Chapter 2

Ghost Town

Bian Shengjian didn’t know how long he had been sitting alone in the dark, until the owner of the breakfast shop on the street slammed open the shutters. He raised his head slightly and glanced at the watch on his wrist.

It’s five o’clock.

He stood up and moved his numb legs, and finally opened the message interface that he hadn’t responded to all night, and randomly selected the one with the most red dots to reply.

–I have arrived.

–Your uncle! 

The response came quite fast. Bian Shengjian couldn’t help raising his eyebrows.

–Still up?

–Nonsense, I didn’t even send you a message after I got you on the bus. I don’t know. I thought you were dead in some wilderness.

– No way.

–Come on, you won’t just sit outside like this all night, will you?

Bian Shengjian was silent for a while, then replied “Yes”. Put the phone back in his pocket, pushed the suitcase and walked slowly and aimlessly.

The street at five in the morning has gradually become lively. Bian Shengjian bought two freshly released steamed buns on the side of the road and gnawed them, then continued to stare at the broom-wielding aunt who woke up early in the morning sweeping the street, until the dark blue of the sky turned into the white belly of a fish , and finally the sky was bright again. It was only then that he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Young man, come in and sit down?” The shop owner observed him for a while before he said, “I noticed you’ve been standing here for a while, you’re lost? ”   

“No.” Bian Shengjian rolled the remaining plastic bag into a ball and put it into the trash can. Took two steps back, revealing a faint smile. Before waiting for the shop owner to say anything, he reached out and stopped an empty car (taxi) on the side of the road. After reading the address, he stepped in and half leaned against the window.

After finishing the drop out procedures, Bian Jianhua contacted him regarding the new school. He didn’t know what it looked like. He only knows that this time it really was according to his wishes. The school was quite far away from home, almost half a province away.

However, in Bian Jianhua’s words, it’s not easy to find such an equitable school for him. After all, Bian Shengjian’s withdrawal from school was very powerful. He not only beat his classmates into the hospital, but also beat them into the bureau with the crowd outside. Both of which made the schools not dare to accept this hard-fisted and very rich eldest young master.

Bian Shengjian half squinted at the scenery flashing through the window and ignored the driver’s enthusiastic conversation. Finally, the driver simply remained silent and drove him straight to the hotel that had been arranged.

After paying and getting off the taxi, Bian Shengjian dragged his suitcase and entered the lobby. The receptionist inquired about his information and raised his head. “Did you book for two days?”

“Yes.” Bian Shengjian said.

“Why didn’t you come last night?” The receptionist handed him the room card.

Bian Shengjian accepted the room card, hesitated for a moment, but still didn’t say anything. He turned and got on the elevator, found his room, opened the door, fell on the soft big bed and closed his eyes looking exhausted.

Bian Shengjian, are you sick.

Bian Shengjian removed the arm that was blocking his face, and smiled at the ceiling. 

Despite the fact that he had intended to go a long time ago, he was nevertheless a little out of breath when he was forced into a new setting. On the street, people were swarming, and even a well-intentioned query from strangers would send him into a frenzy.

So instead of going to a strange hotel and waiting for dawn, he still prefers to find a place to stay alone, wherever, as long as it is not a dark and a closed environment.

After taking a shower, he changed into a set of clothes, fell asleep on the bed without even drawing the curtains. He didn’t even have the time to dream, when he was woken up by the phone beside his pillow. His whole body was lethargic and still in a state of being unable to open his eyes.

“…Hello?” Bian Shengjian forcefully cleared his throat and said impatiently, “What’s the matter?”

“Did you go to your school to report? School starts tomorrow!” Li Fei shouted on the other end of the phone, and then paused, “Okay, you haven’t slept all night, if you’re still sleepy, sleep a little longer.  …”

“Understood, it’s just you being long-winded.” Bian Shengjian rubbed his eyes and went into the bathroom to wash his face, and only when he came out dripping wet did he notice the time on his phone.

Come on, it’s still five o’clock.

“I’ll take a taxi now, and I’ll talk about it when I get there.” Bian Shengjian yawned and lay on the bed for a while, and finally felt a little more awake.  He barely recovered himself as he went to view this unusual city he had never seen before.

Bian Shengjian stood upstairs and observed it for a while and came to the conclusion that it was just like that, an ordinary small city. I just don’t know what the school is like.

He simply packed up and went downstairs with his suitcase, just in time for the free dinner in the hotel. He ate two mouthfuls casually which was considered to be the room payment for the night he had paid for but had not slept inexplicably.

“Young man, are you going to school? ” The new driver was still enthusiastic and began to chatter as soon as he got inside the car (taxi). Although Bian Shengjian was in a good mood at the moment, he couldn’t stand this kind of continuous questioning. He could only quickly describe the name of the school. “Well, I’m going to No. 4 Middle School. “

“… No. 4 Middle School? Are you a student of No. 4 Middle School?” The uncle who drove the car paused, then looked at him hard in the mirror, “Are you sure?”

“Yes, what’s the matter?” Bian Shengjian was stunned for a while, and then took a closer look at the school information Bian Jianhua sent him on his mobile phone. “Well, that’s the name.”

“Young man, did you….transfer from another school?” The uncle immediately turned his head back and laughed dryly.

“Yes.” Bian Shengjian frowned. The driver’s demeanor made him feel uneasy for some reason.

“I tell you, that ghost school of No. 4 Middle School is evil!” When uncle saw that he didn’t say anything, he continued to shout out in a voice.

“What……” Bian Shengjian, who was leaning against the window looking outside, was almost knocked against the glass by his shout. Staring at the back of the uncle’s head angrily, his voice became cold, “Drive well. “

“I think you are a transfer student from another place, don’t you know! Let me tell you, it was more than ten years ago in No. 4 Middle School… ” Uncle was about to speak impassively, when a phone suddenly rang, and Bian Shengjian, who was about to sink his heart and listen to what the hell was going on in this school, was suddenly speechless. He watched the uncle drive while talking on the phone the entire time and after running a red light, he silently decided to give him a bad review after getting out of the car. 

“Here we are!” Bian Shengjian was busy dragging his suitcase out of the trunk when he heard a shout from the front, followed by the car(taxi) moving. He didn’t even have time to buckle the lid back, so he hurriedly took a few steps forward before slamming the lid shut hard.

“Fuck…” Bian Shengjian watched the car(taxi) disappear quickly at the intersection, and shook his hand, which was a little sore from the smack. He doesn’t know whether the school is evil or not, but now it seems that the people in this place are.

He dragged his suitcase forward a few steps in some displeasure. When he saw the building directly opposite the school, he finally showed a shocked expression . 

Fengmen City Funeral Service Center, or referred to as Crematorium was seen.

“Fuck.” Bian Shengjian stared at the line of signs written in gilt, and was shocked for a few moments before regaining his composure. The hand that was gripping the suitcase handle became icy.

He suddenly felt sick.

Bian Shengjian immediately turned his head and strode towards the school gate. Gritted his teeth and endured the pantothenic feeling in his mouth for a while before it was fully suppressed. At the same time, feeling quite angry. He can’t wait to take out his mobile phone and ask Bian Jianhua what kind of ghost school he found for him. Thinking about it, maybe that scum was doing it intentionally. He knew he had problems in these kinds of places  and yet still threw him here like garbage.  

“Old three, where are you?” When Li Fei called, Bian Shengjian’s brain was still blocked and his voice was stuffy. “Heaven.”

“Oh, I’m serious. How’s your new school?” Li Fei said with a smile.

“Very good. The school’s gate is facing the crematorium. Come and accompany me.” Bian Shengjian pinched the bridge of his nose.

“What? Crematorium?” Li Fei was stunned. “Dead…the one for the dead?”

“Nonsense.” Bian Shengjian’s mood now was like a piece of gum pasted on the ground and exposed to the sun for three days. His fingers were clenched and unclenched several times.

“Fuck…” Li Fei was stupefied for a moment and didn’t say anything. After a while, he laughed twice, “ Forget it, perhaps the school was merely at an inconvenient location? Did you go in and have a look? “

“Going now.” Bian Shengjian sighed, raised his eyelids and looked at the front of the school. The gate was built quite generously, but the security guard at the gate didn’t seem to care much. Bian Shengjian waved his hand a few times but there was no response, so he just dragged his suitcase and walked in.

“Are there many people in the school? School starts tomorrow, so there should be a lot, right?” Li Fei asked incessantly over the phone. 

“No.” Bian Shengjian frowned.

This was strange. According to common sense, there should be people roaming around campus before school starts, but since he came in, all he felt was desolation, except for the banner hanging at the front gate welcoming new students, there was no ambiance of starting a new school year at all.

It was as quiet as a ghost town.

“What a broken place.” Bian Shengjian turned to look again, and noticed that this school was a long way from the bustling area when he arrived.

It’s quite troublesome to go out for a meal or something. Not like his old school. Although his classmates were a little disgusting, the location was good. Turn right out of the gate and you can see three or four hot pot restaurants or KTVs. No. 4 Middle School is not only like a ghost town, but also the kind that is very remote. 

But there is one thing that his old school can’t match, that is… this school is big.

Bian Shengjian dragged his suitcase for a while and finally couldn’t help poking open the school’s 3D map. After looking back and forth, left and right, he sighed.

Heh, it’s really a treasure land of feng shui, with mountains and rivers.

Despite the fact that it was getting late, Bian Shengjian was still eager to wander about the school, but after a time, he came to a halt and frowned.

Although the campus of No. 4 Middle School is so big that it seems that the land costs a lot of money, the overall layout looks messy, plus there were many green plants. There was always a feeling that people can’t pin point north when they first enter, so here he is.  Walking blindly for a long time and couldn’t even find where the teaching building was.

As Shengjian walked and looked around, when he passed through a row of lush mango trees, he realized that he had come to the lake for no reason. The wind was blowing against the lake surface which smelled comfortable, but a huge warning sign was erected by the lake, looking very eye-catching.

“It is strictly forbidden to approach (enter)?” Bian Shengjian stared at the slightly rippling water surface for a while, then shrugged and walked down the steps. He was about to find a spot by the lake to sit for a while when, from the corner of his eye; he suddenly caught a sight of something that made his hands shake and his body to freeze in place.

Because there were already a lot of weeds along the lake, and yet another summer vacation was squandered with no pruning, the longest section has now reached the waist. But even in the clutter, Shengjian can still see at a glance a shadow of a person lying in the grass not far from the warning sign.

He frowned and tentatively took a few steps over there. After confirming his guess, a cool feeling appeared on the back of his head.

A man was lying in the grass.

“Hey!” Although Bian Shengjian didn’t know whether this person was alive or dead and why he was lying here, he hesitated for a while and ran up, gritted his teeth and brushed away the weeds.

Soon after, he exhaled a sigh of relief. Fortunately, despite the fact that the man appeared to be in a coma, he still had a little heave in his chest, suggesting that he was still alive. He tried to touch the man’s forearm with his fingertips as he took out his phone to dial 120.

Cold as a dead man. Bian Shengjian frowned.

“Hello? 120? I’m here…”Bian Shengjian was only halfway through his words when his left arm was suddenly yanked violently, and the phone fell to the ground due to the lack of firm grip.

“Fuck!” Bian Shengjian lowered his head suddenly, the blue veins on his temples couldn’t help jumping violently when he met a pair of dark eyes.

“Ah!” He roared and tried to jump up, but he didn’t succeed, because the man who looked like a fake death and a corpse was still holding on to his left arm, and his fingers were as cold as hard steel bars.

Bian Shengjian could only be forced to stare at the man in shock, staring at him for a long time without saying a word.

“You…” The man looked at him fixedly, but what he finally said made Bian Shengjian’s scalp explode, and even forgot to punch him directly in the face–

“You can see me?”

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Double update today, continue tomorrow.

Translator: trying to keep up