IMMFBCG Chapter 69

Chapter 69: The Video

Because of the ghost encounter, Wei Caining and He Siqi didn’t sleep well the whole night.

When the sun rose, they stayed in bed a little longer in the hotel.

When Gao Lan woke up, both of them were still asleep, but Ye Xue was already at the sink washing up.

Gao Lan noticed someone had suddenly appeared beside her pillow and thought it was Ye Xue who had come to sleep there. But when she heard the sound of water coming from the bathroom, she realized that the person beside her wasn’t Ye Xue.

Gao Lan sat up and looked to the side, and saw He Siqi sleeping soundly, propped up by the pillow.

“Eh?” Gao Lan rubbed her eyes. “Why is Siqi here?”

When she saw Wei Caining lying in Ye Xue’s bed, she was even more surprised. “Caining is here too?”

Ye Xue, drying her hands, came out and saw Gao Lan awake, smiling as she said, “You’re up?”

Despite the loud noises from last night, which even shook the fifth floor, Gao Lan hadn’t noticed anything at all. She had still been sound asleep when Ye Xue and the others had returned to their rooms.

Ye Xue had seen a flurry of messages in the spring outing group on QQ this morning, asking about what had happened. However, the topic had quickly moved on, and they were all distracted by something else.

By the time it was morning, the conversation had shifted to where to go for fun and when they would gather to return to school.

Ye Xue carefully read through the group messages and realized no one had suspected anything out of the ordinary, which put her at ease.

Gao Lan slowly shook off her lingering drowsiness before asking, “How did Caining and the others end up here?”

Luckily, Gao Lan wasn’t a restless sleeper. Otherwise, with the two of them in the bed, she might have kicked He Siqi off.

Ye Xue didn’t bring up the ghost incident, instead summarizing simply, “Their room’s door was broken, and it wasn’t safe for them to sleep there, so I let Caining and Siqi sleep here.”

“Oh, I see.” Gao Lan didn’t think much more of it and chuckled. “I didn’t even realize they were here.”

Ye Xue smiled, “You were still asleep at the time.”

Half an hour later, Wei Caining’s alarm went off. She struggled to turn off her phone alarm and then took a quick minute to nap before getting up and waking up He Siqi.

Ye Xue and Gao Lan had already finished getting ready, so they waited for the two to finish.

Ye Xue didn’t join them for breakfast. She vaguely said, “You go ahead. I’m not going down for now.”

“Why?” Gao Lan asked, confused. “Aren’t you hungry? Or do you feel unwell? I can bring something back for you.”

He Siqi exchanged a look with Wei Caining and knew Ye Xue was handling the ghost situation, so they both headed out.

He Siqi turned back and said, “We’ll head down now, and we’ll contact you on the phone later.”

Gao Lan was still puzzled, “Hey, hey, what’s going on with you two?”

Ye Xue smiled and watched them leave, then closed the door behind her.

She took the bottle out of her bag. The ghost inside had been squeezed together, its features twisted beyond recognition.

Ye Xue released it.

The ghost moved and its paper-thin soul quickly restored its original appearance. It was still a bit dizzy and leaned against the wall for support.

Ye Xue asked, “So, what’s your story? Why were you harassing my friends?”

The ghost’s eyes were filled with resentment. “My bones were trampled on by her, so I followed her here.”

Ye Xue, sensing something was off, asked, “Sister, how long ago did you die? Isn’t cremation the norm now?”

The ghost hesitated, “Maybe fifty or sixty years ago?”

“Ah, that’s quite a long time ago,” Ye Xue mused. “Your master probably hadn’t even been born then.”

The ghost continued, “I was originally buried here, but one day, a lot of people came with machines I didn’t understand, and they overturned the land. My bones were scattered everywhere, and I couldn’t find them. I drifted for a long time until I finally found one of my bones, and then… your friend stepped on it.”

Ye Xue understood now.

The ghost had been buried there, and over the decades, the land had probably changed hands several times. Later, developers bought the land to build a resort.

It was not unusual; sometimes schools were built over mass graves, supposedly to suppress the yin energy with the yang energy of the students.

Ye Xue glanced at the time. “Here’s what I’ll do. I’ll help you find your bones and get you a proper burial place. From now on, be a good ghost and stop scaring people…” She paused and added, “And don’t use my voice to deceive others.”

The ghost was grateful and immediately smiled. “Thank you, master! I’ll be a good ghost and not cause you any more trouble!”

But as she smiled, maggots almost fell from her mouth.

Ye Xue shuddered and quickly said, “Stop, stop! Sister, please pay attention to your image. Don’t spit out maggots anymore!”

The female ghost covered her mouth with her hand, smiling apologetically. “I got carried away and forgot.”

Ye Xue motioned for her to stay close, then opened her backpack to check that the tools were in place before picking up the items and heading downstairs.

Ye Xue went to buy some rice nearby and, after evaluating the feng shui of the area, found the most suitable spot for her ritual.

As she walked toward the forest, she spotted Ruan Xinghua not far away. Upon seeing Ye Xue, he quickly said goodbye to the people he was with and rushed over to her.

“Ye Xue!” Ruan Xinghua called out from behind.

Ye Xue turned around and raised an eyebrow. “How did you end up following me? Aren’t you going to enjoy the hot springs and rafting?”

Ruan Xinghua replied, “Oh, I’ve been here before. I’ve already done everything there is to do. By the way, what are you here for? Do you need help?”

Ye Xue stopped and gave him a thoughtful glance, then nodded. “Sure, come on over then.”

She was actually in need of someone to help collect the bones.

Ruan Xinghua, not understanding Ye Xue’s look, scratched his head and followed her. “Wait for me!”

The spot Ye Xue chose had a stone table. She placed her tools on the surface and poured the rice into a bowl, then set another bowl with cinnabar beside it.

Ruan Xinghua watched her series of actions and finally understood. “So, you’re performing a ritual!”

The next moment, his expression turned fearful. “Holy crap, there’s not going to be a ghost here, right?”

Ye Xue shot him a helpless look. “Stop shouting. At this rate, you’ll summon the entire class.”

Ruan Xinghua, still scared, decided to stick close to Ye Xue.

Ye Xue took out a tiny Kongming lantern and placed a red candle inside.

Then, she picked up a brush and began drawing a talisman on yellow paper.

She threw the talisman into the bowl of rice, and it instantly caught fire. Ruan Xinghua stared in disbelief at the scene. When he saw Ye Xue, without flinching, stick her index finger into the flames, his eyes went wide.

When Ye Xue withdrew her finger, there was a grain of rice, still burning, quietly resting on her fingertip.

She flicked the grain of rice, and it flew straight into the small Kongming lantern.

The candle inside the lantern was lit, and it slowly began to rise, as if guided by something, drifting off in an unknown direction.

Ye Xue had a good sense of where it was going. After extinguishing the fire, she quickly gathered the items and stuffed them into her backpack. “Follow it.”

Ruan Xinghua, not fully understanding, asked, “Are we going to find something?”

Ye Xue nodded. “Yeah, digging up bones.”

“Bones?” Ruan Xinghua laughed. “What kind of bones? They can’t be human bones, right?”

Ye Xue smiled slyly at him. “What do you think?”

Ruan Xinghua’s legs went weak, and he almost fell over. Ye Xue had to steady him.

Ye Xue hadn’t expected Ruan Xinghua to be this scared. “If you’re really that afraid, you can go back.”

He hesitated, looking at Ye Xue with conflicted emotions before finally saying, “No, I’ll just tough it out!”

After all, it was just bones, not a ghost!

The Kongming lantern floated around, leading them to several different locations.

Ruan Xinghua, feeling his legs wobble, helped pick up the scattered bones.

The female ghost continued cheering him on. “You’re doing great, comrade! Just a few more pieces and we’re done! You’re such a good person!”

Ruan Xinghua shivered and muttered, “Why is it so cold?”

Ye Xue glanced at the ghost beside them, giving Ruan Xinghua his “good person” card, and shook her head, amused.

An hour later, the Kongming lantern slowly began to come to a stop.

By then, Ye Xue and Ruan Xinghua had gathered all the ghost’s bones.

She wrapped the bones in a red cloth and turned to Ruan Xinghua. “Thanks for the help. When we get back to school, I’ll treat you to a meal.”

Ruan Xinghua grinned. “Oh, no need to be so polite! If you feel bad, just give me a few more talismans.”

Ye Xue raised an eyebrow. “Did you use up all the ones I gave you before?”

Ruan Xinghua’s face immediately turned gloomy. “My parents took them all! They said I was safe at school and wouldn’t encounter any ghosts, so they gave the talismans to people who need them.”

Ye Xue’s lips twitched. “Your parents are right. If you don’t go around playing ghost games, you probably won’t see one in your lifetime.”

But since Ruan Xinghua had helped her, Ye Xue added, “Next time, just come to Xuanzhen Temple and ask me for more.”

Ruan Xinghua happily agreed. “Got it!”

When Ye Xue returned, Yu Qi happened to come looking for her.

Ruan Xinghua often visited Xuanzhen Temple to offer incense, so he naturally knew Yu Qi. After greeting him, Ruan Xinghua was quickly pulled away by a classmate he had been looking for.

Yu Qi took her hand. “Let’s have breakfast first.”

Ye Xue had already told Yu Qi about helping the female ghost find her bones, so Yu Qi knew she had left early in the morning and hadn’t had a chance to eat yet.

As Ye Xue ate shrimp dumplings, she recalled the events of last night and asked, “Did you handle the hotel situation for me?”

Ye Xue had been worried about how to explain to the hotel manager what they were doing, but after a night had passed, not only was she not asked to compensate, but the incident hadn’t been spread around either. Aside from the guests who heard the noise, no one else knew about what happened.

She figured that Yu Qi must have handled it.

Yu Qi nodded and added, “I was going to find you, but it was already quite late.”

Since Ye Xue had been with her roommate, Yu Qi didn’t come and had the staff take care of the situation instead.

The ghost incident hadn’t affected Wei Caining’s life much, but to dispel the bad luck, she still went to the temple to offer incense.

It was then that Wei Caining learned that the famous Xuanzhen Temple was connected to Ye Xue, and that it was through Ye Xue that she and He Siqi became acquainted.

After seeing off her roommate, Ye Xue was about to return to the temple to do some homework when a couple arrived with their son.

Xu Zhou poured three cups of warm water and handed them to the couple.

The two adults took the cups, while the child stared blankly at his cup without saying a word. When Xu Zhou came closer, the child instinctively stepped back, shivering slightly, as if afraid of pain.

This reaction seemed unusual, so Xu Zhou instinctively looked at Ye Xue.

Ye Xue frowned slightly, walking over to the child to get a closer look. The child, in a soft voice, murmured, “It hurts so much…”

The couple hurriedly comforted the child, but it had no effect; he kept crying out in pain.

Ye Xue asked, “He keeps saying it hurts, why haven’t you taken him to the hospital?”

The couple sighed. The woman spoke, “We did take him to the hospital. That’s why we came here.”

The couple introduced themselves. The husband, Chang Wenbin, the wife, Wang Diemeng, and their son, Chang Yuanyuan, had just turned three.

Chang Wenbin explained, “We just moved into a new house and it happened to be Yuanyuan’s birthday. So, we invited his kindergarten classmates over for a birthday party. That night, I filmed the party with the camera. Yuanyuan was happy all day, jumping around excitedly. Even after we sent his friends home, he kept jumping around at home until Mengmeng carried him to bed.”

“But after that night, the child kept saying his body hurt. We took him to the hospital for an X-ray, but the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong. After two days, he still keeps saying it hurts. A friend recommended that we come here to the temple.”

Ye Xue knelt in front of Chang Yuanyuan. “Yuanyuan, tell me, where does it hurt?”

Chang Yuanyuan shivered, then mumbled, “My shoulder… it hurts so much.”

Ye Xue looked at Chang Wenbin and Wang Diemeng. “Would you mind if I checked his shoulder?”

Wang Diemeng replied, “You can check, but we’ve asked him many times and checked his shoulder ourselves, and there’s nothing unusual.”

Ye Xue removed Chang Yuanyuan’s shirt and examined his shoulders carefully, but there was nothing out of the ordinary.

She thought for a moment and then turned to Xu Zhou. “Nephew, please bring me a cup of water for the ancestor.”

Xu Zhou quickly brought the water.

Ye Xue dipped her fingertip into the water and gently applied it to Chang Yuanyuan’s shoulder while chanting, “Heart and spirit unite, open my path to truth.”

As her fingertip brushed over the skin, faint blue marks began to appear on what had been smooth, fair skin.

Wang Diemeng gasped, “What is this?!”

On both of Chang Yuanyuan’s shoulders, there were five terrifying fingerprints.

Xu Zhou furrowed his brows, thinking about the situation, and then asked, “Did you two watch the video from that day carefully?”

Chang Wenbin, still a bit unsettled, quickly answered, “We planned to watch it, but with the child’s condition, we haven’t touched the camera since recording it.”

Ye Xue asked, “Is the camera with you?”

Wang Diemeng replied, “Yes.”

She liked taking photos, so she always carried her camera. She took it out of her bag and showed them the video from the birthday party.

In the video, Chang Yuanyuan was indeed very lively, jumping around with boundless energy.

But as Ye Xue watched, her frown deepened.

She asked Wang Diemeng to replay the footage of Chang Yuanyuan jumping again, and then once more.

Finally, both Xu Zhou and Ye Xue noticed something strange.

Ye Xue’s face turned pale. “He wasn’t playing at all.”

Ye Xue extended her hand and lightly touched the screen. In the video, the child continued to jump upwards.

“Invisible hands are pulling him. He’s being forced to jump.”