Chapter 31: The Kiss

The night sky was pitch black, vast and boundless. Before them, the dark crimson lotus bloomed with a heavy, oppressive intensity, like tongues of dark red fire rising from hell, swallowing the filth and decay hidden beneath the veil of night.

It possessed a sense of beauty that was cruel and bloody to the extreme.

Aside from the assistant director, who was paralyzed by terror and wailing incessantly on the ground, everyone present at the school was deathly silent.

Tan Xueci’s throat tightened. His pale little face turned solemn as he watched the blood-red lotus erupt and then wither in silence for a long time.

Perhaps only the evil spirit remained calm and composed at this moment, even leaning down to bite and suckle on the thin, white whorl of Tan Xueci’s ear.

The evil spirit possessed a very handsome exterior with thick, long eyelashes. It lowered its gaze, its teeth pressing against Tan Xueci’s overly delicate skin. A blood-red hue overflowed from its eyes, and a thick, sky-obscuring black mist began to spread from behind it, nearly dragging Tan Xueci into another ghostly realm where wandering souls roamed.

Hearing the assistant director’s heart-wrenching screams, Tan Xueci realized that wasn’t a “lotus” at all. But He Xunye had told him to stay back earlier, and from his current position, he couldn’t see clearly what had happened.

He turned his head in a daze. As the evil spirit gradually materialized, he thought he saw dark flames burning in He Xunye’s eyes—flames that seemed capable of reducing everything in this world to ash.

He Biansheng’s blood sprayed for a long time, in a manner that was utterly unnatural. It was as if, in death, he had become selfless, wanting to offer up every drop of blood in his body to this blooming lotus.

The assistant director, being the closest, was covered in blood. He had been stunned into silence at first, and only after screaming for a while did he tremulously raise his hands, which were dripping with dark blood. He discovered something the size of rice grains wriggling within the blood.

He looked down closely; they were dense clusters of maggots. He let out another shriek and began vomiting violently on the spot, nearly throwing up his intestines before his eyes rolled back and he fainted dead away.

The nearby crew members were also pale-faced, screaming and running in chaos. It seemed as though there was nothing left inside He Biansheng’s body but blood and maggots. By the time the spraying stopped, his body had completely shriveled into a mere layer of skin.

A few people who still possessed a shred of sanity finally regained their wits and, with trembling hands, called the police.

The police arrived at the set once more. This time, they weren’t alone; they were accompanied by the principal of Jiahe Private Middle School and He Wuling.

He Wuling brought two young men with him—likely his disciples. He continued to stroke the dark green jade thumb ring of the family head, lifting his eyelids to cast a glance at Tan Xueci.

Tan Xueci timidly bit his lip. He looked at He Wuling, then turned to look at He Xunye.

He Wuling’s face was dark enough to drip water, but He Xunye showed no reaction whatsoever to his father’s arrival.

The evil spirit’s dark, heavy phoenix eyes looked down, the corners of its mouth curving up. It had been staring at Tan Xueci since just now, looking like it had performed a “good deed” and was waiting for its wife’s praise.

“…” Tan Xueci truly couldn’t bring himself to offer praise. He admitted he had been shocked when he first saw the “lotus”—everyone present must have been shaken by that cruel beauty brought forth by the tearing of life.

But once he saw He Biansheng’s shattered skull, the internal organs sprayed everywhere, the dark filth on the ground, and the wriggling white maggots, he only felt the urge to vomit.

A ghost wouldn’t understand.

That’s why humans are humans and ghosts are ghosts. Being loved by an evil spirit isn’t necessarily a good thing; a person can never predict its every move, nor can they necessarily endure them.

The forensic examiner’s face turned green. He had been a medical examiner in the capital for over a decade and had never seen so many maggots in his life. Moreover, these maggots seemed to be growing, constantly absorbing blood and corpse fluid, turning from the size of rice grains into thick, bloated maggots in a matter of moments.

The sound of retching could be heard all over the school.

The faces of the actors were a sickly grey-green. After huddling together in silence for a long time, Jin Chen finally took a cigarette out of his mouth and spoke gloomily, “I never expected this film crew to be so… appetite-suppressing.”

He had finished dinner less than half an hour ago and had vomited it all up. For the first time, he had witnessed something scarier than “gay men.”

Lu Qi’s expression wasn’t great either. He had initially thought that since he was managing one, he might as well manage two, and since Jin Chen was brave, he had brought him over to save himself from running between two locations.

Who knew another person would die in the crew so soon?

And it was the director.

Meng Zhi’s lips were pale. She hugged her arms, her voice trembling as she asked, “Can we still continue filming this movie?”

The actors and staff members nearby remained silent; no one could answer her question.

A stagehand hauled several buckets of water to splash over the assistant director, washing away most of the filth and maggots. The assistant director shivered, regaining some clarity.

Seeing that everyone in the crew looked terrified and pale as ghosts, the police knew they wouldn’t get much from questioning them now. They told the assistant director and the others who had been sprayed with the filth to go to the school bathhouse to wash up first.

Simultaneously, they dispatched several officers to follow them, lest the killer take the opportunity to escape.

The school hadn’t completely abandoned this old campus. The principal intended to find a master to perform a ritual before expanding student enrollment. Moreover, the school’s relocation had been hurried, and many things hadn’t been moved yet.

A few security guards guarded the school long-term, occasionally coming over.

After the police finished their preliminary investigation of the scene and made their records…

It was unclear if there was some private cooperation or connection.

…only skin remained, with only the stomach slightly bulging, containing undigested food. He Wuling placed a talisman on the stomach; it suddenly snapped open, and thick black water began to ooze from the mouth.

He Wuling glanced at the rest of the crew, frowning as he asked them, “Did He Biansheng eat anything strange recently?”

The assistant director, still out of his wits, was the first to finish his shower. He had already come out and said tremulously, “No.”

He spent almost every day with the director, even going out for big meals at night; they ate basically the same things.

He Wuling’s face darkened.

“Wait, wait… there was something!” The assistant director jerked, suddenly remembering something, his voice shaking even more violently. “Director He had been drinking traditional Chinese medicine. Especially lately since he was sick, I saw his thermos was filled to the brim with it every day. It was pitch black.”

After he finished, He Wuling’s expression became even more solemn. The assistant director’s knees went weak, and he asked, “Is something wrong with that medicine?”

“Was he the only one who took it?” He Wuling scanned everyone in the crew and asked, “Who else in your crew has taken it?”

As soon as he spoke, the expressions of several actors and staff members turned sour.

Finally, Meng Zhi suddenly covered her mouth, tears welling in her eyes as she spoke in a trembling voice, “Just… just when we started filming, Director He treated us to a meal. At that time, Zhai Fang asked what medicine the director was drinking, so Director He poured a little for each of us, saying it was for health and wanted us to try it.”

Except for Tan Xueci, who had been sick since the start of filming, everyone else in the crew—including Wen Yaochuan, Meng Zhi, the second male lead Zhai Fang, the assistant director, the screenwriter, and several department heads for lighting, makeup, etc.—totaling over a dozen people, had all tried it.

At the time, Meng Zhi had found the smell sour, foul, and a bit fishy, so she hadn’t really wanted to drink it. But Chinese medicine always has a strange smell, and since no one else refused the director’s kindness, as a newcomer, she didn’t dare to either, so she held her nose and took a few sips.

After drinking it, she found it was particularly greasy and smooth, as if she had eaten a piece of something like a mushroom.

But the texture was softer than a mushroom. She felt a wave of nausea after eating it and hadn’t slept well that night.

He Wuling said nothing, closing his eyes in thought for a moment with the air of a grandmaster before turning to find the principal.

Meng Zhi’s legs suddenly gave out and she crouched on the ground. Thinking back to when Zhai Fang was found to be infected with prions, she suddenly said in a trembling voice, “What we ate… could it have been human flesh?”

She had heard of people eating human flesh to seek immortality. Although it was absurd, could it be more absurd than a lotus blooming from He Biansheng’s neck?

Zhai Fang’s face had even been sliced into strips; perhaps those who were eaten had turned into vengeful spirits and returned for revenge.

Everyone else turned deathly pale. The assistant director looked like he was about to burst into tears; he had just been sprayed with maggots, and now no one wanted to get near him, everyone standing silently on the opposite side.

It was already mid-October, and the capital was starting to get cold. The night wind blowing across the playground made him both terrified and aggrieved, standing alone far from the others like an outsider.

“Teacher Wen,” the assistant director touched his remaining hair and almost knelt to kowtow to Wen Yaochuan, pleading, “Whether it’s human flesh or whatever, there’s definitely something ghostly haunting the crew. Can Teacher Wen please exorcise them?”

He didn’t know any masters. In his panic, he was like a headless fly; Wen Yaochuan was the only one in the crew who understood these things.

“I can’t see those things,” Wen Yaochuan said with a bitter smile. “I’d at least have to see them to exorcise them, wouldn’t I?”

Speaking of this, the assistant director suddenly remembered that He Biansheng had often been muttering neurotically these past few days, saying Tan Xueci was haunted by a ghost, that Tan Xueci could see ghosts, and that he must have brought the ghost to the set.

The assistant director had laughed it off at the time and agreed with a few words, but he didn’t actually think Tan Xueci would bring a ghost over for no reason.

How much hatred would that take?

But the idea that Tan Xueci could see ghosts might actually be true. Not just He Biansheng, but even Wen Yaochuan paid a lot of attention to Tan Xueci. The assistant director’s materialist worldview had already crumbled to pieces; hope suddenly flared in his heart, and with teary eyes, he tried to grab Tan Xueci’s hand.

However, Tan Xueci felt as if he were pulled by something, suddenly stumbling back a step, not letting him grab hold.

Tan Xueci glanced at the assistant director’s hand, which had just been crawling with maggots, then turned to see He Xunye’s cold, disgusted expression.

Tan Xueci: “…”

So you know what’s disgusting, too.

He had thought He Xunye had a high tolerance for those maggots.

The assistant director, suffering rejection, wiped away his bitter tears and said to Tan Xueci, “Teacher Tan, do you have Yin-Yang eyes? If you can see them, please catch them. If this continues, no one will be able to survive. Why didn’t you say you had this ability earlier? You’re the crew’s only hope. We’re entrusting our lives to you now. Teacher Tan, if you don’t enter hell, who will!”

Tan Xueci: “…”

Tan Xueci’s skin looked especially cool and white in the late night. Adding to that his thin frame and the oversized school uniform draped over him, he had a sort of detached, cold beauty when the night wind blew.

He paused, a slight stirring in his heart. Regardless of whether it was a mental illness or a dream, for the first time in his life, someone didn’t look down on his ability to see those things—they even had such high expectations of him.

Seeing his expression gradually turn serious, hope rose in the assistant director’s heart.

“I won’t enter hell,” Tan Xueci murmured. Then he shook his head and made a small face, saying, “I won’t enter hell.”

Did he take me for a fool?

As soon as Tan Xueci finished speaking, he heard a low laugh from behind him. It sounded like it came from the chest, carrying a vibration that made his ears turn slightly red. He turned his head in shy annoyance and glared at He Xunye.

“Mommy!!!” Seeing him suddenly turn his head as if making eye contact with something, the assistant director felt a sudden chill down his spine. He was so scared he nearly leaped into Lu Qi’s arms nearby.

Lu Qi twisted his body, slipping out from under his arm and narrowly avoiding the embrace, then let out a long sigh of relief.

“What should we do,” Meng Zhi said, trembling as she suppressed the urge to vomit. “We’ve all eaten it. Those ghosts are here for revenge. Will they kill us one by one? Will I be the next?”

Tan Xueci glanced at her. He hadn’t seen any ghosts these past few days, but now it seemed a barrier had been removed. He saw a child clinging to Meng Zhi’s back.

It was a very small child, looking like it hadn’t been born long. Like the previous little ghost, it looked like a red-skinned monkey, but he felt Meng Zhi probably wouldn’t die.

This child looked terrifying, but its expression was peaceful. It was asleep on Meng Zhi’s back, its red, thin fingers clutching her long hair affectionately.

Tan Xueci looked up at the others; they were all fine, with no ghosts visible behind them.

“Alright,” He Wuling called the principal over, saying with a dark face, “It’s time you told us clearly what exactly happened at your school. Seven people died before?”

He didn’t think so; it seemed like at most one or two people had died, and he couldn’t find much resentment in this school. Even if those students had died tragic deaths back then, their souls had likely already departed. It didn’t seem like they could toss the film crew to death like this.

“There weren’t seven,” the principal followed him to stand before the crowd, shivering with a bitter smile. “One was enough to handle. If there were really seven, I wouldn’t be able to keep this school running.”

He was the one who had invited He Wuling, because he felt that things had reached a point where the police probably couldn’t solve it.

Back then, one died, one went mad, and three others were injured. Furthermore, it wasn’t in recent years; that female student died five years ago. Because there was a hotpot restaurant explosion near their school where seven people died, some people who wanted to stir up trouble deliberately associated the school with the supernatural, and eventually, the rumor spread that seven had died.

The principal took a deep breath, rubbing the cold sweat from his palms as he began to recount the events from five years ago.

“Our school is quite far from the city center, so many students are boarders,” the principal said tremulously. “At that time, there was a girl in tenth grade who didn’t return to the dormitory one night. The teacher didn’t see her during the bed check and went out to look for her. They even asked her classmates, but no one had seen where she finally went. Checking the surveillance, they only saw her go to the restroom, and then she never came out again.

“Three days later, a student went to the playground to run before dawn and saw a left leg in the grass…”

The night wind blew chilly. As the principal spoke, everyone shivered. Tan Xueci also gave a small shake before being pulled into a cold embrace. The man rested his chin on his shoulder, rubbing against him intimately. “Don’t be afraid, Xiao Xue. Hubby is here.”

The evil spirit’s cold hands embraced him. Tan Xueci felt even colder, not knowing if he should be afraid or feel at ease.

“That boy who was running was also in tenth grade; he was terrified,” the principal wiped his cold sweat and continued. “He was taken home by his parents that day and took a long sick leave. When he returned to school later, he was out of his wits and eventually dropped out; he had some mental issues.

“As for the other parts of that girl’s body, the outside world said they were never found, but they were actually found initially. Seven days after she went missing, her body was found in the very restroom where she vanished. She was sitting on the toilet in the last stall.”

As the principal spoke, his lips trembled. There was also a deep knife wound at the base of the girl’s right leg, but it hadn’t been completely severed. At the time, the police analysis said the killer likely wanted to completely dismember her but for some reason gave up before finishing the job.

“After finding the body, we called the police,” the principal’s eyes were sorrowful. “But she was such a good student; we didn’t want to believe she was dead. One teacher reached out and gave her a shake…”

It was summer at the time, and the girl’s body had already developed “giantism” (bloating). Her stomach was also quite large. After the teacher shook her, everyone heard a faint pfft sound of escaping gas, and then the body just exploded. White and green matter, along with various black and red internal organs, splattered the entire restroom stall.

Because the bloating wasn’t yet severe, the body wasn’t completely destroyed, but the internal organs and uterus were squeezed out. A child slid out from between her legs.

She had been three to four months pregnant.

The intense stench of the corpse after the explosion was truly nauseating. The teachers had to retreat from the restroom and wait for the police.

However, by the time they brought the police back to the restroom, the body and the child were gone. Only maggots and corpse fluid remained on the floor.

The school sealed that restroom and suppressed the matter, leaving it to the police to investigate, but strange things began to happen.

“After she died, the school became haunted,” the principal said with a bitter smile. “First, an old school bus from decades ago would appear at the school gates at night, bringing back students who had already gone home. Later, several students heard someone teaching in the classrooms at night.

“Some others were in self-study at night and saw a leg suddenly appear under their desk. The boarders also heard footsteps in the corridor at midnight. A few brave ones ran out together to look, saying they saw a one-legged girl hopping along…”

As the principal spoke, he couldn’t help but move a bit closer to He Wuling, seeking a sense of security. Recalling it even now was a nightmare.

He covered his face and rubbed it vigorously. “One student went to the restroom at night and was so tired he didn’t close the stall door. Then he saw a bloody leg passing by through the crack. He was so scared he fell and fractured his pelvis. Two other students also encountered ghosts and were so scared they fell down stairs or from windowsills, ending up hospitalized.”

Students kept having accidents. At that time, he found several masters to perform rituals to appease the souls, but it was no use.

The haunting continued.

That’s why he was in a hurry to build the new campus—he wanted to take the students away. But the new campus couldn’t be finished quickly. After six months of haunting, things suddenly quieted down. He took a chance and didn’t move—until the first half of this year.

Suddenly, another student said they saw a leg. Coincidentally, the new campus was finished, so he hurriedly moved the students out.

The assistant director’s face turned various shades. Finally, having endured until the end of the story, he reached out and grabbed the principal by the collar, saying angrily: “You knew it was haunted, yet you still let us film here?!”

“What does it have to do with me?” the principal said, his life full of bitterness. “It’s what your director wanted! Your director, and that investor named Xu Zongdu, said this school was perfect and were willing to pay ten times the price to rent it for filming. The school’s funds were tight; building the new campus cost hundreds of millions. I thought your filming was simple, just two or three months, and nothing would happen.”

He was also greedy, thinking he could pocket some of the money, so he hadn’t resisted the temptation.

Until people started dying in this film crew. Xu Zongdu and He Biansheng, who had initially wanted to rent his venue, were both dead. Fearing it would be his turn next, he finally couldn’t sit still and asked someone to invite He Wuling.

“Master,” the principal had lost his former air, looking like just a humble old man with graying hair. He followed behind He Wuling and asked, “Master, how do you think we should resolve the situation at this school?”

But He Wuling wasn’t listening to him at all. He had his hands behind his back, looking toward Tan Xueci’s side with a very dark expression.

The principal had shown photos of the murdered girl to everyone in the crew and the police. Tan Xueci’s beautiful little face was scrunched up, staring at the photo with a frown.

He had seen the girl in the photo before; she was the one he had encountered at school who said he was in her seat.

She must have had very good grades; although he couldn’t understand it, he felt the notes were very neat, and a small flower was drawn on the corner of the page.

As soon as He Wuling turned his head, he saw Tan Xueci looking at the photo. The evil spirit draped behind Tan Xueci suddenly cupped his cheek and planted a kiss on it.

He Wuling’s face instantly darkened. Tan Xueci was also startled, his eyes widening as he turned to look at He Xunye, his ears slowly turning red.

Only he could see He Xunye and know what he had done. But there were many people nearby, and Meng Zhi had also leaned over to look at the photo with him. He felt like he had been kissed in public.

“What are you doing?” Tan Xueci was so startled he forgot to call him “Hubby.” The youth’s features were clear and sharp as he pursed his lips and met the evil spirit’s gaze, looking as though his “little lamb” skin had been startled off for a second.

“Baby,” the evil spirit looked at him and curled its lips. Its voice was a ghostly, low, cold mumble as its lips brushed against his ear. “Cute.”

He looked even sillier when he was being serious.

Tan Xueci was flushed and a bit embarrassed, but in the end, he said nothing and turned his head away.

He Wuling: “…”

Good heavens.

He had said they shouldn’t find a fool—there was actually such a person in this world who acted like a married couple with an evil spirit.

Furthermore, he didn’t naturally have Yin-Yang eyes. He needed to use talismans to see ghosts. With some high-level evil spirits, even talismans wouldn’t guarantee visibility.

He hadn’t been able to see He Xunye before, but now he could. This evil spirit was committing evil right in front of his face and deliberately letting him see.

“Master…” Seeing He Wuling hadn’t spoken for a long time and had a particularly gloomy and murderous look in his eyes, the principal also turned pale. He nearly burst into tears, his lips trembling as he asked, “Is our school… beyond saving?”

Only then did He Wuling look away, but he didn’t have much to say to him. “I can’t interfere. It will end when it’s supposed to end.”

And it was almost over.

If it were possible to interfere, with this unfilial son here, there would be no need for him to come.

High-level masters’ words were always impossible to understand. The principal’s heart was full of bitterness and confusion, not knowing what to do. Seeing He Wuling turning to leave, he could only see him out first.

The crew members went to give their statements again. They were already familiar with the officers. A young officer joked with them, saying, “I hope I don’t see you guys again next time.”

The assistant director was miserable. Did the officer think he didn’t see him covering his nose when they met?

It was already past 10:30 PM. The moonlight was particularly bright tonight. Tan Xueci was walking at the very back, but he had two shadows on the playground. Another shadow draped over him and pulled him into an embrace.

A cold fingertip poked his face. “What’s wrong, Baby? Don’t you like it? Didn’t you hate him?”

Tan Xueci did indeed hate He Biansheng.

To tell the truth, he hated many people. When one is in despair, they might hope those who bullied them would die. But when these people actually die one by one, most people don’t feel satisfaction, but fear.

It was as if some sinister, ghostly power was controlling things from the shadows. Humans always fear the night, and they also fear evil spirits.

“Hubby,” Tan Xueci turned his head, meeting the evil spirit’s pale, handsome face. He Xunye’s eyes were dark, and a smile played on its lips, seemingly thinking its wife had turned her head to give it a reward. Tan Xueci covered his chest, his heart beating fast for some reason, as he whispered, “I feel like the people around me are dying one by one.”

“Isn’t that good?” He Xunye cupped his face and suddenly lowered its head to kiss his lips. It was a fleeting kiss, carrying a moist, cold, ghostly air. The evil spirit’s dense, obscure phoenix eyes looked very gentle at first glance. “Then the only person around you will be me.”

Tan Xueci’s breath hitched. He hadn’t expected He Xunye to kiss him suddenly. He let out a muffled, confused hum. His soft, rosy lips were pressed in by the evil spirit’s icy lips.

“I feel like I’ve been very happy lately,” the evil spirit said in a low murmur, its emotions beneath its dark eyes indistinguishable. “You only have me, and I only have you. You are my most important wife, and I also hope I can become the most important… no…”

the evil spirit’s crimson lips curled. “The only person by your side.”