Yang Mian raised her eyes and looked at the watch on her wrist. With every tick of the second hand, she was reminded that it was already getting late.
After a brief moment of thought, she decided to head to school first. As for the matter of the vengeful spirit, she would deal with it after school.
This could also be considered a small punishment for it.
She had promised the spirit she would clear its injustice—but not now.
After all, it had nearly caused the death of an innocent girl. Let it suffer a little inside the gourd; it was simply receiving its due.
Yang Mian had seven gourds in total. Each one had a unique function, like seven mysterious treasures with different abilities.
The one she had just used was the green gourd, a magical tool specifically used to capture evil spirits.
Inside the green gourd seemed to lie an invisible hell, with blazing flames burning endlessly. Once a spirit was taken inside, it would be forced to endure relentless suffering.
However, Yang Mian knew clearly that these spirits were not wicked enough to be destroyed completely. In the end, they would still be handed over to King Yama for fair judgment.
When Yang Mian entered the school, the campus was still lively as ever.
Laughter, chatter, and playful noise intertwined like a cheerful symphony.
She did not linger and walked straight to her seat.
Just after sitting down, her deskmate Xi Simeng quickly leaned over like an agile little squirrel, wearing a mysterious expression, and lowered her voice:
“Yang Mian, why are you only arriving now? It’s already the last period, and you didn’t even ask for leave. Yang Huan didn’t come either—the homeroom teacher has already looked for you several times!”
“It’s fine. I just went to deal with something. Yang Huan went to the hospital,” Yang Mian replied calmly.
Xi Simeng’s curiosity was instantly ignited, her eyes sparkling with interest.
“What did you go do?”
“Nothing. You’re better off not knowing,” Yang Mian said, shaking her head slightly with determination.
Xi Simeng, however, was like a curious child who wouldn’t give up until she got answers.
“Why not?!”
The more Yang Mian refused, the more curious she became. The feeling of being teased like this made her itch with curiosity.
“I ran into an old lady this morning and helped her cross the road,” Yang Mian said calmly, without changing her expression, casually talking nonsense.
[There’s no way I can just tell her I went ghost-catching and was late because of that, right? And I’m still carrying one with me—wouldn’t that scare her?]
“Ah—”
Xi Simeng gasped, her face filled with shock and disbelief.
Then she stammered, “Y-you… y-you… y-you…”
She jumped a full meter back as if she had been electrocuted.
At that moment, Xi Simeng had actually heard Yang Mian’s inner thoughts and learned the real reason she was late. This truly frightened her.
And the fact that she said a ghost was “on her” made it even more terrifying.
She immediately regretted her curiosity. She vowed never to be so curious again—curiosity really kills the cat.
Great. How was she supposed to sleep tonight?
At the same time, the Class 13 group chat exploded.
Mo Xingchen: [Yang Mian can actually catch ghosts?]
Fang Lian: [Do ghosts really exist?]
Lu Yuxing: [Maybe they really do…]
Mi Shaoyi: [I’m a bit scared…]
Wang Lingsong: [Me too…]
Li Xuan: [fear +1]
Yu Bohan: [There’s a saying: if you haven’t done anything wrong, you don’t fear ghosts knocking at your door. You haven’t done anything wrong, right?!]
Everyone: [No, no.]
Yu Bohan continued: [You’ve all been fine all these years, which proves those things don’t target you. So just be law-abiding and don’t do anything immoral.]
Xiao Yangshuo also added: [Yu Bohan is right. Don’t scare yourselves. We should believe in science.
From a scientific perspective, there is currently no solid evidence proving the existence of ghosts. So-called supernatural phenomena can often be explained scientifically.
For example, the eerie feeling in a dark environment may simply come from temperature, lighting, and psychological suggestion.
Think about it—since childhood, we’ve experienced so many things. When have we actually seen a ghost? Most ghost stories are just for fun or excitement. In real life, we are all safe, so there’s really no need to be afraid.]
Mo Xingchen pushed back: [Teacher, do you still believe in science?! Then how do you explain Yang Mian?]
Xiao Yangshuo was momentarily speechless: [That… is too profound. I can’t explain it…]
The whole class responded with a string of “……”
As if silently expressing their complicated emotions.
“Ring ring ring—”
The crisp school bell suddenly rang, breaking the campus calm.
Teacher Xiao Yangshuo walked into the classroom holding a thick stack of books.
Xi Simeng was standing pitifully beside her desk, head lowered, nervously fiddling with her clothes. Her eyes were filled with helplessness and fear, as if she had encountered something extremely terrifying.
The teacher frowned. “Xi Simeng, class has started. Why are you still standing there?”
With a trembling voice, she said, “Teacher… can I change seats?”
As she spoke, she secretly glanced toward a certain seat, her body trembling slightly.
The reason she was so afraid was because of her deskmate—Yang Mian.
Just thinking about certain things related to Yang Mian gave her goosebumps. She had no courage to sit next to her anymore.
Teacher Xiao Yangshuo understood her feelings very well—the fear of the unknown is indeed hard to endure.
So he asked, “Is there any student willing to switch seats with Xi Simeng?”
However, the entire class shook their heads in unison.
No.
Absolutely not.
They did not want to be Yang Mian’s deskmate at all.
Meanwhile, Yang Mian herself was still completely unaware that her inner thoughts had already been fully exposed.
She wondered in confusion:
[What’s wrong with them? Am I really that scary? Why is everyone so afraid to sit with me?]
[So sad… it seems like being a normal person is really difficult.]