Lingxia Incident

Chapter 1

Lingxia Incident

Chapter One: The Boy with Superpowers

"Alright! You can go now without worry." A relieved voice echoed in the boys' restroom of TMX Academy's high school.

"Thank you, I will come back to see you!" an elderly woman's voice was filled with gratitude.

"Don't come back!" the boy almost screamed. "Alright, the gates of hell have opened. I'll send you off first. Go and be reincarnated properly. Don't linger on anything in the mortal world anymore."

With a "whoosh," the toilet flushed, and only the boy remained in the bathroom. He cautiously opened the door, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw no one outside: "Thank goodness no one heard, otherwise I would have to transfer schools again!"

The boy's name is Linglong. He was originally an ordinary high school senior who would be easily lost in a crowd. However, because he was born on Ghost Festival, he was born with some spiritual power that others did not have. He had finally transferred to TMX Academy. He did not want anyone to know that he had superpowers and just wanted to finish his high school life.

"Did you know? I heard that a boy in Class C committed suicide by jumping off a building!" Everyone in the school cafeteria was talking about it.

"I know, but the academy forbids it from being told. I heard they're going to hold a memorial service for him!"

"Seriously, what's wrong with you that you want to commit suicide!"

"I heard that people who commit suicide can't ascend to heaven; they can only stay on earth! Will he come back to school?"

"Oh, stop scaring me!"

"..." People with perky ears hear all sorts of boring conversations all the time! Linglong thought to himself. Jump off a building to commit suicide?

Although he told himself not to meddle, Linglong couldn't help but go to the mourning hall that the academy had set up for that classmate.

It seemed quite a few students were mourning him; he must have been well-liked! Linglong thought to himself. Wanting to go a little further in, he casually said to a student standing by the door, "Excuse me, could you please let me through?"

"Can you see me?" To everyone's surprise, the classmate asked this question. He turned around and looked at Linglong, his pale face showing great melancholy. Moreover, his appearance was exactly the same as the deceased in the photo in the center of the mourning hall!

“…” Linglong knew he had gotten himself into trouble again, so he could only pretend he couldn’t hear or see him.

"Alas, how could anyone see me?" The classmate sighed when he saw that Linglong did not react. "It seems that I am destined to be a wronged ghost." He floated leisurely to his mother who was sobbing uncontrollably, and knelt down beside her. "I'm sorry, Mom. Your son is unfilial. I haven't even had a chance to repay your kindness in raising me, and now you have to suffer the pain of losing your son. I can only repay your kindness in the next life!"

Now

The child was pushed off the balcony and died a tragic death, becoming a wronged ghost. We must find the real culprit and bring him to justice!

"..." Linglong heard every word he said clearly, and he felt a little sorry for the ghost. He walked up to the grieving mother and said, "Auntie, don't be sad. What joy is there in living, and what suffering is there in dying? Perhaps your son has already reached the Pure Land!"

"Thank you, thank you." The heartbroken mother held his hand tightly, unable to utter any other words.

As Linglong left the mourning hall, he discovered that the ghost was still following him. However, the ghost's eyes were filled with gratitude. Regardless of whether Linglong could hear him, the ghost said to himself, "Thank you. We are complete strangers, yet you comforted my mother like this. Thank you so much!"

"No, it was nothing!" Linglong realized he had let something slip after he finished speaking.

"You can really see me? Hear me?!" The ghost was extremely excited. He had been struggling to find a way to take revenge, and now it seemed there was hope!

"Sigh, you found out!" The spirit dragon said with a hint of helplessness. "Why don't you reincarnate? What is there left in the mortal world for you to cherish?"

"I want revenge! I didn't commit suicide! Someone pushed me!" His voice was full of resentment.

“Evil will be punished, and Heaven will have its own justice. You don’t need to seek revenge!” Linglong understood his feelings very well, but he couldn’t stay in the mortal world like this!

"I'm not reconciled! I didn't even see who pushed me! I don't even know who my enemies are! Don't worry, I won't hurt him, I just want to send him to prison myself! You're the only one who can help me, please help me!"

"..." Linglong's intuition told him that this ghost wasn't a bad ghost; at least it knew it should handle the situation rationally. However... Linglong struggled internally. "Alright then, you have to promise me you won't hurt anyone!"

"Thank you so much! I could never repay your kindness, even if I were to become your slave in my next life." The ghost was so moved that he wept bitterly.

"No need for such exaggeration! My name is Linglong, what's yours?"

"My name is He Huan."

Huh? I was just saying it casually, I didn't expect his name to actually be He Huan! Linglong was embarrassed.

Linglong tiptoed into the house, but just when he thought he was safe, a heavy iron fist hit him on the head. His mother, Long Qing, glared at him fiercely: --- Magpie Bridge Fairy replied [4]: "Where have you been running around again?!"

"No, Mom, if you hit my head again, my IQ of 180 will become negative 180!" Linglong said, rubbing his poor head in dissatisfaction.

"Who told you to come back so late? Have you eaten?" Long Qing's tone softened considerably.

"I've already eaten!" Linglong said, then went upstairs to his room, opened his backpack, and said, "Alright, you can come out now!"

"Thank you." He Huan, who was inside the backpack, appeared in front of Linglong. He looked around Linglong's room and said, "Luckily I'm a ghost, otherwise there really wouldn't be a place to stand."

"Shut up!" Linglong knew his room was a mess. "That was my mother. She also has a little bit of spiritual power, so don't suddenly appear in front of her and scare her."

"Hmm, so your spiritual power is hereditary."

"A small part, but most of it is congenital. Okay, recall the circumstances of your death, who was around you, and see if you can find the murderer." Linglong took out a notebook, ready to record all the clues.

"No need to remember. Two days ago at noon, I was lying on the rooftop of the high school teaching building sunbathing. I fell asleep without realizing it. When I woke up, I found that I was already dead."

"You're really confused! You didn't even know you were dead! How do you know someone pushed you down and you didn't just roll down while you were sleeping?" Linglong almost fell off the chair.

“Because I never toss and turn in my sleep; I wake up the same way I fall asleep,” He Huan insisted. “Otherwise, how could I dare to sleep on a terrace without railings?”

"Ugh! That's no excuse at all! I just think you rolled down there on your own." Linglong was a restless sleeper, often waking up the next day to find himself somehow lying on the floor. "You might as well just ascend to heaven! I can't help you with an excuse like that."

“I have more evidence!” He Huan said indignantly, “I clearly threw my backpack aside, but when I died, the backpack strap was still hanging on my body. The murderer must have done this to make it look like I committed suicide.”

"Who could possibly have such a deep grudge against you that they would want to kill you?" Although Linglong didn't quite believe it, he felt that He Huan's words might not be without reason.

“Well, I’ve always been popular, so there shouldn’t be anyone like that,” He Huan recalled.

"Sigh, let me ask you more specifically. Murder is more often a crime of passion or a revenge killing. Did you have a romantic relationship? Did you have a rival in love? Did you have a very strong competitor? Think about it carefully, is there anyone who would benefit from your death?" Linglong's father was a policeman, and he also knew some analytical methods.

"..." He Huan tried hard to recall, "No! I've always been a very ordinary person. I haven't been in a relationship or made enemies. My grades are average. There's no reason for me to be in anyone else's way!"

"I knew you must have accidentally rolled down!" Linglong concluded. "And your backpack must have gotten caught on while you were sleeping. Alright, I'll send you to heaven tomorrow!"

"No way! I must have been pushed!" He Huan was not satisfied with this conclusion.

"You're so long-winded! I still have a ton of homework to do!" Without another word, Linglong stuffed He Huan into a small bottle and ignored him.

To confirm, Linglong went to the rooftop of the teaching building, hoping to find some clues, but no matter how he looked, he couldn't find anything suspicious. He became increasingly convinced that He Huan had accidentally fallen. However, the academy has started installing railings along the terrace; hopefully, such tragedies will decrease in the future!

"Oh, you're so pitiful. To die like this, I won't even know how to write a eulogy!" Linglong felt sorry for He Huan. Since class was about to start, he decided to see He Huan off during lunch break.

Who is that kid? Could it be that he discovered something? Whoosh... A dark figure flashed past the doorway on the rooftop.

Because the next biology class was in the lab, Linglong looked down at the biology lab across the street from the rooftop and went downstairs feeling a bit bored.

Compared to other places, there are more strange spirits in the Biology Building. Although they mostly look strange, they don't have any intention to harm people, so the spirit dragon doesn't bother with them. However, their conversation today is a bit strange: "Do you know? Someone died in the building across the street!" a spirit that looks like a ball with an eye in the middle said to another spirit that looks like a snake with three eyes.

"Yes, I know, I watched him fall!"

“Hey, do you know,” a flat, otherworldly creature crawled down from the floorboards, “that noon someone did something disgusting in the physics lab upstairs!” it said, sticking out its long, blue tongue.

"What disgusting thing is it?" the other two asked curiously.

“That girl clearly didn’t want to, but that man forced her! He didn’t stop until the girl’s lower body was bleeding! You guys---Magpie Bridge Fairy replied [5]: Isn’t that disgusting?” The flat alien spirit was quite indignant.

"..." People who walk with their ears perked up are bound to overhear boring conversations all the time! Linglong was feeling frustrated as he watched his classmates pass by the bodies of those strange spirits so naturally while he couldn't do the same, when someone patted him hard on the shoulder: "Linglong, are you going to the biology lab? Let's go together!"

"So it's Lin Wenbin." Linglong had only recently transferred to TMX Academy. Although he didn't know many of his classmates, he could still recall their names. In addition, Lin Wenbin was the class monitor and seemed to be very warm-hearted, so he appeared to be quite popular.

"Hehe, so you remember me. Actually, I've wanted to talk to you for a while now," Lin Wenbin said naturally, putting his hand on Linglong's shoulder. "I saw your information from the class teacher. Your IQ is as high as 180, right? But why are your test scores always so unsatisfactory?"

"Oh, I just don't like studying!" Linglong said. He had calculated his fate and found he had absolutely no luck in exams, so he no longer tried to force it.

"So what do you like to do?" Wenbin asked curiously. With his intelligence, even if he didn't like it, he shouldn't do it so badly every time!

“For example…” Linglong’s eyes searched the surroundings. He spotted a girl in a school uniform walking towards them. The moment she brushed past him, he suddenly squatted down, crossed his arms, and the powerful gust of wind from his hands made the girl’s skirt flutter.

"Wow—" the girl screamed and pressed her skirt down.

"Look, I see it, pink, pink." Lin Wenbin's nosebleed flowed down as her skirt fluttered.

"Perfect timing!" Linglong's nosebleed flowed down as her skirt fluttered.

"Disgusting!" The girl angrily slapped Linglong across the face.

"Brother Ling, you've suffered, you've suffered." Wenbin immediately handed Linglong a tissue to reward him.

You're really funny! He Huan, inside the bottle, was embarrassed.

"Shut up! I call this socializing too!" Linglong defended himself.

On his way past the physics lab, Linglong inadvertently saw the terrace of the opposite teaching building through the lab window. Moreover, from the lab's location, he could see exactly where He Huan had fallen that day. He recalled the conversation between those strange spirits earlier and felt a sense of foreboding.

"Wenbin, my stomach hurts, please help me ask for leave!" Linglong shouted and ran downstairs. He wanted to find that flat, otherworldly spirit and get some answers. Maybe He Huan's death really wasn't so simple!

"He's running so fast even though he has a stomachache?" Wenbin muttered.

...

"When did you mention the physics lab incident?" Linglong found the flat, otherworldly spirit.

"It seems like it was around noon a day or two ago! I live pretty much the same way every day." The spirit wasn't sure of the exact time.

"Think about it again carefully!" Linglong reminded it, "Did anything unusual happen that day?"

"Something special? Ah!! Yes, yes!" the alien spirit suddenly shouted.

"What is it?" Could it really be? Linglong and He Huan were on edge.

"I didn't poop that day..." the spirit said, scratching its head with its antennae, embarrassed.

"..." Linglong was speechless.

"Idiot! Did anyone die that day?!" He Huan exclaimed, grabbing its skin.

“Yeah, some idiot committed suicide in the building across the street. How is that special? So many people die every day…” the spirit said. “Could it be that the physics lab incident is related to my death?!” He Huan sensed something amiss.

"It's hard to say. Did you get a clear look at those two people?" Linglong asked Yiling.

"Who would want to watch that scene? Besides, the sun was shining right there, I was trying to get out of the way!"

Otherworldly Spirits

road.

"..." So the truth should be clear by now! But the clues just went cold again.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [6]: Linglong and He Huan came to the physics lab hoping to find some clues, but things didn't go as planned. "Quickly think of a way to find those two people!" He Huan was excited because she thought she might be exonerated.

"The academy is so big, how are we going to find it?" Linglong pondered. If this was a scandalous affair, it would be even more difficult. "There's no other way, we can only use a shikigami!" He said, taking out a talisman from his robes, chanting incantations in the air, and then waving it up. The talisman transformed into a spirit dog. "Go!"

The hound wagged its golden tail, did a somersault in the air, and disappeared.

"Alright, let's wait for the shikigami's news!" Linglong stretched.

"Linglong, what are you doing here? Didn't you have a stomachache?" Wenbin appeared at the door.