Edited—

After checking, the group didn’t find anything strange in the third-floor bathroom.

The library had five floors total. The fourth floor was the electronic reading and multimedia area, while the fifth floor was the staff office area.

The group reached the fourth floor and turned on the lights.

“What about the other ghosts?” Lin Jue said. “I saw the teacher’s one downstairs and helped her pass on with a talisman.”

Lin Zhushui pondered briefly, walked forward a few steps, chose a relatively open area, and took out the remaining items from the bag one by one.

These were all objects they had found in the jars on the playground, already confirmed to belong to the murdered students.

After placing the items on the ground, Lin Zhushui beckoned to Zhou Jiayu.

Zhou Jiayu stepped forward to Lin Zhushui’s side. The hand hanging at his side was suddenly grasped by Lin Zhushui. Zhou Jiayu’s heart tightened. He was about to ask when he heard Lin Zhushui say softly: “I need a little of your blood.”

Zhou Jiayu said okay. Then he saw Lin Zhushui take out a thin needle from somewhere and prick a small hole in Zhou Jiayu’s index finger.

A bead of blood emerged from his finger. Lin Zhushui used his own fingertip to dip into Zhou Jiayu’s blood and began drawing a talisman array on the floor. This wasn’t the first time Zhou Jiayu had watched Lin Zhushui draw a talisman, but that fluid technique was still a pleasure to behold. The talisman array looked quite complex. Zhou Jiayu had been somewhat worried whether that little bit of blood would be enough, but he hadn’t expected Lin Zhushui to finish it effortlessly in one stroke. The diluted blood showed a faint orange color. When the final stroke was completed, a sudden strong wind blew outside the window. The windows rattled loudly, and the glass clattered, as if something was trying to squeeze into the room from the heavy night.

After the gale, strange sounds began to echo through the quiet fourth floor of the library. The sounds seemed to be forcibly squeezed out of human throats. Zhou Jiayu felt like he had heard them somewhere before. Upon careful thought, he realized they were almost seventy to eighty percent similar to the sound effects when a female ghost appeared in some horror movie.

In the distant darkness, things began slowly moving toward them.

Zhou Jiayu could only rejoice inwardly that this was reality, not a horror film—at least there was no BGM setting the mood. Who knew that the moment he thought this, the things in the darkness suddenly revealed themselves.

They were five ferocious-looking resentful spirits. Some were crawling, some standing, some pressed against the ceiling, but without exception, they were all wearing this school’s uniforms. Undoubtedly, they were the victims who had lost their lives.

Lin Zhushui sighed softly, his tone carrying a hint of pity. He said: “It’s over. Leave.” The moment his words fell, Zhou Jiayu heard the sound of a night watchman’s clapper coming from outside the window.

The moment this clapper sound appeared, Zhou Jiayu immediately remembered that when his soul had left his body, he had heard this same rhythm from the yin messengers escorting ghosts on that street. He hadn’t expected that Lin Zhushui’s talisman array could directly summon yin messengers.

The rhythm of the clapper was very special. The five ferocious-looking resentful spirits before them seemed to be drawn by the sound and began moving toward the wall. But when their bodies were about to touch the wall, it was as if they were blocked by something and could advance no further.

When Lin Zhushui walked to the position by the wall, there were five nails in his hand. The nails were half a palm long, displaying a faint golden color, and looked quite beautiful.

He gripped the nails and drove them into the wall one by one. The originally hard wall seemed to be made of tofu before Lin Zhushui. All five nails were easily inserted. Then Lin Zhushui’s hand heavily slapped the wall—

“Roooar!!” A violent shriek rang through the library. This shriek sounded like the roar of a wounded beast. The next moment, the library floor began shaking violently, as if there were an earthquake.

Zhou Jiayu was startled, but he saw that the wall where Lin Zhushui had driven the nails was actually beginning to slowly drip black-red blood.

Lin Zhushui said: “Go.”

The five resentful spirits standing in place slowly penetrated through the wall and headed outside.

Zhou Jiayu turned back and saw that all the items Lin Zhushui had placed on the ground had turned to ash. It seemed these five fierce spirits had indeed been liberated from the library by Lin Zhushui.

But if that was the case, what was that roar they had just heard? And the shaking beneath their feet—just as Zhou Jiayu was thinking this, he suddenly noticed that Li Jinjiang, standing beside him, had a somewhat strange expression. But Li Jinjiang had always been afraid of these things; his expression was almost never normal, so Zhou Jiayu didn’t think much of it. He just wondered if Li Jinjiang was feeling unwell and asked with concern: “Are you alright? Li Jinjiang?”

Li Jinjiang opened his mouth and said something extremely soft.

Zhou Jiayu said: “What?” He stepped forward, wanting to hear more clearly. But Li Jinjiang, standing before him, suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm fiercely. Then Li Jinjiang opened his mouth—countless strands of black hair surged from his mouth toward Zhou Jiayu. Zhou Jiayu couldn’t react in time. His entire body was wrapped up by the black hair into a ball.

All of this happened in an instant. Zhou Jiayu didn’t even have time to cry for help before he felt his body being rapidly lifted up, then suddenly dropped. The floor beneath him collapsed—

“What is this thing?” Zhou Jiayu forced himself to calm down and called out to Jiba in his mind.

Jiba said: “A dirty thing…”

Zhou Jiayu: “…” Words that are never wrong in this world are always useless words.

“Alright, I was joking.” Jiba didn’t seem nervous at all. “Don’t be afraid. I calculated it. You have a long life; you won’t die. Don’t you have talisman papers in your bosom? Pinch them in your hand. If that thing dares to lay a hand on you, rush up and slap it on him.”

Zhou Jiayu: “…” Why is Jiba’s tone getting more and more street-smart?

Being wrapped in black hair really wasn’t a comfortable feeling. Especially that smooth texture—it always gave people some rather unpleasant associations.

Zhou Jiayu fell for about three or four seconds before being caught by something, and his whole body was suspended.

“Long time no see.” A woman’s voice came out.

The black hair covering Zhou Jiayu’s face dispersed. He saw a man and a woman. The man was very tall, wearing a black hooded windbreaker with a mask on his face; his features were unclear. The woman was quite a bit shorter than the man, draped in light black long hair, her appearance very pure—simply like the girl next door.

Zhou Jiayu felt like he had heard this voice somewhere before, but for a moment couldn’t recall. In the end, it was Jiba who reminded him: “Did you forget? Xu Jinghuo! The one who harassed you with calls every day!”

Only then did Zhou Jiayu realize. The first words out of his mouth angered Xu Jinghuo: “You still haven’t changed back?”

Xu Jinghuo’s expression visibly twisted. He walked up to Zhou Jiayu, reached out and pinched Zhou Jiayu’s chin, and sneered: “Whether I’ve changed back or not is none of your business. Zhou Jiayu, did you ever think there would be a day when you’d fall into my hands?”

Zhou Jiayu answered very frankly: “No.”

While speaking with Xu Jinghuo, he observed his surroundings out of the corner of his eye and discovered he was in an enclosed space. The walls of this space seemed to be the hair coiled around him. This hair isolated the surrounding scenery, preventing Zhou Jiayu from determining exactly where he was.

“Hmph, Lin Zhushui—nothing special after all.” Xu Jinghuo’s tone was disdainful. “Protected you for so long, and we still succeeded.”

Zhou Jiayu noticed he said “we” rather than “I.” It seemed the man behind him was Xu Jinghuo’s accomplice.

“What exactly do you want to do?” Zhou Jiayu said. “Killed so many people—”

“Shut up!” Upon hearing this, Xu Jinghuo actually became somewhat angry from embarrassment. He said: “What qualifications do you have to speak! Talk more nonsense, and I’ll seal your consciousness and turn you into an idiot!”

Zhou Jiayu didn’t make a sound. Honestly, whether in image or voice, Xu Jinghuo wasn’t suited for threatening people. Zhou Jiayu even noticed that when he pinched his chin to threaten him, he was straining to stand on his tiptoes… Of course, Zhou Jiayu only dared to think these things to himself. If he said them out loud, Xu Jinghuo would definitely fly into a rage from humiliation.

Xu Jinghuo took out his phone and dialed a number. Zhou Jiayu thought he was calling his accomplice. Who knew that after a moment, Lin Zhushui’s voice actually came from the phone.

“Hello.” Lin Zhushui’s tone was still very calm, as if Zhou Jiayu’s accident hadn’t caused any fluctuation at all.

Xu Jinghuo said: “Lin Zhushui!”

Lin Zhushui didn’t speak.

Xu Jinghuo said: “Zhou Jiayu is in my hands now. You’d better change me back immediately—or else I’ll kill him!”

Lin Zhushui’s voice was faint, but one could hear the threat in it: “If I were you, I definitely wouldn’t touch him.”

Xu Jinghuo sneered: “That depends on my mood!”

Lin Zhushui said: “Let me speak with him.”

Xu Jinghuo pressed the speakerphone and placed the phone by Zhou Jiayu’s mouth.

Lin Zhushui said: “Are you injured?”

Zhou Jiayu said: “No, Sir, I’m fine…” Aside from being wrapped into a cocoon, there wasn’t any major problem.

“Good.” Lin Zhushui said. “Wait for me. Once I’m done here, I’ll come pick you up.”

Zhou Jiayu said: “Okay.”

Hearing this, Xu Jinghuo flew into a rage: “Lin Zhushui, do you fucking think Zhou Jiayu is in kindergarten? Coming to pick him up—he’s about to be killed by me—”

Hearing this, Lin Zhushui sneered: “Are you willing to?”

Xu Jinghuo’s pupils contracted.

Lin Zhushui said: “Xu Jinghuo, you’d better behave yourself.” After saying this, his tone clearly softened, and he said to Zhou Jiayu: “Don’t be afraid. I’ll be there soon.”

Hearing Lin Zhushui’s words, Xu Jinghuo was so angry he directly smashed the phone.

The man who had been standing behind him without speaking slowly opened his mouth. His voice was somewhat muffled: “Let’s go. We can’t stop him.”

Xu Jinghuo said impatiently: “So we came all this way for nothing?”

The man said: “For nothing? We weren’t after Lin Zhushui this time. You insisted on causing extra trouble.” His tone carried some dissatisfaction.

“Me causing extra trouble—do you fucking want me to stay like this for the rest of my life?” Xu Jinghuo roared out very irritably.

Zhou Jiayu truly hadn’t expected to witness their internal strife here. But he didn’t know what exactly Lin Zhushui had done to Xu Jinghuo to forcibly prevent him from changing back to his original form.

That man in the mask said: “Otherwise, what do you want to do?”

Xu Jinghuo turned his head and glared fiercely at Zhou Jiayu, sneering: “Even if I can’t kill you, I can’t let you off too easily—” After saying this, he shook out a worm as thick as a finger from his hand, pinched Zhou Jiayu’s chin, and forcibly stuffed the worm into Zhou Jiayu’s mouth.

Zhou Jiayu was so disgusted he nearly threw up. After Xu Jinghuo forced him to swallow the worm, he had the black hair lower Zhou Jiayu down.

Zhou Jiayu lay on the ground retching. He raised his head and saw Xu Jinghuo and the man both beginning to leave. In the man’s hand, a wheelchair had somehow appeared, and on it was something wrapped in cloth. From the shape and gaps in the cloth wrapping, Zhou Jiayu vaguely saw… that it seemed to be… a skeleton. Only its shape was somewhat strange, looking much larger than a human skeleton…

Zhou Jiayu’s body was somewhat stiff. He lay on the ground unable to move and could only watch helplessly as Xu Jinghuo and the man walked away. As they left, the black hair around him gradually receded. Only then did Zhou Jiayu clearly see where he was. It was a very dilapidated basement with several tables and chairs inside. Xu Jinghuo and the man pushing the wheelchair were heading toward the exit. The two had already opened the door and were about to disappear from Zhou Jiayu’s sight.

Zhou Jiayu anxiously made ah ah sounds. He watched as Xu Jinghuo reached out and grasped the door handle, pulling it back—Boom! A loud crash. Azure flames surged in from outside the door. In an instant, they ignited Xu Jinghuo and the man’s bodies, surrounding the entire basement.

Zhou Jiayu was dumbstruck by this scene. His first reaction was that he was going to be burned to death. Who knew that when the flames approached him, he didn’t feel any burning sensation at all. Instead, he felt warm all over…

“Xu Jinghuo.” Lin Zhushui’s voice came from the doorway. “Where are you going?”

Xu Jinghuo and the man both collapsed on the ground, looking like their bodies were no longer under their control. Xu Jinghuo gritted his teeth: “Lin Zhushui! How is it possible you’re here so fast!”

Lin Zhushui didn’t answer. He stood amidst the flames like a nirvana phoenix, his footsteps slowly treading to Xu Jinghuo’s side: “Didn’t I tell you before—don’t touch Zhou Jiayu?”

Xu Jinghuo didn’t speak. His expression began to show pain. Those flames that Zhou Jiayu found exceptionally warm had become torture on his body.

Xu Jinghuo still wanted to speak, but the moment the word “you” left his mouth, Lin Zhushui kicked him in the shoulder, sending him stumbling, then heavily stepped on his back.

Lin Zhushui’s tone was still very flat, but the killing intent concealed within this flatness made Xu Jinghuo’s heart tremble uncontrollably. He heard Lin Zhushui say: “Xu Jinghuo, what do you think—shall I just kill the two of you right here?”

The moment his words fell, the man beside Xu Jinghuo began coughing heavily. The coughing grew louder and louder, as if something were choking his throat.

Xu Jinghuo also looked like he was about to pass out. He said with difficulty: “Y-you can’t kill me…”

“Why not.” Lin Zhushui asked indifferently.

Xu Jinghuo said: “If I die, Zhou Jiayu will also… die.”

Hearing this, Lin Zhushui suddenly laughed. This smile was as brilliant as spring flowers, yet it made Xu Jinghuo’s heart freeze bit by bit, because Lin Zhushui said: “With your gu-poisoning skills, you dare act presumptuously before me?”

Lin Zhushui had always been restrained. Zhou Jiayu rarely saw him so arrogant. But this kind of Lin Zhushui wasn’t annoying at all. Instead, Zhou Jiayu felt his heart beating wildly. He even began to wonder whether this overly intense reaction was because of the worm Xu Jinghuo had fed him.

Xu Jinghuo’s face was ashen, unable to speak. The powerful strength Lin Zhushui displayed made him lose confidence in himself. At this moment, Xu Jinghuo finally clearly realized that he and Lin Zhushui simply weren’t on the same level.

Lin Zhushui said: “However, I can spare your life today.”

A light appeared in Xu Jinghuo’s eyes.

Lin Zhushui continued: “As long as you tell me who is behind you.”

The light in Xu Jinghuo’s eyes instantly dimmed, as if he had instantly lost all desire to live. His lips pressed tightly together, and his whole body began emanating an aura of resistance.

But the man collapsed beside him began begging for mercy: “I-I’m willing to talk!”

Xu Jinghuo cursed: “Traitor—”

The man completely ignored him and said: “I’m willing to talk, spare me!”

Lin Zhushui said: “Speak.”

The man said: “That person’s name is…” His lips moved. He had just formed the mouth shape, the sound still stuck in his throat, when bright red blood began gushing from his mouth in large quantities.

“Ugh—” The man clearly hadn’t expected this to happen. He vomited mouthful after mouthful of blood. In less than a moment, his breathing grew weak.

Xu Jinghuo, lying beside him, sneered at Lin Zhushui: “See? This is the fate of a traitor.”

Lin Zhushui said coldly: “I can’t see.”

Xu Jinghuo: “…” He hadn’t expected Lin Zhushui to nitpick words with him at this time and was nearly infuriated to death.

At this moment, footsteps came from outside the door. Lin Jue and Shen Yiqiong also appeared panting. After entering and seeing Xu Jinghuo, they both showed expressions of surprise.

“They’re the masterminds?” Lin Jue said very bluntly. “Why is one already dead?”

Lin Zhushui indifferently gave an “mm.”

Shen Yiqiong noticed Zhou Jiayu’s condition and said worriedly: “Jiayu, are you alright?”

Zhou Jiayu thought to himself, do I look alright? Of course, he couldn’t say this out loud and could only stare with dry eyes.

Shen Yiqiong said: “Don’t be afraid.” He rushed over, crouched down, and helped Zhou Jiayu up. Looking left and right, he discovered a wheelchair by the doorway and said happily: “There’s a wheelchair! Wait, I’ll push it over for you.”

He huffed and puffed as he ran to the wheelchair. He saw the thing wrapped in white cloth on it. Shen Yiqiong didn’t think much of it and casually lifted the white cloth, then was startled by the skeleton wrapped inside: “There’s a skeleton here!” He looked at the skeleton. His first reaction was that it was human, but when he observed carefully, he was shocked to discover that the lower half of this skeleton had no legs; instead, it was in the shape of fish bones.

“This…” Shen Yiqiong said in shock. “This isn’t a human skeleton.”

Xu Jinghuo, lying on the ground, sneered: “Of course this isn’t a human skeleton. You truly are ignorant—” His expression carried contempt. He looked like he was about to launch into a long speech.

Who knew that this guy Shen Yiqiong would bow to the skeleton and say, “Sorry for the disturbance, senior,” then pick up the skeleton, place it on the ground, and happily push the wheelchair over to Zhou Jiayu.

Xu Jinghuo was nearly infuriated to death by Shen Yiqiong’s actions. He said: “Y-you know what you’re doing? Do you know how precious this skeleton is?”

This skeleton had a human upper body and fish-like lower body, and on its head was a spiral-shaped horn. It looked very much like the legendary merman.

“I didn’t expect such a thing really existed in this world.” Lin Jue stood nearby studying it. “You came for this skeleton?” She pondered for a moment, somewhat surprised. “Could it be that the legend about eating merman flesh to bring back the dead and grant eternal youth is true?”

Xu Jinghuo shut his mouth, looking rather resistant to Lin Jue’s topic.

Lin Zhushui slowly walked to the side of the skeleton.

Xu Jinghuo glared at Lin Zhushui and said: “What are you doing? You couldn’t be planning to—” Before he could finish speaking, he watched with his own eyes as raging flames ignited on the merman skeleton. The azure color displayed by the flames told others that the temperature was extremely high. Although the skeleton was unharmed for the moment, being burned to ash was only a matter of time.

“Stop!! Lin Zhushui!!!” Xu Jinghuo was going mad and began struggling continuously.

Lin Zhushui’s eyes were still closed, but Xu Jinghuo had the illusion that he was looking down on him coldly from above. He said madly: “Lin Zhushui, this is a merman skeleton. The cycle is already complete. Just wait a few more days—” This cycle didn’t need Zhou Jiayu’s blood at all. He just wanted to lure them into the trap and catch them all in one net. Who knew that Lin Zhushui’s strength would be so heaven-defying that he didn’t even have a chance to escape.

Xu Jinghuo had thought the ones being deceived were Lin Zhushui and the others. Now thinking about it, they had probably discovered long ago that he wasn’t Li Jinjiang and had been acting for him the whole time. Yet each and every one of them had superb acting skills, not showing the slightest flaw.

Lin Zhushui didn’t speak. The merman’s remains gradually began to carbonize. And Zhou Jiayu, lying on the ground, once again heard that beast-like roar. This time he heard it very clearly. This sound was clearly coming from that skeleton.

Could it be that they had already resurrected the merman and were only missing the final step? Zhou Jiayu was shocked inwardly. But looking at the others’ expressions, it was as if they couldn’t hear this sound at all.

Shen Yiqiong helped Zhou Jiayu up, let him sit in the wheelchair, and pushed him to the doorway, saying: “Zhou Jiayu, did he bully you? Want to bully him back?”

Zhou Jiayu couldn’t move and couldn’t answer.

Shen Yiqiong said: “If it’s your eyeballs, move them up and down.”

Zhou Jiayu’s eyeballs moved up and down.

Shen Yiqiong rubbed his fists: “It’s fine. How about I push you to run over him? Let him bully you!”

Zhou Jiayu: “…” Shen Yiqiong, you Blackie really have ideas.

Xu Jinghuo watched as the merman they had worked so hard to obtain turned to ashes, and hearing Shen Yiqiong’s words, he trembled with anger. His eyes rolled back, and he actually fainted directly.

Shen Yiqiong was shocked: “I was just scaring him. How did he faint?”

A hint of helplessness showed in Lin Zhushui’s expression. He beckoned to Shen Yiqiong: “Come here.”

Shen Yiqiong pushed Zhou Jiayu to Lin Zhushui’s front.

Lin Zhushui squatted halfway down and said to Zhou Jiayu: “I’m going to force the worm out of your body. It might hurt a bit. Bear with it.”

Zhou Jiayu moved his eyeballs up and down, indicating he had absolutely no problem.

__

Author’s Note:

Lin Zhushui: It will hurt. Bear with it.

Zhou Jiayu nodded excitedly.

Thirty minutes later, Zhou Jiayu with a red face: Mm… ah… Sir, your technique is really good.

Lin Jue: Why do you two have so much drama over a back massage??