Although the livestream account had been suspended, Qin Shu had already achieved the effect he wanted.
As a minor internet celebrity, Tang Ran exposing his face in a moment of impulse was attention in itself, and the series of events that followed only added fuel to the fire.
His unbearably crude and vicious attitude, his abnormal terror when faced with an adorable bunny head, and the bizarre accident in which he seemed to die beneath his computer desk as though cursed—all of it would attract even more curiosity, reposts, and voyeuristic interest.
Netizens who cared enough to investigate only had to dig a little deeper before they quickly uncovered the fatal bullying case buried in the past, piecing together the painful truth bit by bit from the scattered complaints students had posted online.
The list of students who had hastily transferred schools back then was also gradually exposed as the discussion gained more and more attention.
“I think I can leave this place now… Why?” Song Qian Li said softly, bewildered and confused.
He was still immersed in the fact that Tang Ran was dead and found it difficult to recover. Compared with his earlier fear that he might have caused trouble, what he could truly feel at this moment was an extraordinarily intense sense of release.
Qin Shu understood him very well. “You must have held a lot of resentment before. That’s only natural. Even if you didn’t notice it yourself, I could see it directly with my eyes.”
It was not merely resentment toward his bullies, but also hatred from being completely abandoned by those closest to him.
Only after talking with Song Qian Li did Qin Shu learn more about the circumstances, and along the way, he also discovered quite a bit of… common knowledge concerning what happened after humans became ghosts.
For example, although Song Qian Li had been trapped inside the boys’ bathroom and his body could not leave, he had once been able to see very, very far away. His consciousness had been like a cloud carried off by the wind, drifting slowly through the long passage of time.
Unless someone skilled in mystical arts deliberately obstructed him and concealed the workings of heaven, the more closely a person or place had been connected to him while he was alive, the more easily he could listen in and watch from afar.
That was precisely why Song Qian Li knew that after his family received a large settlement, they had never troubled the bullies again.
His parents had cared little for him to begin with and immediately hurried to have a second child. Even the elders who had loved him most had long forgotten their pain, enjoying their grandchildren and the happiness of family life at home, as though a person named Song Qian Li had never existed.
Later, for reasons even he could not explain, Song Qian Li gradually became unable to see anything. His field of vision grew smaller and smaller until it was completely restricted to Jiangcheng No. 2 High School.
As it happened, Song Qian Li no longer had any desire to continue watching them either. In the end, his world still collapsed into one tiny bathroom, where he relived the moments before his death again and again.
It would have been strange if he felt no resentment. Qin Shu only had to imagine himself in Song Qian Li’s place to become consumed by hatred, wishing he could punch the entire world apart.
“That’s why I said you’re the person who has treated me best.”
Song Qian Li sighed softly, making no attempt to deny the hatred in his heart. At some point, the drifting ghostly aura in his voice had grown increasingly heavy. “Qin Shu, thank you for giving me the chance to take revenge with my own hands. I really am cowardly. I was born with a personality that could never stand up for itself. No matter how much resentment I carried, I never dared to retaliate with righteous confidence… But Tang Ran is dead. I frightened him to death, and the way he died was so pathetic.”
At the end, he suddenly laughed softly. “The ringleader died so miserably. The others won’t have an easy time either, right?”
“Mm.” Qin Shu nodded seriously. “Tell me who else you want to deal with. We have plenty of time.”
“There’s no need. This is enough. I don’t want to become a madman who has lost all reason, and I don’t want to cause you any more trouble.” Song Qian Li smiled and shook his head. “You’re in the advanced class, so your grades must be very good, right? You skipped class and stayed here to help me take revenge. I’ve delayed you too much. Kill me. Do it now.”
“It’s fine… Hm?”
Qin Shu had originally intended to exchange a few polite words with him, but he abruptly froze upon hearing the end. “Senior Ghost, aren’t you afraid?”
“I’ve already died once. Why would I be afraid? I’m only afraid that hatred will nourish me until I become something unrecognizable, that I’ll enjoy killing people. No, actually, I’ve already begun to enjoy it… Qin Shu, ghosts and humans are different. My reason isn’t that strong, and my desires will become harder and harder to restrain. If this continues, I might hurt you.”
Qin Shu carefully listened to Song Qian Li’s honest confession, his expression gradually turning solemn. “Will other ghosts become like you too? Even if they were kind by nature, will they be unable to stop themselves from enjoying the feeling of killing?”
“They will. You must remember this. There may be exceptions, but before we died, we were all only ordinary people. We never possessed particularly extraordinary self-control or morality to begin with. You must never soften your heart… Qin Shu, goodbye. Stay safe.”
Those were the final words Song Qian Li left Qin Shu before choosing to disappear completely.
His words were sincere and earnest, even carrying a faint, uncontrollable tremor of lingering fear.
The moment his voice fell, he voluntarily charged toward Qin Shu. With the determination to die and at a terrifying speed Qin Shu could not react to at all, he flew straight into Qin Shu’s fist.
At that instant, Qin Shu suddenly realized that he was weak—extremely, terribly weak. He did not even possess the ability to stop someone from taking his own life.
He could barely see what had happened. A cold, tearing agony spread across the surface of his unconsciously clenched fist, and immediately afterward, his entire body was engulfed by an explosive burst of sinister ghostly aura. His breathing stopped for a long moment before finally returning.
By then, Song Qian Li was already gone, disappearing cleanly and quietly. Only the constant drip, drip, drip of water remained in the bathroom, endlessly disturbing the mind.
Two carrion-eating eagle-bodied little ghosts poked their heads in from outside the bathroom. Their deathly pale, round faces were topped by hollow black eye sockets in which ghostly light flickered, revealing a hideous and focused hunger.
Qin Shu rubbed the back of his hand, exhaled, and thoughtfully walked toward them. Once he drew closer, he directly asked, “Is there anything left to eat? Do you want to eat me?”
“Caw!”
“Caw, caw!”
“…You really do want to eat me too.”
Qin Shu shook his head, reached out, and grabbed one of the little ghosts by its slender neck. At the same time, he expressionlessly raised his fist and violently struck the other little ghost out of the air as it tried to flee.
The moment it hit the floor, the little ghost’s head actually burst apart. Its human face abruptly rotted and deteriorated, turning into a puddle of sticky, deathly pale liquid that was clearly something no human should ever touch.
The densely packed black feathers covering its body trembled briefly before smoothly dissolving and softening like cream. Together with the scrawny body, they rapidly melted away, releasing a great amount of nearly putrid stench.
“Caw!!”
The little ghost whose neck Qin Shu was gripping witnessed the entire process. Terrified, it flapped wildly, shrieking and struggling with all its might.
“Shouldn’t I be the one getting scared?” Qin Shu complained with a slight frown. Then he lifted it and gave it a shake. “Can you speak like a human? If not, you can go with your little friend.”
“…Caw.” The little ghost’s face grew even paler, its eyes drifting guiltily.
As expected, it could not.
Qin Shu did not feel the slightest affection for these bizarre creatures that devoured their own kind and possessed very little reason. The longer he looked, the more deeply unsettling he found them.
Although he truly needed to investigate why they had appeared, there were far more than these two eagle-bodied little ghosts hiding inside No. 2 High School. He did not need to rush.
So Qin Shu raised his fist again without hesitation. Experimentally holding back some of his strength this time, he still easily reduced the little ghost to mush with one punch.
His offensive power truly was not weak. Qin Shu considered this in silence.
At present, what he lacked was reaction speed, movement speed, and more reliable methods of protecting himself. If someone silently ambushed him from behind, he might genuinely be unable to defend himself and counterattack in time.
“I should take boxing lessons this weekend. For now, I can only start by working on that…”
Twice the putrid stench spread through the bathroom, and Qin Shu no longer dared to breathe deeply. He hurriedly picked up a mop and repeatedly cleaned the floor, washed his hands, then pasted the talismans Daoist Priest Xu had given him behind the bathroom door—two extra sheets this time.
At this point, the exorcism talismans produced an immediate effect. The sticky, lingering odor of decay soon improved slightly, and the murky air also became somewhat clearer.
Just as he finished cleaning, the bell rang at the perfect moment. A guy desperate to pee instantly rushed out from a nearby classroom and charged toward the urinals without looking back, completely failing to notice anyone else in the bathroom.
After hesitating briefly, Qin Shu took the moisturizing cream Pei Zhao had given him from his pocket, carefully scooped out a small amount, and meticulously applied it to the skin that had touched the little ghosts.
He sniffed it. It smelled pretty good. This should be enough.
With his phone burning hot in his pocket from the barrage of messages, he casually blended into the stream of students after class and quietly returned to the classroom.
Never in his wildest dreams did Qin Shu expect that before his butt had even settled firmly into his chair, his good deskmate would calmly point out a horrifying fact.
“You still stink a little.”
Pei Zhao did not ask where Qin Shu had gone during the previous period, nor did he ask what he had been doing. It was as though he had been born completely indifferent to such abnormal matters, lacking even the most basic curiosity.
Pei Zhao merely shifted his chair a tiny distance away, moving himself closer to the well-ventilated window.
Qin Shu instantly looked deeply wounded. “Wait, Zhaozhao, don’t dislike me. I’m already feeling a little sad. Then tell me what I should do.”
“…Use more of what I gave you. There’s no need to conserve it.” Pei Zhao expressionlessly moved his chair back. His tone was still fairly gentle, though he was clearly approaching the limits of what he could tolerate. “When you run out, ask me for more.”
Qin Shu suddenly understood. He immediately took the silver metal container from his pocket and obediently applied an enormous amount, letting the faint, cool fragrance completely envelop him.
It felt a little strange. The tip of his nose was filled with Pei Zhao’s scent, while before his eyes was Pei Zhao’s beautiful profile, now slightly stern. Even the faintly pursed curve of his lips looked especially attractive.
Qin Shu stared at him again and again. The gloomy feeling lingering in his heart improved a little, and he could not help asking softly, “Zhaozhao, has anyone ever told you that you’re especially good?”
“You have,” Pei Zhao replied briefly.
Qin Shu leaned a little closer, still staring at him without blinking. “Is that so? Then I’ll say it again. You really are especially good. It’s already unfair that you’re so good-looking, but you’re also such a wonderful person.”
“…”
Pei Zhao did not say anything else. Qin Shu’s stare made him somewhat uncomfortable, and he once again wanted to secretly move farther away.
But considering that Qin Shu was in a bad mood, Pei Zhao ultimately remained where he was.
He chose to keep his head turned toward the test paper in his hands, staring at a probability problem he had finished long ago. His gaze remained fixed as though it had completely frozen upon the page.
Anyone familiar with Pei Zhao should have known that this meant he was a little shy.
Qin Shu could not help sighing softly. “Zhaozhao, you’re so cute. Boys can obviously be quiet and cute too. That’s completely normal. Some people really are awful… Hey, why don’t you take boxing lessons with me during winter break? That way, no one will dare bully you again.”
After a moment of silence, Pei Zhao quietly offered a more accurate assessment. “You’re always acting on whatever suddenly comes into your head.”
“…Oh, right. We’re also going to Jiangcheng University’s winter camp during the break.”
Qin Shu recalled the arrangement they had made earlier and hesitated for a long moment. “Then it’s fine if you don’t learn for now. I’ll learn. Whenever someone bullies you, just tell me. I’ll protect—”
Before he could finish speaking, the classroom abruptly fell eerily silent. Qin Shu also keenly felt a chill behind him and instinctively closed his mouth.
“Qin Shu, get over here!”
A powerful roar came from the classroom’s rear door. Qin Shu slowly turned around and saw their homeroom teacher, Teacher Fu, standing there with his arms crossed.
He was a strong, balding, middle-aged man with a hooked nose and deep-set eyes, nicknamed Voldemort by the students. Qin Shu actually liked him quite a bit and would occasionally call him Old Fu in secret.
Rumor had it that Teacher Fu had possessed an extremely bad temper when he was young and was fiercely protective of his students. He had once gotten into a physical fight with a troublesome delinquent from a neighboring school, making promotion difficult for him for many years… But because he was simply too capable, No. 2 High School had still entrusted him with the important responsibility of leading the experimental class.
For various reasons, Teacher Fu was also in an explosive mood today.
The instant he met Qin Shu’s bewildered gaze, he erupted, roaring out a rapid series of questions. “Protecting this person and protecting that person—does he even need your protection? Do you think you’re the male lead in an idol drama? Qin Shu, what exactly have you been doing today? When something happened, didn’t you know to tell a teacher first? Come with me to the office right now!”
The whole class fell utterly silent. Only Pei Zhao slowly narrowed his eyes, seemingly about to say something. But Qin Shu had already stood up and, one step ahead of him, rubbed his shoulder and said softly, “It’s fine.”
That simple reassurance was extremely effective. Pei Zhao showed no further reaction, and the trace of hostility that had quietly flashed through his pale golden eyes disappeared as well. He continued staring at the test paper on his desk as though lost in thought.
Qin Shu had long expected that he would get into trouble. He calmly followed behind his homeroom teacher, and the two of them hurried down the corridor in silence until they reached the office door.
Before turning the doorknob, Teacher Fu’s movements paused slightly. He turned and looked at him. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Be respectful in front of the police officers. Tell them what happened, don’t lie, and that’s enough. Later, I’ll scold you again and have you write a self-criticism. Then this matter can be put behind us. Do you understand?”
“…Old Fu, thank you.” Qin Shu froze, having never expected to be protected like this, and hurriedly nodded obediently.
“Show some respect.”
Teacher Fu scoffed softly, then opened the office door and instantly changed his expression, roaring, “Skip class again and I’ll personally beat you to death! Who the hell do you think you are?! Huh?!”
His voice was so ferocious that even the police officer sitting in the chair taking notes was startled. The officer hurriedly stood up to mediate.
“Hey, hey, Teacher Fu, calm down. There’s no need to go that far…”
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