At midnight, Tong Xiaosong arrived as agreed, carrying a fruit knife he had bought from the supermarket.
Gu Xuan leaned against the wall of the old school building, as if he had been waiting for a long time.
After a whole day, Gu Xuan’s mood seemed to have improved a bit, but his complexion remained pale.
He briskly walked towards Tong Xiaosong, holding a red string in his hand.
“Tie it around your wrist, go into Class 4 of the third year, take a walk around, and then come out. After you come out, tell me what you’ve seen.”
After saying this, Gu Xuan ruthlessly tied the red string around Tong Xiaosong’s wrist, giving him no chance to argue. Then, he forcefully pushed Tong Xiaosong forward. Tong Xiaosong stumbled forward, barely managing to stop himself from falling. He looked back at Gu Xuan.
Unlike the helpless or mocking Gu Xuan standing outside the iron gate last night, the Gu Xuan at this moment had a fierce expression. When Tong Xiaosong turned around, he hoarsely shouted, “What are you looking at! Go quickly! Want to die?”
Tong Xiaosong shuddered and turned back, slowly walking towards the inside of the old school building. He reached into his pocket and touched the fruit knife, but he didn’t have the courage to take it out. Just going in for a walk should be… fine, right?
***
In the quiet old school building, there was only the sound of Tong Xiaosong’s footsteps. He quickly reached the classroom of Class 4 of the third year.
He stopped at the door, feeling a bit uneasy as he looked at the area sealed off by police caution tape.
Inside, in addition to the usual things, there were various evidence marks left by the police.
All of this made him feel as if Cui Jian was still hanging on that old-fashioned fan.
At this moment, a shadow flashed by in his peripheral vision.
Tong Xiaosong was startled, instantly turning his head. The corridor was empty, as if nothing was there.
Since Gu Xuan hadn’t entered, Tong Xiaosong didn’t know if he had gone into the classroom. He decided to continue walking.
He no longer entirely believed that there were no ghosts in this world.
Being able to endure the fear and come this far was already his limit.
Picking up the pace, he ran downstairs.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Ktf rmfca ogbw atf biv mbqqfg yjrlc.
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Pr atf atlgv oibbg bc olgf!?
Tong Xiaosong immediately turned around and ran back upstairs. Just as he reached the stairwell, he saw flames engulfing the third floor.
The fire seemed to be malevolent, spreading quickly, and soon the second floor was filled with thick smoke.
Tong Xiaosong felt that if he stayed a few more seconds, he might be burned to death.
Without further hesitation, he ran downstairs. Faintly, he heard many footsteps.
Unable to resist his curiosity, he stopped and glanced into the thick smoke.
Under the glow of the flames, on the corridor that should have been empty, it seemed like numerous figures had appeared.
His scalp tingled, and Tong Xiaosong dared not look any longer. He lowered his head and rushed out of the old school building.
Looking around, it seemed that Gu Xuan had already left.
Feeling the heat, he ran forward again and looked back.
The old school building resembled a burning bonfire, flames roaring fiercely.
***
Tong Xiaosong stood in the principal’s office. According to the surveillance footage, after he finished talking to Gu Xuan, Gu Xuan left, and Tong Xiaosong entered the old school building. Soon after, a fire broke out.
After Tong Xiaosong finished recounting everything, the principal sighed in distress.
With his head bowed, Tong Xiaosong whispered, “They all bully me. I’m afraid of being expelled, so I don’t dare to resist. I can only do as they say. I don’t know how the fire started.”
The principal sighed again. He naturally knew that Tong Xiaosong didn’t set the fire. Even if he brought two buckets of gasoline inside, the fire wouldn’t have ignited so quickly.
What worried him was that the school might once again become entangled in strange and tricky events, just like two years ago.
“Considering your situation and the recent shocks you’ve experienced, take a week off. Rest and relieve your stress. Discuss what happened at school with your family. I will also talk to your family,” the principal softened his tone.
Before he could finish his sentence, tears welled up in Tong Xiaosong’s eyes. He wiped them away with his sleeve and asked, “Are you asking me to drop out?”
“No, no, absolutely not!” The principal hurriedly denied, fearing that Tong Xiaosong might take it the wrong way. He never intended for Tong Xiaosong to drop out.
Instead of thinking that Tong Xiaosong had been bullied, the principal believed it wasn’t a good situation. Even if he reprimanded the students who bullied him, with such a large school and so many students, Tong Xiaosong’s seemingly easy-to-bully appearance might lead to similar incidents again. Rather than addressing the symptoms and not the root cause, the principal thought it would be better for Tong Xiaosong to take a break at home. He planned to engage in a two-way education with his parents, encouraging Tong Xiaosong to be more assertive and stand up for himself, preventing future bullying.
The principal stood up, gesturing for Tong Xiaosong to sit on the sofa. Seated across from him, the principal spoke with sincerity, “Consider this a break for you to relax at home. Don’t overthink it. Come back to continue your classes after a week.”
Tong Xiaosong wiped away his tears with both hands, feeling a sense of despair. He choked out, “But if I miss classes, I won’t be able to catch up. If we suspend classes for a week, I won’t understand what the teachers are saying when I return.”
“No worries,” the principal reassured, “After a week, when you come back, we’ll arrange for teachers to give you extra lessons in the evenings after school. As long as you’re willing to learn, we guarantee you won’t fall behind.”
Hearing this, Tong Xiaosong finally felt some relief.
The principal inquired, “Should I call your family?”
With no other choice, Tong Xiaosong nodded.
The principal dialed the number and asked, “Is this Tong Xiaosong’s guardian?”
Looking up, Tong Xiaosong replied in a low voice, “That’s the village’s phone. My sister… doesn’t have a cellphone…”
On the other end, the principal proceeded to ask for assistance.
The principal agreed and, looking at Tong Xiaosong, sighed, feeling that the child was enduring too much hardship.
Soon, someone picked up the phone on the other end.
The principal explained the situation and concluded, “The most important thing is to let him go home to relax, without any pressure from home. He’s a sixteen-year-old child who has been through a lot these days…”
Then, the principal subtly mentioned Tong Xiaosong’s issue of being timid and having a small courage.
“His family needs to support him, giving him the courage…” The person on the other end shared some details about the family situation, and the principal looked at Tong Xiaosong with even more sympathy. “So that’s the case. No wonder. Anyway, you understand the situation. After going back, comfort him properly.”
After hanging up the phone, the principal hesitated for a moment, opened a drawer, and took out his old phone.
He walked over to Tong Xiaosong and said, “This phone is for your family. It’ll be used to contact the school and make things more convenient.”
Tong Xiaosong sniffled and shook his head with force, choking out, “I can’t afford the phone bill…”
The principal clenched his teeth and stamped his foot. “I’ll pay for it!”
Tong Xiaosong, tears flowing, spoke with a choked voice, “No signal… It’s too deep in the mountains, no signal…”
“How did it become so difficult?” The principal found it hard to believe that, in this era when almost every student had a luxury phone, there were still people who couldn’t afford phone bills and places without signal, relying on old-fashioned landline phones.
After some thought, the principal slapped his head and decided, “Take a good rest when you go back. After you return, the school will apply for assistance for you. Given your situation, you should be able to receive some money, making life a bit easier.”
“Thank you.” Tong Xiaosong stood up, gratefully bowing to the principal and sincerely saying, “Thank you, thank you, Principal, thank you…”
The principal, showing compassion, waved his hand, “Ah, go back, pack your things. I’ll buy you a ticket home. Later, I’ll have the school bus take you to the train station. Is the money in your pocket enough for a train ticket, or will you need to take another mode of transportation?”
Without waiting for an answer, the principal took out his wallet and casually handed a wad of money to Tong Xiaosong, saying, “Take this! I remember you ranked tenth in the class in the last exam. Consider it a reward!”
Tong Xiaosong also wanted to refuse with dignity, pretending to have a poor but noble demeanor.
But he lacked the confidence to be noble and lacked the confidence to refuse.
This stack of money would be enough to buy much fewer potatoes that his sister would have to carry.
He accepted the money, knelt on both knees, and thudded down.
Before the principal could assist him, Tong Xiaosong made a loud kowtow.
When he lifted his head again, there was already a bruise on his forehead.
With tears in his eyes, he cried, “Thank you, Principal!”
“Oh my, what are you doing?” The principal immediately lifted Tong Xiaosong up before he could finish kneeling. “You can’t do this in the future! Remember! Study hard, be a strong and upright young man. Your future is vast. You need to stand tall to succeed, understand?”
“Thank you, Principal. I understand!” Tong Xiaosong choked on his words.
Ever since the ghost started killing ppl its like his luck got better lmao
I wish someone could’ve noticed and done something for him before it got to this point, but better late than never 🙁 It’s a nice message that there are always people willing to help if they’re made aware of the problem, though.
I feel like sneering. Maybe the principal was afraid Tong Xiaosong would add another count to the suic*de case so only now he rush to help. And apparently some sht event happen 2yrs ago too? About ML maybe?