A chill wind howled behind me, shadows flickered eerily, and my body trembled uncontrollably with numbness and cold. To follow Han Zongnan undetected, I had come lightly equipped—no red strings, eggs, or bamboo leaves, not even Little Rascal by my side. All I had were two pre-drawn talismans.
One was already used, leaving only a single life-saving talisman left.
I muttered to myself that the first talisman, the “Jia Chen Yi Palace Seal,” had failed to suppress Bai Yu. She would soon break free from the restroom. How could Bai Yu’s demeanor today be so drastically different from yesterday’s?
As I stepped out of the restroom, my phone rang—it was Shen Yihu calling. He said that Chong Lao Wu had been found, and Huang Shi was indeed with him. He asked if I wanted to go settle the score.
Damn it! Now was not the time to deal with Chong Lao Wu—I wasn’t even sure I’d survive this.
“Save me! Save me!” I shouted into the phone. “I’m at the school infirmary! If you don’t come, I’m dead!” I hung up and sprinted toward the exit, but something felt off. Why was Bai Yu in the men’s restroom so full of malice, completely unlike the gentle spirit Han Zongnan had met before?
The black-clad Bai Yu floated into the hallway, her pale face half-destroyed by the talisman stuck to her forehead. Her blood-red teeth gleamed, and her lower body, shrouded in darkness, lacked legs. The eerie aura around her was overwhelming, her black hair spreading like a living thing—proof of her unrestrained resentment.
I bolted out of the infirmary, Bai Yu hot on my heels. With no better option, I dove into a garbage dump. The stench of half-eaten breakfast, spoiled food, and rotting waste filled the air. Bai Yu hesitated, then turned away—but not before I noticed something crawling on her back.
Cursing, I fumbled for my phone, only to find it soaked in spilled soy milk. It flickered uselessly in my hand. The only talisman left, the “Dong Lingzi Ghost-Catching Seal,” was drenched in garbage juice. Would it even work?
If I left now, the worst might be avoided. But Bai Yu had already slipped back into the infirmary. She wasn’t after me—her true target was the one who had killed her.
A ghost with a decade-old grudge doesn’t let go easily.
I rushed inside, fearing for Han Zongnan. He was supposed to be getting an IV, but when I burst into the room, he yanked the needle from his arm and lunged at me with a knife.
“What the hell are you doing?!” I grabbed his wrist.
Han Zongnan froze. “You?! Who are you?” He pulled back, then bolted upstairs—toward the on-duty doctor, the scar-faced man.
The second-floor hallway was bathed in a sinister red glow. Han Zongnan charged forward like a man possessed, his knife glinting coldly.
“Stop! Don’t make another mistake!” I yelled.
He kicked open the doctor’s office door, only to find it empty. “You idiot!” he snarled at me. “If she can’t move on, I’ll kill you myself!”
Then I understood—Han Zongnan loved Bai Yu. He knew her revenge would doom her soul, so he’d come to kill her murderer in her stead.
The scar-faced doctor laughed maniacally in the darkness. “It was me! It took you ten years to figure it out? Pathetic!” A noose tightened around his neck, lifting him off the ground as he clawed at it desperately.
Han Zongnan couldn’t see Bai Yu pulling the rope. He only saw the doctor choking and ran to stab him. Bai Yu flicked her sleeve, sending Han Zongnan crashing into the wall.
“You can’t save her,” I said, kicking the knife away. “Only she can save herself.”
Han Zongnan ignored me, lunging again. Bai Yu’s power flung him back, bones cracking.
The noose loosened, and the doctor collapsed, gasping. Bai Yu’s form wavered between white and black—the gentle spirit Han Zongnan loved and the vengeful wraith she had become.
Seizing my chance, I slapped the soggy talisman onto her and flung three bamboo leaves like daggers. The talisman’s symbols spun wildly as the leaves struck.
Bai Yu shrieked. Han Zongnan punched me hard enough to loosen teeth. “Stay out of this!”
Then, softly, Bai Yu spoke. “Xiao Nan… I know you mean well.”
Her two forms split—one pure white, the other pitch black. Han Zongnan wept, reaching for the kind face he remembered.
I tackled the black Bai Yu, pinning her down as she snarled. “Why cling to this world? Let justice handle your killer!”
Behind me, Han Zongnan murmured to the white Bai Yu, tears streaming. “I wear black, carry a black umbrella—just to feel closer to you.”
“I’m not suffering,” Bai Yu whispered. “In my final moments… I met you.”
Then—tears. Ghost tears, rare and precious, fell like pearls. Seven drops, draining her last strength.
She was fading.
The black Bai Yu erupted in fury, hurling me into the ceiling. As I plummeted, she raised the knife, aiming for my heart.
I hadn’t married yet. Hadn’t had kids. Hadn’t said goodbye to—
A flash of black light.
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