Chapter 29: The Corpse Walked Away on Its Own

After receiving the call from Li Xiang, I rushed to the school gate as quickly as I could. As soon as I arrived, I saw Li Xiang slumped on the ground.

The atmosphere at the school gate was strange, so strange it made my chest feel tight. There were no vehicles, no signs of the traffic accident involving Jin Yuan, and the gate, usually bustling with activity, was completely deserted.

Li Xiang sat on the ground, his entire body trembling. Confused, I walked over to him and patted his back. "Where is Jin Yuan? Didn't you say he was in a car accident?"

Li Xiang turned to look at me, his face deathly pale. "He's gone."

"Gone?" I was even more bewildered. "What exactly are you talking about? First a car accident, now he's gone?"

"Yes, he's gone." As he spoke, Li Xiang tried to pull himself up, but he collapsed back to the ground halfway through.

Puzzled, I pressed him for an explanation. Li Xiang grabbed my arm and whispered something that made my skin crawl: "I said, his corpse walked away on its own."

While I stood there stunned, Li Xiang gripped my neck and said, "I saw it with my own eyes. He was hit by a car, and a moment later, he climbed up and walked away."

Hearing this, an image involuntarily flashed through my mind: a person who had already died suddenly getting back up. The scene felt chillingly familiar. My heart skipped a beat as a name surfaced: the Lady of Little Ghosts.

It had to be her. The Lady of Little Ghosts was known for her talent in corpse manipulation. If Li Xiang was telling the truth, my suspicion was likely correct. Even if it wasn't her, it was someone else skilled in the same dark arts. I never imagined she would track us down here.

Thinking this, I checked with Li Xiang once more: "Are you certain Jin Yuan was actually dead?"

Li Xiang glanced at me, then lowered his head in silence. At that moment, a bitter feeling welled up inside me. I wished he had lied and told me Jin Yuan was still alive.

A wave of distress surged within me, and my thoughts were in turmoil. I could have prevented all of this. If we had taken Jin Yuan's phone last night, or if I had snatched it away the moment I saw the female ghost on his bed, none of this would have happened today.

We searched outside the school for a while but found no trace of Jin Yuan. On the way back to the dormitory, my heart felt heavy, and Li Xiang and I remained silent. From that day on, Jin Yuan vanished from our world entirely.

Later, we mobilized our entire class to search the school grounds, but we found neither Jin Yuan nor his body. We reported it to the police, but even their city-wide search yielded nothing.

Two weeks passed. The atmosphere in our dorm remained gloomy; no one wanted to speak Jin Yuan's name, as it only caused more pain. We blocked off Jin Yuan's bed with a mosquito net, as no one wanted to see his belongings and be reminded of the past.

I had mentioned the incident to Old Man Xie over the phone, but he was a man who only cared about money. After a brief comment telling me to be careful, he hung up.

I then called the Old Man by the Lake. I spoke to him at greater length, and he repeatedly warned me to be wary of Jin Yuan. When I asked why, he replied, "I know of this Lady of Little Ghosts; her methods are far more sophisticated than you can imagine."

"But Jin Yuan is already dead," I argued. "Why would I need to be wary of him?"

The Old Man by the Lake replied, "He is dead, but he could still appear before you, acting just like a living person. There are different grades of corpse manipulation. Advanced techniques can create a walking corpse indistinguishable from the living, and the master can even make the corpse speak."

The thought was blood-curdling. Imagine someone standing before you who looks, speaks, and interacts exactly like a person, only for someone to tell you they have been dead for weeks and are merely a puppet.

Time slipped by, and we gradually began to move past the memory of Jin Yuan. After all, he was gone, and dwelling on it was futile. Life returned to its routine: sleeping, attending classes, and eating. No one thought about that phone anymore.

But I never could have expected that two weeks later, that very phone would appear on my bed.

That evening, the three of us in the dorm were called to a meeting. Our head teacher told us the school was planning a talent show and wanted us to prepare a performance. We grumbled all the way back to the dorm. I entered first, and since my bed was near the door, I didn't bother turning on the lights and climbed straight up.

Just as I was about to lie down, my hand touched something icy cold. I recoiled instantly, then reached out again, disbelieving.

Once more, I felt that freezing chill. This time, I knew exactly what I had touched.

In an instant, cold sweat drenched me, and my legs went weak.

I had touched a cold, dead hand.

My head roared, and I scrambled forward in a panic. Just then, Hu Tou turned on the lights. He and Li Xiang looked at me, puzzled, and reached out to help me up. But the moment they saw what was on the bed, they screamed and bolted from the room.

I crawled bit by bit until I reached the hallway, gasping for air. Summoning my courage, I looked back at my bed.

There, lying motionless on my mattress, was a corpse.

It was true—a dead body. A corpse had appeared on my bed.

It took a long time for me to regain my senses. The school security guards and the dorm manager arrived. Everyone turned pale at the sight of the body on my bed. I had to be supported by Li Xiang and Hu Tou, or I would have collapsed on the spot.

The security guards eventually carried the body out. As they walked past me, I trembled even more violently, for I recognized the face. The corpse was Ren Yunwen, who had died some time ago.

After the body was removed, the crowd of students dispersed, trembling. Hu Tou and Li Xiang helped me back into the room, their faces ashen.

"Li Xi, how did Ren Yunwen end up on your bed? Did you offend him?" Li Xiang asked, his voice shaking.

My mind was in chaos; I had no energy to answer. In truth, I wanted to know the same thing. Had I offended Ren Yunwen? Why did his corpse end up on my bed?

Could this be the work of the Lady of Little Ghosts again?