Chapter Eleven: Summoning Spirits

“It’s really unfair to ask for your help given your current condition, but there’s no other way. You’re the only one who’s ever made contact with that lurking spirit—only you can invite him here, no one else.”

So he knows it’s unfair! I barely have any time left—after tonight, just twelve days remain, a perfect dozen. With all this trouble, I might even lose a few more, dying right here and now!

My eldest uncle and his wife watched me, their eyes full of pleading. Wen’s grandmother also looked my way, her expression begging me to save her grandson, promising endless gratitude and worship from this day forward.

They all gazed at me in silence. No one spoke, because everyone knew they had no right to ask. This disaster befell me here, and my days are numbered.

Wen didn’t say a word either. Compared to the others’ desperate pleading, his gaze was more complicated.

Old Mr. Chen watched me as well, his look telling me he wouldn’t force me—he’d leave it to my own will. If I could help, that would be best; if not, he’d have to find another way.

With things like this, how could I refuse?

In the dead of night, we arrived at a clearing by a construction site. You can’t summon ghosts indoors, and in the crowded urban village, there’s nowhere suitable. Wen’s uncles knew this area well and found this spot.

Not many people came—just me, Old Chen, Wen, his eldest uncle, and the unconscious Xiao Chao.

Old Chen first sprinkled the ground with water soaked in pomelo leaves, then scattered chicken feathers around us, forming a circle. I sat in the center, holding a grass-woven rooster in my arms. My toes were tied with a long red thread, the other end bound to the blood-drained rooster.

Old Chen explained that this dead rooster would attract the spirit, and the red thread would let the spirit know I was his summoner.

Wen and his uncle were called away by Old Chen and sat in the car at a distance, while Xiao Chao lay unconscious just outside the circle, a piece of cloth beneath him.

There were no streetlights nearby; the only faint illumination came from the construction site, casting a dim, gloomy atmosphere. The air was thick with the metallic tang of chicken blood, seeping into my bones.

Old Chen lit a single stick of incense and two white candles. “A spark of soul-summoning incense, candlelight to guide the ghost’s path. In a moment, I’ll ring the bell to summon him. If the incense smoke stands unbroken, the candle burns with a blue flame, and the rooster crows—then a vengeful spirit has come. Just follow what I taught you earlier, understood?”

“I understand, but after I do all this, what happens? And what if he doesn’t play by the rules?” I wasn’t just being timid—these things needed to be clear. This was, after all, the vengeful ghost of one wronged and violently killed, not someone to be trifled with.

“I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe.”

Everything he can... That doesn’t sound very reassuring...

Old Mr. Chen went on, “To be honest, you’re not quite like other people.”

“How so?” Truth be told, I’ve always stood out—over the past decade, I earned the nickname ‘Divine Scholar,’ a name I once hated because it came from my unmatchable, godlike academic achievements. Who could have guessed this ‘divine’ student would one day be expelled...

“That night, when you joined the children in the maze game, you didn’t lose your soul. Instead, the encounter with the spirit awakened a hidden curse within you.”

I understood what he was getting at. “You mean, if I didn’t have this curse, I wouldn’t have been affected at all?”

He nodded.

Nonsense! There’s no ‘if’ in this world. All I know is my situation is far worse than those kids’—I’m on the brink of death!

As the night deepened, I clung to the grass rooster while Chen rang his bell, the sound rising and falling, quickening then slowing, sometimes booming like a great bell, sometimes light as a flowing stream. There was no discernible pattern, yet the rhythm was hypnotic.

The bell’s vibrations lingered in my ears, echoing through my mind, lulling me into a dreamlike state. The strange surroundings only heightened the confusion.

I stared at the incense and candles, my heart pounding in my chest. Everything was still; every sense was focused on the flickering flame and the ringing bell, my thoughts scattered until my mind was blank.

Suddenly, the incense smoke rose straight and unbroken, the candlelight turned an eerie blue, and a sharp rooster’s crow split the silence. I snapped back to awareness.

Smoke unbroken, blue candlelight, rooster’s crow—vengeful spirit descends! He was here!

A tugging sensation pulled at my toes; I turned and saw the dead rooster springing to life, hopping toward a certain direction.

Old Chen had vanished. Darkness pressed in from all sides—I could see nothing. I leaned in the direction the rooster faced, but there was only emptiness, a chill crawling down my spine.

I coughed to steady myself, then called out, “If you have grievances, speak them to me. I may not be able to help, but I can offer three sticks of incense and three bowls of rice daily. We’re all unfortunate souls; anything can be discussed, anything can be negotiated!”

No response—just the rooster, trembling violently, frozen in place.

The silence was absolute. Gathering my courage, I continued, “If I’ve summoned you by mistake, that’s fate as well. Now that we’ve met, let’s talk this through.”

My heart thundered in my chest—never had I been so nervous, not even when caught red-handed by the police while ‘skating’. My eyes darted around anxiously.

A vague figure emerged from the darkness, my heart leaping up in alarm. Here it was!

The shape was thin and frail, hair hanging loose—there was something hauntingly familiar about it.

Damn! I really was seeing a ghost—truly face to face with one!

But this ghost was nothing like those graceful, seductive spirits in the movies; it just stood there, cold and motionless, as if time itself had stopped, the sight enough to chill my bones.

Suddenly, the figure vanished into the darkness. I looked around, bewildered. Where had it gone? Just left like that? How could that be? What was going on? Old Chen said that once the spirit appeared, my part was done and he’d handle the negotiations, but how could that work now?

The incense still smoked, the candle still burned blue—meaning the ghost was still present. But where? I knew things wouldn’t go smoothly. Sure enough, something had gone wrong. The ghost had no intention of negotiating! Who knew what she might do? I had to get Old Chen to stop at once!

But aside from the blue candlelight, darkness enveloped everything—Old Chen was nowhere to be seen. How was I supposed to alert him?

The flame slowly shifted from blue to red. A terrible premonition surged within me. I couldn’t sit still any longer. I sprang to my feet, dropped the grass rooster, and turned to run.

Suddenly, a chilling presence loomed behind me. I spun around—and there she stood, hair disheveled, her deathly pale face staring straight at me!