Chapter 172

Chapter 172

◎Ghost Wall◎

Xue Yang was sentenced, and the official explanation given to the public was not that she had a seven-month-old fetus made into a lingering ghost to harm others, but that she had purchased illegal drugs to replace the medication Xi Jiangyue was taking, using the time difference to create an alibi for herself and fabricate the illusion of Xi Jiangyue's suicide.

Although it wasn't a death sentence, the penalties handed down by the Management Bureau were severe, especially considering she was now covered in painful, festering sores, both terrifying and agonizing. Living was worse than death, but she couldn't bring herself to end it, so she had to endure the punishment and suffering.

All her assets had been sold off, and even that wasn't enough to cover the compensation for the contract termination. Her family had never stepped forward, let alone helped her bear the debt.

Netizens following the case thought they could only watch fate punish Xue Yang, but this punishment certainly didn't include legal consequences, as the law requires substantial evidence, not supernatural speculation. Surprisingly, she was actually arrested and imprisoned.

Many sighed, saying that this circle was indeed as chaotic as the rumors suggested. As a public figure, constantly under the scrutiny of the outside world, she still dared to commit murder, and even appeared unfazed in front of the camera, shedding fake tears when the deceased was mentioned.

Her acting here was way better than in her TV shows.

After composing himself, Yu Weichi also appeared. He kept it brief, saying he never believed Xi Jiangyue would kill herself, so he couldn't accept her death. Now that the real culprit had been brought to justice, he would establish a charity fund in Jiangyue's name and had made a will, stating that all his future assets would be donated to the foundation.

Whether others believed it or not, time would eventually prove everything.

Initially, netizens were skeptical, thinking he was putting on a show to salvage his reputation. But as the years passed, the Jiangyue Foundation's reputation improved significantly, helping more and more people, providing aid in healthcare and education to disaster areas.

Just as he had said back then, for his prematurely deceased wife, he would dedicate his entire life, praying for her to accumulate merit and blessings, in exchange for a peaceful and smooth next life.

The biggest surprise in this story was Shu Rui. No one expected her relationship with Xi Jiangyue, nor that she would stand up for her. With the collapse of a little white flower, Shu Rui, though not the only actress of her type in the industry, was undoubtedly the most famous.

She was also ambitious and willing to fight for her career, seizing the opportunity, which naturally propelled her to success.

Shu Rui's agency was the most regretful. Who would have thought that after her contract expired and she left, Shu Rui would skyrocket to fame? Many of Xi Jiangyue's old fans transferred their affection to her, believing she was cultivated by Xi Jiangyue and was also grateful, so they naturally had a positive bias towards her.

Moreover, Shu Rui didn't stir up trouble. She knew that humility was the key to longevity in the industry, so she was very careful in all aspects, ensuring her words and actions didn't give others any leverage. Although there were many who criticized her, saying she climbed up by stepping on Xi Jiangyue, such comments were quickly drowned out by her fans.

Shu Rui's career continued to rise, which led to Ji Nanxing's cousin proposing to her repeatedly, only to be postponed.

Having just tasted the joy of her career, who would willingly be tied down by marriage?

Fortunately, Yun Shuan genuinely liked Shu Rui and truly supported her, guarding the home front. Although they hadn't married, it was better than those in the family who hadn't even found a partner. Gradually, the Yun family stopped pressing the issue.

Besides, with the popular trope of a wealthy young master chasing a female celebrity, the longer and more sincerely Yun Shuan pursued her, the more people rooted for them, and even the Yun family's business saw a significant boost.

Ji Nanxing's aunt often lamented to her sister-in-law, saying Xiao Bao had mentioned that Shu Rui had a fortune-bringing destiny. Although she hadn't officially joined the family, the Yun family had indeed benefited from her.

Who wouldn't like someone who could bring fortune to their family? Even she herself enjoyed the company's dividends, so the Yun family grew to like Shu Rui even more.

Ji Nanxing was helpless. He said Shu Rui could bring fortune to his cousin because they complemented each other, achieving one plus one greater than two, rather than dragging each other down. There was no such thing as a fortune-bringing destiny, but seeing the family happy, he didn't say much. After all, family harmony and well-being were what mattered.

After handling Xi Jiangyue's case, August was nearly over. There were only three days left until the Ghost Gate closed, marking the end of the Ghost Month. However, the final days were especially chaotic, as not all lingering ghosts were willing to leave after coming to the mortal world to visit their loved ones.

If their loved ones were thriving, they wouldn't cling to regrets. But if they weren't doing well, even knowing they would face severe punishment for staying, they might still try to remain.

Some, tasting mortal freedom, chose to vanish rather than reincarnate, seeking to escape the Ghost Gate. If they didn't harm the living, it might be tolerable, but they often harbored greed. Initially, it was for freedom, but eventually, it would be for survival.

As their spiritual power gradually dissipated, they might not be willing to simply vanish. Once greed took hold, the living would be harmed.

Even Ji Nanxing wasn't idle. Although he wasn't assigned a district like the Management Bureau's team members, he still wandered around randomly every night, helping with patrols.

Since Xiao Ye mentioned wanting to eat the fried chicken racks at the school gate, Ji Nanxing decided to stroll around the school area. There were many low-rise residential buildings, winding alleys, and a mix of people, making it a breeding ground for dark things. It had been some time since he last burned talismans for the school's coward.

Before the holiday, he went to place the talisman and burned incense, telling Coward that he might not come over during the summer vacation and would see him after school started. But now that he happened to be passing by, he decided to check on how Coward was doing.

However, schools are generally not open to the public during holidays, and there are guards patrolling every night. The two had to climb over the wall.

With a push, Xiao Ye stepped on the wall and scaled it. He perched on the wall, intending to pull Ji Nanxing up, but unexpectedly, Ji Nanxing ran and jumped, scaling the wall more smoothly than him and landing in the school's back mountain.

Xiao Ye perched on the wall, tsking: "If the dean saw this, I'd be blamed, definitely saying I corrupted you, even teaching you to climb walls."

Ji Nanxing looked up at Xiao Ye sitting on the wall: "You coming down or what?"

Xiao Ye laughed: "I'm coming down, come and catch me."

After saying that, he leapt with arms wide open towards Ji Nanxing, but unexpectedly, Ji Nanxing, cold-hearted, sidestepped and didn't catch him.

Xiao Ye caught his balance and then looked at him with a hurt expression: "I treat you like my first love, but you break my heart every time."

Ji Nanxing was not in the mood for his antics: "Hurry up, after burning the incense, we'll go eat your favorite fried chicken."

Xiao Ye: "It's clearly your favorite."

The two walked to the rundown building with flashlights. Except for the incessant cicada sounds, the place was eerily quiet, as if time had forgotten it, still broken and abandoned. Because it had been almost two months since the holiday and no one had come, the weeds had grown wildly, almost reaching half a person's height.

Xiao Ye walked in front, trampling the weeds at the base to prevent Ji Nanxing, who was following behind, from getting his feet cut. Although these weeds might seem insignificant, they are quite sharp on the legs. With his delicate skin, his classmate would probably get a scratch with just a slight touch.

Seeing the person leading the way in front, Ji Nanxing reached out and grabbed the hem of his clothes.

The moment the clothes were pulled, Xiao Ye's forceful step on the weeds paused slightly. Taking advantage of the fact that the person behind couldn't see his expression, he didn't hide the smile on his face.

Ji Naonao wouldn't know how much such a seemingly insignificant little action tickled his heart, the gentle tug felt like it held his heart.

Does Ji Naonao know how much he sometimes unintentionally flirts, how torturous it is.

Ji Nanxing, walking behind him, didn't know. He only knew that there wasn't much moonlight tonight, and he relied on the flashlight to light the path under his feet. Although it wasn't completely dark, there were weeds everywhere and piles of broken bricks, making it easy to trip and not very easy to walk.

Anyway, there was someone leading the way, so he could save some effort and be lazy.

Xiao Ye slowed down his steps, carefully flattening each weed, and walked all the way to the rundown building, thus clearing a path.

Hearing the noise, Coward peeked out from the broken window and, seeing it was Ji Nanxing, happily floated out: "Young Celestial Master!"

He used to be alone, waiting for the day to break and the night to fall. Back then, he didn't think much of it, sometimes spacing out for days on end. When the school was in session, he would listen to the noise and activity, and when the school was on holiday, he would close his eyes and sleep.

This is how he had been living for so many years, but until a Young Celestial Master came to this rundown building.

Although they didn't come often, occasionally they would come over to roast something, cook hot pot, laugh and play around, he felt like life had returned to the joy he had when he was alive, not to mention being able to eat the Young Celestial Master's incense every week.

But a summer vacation, such a long two months, he was lonely guarding here, watching the weeds grow inch by inch, he realized that time was never the hard thing, the hard thing was the silence after the excitement.

Ji Nanxing looked at the ghost above and said to Xiao Ye: "You wait here, I'll come down after burning the incense."

Xiao Ye handed him the flashlight: "Be careful when going upstairs."

Ji Nanxing hummed in agreement, went upstairs, and Coward floated around him: "Didn't you say you would come after the school started? Don't worry about me, I've been by myself for so many years, it's okay not to eat incense for a month or two."

Ji Nanxing: "The Ghost Gate is about to close, it's a bit chaotic recently, so I came to check, is everything okay at the school?"

Although the school is on holiday, there are still senior three students taking make-up classes, but senior three students during the summer vacation don't need to attend evening self-study, they leave directly after the afternoon classes end, and there are not many people in the school at night, so we are afraid that ghosts might come in and cause trouble.

However, generally, foreign ghosts can't enter the school, the school's magnetic field is special, but there are always exceptions, since we are here, let's ask.

The coward shook his head as he inhaled the incense: "No, not really nothing. There was this one time I saw an unfamiliar teacher wandering around the school. It was a bit scary, so I didn’t dare to look too long. But I only saw him that one time, and haven’t seen him since."

Ji Nanxing couldn’t decide who was more afraid of ghosts—him or Xie Paner, even though he himself was a ghost: "When did you see him?"

The coward thought for a moment: "About seven or eight days ago?"

He didn’t used to keep track of time, but now he does, because by keeping track, he knows when school will start again, and when the Young Celestial Master and the others will return.

Ji Nanxing nodded, checked the talismans on the wall to make sure they were still intact, and then said to the coward: "School’s starting soon, and I’ll come back to burn incense for you then."

The coward nodded eagerly, not asking him to stay and chat, just waving goodbye. He knew the Young Celestial Master was busy and didn’t want to waste his time.

As the Young Celestial Master descended the stairs, the coward leaned against the window, watching them leave one after the other as they had come. He then floated back inside to enjoy his incense.

As they left the crumbling building, Xiao Ye didn’t let Ji Nanxing grab his clothes but instead directly took his hand.

When Ji Nanxing tried to pull away, Xiao Ye held on tightly: "Watch your step, it’s pitch black. It’s safer to hold hands."

He then tried to shift Ji Nanxing’s attention by bringing up a new topic: "Who’s that ghost upstairs? Is it okay for him to stay here without moving on?"

Ji Nanxing replied: "Our school once had a really famous genius. Did you know about that?"

Xiao Ye paused: "Him?"

It was about ten years ago. Their school had a genius who skipped grades all the way from elementary to high school, entering the Gifted Youth Class at the age of 14. He was a well-known prodigy around here.

Yulan, besides the high school, had affiliated elementary and middle schools. Guo Xun had studied all the way up from the affiliated elementary school.

Geniuses like that usually only show up in online news, but when it happened right in their midst, it naturally stuck in people’s minds.

It was said that Guo Xun had returned from the Gifted Youth Class midway, directly entering the third year of high school, planning to take the college entrance exam like everyone else. No one knew why he came back to take the exam when he had an easier option. He never explained.

Unexpectedly, on the night after the exam, he jumped from the dilapidated building, his head hitting a sharp rock, and he died on the spot.

That year, Guo Xun was the top scorer in the science division of the college entrance exam, with a score of 741. It was an unbelievably high score.

No one knew why he killed himself. Some said it was about his feelings, others about his family. Just like why he returned from the Gifted Youth Class, no one knew the reason.

Xiao Ye had never seen the ghost upstairs, but he had heard Ji Nanxing mention him. He couldn’t link the timid ghost to the former genius.

As they reached the school wall, Xiao Ye asked curiously: "Do you know why he killed himself back then?"

Ji Nanxing shook his head: "No, I never asked."

Though he’d caught glimpses of something—Guo Xun lying in a pool of blood, his eyes wide open with tears streaming down—Ji Nanxing didn’t delve deeper.

Everyone’s got their own battles. Since Guo Xun chose to stay here, waiting for someone, as long as he didn’t harm anyone, Ji Nanxing wouldn’t force him to move on.

Xiao Ye nodded, not pressing further. After climbing the wall, he reached out to Ji Nanxing: "Come on, let me give you a hand. I’ve been working on these muscles—let me show them off."

Inside the school, it was harder to get a running start. With all the plants and trees, the area wasn’t open, so having someone pull you up made scaling the wall much easier.

Ji Nanxing didn’t refuse, placing his hand in Xiao Ye’s palm.

With a quick tug, Ji Nanxing was up on the wall.

Xiao Ye didn’t rush to climb down, instead saying to Ji Nanxing: "Do you remember this path?"

Below the wall was a shaded path, lined with trees on both sides. In spring, green buds sprouted; in summer, it was cool and shady; in autumn, leaves fell; and in winter, it was covered in snow and ice. Each season painted a different picture, and many couples loved walking here side by side after school.

Xiao Ye pointed at the intersection: "It was right here that time, I accidentally wandered in and saw an evil ghost rushing towards you. Luckily, I was worried about you that day and came out to find you, otherwise, it would have been so difficult to enter your world."

Ji Nanxing: "Was it really that hard? I’ve never shut my world off from others."

Xiao Ye: "It was tough. If I hadn’t wandered in that day, would you have told me you’re a Taoist catching ghosts?"

Ji Nanxing turned to look at Xiao Ye. Under the streetlight, half of Xiao Ye’s face was shadowed, but the other half was lit up with a smile, as if, even if Ji Nanxing said no, he’d laugh and say: See, I knew you wouldn’t tell me.

Then, casually, he’d joke around, as if the question was just small talk.

Ji Nanxing, however, smiled and said: "Actually, I was already thinking of how to tell you back then."

Under the streetlight, Xiao Ye’s smile softened, but his eyes lit up. He gazed intently at Ji Nanxing for a moment, then laughed and said: "Ah, I should’ve just stayed home that day. Then I could’ve waited for you to come clean, and I’d have the moral high ground. I could’ve at least gotten a few free meals out of you. What a missed opportunity."

Ji Nanxing glanced at the grinning man beside him, about to hop off the wall when he suddenly froze. Xiao Ye quickly asked: "What’s wrong?"

Ji Nanxing held him back: "Stay still."

Xiao Ye immediately became alert, and then they saw five young people nervously and cautiously approaching the intersection.

Three boys and two girls—they looked like students. The three boys looked uneasy, and the two girls were clinging tightly to each other, glancing around warily, as if expecting something to jump out at any second.

Xiao Ye frowned slightly, leaning closer to Ji Nanxing and whispering: "What’s going on?"

Though it was late, nearly ten o’clock, and there weren’t many people on this road, it wasn’t deserted enough to be this terrifying. Besides, just ahead was the school’s snack street, bustling with life and noise, the sounds of which they could hear even from here. It wasn’t like they were out in the boonies, so why were they so terrified?

Ji Nanxing didn’t speak, just sat on the wall without hurrying to get down.

The two of them watched as the group below walked as if afraid of stepping on an ant, step by step carefully forward, but as they walked, they turned around. Just a bit further ahead was a crossroads, with cars coming and going, but they turned and came back.

One of the girls was crying and wiping her tears: "What do we do? Are we trapped? Are we caught in a ghost wall?"

The burliest boy among them said: "I heard swearing helps when you’re caught in a ghost wall. I’ll try it."

After he finished, he let out a stream of curses. Xiao Ye quickly covered Ji Nanxing’s ears with both hands: "Too dirty, don’t listen."

When the boy finished cursing, they found the surroundings hadn’t changed at all, and their hearts sank.

The girl, terrified, sat on the ground and cried: "I said we should go home, but you said it was still early. It’s all your fault. If we’d gone home earlier, this wouldn’t have happened. What do we do? I want to go home, wuwu."

The boy, annoyed by her crying, lost the patience he had when they were having fun, and said with a dark expression: "Stop crying! You chose to come out with us, we didn’t force you. What’s there to cry about? You didn’t want to go home, and now you’re blaming others! Maybe it’s your crying that attracted the dirty things!"

The other two boys also frowned, looking impatient, perhaps the frustration of being unable to get out for so long had worn away their patience to comfort her.

The other slightly calmer girl stood up and looked at the boy who had yelled at them: "Yang Li, stop yelling! When you invited us out, you were all sweet talk, and now that there’s trouble, you show your true colors? If you have the guts to yell at us, then have the guts to find a way out!"

They had been walking in circles in the ghost wall for who knows how long, unable to make calls or find a way out. No matter how they walked, it was always the same road, and they just kept walking, but never getting out.

All their patience was exhausted, and the initial courage they had from being together was slowly fading. They had only heard of ghost walls in legends, but now that they were actually experiencing it, they realized how terrifying it was.

It wasn’t just the helplessness of not being able to get out, but the fear of the unknown that kept scaring them.

In this escalating fear, and with the noisy voices around him, Yang Li didn’t think twice and raised his hand to slap the girl who was challenging him.

The other two boys quickly grabbed him from both sides.

"Don’t be impulsive!"

"What are you doing? Why are you hitting her?"

The girl who had been sitting and crying didn’t expect Yang Li to have such a temper. She got up and pulled her friend back, suddenly feeling that the ghost wall was far less scary than these boys.

At that moment, a sound like a stone hitting the ground came from somewhere, and the next second, the sounds of traffic and the bustling activity of the stalls seemed to break through an invisible barrier, dispelling the eerie silence of the ghost wall.