Chapter 314: The Spirit Summoning

The girl bowed and introduced herself, "I'm Luo Youyou, a junior student majoring in computer science. I've heard a lot about you, it’s nice to meet you."

Luo Youyou was a petite young girl with dainty and delicate features, though she was now tinted with an air of sadness. My guess was she had come for help. "What can I do for you?" I asked.

Luo Youyou tucked her hair behind her ear and timidly replied, "Song Yang, one of my classmates has been possessed. Can you please help him?"

"I'm sorry,” I smiled wryly. “I'm not in this line of work. You’d have better luck asking a Taoist priest."

"Don’t get me wrong,” she faltered. “I know that you’ve solved many cases. You’re a great detective. The thing is, my classmates and I played a game last night, and then one of us was possessed. He insisted he was a woman who had been murdered."

Exorcism wasn’t my specialty so her flattery was useless. "I can't deal with this. Please find an expert!"

I left her with those words and helped the two drunk men to our dormitory. "Dude, why are you so cruel?” asked Dali. “How can you reject a cute junior’s request?"

"Why don’t you help her then!" I rolled my eyes at him.

We were slowly walking up the stairs when Luo Youyou suddenly rushed in with tears in her eyes. "Song Yang, please, no one can help him except you!"

I didn't intend to pay her any attention but big-mouthed Dali had to run his mouth off. "He’s agreed to help you. We’ll be down shortly."

“Thank you so much!” Luo Youyou smiled through the tears.

Glaring at Dali, I couldn’t help but swear under my breath. Dali scratched his head and said, "Just think of it as doing me a favor. Just promise her first, and I’ll handle the rest."

"I promised Lao Yao we would play some video games tonight," I sighed.

"So what if you stood him up once?” retorted Dali. “It's not a big deal. Just send him another naked photo!"

I sighed as I helped our roommates back to their beds. Afraid he would reek of alcohol, Dali started chewing on some gum, tidying up his shirt as we walked downstairs. "Do you think there’s a chance of romance for me?" he asked.

"I don't know about that, but you’ve a bit of nose hair sticking out," I laughed.

"Really? I'll have to go trim it now!"

"Geez, I’m just kidding!” I said, grabbing his shirt. “I can’t believe you fell for that!"

Since Dali had decided on helping the girl, I left the talking to him. When we met up with Luo Youyou again, Dali solemnly said, "Luo-xuemei, can you tell us what happened in detail?"

"Have you guys ever heard of the Four-Corner Game?"

Once the game began, one of them would walk counterclockwise or clockwise in one direction, pat the second person on the shoulder and stay in that corner. The four of them would then repeat this action.

As the urban legend goes, a "fifth person" would appear during the game, patting one of them on the shoulder which proved the successful summoning of an otherworld being!

Luo Youyou explained that she had played the game with two boys and another girl in a classroom last night. Although the atmosphere at the time was horrifying, the fifth “person” never emerged. But to their horror, one of the boys suddenly shouted and fell to the ground at the end of the game. After they turned the lights back on, they pinched the boy to wake him up. Upon opening his eyes, his gaze turned feminine and unfamiliar. He even played with his hair in a girlish manner and wailed sorrowfully, "I died miserably, I died miserably..."

The bizarre turn of events frightened them out of their wits. However, the boy didn’t seem like he was playing a hoax on them. He had even missed class today. According to his roommates, his symptoms hadn’t improved. He spent the whole time either giggling or crying, terrifying his roommates into leaving the dorm room. No one dared inform their professors for fear of punishment. After a long debate with no resolutions, they decided to come to me for help.

"Why did you think of playing this game?" I couldn’t resist asking.

“We wanted to summon a spirit,” Luo Youyou admitted with her head lowered.

"Why would you do that?"

"Have you ever heard of Xia Mo?" she asked.

I did a double take when I heard the name. Xia Mo was one of the top students before her death. With the upcoming CET-6 examination, the four backward students came up with the idea of summoning Xiao Mo after overhearing another student mention a rumor. Apparently, a student managed to pass his CET-4 after requesting Xia Mo to take the examination on his behalf through the spirit pen game.

"You kids have all these crazy ideas,” I said. “I won’t even bother debating the authenticity of the rumor. But what if you summoned a malicious spirit instead?"

“I was wrong,” mumbled Luo Youyou as she bowed her head in shame. "We shouldn't have looked for an easy way out."

Then again, I helped Xia Mo's spirit cross over during my first case together with Xiaotao last year. God only knew how that student passed his exam—perhaps it was a sort of self-hypnosis. I doubt he managed to summon any spirits.

We arrived at the boys' dormitory building and headed to their room. Right outside the door, a girl’s voice drifted into our ears. "What a joke! If Luo Youyou manages to get Song Yang to help us, I’ll write my name upside down!"

There was a boy and a girl talking inside the room. Hearing the sound of our footsteps, she turned around and stared in wide-eyed shock. "S-Song Yang!” she stuttered. “Oh my God, it's really you!"

“Dude, you’re famous!” Dali whispered as he nudged me.

"Who’s spreading rumors about me?" I grimaced.

Luo Youyou began by introducing the two. The girl was Li Meijing and the boy was Zhang Cheng, while the one who needed our help was called Ding Xu. He was now asleep in bed after a long day of kicking up a fuss.

Li Meijing couldn’t hide the excitement on her face as she got some chairs and poured us a glass of water. At her behest, Zhang Cheng even offered us cigarettes which I declined.

"Song Yang, everyone in school says you have an influential background,” gushed Li Meijing. “Is it true that generations of your ancestors were all traditional coroners? Have you found a job? Will you join the police after graduation? Can I ask you a personal question? Do you have a girlfriend?” Li Meijing proceeded to bombard me with questions.

Zhang Cheng’s unsightly expression suggested the two were a couple.

Seeing I was about to lose my patience, Luo Youyou tugged on Li Meijing’s sleeve to remind her of her manners but the latter spoke too quickly for anyone to interject. When I finally had a chance to slide a word in, I asserted, "Let’s get down to business first. Can we leave the personal questions for another time?"

“Alright, alright. I won’t bother you with my questions….” Li Meijing spat her tongue. "But can I ask one last thing?"

"Meijing, don’t be rude," snapped Zhang Cheng.

“It’s just a few questions,” Li Meijing snorted nonchalantly. "Song Yang hasn’t even complained about it. You're the one who’s getting your panties in a twist! Am I right, Song Yang?"