Зал астрологии с плотью и кровью

Глава 71

"Lin Xiao!" Li Yang greeted me. Looking at that face that looked exactly like Li Hai's, I still couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness and helplessness.

"Good morning!" I patted his shoulder and nodded to him. Perhaps it was because I had a part of Li Hai inside me, but my feelings for Li Yang seemed to have taken on a strange twist, like those of a brother.

"Come on, let's go to my office!" Li Yang dragged me toward his office. His face still seemed to be all smiles, and it was hard to detect his sadness. But I knew he just didn't want to show it. Whenever he mentioned Li Hai, he would always call him "brother" instead of by his name, and his eyes would be filled with an unprecedented tenderness and longing. This was an expression he would never have shown before.

"Did you explain this to the police there later?" he asked as soon as he got to the office.

"Are you saying that the white clouds are no longer real white clouds? I think it's unnecessary now!" I shook my head and said, "Anyway, the person is already dead, and there's nothing left. Let them just consider this an accident caused by the temple collapsing due to years of disrepair!"

"I wonder how they'll explain Baiyun's body!" Li Yang said.

“That is a problem. The autopsy showed that Baiyun’s body had already died and begun to decompose before the temple collapsed. But I think this will be resolved eventually!” I said. Anyway, things that are too strange are always explained as special phenomena.

"Oh, you're both here! That's perfect!" Chen Kai suddenly walked in and said to us, "Give me a hand!"

What is it? Are you going to ask about Longyi Temple again? Li Yang and I exchanged a helpless glance. Good heavens! We've already explained it hundreds of times!

Somewhat resigned, we followed Chen Kai into his office. As soon as we sat down, Chen Kai took out two documents from his drawer and handed them to us, saying, "These are two invitations."

Invitation? I opened the document and saw the words "National Forensic Medicine Academic Symposium" in large characters.

"An academic conference? Do you want me and Li Yang to go?" I asked.

“Yes, this meeting is very important. Representatives from police stations across the country will be attending. And it just so happens to be held at your old alma mater, so I thought it would be most appropriate for you to bring Li Yang along!” Chen Kai replied.

"Is that so?" I was a little undecided. Yu Bo's matter wasn't resolved yet, and besides, going now would mean losing the chance to live with Fang Lei for nothing. I was planning to try again in the next few days! Sigh... Looks like I still won't be able to have her!

"How is it?" Chen Kai asked, looking at us.

"I'm fine with it!" Li Yang replied readily.

"I... I'm fine with that too!" I reluctantly agreed.

"That's good! The meeting is in a week. How about this, you set off tomorrow, so you can have a few more days to rest and prepare!" Chen Kai said happily.

"Yes!" Li Yang and I replied. It seemed that this was the only way. I glanced at Li Yang, and he winked at me in return. As I looked down at the invitation, my left eye suddenly twitched. A strange feeling welled up inside me: it seemed that the matter concerning Yu Bo was just the prelude, and what awaited us was the formal beginning of another story…

Volume Three: Delicacies of Hell, Chapter Three: Aroma

Volume Three: Delicacies of Hell, Chapter Three: Aroma

Perhaps time can change everything, but people are always the least able to withstand the test of time! Strolling through the university campus, which seemed both familiar and changed, I sighed softly. This was my first time back since graduation. It wasn't that I didn't cherish my alma mater, but that what was separated was already lost, and lingering in the past was useless.

"Your school is pretty good!" Li Yang walked beside me with his luggage on his back, his eyes naturally and unabashedly fixed on the female students; I could tell he was practically drooling.

"Are you saying the campus is nice or the girls are nice?" I asked him, looking at him with annoyance.

"Hehe, they're all great!" Li Yang winked at me, then put his arm around my shoulder and said, "So, how about you introduce them to me?"

"I can't help you with this, I don't know anyone here!" I shook my head.

"After all, they're all your junior sisters!" Li Yang persisted.

"Stop thinking about pretty girls, hurry up and find a guesthouse!" I looked around helplessly. Why not rebuild those dilapidated school buildings instead of a guesthouse? It's truly one of the manifestations of Chinese people's love of face!

"Okay, okay!" Li Yang said, reluctantly swallowing the drool that was practically dripping down his face.

Pulling along Li Yang, who still wanted to admire the pretty girls, we finally found the newly built guesthouse after circling most of the campus. It was truly astonishing what we found; why is retro-style architecture so popular now? A small red brick house with ivy covering its entire walls stood before us, looking like something left behind by foreigners before the liberation.

"Wow, your school is really high-class! Even a guesthouse is housed in an antique building!" Li Yang looked up at me with envy.

Wasn't this a ruin before? I'm almost dizzy. Although I've been away from school for several years, I still remember the basic construction of the campus. I've been to this building a few times before, but I only glanced at it from the outside because it was sealed off. And strangely enough, even in the sweltering heat of June, it was still chilly enough to give you goosebumps. This building was once rumored to be haunted, so how did it become a guesthouse now?

"Let's go, let's go inside first!" I dragged Li Yang into the guesthouse. As soon as I stepped inside, I felt a gust of cold wind rush towards me, making me tremble all over.

"Are you cold?" I asked Li Yang, who was sitting next to me.

"It seems a bit like that." Li Yang said, fiddling with the jade pendant on his chest, which was Li Hai's keepsake.

"I feel so cold, this place is really weird!" I said as I walked to the front desk. A pretty girl smiled and said to me, "Welcome, do you two have a reservation?"

“Yes, we’re here to attend the National Forensic Medicine Academic Symposium! My name is Lin Xiao, and this is Li Yang,” I replied.

"Oh, really? You've arrived quite early!" the girl said, checking the reservation book. "The seminar isn't starting for another week!"

"Such a beautiful campus should definitely be visited as soon as possible!" Li Yang smiled at the receptionist, his face full of flattery.

"Hehe!" The receptionist smiled happily and said, "These are your room keys: 303 and 304."

"Thank you." I took the keys and asked, "When was this building converted into a guesthouse?"

"This year? You were probably from our school before, right?" the receptionist asked.

"Yes, I'm from the ** class!" I replied.

"Oh, then you're my senior! Hello, senior!" the receptionist said sweetly. "My name is Huang Juan, but everyone calls me Juanzi!"

"Hello Juanzi too!" I smiled and nodded at her. She seems to be a very interesting junior schoolmate!

After saying hello, Li Yang and I dragged our luggage up the stairs. Stepping on the wooden floor felt strange, as if it had been soaked in water, damp and sizzling, making a faint hissing sound that was like the squeak of mice, yet not quite. Perhaps because the walls were covered in ivy, the temperature inside was significantly lower than outside; even without air conditioning, I felt like I wasn't wearing enough clothes. The light was also dim, a dark green hue, from the ivy leaves blocking the windowpanes.

Upon reaching the third floor, the corridor was a somber green, giving me the illusion of being covered in moss. Reaching room 303, the dark red door contrasted strangely with the surrounding greenery. We entered our rooms, and thankfully, the furnishings were quite nice. While guesthouses are generally not as luxurious as hotels, this room was well-equipped and clean. However, the walls felt damp to the touch, as if the rainy season had begun early.

After putting down my luggage, I was so tired I just wanted to lie down and sleep. My head started to throb for no reason. I called Li Yang to tell him to wake me up when he was having dinner, and then I quickly lay down and drifted off to sleep…

"Lin Xiao, get up and eat!" Li Yang's loud voice at the door startled me awake from my dream. I found myself covered in a cold sweat, my clothes were soaked, and I felt extremely flustered and confused, but I didn't know what I was afraid of.

Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I got up and opened the door. A fragrant aroma wafted in, instantly making my already rumbling stomach rumble even more.

"What smells so good?" I sniffed, and it seemed to be wafting from the bottom of the corridor.

"It looks delicious!" Li Yang licked his lips and said.

"Did you burn something?" Juanzi's sweet voice came over before she even appeared.

“We can’t make something that smells this good!” Li Yang replied with a smile, and Juanzi walked over from the stairwell.

"There's a kitchen here?" I asked curiously.

"Yes, it's for guests to cook their own meals. You know, the cafeteria here isn't very good!" Juanzi said.

"This is quite complete! Who burned it down? Besides us, who else lives here?" Li Yang asked.

"There aren't many left, just two women. One seems to be a psychologist who's here for an exchange program, and the other seems to be a teacher from another university who's on a business trip!" Juanzi answered as she led us toward the kitchen. The closer we got, the stronger the aroma became, as if it were trying to tempt every craving in our stomachs.

Stepping into the kitchen, I saw a plate of food sitting right next to the gas stove, still steaming, as if it had just been cooked. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be just stir-fried pork skin! I never imagined pork skin could be stir-fried to such an irresistible aroma. This chef is amazing; he can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary!

"Don't touch other people's food!" I said, pulling Li Yang's hand back as he reached out to grab a piece to try.

"Anyway, he's not here!" Li Yang pouted, feeling wronged.

"That's strange, why didn't you take it away after it was cooked? Who cooked it?" Juanzi stepped forward and picked up the dishes, saying, "Why don't we go ask the other two people?"

"Okay!" Li Yang replied, nodding repeatedly. I think he wanted to find an excuse to eat a few bites after finding the person.

"Let's go, those two people live in rooms 201 and 206 on the second floor!" Juanzi said, leading us down the stairs.

The door to room 201 was tightly closed. I knocked several times but no one answered; the person was probably not home. Then I went to room 206, gently pushed the door, and it opened; the door wasn't locked.

"Why isn't the door closed?" Juanzi muttered, already inside. A woman was lying on the bed, perhaps asleep, but strangely, she had her head under the pillow! Li Yang and I just stood at the door; after all, it's best not to enter a woman's room without permission.

"Hello, Miss Wang!" Juanzi called tentatively in a soft voice. After placing the groceries she was carrying on the bedside table, Juanzi cautiously patted the woman's shoulder, but there was no response. I found it a bit strange; why was she sleeping so soundly?

"Ah~~!" Suddenly, Juanzi screamed in terror, and Li Yang and I rushed in immediately.

"Ah~!" Juanzi had already taken several steps back in fright, covering her mouth with both hands. Looking at the woman again, the pillow had probably been knocked off by Juanzi, revealing a face that was already bluish-black. I immediately gasped. To be precise, this was already a corpse, a corpse without a scalp. The woman's expression was calm, but starting from her forehead, a sharp knife had cut open, revealing the pink skull, like a watermelon being sliced horizontally before being sold. The still-connected, white, thin tissue must have been the scalp! But it was incomplete; almost half of the scalp had been cruelly peeled off, and the blood seemed to have congealed on it. This scene sent chills down my spine.

"Call an ambulance!" Juanzi finally stopped shouting.

"It's no use, he's already dead!" I immediately rejected her idea. He's already developed lividity; calling on the emperor won't help!

"Call the police!" Li Yang nudged Juanzi and said.

"Oh, yes, yes!" Juanzi nodded blankly and ran quickly to the phone.

"Wait a minute, go to the front desk to make the call, don't disturb the crime scene." As I said this, Juanzi had already rushed downstairs as fast as she could.

"How come your scalp is gone? Where did it go?" Li Yang asked curiously.

"The murderer probably peeled it off!" I replied, while the dish on the bedside table still emitted a strange aroma. Suddenly, a strange and terrifying thought popped into my head: scalp? Pigskin? Could it be that perverse?

As I thought about it, my eyes were already fixed on that dish...

"No...no way!?" Li Yang seemed to have guessed what I was thinking and stammered.

"Would you like to try it?" I don't know what came over me, but I was actually in the mood to joke with Li Yang.

"Go away... go away!" Li Yang covered his mouth, seemingly remembering that he had wanted to take another bite just now!

"Don't throw up!" I patted Li Yang on the shoulder and said, "At worst, you just won't eat pig skin anymore!"

"I'd rather die than eat that!" With that, he dashed out. I quickly followed, watching Li Yang lean against the wall, dry heaving. My own stomach started to churn. Standing at the doorway, staring at the dish, the aroma was so tempting, yet the ingredients looked so horrifying. Is there really so much ugliness hidden beneath a beautiful facade in this world?

Volume 3: Delicacies of Hell, Chapter 4: Su Qiao

Volume 3: Delicacies of Hell, Chapter 4: Su Qiao

The corpse's face shimmered with a peculiar bluish-black sheen under the camera flash, and the exposed head moved all the police officers present.

I stood blankly beside Li Yang, staring at the corpse. Perhaps I had already seen things far more terrifying than this body, so I felt no fear, only lingering unease at the plate of food on the bedside table. And that aroma stubbornly continued to permeate the entire room.

"What time did you come in?" an officer asked us, taking notes in a small notebook.

"It should be after 6 o'clock, because I remember I went to call him for dinner at 6 o'clock," Li Yang replied, pointing at me.

"What were you doing before this?" the officer continued to ask.

“I’m packing my luggage, he’s probably sleeping,” Li Yang replied.

"So you mean you were all alone in the room? Are there any witnesses?" the officer asked.

"Of course there are no witnesses," I replied lazily from the side. Juanzi in front of me was being questioned by another police officer. She looked so pitiful, biting her lip. It was clear that she was terrified by the corpse.

"What happened?" A melodious female voice suddenly came from outside the room. I was standing in the doorway, and out of curiosity, I turned around. But what I saw made me freeze in place! It was a beautiful woman, but what surprised me wasn't her beauty, but her appearance! She looked so much like Yin Xue! Her flawless, fair skin made her look pitiful, and her bright, starlight-like eyes were framed by long, curled eyelashes. Her rosy lips made one want to kiss them. Her slender figure gave her a somewhat frail appearance, but her pure and innocent temperament made her seem very lively and playful.

Yin Xue, it's Yin Xue! I almost rushed forward, but reason told me that the woman before me only resembled Yin Xue; her eyes lacked Yin Xue's tenderness and faint sorrow. No matter how similar their appearances, two souls can never be copied. Yet, Yin Xue's face gradually appeared before my eyes, overlapping and intertwining with it, as if this woman had become Yin Xue, or as if Yin Xue had been resurrected in this woman's body. I thought I could forget Yin Xue, but my violently pounding heart and rapid breathing completely shattered that belief.

"Hey, why are you staring at this pretty girl with your eyes glued to her?" Li Yang nudged me, who was already in a daze.

"Oh, hehe...hehe." I chuckled dryly, but my eyes remained fixed on the woman.