Le retour de l'âme

Chapitre 30

Xu Silu struggled desperately, her angry eyes seeming to devour me.

"What exactly do you want?" I snapped.

"You're the one who ruined Lingmin, I'm going to make you go down and keep her company!" She lunged at me again.

I dodged the blade a second time, then slapped her across the face.

"Listen, Lingmin's death has nothing to do with me. Can't you calm down?!"

The Ghost Returns to the Fourth Campus (4)

Xu Silu buried her head and squatted on the ground, bursting into tears. This left me at a loss, and I could only awkwardly walk over to comfort her.

"I'm...I'm sorry, I got a little agitated, it wasn't intentional."

Xu Silu covered her face and slowly turned her head. "If you hadn't looked for Lingmin, would she have died? You're the one who killed her."

"I..." It's undeniable that it's true. I didn't know how to answer for a moment.

Xu Silu slowly stood up. "Why are you meddling in things from years ago? Why are you interfering in matters concerning the forbidden area of the campus? Do you even know that it's you who allowed the curse to once again hang over the campus!"

"You know... I asked Lingmin about those things?" I asked, puzzled.

"Of course I know! Ever since Lingmin went insane, I've been secretly monitoring you. It's because of you that Zhang Xueyao, who had been dead for three years, reappeared, haunting Lingmin day and night, driving her to the brink of collapse and suicide!" Xu Silu became more and more agitated as she spoke.

"You've met Zhang Xueyao!" I exclaimed excitedly, as everything I had predicted was correct. However, Xu Silu's answer disappointed me greatly. She had never met Zhang Xueyao, who had been dead for three years; she had only heard Lingmin mention her.

"Three years ago, several people died in that grove of trees. After it was sealed off, things slowly calmed down. But ever since you came to school, the curse has been resurrected. It was your curiosity that lured the devil out!" she accused.

"Wait," I interrupted her, "what kind of curse are you talking about?"

"You've been searching for so long, haven't you ever heard of the name Nangong Xiaoxue?"

Hearing that name from Xu Silu sent a chill down my spine. Did she also know about Nangong Xiaoxue's diary? Had she also read it?

I nodded, waiting for her to continue. At that moment, I had a premonition that this senior sister would become the key figure in unraveling the mystery.

"Nangong Xiaoxue displayed a strong sense of hatred before her suicide," Xu Silu said. "It's said that anyone who reads her diary will die and help her take revenge."

Have you read that diary?

"No! I don't even know where it is, and even if I did, I wouldn't go look! I don't want to die, understand? I don't want to die! Only an idiot like you would open that long-sealed curse!" Xu Silu became increasingly agitated, screaming hysterically, her whole body trembling uncontrollably. I didn't understand why she was like this. Was it simply because of Lingmin's death? It couldn't be that simple.

"Did you know that there was another ghost in the girls' dormitory last night?" She suddenly calmed down, and her expression became mysterious again. I'd only ever seen that kind of expression on TV—the expressions of mentally unstable people usually change very quickly.

I nodded silently. The best way to deal with a mentally unstable person is to give them the runaround.

"Do you know any way to seal Nangong Xiaoxue's curse again?" Xu Silu slowly approached me, staring straight at my face.

I shook my head.

Xu Silu's face suddenly darkened. "That means—killing you!" Before she finished speaking, her fruit knife was thrust at me again.

I narrowly dodged it, but a bloody gash appeared on my face. I punched her to the ground and ran away.

"Killing you will seal the curse! I'm going to kill you, kill you!" Xu Silu's frantic screams came from behind.

PART 7.

I ran desperately towards my dormitory, with Xu Silu chasing after me until we reached the dormitory entrance. The security guard on duty stopped her.

Xu Silu was taken to the security office, while I stood at the door, still terrified and panting, surrounded by onlookers.

Amidst the speculation and gossip, I returned to my dormitory. Strangely, it wasn't lights out yet, but the lights were off. A white candle was still burning on the table, and Xu Zhifei sat alone at it, staring blankly at the candle, looking utterly lost.

"Why isn't the light on?" I asked as I pulled the switch, but there was no response; it seemed the light was broken.

Xu Zhifei seemed not to hear me and continued to stare blankly at the candle.

Since Lin Duyu's death, I've grown accustomed to this indifference, so I ignored it and went out with my towel and washbasin. I'm exhausted these past few days and need to rest early; I need to continue searching for the missing Meng Na tomorrow.

When I returned to the dormitory, Xu Zhifei was standing on the table with a strange expression, staring straight at me.

"What are you doing standing on the table?" I walked over to him.

Xu Zhifei suddenly squatted down, covered his head with his hands, buried half his face in his chest, and cried out in terror and panic, "Don't come any closer! Don't come any closer! Don't kill me!"

"What's wrong with you, Xu Zhifei!" I sensed something was wrong and tried to rush over and pull him down. But before I even got to him, he grabbed the books and cup on the table and threw them at me.

When I entered the dormitory, I didn't close the door, and soon a crowd of people gathered at the entrance.

"Don't bother me, don't bother me!" Xu Zhifei was like a madman, waving his hands around his body as if trying to drive something away.

Before anyone could react, he suddenly burst into wild laughter, smashed through the window, and flew out!

The Fourth Campus: The Night of Death (1)

PART 1.

Room 308 in Building 2 for male students is now known to everyone as a cursed dormitory, as two people died there under mysterious circumstances. Of the remaining two, one has already moved out, leaving only the one considered extremely abnormal to live there.

Yes, Zhao Jun moved out, and I'm the one still living there. The day after Xu Zhifei's death, Zhao Jun asked to change dorms. Some classmates asked me if I wanted to change dorms too, but I insisted on staying. If ghosts really exist, I've seen them many times, so what's there to be afraid of? Besides, I believe someone is playing tricks on me. Lin Duyu is dead; judging from his body, he seems to have died of fright. Now Xu Zhifei is dead too. Although many people saw him jump off the building, I could still see fear in his eyes. What did he see that night?!

Exams start tomorrow, and then it's vacation. It seems there's no hope of finding the answers this semester. As for Mengna, tomorrow is her tenth day, her last day. Am I really not going to see her one last time?

I lay alone in bed, enduring the cold, the loneliness, and the darkness, the faint candlelight on the table my only source of light. The light bulbs in the dorm had been replaced, but it still wouldn't light up; it seemed there was a problem with the wiring. The maintenance staff kept making excuses and refused to come and replace it. Everyone in the building seemed afraid of this dorm room, afraid of me. Especially at night, no one wanted to pass by this dorm room; many preferred to take a detour and come up the other staircase.

I know what they're afraid of. The school seems calm these past few days, but that calm can't hide the spreading panic. Everywhere you go, you hear rumors of ghosts haunting the girls' dorms. It's not just one or two dorms anymore, and my dorm, 308, is described as particularly mysterious. It seems like the story from three years ago is being replayed on campus.

My head started to feel heavy again. Lately, I've been getting sleepy very quickly, and no matter how hard I try to stay awake, I can't control myself. I blew out the candle and soon drifted off to sleep.

In my sleep, a familiar sound reached my ears, gradually becoming clearer from a blurry sound. I recognized it as the chimes of the "Clock Tower".

Am I having that strange dream again? Why does the clock, which never rings, always chime in my dreams, and why is it always midnight? I sat bolt upright in bed, opened the window, and looked at the clock. Strangely, this time I couldn't see the hands or the markings at all, only a faint outline. In the real darkness, they shouldn't be visible. Could this not be a dream?

I looked around the "clock tower" and the surroundings with a question in mind, but there was nothing there; everything was asleep.

"If this isn't a dream, why did I hear the bell just now?" I asked myself, turning my gaze back to the clock. Just then, a tiny flame ignited on the clock, and a figure vaguely appeared behind it.

I stared at the flickering light, hoping to see if there was really someone behind it, but it was too far away and too dark to see clearly. However, I could sense that there was indeed someone standing there.

I felt a chill. This wasn't the first time I'd felt this way. It was as if a pair of eyes were watching me from the darkness. Before, I couldn't find them or sense their direction, but this time, my intuition told me that they were behind the firelight, and those eyes were staring at me.

I gently closed the window and started pacing back and forth in the dormitory. "Who could be there? Could it be that so-called female ghost?" I put on my clothes, opened the door, and then closed it again. I hesitated, wondering if I should go to that damned place to find out.

I turned back and looked out the window. The flickering firelight still danced and leaped, and the figure behind it seemed both present and absent, as if waiting for something. What was she waiting for? -- Me?

No matter how terrible it was, I finally made up my mind. Lin Duyu and Xu Zhifei cannot have died in vain, and none of the dead can have died in vain!

PART 2.

The ancient "Clock Tower" is forever shrouded in mystery, especially after the discovery of the secret passage, which has only deepened its mystique. No one knows when or for what purpose the passage was built, not even the academy's higher-ups.

I've searched this building many times, but no one knows which door leads to the large clock embedded in the wall. I can only grope aimlessly in the dark.

The darkness was so profound I couldn't see my hand in front of my face, and the heavy, oppressive footsteps echoed in my ears, but for some reason, I felt no fear. I kept recalling the faces and voices of my deceased friends; they seemed to be right beside me, supporting me as I unraveled these mysteries. And so I reached the rooftop.

A sliver of dim light shone through a crack in the ceiling. Could the secret passage to the clock be up there? Who could be up there? Was it that white-clad woman again, neither human nor ghost? No, my sixth sense told me it wasn't her. The dim light emanating from the ceiling wasn't eerie at all; instead, it gave me a sense of gentleness.

Who exactly led me here?

As I was pondering this, I heard a creaking sound from above. The ceiling panel slowly slid open, revealing a square opening, and then a wooden staircase gently descended. Without thinking much, I climbed up it.

This was a hidden attic, about ten square meters in size, hidden in the ceiling. It was cluttered with miscellaneous items and covered in dust. A white candle sat on a wooden barrel in the corner, illuminating the narrow space. At the far end of the attic, a wooden door was open, letting in a gentle breeze that caused the candlelight to flicker.

"Lin Yuan, you've finally arrived." A hoarse, aged woman's voice drifted in on the cold wind.

My gaze fell on the wooden door. Silver moonlight slanted across the floor, and instantly, a familiar feeling returned—a pair of eyes that had been watching me in the darkness seemed to open once more the instant the sound drifted in on the wind.

The Fourth Campus: The Night of the Final Stroke (2)

"Who are you? Show yourself!" I said calmly.

As soon as he finished speaking, a light and slow footstep sound came from outside, and another black shadow slowly appeared in the moonlight, moved diagonally to the doorway, and stopped.

"I've been waiting here for three nights, and you've finally come," the voice said.

"You lured me here, why don't you show yourself?" I said.

The shadow flickered, but there was no reply.

"If you don't come out, I'll come over. Now that I'm here, even if you really are a ghost, I'm going to see what you're really like!" With that, I strode towards the door.

"Don't come any closer!" the voice said. From her tone, it was clear she was afraid of me coming over.

I paused for a moment, then ignored her and continued walking.

"Lin Yuan, don't come any closer!"

"Why! Are you scared? I'm not scared, why are you afraid of me?"

"Yes, I don't want you to see me! I'm afraid you'll see me!" Her voice became somewhat sad.

I was near the doorway, stepping on her shadow.

Why are you afraid to see me? Could it be...?

Yes, we know each other.

I wasn't surprised by this. From the moment she came in, she called me by my name, so I guessed she must know me. However, I really couldn't remember whose voice it was.

"Fine, I won't come over, but you have to tell me who you are. You said you waited for me for three days, which means you summoned me with candlelight on the clock every night for those three days? You went to so much trouble to lure me here, you can't just let me leave now, can you?" I looked at my shadow at my feet.

"Okay, I can tell you, but you have to promise me one thing."

"I promise, as long as I can."

"No matter what you hear, you must not leave this door!"

I thought for a moment and said, "Okay. Say whatever you want to say."

"I am Meng Na."

When I heard the name Meng Na, I felt a wave of dizziness, unsure whether to feel joy or sorrow. Joy because I learned she had been hiding on campus all along, and sorrow because I quickly realized today would be the last day of her life.

"I am about to die, and if I cannot lead you to this place today, this secret in my heart will be buried forever."

"Meng Na, is it really you?" I had completely forgotten my promise to her and rushed over in one stride.

Then I saw her, the person I had been searching for for days, and what a terrible sight it was.

Outside the gate was a narrow platform enclosed by railings. Beyond the platform wasn't the campus scene I'd imagined, but rather enormous mechanical gears. A narrow, winding path, supported by steel plates, snaked between the gears like a python. Below the platform and the gears lay unfathomable darkness. Behind Mengna was a square hole about the size of a person, through which moonlight streamed in. By the moonlight, I could vaguely see the end of the steel path, and there Mengna stood, waving her candle at me.

The moment I stepped onto the platform, Mengna turned around.

"You promised you wouldn't come out no matter what you hear," she said.

"Yes, I promised, but I just couldn't resist! Why, Mengna, why won't you let me see you? Can you really bear to deny me even one last look?"