Смертельно опасные электронные письма

Глава 12

"It's a strange ballad."

"Folk songs?"

I pondered for a moment, then pulled off my clothes and pressed for an answer:

"You've heard of it?"

"No, it couldn't be a curse from a vengeful spirit, otherwise I would definitely be dead by now. However, I did hear a woman sing a song with very strange lyrics. I've pondered its meaning, but I still can't understand it."

"Do you still remember that song?" Luo Yi's voice trembled slightly.

"I remember, wasn't it sung like this: 'The medicine peddler's carriage arrives at sixteen, the old man passes away amidst the gentle breeze and smoke, the two bridges are always covered in millet and sorghum, who knows the past east of the Bian River...'"

"Yes, it's this song. Who sang it to you?"

Luo Yi tensed up, squatted down in front of me, and looked up at me. Although I couldn't see her face, I was sure she was terrified.

“A girl in white with white hair was in this small building. I couldn’t see her face. She only had one leg, and it seemed like she only had one hand. I thought she was your incarnation.”

"Ah! It's her, she's the vengeful spirit of Consort Zhen! And also the incarnation of my sister... How come I don't know about this little building?"

Luo Yi trembled with fear. I held her head and offered my still-rational courage the greatest comfort to the female ghost.

"It's in the innermost room on the first floor, facing north. There's a bathroom, a filing cabinet, and a TV inside."

"There are such rooms, but they're used as warehouses!"

Luo Yi actually gave such an absurd answer. My heart tightened, indicating that even this wronged spirit didn't know some things, and the problem might be more complicated.

"Perhaps... I remembered the location wrong, don't worry."

I tried my best to comfort him, and also took advantage of this moment of tranquility to carefully observe the "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" scroll. As I looked at it, something struck me as very strange: the face of only one person in the painting had its white border removed, revealing a series of terrifying blank spaces. This person was on the far right of the painting, with a bridal sedan chair behind him.

Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Bridal Sedan Chair for Qingming Festival

"Is this blank-faced figure reserved for me?"

That blank space was like a tomb where the soul could rest. Because it was unique, I couldn't help but think of my own destiny and asked softly.

"No, I don't know why the face in the painting disappeared. It wasn't my sister or me who did it. For hundreds of years, I've always felt that it was strange. Every time a vengeful spirit kills someone, the area of the face turns red!"

Do you know what this scene depicts?

Although I am not a researcher of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival", I have loved painting since I was a child and I still know a little about this painting.

"The painting depicts a wealthy woman returning to Bianliang City after visiting the graves during the Qingming Festival, sitting in a sedan chair."

He's very skilled at removing clothes; no wonder he's been with her for so many years.

"You just said 'wife,' but there's no woman in this painting. Are you sure the person sitting in the sedan chair in the painting is a woman?"

"I'm not sure, but I think so."

"Perhaps the strange thing is this."

"There's only one day left, this painting... I miss you so much."

Luo Yi nestled in my arms, murmuring that if it weren't for the intoxicating scent of locust blossoms on her body reminding me that she was a pitiful anomaly, I might not have forgiven her past cruelty. However, wisdom and logic transcend the boundaries of the mortal and the supernatural; my thinking must keep pace with the approaching rhythm of death, and salvation depends on myself.

"You mean you still believe that Emperor Huizong's spirit is killing people?"

"Yes, when I was a child, I heard an old palace maid tell this story. Emperor Huizong's death was related to a painting. Later, whenever that ballad appeared, he would force my sister and me to kill someone because the ballad depicted a scene from the painting 'Along the River During the Qingming Festival.' I've been speculating for many years but haven't found the reason. So, it must be Emperor Huizong, who died unjustly, seeking revenge. Otherwise, there's no other explanation."

"You may be right, but the person singing this song is a woman, while Emperor Huizong of Song was a man. Even if he became a vengeful spirit, he wouldn't change his gender."

“I said that the spell would be passed down through a substitute. The female voice you heard singing is Consort Zhen, who suffocated in the well.”

"Perhaps you are right."

I suddenly remembered another question and asked:

"There don't seem to be any women in 'Along the River During the Qingming Festival'..."

"They were all sitting in sedan chairs. In the Song Dynasty, women were not allowed to leave their homes."

"sedan chair?"

"It's a sedan chair!"

"Take off your clothes!"

I became excited, recalling a strange incident that happened when my cousin went missing. She had pointed out a car that didn't exist through a hotel window, saying its license plate number was 1644. Could the car she was referring to be an ancient sedan chair? I couldn't wait to find out what happened next, so I tightened my grip on her shoulders.

"I have a question for you, and you must tell me the truth. This is very important."

"Tell me, except for the secrets about me."

"Did you kill my cousin Pang Zhen and then transform into her? Was the fake Pang Zhen you? Just to be by my side!"

"Ah! No, I only met Pang Zhen later... after I met Qi Silong."

"You're not telling the truth."

"That's the truth!"

"No, you killed her! You and Pang Zhen both loved Qi Silong. You were jealous of her healthy life, so while she was traveling, you deliberately kidnapped her in a car accident in the suburbs of Kaifeng, peeled off her face, and trapped her in the well where you had suffered years ago. She tried to use a supernatural phone to tell Qi Silong, who was on duty near this haunted building, where she was hiding. Qi was worried that Pang Zhen's life was threatened, so he ran and recorded the scene. He arrived at the dry well at exactly 16 minutes and 44 seconds. After that, he met you unexpectedly. You thought he was there to meet you, so you opened the wall and hugged him."

But Qi Silong ignored you and rushed through the secret hole in the wall to the secret chamber in the well, which was your so-called "skin painting studio." There he saw his lover, whose face and belly had been brutally peeled off. He knew you were the culprit and, in a fit of rage, pointed a gun at you. You were afraid of being shot because you had a physical body that had never perished. It was a memento of your status as a princess of the dynasty. Although you often detached yourself from that body when you committed evil, you couldn't bear to part with it and wouldn't allow your physical body to be damaged in the slightest. But that princess's skin had long been destroyed by Chongzhen. So, in order to maintain it, you needed to cover it with new beautiful women's skin. This is why you have the mask of fickleness. Therefore, you were furious with Qi Silong and revealed your hideous face.

Qi Silong was in despair. Unable to bear seeing Pang Zhen tortured to death, he embraced his lover and shot them both in the head…

As I spoke, I became more and more agitated, and I couldn't help but raise my angry fist. I don't know where this suspenseful reasoning came from, but I just wanted to get it all out.

Suddenly, everything went black before my eyes. From the darkness came the mournful sobbing of Luo Yi. She vanished, along with the ghostly children. "You!...You wronged an innocent person! I hate you, you are just as despicable as Qi Silong..."

I stood there, stunned, and only then did I realize how cruel and heartless my previous reasoning had been. Luo Yi's honesty in telling me about her past showed she had remorse and a conscience that wasn't completely extinguished. Perhaps she hadn't killed my cousin Pang Zhen and Qi Silong? But who designed and took those ghost wedding photos? Where are their souls now…?

The haunted building was empty again, and the ghosts that had been moving through the rooms had all disappeared. I squatted in the corner, recalling the events leading up to and following my encounter with Luo Yi. A series of chaotic footsteps broke the silence. My weak nerves, which had been frightened like a startled bird for days, were shattered by the footsteps. I listened alertly to the sounds outside the building. Had the ghosts entered the building through the window?

Just then, the elevator hummed, and I jumped up nervously, quickly hiding in a room with an open door. Soon after, the elevator came to a thud, and my head buzzed. No, this room is too close to the elevator! I have to escape down the stairs before the ghost inside comes out! With that thought, I rushed out the door—oh no! A dozen bright beams of light shone down into the hallway.

"Grab him!"

In the blinding beam of the flashlight, a thunderous shout rang in my ears! The scream startled me, and I looked towards the source of the sound. A group of dark figures rushed down the corridor—not ghosts, but fully armed police officers. Within fifty meters of me, they spread out into the various rooms, several heavily armed SWAT officers taking up position. I could hear heavy footsteps coming from upstairs, indicating that someone was already closing in on me via the stairs.

It was only then that I realized I had truly become a murder suspect being hunted. The fact that the police were going to such lengths was unprecedented in the Forbidden City. Perhaps they were worried that I might have a weapon. Their pursuit was extremely swift and agile, using the doors and windows of the buildings as cover as they gradually narrowed the encirclement.

"Don't move! Crouch down!"

I had nowhere to run. The blinding flashlight beam made it impossible for me to open my eyes, so I had to put my hands behind my head. The police rushed over, forced me to lie down at gunpoint, and then searched me. Just as I fell to the ground, I hid the roll of film I was clutching in my hand into the storage compartment.

Chapter Forty: Wan'an Cemetery

The darkness and tension allowed me to preserve the film negative. Seeing I had no weapon, the police didn't continue the search. A pair of cold, gleaming handcuffs were then placed on my wrists, likely out of concern for the media capturing my face – a standard procedure for police when apprehending major suspects. A policeman blindfolded me with a black cloth, tying it tightly behind my head. Then, I was shoved out of the dark corridor and led to the front door.

An officer, accompanied by several other policemen, walked over and stood two steps in front of me. After scrutinizing me for a while, he asked the others in a stern tone:

"You recognized him?" I recognized his voice; it was Captain Ji Yunsheng.

“That’s right, Captain. Just like the tourist couple described when they called the police, he is the murder suspect, Pang Yuling.”

"Very good, did you search for weapons?"

He had nothing on him.

"Oh, they've set up a cordon outside the building; no reporters are allowed to come in."

"Yes, Captain, someone is doing it."

Even though my eyes were blindfolded, I could still sense Ji Yunsheng's imposing face, perhaps looking at me with disdain. He took two steps forward, stopped in front of me, and spoke with a tone full of mockery and intimidation.

"Pang Yuling, I didn't expect we wouldn't be able to go on duty together anymore. You really disappoint me."

I was speechless and silently lowered my head.

"Until the case is fully investigated, I hope you will cooperate with the police and not resist." I raised my head and ignored his advice.

Ji Yunsheng's tall figure swayed in front of me, tapped my handcuffs a few times with his pistol, and gave a soft snort:

"You have the right to remain silent, but it's best to avoid trouble. There's really no way around it; my subordinates would do something like this. You are a disgrace to my security department."

I remained silent; to try and explain now would only make things worse. But I felt terrible. I never imagined my trip to Beijing would turn into a nightmare. In this nine-layered conspiracy, I'd become the ultimate target of both the human and the ghost hunts. No matter who I fell into, I wouldn't escape unscathed. A surge of anger welled up inside me, but at this point, resistance was futile. Ji Yunsheng continued to ask:

"Where is the whistleblower witness?"

"Huh? It was just nearby, how did it disappear?"

"Make sure they are found. I'm taking the suspect with me."

"But... Captain, shouldn't we wait for the city police to arrive?"

"What are we waiting for them to do? Are we all just vegetarians?"

Ji Yunsheng was very angry and turned to leave first.

"Captain, would you like me to go with you?"

It was Officer Lu Ying's voice, and he chased after her.

“You and Sheng Xilin, and I’m driving, both of you need to be alert. He’s no ordinary suspect. The others need to thoroughly search this old building, find the missing February 17th videotape, and be wary of his accomplices setting up a treasure museum.”

"Yes, Captain!"

A car pulled up, and three policemen took me inside. Ji Yunsheng drove off quickly from the Forbidden City, speeding along the Beijing expressway in the early morning. Blindfolded and disoriented, I guessed they were heading to the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau. Well, at least I was thankfully safe, no matter how dangerous the journey ahead. But Ji Yunsheng's earlier words about searching for the videotape worried me. Why was he in such a hurry to find it? Inside the car, no one spoke. After a long while, Lu Ying, unable to contain herself any longer, pulled out her pistol and began cleaning it alone.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of metal hoops clicking. My ears perked up, and my sensitive nerves immediately reminded me of Ning Yu's nine-linked rings. Just then, Lu Ying asked nervously:

"Captain, we're going the wrong way! Something seems wrong. Why are we going this way? Wan'an Cemetery is right ahead!"

"This is the place. The bureau wants us to detain the suspect in a sparsely populated area. He's a dangerous individual."

"Captain, this doesn't make sense. What if he gets away... Let's call the prison van!"

Lu Ying's voice was anxious; he didn't know where the captain's order came from.

“He’s a death row inmate, he can’t escape.”

When Ji Yunsheng said the word "death row inmate," he lowered his voice sharply. I felt a chill run down my spine. The mention of Wan'an Cemetery made my heart sink even further, and I couldn't help but feel suspicious. Why were they bringing me to a cemetery? To execute me under house arrest? He probably wouldn't dare, but what trick were they up to? I became alert. Judging from the bumpy road, the car had indeed entered the cemetery.

Just as the car made a sharp turn, Lu Ying suddenly screamed in a convulsive voice:

"Captain, brake! There's a girl ahead! We're going to hit her! Stop right now!"

Where is it?