Chapter 20: A Late Return and a Haunting Revelation

It was already late into the night when Bai Yuliang finally returned home.

Though he wished not to disturb his parents, he had forgotten his keys and was left with no choice but to ring the doorbell.

“Ah~ (yawns) Who is it… Eh? Why, it’s you who’s back?”

His father, rubbing his sleep-addled eyes, looked at Bai Yuliang standing outside the door with a hint of surprise.

“Didn’t your homeroom teacher say you were going to his house for tutoring? Why are you suddenly back? You little rascal, you didn’t run away, did you?” His father grumbled in a thick accent, clearly displeased. “It’d be one thing if you ran away, but at least come back during the day… I just fell asleep and you woke me up!”

“Oh, I didn’t run away,” Bai Yuliang replied, mimicking his father’s unfamiliar accent as he stepped inside. “The teacher said my classmate and I completed the assignment very well, so he let us come back early.”

“Then you could have stayed a couple more days! You’re almost taking your university entrance exams, and you don’t even know how to cherish opportunities to interact more with your teacher! If I had your conditions back then, why would I have ended up here as a cook? I would have been accepted into Tsinghua or Peking University long ago!”

Despite his grumbling, his father still let Bai Yuliang in. Upon seeing his dirty jacket, he instructed, “Throw that in the wash quickly,” before tiptoeing upstairs, seemingly afraid of waking someone.

Bai Yuliang was amused by his father’s behavior. In truth, his Japanese mother possessed a gentle nature and wouldn’t get angry even if woken. Yet, his father seemed inherently soft-hearted towards women, always acting a bit doting and clumsy around his own wife.

After a refreshing shower and a change of clothes, he lay back on his bed, feeling an almost weightless sensation in his body.

He squinted his eyes, lost in thought for a while, seemingly forgetting the pressure of that dreadful death assignment. He felt himself returning to the identity of an ordinary student.

A light, buoyant feeling began to bubble within him, a vibrant surge of life.

In this comfortable mood, Bai Yuliang naturally desired to do something even more pleasurable. He reached for the tissue box on his nightstand, opened a certain app on his phone, and prepared to engage in a routine, relaxing activity.

But the very next moment.

[You have received a new message from Qichuan Feng]

At once, that sweet sensation seemed to swirl in his mouth again.

He hesitated, sighed, and then, with a helpless pat to his little guy, he consoled it, “Don’t rush, okay? Hold on for a bit, conserve your energy. There will be a time when I’ll need you.”

Unlocking his phone, he immediately tapped on his messaging app, not even pausing to check the class group messages before opening Qichuan Feng’s chat.

– Qichuan Feng: Yuliang-kun, are you home yet?

‘Could this little girl be infatuated with me, the Daoist Master?’ Bai Yuliang mused for a moment, shaking his head. ‘While Japanese girls are indeed open, I truly didn’t see much affection in her eyes not long ago.’

After a moment’s thought, he sent his reply.

– Bai Yuliang: Just got home. What about you, Qichuan-san?

– Qichuan Feng: I just finished showering.

‘Just finished showering?’

Bai Yuliang swallowed, involuntarily imagining the scene of that sweet, youthful-looking loli, with her surprisingly well-developed figure, bathing in the misty water.

‘Is this… something one tells a man?’

‘Japanese girls truly are open-minded!’

– Bai Yuliang: Me too.

After sending that, Bai Yuliang waited and waited, but there was no response from the other side for a long time.

‘Eh? Did I kill the conversation?’

‘Should I have been more explicit?’

Just as he was pondering this, a new message arrived.

– Qichuan Feng: Yuliang-kun, ever since we left, many classmates have been asking me about what happened during the assignment. What do you think… how should I tell them? Should I tell them you’re a Daoist priest? (Troubled)

He pondered for a moment.

– Bai Yuliang: Regarding my ability in Daoist arts, it’s best not to tell them for now. Not only is it difficult to explain, but even if I possess some Daoist arts, my strength is probably insufficient to protect everyone. Moreover, I’ve already promised to protect you, so I must first be responsible for you.

After he sent that message, he waited for a long time again without a reply.

Bai Yuliang wondered if the little loli’s phone was lagging, causing the delay. But an iPhone 14 Pro… could it really lag?

– Qichuan Feng: Okay, thank you. But truly, too many people are asking. If I don’t say anything at all, I’m afraid it won’t be appropriate.

– Bai Yuliang: Let me handle it. I’ll proactively tell them the details in the group later. You can just tell them that.

– Qichuan Feng: Mm, thank you.

– Bai Yuliang: You’re too polite, Qichuan-san.

– Qichuan Feng: Um…

This time, the other party’s phone seemed to be lagging again, stuck on the “typing…” interface for several minutes.

Just as Bai Yuliang was about to type a “?”…

– Qichuan Feng: You can call me Feng from now on.

After sending that message, her avatar immediately turned gray, and she went offline.

‘Is this also part of the deal?’ Bai Yuliang forced a wry smile, then opened the class group chat.

The class group had exploded after learning the results of the assignment. Hundreds of messages poured in, with over 99+ mentions of “Qichuan Feng” or “Bai Yuliang” asking for explanations of the assignment process.

– “This assignment was truly tragic; three people actually died!”

– “Isn’t Iwata Noriko Qichuan Feng’s best friend? If they worked together, no one should have died!”

– “Hey, listen. During the assignment, I tried to observe from a distance with binoculars, but when I focused on that area, it was completely pitch black. I couldn’t see anything.”

– “The process of this assignment must have been terrifying, but… I still want to hear about it first.”

– “Does anyone know what actually happened?”

– “Only Bai Yuliang and Qichuan Feng know, right? Let them tell us.”

– “They just went through something so horrible. Give them some time to recover.”

– “If they wait too long, they’ll forget. It’s better to talk about it sooner.”

– “Hey, that’s too cold-blooded. How can you say something like that?”

– “I’m doing this for everyone!”

“Alright! Stop arguing!” Bai Yuliang sent a message proactively. “I will tell everyone the full details of this assignment. Please don’t ask Qichuan-san; she’s very sad right now because of her friend’s death.”

– “Yuliang-kun is finally willing to speak!”

– “We’ve been waiting for you!”

– “No problem, we don’t want to disturb her. As long as we can understand the situation, that’s fine.”

– “Stop teasing us, tell us quickly!”

Seeing these replies, Bai Yuliang organized his thoughts slightly, then tapped the voice recording button. He vividly recounted everything he had seen and heard in the dormitory building.

When he revealed that the dormitory building’s owner was a ghost, everyone expressed disbelief. However, remembering how deceased classmates had once been active in the group, they couldn’t help but feel a chilling sense of dread.

Regarding his Daoist arts, Bai Yuliang chose to omit that detail. He simply stated that ghosts were not invincible; by finding their weakness, one could defeat them. He and Qichuan Feng had found the ghost’s weakness, which was why they were able to emerge alive.

Finally, he concluded with a summary.

“Everyone, the power we face now is beyond ordinary imagination. We must make full use of every opportunity; only then do we have a hope of survival.”

– Qichuan Feng: What do you plan to do?

“I plan to set off tomorrow…”

Bai Yuliang mustered all his courage to send that single line.

“To visit Teacher Matsui.”

The moment he sent this message, a short notification popped up at the top of his phone screen, containing only a smiling emoji. But this smile came from Teacher Matsui…