Haunting Spectre Road - CH 5

Poetic riddles

When Old Man Li’s words reached this point, He Jianfei was stunned for a long time, speechless. Things are far more serious than he imagined. It was almost unheard of for a girl to commit suicide, causing a class of twenty-three students to commit suicide. There must be a major and secret inside story in this.

According to Uncle Li, Ah Qiang was holding three small stones when he died. Although he did not see the direction in which they were arranged with his own eyes, since Uncle Li said that Ah Qiang is a person who understands mana, it is certain that he cast the Sanhua Body art. Sanhua body protection is a very high-level self-defense technique in the magical world. It uses the essence of nature to integrate one’s soul with all things in the world, so as to achieve temporary immortality and escape external attacks. To perform the sanhua body protection technique, one must not only achieve a high level of internal and external strength, but also have a certain comprehension and attainment of the unity of all things in nature. Even He Jianfei doesn’t know this kind of superb body protection technique, and he still gets poisoned after using it. It seems that the opponent’s strength…is not good, it seems that he has to go back to the mountain to ask the senior brother for help.

He Jianfei said to Uncle Li: “That so-called strange record, does it have some discontinuous dates and strange events surrounding ‘it’?”

Old Uncle Li nodded and said: “Yes, although Ah Qiang confessed to put it in the archives room, but I think if you put it all in, if the school finds out later, not only the data will be lost, but also such news will be strictly prohibited, so I destroyed the will, only put the strange poems in the archives, and hid the records in the common file cabinet of the student union office, and asked the next few student union chairman to sign on it, prohibiting the subsequent student union from discarding, so that it can be preserved come down.”

He Jianfei said: “The security system in the archives of the student union is so strict, and you still go to great lengths to disperse and retrieve the materials. I guessed that it was an unusually big event, but I didn’t expect it to be so big. I I seem to have heard you calling that female ghost’s name just now, what is her name Dong?”

Uncle Li said: “Dong?, a very special name, I heard that she is also a very special girl, but… alas.” Turning around and seeing He Jianfei still looking dazed, he took his hand. On the palm of his hand, he wrote it stroke by stroke.

“Dong?, Dong?, Dong?…” He Jianfei ignored Old Man Li beside him, and just lowered his head and muttered in thought. Uncle Li looked at him strangely, and was about to ask what was wrong. He Jianfei suddenly stiffened his neck, frowned, and his eyes suddenly shone. Before Old Man Li could ask a question, he heard him say calmly: “I think I have already guessed the riddle of that strange poem.”

“What? Really!” Hearing this, Old Man Li forgot that he was nearly eighty years old, slapped his thigh hard, and stood up suddenly: “What did you guess? Tell me!!”

He Jianfei said: “I’m just making a random guess, and it doesn’t make sense for you to say it. Just now you said that the female ghost’s name is Dong? Since the strange poem came out because of her death, it must be related to her name. In the past, the first two sentences of the poem were easily solved. Cherry blossoms are dancing, and cherry blossoms are everywhere, but Japan is the most prosperous, and Japanese cherry blossoms often bloom first in winter, so it may be assumed that the answer to the first sentence is the word “winter” And the connection between the second sentence and the second word of the name is very obvious, the road is covered with grass, the road is blocked by grass, that is to say, the grass is laid on top of the road, which is either just or’ Is the font of ?’?”

Uncle Li nodded and said: “At that time, some people said that the first two lines of the poem represented ‘Winter?’, but because no one could guess the latter line, we thought it was wrong.” He Jianfei said: ” Compared with the following verses, the first two lines are relatively simple. The latter lines are difficult to guess independently, but if you understand the hints of the first and second lines, it will be easier to decipher.” Uncle Li was surprised Said: “Hint? This is the first time I’ve heard that a riddle has a hint to the following.” He Jianfei said: “Actually, it’s not really, because it doesn’t imply the answer, but the method of solving the riddle. It can be found that the puzzle-solving method used in the first sentence is not the same as that in the second sentence…” Before he finished speaking, Old Man Li suddenly realized: “That is to say, what Ah Qiang wants to express is that the whole poem cannot be solved as a poem. It can be solved with a method of solving the puzzle.” He Jianfei smiled and said: “Yes, the correct method of solving the puzzle is to hit the mouse randomly, whichever one you encounter.”

“Love for Christ, the most famous representation of Christ is the cross where Jesus was crucified, the cross with a series of words tied is the word ‘sao’; pity me in this life, life is miserable, it is the word ‘life’.  The last sentence is harder to guess, I just almost recited it as “Luo Shen Fu ” once, but still couldn’t find any word that could match with the other words. So I wondered if Ah Qiang had used a method that went against the norm of puzzle solving. Luoshen is obviously in Luoshui, but why did she go to West Lake? What does West Lake have to do with King Xiang’s deep affection Such a bull’s head does not match the horse’s mouth, if I were to use it instead, then I would want to express only one meaning – the world is in chaos.”

“What?” Uncle Li hadn’t figured it out yet, he was talking about Dong? Why did he have something to do with the word again? He Jianfei said: “If the sky is in chaos, there will be visions. Isn’t this the favorite exaggeration in “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms?”1.  For King Xiang Cao Zhi, it doesn’t have much practical significance for him. Cao Pi forced his brother to write poems.” The moment when he was really in chaos, it represented the complete end of Cao Zhi’s carefree literary career. From this I thought of the famous seven-step poem, do you still remember which word the poem ended with?” The old man blurted out: “Is it the ‘ji’ lake? What does West Lake have to do with King Xiang’s love? This is not right. If I use it instead, then there is only one meaning I want to express-the world is in chaos .”

Old Man Li shouted: “It’s the word ’urgent’.”He Jianfei sighed: “This is the mystery of Senior Ah Qiang: winter?”Injustice, desperate for life!”

As soon as the mystery came out, it exploded in Uncle Li’s mind like a shattering stone, and scenes of long-standing but extremely familiar scenes instantly flashed in front of him: winter?The death, everyone’s panic, Ah Qiang’s indifference, the calmness of the twenty-three classmates, it turned out that all the strange things that could not be explained were hidden in these six words.It was easy for Old Man Li to wake up from his memory. He looked at He Jianfei, who was standing quietly beside him and watching him without saying a word, and pulled the corners of his mouth slightly and said, “The answer to the mystery is really difficult to solve. We were also considered a hidden dragon and a tiger back then. There are not a few shrewd people…” He Jianfei thought for a while, and he already knew what Old Man Li wanted to say. , Interrupted: “When I was still studying at master’s place, I liked to play with the big brothers and the others guessing the mystery. Later, in order to win, the mystery became more and more tricky.” Old Man Li saw that He Jianfei understood what he meant so quickly. His ingenuity was no less than Ah Qiang. It was natural to guess the mystery. Once the doubts were solved, he smiled faintly and left it alone.

He Jianfei took out a blank piece of paper to write down the mystery, took a closer look and said, “It should be correct.The whole point of the mystery lies in the word ‘urgent’. What Senior Ah Qiang left behind was not only a serious warning to everyone, but also the biggest key to uncovering the inside story of the whole thing.With this word alone, you can determine it was definitely not because of some misdiagnosis of cancer that she hanged herself. Her death is definitely related to all the classmates in their class. So, Dong?The fact that there is a secret in her death has finally been confirmed.”Speaking of this, He Jianfei sighed for a long time. That breath was not only a relief to crack the strange poem, but also a worry that Ah Qiang had taken such a tortuous approach to warn everyone .That symbolizes that there are really some inside stories that cannot be told on the haunting spectre road.

He Jianfei asked Old Man Li again about “Jun Pawn” and “Ting Pawn”. Old man Li was at a loss. He Jianfei thought that since Ah Qiang’s death, he must have been heartbroken and away from the campus. Naturally, he couldn’t know that the legend of the haunting spectre road had been changed several times and gradually distorted its true appearance. I’m afraid it will take 54 years for the cadres of the student union to know about this matter.The clue came to an end here. He Jianfei handed the white paper in his hand to Uncle Li and said, “The injustice is actually not difficult to solve. What is difficult to solve is that it has taken more than 50 years.Although basically all the people who know the inside story of the matter have gone, I believe that Senior Ah Qiang will never be willing to let this big event go from unknown to sink down. At that time, he must have been forced by some special reason to record the truth in a rather obscure and tortuous way, but no one could find it at that time, so it gradually evolved into the situation it is today.” Old Man Li nodded and said, “I understand, ‘Unlock the bell and return it to the bellman’. Although the ins and outs of the whole matter cannot be known in detail, Ah Qiang must have left clues somewhere. I will look into it carefully. I know all those old cadres.”

He Jianfei smiled and said, “As expected of the campus duos’.”

Uncle Li sighed and said: “There is no need to mention this title again. After Aqiang dies, the ‘campus duo’ will disappear forever in this world.” Aqiang’s death seems to have nothing to do with Uncle Li, but why did Uncle Li do so sentimental? Could it be that there is something else going on here? Seeing that old man Li just stared in the direction of Yuangui Road and said nothing, He Jianfei had no choice but to keep silent no matter how many questions he had. For a long time, there was a faint sound from a distance that indicated the prosperity of the school. The simple and elegant melody solemnly spread over this long-forgotten corner, mixed with the moaning of the surrounding woods, forming a unique scenery. Uncle Li looked up to the sky and murmured: “This song should only exist in the world, how many times can we hear it in the sky? This poem should be dropped.” He Jianfei was thinking that the school celebration had already begun. If someone saw me and Li The old man is here, and he doesn’t know how to lie when he is asked, and he also remembered Tian Yinzhen, so he said to Old Man Li: “The school celebration has already started, and someone from the school will come over at any time. If they want to ask why we are here, it is difficult to answer.” , let’s go there.” Old Uncle Li nodded, and left the desolate place along  with He Jianfei.

I don’t know if it’s God’s destiny or if one of them did it on purpose. They just passed the bronze statue of Sun Yat-sen on the way to the square. The warm sunlight cast a few streaks of golden light on the back of the bronze statue. With a colorful illusion, it looks extremely magnificent and gorgeous. Uncle Li couldn’t help staring at it deeply. In his mind, the bronze statue was no longer just a bronze statue, but a monument that had not been engraved with an inscription on the tomb of his close friends when he was young. “Ah Qiang, you have been dead for more than 50 years. This time, I will definitely let you rest in peace.” As soon as the words fell, there was a slight sound of a woman crying from the direction of the haunting spectre road, and the two looked at each other. Smile aside, trying to hide a trace of horror on his face, but the steps that can’t lie are getting faster and faster…

“He Jianfei, what the hell are you doing? You were told to pick up someone, where did you go to play? Yo, who is that behind you? You still have the guts to kidnap an old schoolmate for me?” Chairman He saw that He Jianfei had disappeared for a long time. He immediately ran over angrily and questioned him. What is behaving positively? He Jianfei actually still refused to join the student union. He Jianfei was taken aback by his menacing aura, and was hesitating how to introduce him, when Old Man Li said, “Oh, my surname is He, and I’m from the 54th class.”

Chairman He immediately put on a smiling face and said: “It turned out to be Uncle He. I am the current chairman of the student union, and my surname is also He. It is true that we belonged to the same family five hundred years ago. Hehe, I’m sorry, I didn’t do my job well. An unqualified personnel picked you up and dropped you off, making you late for the school celebration.” Having said that, he felt that what he said was a bit nondescript, so I turned to He Jianfei and said angrily, “Say! How did you receive Uncle He? If you can’t tell, you will be deducted five points from your overall review.” He Jianfei made up an excuse in a hurry: “He…he has no one to meet him, and there are not enough people, so he got lost.”

“How about you?”

“Cough, that… I’m lost too. How about meeting him?” Seeing He Jianfei timidly looking at Chairman He’s bubbly eyes distorted by excessive anger, he thought of He Jianfei deciphering the strange poem just now. Uncle Li finally couldn’t hold back his high spirits during the puzzle, and laughed with a “ha”, and the haze in his heart was temporarily swept away.

Since old man Li left, He Jianfei has really relaxed a lot. After all, he had found a clue to follow. The 51-year-old “Junzu” and “Tingzu” committed suicide not far from Dong? There is a great connection, perhaps once the mystery of Dong?’s suicide is solved, the truth of “Junzu” and “Tingzu” will be solved. Thinking of this, He Jianfei slowly put the matter down and waited intently for news from Old Man Li, but the strange thing was that there was no news from Old Man Li for two consecutive months. He didn’t know if it was because he was disturbed by the matter with Old Uncle Li, but there was no movement. He Jianfei made dozens of phone calls irritably, but there was always that gentle female voice on Uncle Li’s mobile phone: “Sorry, the person you dialed is temporarily unavailable, please call again later.” He Jianfei intuitively felt that something was wrong, However, due to the approaching final exams and heavy review tasks, he had to suppress the idea of going out for the time being and prepare seriously.

After all, the final exams have passed, and the school has already started the winter vacation. Because the last one is the English test,  He Jianfei used all the review time to make plans for the winter vacation. He went to find out where old man Li had gone, went to the Wutai Mountain to ask the root cause and asked his brother to go down the mountain for help, and went to investigate. the president of the student union in 1951.

A whole sheet of eight-fold white paper was arranged densely, even the New Year’s Eve and the first day of the Lunar New Year were not spared.

Today is the day before the winter vacation, and tomorrow they can take the train to Mount Wutai. The luggage was packed a few days ago, and most of the people in the class went out to play wildly. He Jianfei reviewed the commonly used mantras, felt disturbed, glanced at the empty bed next to him, and remembered the face dripping with blood. He couldn’t help but secretly sighed. He put away the mantra, took out the divination card secretly passed down in Mount Wutai, and prepared to calculate what time Yinzi would call. After He Jianfei lined up, he began to chant a mantra to the main card: “The wisdom of all things, the origin…” Before he finished speaking, the cards around the main card began to move, and the speed was getting faster and faster. He Jianfei stared at the mantra book for a moment, and his spirit lifted. It turned out that this set of divination cards secretly handed down from Wutai Mountain had its own independent will and was not controlled by the owner. It finds that there is something that needs to be told to the owner first, so it will make another prediction regardless of the owner’s request. Firstly, He Jianfei doesn’t like divination, and secondly, divination cards seldom automatically predict non-extraordinary major changes, so He Jianfei has only heard that divination cards have this function from his master, and now seeing that it is as true as in the legend, he can’t help but put down the mantra book, watching with great interest.

After a period of rapid and dizzying movement, the divination cards finally stopped moving, and each card returned to the original semi-circular shape of eight trigrams. He Jianfei was a little surprised to see that the main card had moved to the outermost layer. One by one, big and small, he said: “The left head is a green dragon, the right head is a white tiger, and the middle axis is a red bird…” Suddenly, He Jianfei was so startled that the cards in his hand scattered all over the ground, and his body became stiff and motionless. The hexagram in front of him is so familiar, could it be… Could it be that what he calculated was a hexagram of great ominous omen that he had never seen before and only heard of its name!  He Jianfei hurriedly disrupted the cards array, but his body was still trembling because of the fright. He compared the order of the hexagrams in his memory with the current deck of cards – exactly the same! He Jianfei’s heart felt as if it had fallen into a ten-thousand-year ice cellar, and the master’s words explaining this hexagram of great omens sounded in his ears: “This list is a sign of great omens, and when this sign appears, the god of death is coming, and the road to hell is unstoppable. “

“The god of death is coming…the god of death is coming…are you talking about me or Yinzi?” He Jianfei was already in a state of confusion, stood up and muttered to himself. Suddenly there was a strange noise in the dormitory, as if some metal objects were rubbing against each other, He Jianfei’s face changed drastically, and he hurriedly scanned the surroundings of the dormitory, but there was no movement. He Jianfei hurriedly lowered his head, just in time to see a faint black shadow shaking slightly on the pile of chaotic cards. Soul Bell! He Jianfei recognized the shadow almost at first glance. Sure enough, the soul calling bell hanging at the corner of the bed was shaking gently, and the sound was the result of the collision between the pendant inside and the wall of the bell. In order to serve as a warning and scare, the Soul Calling Bell has always been made of pure gold or pure copper, and it emits different piercing sounds depending on the severity of the evil ghost. Why is it acting so cautiously tonight? Before He Jianfei could figure out the problem, there was a horrific cry from outside:

“No! Ah—”

He Jianfei froze at the window as if he had turned into a sculpture. It came from the direction of the ghost road! The dormitories on both sides suddenly became chaotic, and many hurried steps ran out the door.

People began to ask in surprise: “What happened?”

“I heard screams.”

“Call the security department quickly.” There was panic and chaos.

There was no movement for two months…

Today is not the last day of the winter vacation, nor is it the first day… Today is the day before He Jianfei leaves… Today the ghost killed someone. Demonstration! Haunting spectre road is protesting against him! He Jianfei felt his blood rushing up, and his whole body trembled slightly due to the interweaving of complex emotions. He rushed to the drawer, took out the relic necklace and put it on his head, and rushed out of the dormitory door as if flying. Seeing that he was about to rush out of the building, Huang Dakai quickly pulled him back: “Where are you going? There was a scream from there just now, you didn’t hear it…”

He Jianfei shook his hand suddenly, pushing Huang Dakai staggeringly back a few steps , said viciously: “Don’t stop me!” Then he disappeared in a flash. Huang Dakai stopped in his tracks, touched the wrist that had been scratched by He Jianfei just now: “Since Chuanxun died, he has become weird.

Is it the same as that neurotic brother? “Thinking of this, he couldn’t help shrinking his heart. Last month, that senior brother hanged himself from a small tree next to the audio-visual building. It is said that before he died, he murmured something like “Xiaofang, I can’t live alone” He Jianfei didn’t eat or drink for a day after watching the scene. Before the first half of this year, six people died in the school, far exceeding the record of previous years. Huang Dakai suddenly remembered that he had heard vaguely a few days ago. According to others, there is a very evil legend in this school – the legend of the haunting spectre road…

1*   – Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ending with the reunification of the land in 280 by Western Jin. The novel is based primarily on the Records of the Three Kingdoms (三國志), written by Chen Shou.