Chapter 12: The Bloody Truth
The Woman in White maintained the posture of her agonizing death, standing motionless in place, unyielding due to her boundless hatred toward the world.
Hatred, resentment, anger, and despair formed a tangible black mist that made one shiver with fear. Yu Lianyun suddenly felt her soul tremble, and her mind cleared, revealing the Woman in White’s experiences before death—the nightmare not recorded on the video tape.
It turned out that after being pushed into the deep well by the pervert father and son back then, the Woman in White did not die immediately. Even after her spine was shattered by stones later, suffering a second severe injury, she still struggled in the deep well for a long time. Dragging her immobile lower body, she inserted her fractured finger bones into the walls of the well, roaring and pleading for help toward the gradually sealed well opening.
When the well opening was completely sealed and sunlight could no longer reach inside, her miserable wail turned into a resentful poisonous curse against heaven and earth. The plea for help text that could still be faintly heard from outside became the most primal strange roar, and the clear water surface in the well was slowly dyed red by the blood flowing from her body.
In this pitch-black well without daylight, she thought she might freeze to death, drown, suffocate, or bleed out, but before that, she had already experienced mental death and the collapse of her soul.
The strange roar from that sealed well continued for three full days and nights without interruption or weakening, until it abruptly stopped.
Yu Lianyun realized that her inspirational ability had allowed her to see the Woman in White’s memory, which made her understand the origin of the curse stored in the video tape and why it was so intense and terrifying. At the same time, this forced her to empathize with the Woman in White, experiencing the same collapse.
Yu Lianyun knelt down with a thud. After killing the extradimensional creature, the Woman in White limped past her, ignoring her as if she had no interest in her at all.
“It was very painful, right? Dying alone in a place like that, you must have been full of resentment.” Yu Lianyun said tearfully, murmuring. Whether the nameless female corpse or the Woman in White, they had both endured inhuman torment in life, the mental and spiritual suffering—that was an inhuman feeling. It was only natural to harbor immense resentment toward the world, and this was darkness that was destined to be unresolvable.
At this moment, Yu Lianyun deeply realized that the so-called curse did not lie in the video recording itself, but in the human heart. The act of deleting the video was like the pervert father and son sealing the stone well—out of sight does not mean out of mind. The resentment would forever remain in that icy, piercing, pitch-black water well.
Therefore, after watching the video tape and glimpsing the Woman in White’s past, the only method she could think of to resolve the blessing was to let the Woman in White vent her pain and hatred.
Yu Lianyun thought she understood the Woman in White’s pain and wanted to turn back to say something to her. However, when she once again saw those ruthless pupils engraved with her own death countdown, she realized she actually could not fully empathize with her—the shared feeling was merely false emotion.
The Woman in White she now saw was no longer the vengeful spirit who died in the well, but some kind of aggregate of hateful emotions.
Therefore, when she locked eyes with the Woman in White once more, the mental shock directly terrified Yu Lianyun into collapsing. She fell backward, feeling herself plummeting into an endless abyss, and at a certain moment, she suddenly hit bottom!
Yu Lianyun’s body jolted, and she abruptly opened her eyes, startled awake on the bed. Sitting up, she gasped heavily, her chest emitting trembling lung sounds, drenched in cold sweat like someone who had just emerged unprepared from a torrential downpour.
However, the Mysterious Group member sleeping beside her seemed completely unaware of the eerie phenomena that had just occurred on her body. Only upon hearing the sound of her sudden awakening did he slowly wake up, rubbing his eyes sleepily and asking, “What’s wrong?”
What’s wrong? Yu Lianyun was dazed. She only knew she seemed unable to escape the fate of death, and the Mysterious Group was powerless against it.
“I had a nightmare, it’s nothing.” Yu Lianyun whispered softly, then got out of bed and walked into the bathroom. Looking at her haggard self in the mirror, she felt a heaviness on her shoulders. In a daze, she saw the Woman in White riding on her shoulders, but in the blink of an eye, this terrifying eerie image vanished without a trace.
Faced with this scene, what Yu Lianyun felt was not bewilderment and helplessness toward unknown fear, but deep despair at facing the truth and facts yet still being powerless. She sat alone on the bathroom floor, neither speaking nor laughing, neither crying nor smiling, simply emptying her mind and thinking nothing.
……
Yu Lianyun’s abnormal emotions did not escape the notice of the Mysterious Group members. Her death-wishing demeanor caught He Jia’an and the others’ attention, making them realize that last night’s events had not been perfectly resolved.
After some inquiring, Yu Lianyun, feeling that speaking or not could not change her fate, frankly recounted her nightmare from last night, including directly confronting the extradimensional creature invading her mind and the Woman in White “protecting” her.
After hearing Yu Lianyun’s words, He Jia’an and the other two could not help but show deep worry. The development of events was far more thorny than they had imagined.
“I want to go out for a walk alone. Can you please not follow me for now?” Yu Lianyun said.
“But it’s nine o’clock at night now.” Li Yingqi reminded.
Yu Lianyun glanced at her, utterly calm: “Do you think, at this point, there’s anything left that could make me feel afraid?”
The three were speechless. During their hesitation, Yu Lianyun had already left the hotel, strolling alone in this city without nightlife culture, walking on the quiet streets.
Tonight’s moon was full, the temperature pleasant, the seaside evening breeze cool and comfortable, the ripples sometimes slow and sometimes swift. Yet Yu Lianyun had no interest in appreciating this harmonious, leisurely scenery.
Passing a community park, Yu Lianyun saw it was empty—a tranquil place to rest temporarily—so she sat on a swing in the park sand pit, not swinging, just sitting quietly.
The park still bore traces of children’s play from daytime: sand grains spilled from the sand pit, a half-destroyed sandcastle, snack wrappers caught in the gaps of children’s play equipment. In this silent park, Yu Lianyun surprisingly felt a trace of liveliness.
“If I could die silently here, it might not be so bad.” Yu Lianyun suddenly thought.
She forced a carefree laugh a few times, but before her voice could fully emerge, she fell from the swing, knelt on the ground, and began sobbing softly.
Of course she did not want to die. No one wanted to die, and naturally, one would fear death.
The video tape had brought her death, yet she did not regret buying that video tape. Conflicting emotions battered her heart back and forth.
After crying for a while, Yu Lianyun climbed back up from the ground and left the park. She did not want to cast her pain and despair on this place full of hope and vitality.
She returned to the street, continuing to walk aimlessly forward until, in her dazed state, she blankly bumped into a gentleman’s chest.
“Sorry.” Yu Lianyun apologized instinctively. When she looked up at the gentleman’s face, she felt it was exceptionally familiar.
“I’m truly sorry. Are you hurt?” Haimofen steadied the staggering Yu Lianyun, not blaming her but asking with concern instead.
Yu Lianyun shook her head. When she glanced at the gentleman before her, who combined feminine grace and handsomeness yet was missing his left ear, she could not help but sigh inwardly, thinking it was a pity.
For some reason, she thought of the female corpse and the Woman in White, both with breathtaking beauty. This world seemed to always inflict suffering on those blessed with beauty, including herself…
But soon, Yu Lianyun noticed the background behind Haimofen looked familiar—a ten-meter-high narrow stone staircase right behind him, from which he seemed to have just descended.
Seeing that Yu Lianyun was merely preoccupied and not injured, Haimofen quickly noticed the unhealed frostbite on her hands. He frowned, suddenly grabbed her hands, and said somewhat heartbrokenly, “What a pity for such delicate, skillful hands to become so ragged.”
A man whose first impression was that of a gentleman suddenly acted ungentlemanly. Yu Lianyun was startled for no reason, forcefully pulling her hands from his grasp, stepping back a few paces, then looking at him warily.
But moments later, Yu Lianyun suddenly remembered this face. She said in surprise, “Wait! You’re… Haimofen?”
Hearing her recognize him, Haimofen’s facial expression changed slightly. He stood silent for two seconds before giving a formulaic smile: “No, I’m not him. I just look like him. Everyone around me says so.”
Hearing this, Yu Lianyun looked at him suspiciously. Haimofen lowered his hat brim, trying his best to avoid her gaze.
“No, you are him. Though I’ve never seen you in person outside of screens and posters, you are definitely Haimofen.” Yu Lianyun said affirmatively. Even she herself was surprised when saying this—she was never one to be so stubborn or jump to conclusions, nor did she often rely on so-called intuition. Just like yesterday when capturing the live stream perpetrator, she had acted similarly.
Then, Yu Lianyun suddenly recalled what He Jia’an had said. Right, she was not just Yu Lianyun now; she also had that female corpse’s soul. Her behavior just now was actually more akin to Jinxiu.
Haimofen had not expected the fan before him to be unexpectedly persistent and obsessive. His heart sank—he feared this very thing had happened. While secluding himself to resolve the anomaly on his body, he had run into a fan from his main job and been recognized.
“This is tricky…” Haimofen muttered to himself, his gaze flickering uncertainly.
Yu Lianyun was extremely surprised that the century’s most outstanding young violinist would appear here, and from his missing ear, it seemed he had gone through something quite terrible.
At this, Yu Lianyun could not help but make a bold speculation. The part of her mind that was Jinxiu took over again, and she asked Haimofen, “Are you here to find Boss Lin?”
“Boss Lin?” Haimofen looked at the haggard woman in astonishment, quickly realizing she shared his identity as a client of Lin Ling, the owner of the forest cabin.
With that, Haimofen relaxed, withdrawing his hand from his pocket. He smiled faintly: “I see, you’re going to find Boss Lin too.”
As he spoke, he could not help but look at Yu Lianyun’s hands again. “You must have run into big trouble too, but no worries. Boss Lin is incredibly capable. You’ll surely resolve your own troubles just like I did.”
Haimofen’s words revealed a hint of admiration and worship for Lin Ling.
Yu Lianyun felt doubly curious: “Like you?”
Thinking of how Haimofen, a globally renowned musician, had vanished for three years without a trace, it turned out he had been hiding in this seaside small town, active by night and resting by day in seclusion.
But after hearing Haimofen’s words, Yu Lianyun also realized that seclusion was merely a superficial active choice—it might not have been voluntary for him. Like her, he had unwittingly fallen into the untouchable world, plagued by some mysterious anomaly.
Haimofen deliberately ignored Yu Lianyun’s doubt and curiosity, slightly lifting his hat with a faint smile and a bow. “I have matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave. Good luck, beautiful lady.”
With that, he leaned on his cane and departed elegantly.
Yu Lianyun watched his departing black silhouette, somewhat lost in thought. Suddenly, she felt that encountering such misfortune was not lonely, for even big-screen superstars and musicians could suffer greatly.
Perhaps humans are this despicable: when you see someone once “high above” suddenly fall to your level, you feel comforted and gain inexplicable “courage” from it.
Looking at the stone steps extending into the dark woods, Yu Lianyun thought for a moment and decided to visit the owner of the forest cabin for the third time.
“Please come in, Miss Yu.” When Yu Lianyun knocked on the shop door again, Lin Ling inside smiled as if he had anticipated her return, inviting her in.
Yu Lianyun entered the shop again, but this time Lin Ling was not sitting at the coffee table drinking tea. Instead, he sat on the rocking chair, wearing headphones and listening to music, his face full of contentment.
For some reason, every time she came to this remote small shop, she felt no terror at all—instead, it was exceptionally reassuring.
Toward Lin Ling, whom she had only met twice and who appeared much younger than her, Yu Lianyun found herself strange, feeling an impulse to pour out all her troubles and sins to him.
It was as if this place was a temporary shelter for lost lambs in the world.
“Boss, this time I want to earnestly consult you: is there a way to have the best of both worlds, to rid me of the extradimensional life’s invasion while also sparing me from the blessing’s fatal curse?” Yu Lianyun asked humbly.
Lin Ling swayed with the rocking chair, his hands restlessly caressing the black cat gently. The black cat did not resist, allowing it.
Amid the swaying rhythm, Lin Ling slowly spoke: “Do you ever feel that what you’re experiencing now is deserved punishment?”
Yu Lianyun shuddered, clenching her fingers tightly.
“Let’s return to the original topic. After mysterious phenomena began appearing on the female corpse, during the coma you mentioned, what exactly did you do in fact?” Lin Ling opened his eyes, his pitch-black pupils gazing at Yu Lianyun like a netherworld scrutiny of the heart.
“I…” Yu Lianyun’s gaze flickered, hesitating to speak.
“You killed your father with your own hands, didn’t you?” Lin Ling hit the nail on the head. Yu Lianyun suddenly collapsed to her knees, that unbearable memory surging forth like a spring.
This chapter is to make up for yesterday’s. There’s another one tonight.
