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墨書 Inktalez
Chu Feifan looked at Su Jin'er, whose brows were tightly furrowed, and couldn't help but start to worry. It seemed she was deliberately hiding something from them. What could it be?
Chu Feifan could only guess her thoughts.
"It's not easy to come back; I still want to check out the forest behind."
Chu Feifan and Zuo Yi exchanged glances, both knowing which forest she was referring to. Although the rumors about ghosts there might not be true, still...
"Okay, I'll go with you," Chu Feifan said.
Even though it was already night, there were still quite a few couples out on dates. To avoid being recognized, Su Jin'er kept her head down. However, even so, she still attracted the attention of passing students. Fortunately, due to the recent events at school, everyone was on edge; as long as they could keep themselves safe, no one had the leisure to concern themselves with others.
This time, they didn't pass by the basketball court but instead went around the lake, through a small grove, then past the student council office building, before entering the student activity center and finally stepping into the forest that had always terrified her.
As before, the dense branches blocked out the bright moonlight completely, leaving no trace of illumination. The pitch-black darkness intensified her fear; the black sky, black branches, black trunks— even the air and wind seemed to turn black— as if she had fallen into a dark and despairing void.
She took a deep breath, inhaling some stale air into her lungs, and suddenly began to cough.
Chu Feifan gently patted her back and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing!" She waved her hand in resignation; she couldn't possibly tell him that she choked on the air!
"Have you noticed how stuffy the air is here?" Zuo Yi said while shining his flashlight around.
"Yeah, it's like there's a black cloth surrounding this place, preventing the air from circulating," Chu Feifan replied.
Su Jin'er agreed with Chu Feifan's analogy; the air here was indeed murky. Logically speaking, the air in a forest should be fresh, yet it was quite the opposite here— truly strange.
During their conversation, they had already arrived at the crime scene. Although many days had passed, the area was still cordoned off with police tape. Su Jin'er squinted her eyes; she was actually very scared to be here. Just seeing this place reminded her of Ruan Hongmei's bloodied and mangled head. However, what puzzled her was why, at that moment when she struck Ruan Hongmei, she hadn’t screamed at all. If she had made even the slightest sound, Su Jin'er would have definitely stopped.
Could it be that Ruan Hongmei was already dead when she struck her?
As this question popped into her mind, it sent a chill throughout her body. If that were true, then the Killer could easily have killed Ruan Hongmei without them knowing, and killing her would also be a simple task. But why hadn’t he killed her directly?
Was everything the Killer did for her sake?
“Jin'er, what's wrong? Why do you look so pale and are trembling all over?”
“I just... just thought of a question,” she stammered.
“What question?”
“I suddenly wondered if Hongmei might have already been dead before I killed her.”
Chu Feifan frowned. “What do you mean?”
“At that time, right there, I remember we suddenly heard a strange laugh, and then a White Shadow appeared out of nowhere. After that, I saw the green head, and then Hongmei fainted. Afterward, I laid her on the ground, but how did she end up next to me?”
Su Jin'er's words were somewhat incoherent; the events of that day flashed through her mind like a disjointed film. She painfully hugged her head and crouched down.
Chu Feifan held her tightly in his arms and said nervously, “If you can’t remember, then don’t think about it. Everything that happened that day was just an accident; you didn’t kill her.”
Su Jin'er shook her head vigorously. Chu Feifan didn’t know whether she was denying his words or something else; he could only feel her helplessness at that moment, and how could he not feel heartbroken?
Su Jin'er leaned against Chu Feifan’s chest. She felt his heartbeat and his concern, slowly calming her emotions down.
"I'm sorry!" After a long time, she struggled out of Chu Feifan's embrace, wiped the tears from her cheeks, and tried to stabilize her emotions.
Chu Feifan understood her pain! A person who usually wouldn't even harm a bug suddenly realized that she had killed someone, and that someone was her good friend. The fact that she hadn't completely broken down was already a sign of strength. If it were him, he might have already collapsed!
"I'm fine, just feeling a bit strange."
She said with a smile, although it was forced.
"What are you thinking about?"
"If I had hit Hongmei with a rock back then, she would have definitely screamed in pain when she fainted. But there was no sound at all; isn't that strange?"
Chu Feifan frowned. Although what she said was correct, if she had used all her strength out of fear and accidentally killed someone with the first blow, it would be impossible for there to be any screams. He hesitated about whether to share his thoughts.
"I know you must be thinking that if I had killed her with the first hit out of fear, then she wouldn't have made any sound, right?"
Both Chu Feifan and Zuo Yi nodded.
"At that moment, even though I was terrified and nearly lost my mind, I still didn't completely lose control. The first hit wasn't very hard; it was just an instinctive strike. But I clearly felt that my hand touched something cold, not warm."
"If that's the case, then what you hit couldn't have been Ruan Hongmei. At that time, there were only the two of you present; it's impossible for anyone to drag Ruan Hongmei over to your side, and there were no drag marks on the ground. If that's true, doesn't that make things even more confusing?"
"By the way, has Ruan Hongmei's body been dissected?"
"No, her parents wouldn't allow it. They said she had already died so tragically and refused to let anyone touch her body. So now Captain Xing is also in a difficult position!"
Su Jin'er could understand the feelings of the parents. If they knew that their daughter might have been killed by the killer, they would definitely want revenge. Fortunately, what happened here hadn't reached her own parents; if they found out, how heartbroken they would be!
A few people looked around again but found no valuable clues, so they prepared to head back. However, just after taking a few steps, a sudden gust of wind blew in, and this inexplicable breeze immediately made the hairs on the backs of their necks stand up.
That day felt just like this, the sensation of being intensely watched from behind sent chills down her spine.
The three of them stopped in their tracks.
"Did you feel that too?" Zuo Yi asked, his voice trembling.
Chu Feifan and Su Jin'er nodded.
"That's how it felt that day, and then we heard laughter."
As soon as Su Jin'er finished speaking, the laughter echoed around them, sending shivers down their spines.
Su Jin'er glanced at the two of them. Would anyone die this time? Who would it be?
An unsettling feeling began to creep in; no, they absolutely could not let anyone die.
Chu Feifan suddenly turned around, but he only saw a white shadow dart past quickly. He thought he might be imagining things, but soon he realized it wasn't an illusion because he saw it again.
"Who?"
He shouted loudly.
But the only response was silence—an eerie, deathly silence.
"We need to leave here immediately."
"Su Jin'er" said, the scene from that night replaying in her mind; she could not let the tragedy happen again.
They immediately began to run towards the edge of the forest. Whether their opponent was human or ghost, the enemy was hidden while they were exposed. Engaging without understanding their opponent was a path to certain death.
However, after only a few meters, a terrifying green head floating in the air appeared.
"Ah..." "Su Jin'er" let out a scream; it was a nightmare she would never forget.
"Chu Feifan" and "Zuo Yi" also showed expressions of shock as the green head grinned and quickly flew towards them.
"Chu Feifan" pulled "Su Jin'er" into his embrace, then turned his back to dodge the incoming head. Soon, a sharp pain shot through his back, nearly causing him to faint. The head continued to grin menacingly as it approached them. "Zuo Yi" grabbed a branch from the ground and swung it wildly.
"Zuo Yi, be careful not to hurt anyone."
"Su Jin'er" shouted a warning.
But "Chu Feifan's" body slowly began to collapse.
"Feifan, what's wrong?" "Su Jin'er" struggled to support him, but being a girl, she couldn't manage it; she had no choice but to let "Chu Feifan" lie on the ground.
Why did her hands feel sticky?
She looked at her hands in front of her and was instantly terrified, her face turning pale.
"Feifan!"
"Zuo Yi, Feifan is injured, come quickly." Tears streamed down "Su Jin'er’s" face.
Zuo Yi was still maneuvering with the branch and the head when he heard Su Jin'er’s call and immediately rushed over.
He saw that Chu Feifan's clothes were completely soaked in blood, and the wounds on his back were clearly claw marks, three deep gashes that exposed white bone beneath the torn flesh.
"What should we do? What should we do? Is he going to die?"
"He won't. We need to take him to the hospital. Quickly, help me get him on my back."
Fortunately, the Affiliated Hospital of the Medical School was just behind them, not far away.
As they were leaving, Su Jin'er glanced back. The head was already gone, but she saw a White Shadow standing quietly behind a large tree, its gaze cold and malicious as it watched them.
Su Jin'er shivered. When she looked again, the figure had vanished.
"What are you looking at? Hurry up!"
Su Jin'er snapped back to reality as they ran toward the hospital, carrying Chu Feifan on their backs.
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