Deep Illusion

Chapter 1

Deep Illusion

The sky darkened, and the number of pedestrians on the road gradually decreased; the wind finally broke the suffocating atmosphere that had been lingering for several days. A rumble of thunder drifted in from afar on the wind.

Another downpour, mixed with the crackling of hail, poured down.

"Why isn't Yi Qi here again today!" the homeroom teacher yelled. "She didn't even ask for leave; this is blatant disregard for discipline!"

"It's possible that it's raining, and her home is far away and the road is difficult to travel," said Liu Yu, the discipline team leader, timidly.

“Even if it’s difficult to leave, you should at least let her know. She can’t just not come. She definitely can’t be among the top students this semester. And whenever she arrives, I need her to come see me immediately.” At this point, the homeroom teacher’s anger seemed to have subsided a bit, and her tone gradually calmed down; in its place, the rain outside the window became even more unrestrained.

Liu Yu didn't know what else to say, so he could only agree briefly before hurrying out of the teacher's office and running back to the classroom through the rain from the school's office building. For some reason, his mind was in turmoil today; he felt something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it, so he kept it to himself, feeling sullen and unhappy.

Upon entering the classroom, he found that the teacher had already started the lesson, so he gave his permission and returned to his seat. His seat was right behind Yi Qi's.

He stared blankly at the empty seat in front of him, completely oblivious to what the teacher was saying. He knew that Yi Qi had skipped class more than a dozen times in the past month alone, and on several occasions, she had left school before the end of the semester, making it seem as if something was troubling her.

The more he thought about it, the more confused he became. In the end, he decided to stop thinking about it and focus on listening to the lecture.

Mu Feng, Yi Qi's deskmate, didn't pay much attention to the lesson either, his mind preoccupied with Yi Qi. He'd noticed that Yi Qi had been acting strangely since the beginning of summer. He also noticed that every time Yi Qi skipped class, it was on a rainy day, just like outside. He sensed that Yi Qi was subtly hinting at something to him, but he still couldn't figure out what it was…

The bell finally rang, but the teacher was still lecturing on the podium, seemingly uninterested in continuing. Frustrated, Liu Yu nudged Mu Feng in front of him with his pen and asked, "Do you think Yi Qi has some kind of illness?"

Mu Feng was also thinking about this, and said:

"No way, I feel like something's wrong with her."

"What is it?"

"That's what I wanted to ask you too. How would I know?"

"You don't think anything will happen to her, do you?"

"Probably not. They've come back safe and sound every time." At this point, Mu Feng suddenly remembered that he hadn't memorized Yi Qi's phone number despite being deskmates for so long, so he casually said...

"Give him a call after school to say hello."

"Okay, what's the number?" Liu Yu said, pulling out the phone number list his homeroom teacher had given him from the book, only to find that Yi Qi's name was missing.

"You don't know either? Isn't it in the phone book?" Mu Feng said in surprise.

"No?!"

"What's wrong with you? You forgot to remember it even though it was so close."

"..." Liu Yu knew he was in the wrong and didn't say anything more.

After school, Liu Yu and Mu Feng found Yi Qi's friend Ruo Fei to ask for her phone number, but she didn't know it either, which made Mu Feng and Liu Yu a little skeptical. Yi Qi and Ruo Fei were inseparable, surely they hadn't even called each other? But judging from Ruo Fei's expression, she seemed serious and wasn't hiding anything. When they asked where Yi Qi lived, they got the same answer again. Mu Feng couldn't hold back any longer: "Aren't you and Yi Qi so close? How come you don't even know this!" Ruo Fei also raised her voice, "And you're one to talk! You're always chatting with Yi Qi, how come you forgot to ask for her phone number!"

This sentence left Mu Feng speechless.

The torrential rain, influenced by a tropical storm, continued; considerable water had already accumulated on both sides of the road. Unable to ascertain Yiqi's condition, the three could only patiently wait for her to return.

A week passed in the blink of an eye, and the rain still hadn't stopped; the whole world was gray. Yi Qi still hadn't returned. This confirmed Mu Feng's suspicions; Yi Qi might not return until the weather cleared up.

On the weekend, Liu Yu was woken up early by Mu Feng's phone call. As soon as he opened his eyes, he was met with the sunlight streaming through the curtains, which was very dazzling, and the world regained its colors.

Liu Yu picked up the phone, and Mu Feng's voice immediately came through the receiver:

"Aren't you up yet? We're going somewhere today, so hurry up. You and Ruofei will meet at the school gate at 7:30."

Before Liu Yu could even speak, the phone rang with a hang-up tone. Liu Yu could only rub his sleepy eyes and start washing his face and brushing his teeth. Finally, everything was ready. He asked his mother for a temporary leave, got on his bicycle, and went out.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [3]: Liu Yu looked at his watch and realized it was still early. Thinking about his stomach, which was full of resentment towards Mu Feng, he thought that when he saw that kid, he would definitely make him treat him to breakfast.

When they arrived at the school gate, they found that Ruofei had just arrived as well, and Mufeng was already waiting there.

"Why did you call us here so early? I haven't even had breakfast yet," Ruofei said first, stealing most of the lines that Liu Yu had been preparing for so long.

Mu Feng said embarrassedly, "Well, last night I suddenly had an idea."

"What are your thoughts?" Liu Yu asked.

"I don't know if you checked the weather forecast yesterday, but the tropical storm has finally left the land and moved towards the sea, and today will be a nice sunny day..."

Ruofei quickly interrupted Mu Feng's inertia, "Very well, it seems you still care about our little things in life, but what does this have to do with us? You need to think this through. The comprehensive exam is next week, and you really have the heart to waste this time calling us out?"

“I think, since Yi Qi has been missing for so many days and we can’t contact her, could we follow the direction she went home? Maybe we can still find her home,” Mu Feng said, revealing the purpose of his trip.

"Are you bored? Why do you care where she lives? Maybe Yiqi will come to school on Monday. Why are you so concerned?" Ruofei was still a little reluctant.

After listening for a while, Liu Yu finally spoke up, saying, "Since we're here, let's do as Mu Feng says. Maybe we'll really make some discoveries."

The minority obeys the majority, and Ruofei reluctantly followed Mu Feng and Liu Yu towards the direction where Yi Qi was going home.

There were very few pedestrians along the way, probably because it was still early. At that moment, all three of them felt that this road was so unfamiliar. Although they had all grown up in this city, they rarely walked this road. It wasn't that they had never been here before, but everything was so new.

After riding her bicycle for an unknown amount of time, Ruofei noticed that the buildings on both sides of the road were gradually getting shorter and fewer. She really didn't want to walk anymore, so she ducked into a small shop on the street. Actually, Ruofei didn't want to buy anything; she just wanted those two tireless guys to rest for a bit. Mu Feng and Liu Yu were also a little tired, and seeing Ruofei like this, they had no choice but to follow her in.

This small shop, its contents a jumbled mess, resembled a general store. Suddenly, Ruofei let out a scream. Mu Feng and Liu Yu rushed over to see what had happened. Ruofei was holding a bracelet in her hand, excitedly saying, "This is the same one Yi Qi is wearing! I asked her where she bought it, but she kept it a secret from me. Well, I guess I ran into her here after all."

"Are you kidding me? We didn't come out here to go shopping," Liu Yu said.

“Wait, I think I did see Yi Qi wear this bracelet before. Since I can see it from here, it means her house isn’t far from here.” Mu Feng also picked up a bracelet.

At this moment, the old man behind the counter finally couldn't help but ask Ruofei, "Young lady, who is this for?"

"It's my own fault, doesn't it look good on me?" Ruofei didn't even notice the old man's surprise, quickly paid, and followed Liu Yu out. Mu Feng bought another identical bracelet after him, because he felt the pattern on it was so strange, yet he felt like he'd seen it somewhere before. Without thinking too much, he also left the shop, completely unaware of the old man's expression as he sold the two bracelets.

Once outside, they continued walking, but this time they didn't just search aimlessly. Instead, they started asking passersby for directions to Yi Qi's house. Since seeing a bracelet identical to Yi Qi's, their confidence had grown, and they believed they were close to finding her.

But things didn't go as planned. Before long, they discovered that no one in the area recognized Yiqi. Just as they were feeling dejected, they returned to the "general store" that sold bracelets. They then realized it wasn't a general store at all, but a funeral supply shop selling offerings to the dead. Next to it was a sizable cemetery, and only one or two sparse houses were occupied by farmers working the land; there was nowhere else to live. Realizing this, they were stunned. After a long while, Ruofei finally murmured in a trembling voice, "Let's go back!" Only then did they come to their senses, hurriedly hop on their bicycles, and flee in panic.

Before long, they were back at school. Just then, the clock on the school's political education building struck 11:45, and the usual dismissal bell rang. The three, panting, finally calmed down and began to feel hungry.

They found a KFC nearby and sat down. Still shaken and starving, the three of them didn't know what to eat, so they each ordered a Coke and found a seat by the window.

"Oh dear, how did we end up in a cemetery! I've always been afraid of places like that, especially spending half a day there. Just thinking about it makes me feel unlucky," Ruofei said, taking a big gulp of cola.

“It is indeed a bit unlucky! By the way, no wonder Yi Qi’s bracelet is so unique and can’t be bought anywhere. She doesn’t tell anyone either. It turns out she is wearing a…” Liu Yu suddenly interrupted himself before he could finish speaking.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [4]: An ominous feeling lingered in the hearts of the three people.

“It’s just a bracelet. A trendy girl like Yiqi sometimes has to be a little quirky. Maybe this will actually become a fashion trend. Look, I bought one too.” Mu Feng quickly chimed in.

This is perhaps the only explanation that can be accepted. Deep down, everyone knows what kind of girl Yi Qi is. Her ethereal气质 (qi zhi, a kind of refined elegance or aura) is rare; she doesn't care about fashion, and even her everyday clothes are almost exclusively black and white, rarely any other color. She generally doesn't wear jewelry, not even hair clips, and for some reason, she always wears this strange bracelet on her left wrist.

After eating something haphazardly, the three of them went home early, since Yi Qi's situation had become quite chaotic.

Mu Feng returned home to find his parents absent. Alone in the quiet house, a series of questions about the day resurfaced: "Why doesn't Yi Qi come to school when it rains?" "Why doesn't anyone know her phone number and address?" "Why does she wear that dead person's bracelet on her wrist all the time?" "How come her house is so close to a cemetery?" Filled with these questions, he drifted off to sleep.

When Mu Feng woke up, his father was already home. Seeing his son awake, he asked what Mu Feng had been doing that day. Mu Feng was still disoriented from the morning's events, so he could only vaguely reply, "I went to a classmate's house." He washed his face and realized it was already dinnertime; he had unknowingly slept all afternoon. Sitting at the table, looking at the food laid out, he had no appetite. It was Mu's observant father who noticed his son's troubled expression and asked him with concern. Mu Feng could no longer contain his confusion and said:

"Dad, do you know about the cemetery north of our school?"

Father Mu was startled by his son's sudden question. After regaining his composure, he said, "Why did you suddenly think of asking such a question?"

"Oh, no, I heard it from a classmate today," Mu Feng quickly said.

Mr. Mu put down his chopsticks and said seriously, "There's quite a history about that cemetery. I read in the local chronicles that it was originally the private cemetery of a wealthy family during the Qing Dynasty. Later, the family's fortunes declined, and the cemetery was abandoned. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, it had become a mass grave, where unclaimed corpses were often buried. It's said that many unjustly accused revolutionary martyrs are also buried here. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, it became the resting place for martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the war. It wasn't until after liberation that the People's Government turned it into a public cemetery, and your grandfather is still resting there."

"I knew it! I felt like I'd been there before," Mu Feng said, suddenly realizing.

Father Mu lit a cigarette and continued, "Originally, that cemetery was far from our city. But in the last two years, the city has developed rapidly, and the cemetery is now almost within our urban area. To adapt to this development, a few years ago, the city government cleared a new area on the western hills, saying they would move the entire cemetery there and build a new development zone. But that's easier said than done. Initially, the removal of the columbarium went relatively smoothly, since cremation was a relatively recent practice. The real difficulty lay in moving the old graves. As I mentioned before, this cemetery used to be a mass grave, so identifying each grave's occupant was a real problem." Some graves are quite old, and some are so ancient that even the mounds can't be found anymore, which has greatly hampered the relocation work. Who knows how many such graves there are on a few hectares of land? Yet, not a single one can be overlooked, because nobody wants to unearth a coffin while laying the foundation. Unexpectedly, before the old problems were solved, new ones arose. None of the construction teams in the city were willing to take on the project, and even teams from outside the area refused when they heard it was a cemetery. Left with no other option, the city government had to raise the price. With such a generous reward, one construction team finally agreed to take the job. But did they finish it? Before long, strange things began to happen. First, the migrant workers started saying they saw strange shadowy figures at night, and others said they often heard eerie laughter underground. The foreman of the project and the municipal director in charge of the project both committed suicide under mysterious circumstances. Even more bizarrely, one rainy day, they dug up a long-abandoned grave in a corner of the cemetery and found an elderly woman buried inside, her body still warm, perfectly preserved as if she had just died, while the coffin was completely rotten. Many people were stunned by all this. Someone quickly called the police, but just then, the rain intensified, and the migrant workers who dug the grave had to return to their work shed. They were seeking shelter from the rain. Just as they returned to the work shed, someone cried out in alarm. Where they had just dug the grave, a young girl in white was now standing upright, walking step by step into the depths of the rain. At first, people thought it was a hallucination caused by the heavy rain, but more than a dozen eyes had witnessed this. When the rain finally stopped, people rushed over and were even more dumbfounded. The body was gone, leaving only an empty coffin. From then on, no one wanted to continue working, and the project had to be halted. The story became increasingly fantastical. It is said that later, some curious people even took the wood from the coffin to the cultural relics department for authentication, and it turned out to be an artifact from the Republic of China era.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [5]: Upon hearing this, Mu Feng's goosebumps had already fallen to the ground. He no longer cared about eating and rushed into his room, pulling the covers over himself and shivering. Seeing this, Mu's father hurriedly asked Mu Feng what was wrong. Mu Feng stammered, "Maybe the air conditioning is too cold. I'll be fine if I'm alone for a while." Mu's father didn't say much, but simply turned off the air conditioning, closed the door, and left. Curled up in the quilt, Mu Feng seemed to have already understood Yi Qi's previous hint.

Mu Feng didn't sleep all night. Many chaotic dreams kept flying through his mind. Feeling a little dazed, he simply sat up in bed and waited for dawn.

It was another new week, and the school was going to hold a flag-raising ceremony on the first morning of the week as usual, so everyone had to get there early. Mu Feng hadn't slept all night, so he got up early, packed his schoolbag, and went to school, hoping to run into Liu Yu and Ruofei as soon as possible. He wondered if they had also realized the complexity of the problem.

He arrived at school early, but the vast campus was deserted, with only a few students around. The playground seemed empty. Mu Feng entered the classroom and found it empty as well. He put down his bag, walked to a window, and idly peered out. Suddenly, he shuddered, for he saw the abandoned cemetery. His eyes widened; it was Yi Qi, coming from the direction of the cemetery!

Mu Feng didn't have time to look any further. He quickly pulled his head back from the window and returned to his seat, waiting for Yi Qi. At that moment, Liu Yu walked in. Before he could greet Mu Feng, Mu Feng interrupted, "Yi Qi's here. Behave yourself!" Liu Yu's face immediately tightened. The two sat down one after the other, staring at the doorway.

Yi Qi entered, still dressed in that elegant white outfit, and that terrifying bracelet, still on her left wrist as always. Ruo Fei's laughter continued beside her. Upon seeing Mu Feng and Liu Yu, she quickly greeted them, "Long time no see! How are you?" Her voice was still clear and melodious, but Mu Feng and Liu Yu's hearts were already pounding. They replied stiffly, "Fine, very well, extremely well." Seeing their reaction, Yi Qi reached out and touched Mu Feng's forehead, "Why are you acting so strange today? Do you have a fever?" Mu Feng instinctively recoiled, saying, "No, no, I'm fine." Seeing this, Ruo Fei quickly said, "These two boys must have been out having fun yesterday; they must have gotten a shock."

"Did you get a shock?" Yi Qi asked, looking confused.

"Alright, alright, it's time to go down and raise the flag, we're going to be late!" Liu Yu quickly changed the subject and pulled Mu Feng away.

The school was starting to fill up. Liu Yu pulled Mu Feng aside to a quieter spot and asked, "Do you know about what happened at the cemetery yesterday?"

"knew."

"Do you think this is related to Yi Qi?" Liu Yu then asked.

"Probably, well, possibly." Although Mu Feng already had a pretty good idea of what was going on, he was still unwilling to admit it directly.

"So what should we do next?"

"We can't let her know that we've figured something out. We need to remain calm as usual so that we can have a chance to find out what kind of person Yi Qi really is," Mu Feng said.

“We’re supposed to be human, but we’re fighting a ghost. I’m afraid we’re no match for her,” Liu Yu said worriedly.

"What ghosts? Even if Yi Qi is a ghost, he's a good one. At least he hasn't harmed anyone."

"It's possible she's lurking among us, waiting for her chance."

"Alright, I won't talk to you anymore. Just remember what I said earlier; also, keep it a secret from Ruofei." After saying that, Mu Feng turned around and walked into the group participating in the flag-raising ceremony.

Throughout the flag-raising ceremony, Liu Yu and Mu Feng forgot the solemnity that a ceremony should have, both keeping their heads down and thinking about how to face Yi Qi's figure standing on the front and right after the ceremony.

The flag-raising ceremony dragged on for ages with the endless, tedious, and useless speech by the head of the political education department, a speech that all the students hated. Normally, Liu Yu and Mu Feng would have been furious, even wanting to rush up to the stage and rip the microphone away. But today, they desperately wanted the head of the department to talk a little longer, to use every trick in the book he knew, so they could stay there a little longer and avoid the embarrassment of returning to the classroom.

But even the most boring ceremony has to end. Although it was clear that the director of political education had done his best, he still announced the end of the flag-raising ceremony amidst sighs, because if he continued, someone might actually come up and grab the microphone.

Mu Feng and Liu Yu finally dawdled back to the classroom, where Yi Qi was already sitting. They managed to force a smile at her.