Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Dong Jia’s voice was very soft. As though afraid they had not heard her clearly, she cleared her throat and repeated herself. “I believe you.”

Xie Qingling looked at her in surprise, her eyes suddenly stinging with heat. Before she could say anything, Dong Jia continued, “I saw it.”

“Today, when Lulu was about to fall on the stairs – no, before she was about to fall – you’d already reached out, Qingling. I thought it was strange at the time. You reacted so quickly, almost as if you knew in advance. I just didn’t think too much about it then.”

“Put that way, everything makes sense.”

Jiang Lulu was deathly pale, still caught in a fierce struggle with herself.

“But this sounds way too absurd…”

“So what if it does? So what if it isn’t true?” Dong Jia looked at Jiang Lulu. “What if – and I’m saying what if – it is? Are we supposed to stand by and do nothing while that ghostly Shanxiao takes revenge on Qingling however it likes?”

Jiang Lulu fell silent.

Faced with the two possibilities – “Xie Qingling finally snapped” and “Xie Qingling opened the door to a whole new world” – the pair ultimately chose the latter.

When confronted by an unknown power, a person only had one life. There was no room for trial and error. Even if it was all false, they had to do what they could to avoid the risk.

Xie Qingling smiled. The weight in her heart lifted completely.

“The reason I told you all this was to give you some warning,” she said. “I’m going to leave the dorm and live somewhere else for a while, until this is over.”

The dorm fell silent again.

A moment later –

“I think…” Jiang Lulu said, “instead of going somewhere unfamiliar, you should stay. That way, we can watch out for one another.”

“Doesn’t the Shanxiao take revenge by setting traps? At worst, none of us will go out for the next few days. We know the dorm so well that if it sets a trap here, we’ll notice something’s wrong right away.”

As she spoke, Jiang Lulu glanced at Dong Jia. Dong Jia nodded like a chick pecking grain. “It’s far too dangerous for you to be alone. Even if all else fails… I can still call an ambulance when you’re half dead! Just like last time.”

“And I’ll feel safer with Qingling around,” Dong Jia added quietly.

She was timid by nature and envied Xie Qingling’s strong nerves – the woman could spend all day dealing with corpses. Whenever there was some thrilling team-building activity, Dong Jia always had to bring Xie Qingling along to keep everyone steady.

Faced with her roommates’ pleas for her to stay, Xie Qingling thought for a long time.

In the end, she agreed with them and decided not to leave.

The dorm was the place Xie Qingling knew best. If she was going to prepare for the Shanxiao’s revenge, it really was the most suitable location.

Her trip to the stairwell that night had already raised her estimated odds against the Shanxiao to fifty percent. With her roommates watching her back, those odds rose to seventy.

By Xie Qingling’s reckoning, the Shanxiao was not some insubstantial spirit without a physical form. Human eyes simply could not perceive it. Its traps left traces, so its body ought to leave traces as well.

If it had a physical body, then physical means could be used to restrain it and destroy it.

The prerequisite was knowing where its body was.

And Xie Qingling already had an idea for how to locate the Shanxiao.

[Ever since their hunting days in ancient times, frail humans have understood the value of cooperation and delighted in traveling together. In my wisdom, I sometimes wonder: is it the presence of companions that fills you with courage, leaving you unafraid even before a fearsome foe? Otherwise, how would tiny grains of millet such as you find the courage to contend against the vast sea?]

[You appear to have formed a plan.]

[Unfortunately, courage alone cannot set your mind at ease. Even the combined strength of three humans remains insignificant to the supernatural world. Even if the Shanxiao reveals itself, your chances of victory are still vanishingly small.]

Not listening, not listening. Blah, blah, blah.

—

The next day, Xie Qingling woke early. So did the other two.

In truth, none of them had slept much at all.

With their nerves stretched so taut, even when they did fall asleep, they slept fitfully.

Dark circles beneath their eyes, the three sat on their respective beds first thing in the morning and discussed their “Grand Anti-Shanxiao Revenge Plan.”

“Qingling, what do we do now?” The warm daylight lent them courage. Dong Jia and Jiang Lulu looked much less panicked than they had the night before.

“We need to buy a few things.” Xie Qingling took out a palm-sized notebook and began writing rapidly in it.
“First, we need salt. But I’m not sure whether ordinary table salt will work, or crystal salt, or some other kind. To be safe, let’s buy every type of salt on the market.”

“Next, we need something for protection. I browsed some strange posts online yesterday, and they said rooster blood can ward off evil. We can keep a rooster in the dorm so it’s ready whenever we need it.”

“It won’t be easy to buy a rooster at school, but there’s a farmers’ market nearby. As long as we can fool the dorm supervisor, we should be able to bring one inside. Most of the dorms around us belong to fourth-years and are basically empty now. If we’re careful, she probably won’t notice… right?”

Jiang Lulu immediately raised her hand. “I – I’ll buy it. To be safe, Qingling had better not leave the dorm.”

Xie Qingling nodded and continued, “Then we need tools to subdue it. Things like a riot-control fork, stun baton, pepper spray… We’ll stock up on anything we can get. As long as it’s a living creature, physical force can take it down!”

Dong Jia came from the wealthiest family of the three and never hesitated to spend money. At once, she said, “I – I’ll buy those.”

“Last is food,” Xie Qingling said. “Until the Shanxiao situation is resolved, we’d better not leave the dorm at all. So we need to prepare enough food and water.”

Once the tasks had been listed, it was time to carry them out.

Xie Qingling, Jiang Lulu, and Dong Jia left the dorm as quickly as they could, took their assigned shopping lists, and began a frenzied buying spree.

Xie Qingling had originally estimated it would take two or three full days to gather all the supplies. Instead, everything was ready in one.

There was no denying the strength of numbers.

The sight of the dorm piled high with supplies gave Xie Qingling a small sense of security.

Holding a riot-control fork, fruit knife, pepper spray, and other items, Xie Qingling glanced at her roommates. “Let’s run through a rough drill.”

Jiang Lulu and Dong Jia nodded.

“Our dorm has two doors. The front door opens onto the corridor, while the rear one is the windproof glass door leading to the open-air balcony. A person might not be able to climb up, but I doubt that height would give the Shanxiao any trouble.”

“So we have to guard both doors. No matter the circumstances, don’t open either one for anyone without caution.”

“Once the Shanxiao appears, I’ll act as bait. You use the riot-control forks to pin it down, then move in with the other weapons.”

When Xie Qingling said she would use herself as bait, Jiang Lulu and Dong Jia fell silent for a moment.

When none of them could see the Shanxiao, there did not seem to be another way.

Whether Xie Qingling escaped danger would depend entirely on whether the two of them came through.

Dong Jia nodded solemnly. “All right.”

“What if… the riot-control forks can’t hold it? What if none of our methods work?” Jiang Lulu asked.

“Then run.” Xie Qingling’s answer was decisive. “You two run, then call the police. And when you do, don’t mention the Shanxiao – not unless you want them to think some lunatic is making a bogus emergency call.”

Only these two friends would believe her tale of ghosts and gods and other such intangible things.

It was not that Xie Qingling had never considered calling the police. But even a machine that examined her brain waves had failed to detect anything abnormal. How could she possibly recount these mad events in a way that sounded reasonable enough to earn anyone’s trust?

She would sound exactly like a psychiatric patient suffering from paranoid delusions.

Besides, she might hide today, but she could not hide forever. She could hardly let one Shanxiao rob her of a normal life for good.

Xie Qingling had never been one to cower or flee, so she would find a way to put an end to this troublesome threat.

“Let’s begin.” As Xie Qingling spoke, she tore open a bag of salt and scattered it across the dormitory floor.

Jiang Lulu and Dong Jia moved as well, pouring every kind of salt Xie Qingling had bought onto the floor.

They emptied twenty bags in all. Salt covered every inch of the floor, making it look as though snow had fallen inside the room.

The rooster was tethered to the washstand with a length of rope, a handful of uncooked white rice beside it.

Their weapons were placed within easy reach, ensuring they could act the instant the Shanxiao appeared.

Xie Qingling even tucked a knife beneath her pillow.

Nothing happened that day.

The three stayed in the dorm, living on instant noodles, and did not go out.

Then came the third night.

A rapid series of knocks suddenly broke the silence of the dormitory corridor.

“Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock…”

The sound echoed through the empty hallway, carrying an eerie chill.

Dong Jia shuddered and instinctively ducked behind Xie Qingling. Then, remembering that her job was to restrain the Shanxiao, she tightened her grip on the riot-control fork and planted her feet.
“Who’s out there?” Xie Qingling called.

Silence lingered outside the door for a moment. Then a familiar voice answered, “It’s me.”

It was the dorm supervisor.

“Open up. Room inspection and head count.”

The three exchanged looks. None had expected the dorm supervisor to conduct an inspection at precisely this moment.

Xie Qingling went to the door and said quietly, “I’m opening it.”

The words were meant for Jiang Lulu and Dong Jia behind her.

Both had their weapons ready and were poised to strike. Over the past few days, they had prepared themselves for danger no matter who stood outside the door.

Xie Qingling opened it, but there was no one outside.

Her heart jolted. She spun around and saw a pair of footprints appear from nowhere upon the salt-white floor. They resembled human footprints, but were rounder and shorter, more like the prints of a beast.

It was inside!

[The Shanxiao received its mother’s blessing on Mount Zhaoyao. Now that its minor art of transformation has improved, it can deceive human ears completely. Perhaps your good fortune will run out today. After consulting its wise mother, the Shanxiao learned quite a few methods for dealing with humans. Petty creature that it is, it has grown more brazen than ever before.]

An immense force slammed into Xie Qingling from the front. Because the Shanxiao was invisible, all anyone could see was Xie Qingling suddenly being lifted half off her feet, her back pinned hard against the doorframe.

An unseen, immensely powerful hand was crushing her throat!

The sensation of suffocation engulfed her in an instant. Xie Qingling’s face turned blue-purple. She had rehearsed the movement countless times in her mind. Her hand immediately darted into her pocket and flung a handful of salt at the Shanxiao.

Her other hand drew the stun baton she carried on her.

Xie Qingling’s movements pinpointed the Shanxiao’s location.

Now that the moment had come, she found herself instead as clearheaded as though she were watching a movie in which she had no part. She could even analyze which course of action would give her the advantage.

The sight of Xie Qingling on the verge of death left Dong Jia’s hands and feet icy with fear, her face crumpling as though she might cry. But she drew a deep breath and drove the riot-control fork viciously in from the side.

She hit it!

Though she still could not see anything, Dong Jia could feel that the fork had caught against something solid.

As a dance student, Dong Jia looked slender, but she actually had the most muscle of the three and was the strongest. At this life-or-death moment, astonishing potential erupted from her body. In an instant, she pinned the Shanxiao firmly against the door, while Xie Qingling seized the chance to wrench herself free of its grip.

Out of danger, Xie Qingling coughed hard twice and drew a normal breath again. “Lulu, now!” she shouted.

Jiang Lulu ran out from the washstand clutching the freshly decapitated rooster. Bright red blood dripped behind her all the way. With all her strength, she hurled the bleeding bird toward the spot where the riot-control fork was planted –

A plume of green smoke rose from thin air. Dong Jia felt the force struggling beneath her hands gradually weaken.

“I think… it’s gone?”

It seemed to have ended far more easily than expected. Everything had gone perfectly.

Jiang Lulu and Dong Jia threw their arms around each other, laughing and crying with the relief of survivors.

All those impossible things had actually been real!

They turned to Xie Qingling at the same time. “Qingling, are you okay? We drove the Shanxiao away! We did it!”

Xie Qingling had planned every part of their defense.

Had she not analyzed every usable clue with extraordinary composure, they might not have survived tonight’s ordeal.

Xie Qingling breathed a sigh of relief as well. She was about to thank them when the corner of her eye caught a single footprint still moving across the white floor.

That footprint was creeping toward Xie Qingling at an extraordinarily slow pace. Slowly. Slowly.

Xie Qingling’s face went pale. In an instant, she understood –

There were two Shanxiao.

They were one-legged monsters!

The moment the footprint appeared before her, she leaped aside almost without thinking.

With a deafening clang, a massive dent appeared in the cabinet door she had just been leaning against.

If she had not jumped away in time, she would have been reduced to a pulp!

[The stone hammer the Shanxiao begged from its mother has shattered into pieces. It can no longer attack you again. But you, who failed to prepare a second rooster – what will you use to withstand the Shanxiao’s towering rage?]