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墨書 Inktalez
The scene before me left me utterly stunned. Just moments ago, I had clearly seen Xiao Juan being knocked to the ground by a large truck loaded with goods, yet now she stood before me, completely unharmed.
Everything about her—the way she looked and her voice—made it impossible for me to believe she was not Xiao Juan.
But who was the one I had just seen lying on the ground?
I stared blankly at this Xiao Juan in front of me, then slowly turned my head to look back.
However, the Xiao Juan who had fallen along with the electric scooter was nowhere to be found; all that remained was the large truck parked in the middle of the road, its lights still flashing.
I saw a Bare-Chested Man storming toward me, angrily shouting, “If you want to die, why don’t you just get out of the way? Are you tired of living, crashing into my truck?”
What was going on?
I furrowed my brow tightly. I knew this Bare-Chested Man must be the driver of the truck. His insults didn’t register with me at all; I wasn’t paying attention to his words.
But what puzzled me was where Xiao Juan had gone. I had clearly seen her get hit—why was I now standing here alone?
And who was this Xiao Juan behind me?
She couldn’t have been knocked down and then suddenly appeared behind me. What on earth was happening?
“Lin Hao, what’s wrong with you?” The Xiao Juan behind me reached out and tapped my shoulder, asking irritably.
I turned around, my gaze filled with suspicion as I looked at her. Tentatively, I extended a hand and gently raised it. Seeing her frown without any sign of objection, I lightly touched her face.
Soft, smooth, and most importantly—warm.
“It’s warm. You really are Xiao Juan,” I asked uncertainly.
Xiao Juan furrowed her brows tightly upon hearing this, glancing around before whispering to me, "Lin Hao, did you just encounter a ghost again?"
Encounter a ghost?
I thought that could only be the explanation for what had just happened.
I looked ahead at the empty road in front of the large truck. Aside from me standing there foolishly, there were a few scattered people on either side of the street pointing and discussing me.
Looking at the scene before me, I realized I hadn't walked far from Upper Clear Academy at all.
Everything around me confirmed that I had indeed encountered a ghost, which meant that the Xiao Juan I had seen earlier wasn't real.
After understanding this, I nodded grimly at Xiao Juan.
Her expression immediately turned equally grim. She asked me what was going on, saying she thought I told her to wait while I went to find the car.
I nodded and replied, "Yeah, I was waiting for you to arrive before we left together, and then this happened."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Juan's face grew even darker. She whispered, "So you encountered a ghost back at school? But that’s impossible... Could it be Mao Shiba?"
Xiao Juan's voice was very low; by the end, she was almost talking to herself. I could hear her, but others nearby were too far away to catch what she was saying.
Even the truck driver couldn't hear Xiao Juan. Seeing us still lingering without moving, he couldn't help but shout again, "Hey, kid! Are you not leaving? Do you really want to get yourself killed?"
Although I had come to my senses, I was still shaken from the earlier scare. Xiao Juan quickly pulled me along and said, "Let’s go back and talk." With that, she turned and headed toward Upper Clear Academy.
I didn’t object. As we walked, I asked Xiao Juan, "What did you mean by what you said earlier? Is Mao Shiba messing with me?"
Xiao Juan shook her head and said, "I don't know either, but if Mao Shiba is messing with you, he wouldn't be so reckless. If it wasn't him, then how could there be any ghosts at Upper Clear Academy? That doesn't make sense."
Her words made me frown slightly, and I began to feel conflicted inside.
Although Mao Shiba had threatened to make my life miserable once I recovered from my illness, that was just empty talk. How could such words be taken seriously? At most, he would just play a prank on me; he would never go so far as to truly harm me.
But what had just happened?
If Xiao Juan hadn't followed me and pulled me back at the last moment, I might have ended up as a ghost beneath the wheels of that vehicle.
Yet if it wasn't Mao Shiba messing with me, how could there possibly be ghosts at Upper Clear Academy?
The chances of that happening were really slim; those Wandering Spirits and Wild Ghosts didn't have the guts to act so brazenly.
However, the fact was that such an event had occurred, which left not only Xiao Juan feeling conflicted but also me, upon further reflection.
After arriving at Upper Clear Academy, Xiao Juan and I searched for Mao Shiba, but he hadn't returned since leaving in the morning; he was nowhere to be found at Upper Clear Academy.
This made it even less likely that this incident was related to Mao Shiba.
Regardless, both Xiao Juan and I decided to wait until Mao Shiba and Uncle Zhou returned so we could ask them directly about what had happened.
However, after an unknown amount of time waiting, Zhou Zhen and the others still hadn't come back. At this point, Xiao Juan had already fallen asleep with her head on the table, and I felt a wave of drowsiness wash over me as well.
So I stood up to stretch my legs by the door. Just as I reached the entrance, I noticed a little girl, around seven or eight years old, standing outside the living room staring at me.
What was a little girl doing here in the middle of the night?
I was immediately filled with confusion. However, she looked harmless enough, so I decided not to overthink it and walked over to ask her what was going on.
I walked over and squatted down to ask, "Little sister, why are you still playing out here so late? Why don't you go back to sleep?"
"Big Brother asked me to find you," the little girl said with a sweet smile.
"Big Brother asked you to find me?"
I was slightly taken aback by her words and curiously asked, "Little sister, who is this Big Brother you're talking about? Where is he?"
"Look, he's right there." The little girl turned around and pointed ahead.
"Mao Shiba."
Following the direction of the little girl's finger, I saw none other than Mao Shiba standing not far away. He waved at me, a strange smile on his face.
The little girl nodded. "Yes, that's him."
Without waiting for my response, she took my hand and began to pull me toward Mao Shiba.
But the moment her hand grasped mine, I furrowed my brow tightly as a chill swept over me. Why was it so cold?
I couldn't help but scrutinize the little girl in front of me. The moment I did, I was startled; under the moonlight, apart from my shadow, she had no shadow of her own.
This realization sent a shiver down my spine.
I quickly glanced back at Mao Shiba ahead of me, and he had a shadow. This meant that the little girl in front of me was not human—she was likely a ghost—while Mao Shiba was indeed human.
I hurriedly tried to signal Mao Shiba with my eyes, but his strange smile only grew brighter.
A sudden wave of unease washed over me. Could it really be Mao Shiba trying to set me up?
What about that earlier scene?
Perhaps the mastermind behind that moment was indeed Mao Shiba. But why hadn’t Xiao Juan and I found him after we returned? Had he been hiding then, and now, waiting for Xiao Juan to fall asleep before making his move again?
A series of questions flooded my mind, and coupled with the strange smile on his face, I was reluctant to believe that these things were orchestrated by Mao Shiba.
Yet, I couldn’t help but think this way. Just then, the little girl had already pulled me over to Mao Shiba's side.
“What do you want to do, Shiba?” I shouted uncertainly at his bizarre grin.
“Hehe.”
Mao Shiba let out a strange laugh and pointed at the little girl beside me, saying, “Look at her.”
I knew full well that Mao Shiba meant no good, but I couldn’t resist glancing down. Instantly, I met the little girl’s gaze as she looked up at me and asked softly, “Big Brother, don’t you think I’m pretty?”
As she spoke, the little girl giggled. Under my watchful eyes, her expression suddenly turned hollow and vacant; her face became pale as if coated in a layer of white wax.
That wasn’t all. She then reached out a hand and pressed it against her left eye, forcefully popping out her eyeball. Holding it in her palm, she raised it in front of me and exclaimed, “Big Brother, it fell out! It fell out!”
“Ah!”
I couldn’t help but scream in shock. I dared not look again and bolted back in the opposite direction, calling out for Xiao Juan as I ran.
However, no matter how fast I tried to run, it felt as if there was an invisible wall ahead of me; I couldn’t break through and was stuck in place.
The little girl was right behind me, calling my name and laughing like a silver bell. Yet, to my ears, that laughter was so grating, it filled me with dread.
I realized this must be the legendary "ghost wall." No matter how I struggled, I couldn't escape; I was just treading in place.
Suddenly, I thought of Mu Yan. Without considering much else, I shouted, "Mu Yan!"
But unlike before, this time there was a pause of several seconds, and Mu Yan did not appear. I called her name again and again, but still nothing.
She had disappointed me, leaving me in despair.
At that moment, I heard Mao Shiba snicker coldly and say, "Calling for Mu Yan won't help you. How dare you try to take a woman from me? Just wait until I make you pay."
I knew that if Mao Shiba truly wanted to kill me, there would be no way for me to escape a second time.
This time, I was doomed.
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