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墨書 Inktalez
I glanced at the girl lost in thought, then turned and walked upstairs. After everything I had been through, I knew there were many things that couldn't be explained. Whether one believed it or not, things had happened just as they were. If something unexpected happened to Fu Yuehua, my task would be to find out the reason, prove it had nothing to do with the military, and ideally, find a way to prevent it from happening again.
Fortunately, the technical analysis was already out. We would soon know what Fu Yuehua had said before jumping. Was the truth also about to become clearer? I pushed open the door to the Security Department office, where only Ah Huang sat blankly behind the computer; the Security Chief was nowhere to be found.
When he saw me, Ah Huang looked up and stared at me in confusion. "What's wrong?" I asked.
Before Ah Huang could respond, the back door opened again, and the girl along with Jinghe walked in one after another. Ah Huang's expression changed. "Who is this?" he asked, bewildered.
I replied, "A teacher who has some connection to this matter. I brought her here to see if she could provide you with any clues."
I turned back. "Jinghe, wait outside for me."
Jinghe nodded and stepped out. Long Xia then approached Ah Huang and smiled at him, saying, "Hello, Officer." I glanced at her; she was quite friendly.
Ah Huang ignored her. I could tell he was in a bad mood. I walked over to him and curiously asked, "What’s bothering you?"
He sighed softly and said, "Take a look at this." He handed me a note.
The note contained a few scribbled lines.
"This is what the Forensic Department came up with from lip-reading. I noted it down, but personally, I think it's meaningless or even untrustworthy—it's rather absurd," he said.
I remained silent as I took a look at it.
There were three lines: "Tomb, Tomb Immortal." "Mirror." "Save me."
The phrases were disjointed and made no sense at all. No wonder Ah Huang was puzzled. I handed the note to Long Xia; she looked just as confused.
After thinking for a moment, I said to Ah Huang, "Let's replay the surveillance footage."
Ah Huang was momentarily stunned and pulled up the Silent Monitoring footage we had just seen.
I pressed the play button on the keyboard. Slowing down the speed, I focused intently on the screen, and Long Xia leaned in closer.
It was like a silent film replaying; Fu Yuehua slowly emerged from behind the door on the screen. I watched her lips closely as she stepped out of the room. When she gently tilted her head, the camera captured her mouth moving, and I could see her lips forming the words "Tomb Immortal."
Next, as she paused in front of the railing, she uttered a second phrase: "Mirror."
The final line came as she climbed over the railing and hung there; her head turned in that direction, facing the camera as she said, "Save me." Then, she let go and fell.
The entire process was eerily chilling, and her words were baffling.
What did "Tomb Immortal" mean? What was she referring to with "mirror"? I couldn't guess at all.
However, when Fu Yuehua said "save me," I felt her eyes were no longer as vacant as before; they seemed to have regained some light. It felt as if, for just a moment, Fu Yuehua returned to her usual self. But how could one save her?
As if sensing my thoughts, Ah Huang said, "This girl is still in emergency care; she's been unconscious all along. However, she should be out of life-threatening danger; I asked earlier. It's just how to classify this case that's troubling me."
"What do you mean? Just because it's strange?"
Ah Huang shook his head, pulled out a cigarette, and slowly sat down in a chair. "This video definitely cannot be made public. But how do we explain it to her family? If we don't clarify things, they will undoubtedly hold the school responsible. If we try to explain, will they believe us? And will the school willingly accept being held accountable by the family?"
I was taken aback; how would I know?
Ah Huang lowered his head and smoked for a while before suddenly throwing out a thought without much consideration. "You need to be mentally prepared."
I was somewhat stunned. "What do you mean?"
Ah Huang stubbed his cigarette out forcefully in the ashtray on the table. "I definitely can't make this video public; it would have too great an impact. Once all the test results come back, as long as there are no traces of drugs or any chemical or medical anesthetics in her system, we will only conclude that foul play can be ruled out. Beyond that, we won't interfere."
I suddenly realized that Ah Huang was trying to remind me, fearing that the school and parents would shift the responsibility onto the military.
"Is that really the conclusion you all have come to? If you conclude it was suicide, won't that just avoid everyone pointing fingers?"
"It’s not possible," Ah Huang said firmly. "Although she jumped on her own, we cannot rule out other circumstances. There are some cases that simply cannot be explained; this is not the first one. We can only provide a widely accepted conclusion from a scientific perspective. Sometimes we know that this explanation is quite forced, but there’s nothing we can do. To prevent public panic and suspicion, there are many things we cannot investigate further."
"Just like those two girls who committed suicide by jumping off buildings a few years ago—wasn’t that handled quietly?" Long Xia suddenly interjected.
Ah Huang glanced at her, frowning. I knew Ah Huang was unaware of what had happened here before, but I didn’t plan to reveal it now. After all, Ah Huang had access to the case files; a quick check would reveal everything. So I remained silent, and the atmosphere grew heavy. Meanwhile, Long Xia seemed to relax.
"Let’s wait until you announce the results before discussing it further. It doesn’t concern us anymore anyway; I’ll head back to the unit now," I said after thinking for a moment.
"That works. I'll contact you if anything comes up."
I glanced at Long Xia, my thoughts having shifted since I first walked in. Initially, I was worried about what might happen to Fu Yuehua; if something unexpected occurred, it would be disastrous. But knowing Fu Yuehua was safe, as Honest had said, meant this matter was over for me. Fu Yuehua's life was preserved, and I hoped there wouldn’t be any more strange incidents on campus in the future. It wasn’t selfishness; my position was unique, and I had plenty of other responsibilities. After spending so long guiding new students, I had neglected my duties in Unit and needed to focus on my primary work.
I stepped out of the office, where Jinghe was waiting for me. It was already noon. I said to Jinghe, "Let’s go; we can make it back just in time for lunch."
Jinghe hesitated slightly; I noticed the uncertainty on his face. "Don’t worry; that girl is not in any danger. Just try to relax," I reassured him.
Jinghe let out a sigh of relief and silently followed me downstairs.
As we descended one flight of stairs, Long Xia's voice called out from behind us, "Hey, are you just leaving like this?"
"What else can we do? This matter is left unresolved; clearly, there's no way to investigate further now," I replied while looking up at her.
She quickly caught up with me, exuding confidence. "I’m sure this has something to do with that tomb."
"And what if it does?" I shrugged.
"Don't you want to get to the bottom of this?"
I helplessly spread my hands. "You said it yourself; everything you know about the tomb is hearsay. Besides, you're a university professor. How can you investigate? Even if you went to the site, you might not find any useful clues after all this time. And even if you did find something, what would it matter? This isn't about hunting ghosts."
"You," Long Xia said, her face filled with anger, "and you call yourself part of the People's Liberation Army."
"What does being in the People's Liberation Army have to do with this? The People's Liberation Army isn't responsible for investigating supernatural events." I was quite taken aback. This girl, whom I barely knew, was really getting on my nerves. I smiled and walked down the stairs. Fu Yuehua was fine; that was enough for me. Let this supernatural investigator deal with her own issues.
"You'll regret this! You'll definitely come looking for me!" the girl shouted behind me.
I didn't even turn around, just waved my hand lightly. Curiosity killed the cat; goodbye.
And so, I returned to Base with Jinghe and resumed our monotonous military life.
I thought my university life had come to an end, but little did I know that three days later, trouble came knocking at my door.
To be continued, more exciting developments tomorrow.
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