Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Shanshan was missing.

Not just her-her luggage was gone, too.

I hurried to contact her, only to find she’d deactivated her WeChat account.

Her phone number had been changed as well.

I panicked on the spot.

Sure enough, the very next day, a piece of news exploded across campus.

They said Shanshan had fished ten gold bars out of the man-made lake.

Rumor had it they were left behind in the late Tang Dynasty.

Worth tens of millions.

I immediately went to Wanting and demanded to know what the hell was going on.

Did she tell Shanshan?

Did she secretly split the gold with Shanshan behind my back?

Wanting’s face crumpled with grievance.

She said the two Water Ghosts knew she’d been protecting me.

So they intentionally spread rumors to provoke me, to get me worked up.

The goal was simple: make Wanting and me fall out.

Once we turned on each other, they’d have a chance to make their move.

I was furious-furious enough to explode-but thinking about it… it did make a twisted kind of sense.

I just didn’t expect what happened the next day.

Someone dug up photos of Shanshan showing off on foreign social media.

Luxury cars.

Luxury mansions.

It was like she’d suddenly become a different person.

And at the same time, the entire school went insane.

Everyone started charging into the lake, trying to scoop up gold.

Not just students.

Even teachers were wading in.

The school was afraid there’d be an accident, so they simply pumped the lake dry.

They put up barricades and blocked off the area, refusing to let anyone enter.

Yet behind the scenes, they secretly sent in their own survey team.

I couldn’t take it anymore.

I grabbed Wanting and unloaded on her. “Now what? How the hell do you explain this mess?”

The strange part was-Wanting didn’t explain anything.

She only said, for no reason at all, “Whatever you do, don’t drink milk tea.”

I was completely stunned.

What did this have to do with milk tea?

And more importantly, that wasn’t even the answer I wanted.

Then Wanting suddenly started packing.

I yanked her back.

“What are you doing? I’m telling you right now-if this isn’t made clear, don’t think you can just leave.”

Wanting let out a tired sigh.

She said a Water Ghost gets three chances to find a Substitute.

Which meant they would definitely come again.

And the next time, the bet would be even bigger.

Far bigger than those ten gold bars.

She said the only way she could keep herself from meddling was to leave.

After that, she moved out and rented a place off-campus.

I didn’t know whether to be shocked or relieved.

Why was Wanting the only person in the whole school who wasn’t interested in this heaven-sent fortune?

And what was so special about me that those two Water Ghosts would gamble so much?

But then I thought about it-if even the school was taking it seriously, I couldn’t just call the administrators idiots.

Besides, the lake had been drained.

With no water left, how could Water Ghosts drag anyone under and take their life?

Fine.

I wanted to see what this “third chance” was supposed to be.

Half a month passed.

The two Water Ghosts never appeared.

That was when I started to panic.

Was it just… over?

Didn’t they say there were three chances?

Had I really missed my chance at a fortune the heavens practically dropped into my lap?

Right when I was drowning in anxiety and lying awake all night, they came.

The two Water Ghosts.

This time, they sat right on the edge of my bed.

A disgusting ashy smell seeped out from them.

The little girl swung her legs. “So weird! Why is there no one in this room?”

My brain short-circuited.

No one?

I’m right here!

I’m alive!

How could there be no one?

The middle-aged woman let out a long sigh. “Isn’t there a corpse lying right here?”

My head practically exploded.

A corpse?

Me?

How could I be a corpse?!

The little girl frowned. “But shouldn’t a corpse have a smell?”

The middle-aged woman sighed again. “If you have both life and fortune, you’re called a person.”

“If you have fortune but no life, you’re called a ghost.”

“Her Eight Characters-her birth horoscope-were taken clean away. That made her someone with life but no fortune.”

“That kind is called a walking corpse.”

“Of course she has no human presence.”

I panicked completely.

I didn’t care whether they were ghosts or not-I needed to ask what they meant.

I tried to get up.

I tried to move.

I struggled until my whole body felt like it was tearing apart.

But I couldn’t move even an inch.

Only then did I realize it.

Sleep paralysis.

I was pinned down.

All I could do was listen.

The little girl spoke again. “No wonder we brought her wealth twice and she couldn’t hold on to it. So her fortune was stolen.”

The middle-aged woman sighed. “Even worse-someone with life but no fortune won’t live past tomorrow.”

“No matter how much wealth we give her, it’s meaningless.”

“Let’s go.”

The little girl hesitated, then said, “Tomorrow is the Mengpo Festival-the Ghost Festival. Meng Po will come out at noon, at twelve o’clock, to sell her ‘milk tea.'”

“Ghosts who drink it ascend.”

“Humans who drink it attain enlightenment.”

“Then she can get her Eight Characters back.”

The middle-aged woman snapped, cutting her off. “How can you reveal heavenly secrets so casually? I never should’ve brought you!”

“Go, go-now!”

The moment she finished speaking, the two Water Ghosts vanished.

And I suddenly jolted upright, like something had released me.

I was drenched in sweat.

My first reaction was to sniff my arm.

All I smelled was the fragrance of my body wash.

I was just an ordinary person.

How would I know what “human presence” was supposed to smell like?

But my spine kept prickling with icy chills.

I forced myself to calm down.

If they wanted me as a Substitute, why make it so complicated?

Especially now that Wanting wasn’t here to stop them.

They had countless ways to kill me.

Countless ways to drag me into water.

So why were they talking about my Eight Characters?

And anyway, I’d never heard of a Water Ghost needing someone’s Eight Characters to take a Substitute.

Then I thought about Wanting again.

Out of everyone at school, I’d only ever told one person my birth information.

Wanting.

Since the semester started, she’d insisted on doing fortune-telling for us every single day.

Was she really just being helpful?

Or did she have another reason?

And she moved out the moment she moved out.

Could it be she knew I’d die tomorrow, so she cut ties early to avoid suspicion?

And that warning-telling me not to drink milk tea.

Was she afraid I’d get my Eight Characters back?

Cold sweat broke out all over me again.