"Although it was an expensive international long-distance call, I answered without hesitation. Sure enough, it was Lin Hai's voice. He sounded very nervous despite being thousands of miles away, but deliberately spoke in a low voice that was even harder to hear in the Paris subway. I had to shout loudly, 'Hey, Lin Hai, I received your email and know about the situation you encountered. I am now staying at the University of Paris-VIII and have already handed the parchment to Professor Orléans. They attach great importance to the content of the parchment and are decoding it. Don't worry.' When I spoke loudly, it attracted the attention of others in the subway car, who silently stared at me and seemed curious about the Chinese language.
Lin Hai trembled on the phone and said, 'It's good that you're okay. I've been worried about you and the parchment. Let me tell you one more thing, Nochdanamas may have found me, and he may kill me.'
Finally, I heard the last sentence clearly. Normally, I wouldn't be startled by phone calls, but at this moment, I couldn't help but shout, 'What are you talking about?'
'I'm not kidding! Marguerite is downstairs in my attic. I've almost sealed up the old house, but the ghost is really coming.'
'You spent hundreds of dollars on an international long-distance call just to tell me this?'
Lin Hai said, 'No, I want to tell you about my new discovery. My grandfather studied in Paris, France in the 1930s, probably to study art. I think this may be related to the origin of the parchment. Can you help me check in Paris?'
This new discovery was really useful, and I asked eagerly, 'Lin Hai, what's your grandfather's name? What school did he study at in Paris?'
'My grandfather's name is Lin Danqing. Danqing means the ink painting of Chinese painting. I only know that he studied in Paris, France in the 1930s, but I don't know the details, even which school he studied at.'
'Oh my god, how can I check that?'
Lin Hai sounded helpless, 'I don't know either, but since you're in Paris, I have to ask for your help.'
'Okay, your matter is my matter, and I will do my best.'
'Thank you. If I can live until tomorrow morning, goodbye!'
After finishing this long-distance call from the motherland, I took a deep breath and realized that the people around me were staring at me. It was probably because my ancient Chinese was too loud and scared them. I could only apologize several times and say 'sorry.'
At this time, the subway had arrived at the station, and I hurriedly ran towards the surface. It was already dark when I returned to the University of Paris-VIII, and I saw a bald man waving to me at the gate. It turned out to be Yu Li. He smiled and said, 'I know you can't eat French food, come to my place and eat Chinese food.'
I finally had the opportunity to fill my "Chinese stomach," so I eagerly followed him into his Renault. After driving for less than ten minutes, the car stopped at a dormitory building. Yu Li said it was the graduate student dormitory of the University of Paris-VIII, and he was the only Chinese person living there.
Yu Li lives in a spacious room on the third floor, which looks to be around 70-80 square meters with two bedrooms and a living room. It's really enviable. There is a large kitchen in the house, which looks very clean, obviously rarely used to fry food. The washed vegetables are already on the chopping board, and Yu Li asks me to rest on the side while he starts to fry the food.
As he cooked, he sighed and shared his bitter experience. It turns out that everything he had told us before was all exaggerated; he did not find a job in a trading company and date three French girlfriends when he first arrived in France, it was all fake. In reality, he spent his first year in France attending classes during the day and cooking in a Chinese restaurant at night, enduring a lot of hardship. Later he sought refuge with Professor Orleans, who appreciated him and eventually got him a research grant from the school. Yu Li has received many benefits from working with the professor, and he has also managed to buy a second-hand car in the past two years.
Actually, Yu Li's life hasn't been easy. Both his parents are scholars, and he grew up in an academic environment. He often boasted that he had talent from a young age, being able to recite 300 Tang poems at the age of eight. His parents taught him several foreign languages from an early age, and by the time he was 20, he had mastered English, French, and Russian. In his first year of university, his father went abroad as a visiting scholar for a year. He was deeply involved in research and became obsessed with it, eventually losing his mind when he returned to China and dying in a car accident with his wife.
Yu Li's cooking movements are very skillful, and he quickly finishes making four dishes and a soup, which is quite an achievement for the two of us. After we finish this rare Chinese meal, Yu Li suddenly becomes serious. With his shaved head, he looks a bit like a gangster. After a moment of silence, he finally speaks, "I told you before that my father went abroad as a visiting scholar..."
"Did he go to France as a visiting scholar?"
"Yes, to the University of Voltaire, and his research topic was 'The Mystery of Louis IX'!" Yu Li suddenly becomes excited, straightening up and saying softly, "Almost no one in China studies this topic, but my father was deeply interested in it. He came into contact with many mysterious materials as soon as he arrived in France and immediately became obsessed with them. I don't know why he was so passionate about it. It was like he suddenly became a different person. He could hardly recognize my voice on the phone."
"You once said that your father became obsessed while studying 'The Mystery of Louis IX' and lost his mind?"
"Yes, during his research, he seemed to be mesmerized by something and eventually lost his sanity. He claimed to have seen the ghost of Louis IX in the hallway of the History Department at the University of Voltaire and played chess with Nostradamus. Of course, no one believed him, and everyone thought he had lost his mind. He was sent back to China for treatment."
"Many people who studied 'The Mystery of Louis IX' mysteriously died. Was your father also among them?"
"Yes, my father and mother died in a car accident less than a month after returning to China. I have always been puzzled by this, and I could only blame fate for being unfair. But since I came to France and studied 'The Mystery of Louis IX' under Professor Orleans, I have discovered this terrible secret. I am convinced that my father died unjustly because of 'The Mystery of Louis IX'!"
"I took a deep breath and said, 'If that's the case, why do you still want to continue? Are you not afraid of repeating your father's tragedy?'"
"At first, I was afraid and hesitated for a long time. But I believe this is my father's unfinished legacy. There must be a force manipulating these mysterious events in the shadows. I have a responsibility to uncover these secrets and find out what force caused my father's death," Yu Li said with conviction.
"Some things become very complicated once personal emotions are involved," I said, and at that moment, I thought of Lin Hai and his Marguerite.
"No, it's not just personal emotions. The most important thing is that since I joined Professor Orleans' team, I realized that the 'Mystery of Louis IX' may have significant value that far exceeds our current imagination," Yu Li said with certainty, his voice trembling. "It's a tremendous secret."
"Really?"
"Yes!" Yu Li said firmly, his eyes almost tearful. "I believe my father did not die in vain. His death had great significance. He died trying to solve the most important mystery of humankind and for the survival of humanity. I must inherit my father's will, complete his unfinished business, and give him the best comfort in the afterlife."
I couldn't argue with him, so I sat in silence for a while, until Yu Li regained his composure. His eyes seemed to glisten with tears, and he shook his head and said softly, "I'm sorry. Maybe I was too excited tonight and said things I shouldn't have said."
"Why shouldn't you have said them?"
He smiled bitterly. "Never mind. I'll tell you the reason later, but not now."
After a pause, I suddenly remembered the phone call I received from Lin Hai on the subway earlier today. "Yu Li, can you help me find someone?"
"Sure, who?"
I wrote down the name "Lin Danqing" on a piece of paper and said, "This person studied art in Paris in the 1930s."
"Is that all?"
"Yes, I know very little about Lin Danqing, not even which school he attended."
Yu Li shook his head. "The chance of finding him is almost zero. In the 1920s and 1930s, thousands of Chinese youths went to France to work and study, and many of them later became the builders of New China. Their records in France only include their school registrations. If you don't know which school he attended, it's like finding a needle in a haystack."
"You're right. I know it's a long shot, but this person may be very important..."
Now, I was extremely hesitant. Should I tell Yu Li the reason why I was looking for Lin Danqing?
Yu Li noticed my uneasy expression and said, "Tell me what's going on. I'll do my best to help you if you still consider me a good friend."
When I heard this, I felt ashamed to keep it a secret, so I told him everything, from Lin Hai's first visit to the museum, to the accidental discovery of the parchment book, to Lin Hai rescuing Marguerite from the oil painting and receiving the death threat from Nostradamus, and finally, the transoceanic phone call I received today.
As I finished telling him the story, I realized it sounded like the summary of a thrilling suspense novel. It might even make a great Hollywood movie.
After Yu Li finished speaking, he was also shocked. He stood up and paced a few steps, looking at the deep Parisian night outside the window. Something seemed to flicker in his eyes. He bit his lip and said, "It's truly unbelievable, but I prefer to believe it's true. Tomorrow, I'll take you to the university library, and we'll look up more detailed information about Margaret in history."
"Good, these two things must be connected," I replied.
We chatted for a while longer until after ten o'clock at night. Knowing that he might have nightlife, I said goodbye and left.
Yu Li drove me back to Voltaire University, and the car stopped directly under the history building. I didn't ask him to accompany me and climbed up to the terrifying attic alone.
Finally back in my own guest room, listening to the footsteps of nineteenth-century ghosts, I could almost see the distant face of Margaret...
In the misty forest at night, Linhai saw a ghostly figure. The dim light filtered through the cracks in the leaves and gradually illuminated a black cloak.
Occasionally, the howls of wild wolves echoed in the distance. The fog grew thicker and enveloped the forest, which was filled with graves. The figure in the black cloak silently approached Linhai, extending a withered hand and lifting the black cloth covering his head.
Linhai saw a pale face with wrinkled lips below a hooked nose. The gray eyes slowly turned and stared at him for a moment. Then, the figure slowly uttered a sentence in French: "tu va mourir sans doute."
This sentence meant "you will undoubtedly die" in English.
"No!"
Linhai struggled and jumped up, only to find that the dark forest no longer existed. He only saw a dim light shining through the tiger window covered in tape.
It was just another nightmare.
"I'm still alive," Linhai sighed in relief. He rubbed his eyes and saw that it was six o'clock in the morning on his phone.
Just as he was relieved to be alive, he suddenly heard a bleak scream from below - Margaret's voice. What did she see?
Linhai rushed out of the attic almost falling down the narrow stairs. He saw Margaret curled up on the bed in the dimly lit bedroom, staring at him with a pair of frightened eyes and an unusually pale face.
He quickly rushed to the bedside, grabbed Margaret's shoulder, and asked, "What's wrong?"
Margaret's fingers trembled, pointing in the direction of the window, but she couldn't say a word.
Linhai looked up at the window and saw several lines of red ink written on the glass - "tu va mourir sans doute."
In an instant, those words struck him like lightning, almost suffocating him. This was the same sentence he heard in his dream - "you will undoubtedly die!"
He seemed to see the misty forest again, the pale face under the black cloak, and the gray eyes. Wasn't that the ghost he saw in his dream earlier? Wasn't that Nochadamas?
Margaret finally spoke up, "Nochadamas! This line was written by Nochadamas!"
Linhai let go of her hand, slowly walked to the window, and saw that the window had already been taped shut last night, making it completely airtight. But in the center of the window, those scarlet ink words were exceptionally conspicuous.
He unconsciously opened his left hand and saw the words "aider moi" still imprinted in his palm. The unique handwriting was almost identical to the handwriting on the window.
Does this mean that it was written by the same person or the same ghost?
Lin Hai recalled the night in front of the library, the black-clothed man with the stench of corpses, and the ghost he had just seen in his dream. Wasn't he the one, Nochadamus?
But why did Nochadamus say "you will surely die" after leaving "aider moi" in Lin Hai's hand? Was all of this arranged by Nochadamus? Was Lin Hai just a naive animal waiting to be hunted and slaughtered?
He turned to Margaret, and their eyes were both filled with fear. "Did you see him just now?" Lin Hai asked, trembling.
"No, I didn't see him. But he must have come in. Only he would write on the window," Margaret replied.
Yes, Nochadamus not only entered this room but also entered Lin Hai's dream.
The old house was still dark in the morning. Lin Hai immediately rushed to the door, but found that the door was intact, the table was still behind it, and no one could have come in. All the windows were also tightly closed, and there were no signs of any tearing on the tape. He rushed to the attic and found that the tiger window was also intact. The entire room was still a sealed room, with no signs of anyone coming in.
Unless it was a ghost.
If Nochadamus had really come in, it would have been easy for him to kill Lin Hai, just like in a "locked-room murder case" in a detective novel. But why didn't he kill Lin Hai?
Lin Hai touched his pounding heart, feeling lucky to be alive. But then he felt a bone-chilling fear because Nochadamus could take his life at any moment. His life was completely in the hands of that ghost, and he might die without even realizing it in the next minute or second.
He trembled as he returned to Margaret's side. They could only rely on each other to dispel their fear, but it was still useless, as the ghost's aura was filling the room.
Margaret hurriedly put on her clothes, the black coat and corduroy pants she had bought on Huaihai Road last time. She leaned against Lin Hai's ear and asked, "What should we do?"
"I don't know..." Lin Hai looked at the words on the window in confusion. Should they just sit here and wait to die? No, he had to live. Margaret couldn't lose her freedom.
The only way now was to escape.
The old house had been turned into an impregnable fortress, but it would be useless against Nochadamus. It would only become Lin Hai's grave. He couldn't stay here any longer, even though it was very dangerous to escape outside. Anything could happen out there, but at least there was still hope for survival.
Lin Hai grabbed Margaret's hand and said, "Marguerite, let's leave here quickly and escape."
She seemed completely disoriented, just nodding her head.
Then they packed their things. Lin Hai didn't bring anything except his backpack, but he gave Margaret a bag filled with clothes she had bought on Huaihai Road.
After everything was ready, Lin Hai moved the table behind the door and tore off the tape that sealed the door crack. It was not easy to open the door.
Outside, it was pitch black, and they couldn't see anything. Holding hands, they walked down the stairs, pausing after every step, afraid that a withered hand would reach out from the darkness.
They walked out of the house carefully. The sky was already bright outside. Lin Hai put on sunglasses for Margaret to avoid attracting attention, and he also put on a duckbill cap he didn't know where he got it from.
They walked out of the alleyway with their heads down, onto the streets of Shanghai on a clear morning, huddled in their coats like "people hidden in their clothes." Lin Hai walked to the roadside to flag down a taxi, but he couldn't shake the feeling that every empty car coming towards them was being driven by Nochadamus, waiting for them to get in. After standing on the roadside for over ten minutes without daring to flag down a single taxi, he reluctantly retreated to Margaret's side and said, "Looks like we'll have to wander around."
They walked on a quiet small street for a long time, until Margaret said she was tired and hungry, and Lin Hai stopped at a roadside snack shop to eat breakfast. The shop was filled with steam, and many office workers came here for breakfast. Lin Hai kept looking around, as if there was someone hiding in the steam, waiting to pop out with a pale face at any moment.
His heart quivered, and he knew they shouldn't stay in one place for too long, or Nochadamus would find them soon. They hastily left and turned onto Beijing East Road towards the Bund.
The Huangpu River was covered in thick fog on this clear morning, and Margaret shivered in the cold, staring blankly at the turbulent waters. Suddenly, the melodious sound of a bell rang out from the Customs House, and she turned back to look at the European-style buildings on the Bund, exclaiming, "It's just like Notre Dame de Paris."
Lin Hai nodded. "Notre Dame de Paris" was the famous Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.
They walked along the Bund in the mist for a while, the damp wind blowing Margaret's black hair all over the place. A few strands of hair covered her eyes, and with her sunglasses, she looked like a fashion model. She stopped by the railing of the flood wall and said softly, "Where should we go?"
"I don't know, let's just hide in this fog. Maybe everything we've experienced is like this fog, difficult to see clearly."
They stood by the railing for at least half an hour, until the fog gradually dissipated and they could see the buildings in Lujiazui across the Huangpu River. Margaret looked up at the Oriental Pearl Tower, like a statue, stunned. If you were to come from four hundred years ago to the present, you would probably have the same feeling.