Chapter 53: The Ninth Well II (2)

  How could I not have heard of this person's name, all of this can be said to be his trap, I even suspect that he is a bit psychologically abnormal, otherwise how would he think of letting fear exist and continue in everyone's heart after his own death. As for his death, I now feel very fortunate, if he didn't die, who knows how many people would have suffered.

  I nodded and said, "I know this person."

  "Then do you know how many he wrote in total?"

  This question suddenly turned the tables on me, I like watching his but have never done any statistics in this area, I looked at Sun Jingye and didn't know what he was asking for.

  Sun Jingye's expression turned extremely serious, and he said: "Including short stories and novellas, he wrote a total of 54 pieces. Among these 54 pieces, 43 later became real events."

  I know that many of the stories in Chu Jiang Shan eventually became true, and I also know that these materials actually came from real life. One was given by Dong Agen to him, one was Lao Chu, but whether there were others who provided them for him, I'm not clear about that. As for why these materials were processed into true stories in the end, it's not something I can know. Unfortunately, Liu Mama has passed away, otherwise she might have known these secrets.

  I don't know what Sun Jingye's purpose was in telling me these things, but I still told him everything I knew. Sun Jingye lowered his head and thought deeply, seemingly trying to see if there was any connection between them. After a long time, looking at his expression, he also couldn't figure out the secret behind it all. He shook his head and said: "I also discovered this situation unintentionally, and at that time, I felt that there might be a problem here. So many cases of death can't be taken lightly, so I immediately made a report to my superiors. However, after investigating for a long time, no suspicious circumstances were found, and those who died indeed died from their own causes. Therefore, the matter was dropped, and the relevant police force and resources were withdrawn. But I couldn't let go of this case, and I decided to investigate it thoroughly. At that time, Erliang had just joined the bureau and followed me, so I also asked him to help me with the investigation."

  I thought to myself that Er Lang had never told me these things before, so I asked: "What happened next?"

  "I originally wanted to investigate with Erliang, but after a period of investigation, something suddenly happened at home. My wife was so traumatized by this matter that she developed mental illness, and I had to retire early to take her to the countryside for recuperation. This matter could only be left to Erliang to do alone. The communication in the countryside is inconvenient, otherwise it would not have been so late before I knew about Erliang's situation, nor would it have been so late before sending you that letter."

  I didn't expect that Sun Jingye's family would have such a big thing happen, although he didn't explicitly say what it was, but being able to drive someone crazy like this shows that the matter is absolutely not trivial. I don't know how to comfort him, so I can only awkwardly smile and apologize for bringing up his painful memories.

  Sun Jingye smiled with a mixture of emotions and continued, "Erlang would send me various pieces of information he had collected from time to time. Although Chu Jiangshan was already dead, I always felt that his rise was too rapid and suspicious. I was worried that similar events might occur again, so I kept asking Erlang to pay attention to whether there was someone else who suddenly rose to prominence. If there was, we would have to investigate thoroughly. It's laughable to say it now, but I had him do this without any real evidence, just based on a hunch from my years of experience as a detective."

  Sun Jingye said this with a self-deprecating smile, but I couldn't bring myself to laugh because I knew that Erlang had discovered someone like that, and it wasn't me. At that time, I hadn't yet risen to prominence, the person I was talking about was Wang Qiang. No wonder there was a photo of him and Wang Qiang on Erlang's desk, perhaps Erlang had gotten to know Wang Qiang through some means or other.

  I told Sun Jingye all this, and Sun Jingye furrowed his brow, saying: "Wang Qiang? I've never heard Erliang mention this person to me?"

  I was shocked, how could this be possible. If Wang Qiang hadn't died so early, he might have become another Chu Jiangshan. His rise to power was also suspiciously fast, as if only the letter written by Chu Jiangshan himself could explain it clearly.

  Sun Jingye saw my strange expression and hastily asked me what was wrong. I told Sun Jingye about the two letters, although I didn't know why Er Liang didn't want to tell Sun Jingye about these things. Anyway, now that several people involved are no longer around, whether or not they say anything shouldn't have too much of an impact.

  What I didn't expect was that as soon as Sun Jingye heard me finish telling the story of Wang Qiang, he suddenly jumped up from his chair, his face flushed bright red, as if he had just heard something extremely exciting, his lips trembling uncontrollably, seemingly wanting to say something to me, but because his emotions were too intense, he couldn't speak for a moment.

  I was startled by Sun Jingye's reaction, and hastily asked him to sit down and have a cup of tea. After a while, Sun Jingye's expression recovered, and he anxiously asked me: "Is what you said about Wang Qiang true?"

  I nodded and said, "The information was all given to me by Erliang, you can go to the bureau to check it out." I thought that with his experience of working at the bureau in the past, checking such a small file shouldn't be a problem.

  Sun Jingye shook his head, remained silent for a moment, then looked up at me again with a somewhat heavy tone and said: "I have a daughter named Sun Xiaohong."

  I was startled and didn't know how to respond, Sun Xiaohong's experience wasn't very good. After thinking for a moment, I comforted her by saying: "Even if it were true, there are many people with the same name and surname in this world, it must just be a coincidence."

  Sun Jingye shook his head and said, "This must be my daughter. When she was a child, someone had her fortune told, but only our family knew about it. After I found out the result, I even scolded my family members for making a fuss over nothing."

  I felt a bit strange, Wang Qiang's landlord next door didn't say that there was someone named Sun Xiaohong who had rented his house. I always thought Sun Xiaohong was also a ghost. Since she is the daughter of Sun Jingye, why is it so mysterious? So I asked: "What happened later?"

  Sun Jingye's face suddenly showed a sorrowful expression, saying: "She died, hanged herself in her own room. None of us expected this, and we couldn't find any reason for it. Even on the day she left, she dressed up beautifully, wearing her favorite red skirt. Her mother couldn't bear this stimulation and eventually became mentally ill."

  I really don't know how to continue this topic, discussing his deceased daughter with an old man is indeed a very immoral thing. Sun Jingye was indeed an old public security officer, after being sad for a while, he asked me: "Do you still remember when Wang Qiang's first article was published?"

  I certainly wouldn't have remembered these things, fortunately the tea house where the two were had a computer available, after searching online for a bit, Sun Jingye's face sank and he said: "At that time Xiaohong had already left."

  My heart also sank, regardless of whether Xiaohong is alive or dead, parents do not want to see their daughter end up like this. I don't know what to say, Sun Jingye took out a thick stack of papers from the briefcase beside him and said: "These are all letters that Erliang wrote to me before, you can take a look."

  I took over the letters and flipped through them, but actually there was nothing much in content. Most of them were reports made by Er Liang to Sun Jingye about the investigation. Sun Jingye saw me flipping page by page and reached out his hand to flip through them, saying: "Take a look here."

  That was the last page, on which apart from some family chit-chat, Erliang suddenly brought up souls and dreams. Even now, I think he changed topics too abruptly in the letter, as if someone had been holding these words in their heart for a long time and couldn't help but blurt them out. Looking at the timing, Wang Qiang's had already been published by then.

  Sun Jingye said: "Erlang once came to me and gave me a letter, saying that if one day I saw you start writing something very terrifying, and what you wrote became real events, then let me send out this letter. I saw him full of heart, seemingly not quite right, but no matter how I asked him, he wouldn't say anything. Not long after, he had an accident. Now it seems that he knew all along what would happen later. Can you tell me why your writing becomes real events?"

  I let out a bitter laugh and told Sun Jingye everything from the beginning, starting with Erliang finding materials for me, all the way to Liu Mama's death, without hiding anything. After finishing, I said helplessly: "These people are already gone, and many answers can only be guessed at. Maybe Erliang found out about the Dream Club from Wang Qiang, as for why he kept it a secret from you, maybe it was because he didn't want you to know and get hurt. But no matter what the reason is, everything has passed, we still have to live our lives."

  Sun Jingye seemed to have not heard what I was saying, furrowed his brow and didn't speak for a long time. After a while, he raised his head and asked me: "You said there's such a magical Dream Club that can make all your dreams come true?"

  I nodded and said, "But Mother Willow is no longer here, so this Dream Club should also cease to exist."

  Sun Jingye slowly shook his head and said, "The real Dream Club is not like this. Liu Mama was just an ordinary person. Although she's dead, the Dream Club still exists."

  A flash in my mind, yes, that mysterious woman is still there, as long as she's there, the Dream Club will also be there. But what's the use of this? Everyone who has come into contact with the Dream Club except me is dead. I don't dare to have any more contact with these people either. It's better for me to just write my story well. As long as I don't use the materials that Dong Agen gave me, my story won't become real. I can still continue my dream.

  Sun Jingye looked at me and said: "How many jade pendants do you have on your hand?"

  I was taken aback, unsure of the purpose behind his question. I currently have four pieces in my possession: one is an heirloom from my ancestors, one belongs to Er Lang, one was given to me by a mysterious young woman, and the last one was found on the wall in my room. The piece on the wall might have been placed there by Dong Agen's son while he was working. As for who that mysterious woman is, nobody knows. Although I'm certain she has something to do with the Dream Club, now that Liu Mama is dead, I have no one to ask.

  Sun Jingye's face sank as he said, "Except for that one block passed down from your ancestors, hand over the other three to me."

  I was startled and asked: "What do you want this ghost thing for? I even think of smashing it."

  Sun Jingye said: "I'll wait for someone from Dream Club to contact me."

  I hastily waved my hand and said, "No way, no way, this is too dangerous."

  "For the sake of my dreams, I would not mind even if it costs me my life."

  I finally couldn't outdo this stubborn old man and gave him all three jade pendants. As we parted ways, I asked Sun Jingye: "What is your dream after all?"

  Sun Jingye revealed a strange smile and said: "You will know."