Cursed Memories: The List of Doom - Chapter 3
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Chapter 3: The Woman in Red
[Translation By Divinity]
B City, [Case First Time] News Center
Lu Cheng sat at his desk, leaning back in his chair, staring blankly at the ceiling. He had been lost in thought for about ten minutes, his energy utterly depleted. His head felt heavy, as if it were about to detach from his neck.
The series of terrifying and bizarre events from the night before had left him sleepless. The blood-soaked mask that had suddenly appeared on the bathroom mirror couldn’t be wiped away, no matter what cleaning agents he and Su Wanqing used. However, to their surprise, it vanished on its own after daybreak. Since that horrifying mask appeared, he and Su Wanqing hadn’t dared to sleep, spending the entire night anxiously in the living room.
Just as he was drifting off, the editor-in-chief called him over. Someone had reported a bizarre murder in a remote rural area on the outskirts of B City. The director assigned this lead to Lu Cheng, demanding exclusive coverage. The story was due for the front page the following morning.
Lu Cheng accepted the assignment, rallied his remaining energy, grabbed his briefcase and camera equipment, and rushed out of the office.
The crime scene was far from the city center, and the only public transport option was a single bus route. When Lu Cheng arrived at the station, he just managed to catch a bus that was about to depart.
He quickly hopped on. There weren’t many passengers, so Lu Cheng found an empty seat and sat down. Exhausted, he soon drifted into a fitful sleep.
The bus sped along. In his hazy state, Lu Cheng felt the bus come to a stop. He cracked open his eyes slightly and saw a passenger getting off.
As the bus started moving again, Lu Cheng absently glanced out the window. This casual glance made his heart leap into his throat!
Standing under the bus stop sign by the roadside was a woman in a long red dress. The woman seemed vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t recall her. Her long, flowing hair was slightly dishevelled, her face pale, her expression cold, her eyes icy.
The moment Lu Cheng’s eyes met the woman’s, a wave of dizziness and disorientation washed over him. This strange sensation surprised and frightened him.
He felt like the woman’s eyes were bottomless abysses, unnervingly strange and deep, sending chills down his spine.
The bus accelerated. Lu Cheng turned his head for another look and found the woman still staring intently at him. He couldn’t help but gasp, a nameless fear rising within his heart.
The bus pulled further and further away, and the eerie woman was no longer visible. However, Lu Cheng felt her terrifying gaze still lingering, as if her eyes had transcended time and space, following him relentlessly.
Now fully awake, Lu Cheng noted there were only four or five other people left on the bus, which had left the city center far behind. The roadside was lined with tall trees, most of their leaves already turned yellow. Occasionally, a few leaves would detach and twirl in the wind, finally vanishing among the bushes and trees.
Lu Cheng strained to remember the woman’s face. As her features grew clearer in his mind’s eye, beads of sweat formed on his forehead. A wave of terror washed over him.
The woman from the bus stop was the same demonic woman from his nightmare, the one who wanted to kill Wanqing!
The bus finally reached its final stop. By now, only Lu Cheng and two middle-aged men remained.
The day was overcast and gloomy, the world draped in a hazy gray, the surroundings reflecting the bleakness of late autumn.
Lu Cheng checked his watch; it was already past ten. He hurried towards the crime scene, Jingou Village.
Jingou Village was once called Nanfen Village. It was said that when it was first established, it had been built upon the southern graveyard of the city. Later, the villagers, finding the name inauspicious, changed it to Jingou Village.
When Lu Cheng arrived at the scene, the police were busy investigating, while many villagers watched from a distance.
On the surface, the case didn’t appear to be anything more than a brutal rape and murder, though the perpetrator’s methods were exceptionally cruel. The victim was a young woman, around 23 years old.
Her face had been mutilated beyond recognition by the murderer with a sharp blade, her eyes gouged out. Even more horrifically, the girl’s breasts had been savagely removed.
Her private parts had been repeatedly stabbed, leaving them a bloody, unrecognizable mess.
The sight of the poor girl’s disfigured body filled Lu Cheng with a burning hatred for the depraved, inhuman killer.
He identified himself to the police and obtained permission to conduct interviews. After taking a few pictures of the scene, he inquired about the case with a police officer.
As the investigation was still ongoing, the police were tight-lipped, offering him little information.
He also interviewed a few onlookers, but their accounts provided nothing of significant value.
Lu Cheng felt a pang of disappointment, muttering to himself that a front-page story for tomorrow seemed increasingly unlikely.
Seeing no further leads to pursue, Lu Cheng decided to head back.
Suddenly, he remembered that a childhood friend’s family lived in this village.
Since the article wasn’t due until the next day, there was no rush to return. So he decided to pay his friend’s family a visit.