Chapter 11
I stared at the mirror, not daring to blink.
Ren Anran lay behind me like a wandering soul, her mouth opening and closing, muttering words in a daze.
She seemed completely unaware.
Suddenly! A rotten human face pressed close in the mirror.
I nearly screamed, clamping my hand tightly over my mouth.
For a long time, my mind was utterly blank.
Cold sweat soaked through my nightdress.
I was scared out of my wits.
It must be that man playing tricks!
He was deliberately trying to frighten me, wanting me to make a sound.
A wave of dread washed over me, and I quickly shut my eyes, not daring to open them again.
With my eyes closed, the fear grew infinitely larger.
Like a blind person, I was plunged into endless darkness, a sense of danger closing in from all directions. I clung tightly to my quilt, barely keeping myself from trembling violently.
Time dripped by like candle wax, each minute and second feeling like a year.
Unable to see, my hearing became sharper.
I heard Ren Anran’s footsteps as she left.
She seemed to crawl back to her own bed and lay down to sleep again.
Finally, the clock hand moved from four to five.
Dawn was breaking.
I opened my eyes, and the first thing I did was text Huo Qing: [I want to see you. Urgent!]
Huo Qing: [Open the door. I’m outside your dorm room.]
I practically scrambled and crawled to open the door.
When the door opened, Huo Qing was standing outside.
I asked her, “When did you get here?”
She said, “I’ve been keeping watch all night. I finally figured it out!”
I said, “I figured it out too! Huo Qing, you were right-there really is a ghost!”
Huo Qing picked up her bag, strode into the dorm, and turned to shut the door.
She unzipped her bag and pulled out an iron rod as thick as a thumb, weighing it in her hand.
I asked in shock, “What are you going to do?”
Huo Qing told me to stand aside.
She swung the iron rod and banged it on the beds: “Hey! Get up!”
She looked just like a big sister from the streets.
My heart was pounding, afraid to imagine what Ren Anran and Zheng Qianfei would look like. I could only silently pray that what I was about to see wouldn’t be too outrageous…
My scalp tightened, my heart in my throat.
Ren Anran was the first to react.
She cursed as she yanked open her bed curtain: “It’s so early-are you trying to summon souls?”
Her voice was as strong as ever.
I craned my neck from behind Huo Qing, and at my first glimpse of Ren Anran, I couldn’t help but gasp in shock.
In just one night, Ren Anran had aged at least twenty years. Her skin was sallow, her cheeks sunken, her eyes lifeless, and even white hair had sprouted-yet she herself was completely unaware.
Huo Qing said nothing, handing her a mirror.
Ren Anran took the mirror in confusion and glanced inside.
“Who is this?” She cried out in disbelief, tossing the mirror away and sliding off her bed to stand before the full-length mirror in the dorm. “How did I become like this?”
Ren Anran broke down.
She seemed to have no memory of what happened last night, only shocked by the sudden aging of her body.
Without warning, Huo Qing reached out and lifted her nightdress.
On Ren Anran’s navel was a circle of faint red bite marks, like a tire, encircling her belly button in a bright red ring, stamped onto her skin.
Ren Anran stared blankly at her stomach: “What is this? How did this thing grow on me?”
Huo Qing said, “That’s the mark left by the Human Ghost Infant sucking your Vital Energy.”
As she spoke, her gaze slowly shifted to Zheng Qianfei’s bed: “All this time, I’ve been wondering what exactly Zheng Qianfei encountered. It wasn’t until last night that I finally understood-she met a Human Ghost.”
“The Human Ghost pretended to visit her in a dream to form a bond, then lured her step by step into a trap. If I’m not mistaken, back at the hotel that night, the Human Ghost implanted a Human Ghost Infant in Zheng Qianfei’s belly.”
“Human Ghosts are different from ordinary ghosts. They possess the traits of ghosts but retain human habits. Some, after enough cultivation, can even disguise themselves as humans and live among us.”
“Therefore, Human Ghost Infants are also different from ordinary ghost infants.”
“Ordinary ghost infants only need to absorb Yin Energy to be born, but Human Ghost Infants must absorb both Yin Energy and the Vital Energy of living people, keeping the two energies balanced for healthy growth.”
“The birth of a Human Ghost Infant requires at least three human lives.”
“I suppose its father wanted to turn this dorm into a corpse chamber to incubate the Human Ghost Infant. You three were his chosen prey-oh, not just you three. In his original plan, I was probably included too.”
“Am I right, Zheng Qianfei?”