Chapter 37.2 Red Embroidered Shoes 04
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Seizing the opportunity, Kou Xuanling examined the two lifeless bodies on the ground and the spiritual tools on the table. He stood up and pointed to the butter on the table, “Corpse oil.” Then he gestured towards the two bodies on the ground and added, “Extracted from them.”
Chen Yang suddenly glared at the three individuals present, but their faces still displayed indifference and a lack of concern. “There’s no choice. Corpse oil is necessary for spirit communication. We can only use what’s available, considering they are already dead. Besides, if they hadn’t spilled the corpse oil, they wouldn’t have died. They were foolish and useless. Since we’re all students here, helping a little shouldn’t be a problem.”
Their cold indifference instilled a sense of fear in others.
“What’s the connection between the game and the cards? Once you have the cards, you must play the game, right? Where do the cards come from? How many people have these cards? What are the rules of the game? Tell me everything.”
“Are you sure you want to know now? It’s quite troublesome.”
“Tell me!”
Li Hui was startled. Chen Yang and Kou Xuanling wore dark expressions, clearly displeased. Their strong sense of disgust was barely concealed. Li Hui shrugged, knowing that they would eventually realize that sympathy was useless, and survival was all that mattered.
“The game is demanded by the spirits and ghosts in the school. Every evening from Monday to Thursday, those who receive card numbers must participate, including the teachers. At 10 o’clock each night, the cards and game tasks are drawn. The selected individuals have from 12 to 3 o’clock to complete the game. Those who fail will die.”
“When did this game start?”
“Last month. Initially, it involved only a few members of the student council, but it gradually expanded to the whole school. It will continue to expand. I have no idea how many people are involved now. If you can’t clear the game, you die. The male student who was hanged on the basketball court and the student council president both died because they lost the game. That’s the cause of their deaths.”
As Li Hui spoke, she used a small knife to cut her finger and let the blood drip into the clear water. Then she handed the knife to the boy next to her, who also cut his finger and continued to pass it on.
“The cards and game tasks are drawn at 10 o’clock. In just two short hours, where did you gather the corpse oil?” Kou Xuanling remembered that Li Hui had mentioned the original corpse oil being spilled by the deceased on the ground. His question caught Li Hui’s attention, allowing Chen Yang to collect the blood from the ground.
Fortunately, the classroom was shrouded in darkness, with only a single alcohol lamp illuminating the table. Taking a step back, the figures became indiscernible.
“Of course, we collected it from other corpses,” Li Hui said in astonishment. “Don’t tell me you thought only two people died in this school?” She sneered, “The school is quite efficient at disposing of bodies and adept at concealing information, as always.”
Chen Yang took the small knife and pretended to make a cut, letting the blood of the deceased drip into clear water. While handing the knife to Kou Xuanling, he smeared the blood on his fingers. Then he said, “Since staying in school leads to death, why not run away?”
“We can’t run away. No one can make it to the foot of the mountain. They either die in the mountains or return on their own,” Li Hui said, lifting the blood-stained water and taking a sip. “Alright, after drinking the water, close your eyes and silently repeat the words, ‘Let me see you.’ Those things will come. Don’t open your eyes while chanting. Otherwise, they will detect us.”
“If those things can’t see us, how can you guarantee that the student council president you mentioned will appear, and how will you ask her questions?”
Li Hui took out a small bottle of corpse oil from her pocket and applied a little on her forehead. “Her corpse oil. The human forehead has a spiritual acupoint called the ‘Heavenly Spirit.’ Smearing corpse oil on it can mask our presence. And the student council president will also notice us.”
Chen Yang suddenly felt that Li Hui was even more terrifying than the ghosts themselves. In her eyes, extracting oil from the corpses of their former classmates was just an ordinary occurrence. She had mentioned earlier that the two deceased on the ground died because their corpse oil was spilled. However, she clearly had more corpse oil with her, yet she didn’t bring it out. Instead, she extracted oil from the bodies of the deceased again. She carried out these actions casually, sending shivers down one’s spine.
The other two individuals drank the blood-infused water, but Chen Yang and Kou Xuanling refrained from doing so. With their eyes closed, the group silently repeated the phrase “Let me see you” dozens of times. Suddenly, the temperature in the classroom plummeted, becoming unbearably cold.
The game Li Hui and the others were playing was called “Spirit Communication,” or one could even say it was a game of conjuring ghosts. They gathered a few people in an empty classroom, each dripping a drop of blood into the clear water, and then drinking it. They lit the alcohol lamp and placed the corpse oil on the table. Closing their eyes, they waited for the scent of the oil to permeate the entire room before beginning to silently chant “Let me see you,” without opening their eyes but able to ask questions.
When Chen Yang felt a chilling breath on his neck, he abruptly opened his eyes and turned slightly, locking eyes with a female ghost hovering behind him. The ghost froze for a moment before baring her teeth and lunging at him.
With calm composure, Chen Yang formed the mudra of Vajra Demon Subduing Seal, causing the female ghost to scream and retreat instantly. Kou Xuanling, who was beside him, encountered a similar situation and also managed to drive away the lonely souls and wandering ghosts by employing the same mudra.
Neither of them dripped blood into the clear water or drank from it, yet the summoned lonely souls and wandering ghosts could see them. However, for some unknown reason, these lonely souls and wandering ghosts, though banished by their exorcism hand seal, fearlessly rushed towards them. Typically, ordinary wandering spirits would feel intimidated and withdraw upon encountering a Celestial Master, unless they were malevolent ghosts.
Strangely, the group of lonely souls and wandering ghosts before them did not display fear, nor did they appear to be under any influence. Instead, they seemed enraged. They bared their fangs and claws as they lunged one after another. Growing impatient, Chen Yang was about to command them to leave when, in the next moment, they scattered in a terrified frenzy as if sensing something.
Shortly after, Chen Yang heard the sound of “thuds” approaching from the corridor outside, gradually drawing nearer to the classroom. Li Hui and the others seemed to hear it too. Though they had their eyes closed and couldn’t see anything, the psychological pressure caused by the invisible yet audible presence weighed heavily on them. Their expressions twisted with fear, beads of cold sweat forming on their foreheads, and their lips trembled, but they remained resolute, refusing to flee or abandon their spirit-summoning ritual.
Chen Yang and Kou Xuanling both turned to face the door as the footsteps halted there. The “thudding” sound ceased, replaced by the faint dripping of water. Of course, Chen Yang wasn’t foolish enough to believe it was just water dripping. He remembered the school council president was dismembered.
After a brief pause, the classroom door was violently struck, producing resounding thuds. One of the boys among the three couldn’t contain his fear and let out a startled cry. The door-pounding ceased momentarily, only to intensify with even more frenzied strikes in the next second. Accompanying the pounding were the “thud-thud” sounds. Eventually, the door couldn’t withstand the force and was forced open.
A slender, slightly distorted black figure appeared at the doorway, leaping forward with footsteps that echoed “thud-thud” upon landing. The three individuals behind trembled with overwhelming fear, unable to open their eyes or make a sound.
The shadow halted at the doorway, then darted towards Chen Yang. The lamplight illuminated her appearance. Her face was discolored, darkened, with maggots crawling in her eye sockets. She was draped in red cloth, her limbs exposed, but giving an impression of disjointedness. As she drew closer, the sound of dripping water grew increasingly distinct. Chen Yang lowered his gaze and caught sight of the blood droplets falling to the ground from the red cloth draped over her.
She stared at Chen Yang, seemingly puzzled by the absence of human vitality but detecting the scent of her own corpse oil emanating from him. She leaped towards Kou Xuanling, pressing her face close to his, carefully scrutinizing him. As she moved, the red cloth on her body formed an eerie arc due to inertia, as if she lacked a torso.
Kou Xuanling remained relatively still, prompting her to jump to the next person, continuing her probing. Among the other three individuals, aside from Li Hui, their psychological endurance was lacking, and they trembled with fear, almost arousing suspicion from the student council president.
When the president circled around to Li Hui’s side, one of her eyeballs fell out, landing on Li Hui’s shoulder and rolling down, leaving a trace of blood. Li Hui seemed to sense something and displayed a frightened expression. Nonetheless, she still spoke up and asked, “Who informed the school administration about my situation last year, resulting in my parents being summoned?”
The student council president stared intently at Li Hui for a while before hoarsely responding, “Guan Xinyu.”
Li Hui suddenly clenched her jaws, revealing an extremely angry expression. Surprisingly, a sardonic smile appeared on the student council president’s rigid, decaying face. Her name was Guan Xinyu.
Next, it was Chen Yang’s turn to question the president, “Where is your torso?”
“On the back hill.”
Kou Xuanling: “Where do the school’s ghosts reside during the daytime?”
“I don’t know.”
Kou Xuanling: “Why do the school’s ghosts dare to impersonate Yin soldiers?”
“Fearlessness in ignorance.”
Li Hui: “You can only ask one question, don’t waste time!”
It was then the next person’s turn to ask a question. He posed an irrelevant query. As it reached the final person, nerves got the better of him, leaving his mind blank and causing him to stammer. Impatient, Li Hui urged him on, and the boy blurted out, “Who killed you?”
Instantly, the classroom turned chilling and terrifying. The student council president’s demeanor transformed into a menacing horror as she lunged towards the boy, “You killed me!”
When seeking answers from a ghost, it was customary to avoid inquiring about grievances or causes of death, as doing so risked attracting the ghost’s attention. Unfortunately, the final boy violated this taboo, particularly considering the school council president’s tragic demise.
Li Hui hastily shouted, “Make her leave! Leave! Guan Xinyu, please leave! Guan Xinyu, please leave!”
While summoning a ghost was relatively easy, it was much more difficult to send one away. The student council president detected their deception, making it even more unlikely for her to depart willingly. “You’re tricking me! Give me your bodies, give them to me!”
Realizing they couldn’t drive the student council president away, Li Hui and the other boy took advantage of her distraction with the third boy and quickly opened the classroom door to escape. After all, it was the foolish one who provoked the wrath of the evil spirit. Why should they stay and face the risk of being killed?
Chen Yang furrowed his brow, too preoccupied to pay attention to Li Hui and the others. He approached the boy whose ankle was held by the student council president, retrieved the Five Thunders talisman drawn by Mao Xiaoli, and threw it at the student council president, igniting the talisman with a mudra. Seizing the opportunity, Kou Xuanling stabbed at the student council president’s body with a peachwood sword but only hit empty space.
Chen Yang reminded him, “She has no torso.”
Kou Xuanling lifted the red cloth covering the student council president’s body and glimpsed that indeed, there were only limbs and a head, with an empty space where the torso should be. The student council president immediately smashed through the glass and fled. Chen Yang and Kou Xuanling attempted to chase after him but were hindered by the terrified boy who clung to their legs, pleading, “Save me! Master, save me!”
Frustrated, Chen Yang kicked the boy away and approached the window but found no trace of the president’s body. So, together with Kou Xuanling, they ran out of the classroom and downstairs in search of the student council president. The frightened boy weakly followed behind them, his face streaming with tears.
Strangely enough, as they descended the stairs, they didn’t encounter a single lost soul or wandering ghost, nor did they sense any ghostly aura. Only a strong Yin energy permeated the air. However, back in the dormitory, they had clearly seen Yin soldiers passing through. Although those Yin soldiers were merely disguises adopted by lonely souls and wandering ghosts, it was still odd not to spot even a single one at this moment.
When they reached the ground floor, a body suddenly plummeted from the rooftop. Lowering their gaze, they discovered it was Li Hui, her eyes wide open in a terrified stare. Her torso had vanished, and blood quickly spread around her.
Chen Yang looked up and saw a figure on the rooftop—it was the student council president. They had assumed she was fleeing downward, but it turned out she had escaped to the rooftop. It was unfortunate that they couldn’t sense any ghostly aura in this place, even their compass had failed them.
Kou Xuanling: “We can’t catch up. It’s almost dawn.”
Three more deaths had occurred overnight, but they still remained perplexed about the happenings at Jinshui High School. It had now become even more complicated, involving impostors of Yin soldiers and the so-called games. One problem had barely been resolved before another arose.
Chen Yang: “There’s another boy who should still be alive, the one who went to the back hill. Once it’s daylight, we’ll go and check the back hill.”
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