The matter of the Academy being haunted had been circulating among the scholar candidates all along, with those living inside often claiming to see things.
However, Fang Tong had told Song Zhi that it was because so many scholar candidates were breaking their heads trying to move in, which was why such hair-raising ghost stories were spread—to discourage others from wanting to enter.
But that was just Fang Tong’s own belief. After all, he had never seen that man wearing scholarly robes.
These scholar candidates gathered together, inevitably discussing things in waves.
Someone said, “I only remember that Wang Gang told me before—when he got up in the middle of the night to use the privy, he saw something under a large tree in the back courtyard. Just a distant glance, not very clear, but the next day he fell ill.”
“Which courtyard?”
“Right outside the courtyard where Du Mubai lived.”
“Don’t scare me!”
Some people pulled their sleeves tighter.
Their backs prickling with unease!
Just then—
A haggard-looking man walked in from outside, his face gloomy.
Someone saw him and asked, “Liang Fu? Weren’t you ill?”
The man called Liang Fu walked in step by step, his gaze sweeping around in a circle, his lips trembling as he said, “I… have seen it!”
Uh!
The room fell completely silent, everyone stunned speechless.
In an instant, it was as if something had seized everyone by the throat—no one could utter a word.
Liang Fu sat down under everyone’s shocked and timid gazes. While staring at several books the scholar candidates had placed on the table before him, he said in a deep tone, “Just last month, I truly saw it! It was a man standing under a large tree, his hair very long, covering most of his face. I saw his mouth smiling, smiling at me, continuously…
Continuously smiling…”
The further he spoke, the more his voice trembled.
And grew softer and softer.
As if trapped in his throat.
After he finished speaking, almost no one picked up the conversation.
After a while, someone with slightly more courage jumped out and asked, “You truly saw it?”
“Would I deceive you?”
“Six years ago, you also took the examination together with him, so… was the person you saw Du Mubai?”
“I don’t know—I couldn’t see the appearance very clearly.” Liang Fu sighed and shook his head. “I wanted to move out the next day, but coming from humble origins, the Academy is still a place to stay. If I left, where could I go? So I could only remain, but every night I’m plagued by nightmares. Truly… truly I can’t bear it anymore!”
His tone mixed with sobbing!
Helplessness!
Liang Fu’s words made everyone feel both fearful and sympathetic, even deeply empathetic.
Those living here were all people of humble origins without any background. They came to Gaoding to take the examinations, perhaps having already exhausted all their family’s traveling funds. Food and lodging were problems—they had to consider carefully before buying even one book, much less leaving the Academy to live elsewhere!
But some people expressed doubts.
Standing up to say, “Liang Fu, you’re always so neurotic, locking yourself in your room reading until you’ve gone silly, making your eyes dizzy. Don’t mistake what you saw, or perhaps you imagined it yourself.”
Just as these words finished—
Another person walked in from outside the door.
That person was dressed neatly and cleanly, in high spirits, unlike Liang Fu’s gloomy appearance.
He strode in and said directly, “I saw it too, exactly as Liang Fu described, not a single discrepancy.”
This person was called Dou Jin!
He usually socialized in a fairly wide circle and had a cheerful personality.
“Dou Jin, how can you say this too?”
“I originally didn’t want to speak of it, nor do I believe in ghosts and spirits, and I don’t believe what I saw was a ghost. But now Du Mubai’s murder is a fact—perhaps he truly has grievances in his heart, so his soul lingers on and on precisely so that today someone would overturn his case.”
He wasn’t afraid!
Rather, his tone carried a full sense of righteousness.
He thought that if he encountered that man in scholarly robes again, he would definitely step forward and inquire clearly, asking whether that ghost was transformed from Du Mubai, and then asking just who had committed this vicious act.
Previously, the Academy had rumors of being haunted, but no one spoke of it directly!
Everything remained in hearsay.
But now, both Liang Fu and Dou Jin had stepped forward, claiming they had indeed seen a ghost.
Everyone half-believed and half-doubted.
Then a man in purple robes broke the terrifying atmosphere, saying, “We are educated people—how can we believe in such matters of ghosts and spirits? Sage Kong taught righteousness. We must not let such things sway us. I think someone must be playing tricks.”
“Who would pretend to be a ghost to scare people?”
“How would I know? In any case, I don’t believe it! Moreover, those with upright righteousness, why would they fear such things?”
His words quickly gained everyone’s agreement.
“That’s right, there are no ghosts in this world.”
“Let’s not scare ourselves!”
Everyone offered mutual comfort.
But Liang Fu slowly rose, the gloomy aura on his face intensifying several degrees as he said, “If you don’t believe it, so be it.”
Then he turned and left.
Dou Jin had nothing more to say either. After all, he also hadn’t believed before!
After everyone mutually comforted each other, they changed the topic.
“But speaking of it, that Du Mubai truly was quite pitiful! Framed by the three who shared his room for plagiarism, his entire reputation utterly ruined! What a humiliation that was! Now that he’s dead, only now is his name cleared.”
“Isn’t that so? That Bing Zheng usually seems honest and unassuming, neither competing nor fighting, yet secretly engages in such despicable schemes. Fang Tong and Jiang Wen too—of all people to help, they went and provided false testimony.”
“To put it plainly, isn’t it just jealousy? Back then Du Mubai was known as the South Shen talented scholar and gained the Marquis of Pingyang’s favor, entering the residence as a protégé. This already virtually guaranteed him a place in the top three. Those three must have felt unwilling.”
“Matters of scholarship depend on ability—how can they resort to such base tactics?”
Everyone sneered in contempt.
Denouncing them one after another.
Among them, one person suddenly asked, “But who killed Du Mubai—just who was it?”
That hit the mark!
Back then, everyone said Du Mubai was a talented person, humble and courteous in manner, never making enemies with anyone, never quarreling with anyone.
Just who would commit such a vicious act?
A person of short stature pushed forward and said, “Do you all think it could be…”
His words stopped!
Everyone stared at him eagerly.
“Who? Just say it!”
“Could it be… Xue He?”
Uh!
Some people were astonished.
Some suddenly understood.
Then someone picked up the thread and continued, “Back then Xue He was a protégé at the Marquis of Pingyang’s residence together with Du Mubai. At that time, Du Mubai surpassed him in every way. If he harbored resentment, it’s also possible!”
“Exactly, exactly.”
“But tell me, why back then, even though it was Du Mubai who plagiarized the poetry, did the Marquis of Pingyang also revoke Xue He’s protégé status?”
“How would we know that?”
“Could it be that Xue He felt his protégé status was also revoked because he was implicated by Du Mubai, and that’s why he killed him?”
“It’s possible. There must be much more to this story.”