to investigate this matter, I should start with Su Quan. Everything revolves around the deceased Su Quan, but so far, I've only gleaned bits and pieces of information about him from Zhou Hua and Han Ying. And undeniably, both of them have significant "prejudices" against him, so their descriptions are inevitably too subjective and not very valuable to me. However, from their conversations (whether it's Zhou Hua's account of what happened in the coffee shop or Han Ying's account of what happened in their dormitory), Su Quan always seemed somewhat different from ordinary people. Therefore, I thought my first step should be to find a "third party" to learn more about Su Quan.

I told Chu Yi my thoughts, and she nodded in agreement, then said, "It sounds like Su Quan is indeed somewhat different from others, at least her mental state is not quite the same as that of ordinary people."

I said, "Great minds think alike. Do you know anyone in the Chinese literature department who could help you learn about this Su Quan?"

"Huh? Why do you want me to go? Don't you have acquaintances in the Chinese department?"

"I know someone? Who is it?"

"Your 'Shishi,' isn't she a Chinese literature major?"

I was taken aback, but immediately understood who she was talking about. The "Shishi" she was referring to was Liu Shiyan, the girl with exceptional dance talent who appeared in my story called "Magic Dance." Because that experience was one of the few in my stories that didn't involve Chu Yi, and because there was a romantic entanglement between us during that time, I always tried to avoid talking about her with Chu Yi afterward.

When I heard Chu Yi say that, I quickly replied, "Hey, didn't I tell you..."

She interrupted me, saying, "Alright, I didn't mean anything by it, so don't try to be clever."

I said, still somewhat awkwardly, "But..."

Chu Yi interrupted me again, gently nudging me with her hand and laughing, "Alright, I was just kidding. Don't explain anymore, you've explained it countless times. Don't you have an elective class with her this afternoon? You can ask her for some information."

Seeing that she didn't seem angry at all, I smiled and didn't bring it up again. She also reminded me that I would be seeing Liu Shiyan that afternoon, so I checked my watch and said, "Let's head back then."

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [11]: In the afternoon, I came to the classroom where I was having class. As soon as I entered, I saw Liu Shiyan sitting in a seat by the window, engrossed in writing something.

I noticed that the seat next to her was empty, so I went over and sat down.

She noticed someone approaching, turned around to look, and upon seeing it was me, greeted me first.

I nodded to her and said, "Long time no see. How are you? Still as busy as before?"

She closed what she had been writing on the table and said, "I'm never busier than you." Then she asked me, "Hey, how have you been lately? Any noteworthy experiences?"

When I saw her ask that, I smiled, thought for a moment, and said, "It's hard to say right now."

She didn't say anything, just looked at me and waited for me to continue.

I was just about to tell her about Su Quan, but the bell rang for class, so I had to wait until after class to talk about it.

After class, I said to Liu Shiyan, who was packing her books, "Shall we go eat together?"

She turned her head, looked at me, and said, "About what you were about to say?"

"Yes, do you have time?"

"Of course. Oh, could it be that we've encountered something strange again?"

I laughed it off and said, "It's not as exaggerated as you think. I just wanted to ask you about someone."

Upon hearing this, she didn't ask any further questions. She simply continued packing her things, casually remarking, "Su Quan?"

I was taken aback, looked up, and met her cunning gaze. So I asked, "How did you guess?"

She wrinkled her little nose, gave a smug "humph," and said, "Simple. Since you're the one asking me about someone, then this person must be someone I know but you don't, and this person must have recently piqued your interest—there aren't many people like that, and Su Quan is naturally number one."

I clapped my hands and said, "Good, you've really improved." Then I packed up my notebook and said, "Let's go."

We went to the cafeteria, each ordered a fast food meal, and found a relatively secluded corner to sit down. I spoke first: "Since you've already guessed that I'm here for Su Quan's sake, then please tell me everything you know about her, okay?"

She didn't answer my question immediately, but said, "Okay, but please tell me everything you know about her, okay?"

I was speechless. It was clearly my tone, yet she was using it here. Completely helpless, I could only ask, "Are you really interested?"

She immediately replied, "Of course. Anything that interests you must be extraordinary. How could I not be interested? Besides, didn't I tell you last time that I'll have a part in your future adventures?"

I was speechless. Actually, when I first met her, I remembered her as a student council vice president who was always busy. But after the story of "The Magic Dance," she developed a liking for the adventurous life like mine. So, after that experience, she asked me to inform her if I encountered any strange events in the future. I think I did agree at the time, but I didn't expect her to take it seriously. Now that she brought it up, I couldn't just go back on my word, so I said, "Okay, but you go first."

She seemed pleased to hear this and said, "Okay, what do you want to know about her?"

"everything."

Liu Shiyan nodded, as if organizing her thoughts, and then said, "As for Su Quan, well, although we're in the same class, I don't know her very well. So what I say might not be of much help to you."

I didn't say anything, I just gestured for her to continue.

She continued, "She is usually a very quiet person in class. Although she participates in class activities, she is not enthusiastic. She has never joined any clubs."

I interjected, "That's quite a contrast to you."

She ignored me, just snorted, and continued, "Her dormitory is diagonally opposite mine. We don't interact with each other as much as the other dormitories do."

"Oh, why?"

"There's no major reason, it's just that we all feel that the people in that room are a bit unsociable."

Were all six of them like that?

"Of course not all of them. Actually, I'm quite close to Fang Linlin and Han Ying from their dorm. Fang Linlin and I are both in the student union's publicity department. But the other girls give us the impression of being unapproachable, so we rarely go to their dorm. Fang Linlin and the others, on the other hand, sometimes come to our dorm to sit for a while."

She paused here, hesitated for a moment, and said to me, "Don't tell anyone else what I'm telling you."

I didn't say anything, but I sat up straight and raised my right hand in a gesture of swearing.

She leaned forward slightly and said, "Actually, even the people in their own room have long felt that the atmosphere in their room is very oppressive."

I frowned, not understanding what she was trying to say.

She didn't notice my expression and continued, "Once, Fang Linlin told me herself, 'Look, it's fate that the six of us came together from all over the country, and we should all get along well. But the people in our room are always out early and back late, and besides their own studies, they don't care about anything else. As a result, even we roommates rarely have the chance to talk to each other.'" Hearing this, I felt that it was getting further and further away from what I wanted to know, so I interrupted her and asked, "What about Su Quan?"

"Su Quan wasn't usually this quiet when she first started college, but something happened last semester, and after that she became the person she is now, rarely interacting with others."

"Is it about that thing between her and Han Ying?"

She looked at me with slight surprise and said, "You know?"

"I only know that such a thing happened, but I don't know much about it."

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [12]: She sighed softly and said, "Then do you know that the boy liked Han Ying at the beginning?"

I nodded.

"That's why Su Quan went crazy for almost a month."

Although Chu Yi and I had considered that Su Quan's thought process might be different from ordinary people, we never expected that she had been "crazy" before. So I leaned forward and said, "What? She was crazy before?"

Perhaps my reaction was a bit too strong, because Liu Shiyan quickly waved her hand and said, "No, no, it's not that serious. According to the doctor, it's just the mildest form of schizophrenia. She didn't even need to stay in the hospital. She only had a month of psychological treatment and the doctor said she was fine. As for saying she's crazy, that's just what we say."

After listening to her, I felt that this seemed to be a very useful clue. Seeing that I didn't say anything, Liu Shiyan continued, "The time she was sick was right after our midterm exams. Su Quan's grades were greatly affected by her relationship with that boy. In fact, the doctor also said that her illness was caused by excessive psychological pressure. Saying that it was because of that boy is just a rumor we made."

I then said "Oh" and told her, "Your rumors are quite vivid and interesting."

She seemed somewhat unconvinced and said, "It wasn't me who spread the rumor; everyone's saying it."

I chuckled. Spreading misinformation is a terrible human trait; after something has been passed down through several levels, its credibility drops exponentially. And it seems that most people are "enthusiastic" about it.

However, from Liu Shiyan's words, I learned that Su Quan had indeed experienced symptoms of schizophrenia at one point, whatever the reason. I vaguely felt that this might help explain some of Su Quan's strange behavior, but I didn't have a concrete idea for the time being, so I had to put the thought aside for now.

I said, "Alright, what else do you know about Su Quan?"

Liu Shiyan thought for a moment and said, "After all, we don't live in the same room and we don't have much contact with each other, so it seems there's nothing else."

She paused, then suddenly seemed to remember something, and said, "Oh, right, there's one more thing, but..."

Seeing that she seemed hesitant to speak, I wondered what she wanted to say, so I asked, "What is it?"