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Part 1 of the classic "Road of the Wrongfully Haunted" trilogy: The Road of the Wrongfully Haunted

Chapter 1

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The moonlight, like water, gently spilled over this university campus with over 100 years of history, casting a tranquil atmosphere over it. Where in the world can one find a pure land? Only in this place of study and learning, where sages and saints reside.

The study room was brightly lit, filled with the aroma of books and a tranquil atmosphere. Everyone was engrossed in their studies, striving for their final exams. "Damn it!" He Jianfei rummaged through his bag, only to realize he'd forgotten his most important English book in the dorm, bringing instead a sports theory textbook he'd finished studying ages ago. He couldn't help but complain to his roommate, Zhang Chuanxun: "It's all your fault! Why are you rushing me? I think I could easily pass the sports theory doctoral exam." Zhang Chuanxun grinned and said, "Your English is so good, you don't need to study." He opened his bag. Suddenly, he exclaimed, "Oh no! I brought sports theory too!" He Jianfei laughed so hard he collapsed onto the table, unable to get up. Zhang Chuanxun said, "No way, I haven't finished a ton of homework. I think I have to go back and get it." He Jianfei said, "But the dorm is too far from here. It'll take you at least an hour to go back and forth." Zhang Chuanxun laughed, "Don't worry. I just discovered a path called Chigangding a few days ago; it'll only take less than twenty minutes to get to the dorm." He Jianfei laughed, "Then go ahead, and while you're at it... mine!"

The clock ticked by, and He Jianfei had practically worn out his math book. Two hours had passed, and Zhang Chuanxun still hadn't returned. He Jianfei thought: "That guy's probably too tired from walking, so he's just staying in the dorm. If I have to retake my English exam, I'll definitely settle the score with you." He was bored sitting here; he might as well leave.

Back in the dormitory, He Jianfei found it pitch black and deserted. Somewhat surprised, he turned on the fluorescent light. He saw the two English books still neatly placed in their original spots. Apart from the few books in Zhang Chuanxun's bag, nothing else seemed missing from his bookshelf. He Jianfei shook his head and said, "They must have gone to another classroom." He pulled up a chair, picked up his precious English books, and began his arduous memorization session in the chaotic environment of speakers, computers, and a small discussion room.

Zhang Chuanxun still hadn't returned by midnight. He Jianfei frowned: "Could he have gone to the all-night study room? That would be like the sun rising in the west! Never mind, I can't stay up any longer, I'm going to meet the Duke of Zhou of Zhou first. Comrade Chuanxun, you can continue reading."

In the middle of the night, He Jianfei was abruptly pulled from his dreams by the deafening sound of wind chimes. "Heavens! Such a strong wind, it might rain soon. This damned summoning bell, it rings whether a ghost comes or not," He Jianfei cursed, when suddenly he noticed a blurry black shadow standing in the distance behind the mosquito net. He Jianfei called out, "Chuanxun, you're back?" The shadow didn't answer, but simply walked forward step by step. He Jianfei called again, "Chuanxun, what's wrong? Why aren't you saying anything?" The shadow continued walking towards him without replying. He Jianfei glanced at it, and seeing the summoning bell ringing even louder, he became alert and shouted in a deep voice, "What kind of ghost dares to frighten people like this?" As he spoke, he abruptly pulled back the mosquito net, but the shadow had vanished.

He Jianfei looked around suspiciously. Just then, there was a noise outside the door. "Waaah...waaah..." A soft sob reached his ears. He Jianfei breathed a sigh of relief: "Chuanxun, you scared me to death. What's wrong? What happened? Tell me, I'll help you..." He grabbed the doorknob to open the door, but found that it was double-locked, which he had locked himself last night.

The door wasn't locked. First, there was a dark figure inside, then a weeping sound outside, followed by the unusual ringing of the summoning bell—but the weeping was clearly Chuanxun's. He Jianfei's hands trembled slightly. He slowly unlocked the door with his key, then slowly pulled it open, calling out softly, "Chuanxun, you…" He stopped abruptly. The area outside was empty; there wasn't a soul in sight. He found it strange. He had clearly heard weeping, so why had he run so fast? Suddenly, a loud crash came from inside. He Jianfei turned around to see Zhang Chuanxun's English book had fallen from the desk. He glanced outside again, saw nothing, and had no choice but to double-lock the door, pick up the book, return to bed, and continue his deep sleep.

At five o'clock in the morning, he was awakened again by a frantic knocking on the door, accompanied by a shrill cry: "Jianfei! Jianfei!" He rushed to the window, flung it open, and roared, "What are you doing? Do you know what time it is?" Huang Dakai from the next dormitory stood outside the door, his face filled with terror, his hands trembling violently outside the window: "Something's happened, Jianfei, Chuanxun is dead!"

In an instant, He Jianfei felt as if a muffled thunderclap had struck his mind, leaving him completely blank. Huang Dakai was still talking to himself, "He died on that path, his face full of terror, I heard his eyeballs popped out, his face was covered in blood, but they couldn't find the wounds. A whole bunch of police officers came, and the principal too..." He Jianfei grabbed Huang Dakai, "What time did he die?" Huang Dakai was taken aback, "The forensic doctor said it should be between ten and eleven o'clock. Why are you asking this?" He Jianfei punched the window frame, shaking down a lot of dust: Died at eleven o'clock? Then the one who came in the middle of the night... must be Chuanxun's ghost. He came to tell me the news, but I still haven't figured it out. "Another one died? Heh... There's no escaping it, a few people have to die every year, um, there's no escaping it, there's no escaping it, have you gone yet? If you have any resentment, just vent it all out! Heh..." Huang Dakai whispered, "It's that neurotic senior again. Ever since his girlfriend died mysteriously on that path, he's become like this."

He Jianfei quickly unlocked the door, rushed upstairs like a whirlwind, and soon saw his senior brother walking slowly ahead. "Senior brother, please wait," He Jianfei said, panting. "I have a few questions." The senior brother shook his head. "No need to ask. Who would believe that?" He Jianfei said, "I believe that the dead become ghosts, and ghosts become the boundary! But what does the phrase 'a few must die every year' mean? Why can't they escape it?"

The senior student turned around, his small eyes gleaming eerily behind his thick glasses: "I don't know. Would it still be like this if I knew? Would people still die? All I know is that that path has been privately known as the Path of Wronged Ghosts for decades." "The Path of Wronged Ghosts? Why such a terrifying name?" "How would I know? Legend has it that anyone who walks this path in the dead of night will die on the road, their face filled with terror and covered in blood. He didn't believe it, and went alone. And what happened in the end? Heh... Before she died, she mustered all her strength and said two sentences to me: 'I'm going to die! I can't escape!' Yes, I can't escape, I absolutely can't escape."

The senior brother chuckled and turned to walk away slowly.

He Jianfei stood there motionless, like a stone statue. "She's going to die! She can't escape!" "She's going to die! She can't escape!" He kept repeating these two sentences, feeling that the girl was desperately trying to hint at something before she died, but the words were too vague.

Chapter Two

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He stood there bewildered for a long time before slowly walking back to his dormitory, intending to ask someone for more details. He found the dormitory empty—everyone had gone to check on the investigation. He plopped down on his bed, feeling a deep sense of loss. Yesterday and today felt like two separate worlds. He murmured to himself, "Chuanxun, what are you trying to tell me? Is it just as simple as a wrongful death?"

"Ring ring..." The phone rang, startling He Jianfei. He picked up the receiver and said "Hello," when a silvery laugh came from the other end: "Handsome He, you've just been voted the most handsome guy in the entire province! Congratulations!" He Jianfei immediately recognized his girlfriend Tian Yinzhen's voice. He sighed, "Miss, it's not even six o'clock yet. What brings you here?" Tian Yinzhen's surprised voice came through: "Huh, the most handsome guy..." He Jianfei impatiently interrupted her: "Yinzi, do you sense anything wrong with my school?" "Hmm, it seems like there are a lot of beautiful girls giving off a flirtatious vibe. So, which one catches your eye?" He Jianfei rolled his eyes in exasperation: "Yinzi, I'm not joking. Someone died here." Tian Yinzhen's laughter continued: "Which beautiful girl died? It broke our handsome He's heart." He Jianfei said in a deep voice: "Zhang Chuanxun is dead. His death was inexplicable. His ghost came to me after the incident."

The other end of the phone immediately went silent. Tian Yinzhen said, "I'm so far away from you, I wouldn't be able to sense anything. What did he tell you?" He Jianfei then explained the whole story to her. Tian Yinzhen said, "How about this, I don't have class this afternoon, I'll come over to your place to check out the scene. I'll be there at 2 PM." "Okay, see you then."

He Jianfei hung up the phone, unsure what to do. He decided to go to the scene first, only to find that the area within ten miles was sealed off, and outsiders were not allowed to enter. Unwilling to give up, He Jianfei circled the outer perimeter several times, but something felt amiss. Although it was daytime and the sun was blazing, he felt a chill run down his spine, as if something was weighing on his heart, making him very uncomfortable, almost to the point of delirium. He Jianfei felt a chill run down his spine. "Damn it," he thought, "if I had known this university was such a terrifying place, no matter how famous it was, I wouldn't have chosen it. The vengeful spirit here is so strong that it could kill even during the day, let alone at night. Zhang Chuanxun was walking alone at night; he was surely dead." Startled by this, He Jianfei didn't even want to go to class. He just wandered aimlessly around the campus, thinking about that strange path and muttering to himself, "I'm going to die! I can't escape!" He repeated it many times, but he still couldn't understand what it meant. Frustrated, he stomped his foot and said, "Damn it! Who said I can't escape? I'm going to try it anyway."

"Young man, don't act rashly and end up losing your life! That road is cursed; no one can defeat it!" An old voice suddenly came from behind He Jianfei. He Jianfei quickly turned around and saw an old man sweeping the floor. He was a little surprised: "Uncle, do you know what I'm referring to?" The old man chuckled: "Of course I know! This university is over 100 years old, very old. It has all sorts of strange things. What could be more cursed than that haunted road?"

He Jianfei perked up and quickly stepped forward to warm up to him: "Uncle, do you know about the Road of Wrongful Ghosts?" "I've been sweeping for almost sixty years, I even know where it came from! It's just that you young people don't believe in these things, and think I'm senile..."

As they walked and talked, He Jianfei grew increasingly alarmed. He had no idea this little path held such a special significance. Originally named Yougangding, the path had existed since the university's founding. For a time, it was perfectly normal, until fifty years ago when a female student, misdiagnosed with cancer, hanged herself there. From then on, every night people heard faint weeping sounds coming from the path, and some even saw her sitting under a tree crying. Terrified, people dared not walk that path at night. Later, a male student went there to retrieve something and never returned. His roommates saw him return in the middle of the night to look for the item. Then, another female student was abducted, raped, and murdered there. To warn future generations, the students renamed it Chigangding (Red Hill Peak), taking the color red from the blood. Since then, every year, several people die on this path, their deaths identical, hence it's also known as the Road of Wrongful Ghosts, meaning haunted by vengeful spirits. To maintain its reputation, the university strictly controls the news, so most of the deaths are among freshmen.

He Jianfei was secretly alarmed: if several people die every year, how many wronged souls and evil spirits have accumulated over fifty years? No wonder it's so eerie; it seems difficult to deal with. He suddenly thought he should test how heavy the resentment was on that path, so he quickly said goodbye to the old man and hurriedly ran towards the path.

Before even reaching the path, He Jianfei felt extremely uncomfortable in his chest. Suppressing his nausea, he hurriedly plucked a blade of grass and fled. Reaching his dormitory, he took off his Buddhist prayer beads, wrapped them around the grass, and then lit it with a lighter. Instantly, a strange phenomenon occurred: the prayer beads first slowly expanded outwards, then the beads collided violently with each other, but no crimson malevolent energy appeared in the center. He Jianfei's heart sank. He remembered his master saying that if no malevolent energy could be detected, there were only two possibilities: either the ghost was benevolent and wouldn't harm anyone, or the vengeful spirit was extremely deep and impossible to pray for. Now it seemed to be the latter.

He Jianfei thought to himself: "Heavens! If I had known this university was so terrifying, I wouldn't have applied, no matter how famous it is. Now I wonder who those vengeful ghosts want to kill next; maybe it'll be me." Thinking this, a chill ran down his spine. He quickly ran out and found seven pebbles, burying them in seven different places in his dormitory, forming a Big Dipper-shaped evil-suppressing array. He sat cross-legged at the North Star, the central star of the Big Dipper, and chanted, "May all the filth in the world stay away from me, Mara Prajna Miha." Dozens of crimson evil energies shot up from the ground and were forced back ten miles away. He Jianfei's face turned deathly pale. He had only meant one or two evil energies, but there were more than a dozen. It seemed that if he hadn't been alerted beforehand, he might have died tonight.

In the afternoon, Tian Yinzhen arrived on time. Seeing that He Jianfei's complexion and tone were different from before, she knew the matter was serious and asked, "Is he very powerful?" He Jianfei shook his head and said, "I'm not very clear about his strength at the moment, but I imagine he's extraordinary." Tian Yinzhen asked, "Which 'moment of death' do you want to see?" (Note: The term "moment of death" originates from Japan. It is said that when a person dies in great pain, a residual consciousness remains in the world, repeatedly experiencing the process of dying. For example, a person who is burned to death can see the horrific scene of their burning death in the 'moment of death'.) He Jianfei pondered for a moment and said, "Let's look at last night's first. I need to confirm if it's Chuanxun." Tian Yinzhen did as she was told, brought out a basin of water, sprinkled on some medicinal powder, placed her hands on both sides of the basin, and began to silently chant incantations.

The water in the basin slowly turned black, then reflected the dark figure that had stood outside the mosquito net the night before. The figure walked step by step towards He Jianfei. Suddenly, the summoning bell rang loudly, and He Jianfei woke up. Just as he was about to speak, the figure suddenly stretched out its hands; in the moonlight, they were clearly bloodied hands, lunging at He Jianfei. When He Jianfei lifted the mosquito net, the figure vanished. The image in the basin shifted towards the door; the figure floated left and right outside, emitting a few sobs. When He Jianfei opened the door, the figure disappeared again. Later, the English book in the room fell to the ground. When He Jianfei turned around to look, the figure immediately stood up behind him! Disheveled hair, bulging eyes, and a face covered in blood, but it was still recognizable as Chuanxun.

Startled, Tian Yinzhen's inner energy dissipated, and the image in the water vanished instantly. She couldn't help but complain, "What message? I think he clearly wants to harm you." He Jianfei said, "Why would he harm me? It wasn't me who asked him to go back for the book, and besides, we were so close in life..." Tian Yinzhen said, "He's a ghost now, why would he still consider you his friend?" He Jianfei said, "You said he's a ghost, do ghosts lose their memories of their past lives?" He paused, suddenly remembering his senior brother. If his girlfriend hadn't been reincarnated or reborn, he must still be deeply attached to her. Why was his senior brother not only afraid to approach that path, but also terrified of it? Could it be...?

Tian Yinzhen interrupted his thoughts, saying, "There are too many suspicious points about this alley; it's difficult for us to make a move." "Oh?" He Jianfei became very interested and smiled, "Tell me, what are the suspicious points?" "First, is this terrifying alley really just because a girl who was misdiagnosed with cancer committed suicide? I find it hard to imagine how an ordinary vengeful ghost could cause such a huge uproar. Second, since no one dared to go to that alley after her suicide, why did some boys later go looking for something, and why did they have to go looking for it in the middle of the night? As for the girl who was raped and murdered, that's even more bizarre. I want to know why that scoundrel was able to escape unscathed, and why there was no ghost that night?" He Jianfei nodded and said, "Rumors are never very trustworthy, only..." "It's just for reference. I think although there are too many contradictions in the facts, the timeline should be roughly correct." Tian Yinzhen understood and said, "You want to start the investigation from what happened fifty years ago to find out the real cause of the alleyway?" He Jianfei said, "That's right, I just want to wait for Qi to go to the library archives to check." Tian Yinzhen questioned, "But I think after so many years, those materials have probably been lost to history, and the school has been strictly sealing them off..." He Jianfei interrupted her, "You're always so meticulous, how could you forget this? People die on campus every year, isn't that a big deal? Since it's a big deal, even if the school tries to seal it off, someone will always leave information in the hopes of eliminating it one day. I don't believe that in over eighty years since the school was founded, not a single righteous person has emerged."

Chapter Three

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Old Zhang, who managed the archives, was very puzzled by He Jianfei and Tian Yinzhen's visit. Few students would be interested in these yellowed records, especially since these two were looking at files from fifty years ago. What happened fifty years ago?

He Jianfei quickly flipped through a thick, yellowed thread-bound book, then suddenly exclaimed "Huh?" Tian Yinzhen immediately leaned over and asked, "What did you find?" He Jianfei showed it to her, and Tian Yinzhen realized that the record of a certain campus activity had abruptly stopped, replaced by an unsigned, strange four-character poem:

Cherry blossoms in full bloom

Roadside grass barrier

Pagoda top

It's inevitable that I have a good intention

Devotion to Christ

Have pity on my life

Luoshen West Lake

King Xiang's deep affection

Tian Yinzhen asked, puzzled, "What does this mean?" He Jianfei smiled wryly, "I don't know, it's probably a riddle. But the placement of this poem is strange, it seems to have been inserted later, trying hard to attract people's attention?" Tian Yinzhen exclaimed, "Ah!" and asked, "Could it be related to that path?" He Jianfei replied, "It's not clear yet. Even if it is, what does this poem mean?"

Tian Yinzhen was engrossed in reading about a cultural event from forty years ago when she suddenly shuddered. Next to the program, someone had scrawled a few words: "On the third day, the Lord died. Because of the unknown, we prepared gifts to lay the foundation stone. Upon seeing the words, we knew the truth and dispersed. On the seventh day, Ting died, as expected."

Judging from this sentence, it seems that after a boy died under mysterious circumstances, his classmates went to sweep his grave, saw some words, learned something, and then stopped going to sweep the grave. Seven days later, another girl named Ting died, but for some reason, it was described as "expected"?

Meanwhile, He Jianfei was also finding a record in a student union's notes: "Knowing what will happen today, why did we do it in the first place? Regret is too late, it's irreversible. Hoping for a peaceful and prosperous year thirty years from now." It stood out starkly, without any beginning or end. While those seemingly nonsensical statements had no real basis and no connection to Xiao Lu, the record He Jianfei found was undeniably relevant.

That was mentioned by the student council president in a party member's diary in 1954: "The renaming of Yougangding was a last resort, and its effect may not be as expected. We must be careful and protect the stone and the seat. The reason can be found in the third record of 1949, the twentieth record of 1951, and the fifth record of 1953 as a note. I hope that the next president will take this as the top priority and never forget it! Recorded after the second discussion meeting of the student council in March 1954."

The information mentioned in the diary refers to the three strange phrases they found. This means that deciphering the poem and the reason behind Jun Zuting's death would reveal the cause of the small path. However, many doubts remain. Those materials were likely deliberately created by righteous student leaders at the time to evade school scrutiny, serving as a warning to future generations.

The wording is too vague and provides very little information, making it difficult to unravel the mystery. Also, it's unclear what the student council president meant by "protecting the stone and seat." It seems to be some kind of treasure that can control the path, but where on campus is this "stone" and "seat" hidden? And why is it that "auspicious weather and clear air" will only arrive after thirty years, and not forty or fifty?