Hyakki Yagyō (Night Parade of One Hundred Demons)

Chapter 3

"This is... Nana... you're in a relationship too early..." He could guess it just by looking at Nana gripping his hand tightly.

"Oh dear~~~~~~~~ Oh, please! Let me introduce you, this is Yu Jiawei, a senior from the high school, my boyfriend!" To be honest, Nana is a really cute type, with a very lively and likable personality, like a little bunny. Almost no man could resist this type of girl. The more chauvinistic a man is, the more he likes this type of girl.

Unlike myself, with a pale face due to chronic illness, a thin body, and dry, lifeless long hair, and most terrifyingly, a cold and gloomy aura all over my body, it's really... so I've always been alone since I was a child.

"Ah Ling... let's go to the library together!" Nana just loves giving people random nicknames.

"Doesn't your boyfriend mind me being a third wheel?" I thought to myself, I'll have to wait until tomorrow to start investigating this.

"He dares?" Nana said smugly.

library--

Nana and Jiawei were happily eating ice cream, their books merely decorations. I shook my head and got up to look for some materials. Through the gaps between the books, I saw a girl in a high school uniform peeking at the bookshelf closest to Nana and Jiawei. I figured she was probably just a girl with a crush on Jiawei and didn't think much of it.

I continued reading with my head down, but that hairstyle made me feel...

Author: Xinxinjun Reply Date: 2005-01-02 0:18:00

I continued reading, but that hairstyle seemed familiar, so I looked up for a closer look. From my angle, the girl was on her right side, and she even had two small moles below her mouth! How could that be! I put the book back and ran over immediately, but when I got there, she was gone. There was a book on the floor; upon closer inspection, it was last year's high school student records.

The open page contained a photo of a female student who died last year, having committed suicide by jumping from a building. "Zeng Ai'ai..." That was the spirit that wanted Nana dead! Student materials couldn't be taken away casually, so I hid the book in my clothes and quietly smuggled it out of the library. Although I felt a little guilty, I ultimately walked out the door with a clear conscience.

There is a kind of pain called loneliness, which goes deep into the bones.

The more crowded the place, the more you can feel this pain.

Nana went on a date with her senior, so I felt relieved and took the student files back to my dorm to look at them. I figured there must be a lot of clues in them.

Zeng Ai'ai, that name sounds familiar. Where have I seen it before? I start to remember.

On September 5th last year, Ai Ai jumped from the roof of this dormitory building, landing headfirst and dying. She landed on the lawn below the dormitory building. But what does this have to do with this corridor and Nana?

Wait a minute! Did Nana and I see something on the rooftop that day?

Memories suddenly flooded back like a tide.

"Zero, look! How romantic! It's a love umbrella!" Nana exclaimed, completely captivated.

I went over to look, and the traces were already a bit blurry. The boy's name, "Zeng Aiai/XX Wei will be together forever," was already somewhat blurred and illegible.

"Oh dear~~~~~~~~ Oh, please! Let me introduce you, this is Yu Jiawei, a senior from the high school, and he's my boyfriend!"

Through the gaps between the books, I saw a girl in a high school uniform peeking at the bookshelf closest to Nana and the others. I guessed she was just someone who had a crush on an upperclassman and didn't think much of it.

From my angle, the girl's profile was exactly on her right side, and she even had two small moles below the corner of her mouth.

I also saw that spirit in the library. So everything is connected now; that boy's name is the same as Yu Jiawei's.

So, perhaps it's because this girl loved her senior so much in life that she refused to let anyone take him away, even in death. While this explanation is plausible, there are still some oddities.

I must go back to the place where I died; perhaps that will unravel some of the strangeness. I must go back to that rooftop again.

The legendary Devil's Staircase was right next to our dorm, and without hesitation, I closed my eyes and started climbing again. "1, 2, 3... 21, 22..." But strangely, this time I couldn't reach the 23rd step. Oh no, after all, I'm not the person she's looking for.

So I went to the lawn downstairs from the dormitory building, the very spot where Ai Ai had landed, to look for clues. Someone had once taught me a method for summoning ghosts: lie down chest-to-chest at the spot where it died, close your eyes, and call out to it. This method is extremely dangerous; if you summon a vengeful ghost, especially one that doesn't discriminate, the person summoning it is in danger. However, I figured Ai Ai probably wouldn't harm me, so I spread a piece of clothing on the lawn and lay down.

"Aiai, if you can hear me calling you, please come out and tell me... why aren't you leaving... why are you causing trouble for Nana..."

"Bang bang bang..." The windows of the entire dormitory building began to shake. I knew she was here. My hands and feet suddenly felt incredibly heavy, and something was getting closer to me. I felt like I couldn't move; all I knew was that a cold, damp wind was swirling around me.

“Ai Ai… I know it’s you…” I opened my eyes, but there was nothing around me.

I heard hurried footsteps in the distance, and a crowd gathered. I couldn't hear what they were saying; I was completely paralyzed. Suddenly, it dawned on me—this was the last thing Ai'ai saw before she died. Was she trying to tell me something? My eyelids grew heavy. I knew this memory was fleeting, so I had to try my best to see clearly and remember every detail. I looked towards the rooftop and suddenly noticed something strange. The senior was standing there, looking down, his eyes cold. No one noticed him there; only the dead Ai'ai was watching him, watching herself slowly die. Why? Why was he there? And his eyes were so cold.

After a ringing in my ears, all I could see were white dots. At that moment, Ai'ai must have died. Then, she became a vengeful ghost. Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably. Had I become too deeply entangled in Ai'ai's memories? I could even feel her pain—that kind of prolonged loneliness that devours a person's heart, turning them into a vengeful ghost. I had interfered with Ai'ai's memories, and now the feeling of her becoming a vengeful ghost was recurring within me.

"I hate it so much, I hate it so much..." The deep resentment, and the even deeper sorrow behind it, resonated with my memories, creating a feeling I couldn't escape. The tears just wouldn't stop. It seems I can never go back...

"Don't you know how dangerous this is?" A strange man's voice rang in my ears. A powerful force pulled me back, and my gaze returned to the spot where I had just been lying—the familiar lawn. I looked up, my face still streaked with tears. Who was it? Who had just saved me? Was he doing what I was doing?

A cold gaze. That was my only impression of him that night. And, those eyes held a pain and...loneliness that I felt even more intensely than I did.

"Who are you?" I murmured, tears still streaming down my face.

“A psionicist…” He pulled me up, then suddenly frowned, “Your…body…”

I knew someone as capable as him would sense the ghostly aura emanating from me, so I quickly pulled my hand back. "Thank you! I'm alright!"

He didn't press further, but smiled and said, "Never mind. Just don't do things like that again, okay? Especially since you should know that your body can't handle it easily."

He's gone. Just now, when he pulled me, I felt a continuous flow of positive energy emanating from him, completely opposite to his gaze. I know he's a very powerful psychic. Sure enough, this century-old prestigious school, rife with ghostly energy, harbors a powerful psychic cultivator. Perhaps I'll encounter him again someday!

My heart still aches a little. The feeling of making love is still lingering in my cells. It really hurts…

When Nana came home that evening, she kept telling me about her date. Seeing how excited she was, I really didn't want to tell her about sex. But I was worried because tomorrow is the anniversary of sex's death, the day when her power is at its strongest. I was afraid that it might harm Nana.

"Nana... are you going on a date with your senior tomorrow?"

"What? Of course... Or is it you, Ling, who wants to hang out with me? Okay, I'll definitely make time for you the day after tomorrow! It's a pity that my senior is taking me to see that really good movie tomorrow, and I've already bought the tickets. Otherwise, I would have stood him up to go with you!"

Author: Xinxinjun Reply Date: 2005-01-02 0:19:00

"No! It's okay, what time does the movie end tomorrow?"

"It starts around 7 o'clock, and I won't be back until after 10 o'clock!"

Oh no! This is really bad time! Love died during that period.

"Nana, will you promise me something?"

"What?"

"No matter what, don't let your senior lead you across the lawn below the dormitory tomorrow night. Take the detour and come back through the back door. Also... don't go back to the dormitory tomorrow, don't go through the third-floor corridor, and don't sleep in someone else's dormitory, otherwise you will be in danger!"

"Then what are you going to do? Aren't you okay being alone in the dorm?"

"I'm okay. Because last time, the vengeful ghost wasn't targeting me. Nana, you don't want something like last time to happen again, right? Then please say yes!"

"Okay! I'll try my best." Seeing Nana's nonchalant attitude, I was really worried. It looks like I'll have to go to the high school tomorrow morning to investigate what kind of relationship Ai Ai had with the upperclassman before her death.

The high school building is a bit far from our junior high school building, so I can only go there during the break between the second and third periods, which only takes about 20 minutes.

"Zeng Ai'ai? She used to be Jiawei's girlfriend, but they broke up after Jiawei fell for a girl in junior high. He's dating a girl from junior high now, and it's amazing that Jiawei had the perseverance to pursue her for so long. But what can you do when she's Jiawei's type? It's a pity about Ai'ai. She was a pretty girl, but she couldn't bear the blow of Jiawei not loving her, and she committed suicide by jumping off a building. It made Jiawei feel guilty and sad for a while."

"You asked where Jiawei was when she died? I'm not too sure, but it seems he took sick leave that day! He didn't come to school for two or three days."

The investigation results have consistently pointed to my suspicions. If it's true... then not only Nana, but the senior is probably in danger too. No, if I can't get to the rooftop tonight, I still have to go check on the lawn.

As I left, I brushed past someone—it was the same person from yesterday! He was wearing a high school uniform, so he looked like a high school student. He saw me, smiled at me, and said something meaningful that only the two of us understood: "If you go too deep, you might get yourself into trouble!"

"I can take good care of myself! Don't worry about me!"

He waved and turned to leave. I noticed the girls around me glaring at me. He seemed quite popular.

Although someone warned me this morning, I still came to the lawn where Ai Ai died for Nana's sake. I originally wanted to go to the rooftop, but, to my dismay, I found that I couldn't get up there.

Everything was quiet, seemingly no different from usual, but an ominous premonition lingered around me. As I was pondering this, I heard my senior and Nana's voices. That girl, she didn't listen to what I said to her at all. Does she even care about her life? This is truly the worst-case scenario.

"Thank you for bringing me back, senior! You should go home now! It's so close, I can walk back myself!"

"It's okay... Nana..." The pervert actually hugged Nana and was about to kiss her. Didn't he hear the windows around them rattling rapidly because of the approaching ghost? The sound was really jarring.

"No!" I shouted as I jumped out of the bushes on the other side, but it was too late. I saw that Ai Ai, her face covered in blood, had emerged from the ground at their feet and was tightly gripping the feet of my senior and Nana.

"He's mine... No one can take him away from me... He's mine..."

"Love!" The senior seemed surprised. "You're not..."

“Ah Wei…you haven’t forgotten me…you’re mine…you’re still mine…”

"I'm not yours! Why won't you let me go after all this time? I've already tried so hard to apologize!"

"I don't blame you... Actually, I've been waiting for you to do that for a long time... That way, you can be mine forever..."

"No! I didn't!" The senior's emotions were strange. "I really didn't mean to that day... I clearly told you we were breaking up, but you kept bothering me, and I was really annoyed... So that day you kept pressuring me... so I pushed you... and said that as long as you died, I would always be yours... Who knew you would actually jump... I really didn't mean to..."

“Awei…you are mine…it was this woman who made you betray me…so I want her to leave you…you are mine…”

Oh no! Nana! I pounced on her...

"Bang!" After a loud crash, a window slammed into the spot where my senior and Nana had just been standing. We were all thrown back by a tremendous force. I, who had just lunged forward, was hit by the two forces and several shards of glass pierced my hand.

When we recovered from our shock, we saw a talisman affixed to Ai Ai's spirit. As the man we had seen before chanted the scriptures, it slowly turned into a wisp of black smoke and disappeared.

"Where did she go..." I sat on the ground, staring blankly as I asked.

"I forced you to go beyond that level! I told you not to go too deep. If I hadn't come, you would all be finished," he said with a smug laugh.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Dao Lian. I am a spiritual power user and the 191st generation successor of the Dao family, a spiritual power family."

I still remember that night vividly. I never imagined that it would change the fate of each of us... At that time, we had no idea that the future would bring so much pain... Thinking back, the happiness we had before seemed so fragile...

The next day, Nana rejected her senior. His expression was a little strange as he left. If I had noticed then, perhaps none of what happened afterward would have occurred. Nana… I really didn't want to… drag you into this mess. This is the only thing I regret.

"Are you sure you want to break up with him? He's very popular!" I asked Nana, looking at his back and feeling that he was quite innocent.

"No way! I'm a perfectionist when it comes to love... Ah... I thought I'd found a good man... but... Ah Ling... I don't care... you have to take responsibility for me! Let's go out and have fun tonight! You're too quiet... Besides, you're only telling me now that you can see those things..."

Afterwards, I told Nana about my unusual physical condition. However, there were certain things from the past that I couldn't say out loud.

"Okay, okay!" I smiled helplessly.

"Ahhhhhh!" came screams from students downstairs.

Nana and I rushed down immediately, and the crowd dispersed as soon as they saw us.

"What's wrong..." I asked.

"Jiawei... Senior Jiawei committed suicide..."

I rushed to the corpse before Nana. It died in the same way as Aiai, with a strange and pale smile on its lips. What was most terrifying was that two small moles, just like Aiai's, had also appeared on the lower right side of its mouth.

“Ah Ling…”

"No... Nana... don't look..." I covered Nana's eyes with my hand, "Don't look..." I felt my hand was wet.

"Ah Ling...actually, I've actually started to like him a little..."

"Hehehehe... He's mine... No one can take him away..." That eerie laughter seemed to echo in my ears again.

Possessiveness is a terrible thing.

"I'm sorry... I didn't notice... I hypnotized Jiawei in the last moments before the lovemaking climax. As long as Nana told him to break up, he would jump off a building..." Daolian said later when she apologized to us.

Nana was depressed for a long time. She was blaming herself, I know.