Le retour de l'âme

Chapitre 15

"'Ouija board'? Do you think that thing is real?"

"I don't know either. I never believed it before, but that time I definitely felt the plate spinning by itself. It was very strange, I don't know why. At first, someone was pulling on the plate, and then it spun faster and faster, like the plate was moving by itself."

"So you joined the Séance Society just to figure that out?"

The Fourth Campus: Morgue (2)

Lin Musen nodded, then asked me, "Are you interested in hearing about that forbidden area? I know you've always been curious about it."

"Yes, I've always wanted to go in and take a look, but I've been stopped every time."

"We stopped you from going in to avoid putting you in danger. Even we are only investigating these matters from the outside. If we go too deep, it might attract attention and cause danger. Besides Ikeda Nami, another member of the Summoning Society died in the forbidden area—Zhang Xueyao."

"Zhang Xueyao? A familiar name..." I thought to myself, "Oh, I saw her diary at Chen Yiming's place."

Lin Musen continued his topic, "The scenery in the forbidden area is actually very beautiful."

"Really? All I feel is a sense of unease."

"That's because you haven't been there." Lin Musen's eyes revealed a deep sense of nostalgia. He pointed to the top of the hill, "The highest point of the forbidden area is there. I remember there was a pavilion there, and a set of bluestone steps leading down from the pavilion to the other side of the hill, into that forest, and at the foot of the hill there was a dry well."

"A dry well?"

"Yes, it's a beautiful dry well. The sunlight shining on the well platform is indescribably beautiful. Oh, you're sleepy? Why don't you take a nap? I'll keep an eye on it."

Lying behind that cold, large rock, I couldn't fall asleep. After what seemed like an eternity, Lin Musen suddenly shook me, "Quick! Something's up!"

I jumped up, grabbed my binoculars, and looked into the morgue. What I saw was terrifying.

A faint, flickering candlelight shone through the skylight, casting a shifting shadow on the morgue floor.

"What...what do we do?" I was trembling.

"Continue to observe, and don't alert them," Lin Musen said.

Suddenly, something white flashed past the skylight and stopped. It was a woman in white with long hair, holding a candlestick. My heart seemed to stop. I watched as she slowly turned her face—I couldn't see anything except for one eye and pale lips—that eye stared at me, and a wicked smile appeared on her lips.

We dropped our binoculars almost simultaneously and hid behind the rocks.

"You...you saw it too?" I asked, panting.

Lin Musen nodded without saying a word.

"She seems...she seems to have discovered us." I was still in shock.

"That's unlikely. If the light inside is stronger than outside, she wouldn't be able to see outside."

"But why is she smiling at us? Is she a human or a ghost?" As I said this, I felt a chill run down my spine because I suddenly remembered that nightmare—the one I had not long ago that I could never wake up from. In the dream, I saw this woman with long hair, wearing white clothes, and whose face I could never see clearly.

"I don't know, don't ask me." It was clear that Lin Musen was trying his best to remain calm.

What do we do now?

"Let's wait until dawn, hoping she hasn't found us. Let's wait until dawn."

Finally, dawn broke, and I shook Lin Musen awake. His first words upon opening his eyes were:

"The sun is shining again."

He slowly stood up. "Let's go back and get some rest. I'll tell Maeda Reiko what happened last night."

Before leaving, we glanced at the morgue one last time. This place, where the living and the dead meet, still maintained its silence and mystery.

PART 3

I'm having insomnia again, not because of the terrifying scene I witnessed last night, but because I'm remembering Chen Yiming asking me to find Meng Li's diary and the séance log. Could there be some secret in Meng Li's diary?

In her séance log, Nami Ikeda wrote that she found Meng Li's diary in a red brick house in the forbidden area. It contained Meng Li's suicide note. Apart from Meng Li's suicide note, the diary was of little value. The real value should be another one, which has not yet been discovered.

I wonder, why did Meng Li's diary end up in that mysterious place? Is the mastermind behind it all also looking for Meng Li's diary? What exactly is in the diary?

"Evidence!" Those two words popped into my head.

Yes, it is evidence of a crime. It is very likely that Meng Li knows that person's secret, but what exactly is that secret?

"A suicide note?" Right, the suicide note said she was being hunted by another version of herself. Could the secret she knew be about that person who looked exactly like her? But where is that diary? Is it in Meng Li's second diary?

I couldn't help but think again of the three diaries Chen Yiming had kept. Zhang Xueyao was the first person to perish in the forbidden area after Ikeda Nami's death. Her diary indicated that she had read the Séance log and had a very close relationship with Ikeda Nami. She was caught up in this matter.

The purpose of this project is not only to help Nami Ikeda find out the reason for Meng Li's disappearance, but also to help Nami Ikeda find the haunting ghost—the girl who hanged herself!

I want to find Chen Yiming again, study those three diaries carefully, and tell him what happened in the morgue last night.

PART 4.

Lingmin committed suicide! This was the news I heard after I woke up; it was posted by Xu Zhifei.

"When? Where?" I jumped out of bed.

"It happened right downstairs in the girls' dormitory. Not long after, she jumped. It was so tragic. A lot of people were watching, and the police came too." Xu Zhifei said with a look of regret.

I took off running and rushed outside.

The area below the No. 3 girls' dormitory was packed with people. I squeezed through and saw a yellow cordon. Five or six police officers were standing outside the cordon maintaining order, and another officer was taking pictures. The one conducting the on-site investigation was Chen Yiming.

The cold, lifeless body lay silently on the cold cement, her long, black hair cascading down the floor, obscuring her face. Blood soaked her body, staining her clothes crimson.

Seeing the scene before me, I was stunned. My first feeling was guilt. My intuition told me that Lingmin's death was related to what happened that night in the Youth League office. If I hadn't asked her about her past, she might still be enjoying a happy life. But I dragged her into this horrific event and led her to her death! Although I had never met Lingmin before, the tragic scene before me made me burst into tears.

The Fourth Campus: Morgue (3)

"Lin Yuan! You bastard! You're the one who killed Lingmin!" Suddenly, a girl rushed up to me from the crowd, pointing her finger at me and yelling. I silently thought, "Yes, I killed her, I indirectly killed her." I let her rant. "Slap!" She slapped me hard across the face. "You pervert! You bastard!"

"What happened?" Chen Yiming, who was investigating the scene, stopped his work and walked over. While pulling the girl away, he said, "Who killed whom? Don't talk nonsense without evidence! We've already investigated Ling Min's erratic behavior that night, and it has nothing to do with Lin Yuan!"

"It's him anyway. Even if he's not a pervert, if he hadn't called Lingmin to the Youth League office that day, she wouldn't be dead today!" The girl seemed to have lost her mind.

"Take her out!" Chen Yiming said to a policeman maintaining order, then walked over and patted me on the shoulder. "Don't overthink it, it's alright. You'd better go home first."

I glanced at Lingmin's body one last time, then turned and slowly walked back to my dorm. "It's my fault, it's my fault," I kept repeating to myself the whole way. I don't know how long I walked before I finally got back to my dorm. I buried my face in my pillow and burst into tears.

"What's wrong?" Xu Zhifei asked.

"Forget it, Xu Zhifei. He's in a bad mood right now, don't bother him," Lin Duyu said. "Let's go out for a bit and let him have some peace and quiet."

"Oh, okay."

"Wait, don't go!" I sat up. "I need your help!"

Lin Duyu loosened her grip on the doorknob, walked up to me, and said, "Tell me, what's wrong? We'll definitely help you."

"Could you...could you please say 'I'm sorry' to Lingmin's family for me? They must be devastated to hear this news."

Xu Zhifei said, "That's not your fault. You don't need to apologize. If you apologize, people will just think it's your responsibility."

"It's my fault. I indirectly caused her death. If I hadn't asked her about things she shouldn't have known that day, she wouldn't be dead today!" I shouted, almost losing my mind.

Xu Zhifei was stunned, speechless. Lin Duyu adjusted his glasses and said to me, "Listen to Lin Yuan, what's meant to happen will happen sooner or later. We also regret Lingmin's death, but you need to understand one thing: her death has nothing to do with you. Even if, as you say, your investigation caused her death, have you considered that what she knew would eventually lead her down a path of no return?"

I slowly sat down and pondered Lin Duyu's words repeatedly.

"Alright, you still need some time alone to think about what I just said." Lin Duyu patted my shoulder, and then he and Xu Zhifei left the dormitory.

"She'll eventually go down a path of no return, she'll eventually go down a path of no return." I repeated Xu Zhifei's words over and over in my mind, and suddenly, I thought of Hu Xiaoli. "Lingmin is dead, could she be next?" A strong sense of foreboding made me feel like I had been electrocuted, and my first reaction was to call Hu Xiaoli.

"Beep--beep--" I dialed several times, but no one answered. I was extremely anxious. "No, I have to tell Chen Yiming right away." I put down the receiver and rushed out of the dormitory again.

PART 5.

The crowd had dispersed, and Ling Min's body had been removed. Chen Yiming was cleaning up the scene. I stood outside the police line and shouted:

"Officer Chen!"

"What's wrong?" Chen Yiming asked as he took off his white gloves and walked over.

"Hu Xiaoli... she might... she might be in danger," I gasped.

Chen Yiming glanced around. "I've already thought of this problem. It's not just her; you're in danger too. It's not convenient to talk about this here. Come to my place after school tomorrow afternoon. Of course, I'll inform Hu Xiaoli. You'd better go back to your dorm now and don't go anywhere today." After saying that, he turned around and cleaned up the scene.

Yes, if my intuition is correct, not only Hu Xiaoli, but I will soon be the next target. So I turned and walked back to the dormitory.

I hadn't gone far when I saw Meng Na.

Meng Na stood at a distance on the edge of the lawn facing the crime scene, her expression somewhat dazed.

I quietly walked up to her. "How have you been lately? Has Maeda Reiko given you any trouble?"

Mengna then came to her senses and shook her head at me, "Lingmin is dead. I knew something would happen sooner or later, but I didn't expect it to be so soon."

"Don't overthink it. Her death was just an accident. You should know she was emotionally unstable," I began to comfort Mengna.

Mengna shook her head again. "Don't lie to me. I know you all saw something terrible that night, which is why your senses went haywire. The curse that was sealed for four years has finally been broken." Mengna's words suddenly became profound and difficult to understand. "Lin Yuan, I beg you again, give up."

"I can't give up. If it's really as you say, I can't give up even more. Your sister can't have died in vain, and Lingmin can't have died in vain!"

"Lin Yuan, don't you really understand your situation? You could be next!"

It was only then that I realized how little I knew about Mengna; she seemed to know far more than I did. I wanted to ask her something, but I didn't know where to begin.

Before anyone knew it, Zhao Jun arrived.

"I'm leaving now." Mengna didn't seem to want to see Zhao Jun either; before I could react, she was gone.

Zhao Jun questioned me, "Lin Yuan, didn't I tell you to stay away from her?"

I didn't say anything.

"I know you like her, but I've told you more than once that she can put you in danger."

"Just because she's Meng Li's sister?" I asked back.

Zhao Jun didn't answer my question directly. "Lingmin is dead. I think you must have sensed that her death wasn't a simple suicide or accident."

"Yes, I have that feeling."

"Then you should know very well that everyone connected to those deaths two years ago will be targeted. Two years seems to have made people forget that fear. With the graduation of senior students and the arrival of freshmen like you, the fear in people's memories has been diluted even more. I stopped you from entering that forbidden area to prevent the horror from repeating itself, but in the end, it still happened!" Zhao Jun became more and more agitated as he spoke. "Lin Yuan, I'm not exaggerating. Maeda Reiko also tried to stop you. Everyone who experienced that incident knows how it felt. But why did you insist on experiencing it yourself? Wasn't what you saw that night terrifying enough? Meng Na is Meng Li's sister. Her identity easily attracts the attention of the terrifying angels. Getting too close to her won't end well!"

The Fourth Campus: Morgue (4)

I slowly raised my head and said, "Are you finished? I'm sorry, I know you care about my safety, but I can't! I want to be with her every moment, to protect her! Precisely because I know her identity will bring disaster, I must protect her even more! She is so fragile."

"Sigh!" Zhao Jun sighed helplessly. "This is the last time I'm advising you. Think it over carefully. I really don't want my friend to be in any danger, but there's nothing I can do. I hope you can bear the fear when the time comes."

The Fourth Campus: The Curse (1)

PART 1.

The National Day holiday has passed in the blink of an eye. I thought I could finally get some rest, but who knew that so many things would happen in the last few days.