19-й уровень ада

Глава 15

"Master, it's me, Feng Qi. I have a question. The person you mentioned who lived at the bottom of the well for a week, was the place where she was found in a secluded cave?"

Wang Qingyun was idly holding a government meeting when Feng Qi asked him this, and he couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Why are you asking this?"

"Just...curious!"

"It's the area around Pianyan Cave. Well, it's still a while after passing Pianyan Cave. That interview left me so exhausted that I was out of breath."

Feng Qi hung up the phone and looked between the window and the well, puzzled.

Han Jiaxi was trapped and died in the well, but she was robbed and then dumped in such a remote place. Can you really call it an accident? After her death, Song Zijin rented this house and stayed there every now and then. The excuse of missing Han Jiaxi too much is plausible. But if he missed his ex-girlfriend so much, why did he so quickly find someone new and disappear on his wedding day? After Song Zijin disappeared, he was found in this house, exhausted from not eating for several days. Upon waking, he claimed to remember nothing of what had happened in those days. As for Gu Yun, she remained completely unperturbed by Song Zijin's repeated attempts to elope and his inconsistent behavior, and her personality changed drastically. Privately, Song Zijin even called Gu Yun "Jiaxi." Moreover, he had contact with Yu Ye. Feng Qi would never forget the blow Yu Ye inflicted on Mo Ran.

What happened?

"Why do I smell a criminal aura..." Feng Qi lowered the curtains and raised his hand to press his temples.

...

"ah!"

A frustrated shout came from the depths of the dark alley.

The owner of the voice, Yu Ye, was sitting cross-legged on a sizable bluestone slab, scratching her head in distress at the large pile of utensils in front of her. Not far away, a long-haired young man leaned against a brick wall, his expression indifferent, but his gaze never left Yu Ye.

"Why is it so difficult? I've tried it at least a hundred times. I should have known better than to take this order." Yu Ye complained as she mixed the water from different test tubes together.

"You were the one who shamelessly snatched the business back then, so what are you complaining about now?" Asakusa gave a mocking smile.

With a bang, the test tube in Yu Ye's hand shattered, and the spurting greenish liquid splattered all over her face and flowed down. Yu Ye screamed and jumped up, cursing incessantly, "I'm crazy, I must be crazy, otherwise why would I ask for trouble?" Asakusa had somehow found a towel and threw it at her face, saying, "You look just like your name right now."

"Screw you!" Yu Ye wiped the pale green liquid off her face and frowned at the bottles and jars scattered on the ground: "There are still two days... I wonder what will happen."

"At most, it will turn into a zombie, so what?"

"What? My reputation, and the payment I already received, are all gone. Isn't that serious?" Yu Ye gritted her teeth in anger at Asakusa's cold tone. The thought of failure was unbearable for her.

Asakusa narrowed her eyes and sneered, "Your business is inherently shady, what use is your reputation?"

Yu Ye glared fiercely at Asakusa: "And who am I doing this for?"

“No one asked you to do this.” Asakusa spoke very slowly, as if casually, but her words always carried a hint of sarcasm. Yuye glared at him for a while, then snorted heavily, ignoring him. With a flick of her wrist, she tossed the shards of broken glass into a nearby trash can. After cleaning up the trash, she sat down on the flagstone and focused intently on studying the liquid.

Asakusa remained motionless, leaning against the wall, watching Yuye.

This time, thankfully, there was no explosion. Yu Ye excitedly turned back to tell Asakusa, but as soon as she did, she saw Asakusa, who had been leaning against the wall, quickly move behind her, a hint of doubt unusually appearing in her usually cold eyes. Curious, Yu Ye stood up and walked behind her as well. Before she even reached her, she saw a dark shadow fly towards her.

The dark figure clearly didn't fly there on its own; it crashed heavily in front of her, raising a cloud of dust.

Yu Ye took a few steps back, waiting for the dust to settle before approaching the unidentified object. After examining it closely, she burst into laughter: "Oh, it's you, the big reporter."

Feng Qi scrambled to his feet, dusted himself off, and was about to speak when his right cheek, chafed by the bluestone slab, throbbed with pain, making his expression contort in agony.

"Is this how you treat your guests?" Feng Qi asked angrily.

Yu Ye blinked, glancing at Qian Cao who was slowly walking over behind Feng Qi, her smile exceptionally sweet: "Big reporter, I also want to ask, who exactly are you? How did you manage to pass through the barrier I set up?"

"What barrier or not? I couldn't find you in your shop, so I came in from the same place as last time. What's this barrier you're talking about?" Feng Qi finally came to his senses and looked around at his surroundings. He found that he was in a separate space. Despite the bright sunshine, he couldn't feel any scorching heat, only a cool breeze. The space, made of bluestone slabs, was unusually spacious, with only a small stone house made of marble behind Yu Ye. The bluestone slabs in front of the stone house were piled with all kinds of vessels, which contained colorful, unidentified objects.

Yu Ye shrugged and spread her hands, as if making a gesture of welcome.

"You..." Feng Qi was about to ask when his arm was forcefully twisted behind his back, and a cold voice rang out: "Who are you?" Without turning around, he knew that the person who had restrained him must be the long-haired man named Asakusa. Now that he was subdued, he was completely baffled by their questioning. It seemed that this was indeed a secret place, but he wondered what would happen to him for accidentally trespassing.

Curious, Yu Ye approached him, placed her hand on his temple, closed her eyes, and muttered something.

Feng Qi recalled how Yu Ye had taken the child from Mo Ran's mouth with a wave of her hand. It would be a lie to say he wasn't afraid. He looked at Yu Ye with some panic, wondering what she was going to do.

A moment later, Yu Ye opened her eyes, her confusion deepening.

"Huh, you're a tree..." Feng Qi's surprised words trailed off as he saw Yu Ye and Qian Cao exchange a glance, after which Qian Cao released him. Yu Ye chuckled and leaned down to ask him, "So, my great reporter, who are you here for this time?"

Although curious about what Yu Ye hadn't finished saying, Feng Qi didn't forget the purpose of his visit. He simply said, "Han Jiaxi."

"Han Jiaxi? What do you want to know?"

"Is she still alive? What did you do to Gu Yun?"

Yu Ye asked mischievously, "Big reporter, I remember you're an atheist, why are you asking me, someone who promotes superstition?"

“There are many suspicious points that cannot be investigated through normal channels, and you… seem to be involved.”

"It's not a big deal to tell you, but what will you choose to do after you know? The truth is often quite cruel."

Feng Qi fell silent. In that brief moment, many memories flooded his mind. But he still looked up and said firmly, "I need to know."

"Hehe," Yu Ye chuckled charmingly, "You're really interesting. You're clearly afraid of trouble, yet you always end up getting involved. You know perfectly well that it's best not to meddle in other people's business, but you still dive right in. Alright, since you're so interested, let's see where all this leads."

She snapped her fingers, and everything around them blurred. The bluestone slabs disappeared, the marble house vanished, and they returned to the small house Feng Qi had first visited. Asakusa continued to watch their conversation coldly, without uttering a word. Yu Ye, however, seemed quite pleased, saying, "Where shall we begin?"

"Gu Yun, the Gu Yun I saw, did you drug her to make her think she is Han Jiaxi?"

"Of course not, this business has been exceptionally difficult."

"That is..."

"How should I put it, the Gu Yun you see is Gu Yun in body, but her soul is the real Han Jiaxi."

"How is this possible..."

"Witchcraft, huh? I'm a water wizard, a genius water wizard." Yu Ye puffed out her chest proudly, but then heard Asakusa's disdainful snort and turned to glare at Asakusa fiercely.

"And what about Gu Yun? The real Gu Yun?"

“Dead, need I say more? I don’t have the ability to give a person two souls.” Yu Ye said with little confidence, then added in an even lower, barely audible voice, “This time it has already exceeded my capabilities.”

"What did you say?" Feng Qi didn't hear Yu Ye's last sentence clearly, so he had to ask her. Yu Ye naturally refused to back down and shouted, "I said Gu Yun is dead, so I was able to graft Han Jiaxi's soul onto Gu Yun's body."

Feng Qi struggled to process Yu Ye's words. He still didn't quite believe in ghosts and gods, but the things he encountered were hard to explain with common sense. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "How could Gu Yun die? And how did you manage to graft Han Jiaxi's soul onto Gu Yun's body? If Han Jiaxi could be grafted onto Gu Yun's body, then what about Gu Yun's soul? She's dead too, so she should have a soul as well."

Upon hearing this, Yu Ye exchanged a smile with Qian Cao and said, "Han Jiaxi is a very special case. First, she died in a confined space; second, she died in the water, which is my territory; third, her resentment is very strong, and her will to live is also very strong. As for Gu Yun's soul," she smiled at Qian Cao, "I've taken it. I also need to get paid for my work. How did Gu Yun die? That's even simpler. Song Zijin brought a corpse; I don't care where he got the corpse from."

Feng Qi looked at Yu Ye in shock and asked incredulously, "When did that happen? He brought in a corpse?"

Yu Ye pouted, seemingly helpless: "You have so many questions. I'm so tired of talking. Two weeks ago..."

Two weeks ago?

Feng Qi's face darkened. If he remembered correctly, it was around the time Song Zijin disappeared from the wedding.

Is Song Zijin's disappearance related to Gu Yun's death?

Yu Ye's words confirmed his suspicions, but also weighed heavily on his mind. If all the assumptions were true, then what was he supposed to do with Song Zijin?

With a long sigh, he said to Yu Ye with disgust, "You... are an accomplice."

"I'm so innocent." Yu Ye smiled and took Asakusa's arm, looking up innocently and asking, "Asakusa, right? Why do people blame others for their desires?"

"That's because of human hypocrisy," Asakusa replied coldly.

Yu Ye seemed quite satisfied with Qian Cao's answer, her smile growing even brighter: "We still have to clean up this mess. I wonder what our big reporter will choose? Perhaps we should make things more difficult for him." She then turned to Feng Qi: "Finding evidence will take some effort, you know. The device in your pocket can't record what we say. Let me give you some more scoop: aren't you curious about how Han Jiaxi died? Go investigate; you might find something substantial. Oh, by the way, the line between love and hate is actually very blurred; don't forget that."

Feng Qi was actually quite disgusted by Yu Ye's pretentious cryptic behavior, but his expression remained calm. He turned off the recorder and still asked the question he had always wanted to know: "What do you want those souls for?"

"That's my secret, you know, big reporter. There are some lines you shouldn't cross." Yu Ye smiled and gestured for me to continue. "Time is running out. If we don't find out soon, we might never find out in our lifetime."

Feng Qi gave her a deep look, then turned and left the Asakusa Bar.

“Talking so much is not like you,” Qiancao said to Yuye as soon as Feng Qi left, closing the door behind her.

Yu Ye didn't speak, but just looked at Asakusa, then walked closer to him, hugged him from behind, and gently rested her face on Asakusa's back: "Why don't those people understand that to gain something, you must lose more? Why are there still people willing to pay the price?"

"Humans are always stubborn creatures."

“I will definitely suffer retribution in the future and lose a lot, but even so, I will not regret it. If I had to choose again, I would still come here.”

Asakusa pushed aside Yuba's hands that were holding him and said coldly, "Why bother?"

Yu Ye said resentfully, "How could you be so awful! I'm trying to get emotional, and you won't cooperate."

"When have I ever cooperated with you?"

You win.

"But aren't you afraid he'll ruin your plans?"

"It's quite interesting, isn't it?" Yu Ye's face had long since brightened, and she regained her cheerful expression: "I'm very curious to know how things will turn out."

Chapter Seven: The Truth

Waiting for Gu Yun to appear wasn't difficult. Every day, she would walk from her residential area to the forest park on the outskirts of the city. When Feng Qi appeared before her, she showed no surprise, as if she had known all along.

She smiled and said, "Long time no see."

Seeing the familiar yet unfamiliar smile on Gu Yun's face, Feng Qi became even more certain of his suspicions. The woman with the calm smile in front of him was definitely not Gu Yun.

"Han Jiaxi?"

Hearing Feng Qi call her by her name, she smiled gently: "Should I pretend to be stupid and question you about why you called me that?"

Feng Qi was quite surprised by Han Jiaxi's reaction. His carefully prepared questions were rendered useless, and he swallowed back the words he wanted to ask: "You..."

"Curious why I admitted it so readily?" She rarely showed a mischievous smile: "I could have denied it to the death. But another crazy person has joined the family, I already have one."

"Why?" Feng Qi asked, carefully observing her expression. She sighed softly and reached up to unbutton the top few buttons of her blouse. Startled by her sudden action, Feng Qi quickly closed his eyes.

"Aren't you going to look? Here's why I'm being so honest." Her gentle voice rang out, tinged with self-deprecation and a hint of mockery. Feng Qi opened his eyes, staring in astonishment at her chest. The two-inch-long wound looked particularly gruesome against her fair skin. Even though it had been forcibly stitched up, pus and blood were still slowly oozing from it. He could even see the white flesh and bone inside the wound.

“My days are numbered.” She smiled gently. “Even if I hurt Gu Yun, I still cannot survive. This body is rotting from the inside out. If I don’t find a solution by tomorrow, I will lose control of this body. Without it, I will simply vanish into nothingness.”

“Gu Yun…no, Han Jiaxi…Song Zijin found the witch…” Seeing the girl’s gloomy expression, Feng Qi suddenly felt a pang of pity and tenderness. He thought of Yu Ye, that mysterious witch.

Han Jiaxi gently touched her wound, lowered her head, and made it impossible for anyone to see her thoughts: "It's no use. This is a forbidden technique, and there was a mistake during its execution. Every day I go to the forest to absorb the purest mist, but I can only control the corpse energy on my body so that I won't be discovered. It's destined that I can't be with him."

Feng Qi seemed to realize then that the woman in front of him was just a corpse. He couldn't help but sigh that he was now able to accept the idea of reincarnation. He couldn't say that he wasn't deeply influenced by Mo Ran. "Song Zijin, he killed Gu Yun, didn't he?"

"No!" Han Jiaxi looked up abruptly, her eyes filled with complex emotions. "It wasn't him... he didn't do that." Seeing Feng Qi looking at her suspiciously, she sighed softly and said gently, "Would you like to hear a story?"

Feng Qi stared at her for a moment, then finally nodded and sat down on a large rock under the tree.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Han Jiaxi always remembered the first time she met the Song brothers, Song Zijin and Song Zilu.

When she was five, her family moved next door to the Song family because her father was transferred to another job. The house was still a 1970s-style red brick building. It was a two-story house with a single staircase leading up to the next floor, and a communal toilet was located in the middle of the staircase. Each household was connected by a long, narrow passageway. In the corner of the rooftop were pepper trees, pomegranate trees, and oleanders planted by the adults. The center wasn't a flat cement floor, but rather an asphalt surface made up of interconnected arches. These hollow arches were the perfect playground for hide-and-seek. Summers in Zhicheng were unbearable, so Han Jiaxi and the Song brothers connected a water pipe and started sprinkling water on the rooftop.

Although Song Zijin was a bit unfriendly, always cold, and not as approachable as the cheerful and lively Song Zilu, the days the three of them spent playing together were still the happiest time of her life.

Childhood sweethearts, their hearts just beginning to stir with love. Although she didn't know who she truly loved, life was long enough for her to sort things out. If it weren't for the accident when she was 13, everything would have been perfect. They would have grown up like ordinary children, living simple lives, experiencing ordinary joys and sorrows.

That summer was unbearably hot. It was summer vacation, and the three of them had finished their homework for the day. Looking out the window at the Yangtze River, she had a sudden urge to go swimming. This suggestion was unusually supported by Zijin, who usually disagreed with her. Zilu, however, objected. He thought it was dangerous to swim in the river during the high water season. But the minority yielded to the majority, and besides, the adventurous spirit of the boys was easily ignited, so the three of them excitedly went to the Yangtze River.