18th (4) Dagger

  In the drizzle, the old wooden door creaked open slowly. Inside was very dark, and a man with a knife stood there. In front of him, outside the sunlight shone through the doorway into an oblong patch of light, in which another man stood with his arms outstretched, protecting everyone behind him.

  This scene is too beautiful, thinking about it makes me a little shy.

  Unfortunately, the situation was not like that at the time. Although the scene was like this, my mind was a complete blank. When TV dramas reach this point, they always put on an emotional show, with one angel and one devil jumping out, one asking me to sacrifice myself and the other telling me to run away quickly.

  But in reality, I didn't have the time or ability to think, to make a decision. Almost subconsciously, I opened my arms and blocked Xiao Bin's way.

  Xiao Bin is probably the most familiar guy to me, as he seems to be the leader of this team. Many people like to discuss many things with him, and his infatuation with romance is not that deep, nor is his hostility towards me that great. This boy is about my height, neither fat nor thin, with very neat hair, simple clothing, except for an occasional nasal tone when speaking, he's just a very ordinary guy.

  But at this moment he was like a wicked ghost standing in the inn.

  I saw his eyes were dull, his face was pale, and the front of his clothes was covered in fresh blood. He clutched a dagger in his hand and dragged one leg as he took a step towards me.

  Right, just take one step.

  Actually from the moment I opened the door until now, it has only been a few seconds, but I feel like everything is frozen in time.

  I opened my eyes and I wanted to see how I had fallen down.

  I know this dagger close at hand will give me a mortal wound, and I also know that this will be the sum of everything for me.

  My curse is about to come true, I won't live to see my 26th birthday, my life will forever be stuck at the age of 25.

  You hear that ticking sound as fast as drumming, dense like the outside misty fine rain. I feel everything has solidified, and in this world only exists me standing with open arms in a circle of light, in front of me is a dagger.

  But the owner of the dagger saw me and suddenly shouted for help. The dagger fell to the ground, and then he stumbled forward weakly.

  I took a step forward and supported Xiao Bin who had fainted, then I looked up at the stairs and felt a chill.

  I stood in the light circle, so I saw that the whole inn was dark, but in this darkness I saw a woman's face at the staircase.

  Yes, I couldn't see clearly, but I knew very well that it was a woman's face. Her long hair covered her face and hung down over the first step. She... coincided with the picture in my mind.

  At that moment I seemed to have returned to the White River, where I was entwined by water grass. When I lowered my head, all I saw was a woman's long hair and a snow-white face.

  And then there's that crimson single pupil, staring at me dead on, as if it has entered into my very soul.

  I also felt a softness under my feet, and I pulled Xiao Bin out. Behind me, the crowd surged forward and took Xiao Bin away. I went back in, picked up the dagger, gripped it tightly, and looked up at the stairs again. Her face was still there, she hadn't moved.

  Actually, I was really scared when I just walked in and picked up the dagger. I thought she would suddenly appear in front of me, and I had already gripped the dagger tightly, ready to die together with her, but she didn't come.

  I don't know if I'm the lucky one sent by heaven, I retreated and went out, the fine rain outside had already woken up Xiao Bin, his lips were pale white, lying on the muddy ground, he stretched out his hand, pointing at me.

  I walked over, the dagger in my hand causing the people beside him to retreat a few steps. I put the dagger into my pocket and asked, "How's Ai Ya?"

  Xiao Bin muttered, she...she...is dead...I...I killed her.

  I hastily said it wasn't you, she was stabbed with a dagger and obviously wouldn't live much longer.

  Xiao Bin nodded, his face still pale. He thought for a long time before saying, "Dagger... dagger... I was very scared at the time... She was lying on top of me... You all ran away. I didn't want to die... I didn't want to die... But I didn't dare turn my head back."

  Xiao Bin's voice trembled, and when Ai Ya had just put her head on his shoulder, he was already so scared that he wet his pants. At this moment, killing someone again would only add to the fear in everyone's hearts.

  Xiao Bin swallowed hard and spat, then said, I was crawling forward... but she grabbed my leg... so I kicked her... She seemed to have no strength left. Then... then I stood up, but she suddenly also stood up. I, I saw this dagger stuck in her body, so I rushed over and grabbed the dagger, stabbing her a few more times on her body. Then she fell down. But she really wasn't human, bleeding so much, I thought she was already dead, but she crawled towards me again. I was very scared, turned around and ran, but my foot slipped and I fell down the stairs, my leg...

  Xiao Bin's speech became faster and faster, as if every word made him terrified. He touched his own leg, I rolled up his pant leg, and saw that the small leg had become deformed.

  I took a look at the dwarf, and the dwarf said, "It's already fractured."

  Xiao Bin said, what can I do? This leg... is the one she grabbed... She... she cursed me.

  Xiao Bin's face was twisted, he kept pointing at the dark entrance, waving his hand. I was afraid he'd go crazy, so I quickly pressed down on his shoulder and said: "In such a state of shock, running away like this, and with stairs that are in such disrepair, it wouldn't be surprising if you fell. Don't think too much about it, are you sure she's still alive?"

  Xiao Bin said, "She's not human, she's a ghost. She just crawled towards me, with blood all over the floor. She didn't even die, and yet she still crawled towards me bit by bit. I killed her, I killed her, I killed her! Ahhhhhh!"

  Xiao Bin was thoroughly frightened, he waved his arms wildly, the people around him had seen enough madmen for one day, everyone was terrified and retreated in unison.

  I stood by his side, but I didn't leave, yet I also didn't dare to get closer.

  That vengeful spirit in the inn is waiting for its next victim with a weak mind, isn't Xiaobin the best candidate?

  Suddenly, Fengyue walked over and placed her fingers on Xiao Bin's lips. She whispered a few times, then carelessly sat down in the muddy ground, holding Xiao Bin's head in her lap.

  Then the wind and moon gently hummed a song, I didn't understand which song it was, her voice was very gentle, she held Xiao Bin's head in her chest with both hands, singing softly.

  Xiao Bin suddenly quieted down, then his eyes slowly closed, and finally fell asleep in Feng Yue's arms.

  Fengyue patted Xiaobin's body and made sure he was asleep before getting up. Then she stood up, stretched out her hand to me and said, "Give me the dagger."

  Just now when Feng Yue was holding Xiao Bin and singing, everyone stood there quietly watching and listening, and every single person was shocked by Feng Yue.

  She is the bravest one among us.

  At this moment, nature should also be our leader.

  This is what I thought, I handed the dagger over to her, she took a look and then picked up the blade with both hands, revealing the handle. Feng Yue said, isn't this... that dagger.

  I knew what she was thinking, and when I first saw the dagger, I had the same thought - that this dagger was the one that killed that fat girl. At the time, no one dared to touch her after they found out she was dead, everyone was still hoping to run out and report it to the police to leave evidence at the scene, so I'm 100% sure the dagger was stuck in the fat girl's body.

  But afterwards, Fatso was carried out, what about the dagger?

  I looked at Ma Tiancheng, and Ma Tiancheng obviously knew what I meant. He said, "I didn't recognize her, but when we were carrying her out, there were many people around, and no one dared to move the dagger on her body."

  It's actually quite simple, the fat girl was put outside, although it's a bit far from the hotel, but just a few minutes walk.

  I say, this matter is too suspicious, if it's not solved, no one can survive. All the men follow me to take a look, don't let anyone escape, okay?

  On the ground, Xiaobin was not counted, two male students, two people in the hotel plus me, five people walked to the slope, Wang Aiyu was covered with a layer of plastic cloth, I used branches to lift it open, her swollen pale face appeared underneath, I took a quick look, that dagger was indeed gone.

  As I walked back, Feng Yue stared at me. I shook my head and said, "This dagger is the one." Now... what to do?

  No one made a sound. After a long time, the dwarf said, "Was this thing done by man or ghost? Whoever did it, come out."

  He let out a loud shout, and the mountains echoed with the sound, but the crowd remained dead silent.

  Fengyue held the dagger and looked at it repeatedly for half a day. She said, if it was done by human, why would they deliberately use this dagger to commit murder? Is there any special meaning behind it?

  She handed me a dagger and said, "Take a look, have you ever seen this dagger before?"

  I took a close look, and this is just the most ordinary dagger on the market. The front has a blade, with no brand logo or patterns on it, nor is it military or custom-made. The back has an orange plastic handle. This kind of dagger isn't anything special, and you can't even buy it at supermarkets, let alone find it in large quantities on Taobao. I shook my head and said, "I've never seen this before."

  Then I handed the dagger to Ma Tiancheng, and Ma Tiancheng said in a hoarse voice, "I may have seen it, or maybe not. I've seen too many props like this. What's so strange about this dagger?" This dagger... I haven't seen one before, it's too ordinary. I don't play with such an ordinary dagger, it's beneath me.

  Jū jū coughed and Mǎ Tiān Chéng handed over the dagger. He took a look and shook his head, handing it to Sī Yáo who was standing beside him.

  When Xiāo took it over, her hand was still trembling. She and the fortune teller looked at each other and said, "We only use knives to peel fruit, we've never used this kind of dagger, right?"

  The nun nodded and handed it over to a chubby boy on the side.

  This fat boy's surname is Jin, and everyone calls him San Baozi. He has a strong hostility towards me. The short and thin boy next to him is called Zhang Dazhuang. These two people are most infatuated with romance and have the strongest hostility towards me. From beginning to end, they have not communicated with me at all. It wasn't until these few days when the situation became severe and people started dying that I suspected the suspect was hiding among us. I found out their names by asking Siyao.

  Jīn Sān Pàng picked up the dagger and made a few gestures with it, then said, "I've never seen... uh?"

  His voice was trembling with a hint of fear, as if he had seen something on the dagger that made him realize this situation would not end well.