Ji Tong had been on leave from school for most of the year. At the beginning of the year, she encountered a troublesome old ghost that tormented her for over a month, leaving her half-dead with exhaustion. They consulted spirit mediums and sought out Taoist priests, spending considerable effort and money before finally managing to send it away.

After just a few peaceful days, she encountered another ghost.

Although she had been meeting such entities since childhood and was used to it, it was never a good thing. Her life, health, and mental state were all affected in various ways.

Zhou Xin had no choice but to send her to stay at a nunnery for a while.

The pure Buddhist sanctuary was indeed peaceful.

In mid-August, Zhou Xin brought Ji Tong back home. First, to catch up with the school term starting in September for re-enrollment, and second, to let her adapt at home for a while, since the schedule at the nunnery was quite different from the outside world.

They had moved to a new home.

Near their previous residence, a lake had been developed and a new bridge built, which was said to have disrupted the feng shui. Zhou Xin hurriedly arranged to change houses, moving to a new residential complex with unique design and exceptional style. It was not far from a temple, hoping to bask in some Buddhist light so that ghosts and demons would keep their distance.

Ever since leaving the nunnery, although nothing had happened, Zhou Xin’s heart remained constantly on edge.

A few days before school started, she contacted a master monk and took Ji Tong on a trip to Jiangxi Province to obtain a talisman and a red cord bracelet. Whether they would work or not was another matter, but at least they brought peace of mind.

However, since having these two treasures, Ji Tong truly hadn’t encountered any evil spirits again.

…

Ji Tong transferred to Er’Zhong middle school, which was also in this area, not far from both home and the temple.

It wasn’t the best school, but Zhou Xin feared Ji Tong wouldn’t be able to keep up and would feel pressured, so she never asked about academic matters. Her only wish was for her daughter to be healthy and safe.

At the beginning of the new semester, the homeroom teacher was busy with various affairs and hastily arranged a desk for Ji Tong, letting her sit beside the podium.

Transfer students always attracted attention, especially when the transfer student was exceptionally beautiful.

Ji Tong always appeared listless, sleeping on her desk whenever she had the chance. Her complexion was also poor – pale, lifeless, looking sickly. It wasn’t because of the recent ghost encounter; she had seen countless ghosts since childhood, and precisely because of this, her health constantly suffered and her luck was also affected.

After two days of classes, Ji Tong finally got a proper seat. She was tall and was assigned to the fifth row, with male students both in front and behind her.

Her deskmate was called Gan Ting, a striking beauty with bold features. Yesterday she had curly ramen-style hair, but today she was forced to straighten it and even cut it to shoulder length.

During evening self-study, after Gan Ting finished writing in her diary, she fidgeted around and nudged Ji Tong, who was doing homework. “Let’s chat.”

The physics teacher was sitting at the podium reading a book. Ji Tong didn’t speak but glanced at Gan Ting, wrote the word “okay” on her scratch paper, and pushed it between them.

“Old Wang doesn’t care, just keep your voice down.” Gan Ting bit her pen tip, and seeing that Ji Tong remained silent, she studied her elegant nose and asked, “Do you have a boyfriend?”

Ji Tong shook her head.

“No one’s pursuing you?”

Ji Tong shook her head again.

“How is that possible? You’re very pretty.”

Gan Ting stared at her, making Ji Tong feel a bit embarrassed.

“But you’ll have one soon.” Gan Ting twirled her pen in her hand. “The whole class has been talking about you these past two days. During morning exercises today, Jiang Chao kept stealing glances at you.”

Ji Tong had no interest in this topic and didn’t want to know who Jiang Chao was.

“I think—”

“Gan Ting! What are you doing? Whispering and gesturing.” The homeroom teacher’s voice came from the back door, and all the students looked up in unison, staring in their direction.

Gan Ting closed her mouth, scratched her hair, lowered her head to her book, and pretended to be serious by scribbling randomly with her pen.

Ji Tong passed her notebook over with the words written on it: Let’s just write notes from now on.

Gan Ting burst out laughing and quickly covered her mouth, writing back on the paper: Okay!

…

Zhou Xin worked in the new media industry and had opened a studio in the cultural creative park. Recently, she had been so busy with work that she couldn’t attend to anything else, relying entirely on her two subordinates to maintain operations with great difficulty.

After Ji Tong’s life returned to normal, her work gradually got back on track. For the first week, she picked up and dropped off Ji Tong twice daily, but later, as business increased and she became dizzy with busyness, she let her commute on her own.

The school had a two-day weekend break every half month. On Friday after school, the classroom erupted in chaos as students either went home or wandered the streets.

It was raining outside, and Ji Tong hadn’t brought an umbrella. Thinking she’d wait for the rain to lighten up, she stayed in the classroom to do a few more problems.

Students gradually left, and the entire floor became exceptionally quiet.

Ji Tong left school with her backpack. Usually at this time, the sky would still be bright, but because of the cloudy, rainy day, it had darkened early.

It was still raining, so she had no choice but to take the bus home.

Ji Tong boarded the No. 13 bus. There were three passengers on the bus: one sitting behind the driver, one in the middle, and a fat uncle sitting at the back of the bus, dressed in all black, head lowered and motionless.

It was only one stop from home, and Ji Tong was too lazy to sit, so she stood by the exit door, watching the rain slowly flowing down the window in streams, intersecting and spreading like the bark of an old withered tree covered in sauce.

Due to traffic jams in the rain, the bus kept stopping and starting.

Ji Tong held the handrail with one hand and adjusted her right shoulder bag strap with the other. The black-clothed man at the back of the bus had somehow moved to stand beside her, still with his head lowered.

Ji Tong didn’t look at him but inexplicably yawned, tears squeezing out from her eyes.

So sleepy.

She drooped her eyelids and tiredly watched her shadow on the floor swaying back and forth with the bus.

Wait a minute??

The person next to her had no shadow.

Ji Tong blinked, her mind instantly alert. That was impossible—ever since carrying the talisman and red cord bracelet with her, she hadn’t seen any ghosts.

Could it be that the treasures had lost their effectiveness?

She hooked her arm around the pole, slightly turned her body, and lifted her school uniform sleeve to expose her wrist.

The bracelet was gone.

She was stunned for a moment.

Where did it go? What about the talisman?? Was it in her backpack???

She couldn’t remember at all.

At the intersection, the bus stopped.

Ji Tong pretended she hadn’t seen anything and stared fixedly at the bus door.

But I don’t seek out ghosts; ghosts love to bother me.

As if the ghost could sense her thoughts, it suddenly floated to stop directly in front of Ji Tong, staring at her with wide black holes where its eyeballs should have been.

Ji Tong remained as steady as Mount Tai, acting as if she saw nothing.

The One-Eyed Ghost continued staring at her motionlessly.

Finally arriving at her stop, as soon as the door opened, Ji Tong calmly got off the bus. To avoid showing her fear, she didn’t dare run hard but just walked quickly.

The One-Eyed Ghost followed her all the way, darting from behind her to her side, then floating from her side to in front of her. Ji Tong felt herself breaking out in cold sweat, but in reality, her whole body was ice cold.

Why was it still following?

Ah ah ah, stop following me!!!

Just as Ji Tong was feeling frustrated, the One-Eyed Ghost suddenly reached out toward her, startling her into a shudder. The One-Eyed Ghost chuckled eerily and pursed its lips as it approached her.

Ji Tong broke into a run.

The ghosts she encountered daily mostly looked no different from humans. Some were more transparent, others less so. Wandering the world, if you didn’t look carefully, you often couldn’t distinguish between people and ghosts.

If it was like this, plus with unrestrained behavior, it probably wasn’t any decent ghost.

To be entangled by such a creature would be absolutely maddening.

“Little sister.”

“Little sister, wait for me.”

Walking hastily, she bumped into someone again. Her backpack fell to the ground, and when Ji Tong turned back to pick it up, she saw the One-Eyed Ghost grinning menacingly as it flew toward her. She grabbed her backpack and ran away at full speed.

The rain pounded mercilessly on her face, blurring her vision.

Ji Tong ran in confusion and somehow ended up in this unfamiliar, broken alley with no way out.

Running and running, there was no path ahead—in front of her stood a tall stone wall.

“Little sister.”

It was too disgusting, lecherous, and its voice was horrifying.

Ji Tong had never encountered a perverted ghost before. Her legs went weak, and she crouched down, hugging her head, not daring to look at it, and began reciting the Shurangama Mantra.

“Don’t recite it.”

“Don’t recite it.”

It was over—her mind suddenly went blank. How did the rest go?

She had almost memorized it backwards before.

“Little sister, please don’t recite anymore.”

Ji Tong curled up in a ball, unable to remember no matter what. She hit her head a few times, covered her ears, and shouted: “Go away.”

There really was no more sound.

Had it left?

Ji Tong peeked through the gap in her arms and saw the One-Eyed Ghost suspended in mid-air, mouth open, tongue extended, with a terrifying expression.

A hand gripped its neck and suddenly flung it away with a frightening curse:

“Scram!”

The murderous aura was overwhelming, and Ji Tong was so shocked by this single word “scram” that her head trembled.

It was too dark around her to see his specific appearance clearly. She only knew it was a man wearing a black cloak with an imposing figure.

He stood motionless, as if observing her.

Ji Tong lifted her face slightly, revealing half her nose, and looked toward his face, which was pitch black and covered by the wide brim of his hat—she couldn’t see anything.

With no lights around, not only did he have no shadow, but she didn’t either.

So was this a person or a ghost?

Just as she was pondering this, all the lights in the alley suddenly lit up at once. It was too dazzling, and Ji Tong covered her eyes with her hand. When she moved it away, there was nothing in front of her.

He had disappeared.

And ahead, the path was brightly lit.

Ji Tong quickly stood up and ran out at a fast pace.

…

Grandma had gone out to play mahjong, and Zhou Xin wasn’t home either.

The talisman was on the desk, but the red cord was still nowhere to be found. Ji Tong called Zhou Xin, but there was no answer. After five minutes, Zhou Xin called her back.

“Tong Tong, Mom is at Grandma’s house. Your grandmother had an accident, and Mom needs to stay here for a few more days. I’ve left living expenses with Grandma. Remember to take your nutritional supplements, and don’t let go of that bead bracelet, you hear?”

“What happened to Grandma?”

“She was hit by a small car, but it’s nothing serious. She’ll be fine with some rest. Don’t worry, Mom will be back in a few days.”

“Okay.”

Ji Tong looked at the talisman on the desk and asked, “Have you seen my red cord?”

“The bracelet? Aren’t you always wearing it? Did you lose it?”

“I’ll look for it again. Maybe I accidentally dropped it somewhere.”

“How was today? Did you encounter anything?”

Ji Tong didn’t want to worry her. “No.”

“Tell Mom immediately if anything happens. Don’t forget to drink milk tonight—warm it up first.”

“Okay.”

“That’s it then. Take care of yourself and just stay home.”

“Okay.”

After hanging up, Ji Tong put down her phone.

She searched through her backpack again but still couldn’t find the red cord.

A shadow quickly flashed past the window outside.

Ji Tong was startled and quickly drew the curtains.

She suddenly remembered the man in the black cloak from earlier, and her ears seemed to echo with that low, angry curse.

Scram!

He seemed very powerful.

And very fierce too.

Ji Tong recalled his figure, and her heartbeat suddenly accelerated. She took several deep breaths, clasped her hands around the talisman, stood up, and jumped a few times to distract herself.

Whether he was human or ghost, at least he had helped her.

…

“Not staying a bit longer?”

“Mm.”

Meng Yuan instantly flashed in front of He Feng, blocking his path. “Where are you going?”

“To sleep.”

“Oh, together then.”

He Feng slapped her so hard she spun in circles. “I have official business. I’m leaving for a while. You guard this place, and tell me if anything happens.”

Meng Yuan gathered her energy and watched He Feng disappear. “Not romantic at all!”

…

The One-Eyed Ghost had never dared to leave. Voluntarily confessing was better than being chased and beaten by He Feng.

Seeing He Feng leave that female ghost, he quickly knelt over. “Lord He, I’ll never dare again. That girl can see us, and I just wanted to tease her a bit. I didn’t mean to do anything. Please spare me…”

He Feng looked down at him condescendingly. In the past, he would have used his soul whip to beat this ghost until its soul scattered, but now he said, “Go to Shiyi Dian yourself to receive punishment.”

The One-Eyed Ghost wanted to say more, but when he looked again, He Feng had already disappeared.

He regretted it deeply, so angry that his other eyeball was about to fall out too.

Unlucky! Why did he have to run into this tough guy?

…

Late at night, Ji Tong fell asleep on her test papers.

Fine sweat beaded on her forehead, and the thin shirt on her back was also soaked with perspiration.

He Feng stood in the corner watching her for a long while.

He really wanted to get close to her, to love and care for her, but he was afraid she couldn’t handle it and would suffer.

After searching for so long, he had originally thought that his feelings, dormant for many years, would burst forth turbulently and uncontrollably. He never expected it would be endless restraint.

The room’s doors and windows were tightly closed, and the air conditioning wasn’t on, making it extremely stuffy.

He opened a window to let the breeze in, then left.

Ji Tong slept until her hands and feet went numb. When she opened her eyes, she was startled by her own shadow on the window.

She remembered clearly closing the window.

The curtain moved slightly, and Ji Tong immediately stood up, closed the window, and locked it.

She was in no mood to think too much, quickly put away her textbooks, and hurried to bed.

Some things only become more frightening the more you think about them, especially at night.

It’s fine, it’s fine. The house has many evil-warding objects placed throughout.

Great fortune and great luck, great fortune and great luck.

…