Futile Devices Scans

Whether Xing Yong ended up losing sleep was another matter, but after successfully rescuing him from the ghost wall, Qin Shu certainly had no intention of lying awake and overthinking things.

He had already voiced the little worries he needed to get off his chest, and there was nothing left weighing on his mind, so Qin Shu chose to get a proper night’s sleep first. The moment he closed his eyes, he slipped easily into a deep sleep.

When Qin Shu woke up, he felt energetic and clearheaded enough to hear even the faint rustling of Yuanbao rolling around inside its little nest.

He sprang out of bed, washed up, got dressed, and wrestled his sleep-mussed hair back into order. It was still early when he checked the time, so he casually made breakfast at home.

He fried two slices of toast until they were a beautiful golden brown, tucked a few pieces of fried luncheon meat and sliced tomato between them, then stuffed in some lettuce leaves to round things out. The rich scent of butter filled his nose, and the result tasted pretty good.

Still, even though it was only a sandwich, Qin Shu somehow felt that whatever he made was far inferior to Pei Zhao’s cooking.

Pei Zhao did not even particularly like sandwiches, but whenever he decided to do something, he always seemed capable of doing it calmly, methodically, and well.

“Ah…”

Qin Shu sighed, bit into his breakfast, picked up his backpack, and opened the front door. He reached into the little nest, pulled out the lazy centipede that had coiled itself around the eyeball, and casually tossed Yuanbao into the hood of his sweatshirt.

On the way to school, he bought two iced coffees and thought through everything that had happened the previous night while drinking his.

A wandering ghost randomly grabbing some unlucky passerby, trapping him inside a ghost wall, and demanding that the victim resolve its problem before allowing him to leave…

Actually, that was fairly logical.

There had been no deep hatred involved and no malicious attempt to murder anyone. Xing Yong had been dragged into the situation by accident, while Wang Ping Xi had finally been released from the shell of the paper effigy and could return to the underworld to continue serving his sentence. The matter could probably be considered successfully resolved.

As long as Zhang Cong remained mentally broken and unconscious, there should not be any dramatic follow-up—unless Xing Yong insisted on investigating further and managed to infuriate the mysterious person who had frightened Zhang Cong out of his mind.

Qin Shu thought about it and decided to prepare for both possibilities. When he saw Xing Yong after school tonight, he would talk to him again and try to convince him not to go courting death.

Ultimately, however, disputes between humans and ghosts were not the real problem. In that kind of conflict, whoever had the stronger fist usually got the final say. Qin Shu’s attention was actually fixed somewhere else.

Jiangcheng No. 2 High School was a ghost prison.

Qin Shu would probably never forget the shock, fear, and lingering horror he had felt when Du Xiao Shuang first told him that.

But the underworld clearly existed.

There was a genuine Road to the Yellow Springs. There was a securely established City God, the Day and Night Patrol Gods, and black- and white-robed underworld constables.

Living people could follow the Road to the Yellow Springs into the ghost market to shop, while the souls of the newly dead were detained by underworld constables and led all the way to the road’s end, through the Ghost Gate and into Senluo Hall to face judgment.

Those who died wrongful or premature deaths remained in the City of Wrongful Deaths until their allotted lifespan ran out and their resentment dissipated. Those who had committed evil were thrown into prisons and punished according to their misdeeds in life. Ordinary souls could not remain indefinitely either; they were sorted according to merit and conduct, then queued to cross Naihe Bridge and enter reincarnation.

Elio’s Notes: Chinese underworld lore often imagines the afterlife as a bureaucracy. Here, the Day and Night Patrol Gods patrol the realm, the Ghost Gate leads into the underworld, Senluo Hall is the hall of judgment, the City of Wrongful Deaths holds those who died before their allotted time, and Naihe Bridge marks the passage toward reincarnation.

It sounded like a reasonably complete system and matched Qin Shu’s stereotypical impression of how the Chinese underworld was supposed to work.

Which raised a question. If the underworld already had prisons, its constables were properly collecting souls, and someone like Wang Ping Xi had actually been arrested after death and sent down to serve time… then what exactly was the prison inside Jiangcheng No. 2 High School?

In broad daylight, dead souls and living beings were mixed together in the same place. Whether they had died unjustly, committed suicide, grown old and died naturally, or simply become wandering ghosts with nowhere to go, once they entered No. 2 High School, they were all effectively imprisoned and almost completely unable to leave through normal means. Was that right?

And if it was not right, why was nobody in the underworld doing anything about it?

“Yuanbao, you can communicate with Sister Qian, right? Ask her why she can leave No. 2 High School whenever she feels like it. I still haven’t figured that out.”

Don’t know.

“…I wasn’t asking you. I’m asking the eyeball lady in your arms.”

She’s playing dead.

Fine. Playing dead remained as effective as ever. That meant the eyeball itself probably knew exactly what was going on but was absolutely determined not to answer.

There was something inside No. 2 High School that frightened it.

Whatever controlled this prison was probably terrifyingly powerful, powerful enough that its existence could not be spoken of directly or casually mentioned.

Remembering Wang Ping Xi’s trembling description of “something horrifying,” Qin Shu more or less understood. Anything capable of terrifying the dead to that extent was obviously not something to provoke lightly.

If Qin Shu, at his current level, charged around like a headless fly investigating everything openly and rushed headfirst into whatever he discovered the moment his blood got hot… The result probably would not be pleasant.

In that case, he would hold it in and pretend he was not curious. If the opportunity arose, he could quietly sound out some of the real powerhouses instead—for example, the Dragon Mother beloved by the people of Jiangcheng, the straightforward and easygoing City God, or perhaps some approachable deity over in Yun City.

There was no need to rush anyway. Maybe whoever ran the prison did not harbor any malicious intentions. Qin Shu had killed quite a few little ghosts inside No. 2 High School by now, yet despite all the trouble he had caused, nobody had ever come after him.

Perhaps whoever it was also stood on the side of justice. Or perhaps the real problem was actually somewhere in the underworld.

There were still plenty of possibilities, and right now… Qin Shu had something more important to do.

“Zhaozhao, I brought you a vanilla latte!”

The moment Qin Shu reached the classroom, he dropped his backpack and set the coffee on Pei Zhao’s desk with a thunk. After pausing, he pulled a packet of tissues from his pocket and tucked one beneath the cup to catch the condensation gathering underneath.

“Thank you.”

Pei Zhao remained very polite about these little things. He picked up the cup, and the ice packed inside knocked softly together as he stirred it with the straw.

“Well? Well? It’s good, right?” Qin Shu pulled out his chair and sat down, then stretched an arm across Pei Zhao’s shoulders and practically wrapped himself around him.

“Mm. It’s good.” Pei Zhao turned his head in confusion and struggled lightly for a moment before simply giving up.

Lately, Qin Shu had become increasingly fond of physical contact, particularly leaning against him and hugging him. He did it more frequently than before and with an ever-growing sense that it was perfectly natural.

During this winter, when the two of them had become closer than ever, those gestures seemed to have turned into an instinctive, spontaneous habit.

Pei Zhao had considered refusing, but after thinking about it, he could not find any particular reason why he needed to. So he shifted his chair slightly into a more comfortable position and leaned his head against Qin Shu. “What else?”

Cute.

Qin Shu’s smile widened. “Zhaozhao, do you remember what we agreed on yesterday?”

“Lunch at Qingfeng Teahouse. Your friend is bringing you tea leaves, and he likes Boss Lin,” Pei Zhao answered seriously and without hurry. “Also, remember to reserve the roast chicken from Liu & Li’s in advance for that fox.”

“Oh! Right, I nearly forgot to order Mr. Xu’s roast chicken…” Qin Shu froze and immediately pulled out his phone. “Too many people have New Year gatherings these couple of days. If I wait any longer, they’ll sell out!”

“Qin Shu, my memory is better than yours.”

In other words, there was no need to specifically remind Pei Zhao about things they had already agreed upon. Qin Shu understood him perfectly, yet still sighed. After putting down his phone, he leaned over again and began muttering beside Pei Zhao’s ear.

“There’s been too much going on lately, one thing after another. I’m meeting Brother Yong tonight too. He got me Sister Ming Yue’s autograph. Oh, right, and the package from Yun City should arrive at the security office this afternoon. Zhaozhao, do you like wild mushrooms?”

That was an awful lot of information delivered in one breath. Pei Zhao gave him an inexplicably impressed look and answered the final question first. “No.”

“Oh.”

Then Pei Zhao asked in return, “Do you like Liang Ming Yue?”

Those beautiful golden eyes were very close. Beneath the daylight, their color was not especially saturated, making them resemble clear, cold gemstones devoid of emotion.

Pei Zhao’s tone was equally flat, yet Qin Shu suddenly had the strange sensation that he had been locked onto, examined, and almost seen through completely in a single glance.

The back of his neck felt cool.

“No, no! Tang Rui Cheng likes her!” Qin Shu hurriedly clarified. “Shh. Don’t tell him before I actually get the autograph. He’ll be too distracted to do anything all day…”

Meeting Pei Zhao’s searching gaze, Qin Shu obediently explained exactly what had happened. “Brother Yong ran into a little trouble last night and got trapped in a ghost wall. I happened to be watching the livestream, so I called and helped him deal with it. Liang Ming Yue was there too, because the two of them were livestreaming together. I just took the opportunity to ask her for an autograph.”

“Mm.”

Qin Shu coughed lightly. “Anything else you want to ask?”

Pei Zhao picked up his coffee and slowly drank several mouthfuls. The cold drink made his fingertips even icier, and he gently pressed one against Qin Shu’s cheek. “No.”

“Then… why are you poking me?”

“Don’t you like it?”

“I do.”

Qin Shu answered instantly. Then he stared at Pei Zhao in silence for a moment, raised his hand, and closed his fingers around Pei Zhao’s wrist with just enough pressure to hold it there. “Zhaozhao, I’m extremely good at taking a mile when someone gives me an inch.”

“…Qin Shu, my memory is better than yours.”

The second repetition carried a slightly different meaning. Qin Shu’s smile deepened. “So you already knew I’d be like this, hm? Then pat my head.”

Pei Zhao obediently did so. His right hand slid from Qin Shu’s cheek toward the back of his head, his fingers tangling through the boy’s slightly prickly short hair and rubbing gently. His gaze became a little strange. “That doesn’t count as taking a mile.”

“Really? Zhaozhao, you said it yourself. Then I also want a taste of your coffee, I want you to sit on my lap, and I want to do one less physics practice paper today…”

“No.” The moment he heard the last request, Pei Zhao immediately lifted the ice-filled latte and pressed it mercilessly against Qin Shu’s face.

“Hiss! So cold, so cold… Drink a few more sips first.”

The two of them chatted idly about this and that, occasionally touching hands or letting their thighs press together, then snacking between classes. An easy, leisurely morning passed just like that.

Qin Shu was horrified to discover that compared with all those incomprehensible, chaotic ghost stories, going to school had suddenly become something relaxing and enjoyable.

Although Pei Zhao still supervised him through an extra physics mock paper, Qin Shu really did seem to have gotten a little smarter.

When he encountered an extremely complicated problem, he no longer experienced that miserable, constipated feeling of staring at it and wanting to die. If he slowed down and patiently thought it through, he seemed to figure out how to solve it surprisingly quickly.

It felt easy enough that he did not even need to use the See Through ability he had only just learned.

That worked out perfectly. There was still one province-wide unified exam before winter break, followed immediately by No. 2 High School’s own final exams. If Qin Shu did not want the report card he brought home before the New Year to look too terrible, he really did need to put in more effort.

Qin Shu decided to make use of every scrap of spare time. After filling the entire mock paper from top to bottom, he happily threw up his arms and shouted, “I love doing practice problems!”

Everyone in the class turned to stare at him speechlessly, although a few fellow sufferers appeared to agree.

Tang Rui Cheng was among the most speechless of all. He knew Qin Shu far too well and blurted out in disbelief, “You have a serious mental illness!”

Qin Shu was helping the poor injured boy tidy his desk. Hearing that, he merely laughed. “Still better than you. You’ve got severe muscle loss and osteoporosis. For the next three years, you’re definitely losing to me at badminton.”

“Give me a break. Survive the impact of jumping off a building once yourself, then come banter with me.” Tang Rui Cheng patted his plaster brace, his attitude remarkably good. “I survived even that, so my luck has to be ridiculously strong, right? Next time I buy a lottery ticket, I should win five million.”

Qin Shu rubbed his chin and suddenly remembered punching through the roof of the cathedral the previous week. He became thoughtful. “Now that you mention it, I feel like current me might actually… be able to survive that. I’d just grab some wandering ghost passing by and use it as a cushion. Our school has tons of ghosts.”

“Shh! Why are you saying that so loudly in class? Aren’t you afraid people will genuinely think you’re insane?”

“No. 2 High School already has a huge number of ghosts. Whether I say it aloud or not doesn’t change objective reality. If I remind people every now and then, maybe it’ll genuinely help somebody one day.”

At that point, Qin Shu raised his voice. “Everyone, once it gets dark, try not to walk around alone!”

“Roger that!”

“As you command, Your Majesty!”

“Reporting to Brother Qin: I saw you and the academic representative walking around after dark last night!”

“—Seriously? Which road?”

“The little path near the school infirmary. The creepiest one.”

“Ooh, taking the long way around in the middle of the night…”

The classmates who had not yet gone to the cafeteria joined in. At first, everyone was simply laughing and playing along with Qin Shu, but somewhere along the way, the conversation inexplicably veered in another direction and another round of teasing erupted.

The longer Qin Shu listened, the more confused he became. He nudged Tang Rui Cheng with his elbow and whispered, “What’s wrong with Zhaozhao and me walking down that path?”

Tang Rui Cheng’s eyebrow twitched. Once again, he looked at Qin Shu in disbelief. “Old Qin, do you genuinely not understand, or are you pretending?”

“Huh?” Qin Shu shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

Tang Rui Cheng drew a deep breath and stared at him. “First semester of sophomore year. There was a senior girl downstairs from our classroom playing guitar and singing while calling your name. Remember?”

“Yeah.”

“What do you think she meant by that?”

Qin Shu looked even more baffled. “What else could she have meant? She saw our class perform at the New Year event and kept trying to recruit me into No. 2 High School’s campus band as the lead singer and backup guitarist. She was the band leader back then and was going to leave the club before the gaokao… but I seriously didn’t have time.”

Tang Rui Cheng: “…”

The two brothers stared at each other in silence, neither capable of understanding what could possibly be happening inside the other person’s head.

Only when Pei Zhao returned from the teachers’ office and pushed open the rear classroom door did the inexplicable stalemate finally break. “Qin Shu. Let’s go.”

“Coming, coming!”

Qin Shu picked up his backpack and abandoned Tang Rui Cheng without the slightest hesitation, following behind Pei Zhao. “Come to think of it, our school band is actually pretty good. Youth TV even featured them once. They’ve got a little local fame.”

“Really?” Pei Zhao slowed his pace.

“After winter break starts, want to go see a show at one of the nearby live music venues?” Qin Shu put an arm across his shoulders. “I’ll buy the tickets.”

“Okay.”

…

Tang Rui Cheng watched them disappear into the distance, utterly shaken. He casually grabbed a classmate who had not yet left for the cafeteria and began ranting furiously. “Xu Wen Kang, did you hear that? Qin Shu genuinely thinks that senior came downstairs with a guitar and sang for him because she wanted to recruit him into the band as a backup! Holy shit. With that level of obliviousness, he still has the nerve to be somebody else’s wingman?”

“I heard. No wonder…” Xu Wen Kang completely agreed and lowered his voice to join in the gossip. “I always thought it was weird. With Brother Qin’s face, height, and personality, he’d be popular wherever he went. How could he possibly have never dated anyone?”

He paused. “I thought he was gay. Turns out someone really can be this oblivious.”

“Hiss. Don’t speak too soon. To be honest, I also think he’s a little gay, but… with his situation, I don’t think he’s even reached the point where gay or straight is the relevant question.”

Tang Rui Cheng paused and glanced toward the direction in which the two had disappeared before continuing with a shake of his head. “I’ve known Old Qin for seventeen years. Pei Zhao is the only person he’s ever liked in that way. His entire personality practically changed after meeting him, and he has absolutely no interest in any other guy.”

“I support this marriage, but will the parents agree?”

“His parents don’t care about that stuff. Ah, this is driving me crazy. When is Old Qin finally going to get it? Who can teach him the difference between romantic love and friendship? It definitely can’t be me. If I started talking to him about that, it’d be so awkward he’d definitely think I’d lost my mind… Damn it!”

While Tang Rui Cheng was lamenting the situation with all his heart, Qin Shu and Pei Zhao had already arrived at Qingfeng Teahouse at top speed.

The food they had ordered in advance began arriving one dish after another, as refined and beautifully prepared as ever.

As luck would have it, Boss Lin was in the teahouse today too. He wore a pale blue long robe and was arranging the decorative objects on his tea table, apparently in a good mood.

Qin Shu carefully managed his expression before daring to walk over and greet Boss Lin.

Because before Qin Shu had even entered the teahouse, he had already spotted Huang Yu Yuan.

The bull yao hopelessly in love had been unable to resist coming early after all. And right now, he was actually hiding on the roof of the teahouse.

Qin Shu keenly sensed someone watching him and raised his head warily, only to accidentally catch sight of Huang Yu Yuan’s true form—an enormous jet-black bull so vast that it seemed to blot out the sky.

Qin Shu nearly jumped out of his skin.

“Shh!”

Huang Yu Yuan looked even more frightened than Qin Shu. His entire face was filled with nervous awkwardness, and he had no idea where to put his hands, twisting his handsome features into a complete mess.

Could falling in love really do this to someone?

Seriously?