Chapter 52

The subway car was not a place to tangle with a ghost; outside was much better. At least it was spacious there, and there weren’t so many people. Qi Xu walked through several cars until she reached the first one, where she finally stopped. There were only a few people in the first car, some sitting with their heads down, staring at their phones.

Her hand touched the partition door at the front of the subway car. She turned and leaned her back against it, her eyes fixed tightly on the direction she had come from. One station on the subway took about two or three minutes, and at most one minute had passed now. She hoped this little ghost would be slow and wouldn’t catch up until after the train arrived at the station.

But wishes were beautiful, while reality was cruel. The ghost still appeared, right at the junction of the previous few cars. At that moment, Qi Xu suddenly felt that her exceptionally good eyesight wasn’t so great after all. Her hand reached deep into her single-shoulder bag, fumbling around for a long time before she found the peace talisman she had scavenged from Xia Zhiming. She only hoped it would be of some use.

The ghost slowly closed in on Qi Xu, while everyone around her remained oblivious, quietly going about their own business.

Closer, even closer. Qi Xu could feel that yin-cold aura belonging to the ghost.

When the ghost lunged at Qi Xu, she instinctively closed her eyes, hoping her ghost body would emerge quickly. At that moment, she thought, ‘Sorry, roommates. Today, whether my ghost body comes out or not, I’m probably not making our appointment.’ After that thought, Xia Zhiming’s figure suddenly flashed in her mind.

The expected pain did not come. Instead, her fingertips felt like they had been zapped by electricity, just like those little motors from elementary school used to prank people. There was a slight, tingling pain at her fingertips. But in her ears came the ghost’s shrill scream.

When Qi Xu opened her eyes, she saw the subway lights flickering unstably, as if the voltage was off. It took a long time before they slowly returned to full brightness. There were also murmurs from the passengers around her. “What happened?”

“Probably unstable voltage, normal stuff.”

Soon, an announcement from the subway staff explained as well…

Qi Xu let out a sigh of relief. She looked at the peace talisman in her hand; the cinnabar inscription on it had vanished, leaving behind a blank piece of yellow paper.

Xia Zhiming had saved her again.

Qi Xu felt quite happy inside, but a thought also arose: Shouldn’t she learn something herself to protect herself? Although her ghost body was strong, she couldn’t control when it would emerge. Against a little ghost like this, she was hanging by a thread. If next time she got snuffed out before her ghost body could appear, wouldn’t that be too unjust?

Qi Xu wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and found a seat to sit in. When she finally arrived and stepped back into the scorching sunlight, she felt alive again. She met up with her roommates and they had a meal together. At the table, her roommates suggested doing something in the afternoon.

One wanted to go to a cat café to pet cats, another wanted to hit a KTV to sing, and another wanted to go shopping for clothes. They chatted for a while, and somehow the topic turned to the Ghost House. Qi Xu listened and said she didn’t want to go. She’d been seeing ghosts a lot lately and really didn’t want to go to a Ghost House. What if a real one snuck in there? Wouldn’t her little life be over again?

Seeing how opposed Qi Xu was, the others didn’t insist on her going.

They were just curious why Qi Xu had lost interest in that kind of thing.

“That’s not right, Xu Xu. Didn’t you love stuff like this? You used to watch horror movies and play horror games in the dorm.”

Another roommate teasingly chimed in as usual. “Don’t let her love for it fool you—her courage is tiny. She’d pause the game at the drop of a hat, and when watching horror movies, she’d often mute them. She’s all thrill-seeking but can’t handle it.”

Qi Xu smiled as usual and didn’t refute. No amount of goading would work; she flat-out refused to go.

Seeing she wouldn’t budge, her roommates turned to chatting among themselves about the Ghost House. “But this Ghost House seems to be a touring one. It’s only renting a venue in Xintan City for maybe ten days or half a month. I hear it’s super scary, but if you can escape in 30 minutes, they give you ten thousand yuan as a reward.”

Ten thousand yuan was hugely tempting for students who loved fun but were short on cash. Before all this happened, Qi Xu definitely would’ve been eager to try, going after a little coaxing from her roommates. But after everything she’d been through—and nearly dying just now—she had zero interest.

Besides, after these past two or three months, her little wallet was quite full. But seeing how excited everyone was, Qi Xu didn’t want to be a buzzkill. She just said, “If you all want to go, go ahead. I’ll wait for you at the entrance. Or I can hang out at a cat café and meet up after you’re done.”

When dormmates were close, they preferred group activities. Since Qi Xu was dead set against it, the three of them exchanged glances and decided to drop it. After eating, they chose to hit a KTV to sing and relieve some summer vacation stress.

But as they passed the pedestrian street downstairs, they ran into young women in Hanfu handing out flyers. Spotting the four of them, one lit up and handed them flyers. Qi Xu took one and instantly wanted to toss it.

Speak of the devil—this was the Ghost House they’d been talking about at lunch. As Qi Xu looked closer, she thought, ‘Damn, this Ghost House is like a haunting presence, deliberately popping up around me.’ But then she wondered if she was overthinking it. How could she be that unlucky?

Still, out of caution, Qi Xu wouldn’t go to this Ghost House. The staff pulled out their trump card. “It’s trial operations today—the first 50 people get in free. Perfect for you four young ladies; it’d be free too.”

College students were like old folks—they couldn’t resist the word “free.” Qi Xu’s three roommates immediately caved. “Let’s go, let’s go, right now!” They were already interested, and now it was free? Passing up a bargain like that would make them bastards.

Qi Xu had no intention of going and told them she wasn’t feeling well, so she didn’t want to. When they met up, her face had been a bit pale, so they were understanding. Qi Xu watched them enter the Ghost House, then turned and found a coffee shop to wait in. She played on her phone while sipping coffee.

The summer sun blazed; an iced coffee in the afternoon felt amazing. It was then that she saw Xia Zhiming walking by outside. Qi Xu froze for a second, grabbed her coffee, and chased after her. Qi Xu didn’t know why she was following, but seeing Xia Zhiming and not going up to ask felt like something was missing inside her.

“Hey! Xia Zhiming!”

Qi Xu called out, but Xia Zhiming didn’t turn back. Qi Xu chased for a long time before finally catching up in a small alley branching off the pedestrian street. The other woman turned around, and Qi Xu froze. It wasn’t Xia Zhiming. She had a beautiful lotus face, but Qi Xu couldn’t help taking a step back.

“Sorry, I mistook you for someone else.”

Qi Xu found it unbelievable that she could mistake Xia Zhiming. Even a perfect copy of “Xia Zhiming” in front of her, she wouldn’t get wrong. Yet right now, she had. Her instincts told her the situation was dangerous, but before she could take a step to run, she felt dizzy and collapsed to the ground.

Before losing consciousness, Qi Xu thought, ‘As expected, this is a trap aimed at me!’

Also, keeps falling like this—wouldn’t she get another concussion?

She didn’t know how much time passed before Qi Xu woke up.

She was too lazy to complain anymore. Ever since the temple fair incident, she’d been inexplicably passing out and waking up just as inexplicably. This déjà vu of waking up had happened who knows how many times. And each time she came to, the scene in front of her was a little different.

This time was the same.

She woke up, but her body felt swaying back and forth. She was locked in a narrow, square space with a horizontal stool under her butt for sitting. That swaying sensation felt familiar yet strange. She opened her eyes and groped around before realizing why it was familiar.

This—wasn’t it just like being in a sedan chair? She’d ridden in them twice lately; of course it felt familiar.

The strangeness made sense too. The two times her ghost body had ridden, they were huge sixteen-man sedans where she could’ve rolled around. This one was different—like those tiny photo-op sedans at tourist spots.

It swayed unsteadily when lifted, worse than a boat. Qi Xu had just woken up with a dizzy head, and now this rocking nearly made her puke.

She covered her mouth with her hand to prevent it. As she raised it, she saw her wide sleeve. Her first thought was, ‘Whoa, ghosted again.’ But looking closer, the color was different. This outfit was red. Even in the extreme darkness—no windows in this sedan—she could vaguely make out the red.

Besides, she felt too pathetic right now, clearly in her fragile human state, nothing like being a ghost.

Qi Xu snapped out of the nausea and carefully checked herself over before relaxing. She hadn’t changed clothes; she still had her own underneath, just covered by a red overcoat. After rummaging for a while, she found her phone. First thing, she checked the signal. Seeing none, Qi Xu confirmed: ‘Got it—entered a Ghost Domain again.’

Third time’s the charm; entering a Ghost Domain wasn’t novel anymore.

She turned on the flashlight and shone it around, confirming she was in a sedan—a wedding sedan, at that. Both her clothes and the sedan were festooned in festive red. But under the phone’s flashlight, the red looked dingy and dim, adding a touch of horror.

Snapping back, she checked the time. It showed August 17th.

Qi Xu tensed up. This date wasn’t wonderful. She’d left on August 16th, a Friday, but now a whole day had passed upon waking.

Most importantly, the 17th wasn’t a great day either.