Bab 24: Home for Paper Men
Editor: Zayn_
The next day, there were less police vehicles but more cops in plain clothes. It was obvious that the investigation on Chen Chu and his girlfriend had gone underground, with no more aggressive investigations. Those students who were called to help were gathered up again and they were ordered not to say anything; anyone who dared to talk with others or online would be disqualified for graduation once verified.
The higher authority had controlled all the information about this case. In a word, no relevant news could be seen on the internet. Netizens were actually easy to handle; after a while of cooling, their attention would be drawn to something new. So fickle in affection.
Su Bai didn’t try to contact Chu Zhao. He had an umbrella in his hand; though the sun was shining high above, he wasn’t planning to shelter from the sunshine with that umbrella.
However, something coincidental happened… Chu Zhao, who had just slept a little on the floor in the lecture hall after a long busy night, had walked out with boxed lunch. He waved at Su Bai.
Su Bai sighed; he had to walk towards him.
"Going back to your dormitory for personal stuff?"
Su Bai nodded.
"Any idea on where you might go next?"
"Chengdu. My parents owned a house there. I’ll stay there for a while and enjoy my free time."
Chu Zhao nodded, "Good. But since our club is no longer operating, you’re on your own…Tut, if you really can’t take it, just tell me. I’ll take a leave and go meet you in Chengdu; at least I can help you with some plans, got it?"
"Go have your lunch. I’m not there yet."
"Fine. See ya, dude."
"See ya."
Su Bai walked to the dormitory with that umbrella.
But he didn’t walk into that dormitory building; instead, he stopped in front of a three-floor building behind the dormitory, which was nearly abandoned.
This three-floor building was used as a "Student Center" in the past few years. But as the new school areas were developing, many parts in the old areas were no longer in use, including this building. Now the school was gradually moving its key area to the new areas. So in two years, the old areas might not be available for living or teaching.
Su Bai walked in. The door wasn’t locked because usually no one would come here and there wasn’t anything worth stealing.
It was dusty inside. Su Bai didn’t rush in.
Instead, he lifted that umbrella and said:
"If you lie to me, you’ll know the consequences."
The umbrella shook to indicate that she understood.
Su Bai didn’t ask the ghost lady how she died. In fact, this ghost lady was a senior to him, probably only one or two years senior to him.
Su Bai kept moving on. There were many tables and chairs, as well as some costumes. Su Bai moved these things away and found a way to the second floor. On the second floor, it was very dark.
Since the electricity was off in this building, he couldn’t turn on the lights even if he wanted to.
But Su Bai did find some traces on the stairs. Someone had been here lately. There were footprints left on the steps- a man’s footprints. They were very clear and must have been left recently.
Was it really Liu He that had been here?
Su Bai tightened his lips and kept moving. The second floor seemed to be emptier. Su Bai went to a closed office first; luckily, the door was not locked. He pulled it open.
Inside, there were only desks, the ones used in classes, piling up high.
Su Bai bent over, took out his cell phone and turned on the flashlight.
There were traces of steps on the ground as well. They was unapparent, but Su Bai was careful enough to find them.
Following the traces, Su Bai moved forward. At last, after moving away a few chairs in front of him, he saw a black traveling bag inside.
So this is it?
Su Bai took out the bag. It was not very heavy, but he could tell that it contained something. However, Su Bai was not gonna open it here; he lifted that bag up and turned around, ready to leave.
However, just before he was about to walk out…
… the door shut with a slam.
Su Bai touched his nose and looked at the umbrella in his hand.
"Swoosh!"
Just then, a stick suddenly shot out from the tables and chairs and directly stabbed into Su Bai’s underbelly.
"Shit!"
Su Bai kneeled down, pressing on his underbelly. The black traveling bag was dropped.
Blood was running out.
The umbrella got free, flew away by itself and landed aside. Then, a black fire started from where the black traveling bag was put. It was a filthy fire that seemed to be burning down something dirty. Soon, tables and chairs around it turned less crowded and a hand stretched out from them.
It was a man’s hand— pure white and quite charming.
Su Bai watched that hand change its postures constantly. As if this hand was capable of dancing.
Su Bai took a deep breath and staggered up, with one hand covering the wound and the other against the floor.
However, next moment, another hand showed up beneath his feet and grabbed his ankles.
"Bang!"
Su Bai was tossed over again. Then the dancing hand suddenly grabbed a stick near it, rapidly came at Su Bai and stabbed the second stick into Su Bai’s chest.
Su Bai struggled a few times; but finally swallowed his last breath with blood running down from his mouth.
"Clatter!"
The umbrella opened.
The ghost lady showed up and she seemed to be mourning…
…as if she was forced to do something she didn’t want to do. And there was a look of sympathy on her face.
The two hands, one of which had grabbed Su Bai’s ankles and the other which held the stick, now slowly crawled back to where the black traveling bag was placed. Then, they pulled together from underground, as if they were pulling out their own body from beneath.
Soon, a paper man was pulled up. It was half white, half black. It seemed to be weary as if all its vitality had been exhausted, but on its face, there was a vicious look.
This was a drawn face, but it looked really like Liu He, or we should say, this paper man was Liu He himself!
The vicious paper face turned insidious. Its resentful smile seemed to be scary and resolute.
"Giggle… Didn’t see this coming, did you, Su Bai? You have killed me, but I have already turned myself into a… half paper man! Thank you, for helping me with the final decision.
"I love paper men…
"Therefore…
"I’d love to…
"become a paper man myself!"
His cold voice echoed in this office. Then paper Liu He started to move forward slowly. He was indeed very slow; it was obvious that he was in a really bad shape. Attacking Su Bai had consumed most of his energy, but luckily, he made it— Su Bai was eliminated.
Liu He came to the umbrella. Slowly, he folded himself up again, curled up and hid himself into that umbrella.
"Damn woman! Bring me out of this place! You would have been trapped here until your ghost was destroyed by time, if it wasn’t for me!"
The ghost lady looked at Su Bai who was lying there motionlessly. She seemed to be suffering agony, but she was really afraid of Liu He. So he had to merge into the umbrella again. The umbrella was unable to fly, but it could slide on the ground.
The door…
…slowly opened again at this moment.
This motion seemed to take away Liu He’s final strength:
"Take me out of here… to the third floor… There… My brothers and sisters are waiting there… I’m gonna meet them there… They… have been waiting for me… for so long…"
Then he seemed to have fallen asleep.
The umbrella rose a little from the ground; the ghost lady seemed to have used up all her strength to make the umbrella fly.
Liu He said there were his brothers and sisters on the third floor. Apparently, Liu He had planned a lot here. Only, he had been hesitating, wondering whether he should turn himself into a paper man and join in the large family of paper men. Therefore, he had all the other paper men on the third floor, but the paper man for himself was placed alone on the second floor.
This abandoned building had almost become a heaven for paper men.
Su Bai shot him last night, but Liu He wasn’t completely dead. Su Bai had actually made that final decision for Liu He, because he left Liu He no other choice.
However, just before the umbrella could fly out of the door, a hand…
…grabbed the umbrella…
…from behind…
The ghost lady showed up again and looked at the man behind her with surprise…
"Chk!"
Another hand was holding a lighter; after a clear sound, a flame appeared.
In the dim light…
…there was a face with a weird smile.
Hadiah
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