Chapter 1: The Campus Belle Actively Seeks Me Out

It was the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, the Ghost Festival, and I was walking to school.
The air still carried the scent of incense, a smell that had lingered since every household began burning incense and paper offerings the previous night.

I looked up and around; every door was adorned with couplets and door gods, with brass basins for burning joss paper and bowls of rice with chopsticks stuck in them placed outside.
Some of the rice even had dark red chicken blood poured over it – these were the blood offerings people prepared for their ancestors on the eve of the Ghost Festival.

Still, this was far better than the smell of beer at home.
My father hadn’t woken up from his hangover, but it was better that he stayed asleep.
Otherwise, he’d either constantly complain or simply resort to hitting and yelling.
I preferred going to school early rather than staying in that house.

There wasn’t really much to be nostalgic about regarding my family.
My parents fought and smashed things all day, and we were already poor enough as it was.
My grandmother, the only one who loved me, had recently passed away from illness, leaving me only a jade pendant.

“Xiaoxiao, this jade pendant was passed down from my ancestors.Many years ago, a master from Wulun Temple consecrated it, and it protected me my entire life.Your father doesn’t recognize its value; he only wants to pawn it for money.I insisted on not giving it to him, and now I’m leaving it to you.You must always keep it with you; it will protect you from misfortune.”

My grandmother’s dying words seemed to echo in my ears.
I picked up the jade pendant and looked at it.
It just looked like ordinary jasper, perhaps worth a bit of money, but I didn’t believe it could ward off misfortune.
If it truly worked, would our family still be so impoverished?

But this was the only thing my deceased grandmother had left me, so I kept it close, simply as a memento of her.

“Xiao-gege, what are you looking at?” A vibrant voice suddenly rang out beside my ear, startling me.
I turned to see a petite, adorable girl with shoulder-length hair standing beside me, I didn’t know when she’d appeared.

“Hey! Xiao Qing, don’t scare me like that.” I complained to the familiar girl.

She was my childhood friend, Ou Zhiqin.
Her family lived directly across from mine.
When we were little, I used to enjoy teasing her a lot.
Ou Zhiqin’s parents didn’t like me and told her not to play with me.

But for some reason, Ou Zhiqin always maintained a good relationship with me.
When it came to high school, even though she was accepted into a key high school, she chose to attend the same high school as me, Jianlong Middle School – the closest one to our homes – citing the reason that she didn’t want to travel too far.

“Hmm? A jade pendant? It doesn’t seem simple; let me see.” Xiao Qing reached out to grab the jade pendant in my hand.

“Don’t touch it.
This is something important my grandmother left me.
It wouldn’t be good if it broke.” I clutched the jade pendant in my hand.
My grandmother was the one thing I could never treat carelessly.

“This was left by your old grandmother?
I just wanted to look; it seems to be a luminous amulet.
It wouldn’t break that easily.” Ou Zhiqin asked with interest.
She had known my grandmother since childhood and also had a very good relationship with her.

“What do you mean ‘luminous’?
Is this another one of those things you always talk about, the ‘Paranormal Story Enthusiasts Club’?
I told you I don’t believe in that kind of stuff.” I asked with a wry smile.

Ever since high school, Ou Zhiqin had joined a strange club and developed a fervent passion for collecting all sorts of paranormal stories, often trying to get me to join, but I never had any interest.

“It’s the Paranormal Events Department.Sigh, you wouldn’t understand even if I told you.Forget it, this should be an amulet.Keep it with you; it should protect you and keep you safe.” Ou Zhiqin said.

“I’d keep it even if you didn’t say so.” I hung the jade pendant around my neck, tucking it inside my school uniform shirt.I didn’t believe in the supernatural phenomena Xiao Qing often talked about, but I would definitely always carry the jade pendant my grandmother left me.

As we spoke, we had already arrived at the school gate, an old-looking school.
Jianlong Middle School had a long history, and its teaching buildings appeared somewhat aged.

It was said that a long time ago, this place was actually a mass grave called Jianlong Mound.
Later, when the city expanded to this area, the mass grave was leveled, and a school was built.

However, legends say that accidents frequently occurred during the initial construction, and some workers were even rumored to have died.
Later, it’s unclear what methods were used, but the school was successfully built.

But since its opening, there had always been some unpleasant rumors, such as students committing suicide or dormitories feeling eerily cold.
Its reputation was consistently poor, failing to become a model high school.
Now, besides residents living nearby, only underachievers would attend Jianlong Middle School.

“I’ll go to my classroom first.See you after school.” Ou Zhiqin said.
She was a student in Class 2-A, considered a key class, while I was in Class 2-C.
Usually, we only chatted after school.

Walking into the old teaching building, I could distinctly feel the light dim, and the surroundings also became a bit cooler.
This chilly sensation felt unpleasant even in summer.

The design of this teaching building felt problematic from the start.
Sunlight couldn’t reach the interior of the building, and it was damp and dark.
During the day, the school tried to save electricity by not turning on the lights, making the hallways quite dim.

I walked up to the third floor.
By now, students were gradually arriving in their classrooms.
The noisy sounds seemed to dilute the cold atmosphere.
The academic atmosphere here wasn’t very good; its only advantage might be how lively it was.

Entering the classroom, students had already formed several small circles, chatting about the latest games, cards, anime, and other topics of interest.

I walked alone to the second-to-last desk by the window and sat down.
Since my family couldn’t even afford a computer, I was basically out of touch with what they discussed.
I had almost no common topics with any of my classmates and couldn’t fit into any circle; at most, we were nodding acquaintances.

Just as I was enjoying my own peace and quiet, the sounds of my classmates talking suddenly quieted down.
Then, the voices gradually disappeared; it seemed that students in every circle had stopped their discussions.

I looked up in confusion and saw all my classmates staring in surprise at the classroom doorway.
I followed their gaze and saw an exquisitely beautiful girl standing at the classroom entrance.

She had long, black hair draped over her shoulders, almost reaching her hips.
Her skin was as fair as snow, and her legs were slender, forming an alluring “absolute territory” between her school uniform skirt and black stockings.
The girl’s beauty was so striking that even the simple classroom seemed to light up with her arrival.

Xia Yubing, the school’s Campus Belle, a classmate of Ou Zhiqin.
She was an excellent student, graceful in demeanor, and captivatingly beautiful.
It was also rumored that she was a wealthy young lady from a rich family.

The day after Ou Zhiqin was assigned to Class A, she told me that she was classmates with the Campus Belle.
I had heard about Xia Yubing’s beauty and her title as Campus Belle since my first year of high school.
Many students wondered why a young lady like Xia Yubing would come to our run-down high school.

Under the gaze of so many classmates, Xia Yubing walked into our classroom, came straight to me, and gave a charming smile:

“Are you Luo Xiao, Classmate?I have something I’d like to say to you.Could we talk privately after school?”