“Dad, Mom, I’m back.”
Taking off his shoes, Yang Jian walked toward the living room.
Yang Xiao sat on the sofa reading a newspaper, Zhang Fen was stir-frying in the kitchen, and today’s news was playing on the television.
A big black dog sat coiled in the corner of the living room. When it saw Yang Jian come in, it immediately bared its teeth and let out a series of low growls.
Yang Xiao’s voice sounded from behind the newspaper.
“Sit properly. No barking.”
The black dog whimpered twice, turned in place a couple of times, then lowered its head and lay down on the floor.
Yang Xiao continued, “Go wash your hands. Dinner’s almost ready.”
Zhang Fen came out of the kitchen carrying a basin of crayfish.
“Son, look what Mom made for you today. There’s also your favorite cola. The college entrance exam is coming up soon, so you have to build up your energy and get into a good university!”
After washing his hands, Yang Jian took out bowls and chopsticks for the three of them and sat down at the dining table, waiting for dinner to start.
Zhang Fen took a bottle of cola from the refrigerator.
“Eat up. Look how thin you are. Eat more today.”
“Okay. Thanks, Mom.”
Zhang Fen was quite a good cook. Yang Jian wolfed down three big bowls of rice.
Putting down his bowl and chopsticks, Yang Jian looked at his father.
Yang Xiao had been reading the newspaper the whole time. Even while eating, he had never put it down. From the moment Yang Jian had returned home until now, he had not seen his father’s face once.
Yang Jian looked at the newspaper. There were several news articles on it.
“Many coastal cities have been swept by hurricanes. At present, there have been no reports of casualties. Residents are asked to close their windows to avoid injuries and property damage.”
“A major earthquake disaster has occurred in Dahai City. The current number of casualties is unknown. Rescue teams from all over the country are rapidly heading to provide support. If an earthquake occurs, we should immediately—”
Yang Jian stared blankly at the two news articles, as if he had remembered something.
Yang Xiao’s voice sounded from behind the newspaper, interrupting his thoughts.
“What are you looking at? I heard a new teacher came to your class. The college entrance exam is near. It won’t affect your studies, will it?”
“Ah.” Yang Jian was stunned for a moment, then said, “No. I take notes in class now, and I review every day.”
As he spoke, he took out the notebook Miao Xiaoshan had given him from his schoolbag.
“Oh my, my son is amazing. Here, eat some more.” As she spoke, Zhang Fen picked up another chopstickful of food and put it in Yang Jian’s bowl.
“Mom, I’m really full. I’m going back to my room to review.”
With that, Yang Jian walked toward his bedroom.
At the corner, he just happened to hear Zhang Fen say to Yang Xiao,
“You hold that newspaper all day long. I don’t know what’s so interesting about it. Stop reading and have a bite.”
“Okay.”
As Zhang Fen spoke, she pushed the food into the newspaper.
This father of his was lazy to death. Even when eating, he was unwilling to put down the newspaper and still needed someone to feed him.
Yang Jian did not pay it any mind. He entered his bedroom and turned on the light.
The furnishings in the room were simple: a bed, a desk, a wardrobe, and several celebrity posters pasted on the wall.
Sitting at the desk, Yang Jian opened the notebook Miao Xiaoshan had given him.
The first page of the notebook had Miao Xiaoshan’s name on it, but it looked strange. It did not seem to have been written with a pen. It looked more like bluish-black dye had been sewn into the page with a needle.
He continued flipping to the next page. The contents on it seemed to be a diary.
“Night of March 22nd, Zhang Wei picked up a red cloth pouch at his front door.”
“Night of March 23rd, Zhang Wei went out and was chased by a dog...”
“Why does Miao Xiaoshan know so much about Zhang Wei...”
Yang Jian did not think too much about it and continued flipping through.
The contents after that were all what the new homeroom teacher, Zhang Xianguang, had taught in class today.
Yang Jian frowned tightly as he looked at the contents written there.
“When facing the supernatural, any abnormal situation may occur. Sometimes, do not trust your own memories. Follow your instincts and investigate the source of this supernatural incident.”
“What does that mean... Does this have anything to do with the college entrance exam?..”
Yang Jian’s brows were tightly knitted. He could not understand the contents at all.
Closing the notebook, Yang Jian lay down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
In his dream, Yang Jian felt as if someone had been pushing and shoving him, seemingly trying to shake him awake. But Yang Jian was simply too tired. No matter how that person shook him, Yang Jian kept his eyes tightly closed.
Half-asleep and half-awake, Yang Jian heard someone open the door and come in. They seemed to walk around the room. The footsteps stopped in front of Yang Jian, and a hand reached out to shake him. Seeing that Yang Jian did not respond, the person withdrew again.
The sound of curtains being pulled rang out.
“Son, get up and go to school.”
Zhang Fen pulled the curtains open in one motion, and the soft morning sunlight spilled into the room.
“Oh, okay.”
Yang Jian sat up while clutching his head. He felt as if his head were about to split open. It seemed as though he had only slept for a few minutes last night.
After putting on his clothes and walking out of the bedroom, he saw Yang Xiao preparing to go out and walk the dog. He was still holding that newspaper in his hand, blocking his face.
Yang Jian hurriedly grabbed two eggs from the table and followed him out.
Opening the door, he felt a faint chill in the morning air, but Yang Xiao’s figure outside was already gone.
“He left that fast?”
Yang Jian found it a little strange. His father had clearly only just stepped out, and he had immediately followed.
“Yang Jian! Hurry up and get on!”
An elderly voice came from the street.
“Coming!”
Yang Jian jogged over and darted onto the bus.
“Thank you, Old Qin.”
“You young people have no sense of time at all.”
The bus slowly started and drove in the direction of the school.
Yang Jian sat in the back row by the window, looking outside, still thinking about the contents of the notebook.
“The supernatural? Ghosts?”
Just then, gray, hazy flakes began to drift down from the sky. Yang Jian reached out and caught one. It was icy cold in his hand.
“Snow?..”
“How could it possibly snow in this weather?”
At that moment, Yang Jian suddenly thought of the words Zhang Xianguang had written on the blackboard.
Abnormality. When facing the supernatural, anything can happen. Trust your instincts...
“Little Yang! We’re at your stop!”
Old Qin’s voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
Yang Jian stood up and looked coldly at Old Qin.
Although his mind still felt muddled and confused, whenever he felt that he was about to notice some key point, something around him would suddenly interrupt his train of thought. This made an inexplicable restlessness rise in Yang Jian’s heart.
Old Qin ignored Yang Jian’s icy attitude and said to him with a smile, “Little Yang, don’t miss the bus like you did yesterday.”
Yang Jian did not speak. With a cold expression, he got off the bus and walked toward the school gate.
The school entrance was filled with small vendors’ stalls. From far away, Yang Jian saw Zhang Wei standing in front of a vendor selling grilled sausages, drooling.
“Zhang Wei,” Yang Jian called out.
Zhang Wei immediately looked as if he had seen his savior and ran toward Yang Jian.
“Yang Jian! Quick, quick, quick, lend me fifty cents. I’ll pay you back tomorrow.”
“Didn’t you say helping me pay back a few million would be no problem? How come you have to borrow even fifty cents?”
As Yang Jian spoke, he handed Zhang Wei a crumpled bill.
“Ugh, my dad said that if I don’t get into university, he won’t give me any allowance. Here, you get the first bite.”
Zhang Wei brought the grilled sausage to Yang Jian’s mouth. Yang Jian paid no attention to Zhang Wei, instead staring at the giant Buddha statue in the center of the school.
He had clearly seen just now that, for a brief instant, the giant Buddha had actually looked toward him, its mouth open as if it wanted to say something.
But when he looked carefully, the giant Buddha had returned to its dignified appearance.
“An illusion?”
Yang Jian took a bite of the grilled sausage and walked into the school with Zhang Wei.
The bell for class rang, and the students entered the classroom one after another.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
Zhang Xianguang was the same as yesterday. He knocked on the door three times and walked into the classroom.
“Students, take out the test paper that was handed out yesterday. Today, we’ll continue with yesterday’s content.”
Yang Jian was just about to take a test paper from his desk, but he suddenly realized that he did not even know which subject Zhang Xianguang taught.
“Zhang Wei, which test paper are we taking out?”
“Damn, you’re even more badass than me. You don’t even know what he teaches?”
“Stop saying useless things. Which one is it?”
“I didn’t bring it either.”
Yang Jian punched Zhang Wei. With no other choice, he could only randomly pull a test paper from his desk drawer.
Logically speaking, a newly handed-out test paper should have been brand new, but the one in Yang Jian’s hand was a dull yellow. There were also many wrinkled textures on it, making it look like a sheet of human skin.
Opening the test paper, Yang Jian froze.
There was nothing on it. It was completely blank.
At this moment, Zhang Xianguang looked toward Yang Jian.
“Yang Jian, stand up and tell us what understanding you gained from the content I told you all to review yesterday.”
Yang Jian looked at the blank test paper, trying hard to recall the words Zhang Xianguang had written on the blackboard yesterday.
As if he had been born with this talent, Yang Jian instinctively blurted out,
“When dealing with a supernatural incident, probing may not be a necessary method, but it does have its merits.”
Zhang Xianguang nodded and said, “Mm, not bad. Continue.”
“But some abnormal supernatural beings won’t give people any time to probe. When you are caught inside one, you must carefully observe every detail, follow the rules of the supernatural, and discover its weakness.”
“Very good. Then what are the rules of the supernatural?”
Yang Jian suddenly froze. Why was he saying these things? Yet these things seemed to have already been engraved into his mind. Even if he did not think about them, they would instinctively appear in his head.
Yang Jian stared at that blank test paper. He had no idea what the rules of the supernatural were.
Something was wrong... very wrong.
Suddenly, Yang Jian abruptly discovered that three lines of twisted words had actually appeared on the test paper.
“Ghosts cannot be killed.”
“Only ghosts can fight ghosts.”
“Discern the ghost’s rules.”