"Did you hear? A ghost showed up in the boys' dormitory last night! One of those students who used to bully his roommate was scared so bad he wet himself and completely lost his mind!"
"How come I heard it was the girls' dormitory? The surveillance cameras got blocked by shadows, and people could make out faces rushing into the dorm! A girl was found in the hallway early in the morning by the dorm manager, completely unconscious — like she'd been sleepwalking!"
"Exactly, exactly! I saw someone being taken to the hospital this morning. The ambulance was parked outside the girls' dorm for ages. The story going around right now is that the student who got hurt used to bully classmates all the time, and she was cursed!"
A group of girls huddled together, chattering nonstop. The prettiest one among them hadn't said a word, a look of disdain lingering in her eyes.
"Chen Wen, you'd better keep your head down lately. Keep stirring up trouble and you might run into a ghost tonight yourself." A rough-voiced, androgynous-looking female student addressed the one who'd stayed silent.
"You think I believe in that kind of stuff?" Chen Wen crossed her arms over her chest. She was stationed at the back door of the classroom like she was waiting for someone.
The class bell rang, and just as most of the students returned to their seats, a plainly dressed girl stepped into the classroom right on the bell.
She was wearing nothing but off-brand clothes from head to toe, no makeup, her gaze darting about nervously. She seemed unable to meet Chen Wen's eyes — her deskmate.
When the first class ended, the girl didn't dare go to the bathroom. She stayed glued to her seat the entire time, as though something terrible would happen the moment she left the classroom.
"You seem to have a problem with me?" Chen Wen dragged her chair over to the girl's side. Judging solely by their backs, without hearing a word, anyone would think the two of them were good friends.
"No." The girl held her pen, flipping through her notes.
"I'm talking to you. Look at me! Look at me!" Chen Wen draped an arm over the girl's shoulder. "Let's go hang out after school today. It's Friday — stop playing goody-two-shoes all the time. Don't you want to make friends? Let's go out together. From now on, we're friends."
"I have something to do tonight…"
"It's settled then. Bail on me and you'll regret it." Chen Wen let go, pulled out her phone, and started chatting with someone. Her deskmate gripped her pen tightly, terrified but not knowing who to tell.
She didn't know what Chen Wen wanted her to do, but she knew it couldn't be anything good. Without solid evidence, even if she told a teacher, the school wouldn't do anything about Chen Wen.
And even if — even if — the school gave Chen Wen a slap on the wrist, unless she was expelled, Chen Wen and her crew would only escalate the bullying.
That was the cruelest thing about being a victim of school bullying. You were the one being hurt, yet you ended up isolated, possibly even suffering secondary harm from your own family and the school.
With Chen Wen's words swirling in her head, the girl couldn't focus on a single lesson. She didn't dare utter a word, silently staring down at her textbook.
During the break between classes, the girl asked the teacher for permission to skip exercises due to feeling unwell, staying behind alone in the classroom.
"Should I tell a teacher? Girls who get tangled up with Chen Wen either become her friend or transfer away. Her family seems pretty powerful." Having followed her parents to Xin Hai not long ago, the girl carried a deep sense of inferiority. "I can't cause trouble for my parents… but what am I supposed to do?"
"Chang Feifei?"
The girl heard someone call her name. She turned to look and saw a smiling young man standing at the classroom window.
Sunlight fell on him, lending a touch of warmth to his smile.
"Has to be her! Quick — put me back in the comic book! I'm about to melt!" Behind the young man, a shadow was begging and writhing in agony, though the girl saw none of it.
Chang Gu was put back into the comic book, and Chen Ge pushed open the rear door of the classroom. "Don't be scared. I was asked by someone to come find you about a matter."
The girl was bewildered, having no idea what Chen Ge was talking about.
"Have you ever had a dream like this?" Chen Ge stood by the back door and spoke softly. "You dreamed of a blood-red door, and beyond it was a school that only held classes at night. Every student and teacher inside was a ghost. When you had nowhere left to turn, a senior girl helped you."
The girl seemed to recall something, her eyes widening in surprise. "How do you know I had that dream?"
"Do you remember what you promised that senior girl in the dream?" Chen Ge guided her step by step, just as Chang Gu had instructed.
"She helped me escape the nightmare, and I promised to keep something for her." The girl had no guile about her — she was very innocent.
"I'm a friend of that senior. Now she's sent me to retrieve the item." Chen Ge didn't look like a bad person. After a moment's hesitation, the girl unbuttoned the top button of her shirt and pulled out something from her collar — an object resembling a sachet.
"I've always thought it was strange. I kept wondering whether it was really a dream or not. If it wasn't a dream, I couldn't remember any of the specifics. But if it was just a dream, then why did I wake up holding this?" The girl opened the sachet. Inside was a red stone, and embedded within it was a wad of tangled hair.
"This must be it." Chen Ge took the stone. The red-robed ghosts inside his comic book all sounded simultaneous alarms, as if the object were extremely dangerous. "Thank you. I'll be taking this. From now on, your luck will gradually improve."
Before the school security guard could arrive, Chen Ge clutched the stone and hurried away from Xin Hai No. 1 High School.
"Chang Gu, I've got the item. What do I do next?" Chen Ge stood under the shade of a tree, bag in hand, speaking as if to himself.
"That strand of hair is the last trace of my sister's lingering obsession. The red stone is a drop of her heart's blood — the most vital drop of blood a peak red-robed ghost possesses." A shadow behind Chen Ge spoke up.
"You're not afraid I'll have my other red-robed ghosts devour her, after giving me intel like that?"
"I am afraid. But being afraid doesn't change anything." Chang Gu gave a bitter smile. "Even if I hadn't told you, your other red-robed employees would have sensed it eventually."
"Don't worry. I'll keep my promise to you. Just don't disappoint me again." Chen Ge lightly tossed the blood-red stone into the air, making Chang Gu's heart leap into his throat. "With just her obsession and heart's blood, your sister can revive?"
"She'll also need to devour some powerful ghosts first. I'm not sure exactly how many." Chang Gu hung his head, unable to meet Chen Ge's eyes.
"So you two have been trying to get me to play babysitter? I think I've figured out Chang Wenyu's plan. Her enemies are all in Hanjiang, so she chose a child from Xin Hai and hid her remnant soul inside her. After she awakens, she can devour the ghosts of Xin Hai to restore her power, and once she's fully recovered, she'll return to Hanjiang."
Chang Wenyu was clever — but she had underestimated Zhang Ya's strength and never imagined that Chen Ge would carry a malicious god with him at all times.
"Boss, at the Haunted School, my sister and I really were in the wrong. I'm hoping you can help her this once." Chang Gu even used the word "boss." During their time together, his opinion of Chen Ge had been steadily changing. He felt Chen Ge was someone worth trusting.
"Don't worry." Chen Ge put away the blood-red stone, his brow furrowed. "Chang Wenyu needs to feed on powerful ghosts to awaken. My employees need powerful ghosts and red-robed spirits to enhance their abilities."
After thinking for a moment, Chen Ge pulled out his phone and began searching for urban legends related to Xin Hai.
He created a new account and infiltrated a local paranormal forum. In a featured post, he found exactly what he was looking for.
"Xin Hai Urban Legends Roundup! Vote for the ten most terrifying urban legends of Xin Hai!"