When Yu Xingjian reached the corridor above the flagpole, the sun had already set beyond the horizon.
The corridor spanned between two teaching buildings, with only railings on both sides. Below the railings stood the bare flagpole, originally intended for the school flag, but due to insufficient funds, it was left unused.
He stared at the railings, from the setting sun to the dark night. As night fell, heavy rain poured over Yangshui City. He vaguely remembered that Yan Xi had jumped from a building on a rainy day just like this.
‘Let’s see who can outlast whom,’ he thought fiercely, ‘My fate is in my own hands, not heaven’s!’
Every passing minute and second was a torturous wait. Slowly, the clock moved past 7 PM, reaching midnight.
The corridor remained empty, with no one else in sight.
He, Yu Xingjian, had survived!
As the heavy rain poured, he recalled the origin of his name and burst into laughter.
“I survived!” he shouted to the sky, “Heaven, I survived!”
“Come on!” he roared, “What Yan Xi, what Class 3C, what Minghua, garbage!”
As he spoke, he noticed someone approaching from behind. He turned abruptly, relieved when he saw the approaching boy.
Yu Xingjian remembered this boy. Two months ago, he had failed another monthly exam, dropping from Class A to Class C. Later, after Shen You fell into the water, he took a month-long sick leave. At that time, Yu Xingjian was too busy dealing with Shen You’s incident to pay attention to this student.
Later, the student missed another monthly exam and was demoted to Class F.
“Why are you here so late?” he asked kindly.
The boy’s face was pale, as if he hadn’t fully recovered from his illness. His frail body unconsciously eased Yu Xingjian’s guard. The boy coughed twice and said, “I fell asleep in the classroom… When I woke up, it was already locked.”
Yu Xingjian recalled the school’s locking rules and said kindly, “In that case, I’ll call the janitor…”
The signal inside the building was poor. As Yu Xingjian fiddled with his phone, he said, “Looks like I’ll have to go to the rooftop to get a signal—”
The next moment, he turned sharply and caught the boy who was about to strike him with a stick!
“So you’re also not normal,” he sneered, his teeth gritting, “If you want to kill me, give it a try.”
Meanwhile, in the heavy rain.
Lin Huai put on the “Ex-Girlfriend’s Rage” black raincoat, concealing his figure, and emerged from the classroom.
All his speculations had been confirmed. The handwriting on Yan Xi’s old belongings perfectly matched the handwriting in the “Future Diary” he had received. This was enough to prove that Yan Xi was the author of the Future Diary.
It also proved many other things… In the past ten days, he had learned many things that ordinary people could not comprehend.
Including things that Xu Chi did not know.
When he violently broke through the shutters from the first to the fourth floor, swiftly moving through the teaching building and reaching the elevated corridor, Xu Chi was already being choked by Yu Xingjian and pinned to the ground.
Xu Chi’s face turned red and purple from lack of oxygen. Yu Xingjian choked him, sneering fiercely, “Want to kill me… want to kill me… Come on!”
As usual, he projected his dissatisfaction with fate onto his anger towards the boy. Xu Chi struggled to breathe, teetering on the edge of death.
Am I… going to die?
Red and black patches flashed before his eyes. In the final moments of irrationality and disorder, he saw Yan Xi’s face.
Pale, thin, always with downcast eyes.
‘Yan Xi.’
He mouthed.
‘Yan Xi.’
Noticing the boy’s mouthing, Yu Xingjian looked up from his frenzy.
Then he saw something he would never forget for the rest of his life.
Yan Xi, dressed in white… with blood dripping down.
“Ah—!”
All his preparations crumbled at this moment. He stepped back, step by step, as Yan Xi opened his mouth, seemingly anxious, and walked towards him.
“No, don’t come closer!” he screamed, “Ah—!”
He hastily retreated, and the next moment, he slipped and fell from the corridor!
Then—landed on the flagpole.
In his final moments, he saw Yan Xi on the corridor, reaching out to him with an anxious expression.
That gesture… he didn’t know if it was to push him down or…
To grab his hand.
Lin Huai quickly rushed to Xu Chi’s side. The boy, released from the chokehold, finally regained his breath, gasping heavily.
Having just passed through the gates of death, he could no longer see Yan Xi beside him. The white-clothed Yan Xi hovered around him, seemingly anxious to say something, to hold him, or to pull him. But he was too weak; he couldn’t make Xu Chi hear his voice or feel his touch.
Xu Chi broke free from Lin Huai’s embrace, crawled to the spot where Yu Xingjian had fallen, looked at the situation on the flagpole, and then laughed bitterly.
“Hahaha… hahaha…” he laughed, “Finally… finally…”
He was laughing, but it felt like crying. As if his wish had been fulfilled, or as if the dust had settled.
All the dust had settled.
He stood up holding the railing, suddenly staggering towards the direction of the third teaching building. Lin Huai was about to grab him when he noticed an arrow whizzing past—
Its target was Yan Xi’s heart.
Yan Xi stood still, too weak to know how to dodge. Lin Huai lunged at him, forcefully throwing him aside—
The arrow, undoubtedly Qiu Ran’s lifesaving tool, even grazing Lin Huai’s shoulder, caused him harm.
The damage wasn’t just physical; it affected his spirit as well. Lin Huai felt a metallic taste in his throat, he covered his mouth to prevent the blood from spilling.
He hadn’t expected to bleed again, and instead of feeling angry, he was somewhat bewildered.
Yan Xi, whom he had shielded, was even more bewildered. Lin Huai mouthed to him, “You go now.”
Then he added, “Don’t lose to that imposter.”
“I know, he made these decisions after seeing Shen You accidentally fall into the water due to his own guilt and Tang Feng commit suicide out of remorse, thinking he couldn’t turn back… He should be punished, but not at this time, in this place, in this way. Go, only you can save him.”
Their eyes met in a flash. Yan Xi nodded and ran towards the third teaching building. Seeing this, Qiu Ran shrieked, “Lin Huai! Are you crazy! He’s an evil spirit!”
But her lifesaving arrow was the only one she had. Without it, she had no other weapons to kill ghosts. Li Fen, lacking offensive tools, guarded downstairs. Now, only she and Xia Xingye were left to hunt the future evil spirit. She urgently said, “If you don’t kill Yan Xi now, when he fully becomes an evil spirit, there will be no chance, idiot…”
“The idiot is you,” Lin Huai sneered, “You don’t even know who’s using you. Group actions are undoubtedly the stupidest way in infinite flow games. Look at that guy, even in death he’s still wearing a white shirt with just a few bloodstains, wandering around the school like a fool, writing a future diary and chanting ‘back to back’ thinking it could scare away the new teacher he thought was good… This kind of amateur ghost wannabe, how could he possibly become an evil spirit?”
“You…”
“Isn’t it obvious who the real evil spirit is?” Lin Huai said, “After humans die, their living souls undergo various reactions and turn into ghosts. However, excessive obsessions can also give birth to new ghosts. In this illusionary world created by the evil spirit’s obsession and his perception of the world, there are two Yan Xis, but it’s not because of a split personality, but because—”
“Yan Xi is his obsession. The white Yan Xi is the real Yan Xi, while the blood-red Yan Xi is the one he imagined, filled with hatred for his indifference, mocking his guilt, and full of murderous intent, formed by various resentments and malice, the ‘ghost’ in the illusion…”
As he revealed the world’s backstory, he heard the voice of the system, which he hadn’t heard in a long time.
“Worldview reveal has reached 70%,” the system said coldly, “When the worldview reveal reaches 100%, you can freely choose to exit.”
“The final task has begun:”
“1. Solve the seven wonders of the school. 2. Solve the evil spirit incident.”
“What…” Qiu Ran was shocked, “Then what is the ghost…”
“What do you think?”
“How do you know so much, could it be… you’re a ghost?”
Lin Huai finally spat out blood, but this time it wasn’t because of injury, but because of sheer exasperation. He deeply felt the gap between his thinking and that of humans, so he coldly said, “Ask the person next to you who the real evil spirit is, right? Xia Xingye.”
The person he pointed to chuckled softly. Hearing the laughter, Qiu Ran turned to look at him in disbelief, “Could it be you…”
In response, a hand chop came down, accompanied by a soft, pleasant voice, “In the future, don’t trust good-looking people so easily.”
Qiu Ran fell softly to the ground, her face still filled with disbelief. Xia Xingye turned his head, his bangs hanging over his clear forehead, “You don’t mind if I move her out, do you? After all, there’s going to be a big battle here soon.”
“Although it’s a very unnecessary action, but since she considered me a teammate, out of both sentiment and reason, I should protect her a bit, right?”
Lin Huai shrugged, “Go ahead, as long as you’re not afraid of exposing your back to me.”
Xia Xingye chuckled softly. Without waiting for Lin Huai’s response, he picked up Qiu Ran in a princess carry, moved her to a spot far from the corridor, and then returned, “Teacher Lin, although you speak coldly, you’re actually a very principled person…”
Lin Huai was stunned, “…You think my threatening the principal was principled?”
Xia Xingye: …
“Or was it my robbing Yu Xingjian that was principled?”
Xia Xingye: …
“Or was it my impersonating a substitute teacher that was principled?”
Xia Xingye: …
He finally burst into laughter, his shoulders shaking. After laughing to the point of tears, he wiped his eyes, gasping, “Lin Huai, you’re really funny.”
Lin Huai couldn’t be bothered to respond, “You seem like a veteran, right? What are you doing in such a novice-level dungeon?”
“Before I make my move, let me introduce myself. I’m Xia Xingye—a high-level field fire merchant, information broker, call me whatever you like.” He touched the crimson glowing earring on his earlobe, “You can also call me—a ghost trader, or a ghost tamer. My special ability is to seal and tame ghosts, using their power to fight, and teaching other players how to tame them. Of course, I also occasionally sell tamed ghost creatures, that’s my lifestyle in the game.”
“…A second-hand dealer?”
Xia Xingye: “…You can call it that.”
While carelessly mocking, Lin Huai gradually became alert. In his eyes, the red earring kept flashing, making him a bit dizzy.
A dizziness from the depths of his soul.
“Before coming to this low-level field world, my original goal was to take back the evil spirit here—Xu Chi, a guy who, despite having the ability to engulf an entire city in his illusion, ridiculously lived in his own delusions and kept fabricating stories. He’s a very capable evil spirit, just one ghost, sustaining a low-level field that resembles a mid-level one, pulling in many humans, and even creating many corpse-like ghosts as his avatars.” Xia Xingye said leisurely, “Unfortunately, he’s too weak, having the will to avenge his friends, able to abandon himself, but not his weak emotions. I was thinking at the time, how to make him stronger, and then take him away. Or—take away the blood-red Yan Xi.”
“He seems to have willingly entered a slumber, immersing himself in the game with his own phantom as a human. Over the past three years, his guilt towards Yan Xi, and the hatred he imagined Yan Xi had for him, condensed into a blood-red entity, wandering the school. The funny thing is, he willingly subjected himself to punishment by this blood-red entity time and time again—at the end of each cycle.”
“Every time he died, the blood-red entity’s power grew stronger, while he himself weakened. I have to say, he’s a rare fool in this world, stubbornly turning himself into what he is now—don’t look at me like that, isn’t it true? The real Yan Xi stayed in his illusion all along for him. He tried to save him time and time again, but due to the malevolent aura all over him, and the interference of the blood-red Yan Xi, he dared not get close—once he got close, he would be annihilated. Meanwhile, he thought Yan Xi wanted to take revenge on him, time and time again, offering himself up to the execution platform of the fake Yan Xi he imagined, as if he were atoning for his sins.” Xia Xingye said indifferently, for some reason, his face was devoid of any smile at this moment, “When I saw these materials, I wondered, what kind of fool could do such a thing?”
At this point, his face twisted slightly, then, as if very pleased, he hooked up the corner of his mouth, “Rather than letting him weaken and die through repeated suicides, it’s better to make him more useful. Although, I could take away the blood-red Yan Xi that absorbed all his power after he weakened to death, but ultimately, I decided to take Xu Chi away, a clear, strong, decisive Xu Chi.”
“The method is simple—kill Yan Xi in front of him, shh, not the blood-red Yan Xi, but the white, real Yan Xi. When Xu Chi is pushed off the building by the blood-red Yan Xi, fulfilling his beautiful, glorious wish to die at the hands of the other’s revenge, and wakes up as an evil spirit, only to find that the real Yan Xi, who had been trying to save him but was never discovered by him, has been annihilated. Looking at the fake blood-red Yan Xi beside him, he would definitely collapse—that would be the best time for him to become the strongest and to subdue him.”
“You’re disgusting.” Lin Huai said bluntly.
“Disgusting?” Xia Xingye shrugged, “Say what you will, in this world, there are more than just you who want to kill me, who detest me, but…”
“Only… is eternal.” He smiled.
Lin Huai covered his forehead. He didn’t hear the two words clearly, only feeling the whole world start to blur. Xia Xingye stood still, continuing, “After entering the dungeon, just a few days ago, I changed my plan. Because, in this dungeon, I saw something even more interesting. Did I mention? Because of my special ability, compared to other veterans, I’m more sensitive to the identity of ghost creatures.”
“That thing is you, Lin Huai.” He reached out to Lin Huai, “A fierce ghost above the red level, but possessing a human, trying to learn to be human… Isn’t that the most amusing thing in the world? From the moment I learned your identity, my target shifted from Xu Chi to you, because… you’re stronger than him. You have immense potential for growth, more suitable for training, more suitable to be carried with me, more suitable to accompany me… to meet my brother, my enemies, and to seek revenge against ‘Chen Xing’.”
Chen Xing?
“What’s the difference between a fierce ghost and an evil spirit?” Lin Huai looked at him, smiling, he tried to stand firm, but his body couldn’t help but sway, “Since you’re so confident, it shouldn’t be a problem to spare some time to enlighten me with some small knowledge, right? Kind, generous profiteer…”
“Fierce ghosts and evil spirits are two different beings.” Xia Xingye looked at Lin Huai’s weak state, seemingly in a good mood, thus explaining very patiently, “Evil spirits can take an entire area as their own, establishing their own rules and curses. Fierce ghosts are ferocious and malevolent beings, their inherent attack abilities and spells are already hard to resist. By the way, most wraiths are formed from young men and women or children who died unjustly, they are naive and mischievous, possessing different skills and spells.”
“So basically, it’s landlords, guerrillas, and support…” Lin Huai nodded, “I get it.”
“Above fierce ghosts, evil spirits, and wraiths, there’s another kind of ghost creature at the top, we call it a virus. We suspect it’s the origin of all ghost creatures. Below fierce ghosts, evil spirits, and wraiths, are ordinary specters, ghosts, and such. Of course, to become these ghost creatures, first, one must become a ‘ghost’. ‘Ghosts’ are born from dead souls, from obsessions, from accidents, from mistakes. These you should know. After becoming a ‘ghost’, ghost creatures differentiate, some into ‘spirit’ category, some into ‘charm’ category, some into ‘fierce’ category. The pinnacle of the ‘spirit’ category is the wraith, the pinnacle of the ‘charm’ category is the evil spirit, the pinnacle of the ‘fierce’ category is the fierce ghost. Those who fail to evolve become ordinary monsters like specters.” Xia Xingye crouched down, reaching out to touch Lin Huai’s eyes that could no longer stay open, “Sleep well, when you wake up, I’ll teach you more knowledge in the days to come…”
Under the influence of his magical voice, Lin Huai finally closed his eyes and slumped down.
His unconscious appearance was exceptionally docile, completely devoid of his usual sharp tongue and the aura of imminent eruption.
Xia Xingye confirmed that Lin Huai had fallen into a deep sleep under the influence of the earring and was about to perform a seal to subdue him.
But the next moment, he let out a surprised “Huh?”. In an unexpected turn, Lin Huai, who should have been completely unconscious, opened his eyes.
They were a pair of blood-red eyes.
His suit instantly turned a deep red, almost black, enveloped in the raincoat. Xia Xingye had no time to dodge, only seeing a red light shooting into the sky—with an unstoppable momentum and sharpness.
He only managed to step back half a step—half of his bangs were cut off, a cut appeared on his cheek, and blood streamed down his face.
Xia Xingye retreated. He wasn’t adept at close combat, relying solely on intelligence (trickery) and props, and quickly fell behind in the fight.
His claws were like lightning, slicing off an entire sleeve of the opponent.
Xia Xingye was caught off guard, he hadn’t expected Lin Huai to still have the ability to fight back. Soon, he was knocked to the ground.
“Hey,” Lin Huai whispered in his ear, “Enjoying the act? I hate show-offs.”
For some reason, when saying this, Lin Huai’s mind flashed the image of a face without shape.
Speaking of the last instance… I still don’t know if that guy was pretending to be dumb or actually was.
I wonder where that guy surnamed Chu is now, in which instance, and what he’s up to? Who’s he fooling around with? And who’s he complimenting as pretty, planning to have a ceremonial cohabitation with?
Even in the midst of battle, Lin Huai’s mind wandered for a moment. But it didn’t affect his actions; he successfully pinned Xia Xingye to the ground.
“Third, I’ve told you before, those who play with people’s hearts will be played with in return. Pretending to sleep is something I’m very good at. And your earring doesn’t work on every ghost,” Lin Huai said. “And finally, I’ll tell you one last thing—”
He leaned close to the other’s ear and whispered softly.
“I really, really despise you,” Lin Huai said. “You viper.”
As he spoke, he glanced at the sky. The night sky had already begun to turn blood-red, with thick layers of clouds being drawn toward the center, forming a vortex, lightning crackling.
The city was awakening.
Because… the core of this instance, the Evil spirit Xu Chi, was about to awaken.
“Seems there’s no time to chat with you,” Lin Huai said coldly. “We’ll save the explanations for next time. I’ll settle accounts with you later—and by the way, you can’t break free from this.”
Xia Xingye, restrained by several blood-red threads, raised his hands. “I know.”
“Good that you know.”
With that, he tossed Xia Xingye, who was lying on the ground, aside and dashed straight toward the rooftop.
