Chapter 105: No Ghosts?

Before class began, the counselor came over to give everyone a “pep talk,” and only then did the day’s lessons commence.

Everyone was listless, yet the morning schedule was packed. After finally enduring four periods, we headed to the cafeteria for lunch. Once again, I didn’t see Xiao Qingwan or her group.

“Hey there, Luo Shen!” Ge Zhikai approached, calling me by my old nickname.

Gao Sheng wasn’t around; only Zhang Haozi was with him.

Ge Zhikai came to stand beside me, looking down with contempt. He sneered, “The pinkie who got expelled from school!”

He had been itching to insult me for a long time. Now that Gao Sheng was absent, he finally got his chance.

Zhang Haozi quickly and timidly tried to intervene in a low voice, “Brother Kai, Gao Sheng said not to provoke them.”

Impatiently, Ge Zhikai pushed him aside. “Go away. Don’t keep bringing up Gao Sheng like he’s your ancestor.”

Zhang Haozi, having been insulted, awkwardly retreated to the side.

Ge Zhikai stared at me, questioning, “You were expelled, yet you still pretend to be from another school, coming here to observe and learn! What exactly are you after? Your arrival always leads to death! And it just so happens you’re the first to discover it! Don’t say it’s got nothing to do with you!”

I continued eating, ignoring him.

Seeing my silence, his anger grew. “Who do you think you are? Weren’t you so great before? Still got expelled just like the rest! Luo Shen, huh! Do you really think you’re a god?”

I had never liked that nickname. Now he was using it to provoke me. I looked at him and said, “You couldn’t beat me before, and now you can’t beat Gao Sheng. Do you know why you always come up short?”

His face turned pale and flushed in turns. I was right—his attitude toward Gao Sheng mirrored how he once treated me. Outwardly, he was polite with Gao Sheng, but inside, he probably seethed with resentment.

I said, “Because no one ever took you seriously.”

He was furious, almost lunging at me. “What the hell did you say? You’re the one who’s failed and fallen! And you still look down on me!”

People in the cafeteria began turning to watch.

I smiled lightly, still calm and polite. “I’m not looking down on you. I’m just telling you, it’s not that you can’t surpass others—you just can’t surpass yourself.”

“You don’t know anything! You don’t know a damn thing!” He grabbed my collar, roaring, “I hate people like you the most! Always thinking you’re so great, never respecting others! I work so hard! I put in more effort than you! Yet I always come up short compared to you!”

I chuckled. “It’s not that you don’t work hard. You just don’t have the guts. You’re afraid to fail. You can’t handle losing.”

I pointed at Zhang Haozi. “Even he’s braver than you. When that bald guy came looking for trouble the day before yesterday afternoon, you saw it but hid away, too scared to show up. Only after the guy left did you pretend to rush over. Coward like you—what right do you have to succeed?”

“You—damn you!” He raised his fist to strike me.

Suddenly, Wei E-ye grabbed his fist.

Ge Zhikai had seen what Wei E-ye was capable of. Once his hand was caught, he immediately backed down.

Wei E-ye released his grip. Ge Zhikai shot me a fierce glare and strode away. Zhang Haozi glanced at me and followed.

People around still watched me, unsure how much of the exchange they had absorbed. I ignored them and continued eating.

The whole day passed without seeing Xiao Qingwan or Su Yi. Su Yi had been quite shaken last night; perhaps she hadn’t recovered yet. It seemed I couldn’t ask her to lure out those little ghosts anymore. For one, she probably wouldn’t agree; for another, the person who jumped last night was surely connected to those spirits, and I couldn’t risk Su Yi’s safety.

I asked Tu E, “Do you have any way to draw the little ghosts out?”

He looked at me thoughtfully. “There are quite a few methods.”

Wow! There really were! Why hadn’t he mentioned this earlier? If I hadn’t asked, would he have just kept quiet forever?

Helpless, I said, “Come up with the simplest, most practical one.”

At eight o’clock in the evening, night was as dark as ink, the cold wind biting sharply.

We arrived near the office building. There was no other reason for being here—just that it was secluded. This was the quietest place on campus, rarely visited except by teachers working there. But by this hour, the teachers had all left.

I and Wei E-ye stood about three meters away from Tu E. He faced away from us, waving his arms and softly chanting incantations. His voice was very faint—much lighter than Old Ma’s—so I couldn’t understand what he was saying.

Tu E’s method was to summon spirits through chanting and ritual. If we had known about this, we wouldn’t have wasted two days.

Wei E-ye showed no reaction, but I sensed her slight helplessness.

This guy may have skills, but his brain wasn’t the sharpest.

A strange sensation radiated faintly from Tu E. Was this how one summoned ghosts? I watched his actions carefully and kept an eye on our surroundings, still wondering how exactly this would call forth spirits.

The cold wind swept by, leaves rustled, and time passed by the second. Yet nothing unusual happened.

After a while, Tu E stopped and turned to say, “Strange, why is there no effect?”

“What’s going on? Can’t summon them?” I asked.

He frowned. “Impossible not to summon. This place simply has no ghosts.”

I was surprised. “How could that be? If there are no ghosts, what about those sudden illnesses? What were we dealing with before?”

“I don’t know,” he said honestly.

Though his mind wasn’t sharp, his abilities had been reliable so far. If he said there were no ghosts here, then there probably weren’t.

This was truly baffling. So many strange events had occurred; even Su Yi claimed she saw the little ghosts. Yet in the end, there were no spirits. If not ghosts, then what was it?

I was stifled by the mystery and told them to wait here for a moment while I used the restroom.

There were no toilets nearby except inside the office building. I never understood why, when this building was constructed, only the second and fifth floors had restrooms—and the second floor was women’s, while the fifth was men’s.

I went up to the fifth floor and looked at the spot where the man had jumped last night. If it wasn’t ghosts that caused him to fall, could it have been his own despair? But how to explain the flying shapes I had seen?

The restroom was already eerie from its remoteness, made even more so by the fact that someone had jumped here just last night. Though Tu E had said there were no ghosts, the atmosphere was still chilling.

I finished quickly and went to wash my hands.

“Hee hee hee...” A low, faint laughter drifted through the air.