Ghost Stories

Chapter 11

Zhuang Yu glanced at him a few more times before finally inserting the key into the jack.

"What the hell! You've crippled the door by kicking it."

Zhuang Yu fiddled with it a few more times and with a crisp "click," the door opened.

When it was closed, Gu Feng was wildly eager to open it, but now that it was wide open, he felt a fear of seeing what was inside. Zhuang Yu ignored him and walked in, saying, "Have you seen where He Ye went? We clearly took him back to his dormitory at noon. Where would a patient go instead of lying down properly?"

Gu Feng walked in, and everything was exactly the same as before, except... He Ye, who had just been joking and laughing with him, was nowhere to be seen except for a quilt.

Gu Feng walked sadly to He Ye's bedside, touching the cold blankets, which were soaked with the sweat of both herself and He Ye...

Zhuang Yu was still unaware of what had happened. Seeing Gu Feng's strange behavior, he said, "It's so late today. It seems you're not planning to go home and are going to sleep in He Ye's bed again. But He Ye is so badly injured. If he comes back later, I wonder if there's any other way. You'll have to make do with sleeping with me tonight!"

Gu Feng said sadly, "He's not coming back."

"What did you say?" Zhuang Yu was startled.

Gu Feng was startled and realized he had misspoke, so he quickly said, "It's nothing, I meant he's not here right now, he'll be back later."

Zhuang Yu said "Oh," looking completely puzzled.

Gu Feng thought that this matter must be a big blow to these fellow Daoists who were usually close to He Ye, so he decided to keep it a secret for as long as possible.

He turned over the blanket again, and suddenly a piece of paper fell out. Gu Feng took it in his hand. It looked like a letter. Looking at the handwriting, he was shocked. It was He Ye's handwriting.

Gu Feng quickly began to read it carefully.

"Gu Feng, you must be the one reading this letter now, right? I regret that I lied to you. You know I've never been willing to share my pain with friends, and even if today's meeting might be the last, I still can't change that."

You're wrong, ghosts do exist in this world.

When that thing rushed towards me, how I wished you were by my side! Just like that time when we fought our nemesis and I was being trampled underfoot, and you pulled him down to save me. Hehe, it's not that I'm useless, I also wanted to hold on longer, but with my leg in a cast and my hands bandaged, I had no ability to defend myself at all. Alas! How tragic! I still can't escape my fate.

Did you know? A person who dies an unnatural death can have one wish fulfilled after death. And the last thing I thought of was to see you brothers one last time. Thankfully, I did. Gu Feng, I'm truly gratified. Although I think it's unfair for me to die so young, knowing you in this life has made it all worthwhile.

Gu Feng, keep going! My biggest disappointment in this life is not being able to see that arrogant nemesis fall at your hands. You must fulfill my last expectation. I know what you're thinking right now, avenge me? Right? No need! My friend, with our... I should say you, with your human strength, it's very difficult to contend with that thing. I don't need you to do anything for me. Living well is the thing that makes me happiest.

I'm feeling a bit tired; my spiritual energy must be almost depleted! I can barely hold the pen anymore. Gu Feng, my friend, please remember, whatever you do, don't touch that….”

The handwriting then became blurry and indistinct, making it impossible to discern any ancient style.

After Gu Feng finished reading, tears welled up in his eyes. He stared at the letter in his hand for a long time, his hand trembling slightly.

At this moment, a miracle happened in the eyes of Ah Mao and Xiao Bing. The letter in Gu Feng's hand suddenly turned yellow, then gray, and finally gradually blurred and dissipated, disappearing from sight!

Gu Feng stared at the strange change before him, his face showing none of the surprise that Ah Mao and the other two had. He simply watched it with sadness and melancholy as it slowly disappeared.

Zhuang Yu didn't notice anything strange about the place. He was busy making his bed and going to sleep. Although it was only a little past seven o'clock, he was already exhausted after running all day with lead weights on his body. All he wanted to do was curse the coach before going to sleep.

Gu Feng sat silently on the edge of the bed, his eyes glazed over. A Mao and the other two also stared at him, lost in thought…

Gu Feng suddenly stood up and walked away without looking back.

That night, there was an extra person practicing all night in the Taekwondo dojo. He was kicking the sandbag hard, and there were two fat people sitting next to him.

()

Volume 1, Chapter 14: Good Lies

The next morning.

Shih-hsin arrived at the dojo at 4:30.

"Huh! They're open so early today?" Shixin muttered to herself, looking at the wide-open dojo doors.

Then she saw three people lying on the ground inside, fast asleep.

She stepped forward and suddenly froze. There was a large bruise on the instep of Gu Feng's foot.

Looking at the sandbag beside him, Shi Xin quickly understood what was going on. He looked at the sleeping Gu Feng with a puzzled expression, but couldn't bear to wake him, so he sat down on the floor.

Before dawn, Shixin looked at Gu Feng with a bewildered expression, scrutinizing him closely...

Suddenly, Gu Feng became uneasy, cold sweat poured down his face, and his hands and feet trembled slightly. Shi Xin was startled and supported him, saying, "Gu Feng, Gu Feng, what's wrong? Wake up."

Gu Feng showed no signs of waking up and started talking nonsense: "He Ye, don't go, He Ye, I'm coming, wait for me."

Shi Xin was completely bewildered. "Isn't He Ye perfectly fine up in his dorm room?"

Gu Feng's body suddenly jolted violently, and he shouted, "He Ye..." before sitting up and waking up.

"What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"

Upon seeing Shi Xin, Gu Feng glanced at the large wall clock and asked, "Shi Xin, why are you here so early?"

Shi Xin laughed, "You're the same way!" She glanced at the injury on Gu Feng's foot and asked again, "What happened?"

Gu Feng retorted, "No, no, nothing happened. I just wanted to defeat my nemesis quickly, so I overdid it."

Shi Xin stared at him with her beautiful big eyes: "Although I've only known you for two days, I know you're not a good liar. Tell me, what happened!"

Gu Feng felt a little flustered under her gaze, so he quickly avoided her eyes and waved his hand, saying, "I already said there's nothing wrong, so don't make wild guesses."

Shi Xin was incredibly intelligent. After a moment's thought, she whispered, "Could it be... related to He Ye?"

Seeing the sudden change in Gu Feng's expression, Shi Xin was pretty sure of her idea.

Gu Feng looked at her, remained silent for a long time, and finally slowly recounted what had happened last night. Seeing Shi Xin's incredulous and surprised expression, Gu Feng said softly, "No one knows about this except the four of us right now. Of course, the fewer people who know about this, the better. You should know what to do, right?"

Shi Xin nodded blankly: "You...you're telling the truth? So, He Ye, whom we met yesterday...how is that possible! He said he wanted to spar with me yesterday, how come..."

Gu Feng put his hand on her shoulder: "Listen, nobody wants this to happen, but since it has, we have to face it bravely."

Although he said this, he was probably the one who was most surprised and heartbroken.

Shixin calmed herself down a bit; after all, anyone would panic in such a situation. After a while, she took a deep breath, and her pounding heart gradually calmed down.

"He Ye... is he really gone?" Shi Xin still had some doubts.

Gu Feng nodded sadly and said in a cold voice, "Really!"

A sudden flash of inspiration struck Gu Feng.

"If the killer is a madman as the news says, then what about what He Ye said in his comment yesterday?"

"There must be something strange about this!" Gu Feng exclaimed, then got up and walked over.

Shi Xin was startled: "Gu Feng, where are you going?"

"Police station!"

When Shixin and Gufeng arrived at the police station and saw the suspect, it was already 8:15 in the morning.

Although most of the blue glue on his face had peeled off, it was still hideous and terrifying, making people feel disgusted.

Gu Feng looked at him closely, carefully examining him.

He came to a conclusion: this man was the worker who had fallen into the ancient pit that day. Although he had only managed a brief moment of recollection, Gu Feng could still recognize him from the sliver of memory he retained.

The man sat blankly in the corner, a silly grin on his face.

Gu Feng waved to him: "Hey!"

The man was drawn over, tilted his head to look at Gu Feng, and then suddenly revealed a fierce look, "Heh!" and pounced over.

Fortunately, the old-fashioned style vanished quickly enough and the iron railings were sturdy enough.

Gu Feng looked at the man who had suddenly fallen into a state of frenzied killing with surprise, thinking to himself that it was no wonder the police concluded that those people were killed by this madman.

...

On the street outside the police station.

Shi Xin asked Gu Feng, who was deep in thought, "Do you really believe that He Ye was killed by that madman?"

Gu Feng shook his head and continued to ponder, resting his chin on his hand.

"Where do we go now? Back to the dojo?"

Gu Feng nodded intently, but Shi Xin really didn't understand whether he understood the question she had asked.

After getting into the little red car, Gu Feng remained silent. Shi Xin glanced at him, stepped on the gas, and sped away.

Sando-sha, Taekwondo Club.

Ah Mao and his companion were nowhere to be seen near the punching bag area; it was unclear whether they had been woken up by some guy who was training his legs.

Shi Xin changed into her Taoist robe and returned to the same spot as before.

Gu Feng had just stopped when several people suddenly rushed up to him. It turned out they were his classmates from the same year as He Ye. Gu Feng frowned, already guessing their purpose.

As expected, Zhuang Yu stepped forward and asked, "Gu Feng, where have you been all morning? Have you seen He Ye?"

Gu Feng was prepared and didn't seem so nervous. He said, "He Ye! Oh, I think I heard that... he went to Guilin for a trip."

"cut"

The students' faces clearly showed their disbelief, and Shixin also felt that this excuse was a bit far-fetched.

"What's going on? He Ye is seriously injured, how could he possibly be on a trip? Gu Feng, are you making fun of us?!"

Gu Feng laughed and said, "You guys figured that out. You really are my fellow Daoists from the same year, haha."

"Are you kidding me? Where did He Ye go?"

Gu Feng said, "He Ye... should have gone back to the countryside to recuperate."

A rather burly man said, "The countryside? What kind of orphan would He Ye know anyone in the countryside?"

Gu Feng chuckled and said, "You didn't know? Sigh, you guys are really ignorant!"

The man asked, "What? Has He Ye found his relatives?"

Gu Feng smiled and shook his head, saying, "You don't know yet, do you? He Ye met a female friend at the hospital. She teaches in the countryside, and she took He Ye to her place yesterday."

"A pretty girl teaching in the countryside? Isn't this the girlfriend He Ye has always dreamed of?"

Gu Feng said, "That's right! This time, he's actually turned misfortune into blessing."

"He Ye is really inconsiderate; he left without even saying goodbye to us."

Zhuang Yu joked, "We can't blame him. It's human nature to forget friends when you see a pretty face!"

"That's right, that's right. So, Gu Feng, did he say when he'll be back?"

Gu Feng stammered, "He said... he said he would come back after he recovered from his injuries. You all know that! With his injuries, it will take him two or three years to fully recover."

"By then, we might no longer be in Sandao Society."