Strange Story of Strange House

In the evening of this day, the red glow was like a brocade, covering the sky brilliantly.

Yun Jing set up a deck chair in the yard as before, and lay lazily on it to pass the time.Lin Chi was sitting aside holding a thick butterfly illustrated book, flipping through it while writing in his notebook.

Looking at Lin Chi who was writing furiously, Yun Jing asked curiously, "Why do you start studying butterflies?"

"Huh?" Lin Chi's attention was highly focused, and it took a while before he realized what Yun Jing seemed to have said. He raised his head with a blank expression, "What did you say?"

"I said, why did you suddenly start studying butterflies?"

"The content of this semester's public elective course is to study butterflies. I originally wanted to choose 'Emerald Appreciation' because there were not enough people to hold the class, but I was transferred to 'Butterfly Species and Evolutionary History'. Related papers, I am currently looking for information."

"Then tell me about it by the way, Aunt Yun also liked this kind of pretty little thing before."

"What does Aunt Yun want to hear?"

"Hmm... what is the most beautiful butterfly in the world?"

"The most beautiful butterfly among butterflies is none other than Morpho. Now the most beautiful butterfly recognized is the Goddess of Light, also known as Helena Morpho. It is the national butterfly of Peru. It lives in Peru and the Amazon River Basin in South America..." Lin Chi turned to the illustrated page of the Butterfly, the goddess of light, and explained it to Yun Jing according to the written instructions. His fingers slid across the dark blue, blue, light blue and changing wings in the illustrated book one by one, and sighed softly, "It's a pity that it has basically disappeared."

Yun Jing sighed, and then asked, "Are there any weird butterflies?"

"Yes," Lin Chi rummaged through the illustration book for a while, pointing to a butterfly and said, "Kashinf's ghost beauty swallowtail butterfly, the left and right wings have different patterns, the left is a beauty, the right is a skeleton, together they are 'Ghost beauty', each worth 25 US dollars, but all the captors died strangely, and the death conditions were horrible."

Yun Jing looked at the strange butterfly on the illustrated book, and suddenly said: "Aunt Yun once saw a butterfly whose wings were dazzling blue on the front and deep black on the back, and it flew like flashing blue spots, so dreamy... I can't forget it until now. It's a pity that even if the ghost life is so long, I have only met one."

Lin Chi searched the illustrated book subconsciously, but he couldn't find the butterfly that Yun Jing mentioned, and he felt a little regretful: "It sounds beautiful, I don't know if I have a chance to see it."

"No, I can't think about it for such a long time if it's not beautiful." Yun Jing changed the subject, "It's strange to say that it's almost winter, and you can still see large groups of butterflies these days."

Butterflies usually die in winter, and it is indeed abnormal that swarms of butterflies appear in October near winter.

Abnormality must be a monster, but before Lin Chi could think about it, his cell phone rang.On the other end of the phone, Rainbow whimpered and yelled coquettishly at Daddy.

Lin Chi got up and went upstairs to feed the children. The topic of butterflies was interrupted, and the two never brought it up again.

Little did he know that the dancing butterflies in October would cause an uproar in his life.

Time flies, Huaiyin passed the abnormal period smoothly, and Lin Chi's thesis on butterflies has reached the deadline.

The senior in charge of accepting manuscripts was named Tang Xuan, Dalin was a class late, with good looks and good temperament, she was very famous in the whole department.Tang Xuan was the receptionist of Lin Chi's freshmen when they reported. He had a good impression of Lin Chi, a well-behaved elementary school student, and he always took good care of him.Lin Chi didn't live in the school. Tang Xuan helped him a lot when going through the formalities. Later, even the elective courses were adjusted together, and the two became acquainted with each other.

Lin Chi went to the teaching area with his thesis to look for Tang Xuan, but was taken aback by her when they met—Tang Xuan, who usually looks very haggard, looked very haggard at this time, even with heavy makeup on, he still couldn't hide it. The eyes are black and blue.

"Senior sister, why do you look so bad?"

"Huh?" Tang Xuan touched his face subconsciously, took out a mirror from his bag and looked at it, his expression was a little dazed, "some... quite strange things happened recently."

"strange things?"

Perhaps because he was familiar with him, Tang Xuan hesitated for a while, and quickly confided: "It's just... I obviously haven't done many things, but everyone said I did... It's like yesterday afternoon, I stayed in the dormitory all the time Here, more than one person said they saw me in the back mountain..."

"What about your roommates? They should know if you're in the dormitory, right?"

"They said that I was indeed in the dormitory and never went out, but many people swore that they saw me in the back mountain this afternoon. Similar things happened a few times. To be honest, I was a little scared..."

"Sister..."

Tang Xuan became more frightened when he spoke, so he simply interrupted Lin Chi and changed the topic: "Okay, let's not talk about this, are you here to hand in the paper?" sentence and left.

The autumn wind in October was slightly cold. Walking on the sparsely populated tree-lined path, Lin Chi suddenly shivered. He wrapped his thin coat tightly around his body, and his eyes swept across the road inadvertently, but unexpectedly fixed on a butterfly.

It was a butterfly that Lin Chi had never seen in the Butterfly Illustration Book. Its wings were shiny blue when they were unfolded, and deep black when they were closed—just like what Yun Jing described.

When it flies, it looks like flickering spots of light. Butterfly shadows flutter and dance lightly... Every movement firmly catches people's attention. Under this inexplicable attraction, Lin Chi chased the butterfly and ran towards the back mountain.

In the depths of the small forest in the back mountain, Lin Chi saw Tang Xuan.She was wearing a white dress, which was a touch of bright color in the dull dense forest. The flying butterflies finally stopped gently at her fingertips and looked at her.

Seeing this, Lin Chi's heart suddenly "thumped"—why is Tang Xuan here?It shouldn't be possible for her to appear here.He subconsciously lightened his steps, but he didn't want to but still disturbed her. Tang Xuan turned his head and smiled at him: "It's you..."

"Sister, why are you here?"

"The back mountain is quiet, and I come here occasionally when I want to be alone."

"It's cold now, senior sister should wear more clothes, I think you don't look very good..." Lin Chi slowly approached Tang Xuan, looking for a topic while organizing his thoughts.As the distance drew closer, Lin Chi suddenly realized what was wrong - although Tang Xuan's face was slightly pale in front of him, he looked very energetic, completely different from the listless one just now, and the clothes on his body It's not the same as before.

Tang Xuan's words just now flashed through Lin Chi's mind. He collected himself and asked tentatively, "How long has Senior Sister been in the back mountain?"

"Today? I was here early in the morning." Tang Xuan looked at him in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"Haven't you ever left?"

Tang Xuan shook his head decisively: "Why do you ask that?"

"...I went to the teaching area to ask you to hand in my thesis just now, and we chatted for a while, it is impossible for you to appear here."

"Looked for me?" Tang Xuan blinked, and after receiving Lin Chi's affirmative answer, he showed a sly smile, "So what? I can come directly from the teaching area."

"You just said you never left."

"I lied to you."

"Senior sister, when I met you just now, you were not wearing the same clothes. Counting the time for changing clothes, you can't have arrived at the back mountain before me who came directly from the teaching area."

"..." Tang Xuan smiled and didn't speak, Lin Chi also followed in silence, the wind piercing through the forest blew her long hair, and the dust brought up by Lin Chi fascinated Lin Chi's eyes.When he opened his eyes again, many butterflies suddenly appeared around Tang Xuan, some landed on the tip of her hair, and some flew across her fingertips, making her look unreal.

Lin Chi can be sure that the Tang Xuan in front of him is not the same person he met at noon, and it is very likely that the person is the right one.There is no one exactly the same in the world, who is Tang Xuan, what is in front of him?Thinking of this, Lin Chi quickly found an excuse to leave, but before he could take a few steps, the girl behind him suddenly stopped him.

"Primary brother, did you really meet me at noon today?"

"?"

"I mean, have you really met this person in front of you?" The girl walked towards him, and he heard her say as she passed by, "You know what? Sometimes, memories can lie."

******

Lunch was settled at the noodle shop as usual, but until the noodles were brought to the table, Lin Chi was still brooding over the last sentence "Tang Xuan" said—memory can lie?What does the so-called lying refer to?

He did meet Tang Xuan in the teaching area this morning. Although the senior looked a little sluggish, she was undoubtedly the one he knew well.And what she said was bothering her was later confirmed, and he did see "her" at a time and place where she couldn't have been.

He thought he had a good memory, and what happened today, when he met "Tang Xuan" in the back mountain, she was dressed completely differently from when she was in the teaching area.Lin Chi thought for a moment, if the two "Tang Xuan" were indeed the same person, she would change a suit of clothes and go to the back mountain to "encounter" him, just to prove that there was another Tang Xuan?What is the reason?Lin Chi couldn't think of her motive, and even if there was, it would be too late in time.

Then again, what exactly did he meet in the back mountain?

It was the butterfly in Aunt Yun's memory that guided him to the back mountain, and Lin Chi had never seen it in the butterfly illustration book.

What is the connection between the two?

Is it pure coincidence?Or is there another secret?

Who is lying?

"Lin Xiaochi, what are you thinking about so preoccupied?" Danqing patted him from behind, and put a portion of sauced noodles in front of him, "Try it, the new flavor developed by my brother."

"It tastes good," Lin Chi took a sip and fully affirmed the little brother's cooking skills.Then, he put down his chopsticks, thought for a while, and asked, "Sister Danqing, do you think there will be two people in this world who look exactly alike?"

"Yes, twins."

"Besides the twins, is there anything else?"

"Ah? Except twins? They are probably brothers and sisters, but the similarity should not be as high as twins."

If Tang Xuan knew that there was a person similar to herself, she would not be so terrified, so it cannot be twin sisters, and that girl cannot be her other brothers and sisters, or even someone she knows .

"I mean is it possible that there is a person in this world who looks exactly like you, but you don't know each other's existence?"

"Yes, have you heard of urban ghost stories?" Danqing sat down opposite Lin Chi and lowered his voice, "Legends say that everyone has a cockroach exactly like themselves, and they live in different spaces. However, if One day he accidentally crossed the barrier of space and came to this world to meet you... Then, the survival of the fittest, the weaker of the two will die. Those who survive will continue their lives in this world, and they don't even I remember meeting another self. However, if the person who died was from this world, and the person who survived came from across space, then the person who survived will continue to live in this world instead of the dead self. Very interesting Don't you feel it?"

"is that true?"

"Who knows," Danqing smiled at him with his hands on his chin, "it's just an urban legend, and no one has verified the truth. Besides, I think that those who know the truth of this legend are probably dead~fall~ Already~"

"Dan! Qing!" Lin Chi realized that he had been teased, and helplessly looked at Dan Qing who was laughing.

"Hahahahahaha, I see you teasing you with a sad face."

"I'm thinking very seriously, don't make trouble if you don't help!"

"Hahahaha I'm kind too."

******

Just when Lin Chi was pulling Danqing to analyze various possibilities, Tang Xuan finally collected all the papers. She organized the documents and prepared to send them to the office.

As usual, she left the teaching area and walked towards the office along the school ring avenue, but Tang Xuan walked in a creepy way today in just a few minutes.She first met a senior with a good personal relationship in the student union. The senior stopped her excitedly and wanted her to perform a piano solo at the school celebration.

Tang Xuan was very surprised. She didn't know the piano, and she had never even played the piano before. Why did she invite her to perform a piano solo?

"Senior, are you kidding me? I can't play the piano!"

"Don't be humble, girl, excessive modesty is a sign of complacency! Yesterday I watched you play the piano with some brothers from the music department. Later, those guys told me that you played much better than them! They are The great master is only at this level. Just go up and play a piece, and give our liberal arts departments a good face!"

"Yesterday?" Tang Xuan repeated the time with some doubts, quickly recalling what happened yesterday in his mind.

"Yeah! Just yesterday morning when you were practicing in the musical instrument room, but you probably didn't see us. Seeing that you practiced seriously, we didn't say hello to you."

"Will the senior recognize the wrong person? I really don't know..."

"Don't hide your clumsiness, just pretend it's over! Besides, you are the goddess of our department. With this iconic appearance, can I still admit my mistake?"

As soon as the senior finished speaking, Tang Xuan's face turned pale.She does have many talents, but not the piano.For some reason, her mother disliked her learning the piano very much, so she had almost never touched the piano since she was a child, let alone played it proficiently.Besides, she stayed in the dormitory yesterday morning to correct the thesis in her hand, and took a catch-up sleep in the dormitory in the afternoon. Her roommates can testify, so how could she appear in the musical instrument practice room?

Seeing that Tang Xuan's face was not good, the senior didn't dare to force her, but just asked her to think about it again, and performing at the school celebration would also be good for her.

After parting from his senior, Tang Xuan stood under the bright sun at noon, feeling cold all over his body.

——Maybe the senior got it wrong?There are so many people in this school, so it’s not surprising that occasionally there are some who look alike...

Tang Xuan managed to convince herself, she pulled herself together and continued to walk towards the office. She wanted to hand in the thesis as soon as possible, and then find a place to organize her thoughts.

The thesis handover went smoothly, but just as Tang Xuan was about to leave, the professor who had been playing Go suddenly stopped her: "Tang Xuan, wait a minute!"

"?"

"Are you okay later? Come and play a game with the old man!"

"Teacher, I don't know how to play Go..."

"Nonsense, you fought me several times a few days ago. By the way, I have already worked out a way to break your game the day before yesterday. Come on, I will definitely break your game today."

This professor is not young, and the old man has no other hobbies on weekdays, but he is obsessed with Go, and his level is quite high.For Tang Xuan, who only knows the rules and can't even claim to be able to play chess, it is basically impossible to fight against such an old chess fan. She has never played chess with this professor!Tang Xuan froze in place, and there was a thought in his head that kept clamoring—is the other "Tang Xuan" finally no longer satisfied with just being seen?Has she already begun to invade her life?

Tang Xuan settled down, and said to the professor with a little apology: "Isn't this a joke with you, but today is really not good, I'm not feeling well, can I go down with you next time?"

Although the professor was a little dissatisfied, because of Tang Xuan's discomfort, he let her go...