Chapter 49

Chapter 49

Yu Ni and Ruan Lan were also stunned.

"What's going on?" Ruan Lan was the first to ask Yu Ni, "Did you move it yourself for the video effect?"

"No, I thought you guys were moving it. If I were doing it for the video effect, I would have done it from the start, why would I wait this long?" Yu Ni said, dumbfounded.

"What time is it now?" Xu Jiayi quickly pulled out her phone and looked.

00:00.

Exactly midnight.

Her breath caught. She immediately put down her phone and tried to resist the force that was moving her hand.

Unfortunately, it was useless.

Not only that, Xu Jiayi felt the temperature in the room had dropped significantly. She hadn't been cold in her jacket before, but now her hands and feet were icy, and a chill kept running down her spine.

Even Xiao Ru, who was curled up asleep under the covers, couldn't help but turn over and wrap the blanket tighter to keep warm.

The only sound around them was the pen scratching against the paper, growing faster and more piercing.

Xu Jiayi could clearly see Ruan Lan and Yu Ni both straining, but the pen didn't budge from the center of the paper, showing no sign of stopping.

"Don't let go." Yu Ni warned nervously, "Whatever you do, don't let go. If we let go, it's game over. Just ask directly."

No one spoke. Ruan Lan and Xu Jiayi exchanged a silent look.

"I'll go first then." Yu Ni took a deep breath and asked in a low voice, "Are you here?"

The pen immediately moved to the "Yes" character and circled it.

All three of them flinched at once.

Yu Ni continued, "Are you male or female?"

The pen slowly moved across the paper, finally stopping at the "Female" character. In that instant, Xu Jiayi's whole body tensed up, her lips were pressed into a thin line, her eyes glued to the paper covered in writing, but her mind was already replaying the rumor Xiao Ru had mentioned earlier.

It's not that girl, right?

She was so focused that when Yu Ni asked another question and the pen started moving again, she flinched so hard.

"You okay?" Ruan Lan noticed her reaction and mouthed wordlessly.

Xu Jiayi shook her head to say she was fine, but before she could even register what Yu Ni had asked, she saw the pen sliding across the paper, circling seven letters in total.

SHENHUA.

Shenhua?

That was Xu Jiayi's first thought.

"Your name is Shenhua?" Yu Ni said uncertainly, "Shen as in the water-radical Shen, Hua as in talent Hua?"

The pen moved to circle "Yes" in response.

Yu Ni asked a bunch of questions while Xu Jiayi and Ruan Lan just watched, not knowing what to ask.

Half an hour passed, and Xu Jiayi gradually relaxed, feeling that this game wasn't so scary after all.

Yu Ni glanced at the phone that had been recording the whole time, blinked, and a mischievous idea popped into her head. This time, she deliberately drew out her question: "So... how did you die?"

Xu Jiayi and Ruan Lan both froze, immediately turning to look at Yu Ni in utter disbelief.

"What do you mean?" Xu Jiayi reacted the most strongly, "Wait, aren't you not supposed to ask that?"

The rules at the end of the game clearly said you couldn't ask how someone died. There was no way Yu Ni didn't know, but she asked anyway.

Just for the shock value in the video.

Xu Jiayi's eyes were bloodshot from getting so worked up.

Yu Ni scoffed, "Relax, don't get so worked up. See, the spirit isn't mad, it's answering just fine."

The pen didn't pause. The moment she finished asking, it started answering, circling one letter after another, but the circles were way darker than before, super obvious.

"D-I-A-O-S-I." Yu Ni read out, "Hanged... she died by hanging?"

Xiao Ru suddenly threw off the covers, gawking at Yu Ni: "Did you guys actually summon that girl who died?"

Yu Ni's face went a little stiff, not knowing how to respond. After a moment, she muttered, "No... it can't be, right? Didn't you say that was just a story?"

"Ask it." Ruan Lan couldn't stop her fingers from trembling, "I think we've played enough. Let's just finish the questions and end this."

"No way." Yu Ni cut in quickly, "This is just the beginning. Don't you guys wanna know when you'll get married or if you'll get rich?"

Xu Jiayi was totally creeped out and had no curiosity about those questions at all. She shot a sideways glance at the phone that was still recording, knowing Yu Ni wasn't done yet, and said hesitantly, "Then just ask a few quick questions, and then we send it off. It's already late."

"You guys are the ones who wanted to play, and now you're the ones bailing." Yu Ni complained unhappily, "Fine, I'll wrap it up quick."

Xu Jiayi didn't say anything, but Ruan Lan directly called it out: "If you hadn't said you needed more people, I wouldn't have played at all. How is this on me now?"

"Okay, everyone, stop arguing. Let's just ask the questions." Seeing Yu Ni's face change, Xu Jiayi quickly tried to smooth things over, "It's getting late, guys."

"Hurry up and ask, I'm curious too." Xiao Ru scrambled down the bunk ladder, planting herself excitedly next to the three of them, "Ask away."

She wasn't scared at all—she was more excited, like she wanted to prove something.

Yu Ni cleared her throat, sat up straight, and slowly asked: "Are you the girl who hung herself from the ceiling fan in this dorm?"

The pen didn't budge.

Xiao Ru said in confusion, "What's that mean? Did it leave?"

"No way, I haven't sent it off yet." Yu Ni shook her head in bewilderment, "Maybe it's mad about the questions we asked?"

"Come on, it can't be that petty." Xiao Ru curled her lip, "Ask again."

Xu Jiayi was breaking out in a cold sweat, feeling that every word the two of them said was stepping on a landmine, yet they seemed completely unaware, continuing to discuss in hushed voices.

"What should we ask this time?"

"Ask how old it was when it died." Xiao Ru said.

Ruan Lan tapped the table: "Hurry up, it's almost one o'clock."

"Um, are you still there?" Yu Ni asked.

The pen zipped over to "yes" and circled it in one big, aggressive loop.

Xu Jiayi's heart was pounding as she watched. She could clearly tell it was pissed off, but for some reason, it was still humoring them.

Wasn't the whole deal with this game that something bad happens if you ask the wrong questions?

Xu Jiayi's palms were a little sweaty. She couldn't help wondering if they'd pay for this later.

Yu Ni let out a relieved breath and asked, all casual-like, "Why didn't you answer my question earlier? You didn't feel like it?"

The pen tip spun in place and circled "yes" again.

Xu Jiayi opened her mouth to speak, but Yu Ni cut her off and continued, "How old were you when you died?"

The pen slowly traced circles around the numbers 2 and 1.

Xiao Ru clapped a hand over her mouth, blinked at Yu Ni, and whispered, "That girl was twenty-one years old."

Yu Ni said, "No way? It's really her?"

Ruan Lan clicked her tongue in annoyance and asked, "If we send you off now, are you gonna haunt us?"

The pen didn't move. Just as the three figured it wasn't going to answer, a sudden force yanked their hands in endless circles around "yes."

The paper tore, and the pen tip scraped across the table with a harsh, grating screech. The candles on either side flickered and swayed eerily, even though there was no wind.

The temperature in the dorm dropped so fast it stung her skin.

Xu Jiayi felt dizzy and weak, like something had sucked every bit of energy out of her in a second, leaving her unable to even speak.

She sat there in a daze, limbs limp and useless, her hand going slack on its own. Just as she was about to drop the pen, Xiao Ru smacked her shoulder hard.

"Xu Jiayi, what the hell are you doing? Your hand almost slipped. Don't you know you can't let go?"

All the weird feelings vanished in an instant. Xu Jiayi flinched, rubbed her eyes, and sat up straight: "I wasn't trying to let go. I just suddenly lost all my strength."

The candles on the table burned normally, there was no wind, and the room wasn't even that cold. Xu Jiayi couldn't tell if she'd just imagined the whole thing.

The pen had stopped. Yu Ni and Ruan Lan looked grim and said nothing.

Xiao Ru, on the other hand, didn't seem bothered at all and kept chattering away.

"Keep asking, you guys."

"It's fine. If it could actually hurt people, there'd be rumors all over school by now. I only heard about it on the forum anyway."

"Ask it if it can grant wishes. Like, will I pass the CET-6 next time?"

The dorm went dead silent. Xu Jiayi felt dazed and drained.

Ruan Lan not talking was normal, but Yu Ni sitting there stiff and silent was weird.

"Yu Ni?" Xu Jiayi sensed something was wrong and croaked, "You okay?"

"I'm fine." Yu Ni fought down the nameless dread for a second before saying, "I'm fine. Let's keep going."

"Still going?" Ruan Lan was genuinely impressed. "We're at this point now. Shouldn't we be figuring out how to send it off properly instead of asking more questions?"

"Since we're already here, might as well ask." Yu Ni dug in her heels.

Honestly, people never give up until they've hit rock bottom.

Even though Yu Ni was scared shitless of being haunted, as long as it hadn't happened yet, she held onto the hope that it wouldn't.

Xiao Ru rubbed her arms. "Forget it, it's getting cold. I can't stay down here anymore. I'm going up first."

She scrambled up onto the bed, burrowed under the blanket, and poked her head out to look down.

The next second, a bloodcurdling scream tore through the room out of nowhere.

Xu Jiayi jolted and instinctively tried to let go, but Yu Ni grabbed her hand hard. "Don't let go."

"What are you screaming for?" Ruan Lan stayed pretty calm, looking up at Xiao Ru in confusion.

"Holy crap." Xiao Ru was breathing fast, clutching the blanket around herself, staring straight at Yu Ni in horror. "When I came up, I saw a gray figure behind you, holding the pen with you. It looked like a girl. Is that the thing you guys summoned?"

"Me?" Yu Ni was completely rattled, her voice shaking. "Are you sure it was me? Maybe you saw wrong. The lights are off, it's just candles."

"No, I'm positive I didn't see wrong." Xiao Ru was on the verge of tears, swallowed hard, and tried to steady her voice. "It was right behind you, pressed extremely close. I thought it was just the candlelight at first, but when I looked again, it was real."

"But it didn't have a face. I could only make out the body."

Yu Ni cursed under her breath, glaring at the pen in her hand, and gritted out, "Was that thing behind me just now you?"

The pen swayed left and right, slowly moving toward "no." Yu Ni's heart rose with the movement. Just as the pen tip stopped, ready to circle "no," and she was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the pen veered without warning to "yes" and circled it forcefully.

The immense force dragged their hands in continuous circles. Yu Ni's frayed nerves finally snapped completely. She lost the courage to ask any more questions and directly said the closing words.

The spinning pen stopped instantly.

Yu Ni flung the pen away, her shirt soaked with sweat. She let out a breath and said with a pale face, "That should do it, right? If it can be sent away, that means there's no problem."

Xu Jiayi and Ruan Lan said nothing, about to let go, when the previously still pen suddenly moved again, circling "no" repeatedly, answering Yu Ni's words.

"Puff." The candles on both sides went out without warning, plunging everything into pitch-black darkness.

Xu Jiayi froze. In the darkness where even breathing seemed to be swallowed whole, she saw a faceless face slowly emerge from behind Yu Ni's head.

Author's note:

None