Ich bin von Natur aus schön und unübertroffen

Kapitel 16

"But he didn't come... I've been waiting for him for so long..."

The female ghost's face showed the pain of past memories. Duan Lin realized that the force of her grip on his neck had increased, making it difficult to breathe, and his vision began to black out. Suddenly…

"Alan!" A powerful shout rang out from the other side!

Duan Lin strained to look at the other end of the corridor. Was it Xiao Bai and... the dormitory supervisor?

The shout came from the dormitory supervisor.

"I'm sorry! I'm late! I didn't keep my promise!" The old man on the other side knelt down, facing this side.

Duan Lin heard the man sobbing.

"When the fire started, I was pinned down by a pillar, and when I woke up... you guys..."

“I’ve been waiting for you all these decades! My face was disfigured, so you didn’t recognize me, right?”

"I'm here! It's 3:15 now, let's... let's go!"

When the old man raised his head, Duan Lin clearly saw mottled tears on that ugly, disfigured face.

So that's how it was...

Duan Lin felt the grip on his neck loosen. He saw that the female ghost who had been holding him had released him. He stared blankly at the dormitory supervisor. Duan Lin saw that the blackening on the woman's face had faded, revealing a young and delicate face. She had arched willow-leaf eyebrows, apple-shaped cheeks, and cherry-like lips. Her smile was very gentle.

Yes, the woman smiled. Smiling, she ran towards the dormitory supervisor…

"Quick! Teacher! We have to go save them!" Duan Lin was staring intently at the couple who had been reunited after so long when suddenly Xiao Bai rushed over and grabbed his hand tightly.

Xiao Bai pushed open the door to "143," and Duan Lin looked at the person opposite him in surprise.

"Mu Zi?"

"you?"

Both of them were somewhat surprised, but Duan Lin quickly realized something was wrong. Mu Zi was in a dark tunnel, and by the light of the flashlight in Xiao Bai's hand, Duan Lin could clearly see that besides Mu Zi, Monkey, and Chen Jiaming, there was...

It was packed with...ghosts, their bodies charred black!

Were those the children who died in the fire? Duan Lin thought of the child he had seen before, the one who played the ghost-catching game with him. Was that child among them?

So this is where... Duan Lin felt a chill run down his spine.

"Teacher! Hurry up and pull them up! The female ghost's wish has been fulfilled, they're going back, and the door will close soon!" Xiaobai said anxiously from the side.

Duan Lin then seemed to snap out of his daze and stretched out his arms to Mu Zi and the others. Mu Zi looked up, then grabbed Duan Lin's hand and nimbly climbed up. Chen Jiaming also hurriedly climbed up and sat on the floor of room "143".

He looked at his hands, covered in soot, and gasped for breath. Next…

"Monkey! Hurry up!" Duan Lin shouted anxiously.

"I...I..." The monkey, being the most timid of all, stood amidst a group of ghosts, completely too afraid to move. Suddenly...

"Little White! Are you alright?" Upon seeing his friend, the monkey actually gave a smile that looked like a cry.

"Yes, I'm fine!"

"Thank goodness... I..." The monkey breathed a sigh of relief, "You scared me to death! I was so afraid of you, I didn't even ask you to come and rescue me..."

Xiao Bai smiled slightly. His friend was the most cowardly person in the world; to have him come to rescue someone was truly...

"Stop talking, quickly grab the teacher's hand!" Xiaobai said.

"Hmm!" With a surge of courage from who knows where, the monkey finally nodded, looking down at the ghost that frightened it, and instead looking up at its friend.

Got it! Duan Lin breathed a sigh of relief as he grabbed the monkey's paw. The door was closing rapidly; any later and the monkey wouldn't be able to get back… Quick, pull him up! Just then…

"We won't let you leave!" Duan Lin was startled by the shout from below.

That person, covered in blood... was more terrifying than the ghosts below! A chilling gaze, a vicious voice...

"Principal?!" Duan Lin blurted out!

That's right, the person who was holding the monkey tightly from below, making him unable to move, was the principal!

"You ruined my plans, I... I won't let you get away with this... I'll drag you down..." The principal's eyes were wild and confused, completely unlike his usual kind and gentle demeanor.

"Principal! Don't do this! I'll pull you up. Don't pull Tian Miao! She's a student!" Duan Lin shouted!

"I...I'm being targeted by a ghost and I can't live anymore, I...even if I die, I'll drag you all down with me...hahahaha!" The principal even started laughing as he said this...

As the doorway grew smaller and smaller, soon becoming too narrow for one person to pass through, Duan Lin froze. The intense pain in his hand caused him to be dragged down again!

Duan Lin was horrified to realize that the principal's words were true; he wanted to drag him down! However... Duan Lin refused to let go of the monkey's hand!

Duan Lin gritted his teeth and held on. Mu Zi tried to help drag him, but it was no use; the principal was incredibly strong!

Xiao Bai looked down at his friend who was screaming in panic, and suddenly...

"Monkey! Hold onto the teacher's hand tightly and don't let go!"

Xiao Bai's words gave Duan Lin a bad feeling. Sure enough, the next second, Xiao Bai jumped down! He jumped into the midst of the ghosts! Just as Xiao Bai slammed his fist into the arm the principal was holding onto the monkey, Duan Lin pulled the monkey up. The monkey was about to try and save Xiao Bai, but then the door slowly closed…

Xiao Bai smiled, holding the principal's hand as he smiled.

As Xiaobai waved, the door closed, and everyone saw Xiaobai smiling and waving to them.

As the first rays of sunlight fell upon their feet, Mu Zi exclaimed, "It's dawn!"

But no one spoke. Dawn broke, meaning everyone was back, back safe and sound, but…

"Little White..." The monkey's loud sobs brought the matter to a close.

Chapter Twelve

The bodies of Fatty and Ade weren't found in the car, but rather near a manhole behind Qilan, their deaths extremely gruesome. However, according to the forensic investigation, the blood near the manhole cover appeared to have been there some time after their deaths, as if... it was blood from wounds inflicted after death. It was viscous and putrid.

The principal's body was found inside the well. An investigation revealed that the blood on his body belonged to two victims near the well cover. The blood and fingerprints on the axe and dagger found in his hand confirmed that the principal was the murderer. The large quantity of drugs found in the well further revealed the principal's motive. Thus, the long-standing case of missing students in Qilan came to a close.

Several disappearances were rather bizarre, but so far, they all seem to be the work of the principal. The police are more inclined to believe, rather than ghosts, that it was the work of a vicious villain.

Xiao Bai's body was not found, but Duan Lin found his photo.

It was that newspaper that had recently published the long list of missing students. Suddenly, Duan Lin noticed a photo of Xiao Bai on the newspaper he hadn't looked at closely. A thin, fair-skinned boy, seemingly quiet, with a shy smile in the black-and-white photo. Just like the smile the boy had peeked through the crack in the door when Duan Lin last saw him.

"Bai Tianlei, a member of the biology club, disappeared in his second year of high school..." Duan Lin frowned. "He was a student in the class of 1980 at Qi Lan High School." Upon reading this, Duan Lin understood everything.

That child... was he murdered because of investigating the principal's case, right? That's why he stayed, waiting for revenge...

“That transfer student isn’t me. I’ve been studying at Qilan for a long time, although I often skip classes and many classmates don’t recognize me,” Mu Zi said expressionlessly.

"So... the transfer student who arrived on the same day as me that day was..." Duan Lin suddenly widened his eyes.

“It’s Xiaobai.” The monkey’s eyes were red and swollen as it looked at the familiar face in the photo.

"We get along very well. Although we've only known each other for a short time, we're good friends."

"Yes, Xiaobai must have thought so too, which is why he rushed over to save you without hesitation." Duan Lin smiled as he closed the newspaper and stood up.

Watching the teacher and Mu Zi leave, the monkey suddenly smiled, reopened the newspaper, and looked at the boy in the picture. "I won't be afraid of ghosts anymore. You can come back to me anytime."

The monkey knew that it would never be afraid again.

“…Thank you.” Summer afternoons are always languid, the incessant chirping of cicadas heralding the official arrival of summer in the city. On the sun-dappled grassy path, Duan Lin suddenly spoke.

Mu Zi remained silent.

"What you said... is it true? You said those ghosts were formed because of me... is that true?" Duan Lin looked ahead, where Qi Lan's school gate was just ahead.

"If that's the case...wouldn't it be better if such people didn't exist?" Duan Lin lowered his head.

Mu Zi continued walking forward, saying, "Don't be silly. Ghosts appear for a reason, but people don't need a reason to live."

Duan Lin paused, as if he had heard those words somewhere before, and after a long while, he strode forward to catch up.

That night, Duan Lin had a dream. It was pitch black, and he could only hear breathing. At first, Duan Lin thought it was his own heavy breathing, but…

"You bunch of bastards! You ruined my..." The principal?! Upon hearing this voice, Duan Lin was astonished to find that the person panting in the darkness was actually the principal. Wasn't he dead? How...

"We caught a ghost! Da Mao! Is that you?" The child's voice... sounded familiar... Duan Lin suddenly remembered the child he had seen in Xi Yuan's hospital room, the child who kept playing hide-and-seek with people...

"Hehe-"

"ah?"

Amidst the principal's screams and children's laughter, Duan Lin opened his eyes. The sun rose outside the window; it was a new day. Duan Lin knew that this matter was truly over...