Tian Shenglai froze for a moment; when he came to his senses, he realised the text was in standard black font. He examined the number more closely and saw it was an unfamiliar one.
Could it be an old friend?
Out of caution, Tian Shenglai replied: [‘Who is this?’]
The other party did not reply; the phone remained silent.
The bus soon arrived at the stop, and Tian Shenglai got off. He felt something was off about himself today; he’d better get a good night’s sleep first.
…………
Having finished her morning part-time shift, Lu Mian packed up her things and prepared to leave. The only ‘lucky winner’ today was the blue-haired boy; the boss had told her to send a text message in the evening, so she was now heading back to the dorm to have a nap.
As Lu Mian strolled back to the dorm, her roommates were all asleep, and there was a cup of milk tea sitting on her desk.
Lu Mian glanced around and noticed there were cups on the other three desks as well.
A gift from her roommates? Why hadn’t they mentioned it in the group chat?
Lu Mian paid no mind to the milk tea and went straight to bed. She had classes in the afternoon and needed to rest up.
…………
Wang Ying slept restlessly. She felt as though she were in water, with boundless water surging towards her, flooding her mouth and nose. She swam frantically, desperately trying to find a foothold, but it was all in vain; water plants had even entangled her feet, pulling her down with all their might.
Just as she was about to be submerged, Wang Ying jolted awake.
Looking at her familiar dorm room, Wang Ying breathed a sigh of relief. She picked up her mobile and glanced at the time: half past one in the afternoon. She could still sleep for a while.
Wang Ying placed her mobile back by her pillow, intending to go back to sleep, but suddenly felt something strange beside her pillow—smooth and cool to the touch.
Wang Ying pulled the bed curtain open slightly to let light in, using the outside light to examine the object by her pillow.
It was a clump of hair, jet-black and thick, and even slightly damp.
Wang Ying was startled. The ends of her own hair were slightly yellowed; they were nowhere near this jet-black and glossy, and they certainly weren’t damp.
Wang Ying thought of the suffocating sensation from her dream—that feeling of being dragged underwater and losing her breath was so vivid and agonising.
Her whole body began to tremble. Having encountered ghosts before, her immediate thought was that this hair had been brought by a ghost, but didn’t ghosts usually appear at night?
Why was one appearing now, in the middle of the day?!
It was precisely because they believed ghosts wouldn’t appear during the day that they’d dared to sleep soundly.
Wang Ying shakily steered clear of the hair, her trembling feet missing the floor several times before she finally managed to climb out of bed. Once on the floor, the first thing Wang Ying did was go and shake Lu Mian awake.
In this dormitory, Lu Mian was the only one who could make her feel safe.
“Lu Mian, wake up!”
Wang Ying tugged at Lu Mian’s duvet and called out to her.
“What’s wrong?”
Lu Mian opened her eyes groggily, her mind still foggy from sleep.
“There’s a ghost! It’s appeared in broad daylight, and it’s on my bed! Save me!” Finding someone to lean on, Wang Ying’s fear found an outlet, and her voice gradually broke into a sob.
Lu Mian was now fully awake, her worried gaze fixed on Wang Ying. Surely not—Lin Yue had only just been taken away, and now Wang Ying was losing her mind too? She’d already started having an episode in the middle of the day.
The number of mentally unstable people in their dorm was skyrocketing. Had someone drugged them all?!
Lu Mian was deeply worried. She’d been quite content with their dorm—there were no major conflicts, and everyone had been in their right mind. But now she was about to lose her sane flatmates.
“Lu Mian, please save me!” Wang Ying was falling further into a state of breakdown, on the verge of clutching her head and weeping.
Lu Mian hurriedly got out of bed, careful not to upset her, and quickly went along with her, asking, “Where?”
Wang Ying quickly pointed to her own bed, “On my bed! That clump of black hair.”
Lu Mian pulled back Wang Ying’s bed curtain and peered inside; several clumps of black hair lay quietly by her pillow.
Xu Xia and Chen Jiaqi, who hadn’t been sleeping soundly to begin with, were immediately roused by the commotion and hurried out of bed to join Wang Ying.
Lu Mian picked up the hair and asked, puzzled, “Is it just this?”
Wang Ying nodded frantically after just one glance.
Lu Mian clutched the hair, picked up the lighter from the table, and made her way to the washbasin, intending to set it alight straight away. With her flatmate in such a panic, she felt that simply throwing it away wouldn’t solve the problem; it was better to just burn it.
The black hair twisted and burned in the orange flames, as if trying to escape the scorching heat, struggling desperately, In a daze, it seemed as though a scream had echoed, yet the arsonist remained oblivious, showing no intention of extinguishing the flames. Hair was, after all, merely hair, and eventually it turned to ash under the fire’s scorching heat.
A pungent stench spread across the entire balcony. Lu Mian turned on the tap and flushed the ashes down the sink.
“There, I’ve burnt it. It’s all sorted now.” Having finished the job, the culprit turned to reassure her timid flatmates.
Wang Ying and the others stood by the door, staring blankly at Lu Mian’s series of actions. Was that really how she dealt with it?
Wasn’t that a ghost? Could it really have been just ordinary hair?
But the pungent, blood-soaked stench on the balcony reminded them that it could never have been just ordinary hair.
So Lu Mian had burned the female ghost to death?
Did that mean they could do it too?
“My dear dormmates, why don’t we go for a walk?” Lu Mian suggested to her roommates with genuine sincerity.
She genuinely felt they should go out for a walk; staying cooped up in the dorm all day was enough to drive anyone mad.
The three, still reeling from the shock, watched as Lu Mian calmly returned to pack her bag, looking every bit the part of someone heading to class, and couldn’t help but wonder if they were truly losing their minds.
Lu Mian put the books she’d need for her afternoon class into her bag. Having been woken up suddenly, she couldn’t get back to sleep, but half an hour’s rest had been enough to refresh her.
Whilst packing her books, Lu Mian happened to spot the milk tea on the desk. She turned to ask the others, “Who brought this milk tea?”
Wang Ying raised her hand. “I did. It’s the new Red Glutinous Rice flavour—it’s really tasty.”
“Right, thanks. I’ll treat you next time.” Lu Mian picked up the milk tea, slung her rucksack over her shoulder, and headed for the classroom.
She noticed the Paranormal Society group chat had sprung to life again.
[Fang Qinian: Is anyone free tonight? Fancy coming with me to Liushu Village? I went to the market today, and an old man selling chickens told me to go and find him there at seven o’clock tonight to get some chicken blood.]
[Chu Guanyue: Can’t you just get chicken blood from any chicken stall at the market? Why do we have to make a special trip to the village at night?]
[Fang Qinian: That old man was quite talkative, so I couldn’t help but mention the Summoning Game to him. He then told me what kind of chicken blood is used for sacrificing to spirits and gods. He said he’d help us get some, but we’d have to go and collect it at night. We just need to go to the entrance of their village—you can get there by bus.]
[Lin Mushi: I’ve got classes tonight.]
[Ye Zhiyu: I’ve got classes too.]
……
Apart from Fang Qinian and Lu Mian, who hadn’t replied yet, everyone else in the group had classes.
Lu Mian hadn’t replied. She felt this group had their own peculiar logic: if you called them rebellious, they didn’t even skip classes; if you called them rule-abiding, they believed in ritual-specific chicken blood.
Lu Mian did a quick search for Liushu Village online. It was indeed accessible by bus, but it was very remote. To get there from their school, they’d first have to take the subway for over forty minutes, then a bus for over an hour; and it was a half-hour bus ride just to reach the nearest police station.
How could they possibly dare to go to such a remote place at night? Weren’t they afraid of being abducted?
[Fang Qinian: @Lu Mian, do you have classes tonight too?]
[Lu Mian: Yes.]
She didn’t have classes in the evening, but it was too dangerous for her to go; she didn’t even want Fang Qinian to go.
[Lu Mian: It’s very remote, and probably even less safe at night. Can’t you just ask the old man to bring it to you when he goes to the market the next day, and then you can pick it up there? Does the old man only sell chickens for one day?]
[Fang Qinian: But I promised him. I don’t have his number. What if I don’t go and he ends up waiting for nothing? If none of you are free, I can just go myself.]
Fine, she wouldn’t try to persuade him anymore. Let them do as they please.
Lu Mian walked into the classroom. It was lunchtime, and the room was empty. She inserted the straw into her bubble tea cup, but she pushed too hard, tearing the plastic seal. The tea spilled onto the desk, the bright red liquid catching the light.