Liu Ruoyi and I moved towards back of the school after sneaking out of the dormitory building.
The high wall seemed a little challenging for me to climb, but Liu Ruoyi jumped onto the high wall without any effort. She stretched her hand toward me.
“Hold tight.”
I nodded and grabbed her cold hand. At that moment, I felt a strong force pulling me upwards making my heart drop anxiety. After jumping over the high wall, I took a moment to stand with Liu Ruoyi, trying to recover.
My heart was still going pit-a-pat when I looked back at the high wall.
“Sixi, is that you?”
I heard Shang Yi’s deliberately lowered voice. In the distance, I could see the bright light of a flashlight moving through the dark.
“Uncle Shang, it’s me.”
I replied and walked quickly towards the light.
Shang Yi’s car was parked on the road. After we got in the car, Shang Yi started the car and made a turn. I asked him where we were going and he said that we were going to the rooftop where Xu Zixi first died. We were going to perform rituals to help her soul find peace and there was a higher chance of success there.
The middle school where I studied was relatively remote as it was on the outskirts of the county.
It was relatively quiet in the car.
Shang Yi was concentrating on driving, but I could see his frowning brows and sparkling eyes from the rearview mirror in the car.
He suddenly raised his eyes, glanced at me in the rearview mirror, and said strangely, “Is it fine for you to not wear a blindfold?”
“…En.”
“Isn’t she the beautiful guard of Hades next to you? What? Hades isn’t with you anymore? Has he started to dislike you?” After speaking, he smiled heartlessly.
I glared at him and said nothing.
I did some calculations. I hadn’t seen Ming Si for three years. How busy was he? Is it like what Shang Yi said? Does he dislike me?
I felt unbalanced in my heart. He said he would wait for me to grow up, didn’t he? I had grown up now. I was sixteen years old and in the prime of life, but he didn’t show up after stalling for a long time.
I clenched my fists. Liu Ruoyi, who had been silent beside me, said coldly, “Hades does not dislike you. He often visits you when you are asleep.”
Liu Ruoyi’s expression looked so stern as if Ming Si was speaking through her.
My heart slightly shivered, and I asked. “Why didn’t he come to see me when I was awake?”
“Hades he…” Liu Ruoyi stopped talking.
“What’s wrong with him?” I was anxious. I wanted to hear what she would say. However, she was silent for a long time, and changed the conversation, “Anyway, Hades does not dislike you.”
Shang Yi in the driver’s seat intervened at this moment, “That guy should just be terrified that he won’t be able to control himself, and will do something to Sixi, right?”
I looked embarrassed. I was sixteen now, and I already knew a little about the matters between men and women.
I was somewhat in doubt about what Shang Yi said. However, Ming Si once said that he would sleep with me when I was eighteen years old. Maybe it was real that he avoided me because he wanted to abstain, so he didn’t want to see me!
I laughed bitterly at my thoughts.
Others might not think like this, but seemed possible for Ming Si. Afterall, he started making passes at me when I was thirteen years old. He had such an overpowering desire!
It was currently the middle of the night and the night sky was starless and moonless.
The car was driven into the suburbs, and it started become a little bumpy.
As Shang Yi grip on the steering wheel tightened, and his expression became a little irritated. He cursed, “Damn it, this old car should be replaced. It costs quite a lot to change a new car. I can’t make a lot of money and still have to help a ghost for free. This makes me bitterly disappointed thinking of it.”
“…”
He was trying to put me to shame with his words.
I swallowed my guilt and didn’t reply.
Soon after, we reached the school and Shang Yi parked the car on the side of the road. Taking out a small backpack from the trunk, he handed me a flashlight and said, “We go in over the wall and try to avoid the school surveillance cameras.”
“…Alright.”
As far as I knew, there were just a few places in the school that had surveillance cameras.
Shang Yi waved his hand at Liu Ruoyi when we got to the back of the school, “You go away. No ghosts dare to show up when you are here.”
Liu Ruoyi gave him a dark look and said coldly, “Go in by yourself. I am responsible for Sixi’s safety.”
Shang Yi said anxiously, “How can I know who the ritual is performed for if she does not follow me in?”
Liu Ruoyi calmed down and looked at me with cold eyes, as if asking for my opinion.
I thought about it and said to her, “You wait for me here. We will come out once we are done.”
“Be careful.”
“Okay.”
Liu Ruoyi had the kindness to tell Shang Yi about the recent situation of Xu Zixi, but Shang Yi yelled at her impatiently, “Is it me that will do the ritual or you instead? Do you think I need your help? I can see it for myself.”
Liu Ruoyi frowned her beautiful brows. She stopped talking and walked aside.
I could see that Ruoyi was extremely depressed. I glared at Shang Yi and said in a low voice, “Why are you yelling at Ruoyi? She is just kind.”
“I don’t need her to tell me this.”
“You can just say it if you don’t want to do it. I will just speak ill of you all day long in front of my aunty. I will say that you are stingy and open your eyes wide only at the sight of money. The type off person she hates most is stingy person and will never give you a thought for her whole lifetime. You’ll have to be alone all your life!” I spoke back to Shang Yi viciously.
He immediately softened and said hurriedly, “I never said that I didn’t want to do it. What are you saying? Please say something nice about me in front of your aunty. Don’t worry. I will settle the matter for you today.”
I made a deliberate gesture of raising my chin, and I heard Shang Yi whisper, “You, little girl, just have something on me so that you can boss me around.”
I stared at him, “What did you say?”
He smiled at me, “I didn’t say anything. Let’s go.”
He took the lead. He was very agile, although he was in his thirties. He jumped up onto the high wall after a few tries and reached out to pull me.
I easily climbed up the wall with his help and entered the school with him.
There was dead silence on the campus. I immediately felt gusts of wind coming toward me as I was now without Liu Ruoyi’s company.
Shang Yi said, “This school used to be a graveyard. It’s really gloomy. Don’t shout when you see anything, lest it causes me trouble.”
“Okay.”
I shut my mouth and followed carefully behind Shang Yi. He took out a flashlight but then was at a loss when he realized how large the campus. He was not familiar with this place, but he still wanted to be the person in front. He asked me about the location of the female dormitory from time to time. I told him the correct direction. However, he couldn’t find the right way which led us to wandering around for some time.
“You should just follow my lead,” I was getting anxious.
It would be dawn if we kept waiting for him to find the girls’ dormitory.
“Can you do it?” he asked me.
I said impatiently, “I had studied here for three years. What do you think?”
My question left him blank for a moment. Then, he stopped and asked me to lead the way.
We soon found the girls’ dormitory with the light of the flashlight and some iconic signposts on the campus, although the surrounding area around us was all dark.
No major changes had taken place on the campus since I left. The female dormitory was there, standing upright in the dark, like a giant. The whole building was dark, except for the small window of the supervisor of the dorm on the first floor.