Статья 11

Глава 4

"That's right, but this one mistake cost my brother his life?"

"What? A mistake?"

"Yes, the real murderer, if I'm not mistaken, should be Huang Jing."

When he uttered that name, a chilling murderous aura appeared on his face.

--I have never seen anyone exude such murderous intent before, and I felt a chill run down my spine.

After a long pause, he finally let out a sigh of relief and continued, "In the last letter my brother wrote to me, he said that in order to find out the truth, he sneaked into the Arts Building at night. As for what happened, you should know better than I do."

I was stunned for a moment before I reacted and said, "It can't be exactly the same as what happened tonight, can it?"

“Yes, it’s like history is repeating itself. Only the person my brother saw dead at the gate that night was different.”

Who is it?

"Single-handed and cool."

"Shan Liang? If that's really the case, then all the women mentioned in Li Zheng's diary should be dead, right?"

"Haha..." He suddenly laughed sadly and said, "That's why I say, the most poisonous thing in this world is a woman. Because my brother recognized the mysterious female ghost at the end, and she was Huang Jing."

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [15]: Is it really Huang Jing? I thought to myself, she is Huang Hua's sister. Judging from Huang Hua's tone, it seems that Huang Jing was also wronged to die? Perhaps it was the word "friend" that was playing tricks on me, but I actually questioned Li Xie: "This is impossible, right? Why would Huang Jing do this?"

"That's a mystery. My brother didn't mention it in his letter. But he really did see Huang Jing. I don't believe my brother would make a hasty judgment when things are so ambiguous."

Yes, Li Xie's admiration for Li Zheng borders on blind devotion, but if Li Zheng is truly such an outstanding person, then what he said isn't unreasonable. However, upon closer examination, I discovered a significant flaw in Li Xie's words.

"Li Xie, you just said that what happened to Li Zheng twelve years ago is very similar to what happened to me tonight. So, should he also be under a blood curse?"

“That’s right, but my brother, through his own efforts, although he didn’t survive, he memorized the blood curse to his very bones, which is why I was able to create these three pills.”

"Also, why did Huang Jing kill your brother? Logically speaking, if she loved your brother, she wouldn't have hurt him, right?"

Li Xie shook his head and said, "That's a mystery, isn't it? Women are just so damn hard to figure out."

"I have one last question: why would the dean dismember people? And what's even stranger is that the people the dean dismembered were dead people I had seen."

"Then who did you see?"

“Ma Kexin.” Then I told him what I had seen last night.

"Do you know who my brother witnessed being dismembered back then?"

I thought for a moment, "Could it be Zhang Xue?"

Just as he was about to answer, a voice came from behind us.

"Why don't you ask me what you want to know?"

Li Xie and I were shocked and quickly looked back.

A figure slowly emerged from the darkness, its form revealed in the moonlight, blood still dripping from its body. Before I could speak, Li Xie stepped in front of me, implying that I hadn't fully recovered and that he would handle everything for me.

Li Xie said to the figure, "Hmph, are you a human or a ghost?"

The man stopped where the moonlight was just blocked and said in a low voice, "Can I still be considered a human being? Haha, can I still be considered a human being?"

"Hmm?" The voice is familiar, could it be...?

I stepped forward and stood next to Li Xie, saying to the man, "Are you Dean Li Haitao?"

The man gave a bitter laugh and continued walking towards us. The pale moonlight shone on his face, making him look extremely eerie. He stopped a meter away from us and then silently watched us.

Because of the horrific scene I just witnessed in the dean's office, I subconsciously took a step back and blurted out, "Ma Kexin, why did you..." He stared blankly at my face, as if scrutinizing me, trying to find something on my face.

Li Xie secretly pulled my hand and slightly shielded me with his body.

Finally, the dean breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It really does look like him. If I hadn't witnessed Li Zheng's death that night, I would have really suspected that you were him."

"Hmph, mind your own business when it comes to my brother's affairs." Li Xie was not friendly to the dean.

"Oh, you're Li Zheng's brother? Good, good, good..." He said "good" several times, then took a small knife out of his pocket with his left hand. Li Xie pulled me back, his right hand secretly gripping the pistol slung at his waist.

Seeing our reaction, the dean laughed loudly and said, "Haha, I never thought I would fall so low as to be feared like a demon. Karma!" He gripped a knife in his left hand, took a step towards us, and continued, "I can't take it anymore, but before I tell you the truth, can you grant me one request?"

Li Xie snorted and said, "We have nothing to say to someone like you."

"Oh, really?" The dean slumped down and collapsed.

I couldn't bear to see him like this, even though I disliked him from the bottom of my heart, so I said to him, "You go first. We can't agree to something before we even know what you're asking for."

When he heard me say that, he knew there was still hope, so he immediately stood up and said, "Okay, let me tell you what happened back then."

He took another step forward and said, "What happened back then can be said to be my fault alone, alas. In 1988, I had just passed the doctoral exam and was assigned to teach in the Chinese department. All the mistakes were due to my lust. I actually fell in love with my student, fell in love with someone I shouldn't have loved, Huang Jing."

"What? Huang Jing again?"

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [16]: The dean gave me a bitter smile and said, "It was already wrong of me to fall in love with her, but I was still greedy and wanted to possess her. Originally, I was just thinking about it, but I couldn't help myself and wrote it down. On September 1, 1989, I was busy writing a report in the office. While writing, I thought of Huang Jing and actually wrote the report as a love letter. Coincidentally, Shan Liang came to ask me about my thesis writing. But I was too engrossed in my imagination and didn't even know that she had come to my side. After Shan Liang found out that I had fallen in love with Huang Jing, she said that she would help me pursue Huang Jing and assured me that Huang Jing also loved me. Of course, I also felt that this was a bit inappropriate, but reason was overwhelmed by impulse, so I cooperated with her."

As the dean finished speaking, he took another small step closer to us.

"On September 3rd, Zhang Xue suddenly disappeared." The dean looked at us and explained, "Zhang Xue, Shan Liang, and Huang Jing were students in the same dormitory." I nodded to indicate that I knew. Actually, I already knew about this from the diary left by Li Zheng. Now that what the dean said matched the diary, it meant that he was not lying, at least not so far.

"At that time, I was in no mood to care about this matter because Shan Liang said that Huang Jing had agreed to meet me on the evening of September 5th. I was so blinded by this news that I didn't even consider the credibility of Shan Liang's words. Alas, that's how the mistake was made."

The small knife in the dean's left hand gleamed in the moonlight, its silvery light occasionally flashing across my face, and a sense of unease welled up inside me.

The dean didn't continue after saying this. He stood less than half a meter away from me, a strange smile on his face. I felt a chill and quickly took a step back.

Seeing my reaction, the dean said apologetically, "Oh, I scared you. I'm such a devil. Although I know I shouldn't have fallen in love with Huang Jing, I still can't help but feel sweet when I think of that night." Hearing this, I almost felt nauseous and wanted to vomit. I finally began to truly understand what kind of person the dean was, so I started to regret my soft heart earlier.

The dean, oblivious to the change in my expression, continued, "On the night of September 4th, all my colleagues in the office left, but I stayed under some pretext. I never really believed Huang Jing could fall in love with me, but as long as there was even a sliver of hope, even if it meant bearing the stigma of immorality, I would be with her." Li Xie and I exchanged a glance, our expressions both complex. Love, to be honest, I really couldn't grasp it.

"Sure enough, at ten o'clock, there was a knock on the door. I rushed over and opened it, and there were Huang Jing and Shan Liang. I excitedly welcomed them into my office, and just as I was about to speak, Shan Liang excused herself and left. However, her leaving was exactly what I had hoped for at that moment." Now the truth should begin, I thought.

"It was just Huang Jing and me in the entire office. I was so excited I couldn't even describe it. But the first thing she said was, 'Teacher, Shan Liang said you wanted to see me. What is it?' I looked at her and felt her expression was cold, not at all like someone in love. But I tried to reassure myself that she was just pretending, that she was just as happy as I was. So I asked her, 'Didn't Shan Liang tell you?' She answered in a cold voice, 'Shan Liang only told me I needed to see her, and then she came. Ah? Could it be...?' So I asked her, 'Didn't she tell you that I love you?' She smiled and said, 'Don't joke around.' But I wasn't joking at all. So I grabbed her and cried as I told her that she had completely captivated me. This is too... I simply can't imagine what this kind of feeling would be like, because I've never had any worries about love. To put it bluntly, I've never experienced love."

"When I touched her body, a strange feeling welled up inside me, making my male reaction extremely strong. So, without realizing it, I... I raped her." -- "What?" I gasped. A teacher raping a student is not just a moral issue, it's a crime.

He took another step toward us, the knife in his hand seemingly proclaiming something.

"Yes, I raped Huang Jing." He stopped smiling and continued, "This is the biggest mistake I've ever made. But it wasn't until Li Zheng wrote me that letter that I realized my mistake had killed countless people. Alas."

Oh, if that's really the case, then the identity of the female ghost is becoming increasingly confusing.

"I won't go into the reasons, but that female ghost was Huang Jing, and Shan Liang was eventually killed by her." He sighed and said, "I just never thought she would take revenge on me like this. She made me live a life that was neither human nor ghost for more than ten years." "What exactly happened? Wasn't Zhang Xue already missing before you did something wrong?"

Instead, I took a step forward. Perhaps because my body had almost fully recovered, my fear was completely driven away by anger.

"Haha, actually everyone has misunderstood. Zhang Xue didn't actually disappear. She died on the night of September 10th. We learned from Li Zheng's letter that night that she was covered in blood at the gate."

"Ah, what exactly is the misunderstanding?" I took another step forward, now only two steps away from the dean.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [17]: "Zhang Xue and Shan Liang both died at my hands. I dismembered them." The dean cried out loudly.

The dean shook his head again and said, "Alas, I've always wanted to break free, but I couldn't resist the temptation." He suddenly looked up, tears streaming down his face, and said to me, "Li Zheng, I'm so sorry." He quickly took a step forward, grabbed my right hand, and handed me the knife. I froze, trying to back away, but it was too late. He gripped my right hand tightly and pulled me towards his body with all his might. Only then did Li Xie and I realize what he wanted us to do, but it was too late.

I awkwardly released the knife from my hand and stood there dumbfounded in front of him. This time he smiled again, but it was a bright, sunny smile. He looked at me, nodded, and blood from his abdomen dripped slowly onto the ground from the knife. He took a step back, then stopped, looked at me, and asked, "Li Zheng, do you forgive me?"

I knew that as he lay dying, he considered me, Li Zheng, the person he felt most guilty towards. Ah, a dying man… “I have forgiven you,” I said.

"Okay, okay, thank you. Huang Jing's secret lies in the big, big, big door..." Before he could finish speaking, blood suddenly gushed from his abdomen, and he groaned as he fell backward.

--Li Haitao's body lay on the ground, blood flowing towards us. Looking at his face, the image left behind before his death, I truly didn't know what to feel. What is the purpose of human existence? Why so much hatred, so much selfishness? Humans are the most complex animals, the kindest animals, and also the most terrifying animals.

Li Xie patted my shoulder lightly and said with a wry smile, "That's how people are. I used to hate this person a little, but now that he's dead, what else can I pursue?"

The most important thing now is to find out the truth behind what happened to Huang Jing and Zhang Xue back then. Hey, couldn't the dean at least finish what he was saying before leaving?

I thought about Peng Hai's death, and I was also thinking about Li Heng. Tonight, I heard so many unimaginable things, and I was completely confused. So I said, "How about we go and break into the Arts Building together and find that female ghost? I want to know if she is Huang Jing."

Li Xie calmly thought about it and said, "It's no use for us to go now, because we might not be able to find her, and even if we do, we won't be able to deal with her. My brother's last letter to me said that if he died, I must not go to the Arts Building unless I can find Gu Yu."

"Ancient Rain? What is Ancient Rain?"

"This..." He smiled awkwardly. "I've thought about it for ten years and still can't figure it out. It might be my brother's master, or it might be something else."

"Then why don't you go find his master?" I asked anxiously, probably because I was overwhelmed by too many things.

He tapped me on the head and said, "Kid, don't talk nonsense if you don't know. You think you can just find my brother's master like that?" "Why?" I scratched my head.

“Hey kid, he’s dead. Why don’t you go find him?” he laughed.

"Oh, there really isn't any other way now." I sat down on the ground.

"Not necessarily. The key issues are twofold. First, we still don't know the true relationship between Zhang Xue, Huang Jing, and Shan Liang. Second, we don't know the truth about what my brother discovered. If we knew, perhaps we could find a solution. However, my brother is dead, which makes things really troublesome."

The truth Li Zheng discovered? My mind immediately cleared up, and I quickly replied, "I might have a way to find out what your brother discovered."

"Oh?" He perked up immediately, quickly tapping my head and saying, "Really? That's great! Actually, I've recently made some progress on this ancient rain thing."

"Alright, let's split up and get going." I jumped up.

He tapped me on the head and said, "Are you stupid? What time is it?"

"Tomorrow, if I can't find Gu Yu by noon tomorrow, there's no hope."

"Okay, we'll contact each other tomorrow at noon." I said, turning to leave. Things were much simpler now. It turned out I knew a little, and Li Xie knew a little; things were immediately moving in a positive direction.

He looked at Li Haitao's body and said, "Okay, but we must dispose of his body properly first. As for the cause of death, I can make up one."

I looked at him, and sure enough, Li Xie's ideas were much more thorough than mine.

The next morning, I went to find Wu Bo. She was still fast asleep, her head covered, but Li Heng was gone. I quickly shook her awake and asked, "Wu Bo, where's Li Heng?"

He rubbed his sleepy eyes and said, "I'm right here on his bed, don't bother me, I'm playing chess with the Duke of Zhou in my dreams."

"He's gone!" I smacked him hard.

"Ouch, what are you doing, you bird thief?" He sat up, rubbing his head.

"Benbo, take a look for yourself."

He looked over there and found that Li Heng was indeed gone. He became anxious and said hurriedly, "I saw him sleeping there last night. Could he have woken up and run away by himself?"

"You tell me if you can do it or not." I was getting a little angry. If Li Heng, my best friend, were to die like this, I would have no choice but to disregard the consequences and go to the Arts Building to fight Huang Jing to the death.

"It's okay, it's okay," he kept muttering, I don't know if he was trying to comfort me or himself.

"Sigh." Seeing his distraught state, I couldn't bear to blame him. After all, he had no obligation to look after Li Heng every day, and it wasn't something he could do. Now, I could only pray to God to keep him alive until I could resolve the situation. As long as he was alive, there was hope.