Chapter 111 The Dead and Nightmares

Some people say that time can dilute everything, others say that after revenge, only emptiness is left. But they don’t know that after that day, all that remains in your life is the bloody color of the dusk, which repeats day after day and cannot be forgotten. That bloody flame burned her ten-year long night, turning her into another kind of monster.

——"I am a piece of porcelain, picked up high and dropped heavily. 'Bang', listen, that is the sound of me being shattered in the past."

Ai Morishima is a maid in this villa. She came to the island three years ago. Her past was not a good one. She was kidnapped by traffickers when she was young. After she finally grew up, she did not receive much education. She did a lot of odd jobs, but most of them were helping others. There were many girls her age who got married at a young age, which was also a way to escape the hard life, but she didn't want to do that.

One reason is that she doesn't want to entrust her life to someone else. She didn't meet any good people when she was out there, so why should she think that guy will become a good person after getting married? Marriage will only add a filter to your eyes, but it cannot change its essence; secondly, she still holds the hope of finding her parents. She always believes that she was not abandoned by them intentionally. In the vague memories she still has, she was held in the arms of her parents with a smile.

"It's so cold." Komachi Koyuki tightened her arms and said to her. This girl, like herself, was also a maid in this villa. She came here a year ago. She was younger than herself and had a prettier face. Perhaps because of her age, there was still a hint of unspoiled innocence in her eyes. The words she occasionally said also had a bit of simplicity. It was hard to imagine how she found this job here.

When there is no sunshine, the air at the seaside is always humid. What’s worse is that during a storm, the air is so heavy that it seems to squeeze out water. Often at that time, the housekeeper would always order them to close every door and window tightly. At that time, they would hear strong wind howling outside, like a monster passing by, back and forth without stopping.

"Mr. Harue has not been feeling well recently," Komachi Koyuki said with some concern, "I heard it's a sequelae from his previous job. He's been asking the doctor to come over recently. He's been seen several times, and he said he needs to rest well and not overwork. Oh, I hope he feels better. Being sick is not easy."

Morishima Ai didn't know much about Mr. Harue. She only heard that he used to work at sea, then somehow became rich and inherited this isolated villa on the sea. He didn't come here often at first, and later moved here and began his secluded life.

I guess this is a lifestyle unique to rich people.

[Chun Jiang Yingcai was actually not a rich man at the beginning. More than ten years ago, he was a hard-working man who went out early and came back late at sea to earn some money. He always envied the leisurely life of others. When he was young, he secretly hated why his parents were not rich people? But you always urge yourself to work hard to improve yourself. It is obvious that it is because of your own lack of progress in the past that you have caused his poverty today. How can you have the face to criticize yourself like this?

But then something happened. That incident made him what he is today. He actually doesn't mind talking about his past, because when rich people get rich, there are always some things that cannot be revealed to others. On the contrary, he is very proud of his decisiveness. People always have to give up something to see clearly that in this world, slogans are mostly false, and only what is in hand is real. 】

A hand turned a page of the book. The book was well made, with clear handwriting and illustrations printed in it, exuding the scent of ink.

[He did not believe in the existence of ghosts and gods in this world, because he had lived a peaceful and stable life for more than fifty years, and nothing unexpected had happened in the past ten years. But recently, he had to consult a doctor because his health was not very good. In recent days, he kept seeing some fuzzy things in a trance. He suspected that there was something wrong with his brain, so he invited a doctor who was also proficient in psychiatric treatment.

But the doctor didn't find anything during the examination. He just told him to have a good rest and take medicine on time, which would relieve his mental tension and relax his body. Damn it, if this really worked, why would he have you here, you quack!

It's another night. Chunjiang Yingcai had fallen into a deep sleep, but at a certain moment, he suddenly woke up. For some reason, he felt that someone was looking at him. This feeling is hard to describe, as if he had suddenly grown a third eye. In the silence, he saw a dark shadow standing at the door. The door of the room had been opened at some point, and the shadow just stood there, looking at him quietly.

Fear arose in his heart. He wanted to move and open his eyes to see if this was a nightmare. But for some reason, even though he used all his strength, his body felt like a piece of cold iron and he couldn't move at all. The black shadow looked at him coldly, its eyes fell on his body, as if it was sizing up a prey. Chunjiang Yingcai's heart was suddenly seized by fear. He struggled desperately, like a drowning man grasping at the last ray of life. He suddenly opened his eyes, jumped up, and looked towards the door in panic.

The door was tightly closed, there was no one inside, and no shadow either. The windows were closed tightly, the curtains were drawn, and there was no one else in the room except him. Chun Jiang Yingcai muttered something before realizing that this was really just a nightmare. Could it be that he thought too much during the day and had such a strange dream at night? But, since it was just a dream, there was no need to worry about it. He was always very brave, so after thinking about it, he went back to sleep.

It was a bizarre night. In the second half of the night, he had more bizarre and incredible dreams. When he woke up, these dreams disappeared from his mind like smoke, which made him more certain that the first one was also a dream. He put aside the vigilance he had at that time and started his life the next day. 】

Edogawa Ranpo had never read that work, so he naturally didn't know what kind of experiences the owner of this house had. Some things didn't happen all at once. Before that, they were like moldy food that rotted bit by bit. Some things can even be traced back to the distant past.

Just like people, they are not defeated in one day.

[The doctor left some medicine for him, but he hasn't taken it yet. He is a big believer in modern medicine, but the nightmares he had some time ago made him question these medicines. Perhaps these drugs would add stress to his body, causing him to fall into a whirlpool of illusion? He felt like he needed a real break. It’s not too late to eat later.

But it didn't work. This was the second time he had this dream. It was like a lucid dream. He had a vague feeling in his heart that he was in a dream, but he thought it was no big deal. Everyone dreams, and I was just dreaming. But, there is wind.

Why is there wind? He remembered that he had made sure the doors and windows were closed before going to sleep. However, the wind was so strong that they got into his quilt and blew up the edges of the quilt. He wanted to hold them down, but his hands and feet were once again out of control. He could only let them run around in his quilt and make it float.

It was so cold, his arms were cold, and his body was unable to move like a corpse. He looked outside the door. He didn't know when the door was quietly opened again. This time, he didn't see the black shadow. It wasn't standing there. Chunjiang Yingcai felt a chill in his heart. What's going on and where is it? He turned his head and looked around.

Suddenly, he looked forward. A painting had been hung there at some point. It was of a woman, a very beautiful woman holding a musical instrument. She had long hair and a beautiful, soft body. Now, she suddenly blinked and smiled at him. She moved.

Chunjiang Yingcai felt a little puzzled. He remembered that he brought this painting back from outside the island and bought it from a collector for several million yen. He liked the posture of this woman and her submissive expression, but now, she was alive! She walked out of the painting little by little, first her feet, then her body and face. She walked towards him and suddenly grabbed the strings of the instrument in her hand.

"Zheng——", a clear sound.

Chunjiang Yingcai's eyes bulged out, and he felt something extremely tough and sharp suddenly wrapped around his neck from behind. He instinctively used his hands to grab the sharp object, and it was a guitar string! He whimpered, the pain of suffocation made him desperately breathe, trying to break free, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not escape this nightmare. He felt dizzy, his hands and feet began to weaken, and more darkness came...

One morning, Chunjiang Yingcai's body was found in his room by the maid who brought him breakfast. A loud scream broke the morning silence and everyone was awakened. They gathered here and discussed with each other in fear. They were speculating on the cause of Chunjiang Yingcai's death. Some thought he was murdered, while others thought he died of illness. No matter what, now is the time for that person to come on stage.

It was at this moment that the detective came over. 】

As Edogawa Ranpo walked forward, he was also observing everyone's expressions. The actors are all very calm, or rather, they are probably not ordinary people in real life. Only the youngest one was now surrounding the corpse and examining something. Ranpo already believed that he was also a detective because his technique was very skillful and his posture was very serious.

"Long Yi" gave a simple judgment: "The time of death was around two or three o'clock last night. The more specific time needs to be determined by the forensic doctor. He looked like he died of suffocation..."

The deceased's posture was horrible, his face was blue, and his hands were tightly clasped in front of his neck, as if he was grasping something that didn't exist. There was a look of great fear in his eyes, as if he had seen some monster that shouldn't be there. There were no signs of outsiders in the room, and the door and windows were closed when the person died.