novelraw Chapter 126: Suspicious Suicides
Chapter 126: Suspicious Suicides
When Lin Jie, looking utterly lost and dejected, squeezed through the bustling crowd on the Theodor Bridge and fled back to his room at the Knight's House hotel, the sky outside the window was completely shrouded by a deep purple twilight carrying an ominous aura.
The majestic silhouette of the ancient castle on the opposite bank of the Neckar River turned into a stark black outline against the dusk.
Lin Jie leaned back against the door, panting heavily.
His heart pounded violently in his chest, feeling as if it might leap straight out of his throat.
He repeatedly slapped his own cheeks, trying to use physical stimulation to dispel that terrifying, lingering double image in his mind.
Was it an illusion? A phenomenon of mental derangement caused by continuous high stress and long-distance travel?
No, Lin Jie firmly rejected this possibility deep in his heart.
He believed in his own mental resilience, and even more so in his long-honed perception.
The feeling of being locked onto just now was so real and icy, definitely not something a simple hallucination could explain.
Something had set its sights on him. Something with an appearance identical to his own had just issued an undisguised declaration of malice toward him in this university town.He immediately deadbolted all the doors and windows of the room, then drew out the cold Serene Heart and began a thorough, carpet-like search of every corner of the room.
Under the bed, inside the wardrobe, behind the curtains—he left no potential hiding spot for danger unchecked.
The result, however, was nothing.
There was no abnormality in the room besides the sound of his own heavy breathing.
This feeling of being in the open while the enemy remained hidden, of not even being able to determine what the enemy truly was, was far more chilling than directly facing a UMA with its maw wide open.
The psychological pressure it brought was permeating.
Just as Lin Jie was mired in immense anxiety and uncertainty, a set of light, brisk footsteps accompanied by Julian's characteristically slightly exaggerated, hearty laughter approached from the other end of the corridor.
Lin Jie immediately stowed the pistol away again, adjusted his facial expression, and restored his usual calm.
Telling his companions about his subjectively intense encounter before obtaining any substantial evidence would only needlessly increase their worry.
The door was knocked upon.
Lin Jie opened it to see Julian and the scholarly Professor Hermann Schmidt beside him.
Julian's face beamed with the radiant smile one only gets after reuniting with an old friend and having a thoroughly satisfying academic exchange.
Although Professor Schmidt's face also wore a polite smile, Lin Jie keenly detected a lingering worry deep within his eyes.
The moment he entered, Julian spoke excitedly like a child eager to show off a new toy to a parent, "Oh, my dear Lin! You absolutely cannot imagine what I saw this afternoon in Professor Schmidt's study, which rivals a small museum!"
"A handwritten manuscript from the 15th century, personally illustrated by some unknown monk, detailing all the spirits and monsters of the Black Forest region! Good heavens, the imagination on those pages! That Germanic-style cold and cruel Gothic aesthetic! It makes Dante's *Divine Comedy* pale in comparison!"
Professor Schmidt responded modestly in his heavily German-accented English, "You flatter me, Julian. Those are merely fantasies long discarded by modern science."
Soon, it was dinnertime.
The four of them sat around a circular dining table.
The hotel waiter brought them local German specialties: tender and juicy roasted pork knuckle served with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes, and three glasses of thick, rich Bavarian dark beer topped with dense white foam.
The atmosphere at the table should have been relaxed and pleasant.
Julian talked incessantly about the academic discoveries he and Professor Schmidt had made that afternoon.
But Lin Jie could always sense that the seemingly amiable old German professor was somewhat distracted.
He responded politely to Julian's topics, but his gaze would often subconsciously drift toward the outline of Heidelberg University outside the window, being swallowed by the night. The worry hidden deep in his eyes grew heavier and heavier.
After three glasses of beer and with the help of a slight buzz, Professor Schmidt seemed to finally make up his mind.
He put down his knife and fork, a grave expression appearing on his face.
He spoke solemnly in a serious tone, "Julian, Mr. Lin, Mr. William, I am very sorry to disturb your rare, relaxed evening."
"But there is something that has been troubling me, and indeed our entire Heidelberg University, for several months now."
"I once tried to explain it with the science and rationality I believe in, but in the end, I found myself utterly powerless."
"Only after reuniting with Julian today did I finally gather the courage to make an informal appeal for help regarding this bizarre incident to you three professionals."
The smile instantly vanished from Julian's face.
The main topic had finally arrived.
Lin Jie said calmly, "Please go ahead, Professor."
Professor Schmidt took a deep breath, as if to expel all the pent-up frustration from his chest.
Then, in a tone laced with a sense of helplessness, he slowly began his tale.
"In the past six months, three students currently enrolled at our Heidelberg University have committed suicide in bizarre ways."
This death-laden opening statement plunged the air in the room to freezing point.
The professor's voice grew low, "The first victim was named Friedrich Schulz, a top student in the Philosophy Department."
"He was found dead in his locked single dormitory room. The cause of death was cutting his own carotid artery with a small letter opener."
"There were no signs of a struggle or forced entry at the scene. The police's final conclusion was a typical case of depressive suicide due to excessive academic pressure."
"The second victim was a female Literature student from Berlin, studying Romantic poetry, named Ingrid Bauer."
"She jumped from the ancient bridge over the Neckar River on a rainy night. Her body was only discovered by a fisherman the next day."
"Her suicide note was filled with Hölderlin's poems of despair and madness. The police's conclusion was similarly simple: impulsive suicide due to a broken heart."
A profound, irrepressible grief flashed in the professor's eyes, "And the third victim was just last week."
"He was one of my own graduate students, a very talented young man named Hans Weimar."
"He was working with me on a thesis concerning self-identity recognition in Germanic mythology. He was found hanged from an ancient oak tree beside the Philosopher's Walk."
"Again, there were no suspicious traces at the scene."
A logical glint shone in Lin Jie's eyes, "Three seemingly unrelated suicides, each with its own personal tragedy. Professor, I imagine the police think so too. So what makes you suspect an irrational force is hidden behind this?"
Professor Schmidt uttered one word, "Witnesses."
"Those bizarre eyewitness accounts from other students, which the police dismissed as nonsense, as collective hysteria."
The professor's voice dropped to a whisper, as if afraid of being overheard by some unseen presence in the room, "In the days before each victim took their own life..."
"More than one classmate claimed to have seen the deceased engaged in a fierce argument with... another version of themselves, in some corner of the campus. Deep in the library stacks, the university botanical garden, that deserted Philosopher's Walk."
Julian's eyes widened in disbelief, "Another version of themselves?!"
Professor Schmidt nodded gravely, "Yes, another self."
"According to the witnesses' descriptions, the scenes they saw were remarkably similar. The deceased would be angrily shouting, arguing, weeping, and pleading with a person who looked exactly like them—identical in appearance, clothing, even tone of voice."
"One classmate who witnessed the philosophy student Schulz said he heard Schulz screaming madly at his own shadow, 'You are not me! I am the one who truly exists! You are just a counterfeit from the abyss!'"
"Another witness, the roommate of the literature girl Ingrid, said she saw Ingrid standing alone by her dormitory window late at night, tearfully whispering to her own reflection in the windowpane, 'Please, let me go... I know I was wrong... I shouldn't have loved him... Could you please give my self back to me?'"
A bitter, ironic smile touched Professor Schmidt's lips, "All these eyewitness accounts were dismissed by the police as hallucinations and delusions born from the students' grief over their friends' sudden deaths. They considered it a collective psychological trauma response."
"What a scientific and rational explanation."
Julian's voice turned grave, "But we know that's not the truth, don't we?"
From his vast reservoir of esoteric knowledge, a perfectly corresponding ancient legend that had circulated throughout Europe for centuries immediately surfaced: the "Doppelgänger."
And at the very moment this word, steeped in German mysticism, was uttered by Julian's lips—
Lin Jie's body jolted!
He felt every single hair on his body stand on end!
A gaze filled with resentment and murderous intent suddenly pierced through the tightly closed, heavily curtained window behind him, locking firmly onto his back!
It was here!
It had followed him all the way back here!