As I watched He Wei's actions, I felt something was amiss—his manner was sarcastic and odd. Besides, what man combs his hair so coquettishly at this late hour, just like a woman?
"He Wei? You okay? Weren't the other two guys going out with you? Why haven't they come back?" I whispered, craning my neck to peer at He Wei in the mirror.
The moment I looked, I shuddered in horror. The face in the mirror wasn't He Wei's at all—it was a woman's face with blood trickling from all seven orifices. Her flesh was rotting in clumps, crawling with roundworms, looking absolutely terrifying.
He Wei ignored me, continuing to comb his hair stroke by stroke while humming an eerie ditty: "Weep for my father, weep for my mother, kneel on both knees to bow before my elders."
He Wei lowered his voice to a shrill, feminine pitch.
Oh no! Could he have provoked some unclean thing? My heart skipped a beat. His eerie appearance now was just like the "ghost possession" described in the Maoshan Taoist scriptures.
With my current cultivation, I couldn't yet determine if He Wei was truly possessed. I could only use the simplest Maoshan method to test it.
I fetched a bowl of clear water, inserted a chopstick upright in the center, held it gently with my right hand, and chanted: "I've blocked your path and struck your bridge.
Whether you perished by accident, hanging, drowning, or fire—if I've unknowingly offended you, please forgive me. Since you've found him, I offer you this water and rice. Please let him go!"
After finishing the incantation, I released my hand.
The chopstick stood perfectly upright in the bowl, like a magic trick.
A normal chopstick could never stand upright—it would have fallen over. I sucked in a breath and looked at He Wei. This guy was definitely possessed.
Just then, He Wei suddenly turned to look at me, the corner of his mouth curling into a sinister smile.
"You... what do you want?" I swallowed hard and asked, trembling.
This was probably the second time I'd encountered a ghost, and it was a female ghost at that. Although I'd learned some Taoist arts during this period, my courage still wasn't up to par—my palms were sweating profusely.
The weirdest thing was that I felt a cold wind constantly seeping in through the door crack, making me shiver all over.
"Heh heh, heh heh..." Instead of speaking, He Wei gave me a sinister smile. The sound emanated from his body, but his mouth didn't move at all.
"Bra... brave female ghost, return to where you came from at once! Otherwise... otherwise, don't blame me, a descendant of Maoshan Taoism, for being unkind!" I mustered up the courage to shout a line like the Taoist priests on TV, unsure if it would work. With my current skills, I might not be able to subdue this fierce ghost.
Suddenly, He Wei's face darkened, veins bulged on his forehead, his eyes turned scarlet, and he raised both hands to strangle me.
This sudden move caught me off guard. It was too late to dodge. He Wei grabbed my neck harshly, pinning me to the ground. His strength was enormous, like that of a madman. I struggled desperately, but it was useless.
Just as I was turning red and gasping for air, my other two roommates, Zhao Yi and Li Wen, suddenly returned. I quickly stretched out my hand to them for help.
Seeing this, Zhao Yi and Li Wen rushed over to pull He Wei away.
After being rescued, I clutched my throat and coughed violently. At that moment, He Wei struggled a few times before fainting. "What's wrong with He Wei? His face looks off," Zhao Yi asked. "Yeah, he just tried to strangle you!" Li Wen chimed in, turning to me. After coughing a few more times, I climbed to my feet. "I have no idea. He was acting strange when he came back, then suddenly went crazy and grabbed my neck. I can't explain it. By the way, he went out with you two—why didn't you come back together? What happened out there?" I didn't mention a word about He Wei being possessed by a ghost, fearing it would scare them. Li Wen and Zhao Yi exchanged a glance, furrowing their brows with evasive looks. I instantly knew something had happened between the three of them. Under my persistent questioning, Zhao Yi and Li Wen finally stopped hiding the truth. They told me everything that had happened that night: taking advantage of the dark, windy night, they'd gone to a graveyard not far from campus. Besides the three of them, there were also two girls from our class.
Most schools are built on graveyards. From a resource perspective, schools require large areas of land and have a high population density. If built in densely populated areas, they would inevitably affect traffic, so they need to be constructed in relatively remote locations. These remote areas often used to be execution grounds or cemeteries.
From a feng shui perspective, it is said that such places have heavy yin energy, and the pure qi of numerous young men and women can suppress this yin energy. Additionally, this approach does not waste land resources. Moreover, graveyards or execution grounds are believed to have strong geomantic energy, and it is said that students who graduate from schools built on such sites often achieve remarkable success.
Furthermore, original graveyards were generally located around communities and villages for convenient worship. When these areas were redeveloped and graveyards were relocated, schools were often built in the same vicinity due to their similar large land requirements. This often leads to overlapping locations, which is another reason why schools are built on former graveyards.
Our school is no exception—it was constructed on a graveyard. Not far from the school, there is a mountain with a patch of abandoned graves that have long been neglected and unattended. Since no one pays respects to them, these abandoned graves have inspired numerous rumors, which have been woven into various versions of ghost stories circulating on campus.
Upon hearing Zhao Yi and Li Wen's account, I slammed my thigh in anger and shouted, "Damn it! That explains it! What exactly happened after you went to that graveyard? Tell me in detail."
Zhao Yi and Li Wen looked confused, not understanding why I reacted that way, but they still truthfully recounted the situation.
The idea of going to the graveyard at night was proposed by He Wei. The reason was that he had made a bet with Zhang Xiaoman from our class: whoever dared to stay on the mountain's abandoned graves near the school for a full hour at night would be the winner.
If He Wei won, Zhang Xiaoman would be his girlfriend; if Zhang Xiaoman won, He Wei had to stop pestering her. After making the bet, He Wei dragged Zhao Yi and Li Wen up the mountain that night to find the patch of abandoned graves. Unexpectedly, when they arrived at the graves, Zhang Xiaoman had already been wandering there with her best friend Lin Xue. Judging by their expressions, they didn't seem afraid at all. Instead, they mocked He Wei and the others for being cowards, teasing them for daring to come so late.
Being mocked by the girl he liked, He Wei gritted his teeth in anger. Just then, he felt the urge to urinate, so he said to Zhang Xiaoman and the others, "Who says I'm a coward? I'll pee on these graves right now for you to see. Heh heh, quickly turn off the flashlights and turn your backs—otherwise, I'm afraid my 'little elephant' might scare you." Seeing He Wei take off his pants, Zhang Xiaoman and Lin Xue blushed instantly, quickly turned off the flashlights, and spun around, shouting loudly, "Pervert, disgusting!" Zhao Yi and Li Wen had thought He Wei was just talking tough, but to their surprise, he actually dropped his pants and started urinating on the abandoned graves, even whistling to himself. It was unclear whether he was mustering courage or enjoying the relief. "He Wei, are you crazy? Peeing in a graveyard—aren't you afraid of ghosts..." Zhao Yi hurriedly tried to stop him.
He Wei waved his hand dismissively, interrupting Zhao Yi: "What's there to be afraid of? Who still fears ghosts these days? Since the founding of the People's Republic, even spirits aren't allowed to gain sentience! Look at your guts—you're not even as brave as those two girls!"
Zhao Yi had meant to warn him out of good intentions, but was snapped back by He Wei. He could only shut up, fuming in silence.
Just then, He Wei suddenly gave a shudder. Li Wen and Zhao Yi thought he was shaking off drops after urinating, but instead he mumbled: "Where did that cold draft just come from underground?"
At He Wei's words, Zhao Yi and Li Wen quickly shone their flashlights on the ground. After a moment, they saw an old, tattered tombstone partially buried under the abandoned graves—and it appeared He Wei's urine had soaked it.
"He Wei, you peed on a tombstone! My dad used to say coffins are a dead person's home, and tombstones are their address. You just peed at someone's doorstep—watch out for ghosts knocking on your door tonight," Li Wen began chiding He Wei.
He Wei started to feel scared, but forced himself to bluff: "T-This is just a patch of abandoned graves. What's there to be afraid of!"
As he spoke, his body involuntarily trembled, as if he'd seen something. His face turned uneasy, and he rubbed his eyes vigorously. But moments later, he returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.
After Zhang Xiaoman and Lin Xue turned around, they began to bid farewell to He Wei and the other two, preparing to go down the mountain. The reason was that they had already been there for a full hour, and they didn't want to stay in a gloomy graveyard with someone as disgusting as He Wei.
After Zhang Xiaoman and Lin Xue left, He Wei started to fidget restlessly, his face growing increasingly ghastly, as if he had seen something terrifying.
Seeing He Wei like this, Li Wen couldn't bear it anymore and quickly said, "If you're scared, let's get out of here now. I also feel this place is eerie, and it's getting colder and colder. There's always a chilly wind blowing on my neck."
Zhao Yi nodded in agreement: "I feel the same. Those two girls are really brave—staying here alone for almost an hour. Even with the three of us men, I find it creepy."
"No... we can't leave. Hold on a bit longer. This way, Zhang Xiaoman and I will at most be tied, not lose!" He Wei swallowed hard and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
Just then, He Wei suddenly looked at Li Wen in horror, opened his mouth wide, pointed to Li Wen's back, and stammered: "B-Behind you, there's... a ghost! Ghost!"