Midnight Paranormal Handbook

Chapter 2

This time, he moved with lightning speed, his hands swiftly breaking free from the blood's restraints, flying and crisscrossing, drawing countless lines in the air. The cell phone, which had been connected to the computer, responded with a melodious ringtone—a Taoist incantation. The blood, stimulated by this vibration, receded like a surging tide.

"How...how is this possible! How could an ordinary person break free from my resentment!" The QQ message that popped up with the skull was all in a larger font, fully showing his surprise.

"Of course!" Shen Fengxi regained control, wagging his index finger with an arrogant expression. "With seventy-five yuan, you're not an ordinary person, you're a rich person."

The golden threads stretched out more and more, the music grew louder and louder, and the darkness, under Shen Fengxi's relentless attacks, thinned out until it finally retreated into a black spot on the camera lens. Only a listless skull and its weak QQ message remained on the entire screen.

"You won..."

"Those who understand the difference in reason have already started to obediently ascend to heaven so as not to waste my energy, tch."

The skull's lines seemed to soften, its previous ferocity vanished, leaving only pain and helplessness: "...I'm about to disappear... Waaah... Actually, my background is like this... I once met a girl through a video..."

"Wait a minute." Shen Fengxi interrupted him. "I'm not interested in this. You can go die now! Oh no, I mean die a second time."

"How...how could this be?" the skull cried out in anguish. "In all stories, doesn't it only end when the ghost has finished telling his sad tales?"

"Look at my lips, only a beautiful female ghost sister has the qualifications."

After saying this, Shen Fengxi clasped his hands together, and a dazzling light exploded, forming a yin-yang symbol that enveloped the computer screen. The dark spots on the camera lens melted away like snowflakes in sunlight under the light.

The darkness vanished instantly, and Shen Fengxi found himself back in the internet cafe. Computers were in front of him, and a bustling, excited crowd surrounded him. The female owner was still watching him from a distance. He glanced at the clock on the wall; less than a minute had passed in reality.

As Shen Fengxi was about to leave, the female boss asked him in a respectful, low voice:

"Can you tell me how you knew this place was haunted? You haven't even stepped inside."

"Well, I should attribute it to my extremely strong instinct to survive."

Shen Fengxi waved the seventy-five yuan bill, swaggered out, and went straight into a McDonald's...

Two hours later

...Shen Fengxi put down his backpack, rubbed his knuckles which were sore from being squeezed, and looked ahead.

Before him stood a marble middle school gate, above which hung a plaque with four gilded characters: "Haidong Middle School." Directly inside the gate was a circular fountain, in the center of which stood a solitary statue of an unknown figure. Behind the fountain was a library in the style of the 1950s, its walls gray, tall and somber; a brass weathervane sat lazily on the roof, motionless.

He had just used the money he earned at the internet cafe to have a big McDonald's meal, and then hailed a taxi. This time, he didn't go the wrong way, and the driver successfully took the boy to Haidong Middle School. The trip cost thirty yuan, which made Shen Fengxi feel a pang of pain in his heart.

When Shen Fengxi saw the weathervane, a feeling of disgust instantly welled up in his heart. He muttered, "So ugly... I don't know why, but I think this is unbearably ugly..."

It was during school hours, and the school gate was quiet, with hardly anyone around except for an elderly gatekeeper lounging lazily in the guardhouse. Shen Fengxi pulled out a cell phone from his pocket and called out loudly, "Hey, I've arrived!"

"Oh dear, it's so late, you must be lost again?" The voice on the phone was cheerful.

"Yeah! Everyone has to go through that once or twice in their life," Shen Fengxi snapped irritably. "If you don't want me to hang you on the iron gate and beat you, come pick me up!"

There was a pause on the phone: "I'm in class right now. Here's what we'll do: once you enter the school gate, keep walking straight, turn right in front of the library, and after you pass a small garden, you'll see the playground. I'll be there."

"……Understood."

"By the way, Junior Brother Fengxi."

"To make a long story short, mobile phone bills are very expensive."

"When you counted the number of times you got lost, you seemed to have missed two zeros, right? Also, I listened to a long storytelling performance the other day, let me tell you about it."

"Go to hell!"

Shen Fengxi slammed down the phone and was about to step inside when he heard a car behind him. Turning around, he saw a taxi had stopped behind him, and a long-haired girl got out, struggling to lift a suitcase from the trunk. The luggage was probably too heavy; halfway through, her leg suddenly buckled, and she stumbled, the large suitcase tipping over towards her. Shen Fengxi happened to be nearby and instinctively reached out to catch the suitcase.

The girl awkwardly pulled her hand away, patted the dirt off her legs, her face slightly flushed, and said shyly, "Thank you... classmate..." Her voice was low and weak, sounding like she lacked energy.

"Remember to choose your taxi carefully next time; some drivers haven't evolved eyesight and morality yet."

Shen Fengxi glanced coldly at the unmoved driver, snorted, and although too lazy to move, out of basic humanitarianism, he helped the girl carry out the other bags one by one. Once all the bags were out of the trunk, the taxi immediately reversed slightly before speeding away, kicking up a cloud of dust. Shen Fengxi frowned and covered his nose with his hand.

"Hey, do you need me to help you carry it back?"

"No, no, someone will come to pick me up," the girl whispered. Only then did Shen Fengxi notice that although the girl was quite pretty, her face was very pale, almost bloodless, like a porcelain doll. He had some knowledge of physiognomy and couldn't help but look at her a few more times: a small, pointed nose, thin, upturned lips, and a black mole on her upper right. Shen Fengxi's heart skipped a beat. The nose is the foundation of the face, but the upturned lip line detracts from its auspiciousness, and the black mole on the right side is not a good omen.

Shen Fengxi hesitated for a moment, just about to ask her birth date and time, when suddenly a portly fat man and several followers walked out of the school gate. As soon as the fat man saw the girl, he came over to greet her with a big smile and said, "Hey, Xiao Gu, you've arrived. Why didn't you let me know?"

"Excuse me, Director Wu, I just got off the bus too."

"Just call me Uncle, no need to be so polite." Director Wu glanced at the luggage. "Wow, quite a lot of stuff. Come on, let me help you carry it. Your dorm room is all arranged." He didn't even look at Shen Fengxi standing to the side, and had several attendants carry the luggage, urging Xiao Gu to walk towards the campus. Xiao Gu glanced at Fengxi, bowed slightly, and followed Director Wu.

"Well, better to avoid trouble. Let her have her own luck." Shen Fengxi shrugged, slung his bag over his shoulder, and walked towards the school gate. Just as he turned around, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the girl walked in a very strange way. Her legs were stiff and unbent, and her feet touched the ground lightly, as if she wasn't putting any weight on them at all.

Shen Fengxi was taken aback. As far as he knew, this was not the way a living person walked; only one thing walked in this way… When he quickly looked over, he found that the girl had returned to normal walking, just like any other high school girl.

"Could it be my imagination?" Shen Fengxi rubbed his eyes, thinking that he was probably hallucinating from getting lost too much. So he stopped thinking about it and decided that he must buy a map from the convenience store later to carry with him. Although, based on past experience, even buying ten maps wouldn't help.

Passing the fountain and turning past the library, a small hill covered in lush green trees appeared on the left, instantly clearing the air. Just then, footsteps sounded ahead. Shen Fengxi looked up and saw three students approaching. They were about the same age as him. The short, bespectacled boy in the middle carried a feng shui compass with both hands, walking very cautiously; the two beside him, one fat and one thin, each carried an old book, muttering to themselves. The three of them frequently peeked out from behind, looking around nervously.

"The compass is moving! Oh my, it's pointing northeast!" Glasses suddenly shouted.

“The Northeast belongs to the Earth element.” The fat man on the right quickly flipped through his book.

"Wrong, wrong, the southwest is the soil!" the skinny guy on the left immediately retorted.

The short man shouted impatiently, "What zodiac sign is it anyway? Why does the book say something different?"

Shen Fengxi's lips curled slightly upon hearing this. These clueless laymen, who hadn't even grasped the most basic concepts of the Five Elements and Eight Classes, were trying to learn geomancy? Moreover, these were clearly three students—high school students practicing feng shui—was this what they called a normal high school?

Completely unaware of Shen Fengxi's thoughts, the three of them huddled together in the aisle, flipping through two old books and muttering to themselves. The skinny one even pulled out an exercise book, lay down on the floor, and began doing calculations.

"Excuse me, could you please move aside?" Shen Fengxi suppressed his disdainful tone and tried to be as polite as possible. The short man glanced up at him, then moved aside, making way for him, just enough for one person to pass. Just as Shen Fengxi was about to step forward, he heard the skinny man slap his thigh and shout, "Isn't earth the center of the five elements? It should be in the middle!"

Shen Fengxi didn't really want to meddle, but seeing the ignorant guys making ignorant remarks, he finally couldn't help but turn around and say, "Eastern Earth belongs to Gen, and Southwest belongs to Kun. One is Eight White Earth, and the other is Two Black Earth. Please go and learn about the Nine Stars of the Luo Shu first, okay?" Shen Fengxi's words startled the three of them. They didn't expect this pretty boy to know these things, and they all looked up at the same time.

"Young man, you also know about geomancy?" the bespectacled man asked. Shen Fengxi curled his lip and said, "Don't use the word 'also,' I'm different from you."

The man with glasses grabbed his sleeve: "This, this fellow... no, this master... you have to help us!"

"I'm sorry, I'm not some kind of master, and I'm not used to people with stupid brains touching me," Shen Fengxi said coldly, pulling his sleeve back at the same time. "I have no interest in your games."

"This isn't a game! This concerns the safety of our school!" Glasses clenched his fists and shouted excitedly.

Shen Fengxi grabbed his collar and said, word by word, "Watch my lips carefully. What do I have to do with this?"

"But if this continues, it'll be haunted again this Saturday..."

"There are too many things to worry about, and I have exams next week!" Shen Fengxi said, then left. He didn't like meddling in other people's business, especially things that didn't benefit him. Often, ignorant kids would be misled by comics or cheap novels, presumptuously trying to survey feng shui or write talismans and incantations. Shen Fengxi's only comment on this was: "Human intelligence has no limits."

Compared to the occasional ghost, the ubiquitous fools are what truly cause trouble, Shen Fengxi often thought.

After shaking off the three of them, Shen Fengxi quickly bypassed the hill and several buildings, arriving at the playground. It was a standard 40cm oval playground with lush grass that looked like a soft green carpet. Shaking his eyes with his hand, Shen Fengxi looked around and saw only one class of students on the playground. A short-haired physical education teacher stood with his hands on his hips, shouting loudly to the students, "Is the sunshine nice today?"

"Okay..." the students said listlessly. When the PE teacher asked this question, it was most likely because he had arranged a high-intensity exercise. There was no need to respond too enthusiastically.

"Then everyone disperse."

The students lazily stretched out their arms and spread out in formation, ready for warm-up exercises. But to their surprise, the PE teacher then waved his arms and shouted, "Everyone lie down, limbs outstretched! With such beautiful sunshine, you should be sleeping happily on the grass!"

"People, like grass, need photosynthesis. Bathing in more yang energy is very good for your health."

Suddenly, all the children sprawled on the ground, letting out a blissful sigh. They hadn't slept enough from waking up early, and now the sunlight felt wonderfully warm on their skin, making them drowsy like spring buds after a rain. Occasionally, a student would glance up and see that the PE teacher was also lying on the ground, limbs outstretched, dozing comfortably, just like the students. Upon closer inspection, it seemed he was almost drooling…

Shen Fengxi walked to the edge of the track and tossed his backpack to the ground. It was unclear what was inside, but the backpack made a metallic clanging sound as it hit the ground. The PE teacher, hearing the noise, looked up, quickly got up, brushed the grass off himself, told the students to continue their "self-study," and then ran over.

"Hey, junior, you've finally arrived." The PE teacher patted Shen Fengxi on the shoulder with a smile.

"While I've been lost for so long, you've been comfortably lying here sunbathing. Also, don't call me that at school." Shen Fengxi looked annoyed, but didn't slap away the hand on his shoulder. His senior, Ma Ming, was a physical education teacher at the school. This guy's personality was unbearable; he was like a monkey, jumping around constantly, and in the eyes of an extreme individualist like Shen Fengxi, he was simply incomprehensible.

"Hey, seeing you're so old, and still can't overcome your habit of getting lost, I'm really worried," Ma Ming said, shaking his head. "I've arranged your registration and dorm for you. It's a nice class, lots of girls." He chuckled and emphasized the word "girls." Shen Fengxi snorted coldly through his nostrils, narrowing his eyes as he sized up Ma Ming with the look of someone eyeing a fat pig waiting to be slaughtered.

"More importantly, senior brother, could you lend me three hundred yuan? I'm broke." He touched the few bills left in his pocket, smiled brightly at Ma Ming, and said the word "borrow" in a light, airy tone.

"Oh my, you're not even going to let a poor person like me go? You want to exploit me?" Ma Ming spread his hands, revealing the same fake smile. "There's not much money to be made as a PE teacher. Do you want me to be the first teacher in the school to starve to death?"

Shen Fengxi's smile remained unchanged: "I don't know if you'll starve to death, but if you don't lend it to me, I'm sure you'll be beaten to death right away."

Ma Ming glanced at the students still sunbathing on the lawn, sighed, and took out three hundred-yuan bills from his pocket, handing them to him: "Spend it sparingly. This school is actually quite good; the tuition isn't high, and there are many top students. Just relive your innocent and pure high school life here."

"A good school?" Shen Fengxi glanced sideways. "I just saw three students, about my age, wandering around the campus with compasses and feng shui books from street vendors. Is that even considered a subject in the school's entrance exams?"

"Oh? Those three guys are still wandering around?" Ma Ming scratched his head, looking helpless. "Those three guys are high school sophomores like you, and they're usually pretty well-behaved. But a few days ago, I don't know what happened, they secretly formed some kind of feng shui interest group, and they've become all mysterious and eccentric, talking about gossip, the five elements, and numerology all day long. They've been criticized by Director Wu several times for this, who said they're engaging in feudal superstition at such a young age."

"Those guys, there should be a limit to their ignorance."

“There’s nothing wrong with a normal high school student occasionally trying new things,” Ma Ming replied casually.

"Normal high school students should be interested in astrology and tarot. Feng shui, that old-fashioned stuff, is simply a desecration of youth!"

"Hey, you're a Taoist priest..."

"Neither Taoist priests nor poor ghosts have youth; unfortunately, we hold both positions."

"That's true."

The two then fell silent, their expressions different, deeply saddened by the truth they had inadvertently revealed.

Soon the bell rang, and Ma Ming dismissed the students who had slept well. Then he took Shen Fengxi to the office to complete the enrollment procedures. By the time they finished all the tedious enrollment formalities, it was already 3 p.m. Ma Ming said to Shen Fengxi, "Since it's still early before dinner, why don't you go to class first? Class 6, Grade 11. I'll have someone take your luggage to the dormitory."

"Don't get lost and end up in trouble at school," Ma Ming said before leaving, leaving Shen Fengxi standing helplessly in front of the administration building, waiting for his homeroom teacher to come and pick him up. Soon, a man in his forties with gray hair appeared. He introduced himself as Zhao, the homeroom teacher of Class 6, Grade 11.

Teacher Zhao was short, wore thick glasses, and had an unremarkable appearance. The moment he saw Shen Fengxi, he frowned and scrutinized the boy who was about to become his student, his gaze remaining fixed for a long time. Shen Fengxi remained silent, thinking to himself that either this person had a pedophilic tendency, or he had hamburger crumbs on his face.

Finally, Teacher Zhao sighed slightly and said, "Shen Fengxi, although I shouldn't say this since you've just arrived at the school, I must remind you not to do anything strange or outrageous, and not to cause any chaos."

"Haha, teacher, does my face look like someone who would do strange things?" Shen Fengxi put on the innocent smile that was typical of a handsome young man, but in his heart he was thinking: It is said that some teachers have been teaching for decades and have become old monsters who can see through the nature of students at a glance. It turns out that it is true.

Without saying anything more, Teacher Zhao led Shen Fengxi towards the classroom. The high school building was a brand-new six-story structure with twelve classrooms on each floor. The exterior walls were covered with off-white tiles; while unremarkable, they were clean and tidy. The corridors were spotless, and the walls were adorned with promotional slogans and posters for various club activities.

Shen Fengxi's class was on the third floor. As he approached the classroom, he heard the sound of English reading coming from inside, clearly indicating that an English class was in progress. Teacher Zhao knocked on the door, and soon a short-haired female teacher wearing a light blue suit came out.

"Seven points." Shen Fengxi gave her a score in his mind. This teacher was not old and looked like she had just started working.

"Teacher Xu, this is the new transfer student, Shen Fengxi," Teacher Zhao said.

"Ah, is that so?" Teacher Xu nodded, her voice sweet. "Then come in."

As Shen Fengxi entered the classroom, he immediately felt dozens of curious, inquisitive eyes fixed on him, making him extremely uncomfortable. He felt like a panda being fed in a zoo. In retaliation, he smiled broadly and met the gazes of these unfortunate boys and girls who had become his classmates. Shen Fengxi remembered reading in a survival manual that the way to deal with a beast was to stare at it until it looked away.

After looking around, Shen Fengxi realized he already had four familiar faces in this unfamiliar class. The three idiots from the "Feng Shui Interest Group" sat in the last row, excitedly watching him. Judging from the way their hands were positioned, they were definitely secretly reading something in their desks. There was also a girl sitting by the window, the pale-faced girl he had bumped into at the school gate earlier. She was the only one in the class who didn't look at Shen Fengxi; instead, she rested her chin on her hand and gazed out the window, her eyes revealing the loneliness unique to transfer students.

"So she was also assigned to this class." Shen Fengxi nodded secretly when Teacher Xu introduced her as Gu Fuchen.