Chapter 15: A Frantic Confession and a Plan Unveiled

“Uh… ah… waah—”

When Bai Yuliang uttered those words, Qichuan Feng, whose nerves had been stretched taut, shrieked and shrank into the corner. Realizing escape was futile, she could no longer maintain her earlier dignified demeanor, abandoning all pretense as she burst into tears.

“Eh?”

Seeing the little loli’s face drained of color before him, Bai Yuliang froze, a thought flashing through his mind: ‘Had he taken the joke too far?’

“Hey, what are you…”

Before Bai Yuliang could utter another word, the girl began a frantic confession.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, boohoo… Please let me go! I was wrong, I shouldn’t have called you a commoner, and I shouldn’t have been so mean to you every day, boohoohoo…”

“I… I know I’ve been arrogant, but I just wanted to feel powerful by bullying others, boohoo…”

“And… and I wasn’t just targeting you, boohoo… Besides you, I’ve bullied many other classmates, forcing them to drop out or take leave through verbal abuse… I admit I felt a great sense of accomplishment from it before, but now I truly know I was wrong, boohoohoo…”

“I know I can’t compare to my sister, so I could only gain a sense of accomplishment by bullying others, boohoohoo… Don’t kill me, boohoo… I won’t be an elite anymore, I won’t, I won’t, boohoohoo…”

At this, Qichuan Feng even performed a full dogeza, burying her head deeply and trembling uncontrollably.

‘What the hell?’

He had initially thought this little girl was merely arrogant and overbearing in her daily life. He never expected she had committed so many transgressions behind the scenes.

‘Hey, hey, doesn’t she realize how much harm bullying can cause others?’

‘This is like giving an eight-year-old a massive slap across the face.’

“You really can’t keep doing things like gaining a sense of accomplishment by bullying others,” Bai Yuliang said kindly.

“Boohoohoo…” Qichuan Feng just kept crying, her face streaked with tears.

“Sigh…” Bai Yuliang couldn’t bear to see a cute girl crying so profusely. He quickly moved closer to her, explaining, “Please stop crying. I was just giving an example to show that ghosts can disguise themselves as humans. I’m not actually a ghost.”

“Boohoo…”

Hearing this, Qichuan Feng slowly lifted her head, though still looking unconvinced.

“If you don’t believe me, touch my skin. Isn’t it warm? Ghosts have a characteristic: no matter what, their bodies are always ice-cold… Hey, where are you touching?!”

Bai Yuliang suddenly felt a certain area roughly violated by a touch, and his face instantly flushed with embarrassment.

It was at this moment, however, that he first felt the little loli’s hand—so small, so soft, and slightly damp with tears.

“Ah…”

Following Bai Yuliang’s suggestion, Qichuan Feng meticulously examined him for a while. Finally, as if waking from a trance, she abruptly pulled her hand back.

“What?! So you’re real!”

“I never said I wasn’t real!”

“Then why were you spouting nonsense?! Ah, you infuriate me… A commoner is a commoner, so vulgar!”

“Hey, you’re the vulgar one, aren’t you?!”

“Tsk…” Qichuan Feng’s attitude completely reversed from moments ago, becoming furious. “If you hadn’t talked nonsense, would I have lost my composure like that? Hmph, it’s all your fault, you commoner, for making me touch your… ugh… disgusting! You’re truly rotten to the core!”

She had intended to wipe away her tears, but then remembered touching something unclean. With a huff, she stood up, grabbed a bottle of water and a pack of tissues, and headed towards the restroom.

“Where are you going?”

“Hmph… Mind your own business!”

Qichuan Feng slammed the door shut with a huff and locked it.

“Oh… she needed to relieve herself.”

Bai Yuliang shook his head helplessly, and soon heard another comment from inside.

“Commoner, don’t you dare listen at the door!”

“I…”

Bai Yuliang covered his forehead in exasperation. ‘Do I really look like a pervert?’ he wondered.

After a moment’s thought, he decided not to get angry at this young lady for now.

Back when he was a Taoist priest in the Central Plains, he had encountered several young ladies of wealth. While most were well-mannered, a few were incredibly overbearing.

Qichuan Feng was actually quite mild; some daughters of wealthy families played far more elaborate tricks.

“Let’s analyze the current situation,” Bai Yuliang said.

He pulled out a piece of paper with a schematic diagram of the building. Before setting out, he had searched for information about the place online.

Although the building was quite old, it had been heavily advertised during its construction, making the information relatively easy to find.

“The first floor is a high-ceilinged lobby, originally for administrative staff, and storage rooms.”

“The second floor is the spa area, with a pool, sauna, and bathing sections.”

“The third floor is the gym, the fourth is the cafeteria, and the fifth is the public study room.”

“Dormitories are from the sixth floor upwards…”

“Heh, quite expensive to build. Only children of rich families could afford to live in a place like this, huh?” Bai Yuliang made no attempt to hide his envy. “If only I could live so lavishly.”

However, he only let his thoughts wander for a moment before circling room 444 on the diagram.

“Ogiwara Tai and his cronies seem to have met their end here. It appears there’s a ghost in that room.”

He then circled the elevator location.

“There’s also a ghost in the elevator shaft. So far, ghosts have appeared in two places.”

“Generally, the appearance of ghosts is often accompanied by resentment…”

After a moment of thought, he opened his phone and searched for news about the construction of this dormitory building. As expected, he quickly found news of a dormitory childbirth scandal that occurred there, as well as the desperate suicide of a contractor in the elevator shaft after failing to get paid.

The two news events were not far apart in time, and after them, a series of other tragedies followed.

“So that’s it…” Bai Yuliang realized with a start. “Two fatal incidents occurring simultaneously in a short period completely disrupted the feng shui of this place. The ghosts’ resentment couldn’t dissipate, so they turned to retaliating against the living…”

“More and more tragedies accumulated, causing the resentment here to grow stronger and stronger.”

“Ultimately, this place has become a land of great ill omen.”

Having reached this conclusion, a clear plan gradually formed in Bai Yuliang’s mind.

“Many places in this building have ghosts, but there’s a room with a back door key.”

“If I choose to hold my ground, I’ll slowly be tormented by these ghosts. If I choose to search for the key, I’ll likely encounter ghosts chasing me.”

“However… even if these ghosts harbor deep resentment, they haven’t reached a state where they can appear during the day. According to Teacher Matsui’s description in the mission, daytime is safe.”

“So, actually, all I need to do is survive this night, and then I can go to the dorms to find the key during the day!”

Realizing this, he let out a long breath and looked at the travel bag he always carried. The items he brought weren’t just supplies; they also included some life-saving artifacts. He didn’t want to use them unless absolutely necessary.

Aside from the considerable effort it took to collect them, he also didn’t want to attract Teacher Matsui’s attention. Bai Yuliang had a vague premonition: Teacher Matsui… might already be a ghost!

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, Bai Yuliang seemed to realize something was amiss and sharply looked towards the restroom.

“Does relieving oneself… really take this long?”