Chapter 48

Chapter 48

The studio spanned approximately a hundred square meters, with light beige wooden floors giving it a spacious look. Full-length mirrors covered the walls on the east and west, while the north and south walls featured large windows and ballet bars. The studio didn't have the musty scent of prolonged disuse; instead, Li Hong detected a faint fragrance, likely a girl's perfume, upon their entry.

In short, it was a well-equipped dance studio.

The space was more than adequate for Li Lumeng, Duan Ying, and Yu Qinwen. It could even accommodate a dozen more people.

What was odd, though, was the studio's lighting. Despite its many windows, the room was unusually dim — not the warm dusk light one expects at twilight but a deeper, impending night darkness.

It was still late summer, so darkness usually only set around seven or eight in the evening. When they had entered the building, it was just six, and it was still bright outside. So, why was this room so dark?

As Li Hong turned to share his observations with the group, he noticed similar expressions of bewilderment on their faces.

Duan Ying's boyfriend, Xu Chen, even remarked, "There really is a dance studio here?"

Li Hong found Xu's statement odd. After all, wasn't their purpose to check out this studio? Xu's words hinted at some other underlying intent.

But Li Hong didn't dwell on it then.

"I only found out later that they weren't there to see the dance studio because they had no idea there was one!" Li Hong's voice filled with regret as he recalled his naivety. "... The whole 'checking out the dance studio' excuse was a lie they made up to get me to accompany them. They had no clue about what was truly on the top floor of Wenxin Building."

"What happened next?" Xiao Siyu pressed anxiously, "Did you see anything unusual in the classroom?"

The questions seemed to evoke memories Li Hong was reluctant to revisit. His face turned even paler, shrouded in a ghostly pallor, his voice trembling, "After that... in the dance mirror, I saw a 'reflection' of myself moving in the exact opposite way I was."

The dance studio at the top floor had mirrors on both ends, which can create an effect—multiplying reflections, producing countless identical, synchronized images.

Such a sight can be unnerving, so some dance studios avoid this design.

Observing countless reflections of himself, Li Hong wondered if the room's disuse was due to this disconcerting effect. He waved his right hand, and all reflections reciprocated with the opposite hand.

However, considering the mirrored environment, everything should appear reversed. A fleeting thought crossed Li Hong's mind: What if one of the reflections mirrored his exact motion?

Such a thing was unlikely unless there were supernatural forces at play.

Dismissing the idea as mere fantasy, Li Hong chuckled. But in the next moment, he noticed one reflection did exactly as he had imagined — raising the same hand as him, the right one.

Despite the myriad of identical reflections, this anomaly stood out, inducing a mix of astonishment and skin-crawling eeriness.

Then, one by one, all other "Li Hongs" in the mirror began mirroring his exact motion.

In the end, the real Li Hong outside the mirror appeared to be the odd one out, making him feel like the misfit, or even... a ghost.

Li Hong had previously indulged in some ghost-summoning games, thinking himself fearless since no horror film ever spooked him.

But now, after blinking twice to confirm he wasn't seeing things, he was genuinely terrified, taking several steps back.

Every "Li Hong" in the mirror mimicked him precisely. When he looked behind him, Li Lumeng, Duan Ying, and Yu Qinwen were still standing, completely motionless.

"Did you... see that?" Li Lumeng's face was as pale as Li Hong's, her voice shaking, "There's something off with our reflections."

Everyone present had seen it.

The shocked girls snapped back to reality and screamed, rushing out of the dance studio and heading for the exit, with Xu Chen and Li Hong right on their heels.

Descending the stairs, they encountered no issues and quickly reached the bustling ground floor filled with students leaving school.

The bright lighting downstairs contrasted sharply with the darkness they had just left. With the late summer sun still high, it felt almost midday outside. In this well-lit, crowded setting, the usually brave Li Hong finally regained his composure. Looking at the shaken girls, he blurted out, "Damn, did we just encounter a ghost? What the hell was that?"

"I'm not sure..." Xu Chen shook his head, "At first, I thought I was hallucinating, but all of us saw the same thing. It's unlikely we all had the same illusion, right?"

Li Lumeng, Duan Ying, and Yu Qinwen, still catching their breath, offered no opinion.

"Lumeng, considering how odd that room is, maybe you should reconsider practicing dance there," Li Hong, glancing back at the top of Wenxin Building, mused aloud.

Given their vantage point, they should've had a clear view of the building, and considering the size of the dance studio, it shouldn't be missed. But no matter how hard Li Hong tried, he couldn't glimpse the studio from where they stood.

The more he thought about it, the stranger it felt. Li Lumeng, Duan Ying, and Yu Qinwen also made their exit using different excuses, all feeling it best to avoid the sixth-floor rooftop.

Unbeknownst to them, from that day onward, eerie occurrences started to manifest around Li Hong.

For instance, objects around him would inexplicably vanish, seemingly hidden as if by some spectral force, only to reappear later — in places he had already searched. And then there was the burn on his chin. Initially, it was just a small red patch, but every night it would sear with a biting pain, as though someone was gnawing at it.

Yet these oddities paled in comparison to his most terrifying realization: Li Hong believed he could now see ghosts.

"Do you feel you can see ghosts?" Xie Yinxue interrupted his narrative, "Or are you certain you're actually seeing them every day?"

The two scenarios were vastly different.

The former might be mere hallucinations stemming from paranoia, while the latter implied that Li Hong had somehow gained the ability to see the dead — a feat not ordinarily possible.

"I..." Hesitating for a moment, Li Hong continued, "I'm sure I see them daily."

Despite his assertion, his tone lacked full conviction.

Xie Yinxue probed further with more assertiveness, "Did you see one today? When?"

"Just now, right before I came in," Li Hong lowered his gaze, pondering for a few seconds before adding, "There was a ghost in a red dress outside this coffee shop, following me."

"A ghost in a red dress?" Liu Buhua's ears perked up at the mention, "What did she look like?"

Everyone in the room, apart from Xie Yinxue, looked at him with a mixture of emotions, as if unsure how to react.

"There was no ghost in red," Xie Yinxue said before Liu Buhua could continue, pointing to Liu's phone on the table, indicating the time, "I arrived here at 2:50. You came at 2:53. Now it's 3 o'clock. In the past ten minutes, within a kilometer radius, there have only been three individuals in red — two women and one man. Disregarding the man, there was indeed one woman in red who could be considered ghost-like, but she didn't follow you and wasn't near this cafe."

"The girl in the red dress outside the cafe is alive, not a ghost."

Xie Yinxue rarely spoke at such length. If Li Hong wasn't his guest, and clarifying things for a guest's peace of mind wasn't crucial, he wouldn't bother explaining so much.

Liu Buhua looked disappointed.

Li Hong, in disbelief, responded, "How could she be a human? She clearly..."

"You've indeed been plagued by malevolent forces lately, and the wound on your chin is proof," Xie Yinxue took another sip from his pearl milk tea, "However, upon assessing your aura, I've found it to be quite resilient. You haven't reached a state where you'd encounter spirits during daylight. If at all, it would only be at night."

Li Hong wished Xie hadn't added that last bit.

But when he spoke again, it was about his burn, "Mr. Xie, you mentioned earlier that my injury is a burn and that its location, on the chin, is quite unusual. Can you explain why?"

Xie Yinxue responded with a question of his own: "Have you ever heard of corpse fat?"

Both Li Hong and Xiao Siyu simultaneously echoed, "Corpse fat?"

"I've heard of it," Lv Shuo eagerly raised his hand, "When I was a kid, I loved eating spicy strips. To prevent me from consuming junk food, my mom scared me by saying they were made from corpse fat. It terrified me, but they were too delicious to resist. As I grew older, I realized it was a ridiculous myth, and I wasn't scared anymore."

After sharing, he nudged Xiao Siyu with his elbow and asked, "Didn't you hear such stories when you were young?"

"No," both Xiao Siyu and Li Hong replied in unison, "We loved KFC as kids. Our mothers told us that KFC used mutant chickens that could grow eight wings."

"And there's nothing to fear about that," Li Hong added, chuckling.

Lu Shuo: “...”

The level of household consumption meant their food preferences varied. Still, the absurd tales designed to scare them were oddly similar, and during their childhood, they wholeheartedly believed them.

After hearing their discussion, Xie Yin Xue remarked, “Using corpse fat for spicy sticks isn’t entirely out of the question.”

All three looked at Xie Yin Xue in stunned disbelief.

“However, such spicy sticks would be so unique that mass production would be impossible. You wouldn’t be able to taste them,” the young man calmly noted, “As for chickens with eight wings…”

Why does Xie Yin Xue sound as if he could actually accomplish it?

Thankfully, Xie Yin Xue didn’t go on with his incredulous statements. He returned to the main topic and elaborated on corpse fat: “It’s difficult to extract and is seen as a malevolent substance. Using it for spicy sticks might be a bit of a waste.”

Liu Bu Hua nodded in agreement, adding, “It's perfect for scented candles.”

The rest: “...”

Xie Yin Xue glanced at Liu Bu Hua, signaling him with his eyes to be more discreet. He then turned to Li Hong and said, “The method to refine corpse fat involves roasting it under the chin with fire, but it requires skill. Not many Taoist practices in our country use it, and I don’t know much. But in Thailand, it's often used in black magic spells by highly skilled sorcerers, so I think—”

Li Hong exclaimed in despair, “...Was I cursed with black magic?”

“No.” Xie Yin Xue paused, slightly taken aback, before chuckling, “What made you think that?”

Liu Bu Hua finally began to talk more sensibly, “Apart from black magic, Thai amulets and Guman Thong figures are also often related to corpse fat.”

“You mentioned the other day that you smelled a peculiar scent when you entered that dance room, right?”

Xie Yin Xue lifted his sleeve, waving it in front of Li Hong, asking, “Does it smell similar to this?”

Li Hong took a deep breath and nodded, “Yes, exactly! The scent I smelled that day is just like yours, Mr. Xie!”

“That’s it, then. The fragrance you noticed is unmistakably from corpse fat,” Xie Yin Xue confirmed, “To determine its origin... I need to visit the sixth floor of Wen Xin building at your school.”

Although Li Hong was hesitant to revisit the eerie dance room, he decided to lead the way, guiding Xie Yin Xue and the others towards the Wen Xin building.

Perhaps due to the walk, the strange fragrance lingering on Xie Yin Xue became more pronounced, enveloping them all.

Along the way, Lu Shuo couldn't suppress his curiosity and asked, “Mr. Xie, is the scent on you truly from corpse fat?”

“Yes, to be precise, it's the scent of female corpse fat,” Xie Yin Xue confirmed, and after a brief pause, he took out several red threads from his pocket, “I almost forgot how malevolent the scent can be. Wear these red strings for a few days to ward off spirits.”

Lastly, Xie Yin Xue lowered his eyes in remorse and sighed, “I have a human fat lamp at home. I lit it briefly to enjoy its scent before leaving, which is why I have this odor on me. My apologies.”

Lu Shuo: “...”