Une relation tragique

Chapitre 41

The elevator doors opened with a "ding," and Lin Feng glanced at Liu Ming, sneered, and walked in.

Liu Ming hesitated for a moment but still followed Qi Qi into the elevator. After exiting the elevator and walking into the lobby, Liu Ming woke up the security guard and had him open the door. Watching the three of them leave, the security guard was puzzled, but despite his doubts, he couldn't resist his sleepiness and went back to the guard room for a long nap.

Lin Feng said to Liu Ming, "Manager Liu, let's stop here. Let's all go home. This is all we can do for you. If you don't tell the truth, there's nothing we can do!"

Liu Ming put on a fake smile, his face full of fawning, and said, "Master Lin, could you give me one of your talismans?" Then, fearing that Lin Feng would disagree, he added, "I can pay for it!"

Lin Feng took out a talisman and gave it to him, saying, "Hang it on your door, but the resentment is too great; this talisman might not be able to block it. As for the money, forget it; you can save it to buy a coffin later!"

Liu Ming took the talisman as if it were a priceless treasure, carefully placing it in his pocket and repeatedly saying to Lin Feng, "Thank you, thank you, Master." He seemed not to have heard Lin Feng's last words, but in his heart, he was cursing Lin Feng's ancestors for eighteen generations. In his eyes, Lin Feng was a complete fool; who doesn't love money? He just lacked the ability and dared not help. Although he had relied heavily on Lin Feng just now, now that they were out of danger, his contemptuous expression towards Lin Feng was intentionally or unintentionally revealed again, making Qi Qi, who was standing beside him, want to kill him.

Qiqi immediately slapped Liu Ming twice, her demonic energy surging, instantly enveloping her in a pale blue light, and her eyes turning red. Startled, Liu Ming stumbled back several steps and fell to the ground with a thud.

Lin Feng knew that Qiqi was just trying to scare him. Qiqi said, "Listen carefully, it's not that we can't save you, it's just that you're a scumbag and we don't want to save you!" After saying that, she withdrew her demonic energy and became no different from a normal person.

Liu Ming stammered, "Who exactly are you people?"

Lin Feng said to Qiqi, "Let's go, Qiqi!" Then he said to Liu Ming, "He's just a friend's teacher. Goodbye, Manager Liu!"

Watching the two men leave calmly, Liu Ming finally managed to utter a single word after a long pause: "Damn!" Who were these people? Were they human? Or ghosts? He couldn't tell. At that moment, he realized he was all alone on the street. Although the streetlights were dimly lit, he was terrified by his solitude.

After waiting quite a while, a taxi finally arrived. Once inside, Liu Mingxin finally relaxed. The driver casually asked, "Where to?"

Liu Ming gave his home address, then leaned back in his seat, closed his eyes to rest, and was finally able to catch his breath properly.

Volume 3, Ghostly Chapter 30, Sleepwalking (1)

As soon as the car started moving, Liu Ming finally felt relieved. Looking back at the receding "Gravity" building, Liu Ming decided to leave and find another job. Although the working environment and salary here were very tempting, they were insignificant compared to life.

"Damn it!" Liu Ming cursed under his breath. He hated Lin Feng and Qi Qi to the core, and he resented their mockery. He despised anyone who earned less than him, even those who had just saved his life. For money or power, he would kneel down and lick his boss's boots at any time.

He wiped the sweat from his brow and leisurely lit a cigarette. He'd just taken a puff when the driver said, "Sir, please put out your cigarette. Smoking is prohibited on the bus!"

"Damn it!" Liu Ming rolled his eyes at the driver, rolled down the car window, and threw his cigarette out.

The streetlights outside the window flickered, and although the traffic wasn't as congested as during the day, there were still quite a few vehicles. Liu Ming was admiring the beautiful night view when the driver next to him said, "Sir, could you please close the window? It's cold outside!"

Liu Ming immediately flew into a rage. He had been relentlessly ridiculed by Lin Feng and Qi Qi, and had been holding back his anger with nowhere to vent it. Now that he had found an outlet, he immediately exploded.

"Are you fucking done yet?" Liu Ming cursed as he turned to look at the driver beside him.

But when he was about to start cursing, he was so frightened that he couldn't speak. The driver next to him had long hair that hung neatly over his shoulders, bloodshot eyes, a pale face, and a faint smile on his lips. That nose, that mouth, it was clearly Ivan's face.

"How is this possible?" This was the first thought that popped into Liu Ming's mind. The fear that followed quickly brought him to the brink of mental collapse once again.

Ivan turned her head and smiled slightly, saying, "What? Don't you recognize me?" Her lips curled up, her nostrils flared, and her bloodshot eyes gleamed with malice. Her face was ashen, her facial muscles contorted, a stark contrast to the way Liu Ming used to find her captivating—a world of difference. Her smile used to be angelic, but now it resembled that of a demon.

Liu Ming desperately tore at his hair, letting out unconscious, piercing screams. He turned around and kicked the car door violently, yelling, "Stop the car! Stop the car!"

Ivan, sitting in the driver's seat, said emotionlessly, "Sorry, parking is not allowed here!"

Liu Ming suddenly turned around and shouted, "What do you want? Although I killed you, I also burned a lot of money for you. I've done right by you. Don't bother me anymore!" His voice was trembling with tears.

"You've done right by me? Yes, you've really done right by me!" Ivan sneered.

“You used the child in my belly to threaten me! I can’t divorce her, I have children too!” Liu Ming cried bitterly.

"Oh? Your child with her is a child, so my child with you isn't a child? Is it a dog?" Ivan's voice was full of resentment.

"What do you want from me?" Liu Ming cried, covering his face with his hands.

"Weren't you so successful? Didn't you think you were rich? Didn't you think you were a successful person? I'll make you lose everything." Ivan's words were like a sharp dagger, cutting and slashing at Liu Ming's heart.

"I can't lose all of this. If I don't have it, I'd rather die!" Liu Ming pondered this thought. For him, as long as he had money, he was willing to sell his wife at any time.

"Please let me go, Ivan. I'll find someone to perform a ritual for you to pass on to the afterlife. I'll burn lots and lots of money for you so you can't spend it all!" Liu Ming murmured, his voice very soft, his eyes glazed over.

"Hahaha," Ivan laughed shrilly, "Money? Can money buy back my life? Can it buy back the child in my belly?"

"You really won't let me go?" Liu Ming still looked half-dead.

"Let you go? Give me a reason to let you go." Before Ivan could finish speaking, he was suddenly hit hard on the head.

Liu Ming, his eyes bloodshot, held a piece of steel pipe he had just pulled from under the car seat and began to strike Ivan's head repeatedly. As he struck, he shouted, his neck stiff, "I'm not afraid of your father! I'm not afraid of your father! I'll kill you!"

He struck with all his might, and blood flowed down Ivan's head, which slumped against the back of the seat, staining the white backrest with streaks of blood. The car swerved in an S-shape on the road, yet its speed remained undiminished as it traveled through a deserted area.

Liu Ming arrived at the airport in his empty vehicle, and now he had only one thought: "Kill this woman!" Although she had already died once, he didn't mind her dying a second time.

The steel pipe fell, and blood mixed with brain matter splattered out. The red and white mixture splashed onto Liu Ming's hair, face, and mouth, but he didn't care at all. He only cared about the woman or female ghost in front of him.

"Screech!" The car stopped, and Liu Ming stepped on the brake. Ivan's head rested against the backrest, motionless.

"I'll teach you to pester me! I'll teach you to pester me! You threaten me while you're alive, and you won't let me rest in peace even when you're dead!" Liu Ming roared almost madly in the car.

Ivan's head suddenly rolled off his neck and landed on his lap. Liu Ming was stunned. How could this be? He looked at his hand; it was indeed a steel pipe, not a machete.

The severed head resting on Ivan's lap suddenly murmured, "Poor child, he has never seen his father. Do you want to see him?" Ivan's voice was like the fangs of a viper gnawing at Liu Ming's heart.

"No, no, I don't want to see! I don't want to see!" Liu Ming covered his ears, shaking his head and shouting hoarsely.

Suddenly, a gash appeared on Ivan's stomach, from which blood gushed forth. Two tiny hands emerged, forcefully pulling open the wound, revealing a bloodied little head. The child, with his toothless mouth agape, cried out incoherently, "Daddy, Daddy, why are you so cruel? Why did you kill me and Mommy?" His two little hands, also covered in blood, waved wildly.

"Oh God!" Liu Ming finally couldn't hold on any longer and fainted.

Volume 3, Ghostly Tales, Chapter 31: Sleepwalking (2)

"Damn it!" Liu Ming cursed, clutching his throbbing head, which felt like it was about to explode. That damned woman had nearly tortured him to death; he remembered everything he had done before he lost consciousness.

He glanced at the driver's seat next to him and was dumbfounded.

There was no Ivan in the driver's seat. Instead, an ordinary-looking man in his forties was covered in blood, his eyes wide open, his head tilted in fear, and he had stopped breathing.

Could it be that I didn't just kill Ivan, but the driver?

"What have I done?!" Liu Ming looked at everything in agony, realizing he had inexplicably become a murderer again. It was all that damned woman's doing, and that damn Lin Feng—what good were those talismans he gave him? Liu Ming pulled out the talisman from his suit pocket, tore it into pieces, and threw it into the car.

After sitting in the car for a while, Liu Ming got out, walked to the other side of the car, opened the driver's side door, pushed the body aside, and started the car. He wanted to go home and didn't want anyone to see him covered in blood.

After arriving at his building, he parked his car in his garage. There was a Volkswagen Santana inside; given his current position and salary, that was the only car he could afford. He sat in the car for a while, smoked a cigarette, and then got out. He walked to the garage and looked around; no one was outside. He quickly locked the garage door and ran home.

It was already midnight, and his wife was asleep. His daughter attended a boarding private school and could only come home on weekends. The thought of seeing his daughter tomorrow brought him some comfort. However, this small bit of good mood was immediately overwhelmed by the terrifying thoughts that flooded his mind.

He took off his clothes and went into the bathroom. The warm water quickly washed away the smell of blood, and his mood seemed to change a little. "Maybe she really was killed this time!" he thought.

After showering, he took out the talisman Lin Feng had given him from his pocket, crumpled up his clothes, including his shirt, and stuffed them into a trash bag. He stuck the talisman on the door, hoping it would work. Although Liu Ming wasn't sure, he still hoped the talisman would be effective.

He entered the bedroom, lay down beside his sleeping wife, glanced at her, and then turned and fell asleep. Married for over a decade, the romance and intimacy of their college days had long since faded. He disliked his wife's bourgeois sentimentality, but her father was a director of the "Gravity Group," so he couldn't divorce her and had to maintain a facade of deep love.

His chaotic thoughts made him start to feel drowsy for a while, and soon fatigue overcame him, and he finally fell asleep.

After a short nap, Liu Ming, breathing evenly, mumbled a few words in his sleep before suddenly sitting up. His eyes half-open, he slipped on his slippers, and with a blank expression, opened the bedroom door and went into the kitchen. His hand groped around on the cabinet shelf before finally stopping at the kitchen knife. He gently pulled the knife from the shelf with a soft "whoosh," the blade gleaming coldly in the moonlight.

Back in the bedroom, Liu Ming stood in front of the bed, knife in hand, staring intently at his wife. His expression suddenly turned ferocious and terrifying as he shouted, "I'll kill you!"

"Husband, what are you doing?" Startled awake by Liu Ming's shout, the wife asked in confusion. Before she could even scream, the knife was already pressed against her throat when she saw the cleaver in his hand. The half-scream she managed to utter was cut short, like a snapped string. With her trachea severed, she could only hiss; no matter how hard she tried to breathe, no air entered her lungs.

Without hesitation, Liu Ming swung his knife a second time, this time slashing squarely across her face, creating a gash between her left eye and the corner of her mouth, from which blood gushed out. But she felt little pain; the lack of oxygen had put her brain in a semi-shock state. The last thing she saw was Liu Ming's grinning face and another flash of light before everything went black.

Liu Ming frantically slashed at his wife with a knife until her face on the bed was a bloody mess, covered with crisscrossing furrows, before he finally stopped, satisfied.

He smiled happily, put the knife back in the kitchen, then came back, lifted the covers, and crawled back into bed, snoring evenly.

When Liu Ming woke up, it was already bright outside. He glanced at his watch and it was 10 o'clock. After sitting up and stretching, he looked down and found himself covered in blood. "Damn it!" Liu Ming muttered. He remembered changing his clothes and taking a shower when he got home last night, so how could there be so much blood?

He nudged his wife beside him, but she didn't react. Liu Ming turned his head and gasped. Was that still his wife? Her face was hacked to pieces, her eyeballs were hanging from their sockets, and her throat had been ripped open, revealing a deep, dark hole inside.

"Did I kill him again?" Liu Ming was almost going crazy. He grabbed his hair with one hand and covered his mouth with the other to keep himself from screaming.

"No, I can't let my daughter find out. Everything has to wait until she's gone!" Liu Ming was filled with anxiety. He lifted his wife's body and put it in the closet. He crumpled the sheets from the bed into a ball and threw them into the closet. He fetched a basin of hot water from the kitchen and cleaned up the bloodstains on the floor. He found a new set of clothes, put them on, and rushed out the door without even checking his appearance in the mirror.

He dared not go to the garage to get his car; there were things there that frightened him. Taking a taxi? He dared not either, afraid of a repeat of what happened last night. He had no choice but to take the bus. Although it would be crowded, the abundance of people meant more positive energy; he figured that damned woman wouldn't dare cause him any trouble. Standing by the roadside, pondering for a long time, Liu Ming finally made up his mind.

Finally, Liu Ming was able to pick up his daughter. Nothing happened on the way, and he was finally relieved. As long as his daughter didn't find out anything had changed in two days, he could deal with the bodies in the garage and his wife's body as soon as she returned to school. But he didn't know if he could do it perfectly.

As soon as I entered the house, my daughter asked, "Daddy, where's Mommy?"

"Huh? Oh, your mother went on a business trip and won't be back for a while!" Liu Ming was almost speechless at his daughter's question.

"Honestly, it's rare for them to come back, and they're not even home!" The daughter pouted as she sat down in the chair.

"Mom will bring you nice things."

"Who cares!" The daughter was completely unmoved.

"Daddy's going to make you something delicious, you can watch TV for a bit!" Liu Ming turned on the TV, tossed the remote to his daughter, and went to the kitchen to cook. His wife had bought ribs, fish, and chicken in the refrigerator yesterday. After taking the food out, he reached for a knife on the shelf.

He took out the knife and paused, noticing the bloodstains on it. He put the knife back and took out a smaller one to start cooking.

Volume 3, Ghostly Chapter 32, Sleepwalking (3)

Liu Ming finally finished cooking, and his daughter was watching TV in the living room, bored, constantly changing channels with the remote. Seeing Liu Ming bring out the dishes, her little face lit up with joy. She couldn't resist grabbing a piece of braised pork rib and putting it in her mouth, burning her little lips, but still exclaiming how delicious it was.

Seeing his daughter's happy expression, Liu Ming smiled and said, "Eat more if you like it!"

The daughter replied in unison, "Daddy, why aren't you eating?"

Liu Ming had no appetite and said, "You eat, Dad isn't very hungry!"

The daughter snuggled up to Liu Ming and said sweetly, "If only Mom were here! We could eat together, it would be so much fun."

Liu Ming's heart sank. The good mood he had felt after seeing his daughter vanished instantly. He tensed up again, suppressing his fear—afraid that remembering those things would drive him mad—and quickly said to his daughter, "Eat quickly, then Daddy will take you to play!"

The daughter cheered and said, "Wow, that's great! Daddy is the best!" After saying that, she kissed Liu Ming on the cheek and began to wolf down her food.

Liu Ming watched his daughter eat, then took out a cigarette, lit it, and started smoking, lost in thought. It was all unbelievable. Last night, he had sleepwalked and killed his wife; it must have been the work of Ivan's vengeful spirit. "You bitch!" Liu Ming cursed inwardly. Although he was furious, he had no idea what to do. If he went to Lin Feng again, he would inevitably reveal the truth about the murder. Even if Lin Feng eliminated Ivan, his crime would still be exposed, and he wouldn't escape the law; he wouldn't be able to escape punishment.

Liu Ming smoked one cigarette after another, and the room was soon filled with smoke, but he seemed oblivious to it.

The daughter protested, "Dad, stop smoking! It's choking me!"

Upon hearing his daughter's voice, Liu Ming's hand trembled, and he dropped his cigarette. Although his daughter was already over ten years old, her voice wouldn't have sounded so childish. It was the voice of a child who had just learned to speak, sweet and innocent, with a strong hint of coquetry.

Liu Ming slowly raised his head to look at his daughter sitting at the dining table eating. That was his daughter, clearly the baby he had seen in the taxi the night before.

The baby was frantically waving its tiny hands, its legs barely touching the ground on the chair. It was soaking wet, as if it had just emerged from the water, its face stained with blood, and a severed umbilical cord still clung to its stomach. It was chewing on a rib with relish; it was truly baffling how its short hands had managed to reach the rib on the table, and how it could possibly chew it.

Liu Ming was almost dumbfounded, his mouth agape, unable to utter a word. His first thought was to rush forward and kill the baby by anything or any means necessary. But the scene in the taxi last night flashed before his eyes again, and he feared it was another trick of a vengeful spirit, that he was about to kill his own daughter with his own hands. He thought it would be better if he were dead.

Liu Ming suddenly slapped himself twice hard, trying to use the pain to bring himself to his senses. After slapping himself, he saw that the baby was still on the chair, and what he found even more unbearable was that the baby actually smiled at him. And in that smile, four sharp canine teeth were revealed.

"My God!" Who has ever seen a newborn baby with teeth? Especially four canine teeth! It must be that damned woman's doing.

Liu Ming suddenly stood up, walked to the chair, and grabbed the baby. The baby opened its tiny mouth and asked, "Daddy, what are you doing?"

Liu Ming closed his eyes and hugged the baby tightly, murmuring, "This is an illusion, this must be an illusion, daughter, come back." His voice trembled, clearly he wasn't sure, but he still wanted to try. He didn't want to kill his own daughter with his own hands.

Tears streamed down Liu Ming's face. His wife was dead, he'd lost his job, and he'd personally sent his mistress to hell. What did he have left? Only his daughter was his sole support. The once arrogant and disdainful man, who had always looked down on everyone, now pleaded like a pitiful wretch. Liu Ming, who had never believed in heaven or spirits, not even in his own wife, was now silently praying. If there truly was a heaven, would it protect someone like him? Whether it did or not, this was his last hope.