The Ghost in White

I told them that from now on, the three of us should not act together, as Deng Chao was likely hiding in the shadows observing us.

I asked Huang Xiaotao to first drive away from the school, then find a place to park the car before coming back. I went to the library by myself and stayed there for a while. With so many people around, it was relatively safe here. I waited until it got dark outside without having dinner, then hurried to the abandoned teaching building.

The small woods around the abandoned teaching building looked creepy in the dark of night. Walking on the road, I really felt a bit spooked, afraid that Deng Chao would suddenly jump out from the dark and stab me to death.

The saying goes true that it's not the thief that scares you, it's the anticipation of his arrival. I now deeply understood its meaning!

As soon as I walked into the teaching building, someone grabbed me from the side, scaring me so much I almost had a heart attack. The person whispered: "Hey, Song Yang, it's me!"

"Dali, you almost scared me to death." I let out a long sigh of relief as I clutched my chest.

"Was anyone following you on the way here?" Xiaotao asked.

"No one," I replied confidently. I had been carefully listening for footsteps behind me the whole way here, so I was certain.

Dali was about to turn on his flashlight but I stopped him. "Don't turn on the flashlight. It will expose our location. Oh right, did you get the stuff I asked you to buy?"

"Here, what do you need this for?" Dali handed me a bag.

"You'll find out soon." I replied.

We groped our way up the abandoned building in the dark. Unable to see the path ahead, the other two clung onto my clothes, while I used the "Profound Night Vision" technique - my night vision ability was ten times that of ordinary people!

And I'm not bragging here. I learned from human anatomy books that the human retina contains rod and cone cells. The latter concentrate in the center of the pupil and are used for daytime vision. The former distribute around the periphery of the pupil and are used for night vision. However, rod cells are very sensitive, so when people go from darkness into bright light, their eyes feel a strong stinging pain.

I've been taking a special eye-brightening powder for 49 days. And I did special visual training, so the number of rod cells in my eyes is ten times more than average people. I can also flexibly adjust the size of my pupils. Therefore, with just a tiny bit of light in the dark, I can see objects clearly.

As we walked up the stairs, Dali asked me: "Song Yang, how is your night vision so good?"

"It's trained," I replied.

"What? You can train for that too? How did you train it?" Dali was surprised.

"Eat more carrots," I joked.

We arrived on the third floor. I told them to stand guard by the stairs without making any sound. This abandoned building had only one staircase, so if Deng Chao came up to kill me, he would definitely pass through here.

"I'm going over first," I said.

"Be careful!" Xiaotao urged.

"Don't worry."

I went to the fourth music classroom. The door was blocked off with police tape, but I ducked under it and went in. Of course, the corpse had been removed, but there were still some dark blood stains on the floor. Moonlight shone in through the window, the curtains fluttering slightly, giving the room a particularly desolate and bleak feel.

I took out a small bag of wheat flour from my bag and sprinkled a thin layer around the piano legs and near the doors and windows. Just in case the female ghost really showed up tonight, at least I'd be prepared. Wheat flour has a mild nature and positive energy, so it can sense yin spirits without provoking them.

My grandfather had taught me some simple ways to deal with ghosts. Actually, in ancient times, exorcism was not just the specialty of monks and Taoists. Every trade had some similar methods, like carpenters using apotropaic spells, stonemasons burning rhubarb when mining in the mountains, and butchers chanting sutras for the souls of the slaughtered animals. Those who worked with corpses all day like undertakers naturally had their own tricks too. It's just that in modern times, as traditional trades gradually got replaced by new ones, these occult techniques faded from public view.

To be honest, when I heard Dali talk about this campus ghost story in the daytime, I really felt a little spooked. The female ghost was a huge uncertainty tonight!

I looked out the window and noticed the problem - there was a four-way intersection outside, and many old locust trees around the building. This place had very heavy yin energy, no wonder it was haunted!

The moonlight tonight was great. From outside one could see clearly into the classroom, but looking out from the classroom, the view was obscured by the tree leaves. If Deng Chao came, he would spot me first.

So I couldn't just stand here dumbly. I took out a small brush and pretended to investigate the scene, while keeping an eye on the window from the corner of my eyes.

Time ticked by second by second, and the two hours felt agonizingly long as I waited impatiently!

Just then, I heard rustling sounds in the quiet classroom, and strangely felt a chill down my spine. I slowly turned my neck and found a woman in a white gown with long hair standing there, her lower body almost completely transparent so you couldn't really see it - no wonder people said ghosts had no feet.

But she did have feet, because I noticed very faint footprints left on the wheat flour!

I stood there stiffly, heart thumping like crazy. This was my first time encountering such a scene. The female ghost didn't look at me. She turned around and gently traced the edge of the piano with her fingertips. Her skin was as pale as paper without a trace of color, and had dark burnt cracks all over, as if her whole body was pieced together from corpse parts.

I tried calling out softly, "Xia Mo?"

My voice was very low and trembling from nervousness.

The female ghost slowly turned her head and stared at me with a pair of white eyeballs without pupils. I noticed her pale face was also covered in traces of bright red blood.

I put my palms together very politely and said, "Senior sister Xia Mo, I'm so sorry. I have to borrow your territory tonight to catch a criminal. Please accept this little token from your junior brother."

Then I took out a stack of yellow paper from my bag and got ready to light it with a lighter.

But no matter how I tried, the yellow paper wouldn't catch fire. The corner would burn for a second before being blown out by the yin wind. I'd heard that if the yellow paper won't light, it means the ghost refuses your "bribe". I immediately broke into a cold sweat.

In the end I gave up. When I looked up, the female ghost was gone. Just then, Dali's loud voice echoed in the hallway, "Ghost! There's a ghost!"

I muttered "Damn it!" under my breath.

Just like people, ghosts have a sense of territory. She definitely wouldn't be happy about the intrusion into her domain. I wasn't worried about anything else, just afraid that the female ghost would come out halfway to chase us away.

I immediately rushed out of the music classroom. Xiaotao pointed his gun at me, while Dali crouched on the floor shivering in fear. I quickly put my hands up, "Don't shoot, it's me!"

Xiaotao lowered his gun after recognizing me.

"Phew, you're here. I was scared to death just now. A woman in white floated past," Dali's voice sounded miserable, as if crying.

"I saw it too! If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it," said Xiaotao. "That female ghost floated by gently like she was blown by the wind, right in front of us."

"Let's retreat!" I said.

"Retreat?" They stared at me wide-eyed.

"I mean, you guys retreat. Go ambush by a classroom near the entrance on the first floor. I'll continue staying here. Call me if anything happens, just ring once. " I instructed.

They looked at each other, and finally Xiaotao said, "Why don't we all go to the fourth music classroom?"

"No, Deng Chao may be watching outside the window. You absolutely can't show your face. Go downstairs, hurry!" I urged anxiously.

The two headed downstairs. I returned to the fourth music classroom and looked out the window. The swaying tree shadows outside, the empty road lit by the dim streetlamps - not a soul could be seen.

The moment I turned around, I suddenly saw a white figure standing silently at the door, her long hair cascading down completely covering her face.

I broke into a cold sweat, then realized something was wrong after recovering from the shock. The figure just now was solid, and her build was also slightly different from Xia Mo's.

I almost cried out loud as I realized that the "female ghost" seen by Dali and Xiaotao, and the one I just saw, were actually Deng Chao in disguise! That bastard really had deep schemes!

And at this very moment, it was just him and me left on this floor!