Minuit Maléfique

Chapitre 6

"Hmm...it's here."

"drink wine."

"Hmm... okay."

Drinking too much alcohol really gives me a headache. With the sun beating down on me, I tried to stand up by holding onto a lamppost, but almost tripped and fell. I couldn't help but stand on the street and burst into laughter, completely unrestrained and inexplicably happy.

My memory of last night became hazy after we started drinking. I only remember her telling me her name—Xiaohui—and then I started rambling on and on, and then I actually started crying—this must be a hallucination, it must be a hallucination. How could a grown man like me cry in front of a little girl?

She just couldn't recall whether she had asked those pre-set questions. All she remembered was what she said when she left: "...That was a powerful vengeful spirit...Where there is resentment, there will be vengeful spirits. As long as the resentment is resolved, the vengeful spirit will disappear...The Soul-Stabilizing Bell can only protect your soul from being devoured by the vengeful spirit. This society is full of resentment everywhere. Vengeful spirits have endless energy and cannot be destroyed. The only way is to find its source and resolve this grudge."

This statement confirms most of my assumptions, if Xiaohui is not wrong. I can't find a reason to disbelieve her. My mood immediately lightened, and I stepped into the convenience store.

Behind the cashier was another young woman. She had short hair and a chubby figure, bustling about like a cheerful magpie. Unfortunately, it wasn't Xiaohui.

"Xiaohui?" The chubby girl stared at me with wide eyes, as if I were an idiot. "We've never had a sister with that name in our shop. What does she look like?"

I blankly and quickly recited the image of her voice and smile that I would never forget. The chubby girl shook her head even more vigorously: "Impossible, you must be mistaken. I've worked at this shop for almost three years and I've never seen a girl like the one you're describing."

Is there another gap in my memory? Or is it all just my imagination, and Xiaohui is just a shadow that never existed? My head started to ache again.

What's the secret to curing headaches? You'd never guess—it's a junior high school textbook next to the cashier.

I suppressed my pounding heart and rambled on, slowly leaning over the center line. Then, to the chubby girl's astonishment, I swiftly tossed down a few ten-yuan bills, grabbed the book, and ran.

As soon as I rushed out of the convenience store, I eagerly flipped open the rolled-up junior high physics textbook in my hand, holding my breath...

"Hahahaha..." I couldn't help but burst out laughing, laughing so hard I was doubled over. Heaven has finally been kind to me.

On the title page of a junior high school physics textbook, in the lower left corner, are two small, delicate characters written in fountain pen: "Xiaohui".

Section 15

I sat in the break room, watching the nurses frantically prepare for surgery. The aroma of lunch still lingered between my teeth, and my mind was filled with a sense of bewilderment.

Head Nurse Lan Ying pushed open the glass door of the cubicle: "...Dr. Tan, everything is ready." She had just gotten married, and her figure was much fuller, the cleavage of her chest seemed deeper... Strange, why am I thinking about these things?

The air was filled with the familiar smell of disinfectant. I expertly put on my rubber gloves, the stainless steel surgical instruments gleaming coldly under the operating lights. I heard my own voice, muffled by the mask, say, "Okay, let's begin!"

Shadows of people.

"Clang," the sound of forceps falling, and the premature baby, induced labor, curled up in my palm. It was a boy, not even six months old, weighing only about three pounds. His tender skin was wrinkled, grayish-brown, exuding an aura of death; he must be dead.

"Dead..." the nurse beside me muttered softly. A sudden pang of sadness gripped my heart.

Turning around, I placed him in the operating basin. His little mouth suddenly moved, like a fish gasping for breath in a dried-up puddle—yes, a fish on the verge of death.

I hesitated for a moment. My thumb shifted slightly, targeting the carotid artery. Three minutes. A brief tremor ran through my palm… then everything returned to calm.

The baby's eyes suddenly opened, large and covered by a gray iris, staring coldly at me. It felt like my heart had been violently ripped open; the pain made me tremble, my hands went weak, and I could no longer hold on. The baby fell into the operating basin with a "plop." It felt like a cloth-wrapped iron hammer striking my heart; the pain made me open my mouth, hissing and gasping for breath, but I couldn't make a sound.

"...Dr. Tan...Dr. Tan!" Someone called my name several times behind me. I turned around quickly and saw Lan Ying. She looked at me with a strange expression. For some reason, my eyes felt itchy and a little wet.

The unwed mother lay motionless on the operating table. Under general anesthesia, she was completely unaware that while she was soundly asleep, the tiny life connected to her by blood had vanished forever.

Mechanically, I picked up the forceps and probed into her uterus, scraping again and again. I didn't know what I was doing, or why I was doing it.

Blood spurted out. At first, it flowed slowly like a mountain stream, but later it gushed out like spring water seeping from a crack in the rocks, splashing all over the ground.

Lan Ying screamed in fright. The unwed mother on the operating table suddenly sat up, staring blankly at me, her eyes empty, devoid of anything!

"Ah!" I sat up abruptly, covered in cold sweat.

The baby's large eyes, covered by gray irises, seemed still vivid in my mind's eye, filled with an infinite longing for life, and with helplessness and resentment towards this filthy world.

I looked at my hands, and they trembled uncontrollably, both in my heart and body. Even though I knew it was just a dream, I was still filled with guilt, and my hands seemed to be covered in something disgusting.

Fortunately, it was already daylight.

I slowly calmed down. Among the legends about ghosts that I know, there is one that says ghosts are created from people's resentment, and they will constantly seek out suitable people to let them experience the memories that they can't forget.

If that's the case... First, assuming this theory is true, then in my dream I transformed into a doctor surnamed Tan. He should already be dead, and his vengeful spirit might be lingering around me.

I shivered, a chill creeping over me. Although the rising sun had already pierced through the gauze window, casting dappled patterns of light on me, it couldn't dispel the coldness that emanated from the depths of my being.

If Xiaohui were here, that would be wonderful. I don't know why, but thinking of her gives me a sense of security. But in this vast sea of people, I don't know if I'll ever have the chance to see her again. I hope Zhang Xiaojun can get the bell back; seeing the bell is like seeing Xiaohui again… I hope so.

"That ghost wanted to send us a message," Xingyun said calmly, tossing his head back and downing another cup of Blue Mountain coffee. He was like a donkey chewing a peony—completely ignorant. I glared at him, but he only looked at Zhang Xiaojun with a fawning, obsequious expression.

The Soul-Suppressing Bell was in my hand, and it was already warm and damp from being warmed in my palm.

“I told him that if he didn’t hand over the bell obediently, I would immediately detain him for destroying evidence, theft, and concealing stolen goods, and publish the charges in the newspaper. Only then did he reluctantly hand over the bell.” Zhang Xiaojun said calmly when he appeared at Simple Life Bar, “Then I asked him if he wanted to know where he got the bell. Goodness, without saying a word, he immediately got up and followed me, urging me to hurry up.”

“So,” Zhang Xiaojun took a sip of his Brazilian coffee, completely ignoring Xingyun’s furious glare, “If there’s anything you don’t understand, just ask. If he doesn’t answer honestly, he won’t hear a word about the bell.”

So, Xingyun became our dedicated spiritual advisor, answering every question. Aside from urging my younger sister to bring out pot after pot of Blue Mountain, Brazilian, Mocha, and Mandheling coffee, which she downed like they were free, overall, he was a pretty good partner.

This small bell is called the Soul-Suppressing Bell. Its function is to calm the mind and protect one's three souls and six spirits, preventing one from being misled by illusions from the outside world. It is usually used by the creator himself, and it will only be effective if it is given to someone else without the recipient's knowledge.

"Use three ounces of red copper core, seven mace of black iron slag, five mace of earth core cold jade powder, a handful of three-year-old iron furnace soil, and twenty-year-old death row inmate wood as charcoal..." The four of us listened intently, and Xingyun, that stinky Taoist priest, also spoke with great enthusiasm, reciting the method of making the Soul-Suppressing Bell recorded in the classics, which left us even more dumbfounded.

I suddenly realized.

"If you know so much, why did you steal my bell? Why didn't you just make one yourself?"

The stinky Taoist priest suddenly wilted, holding a full glass of cappuccino, unsure whether to drink it or put it down. His expression slowly turned utterly dejected, and even his voice became weak and feeble: "...You think I haven't tried? The last two were relatively easy to find, but the first three... I've been searching for over ten years and haven't found them. Then one day I met a master who finally agreed to sell me two portions for 300,000. As a result, I sold my ancestral home and went into debt to raise the money. And then..."

"Red copper heart, black iron slag, earth core cold jade powder... Do these things really exist?" Lei's eyes widened, his face full of curiosity.

Xingyun slumped his coffee cup onto the table: "I've successfully refined it, but there's no spiritual energy reaction at all. I don't know if it's my broken equipment that's malfunctioning, or if the refining method is wrong."

"Wait a minute..." Yan Xin and Zhang Xiaojun called out together. They exchanged a glance, and Zhang Xiaojun hesitated, then gestured for Yan Xin to speak first. Yan Xin didn't refuse and said, "You said you have a kind of instrument that can measure spiritual energy reactions?"

Zhang Xiaojun's cloudy old eyes lit up.

Xingyun's face lit up with pride again: "Of course! I've been determined to study the metaphysics of the soul since I was a child, and I've vowed to theorize these doctrines that are considered heretical and bring them into the formal scientific realm. The spiritual power testing device is just one of my inventions. If the people at the patent office hadn't been so blind, I would have a dozen or twenty patents under my name long ago."

“My research has revealed that spiritual power is actually just a peculiar electromagnetic phenomenon, and changes in spiritual power will inevitably cause fluctuations in the magnetic field. By analyzing the amplitude of these fluctuations, the magnitude of the spiritual power can be easily measured. The other day, when Mr. Wang came to see me, I noticed that the spiritual power testing device was beating very badly as soon as he entered the room. So I used a little trick, and sure enough, I discovered that a master had placed a soul-suppressing bell on him.”

This stinky Taoist priest talks a good game and can really fool people, but I saw through him and found out he was just a theoretical master. Otherwise, why would he be so obsessed with a mere soul-suppressing bell and be fooled by Zhang Xiaojun's simple tricks?

I gave a subtle wink, and Yan Xin and Zhang Xiaojun both smiled knowingly. Only the slow-witted A Lei was oblivious. I gave him a sharp wink, but instead of understanding what I meant, he leaned in with his big face and asked loudly, "What is it? What is it? Tell me, tell me!" I was so angry I almost vomited blood.

He simply told Xingyun directly: "It turns out that Master Xingyun is truly a hidden master."

Xingyun said smugly, "Not at all, I've only achieved a little success."

I moved my feet to the side and pointed under the coffee table: "Excuse me, I just saw a shoe crawl under here. Could you please clean it up?"

The coffee table was wide and large, with a large tablecloth covering it to the floor, completely obscuring everything. The less you could see, the easier it was to create eerie hallucinations.

Yan Xin was the first to react. She screamed "Ah!" and jumped onto the sofa, grabbing A Lei's clothes: "There's something down there...something is touching my foot!"

Zhang Xiaojun lifted the tablecloth, glanced down, said nothing, stood up, lit a cigarette, and walked away. A Lei's expression changed; he hurriedly pulled his feet back and crossed them on the sofa.

Xingyun's face alternated between pale and flushed, his whole body stiffened, as if he wanted to...

He was embarrassed to run away. After a few moments, he finally couldn't help but stand up, stammering for a long time, his voice so low it sounded like he was talking in his sleep: "...I can't...I can't..." The three of us laughed, only A-Lei was still dumbfounded and didn't understand what was going on.

Although I knew it was just a joke that scared Xingyun, Yanxin and Alei were already terrified, and even I was so scared that my scalp tingled. In the end, we had no choice but to move to a brightly lit place.

This time, Xingyun finally confessed honestly.

Section Sixteen

Perhaps everyone around us has a tightly locked treasure trove of secrets deep within their hearts. It's just that many people will never meet someone in their entire lives who can unlock that treasure.

That day, in a corner of Simple Life Bar, as I listened intently to Xingyun tell his story, I was reminded of this line written by Pi Zi Cai in "First Intimate Contact".

Xingyun is an orphan.

He was abandoned at the gate of the Zhaotianjun Palace in Wushan when he was two years old. The lonely old Taoist priest guarding the palace took pity on him and raised him in the palace. He grew up amidst incense and candlelight.

The old Taoist priest knew some magic arts and usually performed exorcisms and talismanic rituals for his neighbors, often with remarkable success. Zhaotianjun Palace has always had a large following in the five districts and eight counties of Fuzhou, and its incense is always burning brightly, naturally bringing in a considerable amount of money from donations.

As a child, Xingyun often saw the old Taoist priest performing his magic and doing good deeds. The neighbors who benefited from his kindness were naturally very grateful, and Xingyun also benefited greatly, becoming very popular in the Wushan area. Although he never knew his biological parents, the love and care from the elderly women in the neighborhood, and the old Taoist priest's strict fatherly discipline, though he secretly felt deep sorrow for Xingyun, all contributed to a peaceful and warm childhood for him, leaving him with no regrets.

However, as I grew older, my surroundings gradually changed.

As more and more young people join the neighborhood and the social atmosphere becomes more open, the new generation, who are mostly well-educated, often scoff at magic tricks and miracles, and frequently ridicule the old Taoist priest for using tricks to deceive the ignorant.

The old Taoist priest became depressed and often stared blankly into space. He would sigh deeply without realizing it, and then he passed away sadly the year Xingyun graduated from junior high school.

Deeply affected by this, Xingyun buried himself in his studies, progressing all the way to university. He first completed his studies in folklore, then psychology, and even planned to study spirituality abroad. He hoped to thoroughly research magical arts and miracles using scientific methods, to bring them into the true scientific realm, and to gain universal recognition, thereby clearing the old Taoist priest of his injustice.

Strangely, over the years he has scoured countless ancient texts, including studying the notes left by the old Taoist priest, and is confident that his research on magic has reached the level of an expert.

However, no matter what he did, the methods he believed were foolproof simply wouldn't work. The talismans he drew had no effect, the magical artifacts he concocted according to the methods were useless, and even his methods for seeing ghosts repeatedly failed. He designed many instruments for spirits and ghosts based on his painstakingly devised theories, but these were also rendered useless.

Looking at Xingyun slumped back in his chair, I suddenly thought of someone else. Someone who never existed in reality.

Domoto Shizuka from "My Date with a Vampire 2". As a child, she witnessed a zombie kill her abusive grandfather, and from then on, her worship of zombies reached a perverse level. She spends all her time fantasizing that she is a zombie, wearing dentures and robbing women who have survived near-death experiences, hoping to find real zombies in the process.

Isn't Xingyun very similar to him?

Then I thought of another person, the real zombie in the show, Kuang Tianyou. His greatest wish was to become an ordinary person again, even if he lived a mediocre life, getting sick, injured, loving, being loved, growing old, and leaving this world with his friends and family.

If Xiaohui is truly someone who understands magic, then deep down, does she, like Kuang Tianyou, yearn to be an ordinary person?

I really want to know.

“Let’s be friends. There are quite a few paranormal cases in the police station. If you’re willing, we can try to cooperate. You help me solve cases, and I’ll give you the opportunity to research them. How about that?” Detective Captain Zhang Xiaojun seized the opportunity to extend his hand, expressing his intention to cooperate. He looked at the three of us and smiled, saying, “If the three of you are interested in participating, I would certainly welcome you.”

Xingyun's eyes lit up, and without thinking, she reached out and shook hands tightly with Zhang Xiaojun.

To be honest, I don't really like Zhang Xiaojun's overly pragmatic methods, but I also somewhat like his simple and direct approach.

Yan Xin looked down at her coffee cup, remaining silent, while A Lei seemed eager to try—young people are always prone to being curious. Afraid he might impulsively go up and shake hands with someone, I quickly said:

“We’ll talk about the future later. Let’s cooperate first and figure out the current situation. After all, we’re just ordinary people, and our family and friends are ordinary people too. I care more about their safety and happiness.”

Ah Lei seemed to be thinking of Xiao Wei, or perhaps her parents and relatives in Longyan; his eyes dimmed. Sigh, I don't know if what I did was right or wrong.

Xingyun and Zhang Xiaojun naturally had no objections. So the five of us sat down again and took turns recounting the story, this time with Xingyun as the listener. His analysis from his area of expertise would naturally be very helpful in understanding the whole story.

“Let’s try to assume that all of this is the work of a vengeful spirit.” Xingyun pondered for a long time before speaking: “At the beginning of this whole thing, there was a key figure that everyone may have overlooked.”

Coughing, a doll, a strange smiling face, a mouse, a bell... My first thought was Xiaohui, but then I dismissed it. She must have intervened after the incident. So who could it be?

Could it be...?

"Hanako?"

Just as I muttered the name to myself, Yan Xin also whispered it aloud.

Suddenly, a chill ran down my spine, and a familiar coldness crept up from my tailbone. The unmarried mother in my dream who underwent an induced abortion under "Dr. Tan's" care was Hanako!

All the clues finally came together.