Chapter 64: Yucai High School
The diary ended there.
Xiang Min's records stopped on that page—just as her life had ended that day.
Tan Manyu felt a weight in her chest. "Xiang Min didn't kill herself over love. She was driven to it after discovering the principal's secret."
What had changed in her eyes? What had those "kind" teachers and classmates done to her after she learned the truth?
Li Zhi slowly scanned the dorm room.
Dusty, mildewed, littered with dead leaves—but no lingering resentment. No ghostly presence.
The warning alarm in her pocket remained silent. Xiang Min's spirit wasn't here.
As Tan Manyu said, the system never wasted NPCs who could become vengeful spirits. They were obstacles for players. Xiang Min—a pivotal NPC—should have haunted this place after her suicide.
Li Zhi closed the diary and returned it to the drawer. "Let's go."
Afternoon classes.
Li Zhi studied Xie Cong through the rows of desks.
In Xiang Min's diary, he'd been a rebellious but kind-hearted boy—the "bad student" who helped her clean the blackboard, who gave her an apple on Christmas.
Had Xiang Min liked him? Probably. His name peppered her entries. She'd worried over his punishments, debated tutoring him, even died for him after revealing that fatal secret.
Yet she'd been too insecure to confess.
And now?
Did Xie Cong remember the girl who'd died because of him?
After class, Li Zhi returned his borrowed pen. "Xie Cong."
He turned with a polished smile. "Yes, Li Zhi?"
A perfect vessel.
Xiang Min would've wept to see him like this.
Li Zhi handed over the pen. "Thanks for lending it."
"No problem." His smile didn't waver. "Helping classmates is natural."
Li Zhi mirrored his tone. "Just like how you helped Xiang Min."
"Xiang... Min?" His expression flickered—a crack in the mask. But just as quickly, it smoothed over. His eyes rolled unnaturally before refocusing.
"Yes. Just like helping Xiang Min."
Night. Empty classroom.
Zhou Jianzhang's group had rushed off to play the Dormitory Mirror Game. Liao Ze had again invited Li Zhi to join the Lantern Spirit summoning—his eyes glinting with something unsettling.
She'd declined.
Now, with the classroom cleared, her team rearranged the desks into a seven-pointed formation.
"Seven Corners Game," Li Zhi explained. "We walk the sequence. When the seventh person reaches the starting point—where no one should be—they'll announce the game's end."
She assigned positions:
- Tan Manyu
- Pink Hair
- White Hair
- Xu Yiran
- Pei Pei
- Lian Qinglin
- Herself
"No matter what you hear or see—don't break formation."
Lights off. Darkness swallowed the room.
One by one, they moved—shoulder taps, measured steps.
When Li Zhi (Position 7) reached the starting point, she coughed—signaling the first round's end.
Then she walked toward Tan Manyu (Position 2).
A chill crept up her spine—from behind.
From Position 1.
Where no one should be.
She didn't turn.
The cycle continued.
Pei Pei (Position 6) reached Lian Qinglin (Position 7). Her trembling hand tapped his shoulder.
As Lian Qinglin moved toward Position 1, his steps faltered.
A whisper: "Zhi Jie... Position 1... isn't empty."
Silence.
Then—
"What does it look like?" Li Zhi asked calmly.
"Huh?!"
"The ghost. Describe it."
Lian Qinglin nearly choked. "Tall. Thin. Not... human-shaped?"
A wet, creaking sound.
"IT'S TURNING ITS HEAD—OH GOD JUST THE HEAD—"
Li Zhi cut in: "That's your spot. Evict it."
"WHAT?!"
"Rules are rules. Only you can move now."
The shadowy figure began shifting toward Position 2.
Lian Qinglin lunged, flinging a handful of Shrinking Powder—a 799-point道具 from his last run.
The figure stiffened, then contorted, shrinking rapidly—
Down to the size of a bean.
Lian Qinglin stomped. "GAME OVER!"
Lights on.
Li Zhi checked her desk's score: 20 → 40.
Success.
Post-game.
Lian Qinglin scoured the floor for the "bean ghost." "Did I crush it to dust?"
Pink Hair gaped. "You just YEETED a ghost?!"
Li Zhi stared at the window where Xiang Min had jumped.
"Where is she?"
Tan Manyu joined her. "You're still looking for Xiang Min?"
Li Zhi nodded. "No ghost in her dorm. None here. Where did her spirit go?"